“I’m back, Xu Chuyao. Has Shen Ning left already? Seems like she has.”
Mi Xiaolu peeked cautiously around the dorm entrance. Only after confirming the white-haired girl was gone did she walk in with relief.
As one of this dorm’s residents, being forced into exile like this was truly pitiful. But what could she do? That girl was a murder queen—absolutely terrifying.
“You do know how to come back, huh… Forget it, I don’t blame you. Honestly, you really couldn’t stand up to her.”
Xu Chuyao didn’t seem upset. After all, she had just harvested a nice 300 villain points. In a way, it meant Shen Ning had already “paid the fee.”
Just fifty more to go. In a few days, she’d give her a little pressure and get to enjoy another 10x gacha draw.
Thinking about these happy things, Xu Chuyao glanced over and noticed Mi Xiaolu holding something she’d just brought back. She asked curiously, “What did you buy?”
“Oh, I passed by the campus convenience store and thought we might need it later, so I picked it up.”
Mi Xiaolu revealed the item in her hand: a pack of unscented, skin-friendly tissues.
“…You really think that little of Shen Ning, huh.”
“No, I was thinking they might come in handy to wipe the drool off your feet.”
“That’s even worse.”
Meanwhile, back in her own dorm, Shen Ning was reviewing her spoils from today.
Escaped\nNewlines\tTabsAnd\BackslashesForTesting[Congratulations on completing the 2-Star Milestone Mission: First Handshake with the Boss.
Escaped\nNewlines\tTabsAnd\BackslashesForTestingRewarded Skill: Spiritual Power Storm – Creates a diffusive spiritual vortex centered on the caster, launching indiscriminate attacks outward. Continuously feeding spiritual power into it increases the spread range.]
Total carnage! Compared to her previous skill Spiritual Convergence, this was its total opposite—one focused on pinpoint kills, and the other on area destruction. Just reading the description, Shen Ning could already imagine how much energy it would consume.
As for the 2-Star milestone, since there was only one mission, she received just one achievement point and no extra rewards.
But Shen Ning didn’t care anymore. For the first time, the thrill of gaining power was less satisfying than completing the mission itself.
Because—
“Pretty great, huh? I told you so.”
A voice whispered beside her ear.
“Chuyao’s got treasure written all over her. You could play with her forever.”
Someone whispering things like that in her ear always felt a little… off.
“And don’t start celebrating just yet. The real fun is still ahead. Go on, scroll down.”
Escaped\nNewlines\tTabsAnd\BackslashesForTesting[3-Star Milestone Unlocked – Two Missions: First Kiss, First Time Touching Bunny (breasts).]
That was… significantly spicier than the 2-Star one. Just thinking about it made Shen Ning’s face flush a little—but she remained calm.
“This isn’t something I can agree to that easily.”
“Exactly. So, you’ll need to get even angrier next time you see her. The sky-shaking kind of angry.”
With that less-than-reliable tactical suggestion, the mysterious voice disappeared again, leaving Shen Ning alone for her afternoon nap.
Lying in bed, the image of those soft feet slowly faded from her mind, and the shadow of her hometown began to appear.
“Fourth rank, huh…”
Not an impossible goal—not anymore. Thanks to the system, she wasn’t just daydreaming. She could walk that path, one steady step at a time.
The hometown faded away, replaced by the smiling face of a beautiful, obedient, straight-haired girl.
“Xu Chuyao…”
A month ago, just hearing that name made her want to grind her teeth to dust. Back then, that girl was nothing but a full-on troublemaker in her eyes. But now, when she thought of her, Shen Ning’s heart started to race and her face flushed slightly.
Even though she still got mad sometimes, it was that sweet, gentle girl who had twice pulled her out of confusion with her words.
And they even did some pretty…
“Stop thinking. If you keep going, you won’t get your nap, and you’ll have to change your underwear.”
The voice popped back in.
“Just go buy a phone already. Better than you spiraling like this.”
“…Weren’t you gone?”
“I was, but I can always come back.”
“……”
Closing her eyes, Shen Ning eventually drifted off. Maybe the dreams wouldn’t be sweet, but reality was already turning beautiful—so nightmares didn’t seem so scary anymore.
Zzzz…
Later that afternoon, Xu Chuyao didn’t get the chance to head to class. She saw a message from her homeroom teacher telling her to go to the admin building. When she arrived, everyone else was already there—even Shen Ning, who didn’t have a phone, had made it. She was sitting quietly in the corner and glanced at Chuyao before quickly looking away.
The three boys in the Special Task Group—Cheng Li, Shi Lei, and Zhong Ming—wanted to greet her, but with the teacher present, they could only raise their hands slightly in her direction. Their lack of formal training made the gesture look kind of… questionable to Xu Chuyao.
The only girl who hadn’t yet offered a gift or apology, You Jia, saw her too but kept her head low, avoiding eye contact.
Only Yu Yuwei greeted her normally with a wave.
“You’re here,” said Yu Jing, motioning her over. “Take a seat—we were waiting on you.”
If it had been anyone else showing up late, they would’ve just been allowed to catch the summary. But when Xu Chuyao wasn’t there, they couldn’t even start the meeting.
She was well aware of this and rubbed her little hands awkwardly. “Didn’t expect everyone to be here so early… So, what’s the new plan?”
Yu Jing exchanged a glance with a senior male teacher beside her. The man tapped on his keyboard, and a map appeared on the big screen.
Xu Chuyao signaled the three boys with a glance. They froze briefly, then Zhong Ming understood and spoke up, “What’s this?”
Smart—never make the commander speak if a subordinate can ask instead.
“Topographical map of the Commercial Plaza,” Yu Jing explained. “There’s an international trade group coming in soon to hold a product launch event here. They’ve got their own security, but as the hosts, it’s our job to provide additional protection. That said, just keep an eye out for the Clown Gang.”
The way she said that carried extra meaning. Everyone understood—the main mission wasn’t to protect the guests (who had their own guards), but to keep the Clown Gang from making a scene.
And what did “making a scene” mean? If someone crashed the product launch—even if no one got hurt and they were just thrown out—the mere disruption would be bad enough.
Still, if the Clown Gang did show up, the team just had to do their best. The consequences wouldn’t be too serious.
Zhong Ming asked cautiously, “We’re really not going to stop them if they get violent? Won’t that be a problem?”
“No need. The trade group’s leader is Professor Swina, a peak Tier-3 expert.”
“Ohh, well that makes things easy.”
Now that they knew this was a low-risk mission, everyone visibly relaxed—except for two people.
Shen Ning, who was thinking about something important: The Commercial Plaza probably has phone stores.
And Xu Chuyao, whose smile froze completely when she heard the name Swina.
Shen Ning is starting to accept her sadistic side… Chuyao better prep herself 😭