"Fuck you!" It was nothing more than an ordinary curse.
But those two words hit like a bomb dropped into a crowd.
Everyone was blown away, completely stunned.
Whether it was the two Piltovan women, the passing teachers and students, or the crowd of students lined up behind her—everyone's gaze was fixed blankly on Lina.
How did she dare?
A mere student, how could she dare?
"W-What did you just say?" the two women finally stammered in reaction.
First shocked, then indignant, they finally cursed at her in humiliated rage, "Say that again?"
"I..." Lina muttered, the flames of her anger firmly choked back down.
'Oh no, I was too impulsive.'
Even if these two women were just ordinary school staff, the lowest tier of Piltovan citizens, they were still not people she could afford to provoke.
'Sigh... why don't I ever learn?' It was exactly this kind of impulsiveness that had offended Lady Kaya so deeply before.
"Speak up! Why aren't you saying anything now?"
"Let everyone see what kind of class you people really have!"
Nobody made a sound.
Not just Lina, but the surrounding students all had grim expressions.
However, some of them glared at the two women in silent endurance, bottling up their anger.
Others looked at Lina with slight resentment, as if blaming her for cursing and ruining their reputation in Piltover.
"Hmph!" The women glared viciously at the silent Lina. "Apologize to us!"
"Apologize loudly right here, or this isn't over!"
Lina's body trembled, her temper flaring up again, nearly impossible to suppress.
"You have the guts to do it, but not the guts to own up to it, huh?"
"Fine, let's see how capable you really are..."
The women plopped back into their seats and pulled the stack of stationery back down.
"I'll say this right now—"
"If you don't apologize, we won't hand out these notebooks and pens!"
"You?!" Lina glared, her eyes widening in fury.
The crowd of students behind her could no longer contain their indignation.
This was taking the bullying too far.
They were already students of the University of Piltover, the proud and chosen ones in the eyes of outsiders.
Yet two utterly ordinary Piltovan women could easily manipulate them with just a notebook and a pen, forcing them to stand here and be lectured.
"These supplies were given to us by the university," Lina finally snapped again. "What right do you have to just withhold them? Even if I'm the problem, you have no right to deny everyone else their stationery!"
"Heh?" The woman merely sneered. "What, you think you're justified in cursing at people? I said I'm not handing them out, and I mean it. If you have the guts, go complain to the professors!"
"A bunch of stinking beggars... who's afraid of you?"
Another commotion rippled through the crowd.
Unwittingly, those two women had ignited the fury of all the students.
They were angry, feeling suffocated by the injustice.
They all wished they could be like Lina, finally saying aloud what they had been swallowing for so long.
"Everyone!" Lina could feel the anger of her fellow Zaunites. This emotion, in turn, influenced her, inspiring her to do something monumental that no student had ever dared to do before. "Everyone, let's go file a complaint!"
"W-What did you say?!" The women's expressions soured.
Because they knew perfectly well—if this many students actually went to complain, they would likely be in serious trouble.
Their previous arrogance was nothing more than bullying these people who were too afraid to cause trouble.
And Lina seemed to sense their cowardice, realizing they were all bluster. She excitedly leaped onto the library steps, raising her arms and shouting to her fellow townsfolk:
"Fellow students, is today the only time they've humiliated us and made things difficult for us?"
"We are all students of the University of Piltover, future scientists, future engineers! Why should we endure their humiliation? Why, just because they are Piltovans?"
"She told us to file a complaint, so let's go file a complaint! I refuse to believe that the professors who teach us to seek the truth would side with them!"
Lina's words were like a fierce wind, fanning a raging prairie fire.
Almost all the students were furious.
They remembered the humiliation of being stared at like animals while waiting in line; they remembered the contempt in the eyes of those two women when handing out the stationery; they thought of many, many similar incidents.
So their anger reached its absolute peak, and then...
Then they did absolutely nothing.
No one even made a sound.
Lina, who had excitedly jumped onto the steps to shout, instead became a clown in an awkward silence.
"Why?" Lina was bewildered.
Those two women were clearly already scared, so why was no one willing to step forward?
'Weren't they all so good at infighting?'
Back in their hometown, they could even kill someone over a piece of bread.
How did they all turn out like this once they arrived in Piltover?
"Alright, alright, Lina," not only did no one back her up, but an acquaintance even tried to persuade her. "Calm down, don't take this too far!"
"Yeah, stop making a scene. If we get expelled, it's all over."
"Lina, you should just apologize... don't waste everyone's time." A few individuals even complained to her, "There are so many teachers watching nearby. If word of this gets out, it'll look so bad."
"..." Lina was left completely speechless.
She walked down the steps in a daze, trying to make eye contact with her fellow townsfolk, but their gazes were somewhat evasive.
Those two utterly ordinary Piltovan women had won.
They looked at Lina smugly, using disgusted glares to signal her to bow her head and admit her mistake.
"I..." Tears spilled from Lina's eyes. "I-I'm sorry."
"Louder! We can't hear you!"
"I'm sorry..."
"Too quiet, do it again!"
"I..." Lina nearly shattered her teeth from gritting them so hard.
The students present also clenched their fists one by one, lowering their heads, not daring to look at this humiliating scene before them.
But still, no one did anything.
Only Lina was apologizing, "I'm sorry, I..."
"You are not wrong!" Suddenly, a voice rang out from the side.
Someone had actually done something.
Someone couldn't stand watching anymore and stepped forward.
"Who?!" The women glared fiercely in the direction of the voice, seemingly wanting to drag this troublemaker out as well.
But the person who stepped out from the crowd was no student.
It was a middle-aged man leaning on a walking cane and carrying a briefcase. He looked like a teacher.
"It's you?" Lina's eyes lit up.
The newcomer was actually the Professor Viktor she had been thinking about!
"H-How come you're here?"
"I came specifically to find you, Lina," Viktor replied calmly.
"How did you know I was here?"
"Of course I knew..." Viktor looked at the long line of people receiving "relief."
Over a decade ago, when he was still studying, he had also been a member of this long line.
Back then, the people sitting at the desk weren't these two women.
But there was no difference.
Viktor had endured it for a few years back then. Once he got through it, he stopped caring, treating it as if he had forgotten. But seeing it now, he realized he hadn't forgotten a single thing; he remembered it all.
"You should apologize to Lina."
Viktor looked coldly at the two women.
Saying that, he turned his head to look at all the students present:
"Apologize to all the students present."
Among the students at the scene, some recognized Viktor, but most did not, unaware of how formidable he was.
Therefore, almost no one present dared to echo his words, not even daring to show any expectation.
It was as if they were terrified that Viktor would shout out their identities, shout it so loudly that all Piltovans would hear.
'Sigh...' Viktor sighed inwardly.
He saw his past self; he saw countless silent people.
Viktor tightened his grip on the briefcase in his hand—inside it was none other than Levi's article.
It seemed he was right.
This article shouldn't just be seen by him.
It had to be seen by these people, and even by all the sufferers across Runeterra!
Viktor quietly solidified his resolve, his gaze growing even colder and sharper.
This made the two women panic a little. "W-Who are you?"
"What right do you have... what right do you have to make us apologize to these people?"
If it were in the past, Viktor would only remain silent and low-profile, so low-profile that he wouldn't even be willing to call out his rightful titles.
But now, he was different.
"Who am I?"
Viktor slowly stepped onto the stairs Lina had just stood on, looking at all the students present:
"I am Viktor, colleague of Professor Jayce, student of Principal Heimerdinger, secondary inventor of the Hextech Core, Tenured Honorary Professor of the University of Piltover, and Deputy Group Leader of the Hextech Applied Mechanics Research Group..."
Throwing out a series of heavyweight titles was almost enough to scare someone to death.
The two women's faces instantly turned pale.
But they never expected, no one expected, that the final title Viktor would shout out as his grand finale would actually be:
"I am also a—"
"Zaunite!"
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