"...Huh? A model student like me can't possibly be dumped by an idiot, right?"
Li Wu took out his phone and silently posted an update on the Chiba Academy campus forum using an anonymous identity—
"If violence is not for killing, then it is meaningless."
Content: Shocking! A certain "battle maniac" from Chiba Academy actively provoked a conflict, beating down a group of people single-handedly... This man spread rumors and manipulated an innocent female classmate...
The time, location, characters, and sequence of events were all fabricated. This wasn't difficult for Li Wu. In the entire text, he didn't mention a single thing Anna did, instead directing all the blame onto himself.
Anna had already helped him a lot. Without her, he might have died many times... Both logically and emotionally, he couldn't let her suffer any more losses.
When the school authorities came to verify later, he would just admit to it and take a disciplinary mark. A disciplinary mark didn't matter to him anyway.
After tapping send, Li Wu put away his phone and went upstairs back to the classroom.
Since it was lunchtime, there weren't many people in the classroom.
Li Wu's gaze immediately went to the second-to-last seat by the window, but it was empty.
Makes sense. Anna would have gone out to eat by now; how could she stay in the classroom all the time?
Walking into the classroom, Li Wu habitually scanned the surroundings and suddenly noticed something "incongruous"—
Why did the students on cleaning duty change?
Isn't it supposed to be a boy-girl pair, taking turns according to the class list?
"Little Li, you're finally back. I waited for you for so long... You told me to stay in the classroom properly, and Mei was obedient~"
Mei came up to greet him, wrapping her arms around Li Wu's arm.
Like a sloth, hugging had become her biggest habit, one she couldn't bear to let go of.
Li Wu walked to his seat first, opened the bag, took out the lunch he bought, and placed it on the desk.
Then he looked up, pointed at the blackboard, and asked in confusion, "Mei, I remember today was supposed to be your turn for cleaning duty with another boy, right? Why has your name been replaced by someone else?"
"Cleaning duty? We don't have to do cleaning duty anymore, Little Li."
"What do you mean?"
"Heheh~" Mei didn't seem to realize the severity of the matter and revealed a proud smile. "The Class Monitor felt bad about what I went through, so she proactively removed you and me from the duty roster. For the next two years, we don't have to do cleaning duty anymore. The teachers nodded and agreed to it."
[Raiden Mei lied to you.]
As the thought crossed Li Wu's mind, the long-absent system narration appeared again.
Li Wu silently poked the straw into the seal of his milk carton, his eyes flickering.
"Is that so? Not having to participate in cleaning labor for two years sounds pretty good. It's just... why would the teachers agree?"
Not tacit approval, but nodding in agreement. There was obviously a problem here.
"Who knows? I think everyone must have discovered their conscience and realized how badly they treated us before! So they thought of making it up to us in other ways!"
Mei smiled until her eyes curved into crescents. The sunlight outside the window was a bit blinding. In the aisle between the desks, her shadow was thick and heavy, like an abyss.
"Not just cleaning duty, but also exams, classes, queuing... I think everyone will yield to us in many aspects in the future! Who asked them to bully us before? Especially those guys who stood on the shore watching the fire, only making sarcastic remarks and not helping at all. Teachers, classmates, they all talked about mutual help and empathy, but in the end, didn't they only think of themselves?!"
"Only you treated me with sincerity; only I will treat you with sincerity without reservation. I will leave the best for you, Little Li... You don't need to worry about anything. As long as I'm here, no one can look down on you or bully you. You will become the person with the highest status in the school. You can have whatever you want, do whatever you want, say whatever you want."
Amidst this generous "declaration," the cold air from the AC seeped into the gaps between his skin and clothes. Li Wu felt only a bone-chilling coldness, and... unfamiliarity.
Li Wu sat in his seat, the straw in his mouth, but he didn't drink.
He forgot to eat, looking at Mei with a complicated expression.
Mei was still saying a lot more, but Li Wu couldn't take in the rest. It was blurry, increasingly blurry.
The brilliant, glorious sunlight shone on Mei, but Li Wu felt that the vibrant purple that originally belonged to her was rapidly fading, leaving only a desolate gray.
Negative emotions indeed needed to be vented, but there needed to be a limit. Once that limit was lost, for others, it wouldn't just be "compensation that needs to be paid," but an "unavoidable disaster."
"I don't want those things. The highest status, the best treatment—these will all be built on the 'submission' and 'compromise' of others. And—"
"If I want people not to look down on me, I just need to work hard myself. As long as I don't look down on myself, it doesn't matter how others see me. I don't need to prove anything to them. As for you, Mei, do less of this kind of thing in the future. Those who bullied you have mostly dropped out. Remember to tell Mr. Ryoma not to harm the innocent."
Mei was stunned. She shifted her gaze, put the straw in her mouth, and sucked hard. After hesitating for a moment, she returned to her original happy smile and nodded heavily.
"Mmh, I'll remember. Let's not talk about this. Let's eat! I want to eat that piece of Little Li's~"
Mei snatched the piece of bread Li Wu had already bitten into and quickly put it into her mouth.
Li Wu sighed softly. "Let's go to some nice restaurant for dinner tonight, to celebrate your rebirth."
"It doesn't matter. As long as I'm with Little Li, Mei is satisfied even eating bread!"
"Silly, I just did it for convenience. Let's not settle lunch at the convenience store in the future; let's go out. If your dad finds out I'm taking his daughter to eat this stuff every day, he'll probably scold me to death."
"He wouldn't dare. If he dares to scold Little Li, I'll definitely stand on Little Li's side!"
Mei determined her stance without hesitation.
However, Li Wu didn't feel very happy.
He hoped Mei could grasp the Herrscher's authority bit by bit, walk out of the shadows of the past, and become a person with a sound personality.
From the looks of it now, Mei seemed too dependent on him.
Liking someone was fine, of course, but Li Wu hoped this affection was well-considered and pure, not using "liking" as a "hypnotic drug" to deceive herself and others.
That kind of liking was terrifying.
Self-deception. A person in extreme dependence could use "I did this because I love you" as a reason to do any dark deed—good, bad, anything goes—because there was a reason, an excuse...
The so-called bottom line wouldn't exist at all.
Not to mention Mei was the Herrscher of Thunder. Once she lost control, Nagazora City would instantly turn to nothingness. This was the thing Li Wu could accept least—
A catastrophic, undeserved disaster.
No matter how much he cared about Mei, Li Wu refused to let innocent people pay the bill for Mei's and his mistakes.
"Alright, remember to find the class committee members to change the cleaning duty back. I'll help you clean the classroom together. Going home a little later won't kill us."
The wrapper of the new lunch item was torn open; it was a small cake.
Li Wu instinctively wanted to feed it into Mei's mouth, but the moment he raised his hand, he dismissed the thought and chose to hand it to Mei instead.
Mei froze for a second, but still took the small cake.
She took a small bite. It was clearly strawberry flavored, yet as she chewed, she felt only bitterness. It wasn't as delicious as before.
The two spent a peaceful and gentle lunch time in the classroom.
As the afternoon nap bell rang three times, students trickled back into the classroom from outside. Unsurprisingly, groups of noble girls surrounded Mei, chatting one after another. They got along exceptionally harmoniously, as if there had never been any estrangement.
Anna had run off to who-knows-where and was nowhere to be seen.
Li Wu sat in his seat and observed quietly, ensuring Mei's mental state was within a normal range.
Completely different from when she was with him, Mei chatted very congenially with the nobles who were about to become socialites in the future, discussing everything from luxury goods to famous domestic and international events.
Was it because Mei had always been paying attention to these things, or was it a girl's innate talent?
Li Wu didn't know. After confirming Mei was fine, he opened the campus forum—
The post he published an hour ago had actually climbed into the top three on the forum.
It wasn't until Li Wu clicked into the comments section that he realized the reason for the high view count.
[Abba Abba]: This is our Li Wu. I didn't expect that besides hiding his identity, he was also hiding his strength. I couldn't tell at all during PE class! My impression is that he's actually quite nice, basically no airs.
[Don't Want to Fight]: @[Abba Abba], He's just so-so. Nice person, but not strong. Indeed no airs, but troublesome to get along with; you'll always get led astray!
[This Account is Invalid]: Does anyone know where Li Wu is a great noble from? No other meaning, purely curious!
[Don't Want to Fight]: @[This Account is Invalid], Really no other meaning? Feels like you're just judging people based on status. Whether he's a noble or not doesn't affect getting along. Put away those petty thoughts of yours!
[Super Pity Guy]: @[This Account is Invalid], Anyway, he's not from Nagazora City. I had someone check. His background is so ordinary it looks fake. Probably a background some big shot deliberately pulled strings to create. Not to be messed with...
[Don't Want to Fight]: @[Super Pity Guy], Blehh, stop checking. You won't find anything even in your next life.
[This Account is Invalid]: So that's how it is. But I'm very curious who this "Don't Want to Fight" is. Why are they replying to every comment about Li Wu? They've replied to hundreds of comments in this one hour. Is it an AI?
[Don't Want to Fight]: @[This Account is Invalid], I'll post if I want to love posting. I'm a miserable person being tortured.
"..."
"Don't Want to Fight?"
Li Wu stopped scrolling. Sure enough, this person replied under every single comment about him, and their speaking style was surprisingly direct, completely lacking the circumlocution and back-and-forth of a seasoned netizen.