Returning to Yinshan Academy, Ye Shuang and An Shiyu had just stepped out of the garage when they noticed a large crowd gathered not far away.
"Is there a new stall set up there? Why are there so many people?" Ye Shuang wondered. It didn’t seem like they were selling anything either—could it be some kind of game booth, like ring toss?
"Oh, the school festival is almost over, so there’s a cosplay event these last few days. It’s kind of an old tradition here," An Shiyu said, completely unfazed.
"See? The person in the middle is wearing something different. Most of the people around them are students or photographers."
"Cosplay…" Ye Shuang squinted into the distance, barely making out a figure with ash-white, parted hair through the crowd.
Ye Shuang: "……"
"Why don’t you join in?" Ye Shuang asked An Shiyu. "Wouldn’t this be a good chance to wear a ninja outfit?"
An Shiyu gave him a deadpan look. "Too much trouble. A ninja is supposed to lurk in the shadows."
"Since when did you add that to your character setting?"
As Ye Shuang spoke, he glanced back at the crowd. He’d heard about this event before and had even considered getting Bai Yuyou a cosplay outfit.
"Hmm… huh?" Ye Shuang pulled out his phone and opened his purchase history—pages and pages of items he’d bought for Bai Yuyou. Scrolling back to a recent entry, he spotted a Bocchi the Rock cosplay outfit.
"No wonder I remembered buying it. She probably just hasn’t opened it yet." He put his phone away, only to find An Shiyu already walking off in the direction of the infirmary. He quickly caught up.
When they reached the infirmary door, Ye Shuang noticed An Shiyu crouching down, as if she’d found something.
"What is it?" The moment he spoke, An Shiyu shushed him quietly, her eyes sharp beneath her bangs. "Stay quiet."
Ye Shuang paused, then silently observed her actions.
One minute… two minutes…
After several minutes passed, An Shiyu finally stood up, frowning slightly as if troubled.
"What’s wrong? Is there an assassin in the infirmary?" Ye Shuang whispered.
An Shiyu glanced at him. "No. My leg cramped."
Ye Shuang: "……"
Then why did you make it so tense?!
Annoyed, Ye Shuang pushed the door open—only to find a stack of envelopes on the floor, seemingly slipped in from outside. He bent down to pick them up and realized every single one was addressed to him.
Most of the envelopes were pale pink or light blue, each sealed with a heart-shaped sticker.
"Are these… love letters?" Ye Shuang examined them. An Shiyu peered over his shoulder. "Love letters. You’re popular."
"Probably charmed by your piano performance. Your exterior is at least passable."
Ye Shuang’s eye twitched. "That didn’t sound like a compliment."
"No, no, I’m praising you," An Shiyu said. "Sometimes, not questioning the truth saves you from pain."
"I’ll take it as a compliment, then." Ye Shuang sighed and placed all the envelopes on the table.
He then opened and read each one before carefully returning them to their envelopes. After finishing, he locked them all inside a document folder.
"Why go through all that?"
"To avoid unnecessary trouble if the wrong person sees them," Ye Shuang explained. "Also… if rumors spread, it could hurt those girls’ reputations."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
Just then, Ye Shuang accidentally brushed against a loose sheet of paper. With a rustle, it drifted to the floor.
"Huh?"
He bent down to pick it up, instinctively bracing a hand on the chair where An Shiyu usually played games.
The next second, he froze.
"What, did you pull a muscle?" An Shiyu asked, watching him stay in that position.
"No…" Ye Shuang straightened up and turned to the chair, reaching out to touch it again. His eyes narrowed.
"Why is the chair warm? Who was just sitting here?"
"……" An Shiyu’s gaze flicked over. "Probably from the sun?"
"At this time, the sunlight doesn’t reach this chair." Ye Shuang walked to the window and looked outside but found nothing unusual.
He glanced at the corner. "Hmm… should we install a security camera in the infirmary?"
"That would make me uncomfortable," An Shiyu said flatly.
"Fair enough." Ye Shuang chuckled, knowing full well An Shiyu wouldn’t tolerate being watched while napping. He touched the chair again—now cool—and decided not to dwell on it.
After tidying up, Ye Shuang headed to the lemon tea stall, where Bai Yuyou and the others were.
……
Lemon Tea Stall.
"Looking great! Just like that!"
Tang Keke’s cheerful voice rang out as she stood beside a large Pikachu mascot costume. Unlike the one An Shiyu had worn before, this one was rounder and goofier.
"Is it heavy?"
"Mm… manageable." A muffled voice came from inside the costume. "Keke, it’s hard to see…"
"You’ll get used to it." Tang Keke inspected Bai Yuyou’s outfit. "And you can’t talk normally—you have to say ‘Pika.’"
Bai Yuyou lifted a fluffy yellow paw. "Pika…"
"That’s it! Now, try walking."
Bai Yuyou wobbled forward but tripped over her own feet, landing face-first on the ground with a soft plop.
"Y-Yuyou! Are you okay?!" Tang Keke tried to help her up, but the round costume made it hard to find a grip.
"Pika…"
"You don’t have to say ‘Pika’ right now!"
Just then, a familiar voice called out, "What are you guys doing?"
"Brother! We’re dressing Yuyou in a mascot suit!"
"Mr. Ye!"
Ye Shuang stared at the Pikachu clutching its paws, then at its caved-in nose. "Yuyou…"
"Pi…"
"Your nose is completely flattened." Ye Shuang sighed. The dented nose gave the Pikachu a bizarrely comical look.
Bai Yuyou tried to hug him but wobbled again—this time, she toppled forward and crushed him under her plush weight!
"B-Brother?!"
"Mr. Ye!"
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
ts me of treason?" "Correct. The host must return to the capital and gradually build up influence." "Wait—I have half a million soldiers, and you want me to go back to the capital to 'build influence'?" "Host, you are currently the Northern Garrison General, loyal to the Great Xia Dynasty." "Of course I am loyal to Great Xia! Absolutely loyal!" "But you keep referring to yourself as 'We'..." "Never mind the details! Summon all the regional commanders and military officers! We suspect treacherous officials are manipulating the court! They shall march with Us to the capital and purge the corrupt!" "......"
ap a wealthy young lady? Or else I'll be eliminated by the system? Ye Feng, who awakened the Kidnapper System, originally wanted to live a peaceful life but never imagined he would become a kidnapper of young women. However, after some time, he discovered that all the girls the system ordered him to kidnap were far from ordinary. "Big brother Ye Feng~ You've kidnapped my heart, and now you're not allowed to leave me ever again~" "Ye Feng~ You kidnapped me back then, now it's my turn to capture you♡" "Little Feng, you're mine! You can only be mine!" "Ye Feng, none of them deserve you. Only I love you the most♡" ... This is madness, they've all gone mad! Wait, what? Why are all the girls I kidnapped yanderes?!
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
