Chapter 19: Born Equal

After class, Qi Yu passed by the basketball court and was spotted from afar by the Black School Badge on his chest; that group of people waved their hands with ill intent: "Hey, Special Student over there, stop!"

In an instant, the people on the basketball court all cast their gazes over.

Qi Yu: "Is there something you need?"

Jiang Shun, the leader, pressed his tongue against his back molars: "Can't I call you if I have nothing to do?"

"Whatever you're doing, stop it immediately and take this equipment back to the equipment room, understand?"

Special Students are existences at Sike Academy that anyone can bully; let alone making things difficult for you or having you move equipment, even if a life were lost, their families would help smooth it over.

It would be just like a mouse dying.

Would anyone care about the life or death of a mouse?

Qi Yu said: "Oh."

"Oh what? What kind of attitude is that?" Jiang Shun stood in place with his hands in his pockets, his tone very provocative: "If any of these things are missing, can you afford to pay for them?"

"Forget it, you few, go with him."

He waved his hand and pointed at a few people at random.

The equipment room was built in a remote area, requiring one to bypass several Gothic-style buildings; Qi Yu pushed the cart loaded with equipment, reached out to pull the door open, and without turning on the lights, a cold, gloomy draft rushed toward his face.

The few people who followed him gave Qi Yu a shove: "Go in yourself."

"What a drag, Special Students are so slow at doing things, having to make us follow just to deliver some equipment."

As soon as Qi Yu entered, a bucket of ice water was splashed down, and immediately after, the door to the equipment room slammed shut with a boom, and the sound of the door being locked followed.

【Ding!】

【Novice Task Three: Cause Qi Yu to be bullied once (1/1)】

【Task Complete √】

Ling Wu was completely bewildered.

He clearly hadn't done anything, yet the task was completed.

"System?"

Barrage System: "Host, I am here."

Ling Wu asked: "Novice tasks, can I refuse them?"

Barrage System: "You cannot. Every completed novice task grants 100 points, and these points can allow you, the Host, to avoid the ending of the original manga."

"If by the end of the plot the Host still doesn't have enough points, you will also die."

Novice Task Three was complete, which meant he had now accumulated 100 points.

Ling Wu: "How many points can change my death ending?"

Barrage System: "10,000 points!"

Ling Wu: "Then why didn't you say so before?"

Barrage System suspiciously: "I didn't say it? Could it be that I've taken on too many Hosts... and got them mixed up?"

Ling Wu: "..."

Unreliable.

It turns out this is one-to-many teaching.

The equipment room was always cold and gloomy, and Qi Yu had been splashed with ice water; his clothes were soaked and clinging tightly to his body, and even his fingertips were beginning to turn cold.

He sent a message to Ming Tan, asking them to find Zhang Lijuan to get the key to open the equipment room door.

After half an hour, rustling noises came from outside the door. Qi Yu looked up, thinking it was Ming Tan who had arrived, but he didn't expect a slender, tall figure to walk in after opening the door.

"Come out."

Ling Wu stood in the doorway against the light, looking down at him; the brilliant sunlight spread out at his feet, the pale blue veins under the skin of his neck clearly visible, his facial features blurred by the backlight, a cold and decisive air like solid ice hidden between his brows and eyes.

"Do they often treat you like this?"

Qi Yu didn't answer immediately, his heart filled with suspicion; only Ming Tan knew he was locked in the equipment room, so why was it Ling Wu who rushed over?

The seed of doubt sprouted...

"It's a daily occurrence." Qi Yu looked at Ling Wu with heavy eyes, his tone carrying a hint of interrogation: "Wasn't this directed by you?"

"... Me?" Ling Wu crouched down beside him and handed over a handkerchief, his eyes open and honest: "Didn't we agree to let the past be wiped clean?"

"It seems you didn't take it seriously."

His voice was very pleasant, carrying a sense of cold clarity.

Qi Yu sat on a yoga mat and took the handkerchief; the touch of their fingertips was fleeting, and he watched the small mole hidden in the eyelid of the youth as he lowered his gaze.

Seeing him not move, Ling Wu's tone softened, seemingly carrying a touch of helplessness: "Give it to me."

"What?"

He took the handkerchief back from Qi Yu's hand and raised his hand to wipe away the moisture from his hair, cheeks, and neck.

Qi Yu looked at the fair face so close at hand, his heartbeat skipping a beat; he felt that when the fingertips wrapped in the handkerchief landed on his face, they were so scorching hot that his heart was trembling.

This was the first time someone had cared about him.

Qi Yu was an orphan; after being adopted by a couple in the Slums, he was not treated well, suffering cold looks and abuse. He only needed to be given a bite of food as charity to be made to manage the household, do the laundry, cook, clean, and learn to earn money to support the family...

Being called a bastard, a money-losing item.

Qi Yu's tuition was all earned from underground fighting; his grades were exceptionally outstanding, and he should have taken this tuition to another academy.

But his foster parents took the high enrollment fee from Sike Academy, tore up his admission letter, and "sold" him into Sike Academy, beginning his dark school life.

Here, Qi Yu had no money and no power, just like a stinking mouse in a gutter; people passing by looked at him with disdain and contempt, anyone could step on him, and resistance would only lead to worse treatment.

Gradually, he learned to hide his own edge.

He could not be expelled from Sike Academy; knowledge had become almost his only chance to change his fate.

Seeing no light of day, he could only endure.

Qi Yu looked at Ling Wu.

Such a pampered young master who has never known want, perhaps he will never understand that for a single bite of food, a person can debase themselves into the dust.

Yet Ling Wu first picked up his test paper in Class A and told him to cherish his talent, then became his desk mate, and now has even come to the equipment room specifically to save him.

Qi Yu did not understand what he possessed that was worth the other person deliberately approaching him.

But... no matter the reason, since he has come, he should not think about leaving.

【It's over, the villain's gaze is just like a big bad wolf looking at a little white rabbit.】

【The male supporting character is just fishing the moment he opens his eyes; what kind of decent person wipes a villain's face like that? I'm shipping it, I'm shipping it.】

【The sexual tension is maxed out.】

【The villain's background is truly too tragic.】

【Male supporting character, I'm not just saying this, but the person in front of you isn't a good person either. Run away while he hasn't turned dark yet, otherwise there will be plenty of forced confinement play in the future.】

Ling Wu stood up and held his hand out before him: "You are very unwilling to accept this, aren't you?"

Why should they be able to bully people like this without paying any price, stepping on class and money to sing their way through life unimpeded?

Qi Yu stared at those two thin lips and heard Ling Wu ask him: "Do you know what the biggest lie in this world is?"

"All humans are born equal."

Being born equal is a widely spread concept in the Federation, emphasizing that everyone is born with equal rights and opportunities, but in the Empire, the equality, justice, and heavenly principles championed by the commoners are nothing but a monstrous lie, a beautiful vision.

Everyone is born, yet at birth, they do not possess the same wealth, status, intelligence, and ability...

After birth, they do not enjoy equal dignity and human rights, including the most basic rights to life, dignity, freedom, and equality.