"President, guess what good news I have for you?"
It was Wednesday noon, and Yaqiao Mu burst into the Student Council office, his exuberance disrupting Yan Huan, who sat at his desk sorting through docunts.
The room was quiet; Ying Gong Tong had left earlier after seeing through her phone’s cara that her beloved Maine Coon, i Yue, seed unwell. Her ho wasn’t far from school, so she had gone to check on it.
Yan Huan had been working on plans to organize the principal-mandated study group, but his thoughts mostly revolved around how to properly manage the two Modifier holders he was keeping an eye on.
No progress had been made. Bai Yi was an enigma, almost never showing up to school. Who knew what kind of mischief she was up to with her Modifier outside the campus?
As for Spencer, Yan Huan had hoped she’d reach out with so sort of request so he could counteract it. But two days had passed, and she hadn’t made a peep. Given her 66-point test score, she might’ve completely forgotten about the situation.
Deciding to take the initiative, he planned to rope Spencer into the study group—she was, after all, one of the mandatory participants. Just as he was about to draft her email, Yaqiao Mu’s dramatic entrance derailed his train of thought.
Yan Huan glanced up at Yaqiao Mu, noting his barely contained excitent and cryptic deanor, which begged for curiosity. With a sigh, Yan Huan humored him.
"Zhou Bin found religion and beca a devout, peaceful disciple of three faiths?"
"Uh, that’s nice, but no. Guess again!"
Yan Huan rolled his eyes, his tone flat.
"Either you lucked out on a single gacha pull, or your long-delayed figurine finally shipped."
Yaqiao Mu shook his head, adjusting his glasses with a theatrical flourish. Then, with a smack, he slapped two tickets onto Yan Huan’s desk.
Glancing down, Yan Huan read the text on the tickets:
"Linn-Jinghe Gaming Expo – Admission Pass Bundle."
Raising an eyebrow, he asked, "And?"
"And what?! President, do you have any idea how big this event is? The world’s top ga developers are attending, with so many famous guests! I worked my tail off to get these two tickets!"
Yan Huan gave him a knowing look and flipped the ticket to its reverse side. Sure enough, the list of guests in the “2D Ani Zone” included a familiar na: Shijo Ai.
"So you’re going for Shijo Ai, huh?"
Caught, Yaqiao Mu scratched his head sheepishly. Shijo Ai was the voice actress for the loli protagonist of the 18
galgaeting a Loli After an 8:30 PM Shift, one of Yaqiao Mu’s favorite titles. Though a risqué early work, Shijo Ai had since transitioned into mainstream ani and was now a celebrated voice actress.
"Am I really that obvious, President?" Yaqiao Mu asked, his expression earnest.
Yan Huan chuckled but said nothing. He rembered Yaqiao Mu’s infamous incident during last sester’s class trip: he had set his alarm to Shijo Ai’s loli voice and forgotten to change it. The next morning, the loud, tsundere tirade from his phone startled the entire class awake, with Yaqiao Mu struggling to turn it off after it fell between the bedfra and mattress.
It had been legendary.
"So, why two tickets? Planning to drag
along?" Yan Huan asked.
"Exactly."
Yaqiao Mu nodded earnestly. "They only sold them as bundles, and I had to buy from a scalper because all other channels were sold out. You don’t want it to go to waste, do you? Co with !"
"I’ll think about it…" Yan Huan replied noncommittally. Truthfully, the idea of spending his precious weekend fighting crowds at a packed convention was far less appealing than staying ho and catching up on sleep.
"By the way, have you had any luck contacting Bai Yi about joining the study group? She never responds to Student Council emails."
Yaqiao Mu sighed, slumping into the sofa.
"Nope. She barely cos to school, and even our horoom teacher struggles to reach her. Honestly, your best bet might be catching her at the expo’s backstage area this weekend."
"Backstage?"
Yan Huan picked up the ticket again, scanning the VIP guest list. Sure enough, Bai Yi’s na appeared alongside other big-na influencers and beauty icons.
"Looks like she’s booked for a promotional event," Yan Huan mused, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
"Speaking of Bai Yi, her mom ca to school this morning," Yaqiao Mu added, as though rembering sothing.
"You recognized her mom?"
"Pretty much everyone in our class does. She’s picked Bai Yi up from school before, and you can’t miss her—Bai Yi draws too much attention. Bai Yi’s super approachable, no diva vibes at all. Her mom, though? She seems strict, even a bit scary."
Yaqiao Mu shuddered at the mory before continuing.
"This morning, though, she seed really flustered, like sothing was wrong."
"Hmm…"
Yan Huan tapped his fingers against the desk. Bai Yi’s rare appearances at school and her mysterious Modifier were a cause for concern. If left unchecked, who knew how far her abilities might develop?
Making up his mind, he grabbed the expo ticket and said,
"Alright, I’ll go with you this weekend. Let’s coordinate on Plane for the et-up ti."
Yaqiao Mu’s face lit up with excitent. As soone with social anxiety, having a trusted friend with him at such a big event was a huge relief. Plus, he needed the support for his ultimate goal: presenting Shijo Ai with a heartfelt letter he had written to her iconic loli character.
Before he could elaborate, a sudden knock interrupted them.
Knock, knock, knock!
"Co in!" Yan Huan called out.
The door opened to reveal a chirpy girl from their class, her cheerful energy filling the room like a flock of sparrows.
“President, sothing’s wrong! Your… your desk seems to have… had an incident!”
“My desk? What could possibly happen to a desk? Tell
more.”
“I… I don’t know how to explain it. Just co back to the classroom and see for yourself!”
"?"
Yan Huan exchanged a glance with Yaqiao Mu before reluctantly standing up and following the sparrow-like girl back to Class A.
In the classroom, Yan Huan’s desk was a disaster. A chaotic mix of brightly colored paint had been dumped over it, splattering onto the chair as well. The pungent odor of chemicals filled the air, making it hard to breathe.
On the desktop, soone had scrawled crude insults in jagged lettering:
“Die!”
“Disgusting!”
The girl, nervous and jittery, glanced around the empty room. Only Yan Huan, Yaqiao Mu, and herself were present. She hugged her arms close, clearly shaken.
“I swear, President, I just stepped out to fill my water bottle, and when I ca back, it was like this! It couldn’t have been more than a minute!” she stamred. “It’s just like what happened to Teacher Zhou last week… President, you’ve been cursed by a ghost too!”
Yaqiao Mu scratched his chin thoughtfully and chid in,
“President, what if the ghost turns out to be a busty girl? Maybe you need to exorcise her lingering regrets at night to set her free?”
Yan Huan shot him a look of utter disbelief, his expression saying, You’re beyond saving.
Even without the girl’s ghost theory, Yan Huan already had a suspect in mind: Bai Yi. The incident mirrored Zhou Bin’s mysterious “haunting” from last week, and Bai Yi had been at the center of that too.
The problem was, Yan Huan couldn’t figure out what he’d done to upset her. They’d barely interacted since starting school—he could count their encounters on one hand.
His bafflent deepened as he noticed a faint tapping sound on the window.
“Ding!”
Turning toward the sound, he spotted a pebble rolling down the windowpane.
“…”
“Ahh! The ghost is here! It’s a paranormal event!” the girl scread, clutching the back of Yan Huan’s shirt.
Throwing pebbles? Really? Yan Huan thought, exasperated. What are you, five?
Looking outside, he saw nothing but the greenery of the campus landscaping, separating the classroom from the adjacent path.
Bai Yi, is that you?
If it wasn’t, then her Modifier might have leveled up without his knowledge, making her untraceable even to him. Otherwise, this was…
No, it can’t actually be supernatural, right? Zhou Bin, where are you? I need those links to your “holy gear,” ASAP.
“Ding!”
Another flurry of pebbles struck the window, startling even Yaqiao Mu, who clung to Yan Huan’s arm dramatically.
“P-President! Protect !”
“Let go of , Yaqiao, or I swear I’ll make this a paranormal event for real,” Yan Huan muttered, shaking him off.
Summoning his practiced calm, Yan Huan stepped back and addressed the others.
“You two step outside. I’ll check it out. Whatever it is, it seems to be targeting .”
As the girl and Yaqiao hesitated, Yan Huan’s peripheral vision caught a glimpse of sothing in the bushes—a faint silhouette with semi-transparent black hair.
Taking a deep breath, he threw open the window and leaned out, locking eyes with the culprit: Bai Yi.
Under a tree, Bai Yi crouched like a village prankster. She wore a fisherman’s hat, sunglasses, and casual clothes, her semi-transparent form holding a pebble mid-throw. Larger stones lay discarded nearby, too heavy to hurl the distance.
Yan Huan’s frustration surged as he adjusted his expression into one of feigned confusion. He frowned and called out,
“Don’t move!”
Vaulting over the windowsill, he landed smoothly on the grass outside.
“President!” Yaqiao Mu’s instinct was to follow, but his sedentary lifestyle left him struggling to even lift his leg to the windowsill. He sighed and opted to take the long way out.
Bai Yi froze as Yan Huan approached, her hand tightening around the pebble. Realizing her Modifier’s Unnoticed effect was still active, she simply sat where she was, staring defiantly as Yan Huan drew closer.
There it is again… That face… That insufferable face of his…
Her annoyance boiled over, a dark and dirty thought creeping into her mind. Even with her Modifier in play, the thought made her shudder.
Unbeknownst to her, Yan Huan was also studying her. Her sunglasses couldn’t completely hide the anger in her expression, and he still had no idea what had provoked her.
Was this just random chaos?
As his mind raced, Bai Yi stood up abruptly. Her semi-transparent form stepped toward him, lips pressed tightly together.
Yan Huan’s instincts scread at him to retreat, but before he could act, the wail of police sirens echoed from the school gates.
Both Bai Yi and Yan Huan turned toward the commotion, where a middle-aged woman erged from a patrol car, clutching a phone and sobbing.
“Officer, please help ! My daughter went out last night and hasn’t co back! We’ve checked the caras, but there’s no sign of her. I’m so worried…”
“Calm down, ma’am. Let’s take this one step at a ti…”
Police? Yan Huan’s brow furrowed. Is Bai Yi… a runaway?
Glancing over his shoulder, he found her spot empty. Bai Yi had vanished without a trace.
anwhile, in the school corridor, Yaqiao Mu nearly collided with a girl walking with her head lowered, her posture timid but her presence striking.
“Careful!” he exclaid, stepping aside.
The girl flinched but stood her ground, thrusting a plain white envelope toward him.
“Um… Yaqiao…” she began softly, her voice barely above a whisper.
Yaqiao blinked at the envelope, which bore two nas:
“To Little Huan, From An Le.”
Another love letter for the President?
Normally, Yaqiao Mu might’ve been too awkward to decline, especially from soone as shy and reserved as An Le. But today, with the chaos unfolding, he had no ti for distractions.
Gently pushing the envelope back, he mumbled,
“Sorry, not now,” and dashed off toward the classroom.
“…”
An Le stood frozen, her hand still holding the letter. Her lips quivered as she whispered,
Was the timing… wrong?
Disheartened but determined, she steeled herself.
I’ll try again later.
Turning to leave, An Le suddenly noticed a group of girls watching her from further down the hallway. At their center was her classmate, Park Shuwen, a cold smirk playing on her lips.
An Le’s heart sank.
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