Only after Lu Renyi's phone vibrated some time later did the two slowly shuffle out of the exercise room. Before leaving, Lin Shubei pulled up one of the wilted plants, while Lu Renyi took a photograph and sent it to the principal's mailbox.
Hopefully, Tang Hui still had the inclination to check the principal's mailbox and solve her students' problems in time.
"Let's go see Zhou Cheng. Hopefully, his body hasn't turned this sickly yellow too."
Lu Renyi cast a disgusted look at the plant in Lin Shubei's hand.
"Be careful not to get infected. Poisoning makes people look hideous."
Lin Shubei rolled his eyes. If Lu Renyi had not refused to carry it, and if Lin Shubei had possessed a storage space, he would not have had to wrap a plant so hastily in a sheet of paper.
"What do we do if this has nothing to do with what happened to Zhou Cheng?"
"Then we'll just have to deal with it."
Lu Renyi had no desire to offer false reassurances about trying again. If he did not have further plans, why would he give up valuable resting time just to stare at a plant here?
"You're still one of the suspects. If they can't catch the culprit, Zhou Cheng's parents may be unable to target the academy and turn on us instead."
Even if Zhou Cheng's parents had realized that this probably had nothing to do with the two of them, human emotions were exceptionally complex and difficult to predict. At any moment, they might redirect their grief as cannon fire aimed at Lu Renyi and Lin Shubei.
"I believe the academy will protect me. I love the academy, and the academy loves me."
Lu Renyi remained determined to take it easy. Even the agitation Lin Shubei had felt subsided under that influence. Lin Shubei could not understand what Lu Renyi was thinking.
If Lu Renyi had not wanted to become involved, why had he raised an objection in the first place? If he wanted to solve the problem, why did he look so unwilling?
The System wondered the same thing, but unlike Lin Shubei, it had no reservations and asked directly. Lu Renyi had no intention of concealing the answer.
"This should be the first plot point the protagonist encounters inside the academy, shouldn't it? If I help him find the culprit, I'll definitely receive plenty of panels, and they'll even show me in a positive light. But if I spend the entire time anxious and tense, my character will be far too shallow."
These days, outside the protagonist's group, how many people were purely good? Even villains needed tragic backgrounds to create contrast. Someone like Lu Renyi, who needed to attract attention, could hardly lack a three-dimensional characterization.
Rather than the heroes' camp or the villains' camp, Lu Renyi preferred remaining in the impure gray area. Things would become far more interesting once chaos began.
Lu Renyi did not voice those thoughts. Based solely on what the System heard, all that remained was Lu Renyi's self-sacrificing dedication to the mission.
The System: Host has sacrificed so much for the mission. I need to work hard too!
The System found a way to obtain advance viewing rights for the comic. It planned to tell Lu Renyi the good news once he was free.
"Teacher Jiang said that someone has already been sent to examine Zhou Cheng's current physical condition. The results should be ready by the time we arrive."
Lu Renyi relayed the message Jiang Yan had just sent him to Lin Shubei. Everything was probably still developing in a favorable direction, allowing Lin Shubei to relax.
Lu Renyi's phone vibrated again with a reply from the principal. She had already contacted an appropriate ability user and was waiting for them to bring back the sample for testing. It was hard on her to make time for the principal's mailbox in the middle of all this chaos merely to solve her students' problems, probably because she knew the two had no other way to contact her.
Everything was going too smoothly. Following the usual pattern of comics like this, the protagonist's appearance in a new volume should involve more twists and turns.
If nothing had gone wrong for anyone else, then something could only go wrong for the protagonist.
Lu Renyi glanced at the plant pinched between Lin Shubei's fingers. The once-wilted grass had recovered much of its green color. As it swayed in the wind, Lu Renyi seemed to see a hand reaching toward them.
"Lin Shubei, are you fast?"
"Why ask that so suddenly? My speed is passable. Is there a problem?"
Nothing much. They were merely likely to encounter the culprit or one of the culprit's accomplices soon.
As the protagonist, Lin Shubei would definitely be the main target. If he did not run fast enough, he might suffer.
Lu Renyi had no intention of warning him. Casually interfering with another person's karma would only bring more severe consequences, and Lu Renyi had no desire to become the unfortunate substitute hunted in Lin Shubei's place.
Lin Shubei was the protagonist. The System and its superiors would not be stupid enough to let him die. Lu Renyi was different. Even if he had been bound to perform missions, without plot armor, being drawn into danger would probably end badly for him.
Lin Shubei kept glancing sideways at Lu Renyi, trying to read something from his face. From the beginning, Lu Renyi had always struck him as inscrutable, as if everything he said and did depended entirely on his whims, without any fixed pattern.
Seeing that they were about to reach the academy infirmary, Lin Shubei knew he would lose his chance if he did not probe now. He turned toward Lu Renyi and began.
"You..."
"Duck."
Lu Renyi pushed Lin Shubei's head down the moment the first word left his mouth. By the time Lin Shubei reacted, a bullet had shot from the woods behind them, passing through his hair and striking the wall opposite.
The two immediately crouched behind a flower bed. Before they could turn around, Lin Shubei suddenly sensed energy fluctuations outside the infirmary. He rushed forward and reached out, discovering a barrier. Electricity was already spreading toward him from all sides.
Lin Shubei withdrew his hand in time, dodged another bullet from an unknown location, and returned grim-faced behind the flower bed.
"There's a ward outside. We can't get in for now."
Lu Renyi could only say that he had expected as much. He tossed the sprig of asparagus fern he had taken from the principal's office into the air. The next moment, the pitiful plant turned to a handful of ash.
It appeared that the bullets were also products of an ability. Anyone struck would probably become a handful of ash too.
While sending a message to the principal's mailbox, Lu Renyi discussed with Lin Shubei how they should escape.
"Can you control a bullet at the instant it's fired?"
"No. My psychic power hasn't reached the level where I can instantly control objects."
It was not only a matter of psychic power but of controlling an ability with precision. Capturing the bullet the moment it was fired and immediately controlling it required every step to be exact to the smallest degree.
"I just emailed the principal, but I don't know when she'll see it. The teachers have all been assigned to protect the dormitories. If we want help, we either kill the person hiding out there first or go to the dormitories. Except..."
"Except that if we go there, we can't guarantee the other students' safety. If that person takes a hostage, things will become even more troublesome."
Lin Shubei understood what Lu Renyi had left unsaid. Seeking the teachers' protection would naturally be best, but Lin Shubei did not want to drag other people into this. His friends were there too. If they learned what was happening, they would certainly intervene, making matters even more complicated.
"From the look of you, you want option one. Then you'd better run quickly."
Lu Renyi was not surprised by Lin Shubei's choice. The protagonist of justice would ultimately sacrifice himself for others no matter how rebellious he was. If Lin Shubei had truly planned to go to the dormitories, Lu Renyi might have asked the System to check whether someone was controlling him.
"Are you fast? That person may come after you too, won't they?"
If it had been anyone else, Lu Renyi would naturally have made more preparations. But the person beside him was the protagonist, and the camera would only follow Lin Shubei. Lu Renyi would receive one or two panels at most.
"Don't worry. I run very quickly too."
Lu Renyi gave his assurance with a smile. Lin Shubei inexplicably felt a shiver run down his back, as though something had fixed its gaze on him.
"You go left and I'll go right. We'll circle around to the opposite side. If you find an opening, run. Don't think about coming back to flank them. Finding help is the most important thing."
Lu Renyi casually chose a direction, then glanced at Lin Shubei. They had hidden in such a hurry that Lin Shubei had only managed to grab the wilted plant from the ground. The paper had long since blown away.
"Be careful not to get hurt."
Leaving behind those ambiguous words, Lu Renyi ran to the right. Lin Shubei had no time to consider what they meant. They could not have been an expression of genuine concern.
Lin Shubei rose and ran left. When he heard repeated whistling sounds drawing ever closer from beside him, he abruptly changed direction and sprinted toward their source.
His nerves were taut as he dodged the bullets, so he failed to notice the grass writhing in his hand as it tried to cut his wrist.
On the other side, after dodging the first few bullets, Lu Renyi no longer sensed any attacks. He had run less than fifty meters when he stopped and walked leisurely toward the direction from which the bullets had come.
"The protagonist needs to undergo certain trials to grow. We can't deprive him of the opportunity. After all, there can be no rainbow without a storm."
Lu Renyi easily found an excuse for his laziness. Although the System felt that something was not quite right, Lu Renyi's confidence still reassured it.
Its host would work hard for the mission. The System could not have so little faith in him.
"But Host, there are clearly more people here than on the protagonist's side. Is this part of your plan too?"
Lu Renyi looked at the four people who had appeared from nowhere before him, each wearing a pure-black mask. The corner of his mouth twitched.
"I didn't know they liked me better either. They ignored the protagonist to chase me instead. What unusual tastes."
Lu Renyi kept dodging as he wisecracked. The four people behind him alternated their attacks, trying to squeeze away his final sliver of breathing room.
Troublesome. If killing them all now would not attract attention, Lu Renyi would never have agreed to play this game of pursuit.
"System, where is Lin Shubei?"
Lu Renyi leaned aside to dodge a vine attacking from behind. Obvious black energy clung to it, exactly like the vines in the simulated exercise room.
It appeared that this ability user was the person controlling those plants.
"Host, the protagonist is directly north of you. He and the enemy have already left these woods. He's now running toward the football field."
The football field was not far, but it was too open and offered no cover. If Lin Shubei planned to deal with an ability user carrying a gun there, it was far from a good choice. Logically, he should not have made such a mistake.
"It seems that grass has already made him bleed."
Once the toxin spread, even if Lin Shubei were normally clearheaded and rational, it would be difficult for him to think everything through.
"There are probably people near the football field. As long as Lin Shubei survives the road there, he should be safe."
After confirming the protagonist's location, Lu Renyi also knew which way to run. The glorious moment of defeating the villains ought to be left to the protagonist.
But these four had given him such a hard time, leaving him covered in mud. There was no harm in collecting a little interest.
Just as Lu Renyi was about to leave the woods, he suddenly turned to face the person gripping two blades and preparing to cut him down. A pure-black mask covered the person's entire face, revealing only a pair of eyes.
Lu Renyi caught both wrists, bent them outward, and sent the blades falling instantly. The intense pain left the attacker no attention for his surroundings, so he had no idea why his body suddenly froze.
Unable to move, he felt the surroundings instantly recede and his vision become empty. Color dragged sound and temperature away with it, leaving him with nothing but himself. When even his sense of touch departed, he no longer knew where that self had gone.
【Silent Prison】
Lu Renyi withdrew his hand. Ignoring the person who collapsed to the ground, his life or death uncertain, he turned to continue his great escape.
But when the other three saw their companion's unknown condition, they unanimously chose to leave. Before departing, they threw a pill into the fallen man's mouth. The next instant, he dissolved into a stagnant puddle, leaving only wet clothing on the ground.
With the threat gone, Lu Renyi simply returned and examined the pool of sticky green liquid, somewhat helplessly.
"I didn't actually use lethal force. He would have awakened after resting for a while."
Still, Lu Renyi rather admired people this ruthless and decisive.
The slime was corrosive. Knowing he could not deal with it, Lu Renyi called Lin Shubei, intending to have him bring a teacher.
But Tang Hui, not Lin Shubei, answered the phone.
"Student Lu Renyi, Student Lin Shubei is in poor condition. He collapsed after finding a teacher, and he's now in the infirmary. You should come for an examination too."
Tang Hui's steady voice seemed able to pass through two phones and soothe the listener's heart. Even Lu Renyi's agitation from moments before subsided.
But her next words instantly cleared his head. His relaxed nerves tightened once more. To Lu Renyi, Tang Hui's voice now sounded more like a summons from death.
"Also, I want to ask you a few questions about your ability."
Tang Hui looked at Lu Renyi's dejected expression on the electronic display before her, puzzled.
"Those were clearly the fluctuations of an illusion-type ability. How were you identified as a psychic-control type?"
Even if his ability had been misidentified during the assessment in his hometown at age fifteen, surely the academy's previous admissions assessment could not have made the same mistake.
Every year, many students concealed their strength and were assigned to classes that did not match them. Not one had ever had their ability type misidentified.
"Could he be a dual-ability holder?"