Chapter 117

Chapter 117

Ning Wang wasn’t stupid. If that old-fashioned study machine could chat and laugh with a classmate, it meant there was no need to keep up the act in front of Fan Jiangnan anymore.

He openly sat down beside the two of them, one hand pressing down on Ning Shuo’s shoulder. His expression was arrogant as he said something under his breath. The other NPCs couldn’t hear him and assumed Ning Wang was still picking a fight with Ning Shuo.

Ning Wang had been punished yesterday, and the NPCs had thought Ning Shuo’s status in the Jiang Family was now higher than Ning Wang’s. But then Ning Wang hadn’t shown up all day yesterday, and someone had seen him with Wen Nuan. The two of them had seemed to be getting along peacefully enough.

Faced with the current rivalry between the two young masters of the Jiang Family, the other NPCs remained on the sidelines.

In reality-

Fan Jiangnan was dumbfounded. “…A kink?”

In front of the other NPCs, Ning Wang used one hand to pose as if he were threatening Ning Shuo, while his other hand was laced tightly with his brother’s. He even swung their joined hands at Fan Jiangnan.

He looked like he was showing off. “Yeah. I’ve been pretending to be Ge’s enemy for the past few days. It was sooo tiring.”

Ning Shuo’s face was cold and indifferent, yet the words that came out of his mouth were wildly at odds with his expression. “Sorry. My little brother doesn’t know any better.”

Fan Jiangnan: “…Are you two split personalities or something?”

They were, of course, not split personalities.

Ning Shuo gave her a brief explanation. Fan Jiangnan half understood and half didn’t. She understood because she grasped what Ning Shuo meant; she didn’t understand because she couldn’t immediately accept that her world was only a small world.

Looking at it that way, it really was strange.

For example, in her memories, she only remembered her experiences from the past two years. Everything before that was a blank.

—

They still had to put on the act for the other NPCs. When Ning Wang left, he looked back every few steps. The others thought Ning Wang was unhappy with Ning Shuo and was turning back again and again to warn him.

In reality-

The first time Ning Wang looked back: “Ge, don’t shake hands again.”

Ning Shuo: “Okay.”

The second time Ning Wang looked back: “Really? Ge, don’t lie to me. I’ll get jealous.”

Ning Shuo: “Mm-hmm.”

The third time Ning Wang looked back: “Ge…”

Ning Shuo interrupted the spell. “Ningning, don’t push it.”

“…” Ning Wang silently turned back around. “Oh.”

From bully, to fake bully, to a couple, Fan Jiangnan was accepting the transition a little slowly. “Then… what are you trying to do?”

Ning Shuo said gently, “Do you still want to see You Ge?”

Fan Jiangnan’s pupils constricted, and she subconsciously kicked the desk.

The NPCs’ gazes instantly converged on her.

In the past, she had never felt there was anything strange about the class. But now that she had developed awareness, facing their straight, vacant stares made fear rise in Fan Jiangnan’s heart.

Had she… been like that before too?

At some point, Ning Shuo had picked up a pen. He tapped the exercise book. “There’s nothing wrong here. You misread it. It’s x, not Z.”

Remembering what Ning Shuo had told her, Fan Jiangnan’s expression stiffened slightly. “Ah… right. I got too worked up.”

Ning Shuo gave a soft “Mm.” “Go back, then. If you have any other questions, come discuss them with me.”

Fan Jiangnan still wanted to say something, but she saw Ning Shuo give her a look.

She remembered that Ning Shuo had only briefly mentioned her character setting earlier, saying she was a girl who had always been alone and had no friends.

Fan Jiangnan thought to herself that this character setting really did suit her.

—

Ning Wang had come over only to give them one piece of information: the Notary Office was not in the school.

The reason Ning Shuo had Wen Nuan hold the power in her own hands was so he could find an opportunity for Ning Wang to follow Wen Nuan and turn the entire school upside down. On the surface, they would be looking for the thing Jiang Shixian had hidden at the school and left for Ning Wang. In reality, they would be looking for the Notary Office.

They could secretly search for it themselves too, but there were NPCs everywhere in the school, and they only had so many excuses to use. The road to finding the Notary Office was long indeed.
But the Notary Office, surprisingly, wasn’t on campus.

Ning Shuo looked at the blackboard. Written on it was: College Entrance Exam Countdown: 30 Days.

The college entrance exam.

Ning Shuo circled it in his mind, fully aware that his top priority from here on out was helping Yu Min keep his score down.

After all, he had accepted the favor of all those spectators outside the arena who had pressured the System. It would be rude not to pay them back.

The Water Moon Mirror Fragment had two uses: first, it could raise Ning Shuo’s luck value; second, it could help other NPCs develop self-awareness.

Now the fragment had shattered again…

Ning Shuo took a workbook and went to find an NPC, his palm clutching a fragment that had been broken beyond broken. “Do you know how to do this problem?”

The NPC’s expression showed nothing unusual. After Ning Shuo finished explaining the problem, he returned to his seat, feeling a hollow melancholy inside.

We’re doomed.

For my dear Qi Yu, this King will have to activate Plan B.

Rao Lin and Song Zhu had already formally spoken with the people from Zone B. For now, the two teams had entered a peaceful cooperation mode.

As for the remaining three…

Qin Genan said, “No, seriously, I worked hard for three years on the college entrance exam just to get into a second-tier university, and now you want to drag me up to a top-tier one in one month?! Is this Script insane?!”

Zhuang Yao smacked her on the head. “I just explained this problem to you the day before yesterday. Hurry up and write.”

Luo Li secretly popped a piece of candy into her mouth. “Here’s a hint: plug in numbers.”

“How is that any different from a teacher calling on me to answer a question when I haven’t even understood the question, and then giving me a hint when I don’t even know what ‘plug in numbers’ means?!”

The weekly quiz wasn’t as formal as a major exam. Before it started, Ning Shuo said to Yu Min, “You remember the plan, right?”

Yu Min glanced at Fan Jiangnan, then signaled to his wary teammates to calm down. “Is it reliable?”

“665. Trust her.”

The weekly quiz was taken at their own seats. Surrounded by layer upon layer of books, Yu Min kept the name field blank the entire time, making his handwriting as neat as possible.

Only when the bell for collecting papers was about to ring did he write in the name field: Fan Jiangnan.

On the other side, Fan Jiangnan did the same.

The day before, she had looked through Yu Min’s Chinese copybook and gained a rough understanding of his handwriting.

She made the strokes as elegant as possible, but not so flowing that points would be deducted for presentation.

At the very end, she wrote in the name field: Qi Yu.

After school on Saturday, students could choose whether to go home or continue staying in the dorms.

Ning Shuo had gone back last week to learn about his family background and dig a pit while he was at it.

As for Ning Wang, because of the Jiang Family incident, he said he didn’t want to go back and face Wen Nuan. It would be too awkward. So he applied to live on campus.

Originally, his application wouldn’t have been approved. However, Wen Nuan didn’t want to see Ning Wang at home either, so she simply pulled some strings for him.

The dormitory teacher saw that Ning Shuo and Ning Wang were still utterly incompatible and arranged for Ning Wang to stay in an empty dorm extremely far away from Ning Shuo.

Ning Wang: …

He took the application form and went to find the teacher. “Why am I the only one living in my dorm?”

His attitude was as domineering as ever. “As the school tyrant, how can I not even have any good buddies in my dorm? Isn’t that going too far?”

“Teacher, are you isolating me?”

In all the teacher’s years on the job, this was the first time they had ever heard someone accuse a teacher of isolating a student, rather than students isolating a student.

The dormitory teacher tried to sound as kind as possible. “Isolation refers to a group distancing itself from an individual…”

“I’m applying to have people in my dorm. How can the school tyrant be isolated? I have to have a few good bros.”

In the end, the only dorm with empty beds left was the one next to Ning Shuo’s.