Lu Renyi used the excuse of needing the restroom and ran outside to read the comic. As the protagonist, Lin Shubei naturally occupied most of its viewpoint, so the first panel showed him standing at the academy gates with his luggage.
[Why did our Linzi come alone? Where are Qi Yue and Jian Yi?]
[Getting into a good academy really is different. You don't need to bring anything.]
[The class assignments are actually posted on-site. As expected of an ability academy.]
[Starting in Class F is truly a traditional skill of protagonist groups.]
[Jianjian and Old Qi are already in the classroom. Why is Linzi so late this time?]
[The person next to Linzi is actually sleeping instead of chatting excitedly like everyone else. Calling it now: definitely an important character.]
[White hair, behaving differently from everyone else, and sitting beside the protagonist's group. No prediction needed. He'll definitely have plenty of scenes.]
[Linzi put on his sunny, cheerful-boy mask again. Jianjian and Old Qi are both speechless.]
The first few pages all covered what Lin Shubei saw when he arrived at Supernova Ability Academy. He first went to the classroom to wait for the homeroom teacher, and several new figures appeared as the protagonist's viewpoint moved.
When the person sitting beside Lin Shubei with his head down on the desk appeared, the bullet comments briefly became lively as everyone guessed his identity.
Jian Yi and Qi Yue sat in front of and behind Lin Shubei. Both were companions he had met in the first volume. Because they had fought a villainous organization at the end of that volume and each suffered injuries, they received low scores during the opening assessment and entered Class F.
Lu Renyi flipped rapidly through the pages. He ignored the class introductions, remembered only Xie Qin, who sat beside Lin Shubei, then skipped directly to the page where Lin Shubei entered the dormitory and met Lu Renyi for the first time.
Before Lin Shubei entered the dormitory building, the elderly dorm supervisor downstairs gave him a warning.
"You were originally assigned a room alone, but there was a problem with a Class C student's accommodation information. It wasn't recorded earlier, so he was temporarily transferred to your room."
[A problem with the accommodation information? An academy that's been open for centuries can still make such a basic mistake?]
[The world really is one gigantic makeshift operation. But anyone who becomes Brother Linzi's roommate will probably receive plenty of scenes, right?]
[Class C feels completely irrelevant. Important characters are generally in Class S, Class A, or Class F like Brother Linzi, aren't they?]
[Let me see whether it's another handsome guy. When Xie Qin looked up, it felt as though the sky brightened. I hope we get to see the sun directly this time.]
Lu Renyi turned to the next page. He appeared the moment Lin Shubei opened the door, and the reception was respectable.
"Ah, being handsome is such a burden. I only need to show my face to attract attention."
The System: ...It feels as if its host is slowly starting to reveal his true nature.
Lu Renyi watched one bullet comment after another appear. Only after boasting to the System did he pay attention to Lin Shubei's thoughts at the time.
【He looks quite ordinary. He probably won't go looking for trouble. Hopefully, he isn't too friendly.】
The ordinary Lu Renyi decided to inquire more often about Lin Shubei's whereabouts in the future.
What followed was largely what Lu Renyi had expected. Lin Shubei and his two friends revealed considerable strength during Class F lessons and attracted the attention of several people, including Jiang Yan.
Only then did Lu Renyi learn that Jiang Yan was more than an academic-subject teacher. He was also the instructor leading the so-called selection team. He simply wished to find a few promising students and genuinely enjoyed teaching, so he had temporarily taken charge of an academic class.
【Jiang Yan braced himself against the office windowsill and looked down at Class F on the athletic field. Then he turned to Tang Hui and said.
"They really are rather good. I didn't expect the Xie family's youngest to join Class F, but it doesn't matter. They're all promising candidates for the competition."
"What about the other classes? Is anyone worth noticing?"
"Classes S and A are the same as usual, roughly like previous years. A few should make it in."
Tang Hui organized the students' admissions files and set aside the records of everyone Jiang Yan had mentioned. When she received no answer for a long time, she looked up in confusion and saw Jiang Yan flipping through the Class C records one by one.
"But this year's Class C does contain someone interesting."
Jiang Yan pulled out Lu Renyi's file. Even the standardized photograph against a white background could not conceal Lu Renyi's outstanding appearance. Jiang Yan's first instinct was that he was unsuited for infiltration missions.
"I'll find an opportunity to test his true abilities. Hopefully, he won't disappoint me."】
"Host, Jiang Yan had already noticed you here. I thought he really wanted you to join his family's comp... Host! What's wrong?!"
Tears welled in Lu Renyi's eyes. His heart turned to ash.
"I thought my future livelihood was settled. Now I've discovered it was all a terrible lie?"
Ah, so he was upset because the secure job he expected was about to disappear?
The System understood humanity's enthusiasm for secure positions and iron rice bowls. It racked its brain for a way to comfort Lu Renyi.
"Look on the bright side, Host. Since the comic included the part where Jiang Yan noticed you, that means the future plot already takes you into account. And the readers here have started discussing your true strength, so your discussion has increased greatly!"
Lu Renyi barely suppressed his sorrow and forced himself to continue. He found that the comic skipped directly to today's conflict with Zhou Cheng.
This was the protagonist's first clash after entering Supernova Ability Academy, and the bullet comments clearly showed great anticipation.
[Zhou Cheng has such a standard villain face. Brother Linzi's thoughts are hilarious too. He actually said it finally felt right.]
[Of course. Everywhere he goes, someone provokes him and gets humiliated. He's used to it.]
[Why is Lu Renyi here during the tests for Classes F and A? Isn't he in Class C?]
[Even Class A seems to dislike a bully like Zhou Cheng. They're all standing far away.]
[? How did Lu Renyi suddenly get dragged into this?]
The comic happened to display Zhou Cheng's inner monologue. For the first time, Lu Renyi could directly see what another person had been thinking. It felt rather extraordinary.
The bullet comments were different. The readers did not know what had happened earlier and only learned through Zhou Cheng that Zheng Jue had treated Lu Renyi differently.
But the earlier exchange between the two had not been as peaceful as it appeared to others. The comic used a little artistic license and drew a ring of black energy around Lu Renyi and Zheng Jue.
It seemed the comic's artist—or rather, the creators in the organization to which the System belonged—did not want Lu Renyi to appear before readers with a perpetually mild attitude. They probably wanted his characterization to become more three-dimensional.
【Lin Shubei was not certain Lu Renyi would agree to help. After all, they were not close, but Lin Shubei had even less desire to be looked down upon.
He would compensate Lu Renyi a little more later. Hopefully, he could persuade him.】
Lin Shubei invited Lu Renyi while wearing a cheerful expression completely at odds with his thoughts. Everyone else prepared to enjoy the show. But when Lu Renyi truly agreed, their expressions varied, as though no one had expected him to be so accommodating.
[Wow, what a simple and straightforward preference. He asked for cash directly.]
[Brother Linzi and Lu Renyi really don't think there's anything wrong with this. Jianjian and Qi Yue are both speechless.]
[Lin Shubei is a rich kid too. Paying people to handle things for him is probably normal in his world.]
[What exactly is Lu Renyi's ability? I hope he doesn't become dead weight and force Brother Linzi to fight three people alone. How cliché would that be?]
[Hopefully, he isn't too weak. I want to see an exciting fight. Someone this handsome ought to have an equally handsome ability.]
[They really settled it that casually with rock-paper-scissors? Zhou Cheng clearly has bad intentions. I hope this doesn't backfire.]
Backfiring was impossible. If the protagonist was crushed during his first appearance outside his class, the hot-blooded shonen comic would be almost too innovative.
But the comic's viewpoint followed Lin Shubei, so Lu Renyi received only a handful of panels. Even so, the impact was considerable. At the very least, the readers now knew that he was not weak.
【When Lin Shubei noticed a dark shape hurtling toward him, he instinctively stepped back. The surrounding vines disappeared. Zhou Cheng and his teammate lay stacked atop each other like acrobats, while Lu Renyi, who had caused it, looked perfectly relaxed and even yawned listlessly.
Lu Renyi was strong.】
Lu Renyi quickly skimmed the long inner monologue that followed. Most of it concerned Lin Shubei's guesses and wariness regarding him.
Lin Shubei seemed deeply worried that Lu Renyi harbored bad intentions. He even considered connecting his mind directly to Lu Renyi's brain and demanding his background.
But he quickly abandoned the dangerous idea. Instead, he pretended to behave exactly as usual and asked about Lu Renyi's ability.
[Brother Linzi just now... was triggered, wasn't he?]
[It looks like that final boss from the first volume truly traumatized Brother Linzi. Even after all this time, he instinctively guards against anyone hiding their strength.]
[Of course. The three of them nearly died because they believed the final boss's claim that he was weak and useless.]
[Lu Renyi looks quite strong. It probably took him less than two minutes to deal with Zhou Cheng.]
[What exactly is Lu Renyi's ability?]
The readers waited with Lin Shubei for Lu Renyi's answer. After learning that he was psychic-type, they began another round of discussion. Logically, the protagonist's group should not contain duplicate ability types.
Lin Shubei, meanwhile, wondered whether Lu Renyi had also relied on his ability to evade the earlier attacks. He did not believe Lu Renyi's nonsense about merely dodging quickly.
Thus, when Lu Renyi asked whether he wanted a demonstration, both Lin Shubei and the readers were pleased.
[I don't know why Lu Renyi is so enthusiastic, but he's strangely nice.]
[The plot probably demanded it. No one else would expose their entire ability without keeping a single trump card.]
[Who cares? I'm looking forward to it.]
[Brother Linzi is the only psychic-type so far. I thought they all used mind control or something. It doesn't look like that now.]
【Lin Shubei readily agreed. Although doubts remained in his heart, he still wanted to see how another psychic-type ability user employed his power.
Lu Renyi extended a hand toward Zhou Cheng and his teammate. A continuous, stable stream of psychic power flowed from his hand and quickly enveloped both men.
Lin Shubei saw them fall silent immediately. Once the dense psychic power covered them completely, they stopped grimacing and crying out in pain. Their faces became blank, their eyes terrified, and their bodies trembled.
Unlike Lin Shubei's method, which required issuing commands, Lu Renyi used his ability in complete silence. Were it not for the powerful psychic power that could not be ignored, Lin Shubei might have thought Lu Renyi was merely performing a pantomime.
"My ability is called Silent Prison. It can plunder anything from a space enclosed by psychic power: color, temperature, sound, psychic power, life force—even things that exist only as abstract concepts."
Lin Shubei instinctively turned toward Lu Renyi and found the other man watching him too. Lu Renyi's pupils were not the pure black Lin Shubei had imagined but contained faint threads of dark red.
"You think it's rather boring too, don't you?"】
Lu Renyi felt he had performed very well in this section. The comic even devoted an entire page to his use of psychic power, giving it considerable visual impact.
Lu Renyi discovered that his comic counterpart's eyes even emitted red light. He hesitated over whether to buy medicine later. Pinkeye was nothing good.
After deliberately ignoring the protagonist's honesty-beam declaration that made his heart seize, the rest developed much as Lu Renyi had imagined.
Zhou Cheng lost completely. In a foul mood, he vented at several lackeys before joining the queue. When he went to the restroom alone, a masked person abducted him.
When Zheng Jue sent someone to find him, only drag marks remained.
After a period of chaos, Lin Shubei was summoned to the principal's office. His first private meeting with Tang Hui happened because a student had been killed.
Tang Hui had already noticed Lin Shubei when Jiang Yan mentioned promising freshmen from each class. Although this was not a good opportunity to meet, Tang Hui's calm presence still soothed Lin Shubei's unease.
Then Lu Renyi appeared. Both felt they could not sit helplessly by, so Lu Renyi simply lied to help them escape. When he revealed the truth later, Lin Shubei transformed into a chibi figure with only six dots against a pure-black background.
[Brother Linzi is completely speechless.]
[Lu Renyi's expression just then was so convincing. I'd have believed him too if I were Zhou Cheng's parents.]
[He thinks quickly as well. He immediately realized someone must have informed Zhou Cheng's parents and redirected their conflict toward the Zhou family's corporate rivals.]
As the comic progressed, Lu Renyi and Lin Shubei found the poisonous plants and realized the matter might truly be connected to them. The panel where they exchanged awkward looks even filled an entire page.
[Hahahahahaha, I'm dying.]
[A moment ago: How could this have anything to do with me? Now: It seems this really might have something to do with me.]
[Zhou Cheng started the dispute himself, and injuries were unavoidable during the fight, but the two of them really do seem to have indirectly caused his death.]
[The two kids won't be traumatized, will they?]
[Brother Linzi fought an enemy during the final battle of the previous volume and has seen blood. He probably won't suffer any psychological burden.]
[Why is Lu Renyi so calm too? He doesn't look like an ordinary student.]
Before they began their escape, the comic gave Lu Renyi a long sequence of panels: his statement, "I love the academy, and the academy loves me," and the look in his eyes when he suddenly stared at the plant slowly recovering its vitality.
Every change was recorded. The color palette gradually darkened, and even the readers sensed that a storm was approaching.
【"Are you fast?"
Before Lin Shubei understood the meaning of Lu Renyi's question, Lu Renyi pushed his head down and helped him evade a bullet. Only then did Lin Shubei realize that the earlier question had been a warning.
After discovering they could not enter, the two quickly agreed to split up. Lu Renyi's parting words—"Be careful not to get hurt"—did not sound like a simple warning.
Lin Shubei used his psychic power to investigate the number of enemies and discovered that Lu Renyi had drawn most of the enemy fire away. Moved, Lin Shubei quickened his pace.
He focused entirely on the enemy behind him and forgot Lu Renyi's warning. When he realized the fragile plant in his hand had cut him, Lin Shubei's consciousness began to blur.
With sheer willpower, he briefly controlled the enemy behind him and ran into the teachers' field of vision before he finally collapsed. When he awakened again, he heard Lu Renyi proclaiming his ambition.
"If you don't stop pinning down my hand, I'll extort 5 million from you."】
Lu Renyi already knew everything that happened afterward. After watching Jiang Hong's introduction and Lin Shubei's inner thoughts when he realized he could no longer conceal his secret, Lu Renyi closed the comic.
"Host, your discussion hasn't reached 10,000, so you can't unlock the forum function yet. But you've attracted plenty of attention. Keep working hard!"