He just didn't want to enjoy the preferential treatment that only existed because of Raiden Mei. To him right now, it was no different from charity.
So it's like this?
Haha...
Then he seemed, appeared, probably, possibly, maybe... just a tiny bit pathetic.
Should he swallow his pride now and actively pander to Raiden Mei like those noble students?
If he lowered his stance, Raiden Mei should easily accept him; she wouldn't have her guard up against him, right?
After all, no one knew what he was thinking. Shedding a little bit of pride wouldn't hurt. As long as he calmed down and had a good sit-down talk with Raiden Ryoma and Raiden Mei, he could obtain all worldly possessions.
He could take the black card to pay off his debts, buy the clothes and games he liked, eat and drink without needing to skimp, and do whatever he wanted...
Li Wu had already imagined the wonderful life that would follow. Unprecedented material wealth, plus the fact that Raiden Mei had said she wouldn't stop him from seeking out other girls.
He could totally clear the game while enjoying himself, as long as... he learned to be smooth and accommodating...
Li Wu chuckled dumbly, his faint laughter full of self-deprecation.
How could I possibly do that?
If he really wanted to live that kind of life, he would have given up back when the Blood Wolf Mercenary Group besieged Raiden Mei. Why would he need to lower his pride now and turn himself into someone he wasn't?
Li Wu didn't think he was wrong, nor did he regret his original decision.
Regardless of what Raiden Mei would become or how she would treat him, that wasn't something for him to consider.
What others thought and did was their business.
Li Wu would only follow his own ideas, do what he believed was right, and seek a clear conscience.
Yeah.
Let's just leave it at that.
He would find a chance today to talk to Raiden Mei alone, draw a clear line, and not let things get overly entangled.
"Li Wu! Something huge happened!"
The classroom door was violently pushed open, slamming hard against the wall with a loud BANG!
Before Li Wu's butt had even warmed his seat, Anna rushed over, grabbed him by the shoulders with both hands, and lifted him into the air as easily as picking up a baby chick. She put him down, then lifted him again, then put him down...
"...Stop shaking me. Put me down first. Also, how did you know I came to the classroom early today?"
"I saw you enter the classroom from outside the school. I called out to you so many times but you didn't answer. If it wasn't for the boss taking so long to finish my breakfast, I would have been here early too."
As Anna spoke, she held up the jianbing crepe in her hand.
At the same time, Kiana's gaze shifted slightly, moving from the contents of her book to the conversation between the two. She opened her mouth but quickly closed it, not saying a single word.
Li Wu and Anna were deskmates; they were looking at each other and didn't notice this.
"If you still had time to wait for breakfast, it seems the matter isn't that difficult."
"Mmh... you're right, but also wrong. It's not too difficult right now, but it'll be super urgent tomorrow!"
"What is it? Not urgent today but urgent tomorrow?"
"Well... I don't really understand it myself. Schicksal issued me a Red-tier mission, and I have to set out first thing tomorrow morning."
Anna glanced at Kiana and mentioned it without any taboo.
There were no unrelated personnel here. As the strongest genetic powerhouse of the current generation of the Kaslana family, and also the host body of the Herrscher of the Void, Kiana didn't need these matters hidden from her.
"It seems the mission to observe me ended early. Congratulations, you can finally escape this sea of suffering and stay far, far away from me..." Li Wu squeezed out a self-deprecating smile.
The cyan morning light rose from the horizon, and the sky gradually brightened, but Li Wu's eyes grew increasingly dim.
"Ew... why did you suddenly get so gross? I can't stand it..."
"...It doesn't matter. You're leaving tomorrow anyway. If nothing unexpected happens, we probably won't see each other again in this lifetime. Even if we do meet, we wouldn't have anything to talk about. After all, you're a Valkyrie, and I also have 'main quests' I must complete."
Li Wu put away his stiff smile, sat back down in his seat, picked up his pen, and began scribbling randomly on his homework.
He marked "C" for every multiple-choice question; it was the easiest, done in one stroke, requiring absolutely no brainpower. As for the fill-in-the-blank questions, he just wrote down random numbers. Considering he'd get the wrong answer even if he racked his brains, filling in nonsense saved time and effort.
A Valkyrie's five senses far exceeded those of ordinary people.
Li Wu's actions naturally didn't escape the sight of the two present. But surprisingly, Kiana, as the student committee member, showed no signs of trying to stop him. She merely watched in silence, her gaze becoming increasingly light, leaving behind only a pale emptiness at the end, before turning her head to immerse herself in her book once again.
She picked up her pen, flipped ahead twelve pages, and made an annotation next to a block of text.
It was still that same book—The Unbearable Lightness of Being.
Once someone is intoxicated by their own weakness, they will remain weak forever; they will fall in the street under the gaze of the crowd, fall to the ground, fall to a place even lower than the ground.
Annotation: The arrogance of a self-healer.
Compared to Kiana's detached observation, Anna's reaction was much greater. The two were deskmates to begin with, so Anna directly put down her schoolbag, sat in her seat, and smoothly grabbed another one of Li Wu's unfinished workbooks.
"You're not erasing it?" Li Wu asked, puzzled.
"It's obvious just looking at it—I'm helping you write your homework! Otherwise, if you keep carrying this mood around, I'll be affected just staying beside you! Finish writing early so you can adjust your mindset early. "
"If you don't resolve your annoyances, they'll just pile up in your heart, becoming more and more, until eventually, you'll feel irritable doing anything. When I was executing a mission before, I almost died just because my teammate's boyfriend cheated on her."
Anna replied matter-of-factly. In contrast to Li Wu's random answers, Anna took out her own assignments and copied the correct answers onto Li Wu's workbook.
Li Wu stopped his pen and turned to look at Anna.
Her pink eyes were fixed intently on the desk, sweeping back and forth between the two homework books. Her head made high-frequency micro-movements, causing her short chestnut hair to flutter in the air, releasing a faint, delicate fragrance.
"This is my own business, it has nothing to do with you..."
Li Wu reached out, wanting to take his workbook back. Right or wrong, he just wanted to finish it himself.
"How can you be so mean and so stubborn!"
But his outstretched hand was tightly grabbed by Anna. This time, Anna's voice raised several pitches. Her brows were tightly knit, seemingly very angry.
"Stop letting your imagination run wild, Li Wu! It was like this before, too. Why are your moods so volatile? You asked me to believe in you, so can't you believe in me a little more?"
"The mission report doesn't allow me to tell you, but you listen to me well! If this mission wasn't for you, I wouldn't have wasted my vacation time and offended so many Valkyrie squads to forcibly take it on!"
Anna was truly quite angry. Her pink pupils became vivid, almost hallucinated as red. Her fair skin visibly flushed red, and her cheeks puffed out roundly, fuming with rage.
"For... me?"
"Yes, for you! Who told you to be the great hero who saved the Herrscher of Thunder? Single-handedly wiping out the Blood Wolf Mercenary Group, successfully standing up against an Anti-Entropy Executor, escaping alive when the entire city was under control, and successfully convincing a super high-ranking cadre of World Serpent to go to Schicksal to negotiate with the Overseer!"
"Now, many people know that there's a guy like you in Nagazora City. Not just Schicksal—sooner or later, more organizations and individuals who know the inside story will come to contact you. Don't expect those organizations to be very humane. I've executed many missions, it's plain as day..."
Anna's voice paused. Her upper and lower teeth ground together, making a crisp click of bone. "You simply won't have a choice. They will try every possible means to force you to do extreme things, until finally, you voluntarily become one of their kind..."
"This mission is to take you through an observation process arranged by Schicksal for a month to ensure you pose no threat to humanity, which is also a form of protection for you. If it is confirmed that you are a danger to all of humanity, you will die, and no one can save you."
"But not everyone has the patience to observe you. If you ran into someone eager for quick success and instant benefits, the moment you showed even a little abnormality, they would directly hand you over to the disciplinary Valkyries to be disposed of! Luckily, no S-rank Valkyries intervened in this mission. Otherwise, an A-rank like me could only stand by and watch. You were this close to being kicked to the curb, you know?!"
"Li Wu, you need to seriously examine what kind of anomaly you are! It's a good thing no Herrscher energy fluctuations can be detected on you, otherwise, the things that would happen next would make committing suicide by stabbing your own heart look a thousand times... no, ten thousand times better!"
Her suppressed anger suddenly erupted at this moment. Anna tightly grabbed Li Wu's collar with one hand and shouted at him at the top of her lungs.
His tie was crumpled by her grip.
Ordinary, without any sharpness or high temperature, but Li Wu saw that the small, pale hand grabbing his tie was trembling slightly.
It was hard to imagine this was the same rigid and stubborn Anna from when school just started.
The one who was as cold and hard as a piece of pig iron.
But now, the anger in Anna's eyes almost swallowed him whole. Her resentment was written entirely on her face. She looked like she wanted nothing more than to punch him viciously, yet she was trying her hardest to restrain herself, because Anna knew he wouldn't be able to handle it.
Anna hated Li Wu's actions very much, yet she couldn't deny what he had done.
"Thank you."
"Thank your big fat head! Is 'thank you' all you know how to say?!"
"Then... it's fine?"
"That's my line! Once this mission is over, I never want to see you again! This is the last time, Li Wu. This is the last time I'm helping you!"
"Alright, than—" Seeing Anna's slightly narrowed eyes, Li Wu immediately reacted and changed his phrasing. "I will cooperate. One month, right? Do you know the general location? I won't have to cover the expenses personally, right?"
"We're going abroad anyway, so don't worry about the money. Valkyries can get all mission-related expenses fully reimbursed from the higher-ups."
"Then let's treat it as a global vacation. Perfect, I also want to go out and get some fresh air."
Was I interrupted? ...However, it was merely an observation. Only if there was a problem would they forcibly kill him.
I'm not a Herrscher, so they definitely won't detect any Herrscher fluctuations on me. According to Schicksal's principles of protecting ordinary people, there shouldn't be much danger.
"Hmph, that nonchalant look on your face really ticks me off. It feels like the whole world is bullying you or something." Anna snorted, glaring at Li Wu. "Don't think I don't know what you're thinking. Don't even think about running away this month! I am your monitor, and I will absolutely not let you out of my sight!"
"As long as you aren't my enemy, even if the whole world bullies you, I'll help you bully them back!"
A Red-tier mission did not allow for failure.
Even if the difficulty didn't seem high, Anna had to be extremely vigilant, staying by Li Wu's side inseparably during the one-month mission period.
"Is that so? Then what if I need to go to the bathroom or take a shower..."
"..."
"Why aren't you saying anything? Don't do this. It'd be better if you said something. I'm getting a little scared..."
"Scram! I don't want to talk to you!"
Anna punched Li Wu in the stomach. She didn't use any force, but Li Wu actually tumbled out of his seat and lay on the ground, clutching his stomach with both hands. His eyes were squeezed shut, and his expression looked extremely pained.
Seeing this, Anna was completely dumbfounded.
She was certain she hadn't used any strength. But before she could think about it, her body moved first, directly rushing to Li Wu's side and crouching down. Her pink eyes blinked rapidly, her mouth slightly agape, her face covered in worry.
"Li, Li Wu? Don't scare me. I'm sorry, I didn't mean it! I'll take you to the hosp—"
Before she could finish the word "hospital," Li Wu opened his eyes and stuck out his tongue. "Just messing with you. You didn't use force. I fell backward on purpose."
"..."
Anna's mouth twitched continuously. She raised her fist and squeezed it quite forcefully, accompanied by the crisp sound of knuckles cracking in the air.
If this punch landed, twenty years of... no, sixteen years of cultivation... wait, that's not right either. One can only become a Valkyrie at twelve. Anna is sixteen now, so she only has four years of cultivation.
Well, four years of Valkyrie cultivation was more than enough to pound him into a meat patty with a single punch.
However, Li Wu firmly believed Anna wouldn't strike, so he brought up the previous topic again: "So I really can't leave your sight for even a second?"
"Hmph. You still have the confidence to joke around. With you in this state, executing the mission shouldn't be a problem." Anna lowered her fist and let out a long sigh of relief.
Shouldn't be a problem?
Li Wu froze. So, everything Anna just said and did was to help me relax?
After pulling Li Wu up from the ground and righting his stool, Anna slowly added, "It's not that exaggerated. If you need to do those kinds of things, you just need to let me know. Of course, when I need to do them, I'll tell you in advance too. As long as our actions are known to each other, it shouldn't be a big issue. After all, men and women are different. Don't treat me like an idiot. I still have this bit of common sense. Last time was an accident; I won't let you off so cheap in the future!"
Anna spoke with utmost seriousness, especially when mentioning common sense. She raised her fair, delicate swan-like neck high, looking exactly like a proud little princess.
Tsundere.
That word suddenly popped into Li Wu's mind.
He completely didn't expect Anna to develop in this direction.
But it also didn't seem entirely accurate; it was just a bit similar.
"Then are you still going to help me copy my homework?"
"Do it yourself! I haven't even eaten breakfast yet. My crepe is already cold."
Anna took out the thoroughly chilled jianbing and took a bite. As she chewed, she conveniently swiped Li Wu's workbook and continued copying the answers.
What a tsundere who says one thing but does another...
Li Wu didn't say anything like "I can do it myself" anymore. He gladly accepted Anna's kindness and, silently, etched it into his heart.