### Chapter 1 An Unremarkable Special Admit

### Chapter 1 An Unremarkable Special Admit

"Have you guys heard? Another special admit has joined our school. He's supposed to report today!"

"I've heard about it for a while now. (Rubbing hands together)"

"Can you please control your excitement? I can practically smell your eagerness through the screen!"

"How can you not be excited with new toys coming in? I heard this one is from the slums of Lower Harbor, with no background at all. Haha."

Laugh your head off, damn it.

Ning Song chewed on his mint candy, looking at the posts on the school forum and wondering how many of these rich boys he could take down if he really encountered them at his new school.

His slender fingers were still scrolling through the vulgar comments when he suddenly heard a gruff voice ask, "Ning Song?"

Ning Song looked up and saw a school bus with "Upper East Boys' School" written on it parked in front of him. The uniformed driver was leaning out to look at him.

He put away his phone, and the shadow in his eyes instantly turned into a smile as he bowed and said, "Hello!"

The driver glanced at the messy advertisements on the nearby utility pole and said irritably, "This place is too hard to find."

As a driver for Upper East Boys' School, this was the first time he had come to such an area to pick someone up.

This was the most notorious slum in Shangdong Province, right next to the crime-ridden Underground City. Driving a school bus marked with the emblem of a noble academy, he drew attention everywhere he went. He had heard that the area was dangerous and had been on edge, feeling increasingly agitated after circling around for a while.

He wanted to vent his frustration but then saw the boy bowing with a smile and saying, "Sorry, thank you for your trouble!"

What a well-behaved kid.

But he's so thin.

Thin like a piece of paper, with a sharp chin, slightly curly hair that looks soft, and eyes that seem to have a tinge of brown. He looks malnourished, with pale skin, narrow shoulders slightly hunched, and a large backpack that makes him look even more fragile. It was late February, but there had been a cold snap and two rainstorms recently. The narrow streets here barely let sunlight in, making everything feel chilly. He must have been waiting for a long time, as his nose was red from the cold, making his complexion appear even more sickly. The surroundings were filled with ragged vagrants and advertisements for the red-light district, making anyone watching feel concerned for him.

Unable to bear being too harsh on such a boy, the driver nodded and said, "Get in the car."

Ning Song entered the bus with his backpack, and the driver glanced at him through the rearview mirror. "Special admit?"

Ning Song responded with a nod and met the driver's gaze in the mirror. A subtle expression crossed the driver's face before he simply said, "Not easy, congratulations."

Ning Song smiled slightly, "Thank you."

When he smiled, a faint crease appeared at the corner of his lips, giving him a pitiful yet lively look. The driver didn't say anything else and drove towards Upper East Boys' School.

Ning Song knew why the driver had given him that look.

A lucky boy from the slums—there couldn't be many like him in the entire Upper East Boys' School.

Although he hadn't read the novel called "Gifts from the Young Masters," it was so popular that its derivatives were everywhere. His best friend loved the novel and would force-feed him recommendations every day. He had even helped her secure some derivative merchandise, which always sold out instantly. Eventually, he bought her an expensive collector's edition card game set from Xianyu as a birthday gift.

That was his closest encounter with the novel as a straight guy.

There were twenty cards in total, and he had drawn about ten of them from memory over the past few days.

He took out those cards from his pocket and flipped through them one by one.

The first card featured a wild-looking boy. He remembered this character vividly because of the tattoos on his body.

At the time, he thought, "Sure enough, it's a fictional world." He had never seen anyone in high school dare to get visible tattoos.

Though a fictional character, the card depicted him with all the characteristics of a wild and rebellious figure, with darker skin and wearing his school uniform in a sloppy manner, holding boxing gloves, looking like a punk thug.

At the top of the card was his name, Li You.

His best friend called this character "Squid Brother," describing him as a walking embodiment of youthful hormones, almost like a sharp and edgy gangster.

Below the image were a few lines of character description: Age 18, Height 187 cm, Nickname: Uniform Thug.

Flipping to the next card, a beautiful white-haired youth appeared.

His best friend said this person was the most handsome in the entire school.

He was called Sheng Yan, and Ning Song remembered his name because he lived up to it, exuding sharpness and flamboyance, with a black earring against his fair skin, looking like three blazing fires.

Below the image was his personal information: Age 17, Height 185 cm, School Prince, one of the five young masters of Upper East School.

He also remembered that Sheng Yan had a stark contrast—he owned a fierce dog named Nunu.

The next card showed a bespectacled boy, elegant and refined. Ning Song couldn't remember his name, only that he was the student council president and his best friend's favorite character. He played the saxophone and could catch a basketball with one hand, embodying the perfect campus idol.

Girls seemed to prefer this type of clean and refreshing handsome guy.

Another card featured a similar bespectacled boy, but with a more arrogant demeanor, exuding an air of refinement and haughtiness, like a proud peacock.

He remembered the character description mentioning "peacock" somewhere.

Two other characters left a deep impression on him—one looked very feminine and beautiful, though he couldn't recall the name, likely a beautiful bottom. The other was cute, with a small bun at the back of his head.

The remaining cards lacked distinct memories. He vaguely recalled details like dancers, basketball players, and geniuses. All the characters seemed to be over 180 cm tall, with some even exceeding 190 cm.

He had heard his best friend mention something about "18 boys" or "19 boys."

This was a multi-protagonist BL novel set in a noble high school, but this school was unlike any he had known in the real world.

It was a school where almost everyone was into BL, filled with male-male love stories!

So, the question was:

What role did he play in this novel world?

He, Ning Song, 17 years old, a senior student who transferred from the slums to an elite high school through a special admission program. He stands at 175 cm tall, weighs just over 100 pounds, has no meat on his butt, and beauty is not something he's associated with.

No beauty, no perky butt, and height under 180 cm—none of the traits a typical romantic hero would have.

He’s just a weakling with no sexual appeal, a body that could fall apart with a single bump.

He spread out the cards in his hand again, revealing about ten images of male high school characters before him.

He was very certain he wasn't among those twenty protagonist cards.

Perhaps he was one of the hundreds of supporting characters, cannon fodder, or extras among the nearly thousand students at Upper East School, excluding the twenty main characters.

Shangdong Province has fourteen districts. The poorest is Lower Harbor, while the wealthiest is Bright Pearl Island. Ironically, these two districts with the greatest wealth disparity are right next to each other, separated only by a sea-crossing bridge.

Leaving the dilapidated buildings and shanties of Lower Harbor through the sea-crossing bridge into Bright Pearl Island felt like entering a different world.

Modern skyscrapers and ancient European-style buildings lined up side by side, with the Asian Federation Twin Towers towering into the sky.

The seawater in the rich district seemed bluer than that of Lower Harbor.

This was his first time entering the wealthy area of Shangdong Province, and Bright Pearl Island truly resembled a pearl embedded in the sea.

It was a strange world with a huge wealth gap, where assets were almost entirely monopolized by financial conglomerates—a world he, a poor student from the slums, had never experienced.

An hour later, entering No. 1 Saint Mijin Street, he saw the gates of Upper East Boys' School through the car window.

The grand entrance gate in Roman style featured granite pillars carved with patterns of roses and swords, and below them, red letters on a black background read "Upper East Boys' School."

Inside the gate, to the left was a wall, and to the right was a hill covered with blooming white thorns. It was the season for white thorns, and the vast expanse of fragrant white flowers looked like snow. The wind carried their scent like a flowing waterfall, sweet and thick, almost like the scent of a boy.

Turning a corner, he saw towering trees with twisted branches, bathed in golden light and mist. Rows of red-tiled brown-walled buildings were hidden within, aged and exuding a decaying elegance. The distant clock tower suddenly rang loudly.

The windows of the clock tower were all made of colorful stained glass, dazzling like a rainbow crown. The air was filled with rich and fragrant scents. He glanced at his phone; it was exactly nine o'clock in the morning.

As the bell stopped ringing, the entire campus seemed to come alive with commotion. Voices stirred the lush flower branches, and students in uniforms and leather shoes appeared in his field of vision.

Such scenes were familiar to anyone who had been to school, but the difference here was that every single person in sight was a teenage boy, bustling around.

The air seemed filled with vibrant hormones, bright and youthful, giving Ning Song a real sense of what a boys' school was like.

This was a completely different world from the one he used to live in, a world of romantic universes.

This former church school had expanded into the most prestigious modern boys' school in Shangdong Province, with annual tuition fees nearing a million Asian Federation coins. It was one of the four most renowned boys' schools in the Asian Federation, a sanctuary unattainable to ordinary people, where order and chaos coexisted, a paradise for the elites.

The school bus carrying him passed through the crowd. The uniformed young masters all turned to look at him inside the bus. The statue of the Virgin Mary in front of the teaching building gazed down gently, while Ning Song's small face was hidden behind the changing light and shadows of the car window, delicate and pale, ordinary and thin.

Boys on the roadside whispered and pointed towards Ning Song in the bus.

"Look, isn't that the special admission student?"

"Who?"

"The special admission student from Class 3, Grade 11?"

"Also the first special admission student from the slums in the 112-year history of Upper East School."

The bus drove halfway across the campus and stopped in front of a two-story building with red walls and black tiles, a blend of Eastern and Western styles.

The driver said, "I was instructed to bring you here... Someone should be coming down to meet you soon."

Maybe.

The driver thought.

A special admission student nobody really cared about, being overlooked was just one of the many challenges he would face.

Ning Song got off the bus and thanked the driver.

The driver gave him a meaningful look as the wind blew, almost covering Ning Song's eyes. The driver hesitated, then said nothing and drove away.

Ning Song stood for a moment with his heavy backpack, then suddenly saw two boys holding hands emerge from a nearby grove.

Ning Song: "..."

Damn, gay school, you didn’t lie!

He instinctively took a step back, and there was a "crack" as he stepped on a flower branch.

The tender petals, now crushed, were stained with dark bruises and mud.

A cold voice asked, "Are you Ning Song from Lower Harbor High School?"

Ning Song turned and saw a boy wearing glasses, a black uniform, gray trousers, and black leather shoes, with shoelaces tied in a butterfly bow, looking at him with slightly drooping eyelids.

In the past, he would have ignored such arrogance due to his bad temper.

Now, he glanced at the golden nameplate on the boy's chest, smiled sweetly, and bowed politely, saying, "Hello, Senior."

Senior Zhou Lü had a somewhat harsh and unfeeling face, and the disappointment and contempt in his eyes couldn't be hidden: "Follow me."

Ning Song followed him inside, and Senior Zhou kept asking, "How old are you?"

"Seventeen," Ning Song replied.

"You look even younger than your photo. At first, I thought I had the wrong person."

"Maybe because my photo makes me look a bit heavier," Ning Song smiled.

His smile showed deep creases at the corners of his mouth, making him appear even thinner. Senior Zhou raised his arrogant eyebrows and stopped looking at him.

The Upper East School granted the student council considerable power, and almost all the members of the student council were in this office building, handling most of the administrative work. Zhou Lü was the head of their high school's second year section and also one of the three vice presidents of the student council.

They re-evaluated his admission level and confirmed his rating. Zhou Lü handed him a nameplate: "This is your nameplate. You must wear it at all times while on campus, or you'll lose points if caught without it. These regulations are all written in the dress code. Have you read them?"

Ning Song nodded: "I've read them all."

The nameplate had the emblem of the Upper East Boys' School and his name on it.

His emblem was white, with two crossed swords surrounding a bouquet of white roses.

However, he noticed that Zhou Lü's nameplate was golden.

He had seen in a derivative video of this novel that students at the Upper East School had four levels: white, red, gold, and pure black, determined by their comprehensive score.

It seemed he was currently at the lowest level, with a white nameplate.

He remembered that many of the main characters had black nameplates.

Children from upper-class families received the best elite education from a young age, naturally giving them higher comprehensive scores.

Someone like him couldn't compare at all.

He glanced at the nameplates on the chests of the student council members; they were either red or gold, which were the colors most people had.

It looked like he would have to climb up from the bottom!

After finishing all the procedures, he left the office building with an additional cardboard box in his arms, containing his new semester's textbooks, a welcome package, and spring uniforms. His backpack was already large, and carrying the box made his slender frame look strained, but Zhou Lü, who was leading him to the dormitory, showed no intention of helping him.

Next to the office building was a football field where a group of boys had just finished playing and were washing their faces at a nearby water fountain.

Ning Song followed Zhou Lü past the group of boys and noticed that everyone was staring at him.

... How tall they all were! Their average height was definitely over 185 cm, tall and muscular, towering over him.

This height difference... Good thing he was straight!

Not only were these boys tall, but they were also good-looking, with the least attractive being street handsome, each one a flower of wealth and beauty.

They wore uniform shorts and long socks, revealing their pale legs, exuding youthful hormones.

But Ning Song was particularly drawn to one boy in the middle.

He had striking silver-white hair, one foot resting on the water fountain as he tied his shoelaces. He wore white football socks and gray three-quarter shorts, showing off his strong, slender legs. A loose hoodie covered his upper body. He casually glanced in Ning Song's direction before turning back to wash his hands under the faucet.

He was beautiful and flamboyant, like a burst of white fireworks in the brightest daylight.

It was as if this character had suddenly stepped out of a manga.

Sheng Yan!

The Sheng Yan with three fire characters.

"Senior Zhou, we have a new classmate?" asked a boy holding a football loudly.

He was very handsome, with dimples on his cheeks when he smiled, sweaty.

Zhou Lü nodded, his gaze shifting to Sheng Yan, smiling: "Your neighbor in class," then added, "the special admit."

But Sheng Yan didn't seem interested in him. Instead, the others, upon hearing he was the special admit, gave him more attention.

Ning Song's hair was slightly long, and he wore a black jacket with a worn collar, old khaki cotton pants, and new sneakers that didn't quite match.

This appearance was too unremarkable, even less than ordinary. Last year, their school had two other special admits, one short and dark, leaving a strong impression.

When Ning Song and Zhou Lü had walked far enough away, a boy carrying his school uniform ran from the field and saw everyone staring at Ning Song's back. He asked, "Brother Yuan, who are you looking at?"

The boy called Brother Yuan looked at Ning Song with disdain: "A disappointing new toy."

"So much hype for such a mediocre special admit."

"Hype?" Sheng Yan shook his wet hand. "If you're bored, practice more. Weaklings shouldn't care about useless gossip."

Li Qingyuan laughed: "If he were a cute boy, it would be interesting. Maybe Li You and Qin Yi would fight over him."

Now, it's a pity.

Special admits at the Upper East School were generally of two types: those from wealthy backgrounds who got in through connections, using the special admit slot, which was fine. The other type was the true special admit, and these so-called lucky ones weren't actually that fortunate. Except for a few exceptionally talented ones, the rest usually ended up as toys for rich boys or were plain in both talent and looks. It was almost impossible for them to truly integrate into the world of the wealthy. Every school has a few people at the top of the pyramid and a few at the bottom.

The new transfer student was clearly the latter.

He wasn't worth any conflict but would undoubtedly be among the lowest in the entire school.

Li Qingyuan watched Ning Song's back, almost blending into the light, and said: "I hope this bean sprout doesn't have too miserable a life ahead!"

---

At sunset on Saint Mijin Avenue, an Aston Martin slowly followed Ning Song, who was carrying his backpack; on a rainy day, Ning Song, after being sent home, saw someone sitting outside his house; during the Underground City riots, two boys rushed through the crowd toward Ning Song, one grabbing his hand first; then came the lively masked ball, where Ning Song, wearing a mask, danced amidst the crowd, countless eyes watching him; the colorful disco lights flickered, beer bottles spun rapidly on the table in the private room, the intense sports events in the gymnasium, the bustling concert venue, the small dark room filled with rapid breathing, running, embracing, the flapping coat, the umbrella held aloft, followed by two bangs as fireworks exploded in the night sky, someone standing behind him, covering his eyes, burying their face uncontrollably in his pale, slender neck.

Finally, there was a vlog shot by someone, showing the bean sprout-like Ning Song when he first entered school, the growing Ning Song, the class heartthrob Ning Song, and finally the Ning Song whose every smile captivated everyone, the shaky camera capturing an obsessive and unhealthy infatuation.

In the end, someone shouted off-camera: "Ning Song."

Ning Song, now the top person in the four schools, turned around, his gaze meeting the camera, like a rose in fragrance, beautiful and dreamlike.

The story begins, a true heartthrob, with admirers and lovers falling one after another, telling the tale of the protagonist's journey from an ordinary student to a class heartthrob, then a school heartthrob, and finally causing a stir throughout the entire boys' school.

Stay tuned!