Yao Shangxing kicked open the door to the principal’s office while carrying two baby bears on his shoulders. He strode in with great momentum.
“Principal! It’s time for you to step down! From now on, this school should be run by the students…”
When he saw Li Chi sitting in the middle of the office, his tone immediately softened.
“Oh? The students’ leader has arrived?”
Li Chi sat with his legs crossed and spoke in a flat tone.
“……”
Yao Shangxing did not reply. He did not dare meet Li Chi’s eyes.
If you asked Yao Shangxing who he feared most in this school, it was not the Mediterranean middle-aged homeroom teacher, not the magical girl music teacher, and certainly not the bald principal.
It was his good brother—Li Chi.
Yes. The originally super-strong Yao Shangxing, who was as powerful as a monster, had been beaten into submission by Li Chi. Though to be fair, this matter was partly Li Chi’s fault.
Li Chi sighed in annoyance.
Was I out of my mind back then?
Why did I tell this guy about those things from another world?
He used to be such a good, honest kid. After being polluted by filthy knowledge from beyond this world, his entire personality had gone bad.
That was exactly what had happened. Because Li Chi had shared some “knowledge” from the memory movies he had seen, Yao Shangxing had completely gone off the rails. His personality had started developing in strange directions.
In truth, Li Chi had already noticed the warning signs when Yao Shangxing first showed them. But at the time, he had simply wanted to watch the show and chose not to intervene.
Now he regretted it immensely.
The kid had grown crooked. Although his nature was still relatively kind, his behavior had become completely unpredictable.
No matter how you looked at it, this was Li Chi’s responsibility.
Li Chi rubbed his temples with a headache and secretly decided he needed to correct this guy’s personality.
“Wait, this has nothing to do with you, right?”
Yao Shangxing gathered his courage and tried to argue.
“I’m targeting the school and the principal. It has nothing to do with you. Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten our brotherly bond? Are you going to betray me?”
Seeing Yao Shangxing put on such a righteous expression, Li Chi casually came up with a reason.
“You lied to me last time.”
“???”
Yao Shangxing clearly never expected Li Chi to say that. Still, the other party’s unquestionable tone made him feel somewhat guilty.
“W-When?”
“Huh? When? So besides the one I know about, there were quite a few other times too?”
Yao Shangxing quickly corrected himself.
“I said it wrong. I meant—when did I ever lie to you?”
“Yesterday, when you wanted to fly. You said those fireworks were made by you.”
“I didn’t lie! I really did make them myself.”
For some reason, Yao Shangxing suddenly regained his confidence.
“Any normal person can tell that an ordinary person couldn’t possibly get their hands on something like that. Those came from our music teacher, didn’t they?”
Yao Shangxing declared firmly, “Magical Girl Ai Xin only gave me some raw materials. The things themselves were still made by me!”
“……”
Fine. You win.
Li Chi walked forward and placed a hand on Yao Shangxing’s shoulder.
The two baby bears took the chance while Yao Shangxing was distracted and quickly jumped off his arm. They ran straight toward the file cabinet where the principal was hiding and started scratching at the door with their not-yet-fully-grown little claws.
Too terrifying… That guy is not human at all…
Yao Shangxing’s entire body stiffened.
The moment Li Chi’s hand landed on his shoulder, it felt like he was being grabbed by an ogre.
Even though the other party wasn’t using any force, Yao Shangxing simply could not move.
“Um…” Yao Shangxing forced a dry laugh. “Li Chi, let’s talk this out nicely. We’re brothers…”
“Yeah. Let’s talk nicely.” Li Chi nodded. His tone was as calm as if he were asking whether the other person had eaten yet. “Isn’t that exactly what I’m doing right now?”
A faint sound came from inside the file cabinet. The principal seemed to want to peek out and check the situation. However, the two baby bears were currently clinging to the cabinet door, letting out low “woo woo” growls. Sensing danger, the principal quickly pulled his head back in and even dragged the two baby bears inside with him.
“Then how about you take your hand off?” Yao Shangxing carefully tried to pry Li Chi’s fingers loose. “Look, you’ve already scared the principal into crying…”
“I’m not crying!” The principal’s voice came from inside the file cabinet, clearly nasal. “It’s… it’s obviously you who caused all this!”
Even now, the principal—who had long since thrown his dignity to the winds—still tried to maintain some adult composure.
“Isn’t that still crying?” Li Chi didn’t even turn his head. “Look at you. Is it really that fun to bully the principal every day?”
Yao Shangxing closed his eyes in despair.
He knew what was coming next.
The last time Li Chi had grabbed his shoulder like this was the day after they first met.
Back then, Yao Shangxing had just finished listening to Li Chi tell stories about resisting tyrannical authority—stories he had never heard before. His blood had boiled on the spot. He wanted to try and see if he could become a hero who overthrew the higher-ups like in those tales.
But the premise of resistance was oppression. In this utopian world, where was there any oppression? The people in power and the higher-ups even wanted to treat the common people like treasures.
That time, after his failed sneak attack on the school higher-ups, Li Chi had grabbed his shoulder and lectured him for a full half hour. In the end, Yao Shangxing had cried and promised never to cause trouble again before he was finally released.
But this time was different.
This time, he had come prepared.
“Li Chi,” Yao Shangxing took a deep breath and suddenly straightened his back. “Do you know why I’m rebelling?”
Li Chi raised an eyebrow.
Wasn’t it because those delinquent boys egged you on? They only wanted to get back at the principal at first, but they never expected things to blow up this big.
“Because—” Yao Shangxing suddenly pulled something out of his pocket and threw it to the ground. “This is unfair!”
Boom!
A cloud of white smoke exploded and instantly filled the entire principal’s office.
The principal inside the file cabinet was choked into three consecutive sneezes. The two baby bears were so frightened they started running around while screaming.
Li Chi narrowed his eyes.
This kind of small scene didn’t require activating super perception at all. His warrior instincts alone were more than enough to handle it.
Through the smoke, he saw Yao Shangxing’s figure leap backward. Li Chi reached out to grab him.
Rip—!!
Yao Shangxing landed steadily on the windowsill.
At some point, that guy had changed into a black tracksuit and tied a towel over his face as a mask.
“You really came prepared, huh?” Li Chi patted the white dust off his shoulder. “You even made smoke bombs?”
“This was given to me by the music teacher—”
“……How much does that woman not want to work?!”
“How would I know?!” Yao Shangxing stood on the windowsill. The night wind made his clothes flap loudly. Beneath the mask, a pair of eyes burned with fighting spirit. “Li Chi, I know I can’t beat you. But today, I’m going to show you my resolve!”
Li Chi was silent for two seconds.
“Aren’t you cold?”
“……It’s June right now.”
“I’m talking about your butt. Is this year your zodiac year or something?”
“How could it be? I’m only seventeen. The next cycle won’t be until I’m twenty-four…”
Li Chi even held up a few scraps of fabric for him to see. Yao Shangxing felt the color looked extremely familiar.
“?”
Finally, a light breeze blew past. Yao Shangxing felt a sudden chill down below. He instinctively looked down and his face instantly turned green.
He was sticking his bright red butt out toward the window. In the distant teaching building, several students were curiously watching the show.
“Y-You’re cheating!” One hand covering his butt, the other desperately gripping the window frame, Yao Shangxing swayed precariously on the windowsill. “We’re fighting here! Why did you pull my pants off?!”
“I didn’t mean to pull your pants off,” Li Chi said expressionlessly. “I only gave them a little tug. You were the one who jumped backward. Besides, I left you a piece, didn’t I?”
“You might as well have just beaten me up!”
A weak voice came from inside the file cabinet. “Um… you two classmates… how about we all calm down first? I still have a few packs of tea in here…”
“Shut up!”
Both of them shouted at the same time.
The principal shrank back into the cabinet and hugged the two baby bears with a wronged expression.