Chapter 18: Counterattack

This morning’s vocal lesson was simple.

It mostly covered theoretical knowledge on proper vocalization.

Li Xingya sat next to Meng Yiqiao, and with Meng Yiqiao helping explain some of the trickier points, she could barely keep up.

But…

Sitting in the classroom, she felt like she was sitting on pins and needles.

‘The gazes coming from every direction… isn’t it a little too obvious?’

‘This feeling of being stared at is so uncomfortable.’

‘A newly enrolled student… in an academy that goes straight from middle school to high school, is this kind of identity really that conspicuous?’

‘Ugh, I’m feeling a bit nauseous.’

Li Xingya didn’t like being stared at like this.

But she had to admit that sitting next to the iceberg beauty Meng Yiqiao was eye-catching enough on its own.

Even now, in the post about her, people were still marveling that the person beside her was Meng Yiqiao.

‘Sigh, this is the weight of being ranked 41st on the Starlight Ranking.’

Li Xingya sighed.

As the bell rang for the end of class, she went limp and directly leaned onto Meng Yiqiao’s shoulder.

‘Ah, the feeling of being stared at just got stronger.’

‘Meng Yiqiao’s body even trembled a little. Did I scare her?’

“Big sister?”

Li Xingya said softly.

Meng Yiqiao’s face was expressionless, but her slightly quickened breath betrayed her inner panic.

‘So cute.’

‘Well, in the end, she’s just a seventeen-year-old kid.’

‘Though I’m only sixteen myself.’

Meng Yiqiao suddenly stood up.

“I’m going to the bathroom.”

“Want me to go with you?”

‘Heh, don’t judge me by appearances, I do know these basic things, you know.’

‘Girls going to the bathroom together and all that.’

Meng Yiqiao shook her head.

“No need.”

Probably wanting to preserve a bit of senior dignity, Meng Yiqiao chose to go alone.

The moment she stepped out of the classroom door, five people from nearby suddenly surrounded Li Xingya at her seat.

‘Here it comes.’

‘As a quasi-transfer student, getting surrounded and grilled with questions is to be expected.’

‘I’m already a bit annoyed… but come on, I’m ready.’

Li Xingya thought to herself, putting on a pre-prepared smile.

“Tch.”

‘Huh?’

“Bastard, who are you trying to seduce with that smile?”

‘What?’

“Leaning right on Lady Meng Yiqiao’s shoulder, you’ve got some nerve, huh.”

‘Wait…’

Probably because the situation was unexpected, Li Xingya’s smile froze on her face.

So the stares during class weren’t curiosity about me, but hatred and jealousy?

And “Lady Meng Yiqiao”—were these people some kind of rabid fan club?

By the time Li Xingya realized something was wrong and wanted to escape, it was already too late—the five had her completely surrounded.

The red-haired woman at the front stared dead at Li Xingya and demanded, “You got into Class A right after enrolling. Do you think you’re really talented or something?”

“Um…”

‘I’m not good at handling situations like this.’

‘Is there anyone here to save me?’

Li Xingya instinctively looked around, but saw everyone else silently averting their eyes.

‘Such a realistic reaction.’

‘This feeling… it really pisses me off.’

‘And I mean, really, really pisses me off.’

The irritation came too suddenly, so suddenly that Li Xingya couldn’t figure out why.

“I’m talking to you. Where are you looking?”

The sudden shout made Li Xingya instinctively shrink her shoulders.

“…Sorry.”

‘Damn it.’

‘I apologized on reflex.’

‘Now they’ll definitely see me as a pushover.’

The woman in front looked at Li Xingya with undisguised contempt.

“I remember you. Li Xingya?”

“Yes,” Li Xingya replied.

“Pfft, what kind of response is that? How dumb.”

Li Xingya didn’t speak.

Even a nuclear-powered donkey used to being beaten down by superiors would get angry in a situation like this.

“Xia Qi, just mess with her a little and that’s enough. Lady Meng Yiqiao will be back soon.”

“True.”

The red-haired woman named Xia Qi gave Li Xingya a disdainful look.

“Hey, you slut, remember this: stay away from Lady Meng Yiqiao from now on…”

“Why?”

Li Xingya suddenly interrupted.

Xia Qi clearly hadn’t expected Li Xingya to speak up.

“What?”

But Li Xingya wasn’t looking at Xia Qi at all.

Her gaze… was fixed on the camera in the corner.

‘From this angle, it can’t see me at all. I’m perfectly blocked by these five people.’

‘Is this the benefit of being short?’

Li Xingya smiled.

“Why should I keep my distance? Is it because Big Sister never talks to you guys?”

“You—!”

Xia Qi’s eyes went wide.

“Come to think of it, does Big Sister even know you?”

Li Xingya knew Xia Qi didn’t like her smile, so she smiled even more brilliantly.

“You five keep calling her ‘Lady Meng Yiqiao, Lady Meng Yiqiao,’ but Big Sister doesn’t actually know any of you, right?”

Li Xingya leaned forward slightly.

“I’m different. You know… Big Sister comes to the school gate to pick me up in person every day.”

‘She should be back soon, right?’

Li Xingya shifted her amber eyes toward the front door of the classroom.

“In PE class, even if I can only run half a lap, Big Sister holds my hand and tries her best to help me keep going.”

Li Xingya looked at Xia Qi, whose whole body was tense.

“What about you?”

“Forget holding Big Sister’s hand, you’ve probably never even spoken to her, have you?”

‘That’s it.’

‘Keep pushing her.’

‘Just one last sentence.’

“After all—you’re really ugly.”

Li Xingya saw the classroom door open.

The moment she caught sight of that strand of blue-dyed hair, she made her move.

She reached out and pressed her hand against Xia Qi’s neck.

“Get lost!”

The extremely high-pitched scream rang out in the classroom.

The next second, Li Xingya felt a sharp pain in her shoulder.

Someone shoved her hard, and her entire body uncontrollably tilted sideways.

‘With such a light, weak body, this is exactly what I should use it for.’

Li Xingya didn’t instinctively adjust her center of gravity.

She just let herself fall to the ground.

She even subtly adjusted the angle so that her forehead aimed at the nearby corner of a desk.

“Bang—!”

‘That hurts.’

“Li Xingya!”

In the instantly silent classroom, Meng Yiqiao’s voice rang out.

When Li Xingya opened her eyes again, she was already tightly embraced by Meng Yiqiao.

Blood flowed from Li Xingya’s forehead.

Panic filled Meng Yiqiao’s eyes.

‘Now I should cry.’

She didn’t need to force this step.

It really hurt, and with this body’s tear ducts, tears fell before Li Xingya even realized she was crying.

“…Big sister.”

Li Xingya sniffled.

‘Mm, I must look really pitiful right now.’

Meng Yiqiao turned her head and glared at the five behind her.

“You! You’d better give me a good explanation!”

In front of Meng Yiqiao, Xia Qi had lost all her earlier arrogance.

Like a child who had done something wrong, she pointed helplessly at Li Xingya and tried to explain:

“No… I, I didn’t. It was her! She struck first!”

But.

Because she was completely blocked from view, no one had seen Li Xingya make a move.

All everyone knew was that someone had actually gotten violent inside Starseeing Academy—and had injured the most important part of an Arts and Skills Department student: their face.

Unforgivable.

“Disgusting.”

Someone suddenly said that.

It was exactly what Li Xingya wanted to see.

‘When the dust settles.’

‘When public opinion starts to tip completely.’

‘Making a comment becomes the easiest thing in the world.’

“That’s too much.”

“Clearly she was the one who started it.”

“Doing this to a new student.”

“So malicious.”

Faced with this scene, Xia Qi couldn’t say a single word.

After helping Li Xingya up, Meng Yiqiao coldly looked at her.

“Let’s go. I think you need to give a proper explanation to Li Xingya and the Dean of Students.”

Li Xingya leaned gently into Meng Yiqiao’s arms and showed a satisfied smile.

‘No one should come to bully me on purpose from now on.’

‘After all—’

‘The fact that I’m important to Meng Yiqiao is now common knowledge.’