…Boring.
…So boring I could die.
…An entire school full of idiots. Annoying as hell.
…Want money.
…Want lots and lots and lots of money.
…Want to hit someone.
He yawned, once again contemplating a trip to the bustling commercial district after school to “earn” a little extra cash. Just then, he heard the sound of the teacher walking into the classroom.
“These eight are the new transfer students,” the teacher announced. “Let’s all welcome them! Oh, Wang Ye, what’s that signature pen on your desk…”
“In any case, these eight students are, from today onward, members of our class.” The refined teacher, wearing gold rimmed glasses, spoke in a gentle tone yet his gaze drifted toward the young man seated by the window.
…It seemed as though he wasn’t looking this way at all. So he thought. Still, with polite words, he invited the students waiting outside the classroom to come in one by one and introduce themselves at the podium.
The first to hop lightly onto the platform was the lively and spirited Ye Xiangxiang. She wore a cream colored dress, bright and vivacious like peach blossoms in spring.
The moment she appeared, her youthful beauty drew countless eyes. After finishing her sweet self introduction, she rolled her eyes playfully and let her gaze settle on the young man seated by the window in the second to last row on the right.
The young man was not looking toward the podium at all. He lazily twirled a red pen in his fingers, staring out the window, yawning with evident disinterest. The sunlight fell across the straight bridge of his nose, lending it the soft luster of white jade.
Ye Xiangxiang was momentarily dazed by the visual impact. She had originally intended to search the class for the presence of “Tomie” yet unexpectedly found her attention captured by a male instead. The faint stirrings of a maiden’s heart quickly subsided as she regained her composure and inwardly scolded herself for being so infatuated.
…Now was not the time to ogle pretty boys. With that thought, she scanned the room again but failed to find any woman whose appearance could rival the concept of “Tomie.”
Could it be that Tomie wasn’t in this class? A trace of unease stirred in her heart.
After Ye Xiangxiang, Qiu Ran stepped onto the podium. She wore a white blouse and deep black trousers. Her long, pitch black hair was tied back with a red cord, her bearing gentle and old fashioned, like a mountain moon over a temple. Like Ye Xiangxiang, she swept her gaze across the classroom. When her eyes fell upon Lin Huai, she froze for a moment.
“This…”
Before she could dwell on the thought, the teacher had already directed her to her assigned seat.
Following Qiu Ran, Zhang Mingge, Unorthodox master, Ji Fengjian, Qu Mei and Gu Beichen also took turns stepping onto the classroom stage. Aside from Unorthodox master, who was met with disdain because of his bald head and Qu Mei, whose overly plump figure provoked a ripple of snickers, the other three possessed strikingly outstanding looks.
Zhang Mingge appeared solemn and composed, Ji Fengjian brash and unruly, Gu Beichen cold and elegant. Each of their entrances caused a small stir in the room.
“These new transfer students are all so handsome…”
“Actually, that bald one looks pretty good too. He seems kind and benevolent and there’s a bit of cinnabar between his brows, he kind of looks like Tang Sanzang from the live action Journey to the West…”
“What’s up with that guy named Qu Mei? He looks the most out of place…”
Amid the whispers and murmurs filling the classroom, only Lin Huai remained unmoved. He continued gazing out the window, utterly uninterested.
The moment Zhang Mingge, the seventh to enter the classroom, caught sight of Lin Huai, his brows furrowed. Without hesitation, he decided to head toward the empty seat behind Lin Huai. However,
Someone else had already pushed open the back door and walked in behind Lin Huai.
“Good morning, friends,” came a cheerful voice along with the scrape of a chair being pulled out. The long limbed young man had already taken the seat directly behind Lin Huai. “I’m your eighth transfer student. I got tired of standing outside, so I came in first. By the way”
He straightened up and patted Lin Huai on the shoulder. “I’m sitting behind you. You don’t mind, do you?”
The moment his palm landed on Lin Huai’s shoulder, Lin Huai had already turned around. What met his eyes was a somewhat roguish face, a smile that was lazy yet sincere.
“Sure,” Lin Huai said, the corners of his eyes curving upward as he smiled. “I’ve been waiting for you for a long time.”
As the two locked eyes, a subtle commotion stirred within the classroom.
“Damn it…” someone ground out through clenched teeth. “Another one who only cares about looks…”
“Bastard!” someone shrieked. “Stay away from our gege!”
Chu Tianshu: …
“Don’t mind them.” Lin Huai reached up and covered his ears, narrowing his eyes. “The people here are all lunatics.”
Chu Tianshu nodded. “Oh, okay.”
Then he looked toward Zhang Mingge, who had already walked up to the desk and raised an eyebrow at him. “Sorry, this seat’s already taken. You’d better find another one.”
“You…!”
Zhang Mingge glared at him, then at Lin Huai seated in front of him. In that instant, Zhang Mingge finally recalled the terror that had once dominated them and the humiliation of being imprisoned within that Daoist temple.
The evil villain and his accomplice… His head had never throbbed like this before.
He shot the two of them a fierce look, then went to sit in a seat behind and to the left of Lin Huai, his eyes fixed unblinkingly in their direction.
Seeing that everyone had taken their seats, the teacher finally adjusted his glasses. He cast another glance at Lin Huai by the window before opening his lesson plan.
“Today, we will be studying the work of the renowned educator and thinker Lu Xun, ‘Hometown’…”
“I braved the bitter cold to return to my hometown, more than two thousand li away, a place I had not seen for over twenty years…”
The teacher’s rich reading voice echoed through the classroom yet among the nine players present, not a single one was listening to his explanation.
Seated in the corner by the wall, Ye Xiangxiang observed every movement of the students around her. As the first to take her seat, she had long since noticed the undercurrents flowing between Qiu Ran, Zhang Mingge, Chu Tianshu and Lin Huai. She could not help but frown.
“These four… just what exactly are they…”
There was clearly old enmity between Chu Tianshu and Zhang Mingge, she had discerned that long ago. Qiu Ran, on the other hand, seemed unfamiliar with both of them and yet the three of them were somehow connected by a mysterious NPC and that NPC happened to be extremely beautiful.
However, that NPC treated all three of them with complete unfamiliarity. It was obvious he did not know them. Which raised the question, Ye Xiangxiang pondered, if her deduction was correct and this NPC was actually a player aligned with the “Tomie” faction, then why was he pretending not to recognize the three of them? Although Zhang Mingge harbored hostility toward him, Qiu Ran and Chu Tianshu displayed something closer to intimacy…
Yes. For someone skilled at reasoning like Ye Xiangxiang, she did not believe Lin Huai was “Tomie” himself. After all, when had there ever been a male Tomie? Based on the system’s information about “faction confrontation,” she had arbitrarily classified Lin Huai into the “Tomie” faction and identified him as one of Tomie’s collaborators.
…After all, this wasn’t a boys’ love novel. Where would a male Tomie even come from? she silently complained to herself.
But what puzzled her was Chu Tianshu’s attitude toward Lin Huai, it was far too intimate. In the span of this brief forty minute class, she had already seen Chu Tianshu use the excuse of borrowing things to bother Lin Huai five times…
And beside her, the malice emanating from the other NPCs toward Chu Tianshu was almost beginning to condense into a tangible black mass.
Ye Xiangxiang wiped the sweat from her forehead and decided not to dwell on it. The most urgent task now was to determine the identity of “Tomie,” and then,
According to the mission, completely kill her before she completed her evolution!
Fortunately, she knew that Qiu Ran happened to possess an item capable of killing “Tomie.” Yes, after two instances, this girl’s luck was still absurdly good. That was precisely why she had invited Qiu Ran to team up with her.
The Arrow of Minyan!
The Arrow of Minyan was a flaming arrow that, once released, would not extinguish until the target it struck had been burned to nothing. Paired with her own paper folding technique and flight ability, it would create the perfect synergy.
In battle, she would carry Qiu Ran on a paper airplane, while controlling flying paper birds and paper bees to encircle “Tomie.” Then, with a single arrow imbued with Minyan’s flames, under a sky filled with swirling paper, they would form the most perfect encirclement around her. Within that overwhelming siege, “Tomie” would have nowhere to escape!
No matter how beautiful, no matter how powerful, she would be burned relentlessly in those flames until nothing remained but lifeless ashes.
“Tomie” was an extremely difficult being to eradicate. Even before entering this instance, Ye Xiangxiang had already studied her characteristics in great detail.
Any single cell, any scrap of skin, could serve as fertile ground for Tomie’s regeneration. In one manga, Tomie even disappeared from within a coffin after being sealed inside for decades. Therefore, from the very beginning, Ye Xiangxiang had never entertained any notion of restricting Tomie’s personal freedom.
In stark contrast to her delicate and noble young lady appearance was her fierce temperament and ruthless methods. Once she located “Tomie,” she intended to unleash this ultimate move immediately and eliminate her completely!
At last, the bell for lunch break rang.
Ye Xiangxiang turned around and smiled at the boy seated behind her. “Hello.”
She knew very well the allure of her own appearance. Being addressed by such a beautiful girl, the boy behind her blushed, just as expected. Ye Xiangxiang went straight to the point.
“Do you know which girls in this school are famously beautiful?”
“Ah?”
“I mean girls who are even prettier than me,” she said.
The boy thought for a moment, then shook his head. “There aren’t any like that. You’re the prettiest… girl I’ve ever seen.”
Ye Xiangxiang: …
That’s not right. “Tomie” is clearly in this school, how could there be no beautiful girls? She patiently continued, “Then what about girls who are just a little less pretty than me? Like class beauties, school beauties, that sort of thing?”
“Hmm…” The boy considered it. “Class beauties? There are a few.”
He listed their names one by one. Ye Xiangxiang memorized each of them silently. She noticed that Gu Beichen seemed to be listening in on their conversation as well but she paid it no mind and simply let him listen.
She was also curious about Gu Beichen’s abilities.
After he had finished naming all the class beauties in the entire school, Ye Xiangxiang asked again, “Then what about the school beauty? Who is the school beauty here?”
“The school beauty…” The boy’s eyes drifted toward the other side of the classroom. “Is…”
Ye Xiangxiang followed the direction of his gaze.
From by the window came the scraping sound of a chair. The young man with peach blossom eyes closed his book and stood up from his seat.
It looked as though he was about to leave.
Everyone’s eyes followed him as he exited the classroom. The handsome young man who had been seated behind him stretched lazily, slipped his hands into his pockets and swaggered out after him.
“The school beauty is…”
“Sigh, he’s finally gone. Now I can say it.” The boy behind her lowered his voice. It seemed Lin Huai’s lingering intimidation still held sway; before speaking, he glanced to both sides to confirm Lin Huai had not returned. Then he leaned in and whispered, “The school beauty is the one who just walked out.”
“Huh?” Ye Xiangxiang was stunned. “The one who just left was clearly a guy…”
…How could a man possibly be Tomie? With that thought, she resolved to investigate every beautiful girl in the entire school before the day was over but before that…
“You look like you have your own ideas,” she said to Gu Beichen beside her, resting her chin on her hand. “Planning to make a move before I do?”
“I’ll make this clear first. If you’re not absolutely certain you can completely eliminate Tomie, I suggest you don’t act,” Gu Beichen replied coldly. “Otherwise you’ll only increase my workload unnecessarily. My time is valuable. If you end up creating a bunch of copies, you’ll just be causing me more trouble.”
“You seem very confident.” Slightly irritated by his disdainful look, Ye Xiangxiang smiled instead. “What abilities do you have?”
“One of my abilities is anesthesia and sensory deprivation,” Gu Beichen said, raising his hand. “I also possess additional offensive skills… There’s no need to report those to you, is there?”
“Is that so?” Ye Xiangxiang said. “I look forward to seeing it. From here on, let’s each act on our own and not interfere with one another.”
They exchanged a glance, then looked away.
Unorthodox master, who had overheard their conversation, exchanged a look with Qu Mei and quietly shut his mouth, eyes lowered in contemplation.
“You’re still too naive. Lacking a bit of life experience…” he sighed inwardly.
Chu Tianshu followed Lin Huai out of the classroom. Along the way, students from other classrooms peeked out as Lin Huai passed, stealing furtive glances.
Lin Huai walked beneath the collective gaze without the slightest embarrassment. He did not head toward the restroom nor the teachers’ office. Instead, he went upstairs, all the way to the quiet, deserted rooftop.
Once on the rooftop, the young man who had maintained a cold expression the entire time finally leaned against the railing, looking as though he were about to collapse.
“Sigh, finally no one’s around…” he lamented in despair.
“Your living environment is truly tragic,” Chu Tianshu said sincerely.
“Stop gloating.” Lin Huai slumped over the railing and took a bite of his bread. When he noticed Chu Tianshu staring at his hand, he held the bread out to him. “You want some?”
“…” Chu Tianshu pointed at his hand. “You didn’t wash your hands before eating.”
Lin Huai: …
He couldn’t be bothered to respond and instead chewed viciously on the cream bun, as if venting his frustration. After a moment of silence, Chu Tianshu said, “The cream’s dripping all over your hands… Why don’t you just eat in the classroom?”
“You think I don’t want to?” Lin Huai narrowed his eyes. “Can you imagine this? You’re halfway through eating when someone inevitably calls you out. By the time you leave the classroom and come back, your bread will have… a few extra bite marks that definitely aren’t yours. It’s horrifying. Are there no students in this instance who actually want to study seriously?”
As he spoke, his face turned green again. “Just thinking about it makes me lose my appetite. Tsk.”
“…” Chu Tianshu said, “Give it to me.”
Lin Huai handed him the remaining bread, then pulled a piece of tissue from his pocket to wipe his hands. “So what’s your main quest?”
Chu Tianshu briefly described the details of the mission. Lin Huai rolled his eyes. “Oh, so even you’re going to be my enemy?”
“Actually, we can interpret this confrontation mission from another angle,” Chu Tianshu continued smoothly. “The players’ evaluation criteria are ‘the death of all Tomies,’ ‘the rescue of the bewitched students,’ and ‘no more than sixty four Tomies existing at the same time.’ Your evaluation criteria, on the other hand, are ‘only the original body survives,’ ‘bewitch a sufficient number of NPCs,’ and ‘earn enough money.’ These two sets of objectives may seem contradictory, ”
He drew several lines between the six dialogue boxes. “In fact, they don’t conflict with each other at all. On the contrary, certain actions taken by the players can even provide you with protection.”
“First, there’s ‘bewitching a sufficient number of NPCs.’ This is a one time task. As long as you successfully bewitch an NPC once, then regardless of whether the bewitchment is later undone, you can count it as completing the task.” Chu Tianshu drew a horizontal line beneath the first objective. “It’s already established that Tomie’s power grows stronger over time. By the later stages of the game, even if you’re simply walking down the street like a normal person, fanatical NPCs may attack you, injure you and in doing so create even more clones. However, if the players are willing to cooperate with you and attempt to lift the bewitchment after it’s been completed, then both sides can achieve a win win outcome.”
“Second, the elimination of the clones. Setting aside the original body for the moment, destroying the clones is a shared objective between you and the other players. Therefore, we can fully exploit the other players to eliminate the remaining clones and then find a way to sit back and reap the benefits. Finally, as for Tomie’s original body…” Chu Tianshu’s gaze shifted to the tear mole beneath his eye.
“From beginning to end, the task issued by the mangaka has been to ‘eliminate Tomie,’ not to ‘eliminate Lin Huai.’ Therefore, I judge that as long as we can remove the tear mole from the original body’s face, it will count as a success.”
“…So that means plastic surgery, right? According to what you’re saying, if we remove the unnecessary side quests, there isn’t even any real competition between me and the other players?”
“That’s correct.” Chu Tianshu nodded. “However, very few players would think that far ahead. For the vast majority of them, this is simply a confrontation mission. As long as they eliminate members of the opposing camp, they can claim victory. Of course, that’s not only the result of the habitual mindset that ‘camp confrontation’ means ‘you die or I die,’ but also the inevitable outcome guided by the mangaka’s deliberate misdirection.”
✦ ✧ ✦
Cresvynia
[Translator]
☕ A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR THE TRANSLATOR
(づ｡•́‿•̀｡)づ ☕ — coffee for the hardworking translator
☕ BUY THEM A COFFEE →
✧ (づ｡•ㅅ•｡)づ ☕ ✧
✦ thank you for reading ✦
← PreviousNext →
ChaptersChapter 111 · Although the author really didn’t want to writeChapter 112 · An explanation of the main storylineChapter 113 · Lin Huai’s QuestionChapter 114 · Hello classmateChapter 115 · Let me introduce the protagonist’s family backgroundChapter 116 · The innocent and naive Lin XiaohuaiChapter 117 · The Trisolarans ArriveChapter 118 · He Isn’t Fighting AloneChapter 119 · Why Here?Chapter 120 · A World Where Everyone Is Sculpted in ClayChapter 121 · How Could It Be YouChapter 122 · I want to sell my carChapter 123 · The Mysterious Transfer StudentsChapter 124 · Gu BeichenChapter 125 · The Male Lead of This StoryChapter 126 · A Voice Never Heard BeforeChapter 127 · You’re Tomie, aren’t you?Chapter 128 · I’ll give youChapter 129 · I just want to be with youChapter 130 · The Principal’s OfficeChapter 131 · Chu: I Disbanded Your Hate GroupsChapter 132 · Speak ProperlyChapter 133 · A Trisolaran Enters the Grand View GardenChapter 134 · Ji FengjianChapter 135 · About Me and YouChapter 136 · Kayako Likes ItChapter 137 · YouChapter 138 · I’ll Beat MyselfChapter 139 · I Want to See MyselfChapter 140 · The Trisolarans’ First Experience of Love and SexChapter 141 · The Trisolarans Try Romance Once MoreChapter 142 · The Trisolarans Try Romance for the Third TimeChapter 143 · It’s All This Buff’s FaultChapter 144 · The Way You Straight Men TalkChapter 145 · Why are you taking it so seriously?Chapter 146 · Chu Tianshu Shows Off His MusclesChapter 147 · Enter the DreamChapter 148 · Leave a little secretChapter 149 · Shadow StreamerChapter 150 · Don’t Look at MeChapter 151 · The Trisolarans betrayed StalinChapter 152 · Then I WillChapter 153 · The Trisolarans rewrite the Book of Life and DeathChapter 154 · What Career Could Be More Important Than Your Wife?Chapter 155 · Aren’t We Already Together?Chapter 156 · MVP of the Entire FieldChapter 157 · Meeting the FamilyChapter 158 · A Phone Call Across Time and SpaceChapter 159 · Lu Jin, You’re So MiserableChapter 160 · The Lands Of DaughtersChapter 161 · The So Called Pregnancy StreamChapter 162 · The Street Where Only the Two of Us ExistChapter 163 · No bare faceChapter 164 · Question 1: Do you have hair loss?Chapter 165 · LaxativesChapter 166 · Where Exactly Do You Exist?Chapter 167 · Seven ZeroChapter 168 · The issue of 0 and 1Chapter 169 · Wind ChimeChapter 170 · Visa and Wind ChimesChapter 171 · Continue to persecute Lu JinChapter 172 · Examiner: I’ve fallen in love with himChapter 173 · Lin Huai intimidates scalpersChapter 174 · Night of EvilChapter 175 · Congratulations to the Male Guests on Successfully Finding Their PartnersChapter 176 · Before ThisChapter 177 · The gong says he is terrifiedChapter 178 · The Tasker CampChapter 179 · I’m So ScaredChapter 180 · The Final Transitional ChapterChapter 181 · Four Beauties Among the FlowersChapter 182 · Plum FragranceChapter 183 · Dry Weather and Flammable ThingsChapter 184 · The Heartless Sword ManualChapter 185 · Only MeChapter 186 · The North PoleChapter 187 · Let Brother Lin Learn to Meow Like a CatChapter 188 · Good Night