Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Senior year was grueling, and students wouldn’t let go of any chance to relax. Within minutes after school ended, almost everyone in the senior building had already left.

Zhang Yu dashed down several flights of stairs when he suddenly heard someone call his name. Puzzled, he stopped and turned around, only to find He Xu’s lackeys.

The school delinquents, legs burning from the chase, immediately jumped down several steps to block him as soon as he stopped.

By then, most students had already left, leaving the hallway empty. The few who remained quickly averted their eyes and avoided the scene.

"You little—running so damn fast..." The delinquents surrounded him, gasping for breath.

They had followed him the moment he left, but it took them several floors—almost all the way to the first floor—to finally catch up.

Zhang Yu stared at these minions of the bully, baffled. "What do you want?"

The delinquent with a few yellow streaks in his bangs—Zhang Yu remembered his name was Sun Ran—shot him a hostile glare. "What do we want? You pissed off our boss this morning, and you’ve already forgotten after just half a day?"

Ah, so that's it—they were here to pick a fight!

Zhang Yu immediately switched gears, putting on a panicked expression. "S-sorry, I didn’t mean to."

Sun Ran sneered. "Sorry? If sorry worked, what would we need the police for?"

Zhang Yu wanted to clutch his schoolbag to emphasize his fear, but when he moved his arms, he realized he hadn’t even brought it down with him. So instead, he hugged himself and trembled visibly. "T-then... what do you want to do?"

"What do we want? Beat you up, of course, to vent our boss’s anger." Sun Ran raised an eyebrow and jerked his chin to the side. "So, are you walking on your own, or do we have to drag you?"

"I-I’ll walk." Zhang Yu hunched his shoulders and stepped out of the stairwell under their watchful eyes. Once outside, he hesitated, then looked at them with wide, guileless eyes. "Which way?"

Sun Ran tsked and pointed. "This way."

The group headed toward the sports field.

The field and the cafeteria were in opposite directions, so they barely ran into anyone along the way. Soon, they arrived at their destination, circling around before stopping outside the gym equipment room beneath the bleachers.

The door was slightly ajar, unlocked. Sun Ran pushed it open easily, letting the others enter first before closing it behind them. He stepped forward and announced, "Boss, we brought him."

He Xu was leaning against the window, smoking. One elbow rested on the windowsill, a cigarette between his fingers, his long legs loosely crossed. His head was slightly turned, dark eyes narrowed as he gazed outside.

A morning had passed, and he had changed outfits again—his black T-shirt replaced by a sleeveless black turtleneck tank, revealing his muscular arms. His honey-toned skin stretched taut over well-defined muscles, and his black cargo pants hung loosely, slung low around his long legs, cinched tightly at the waist with a silver skull pendant dangling from his belt, swaying at his hip.

Hearing Sun Ran’s voice, he turned his head, gave the group a sidelong glance before taking a drag and exhaling slowly. His voice was low and lazy. "Pretty quick."

Sun Ran grinned. "This guy was pretty obedient. Didn’t even try to run when he knew we were gonna beat him. Saved us the trouble of chasing him."

"Oh?" He Xu scoffed, stubbing out his cigarette before walking over.

Sun Ran, ever the loyal lackey, immediately shoved Zhang Yu forward as soon as he saw his boss preparing to take action himself.

Zhang Yu stumbled a couple of steps forward, watching as He Xu approached.

He Xu looked like he had just finished exercising, steam practically rising off him. His short, thick black hair was slightly damp, sweat trickling down his temples.

A droplet slid from his ear, down his sharp jawline, and disappeared into his collar.

Zhang Yu’s gaze lingered on that patch of honey-toned skin, and suddenly, his teeth itched with an inexplicable urge—what would it taste like if he bit down?

His face was abruptly seized by a large hand, forcing him to look up into He Xu’s stormy gaze. "What are you looking at?"

Snapping out of it, Zhang Yu remembered his current predicament and lowered his voice, feigning fear. "N-nothing."

He Xu’s brows furrowed, his eyes stormy. His fingers clamped down like a vice, distorting Zhang Yu’s face. "Look at me like that again, and I’ll gouge your eyes out."

What look?

Zhang Yu blinked. Had his act slipped? No way.

He widened his eyes, trying to appear as weak and helpless as possible.

The gym equipment room wasn’t lit, the only light coming from the window. Dust particles floated in the air like tiny snowflakes, and the boy standing in the light had his face squeezed out of shape, his soft cheeks deeply indented by fingers, his fair skin flushing pink.

His pupils trembled as if terrified, his eyes slightly wet like he was about to cry. His tumbling curls draped softly over his ears, making him look small and harmless.

But He Xu’s expression remained grim.

He didn’t know why he had suddenly become so sensitive.

This youthful-looking boy in front of him was clearly a pushover, yet somehow, he kept sensing a strange aggression in his gaze—as if he were being sized up like prey by a cunning hunter, coldly calculating how to skin and devour him.

But how could that be? This was just some loser he could flatten with one hand.

He Xu narrowed his eyes, his voice low. "You had some guts this morning. You’re the first one who’s ever dared to dump water on me."

The youthful-looking boy’s pupils shook in panic, his voice distorted and slurred from his squeezed cheeks. "I-I didn’t do it on purpose..."

"I’ve already heard that." He Xu’s tone darkened. "Got anything else to say?"

"I-I..." The boy stammered for a long time before finally choking out, "I’m sorry, please let me go..."

He Xu raised an eyebrow, looking almost amused, though a hint of relief flickered in his eyes. If this guy was so quick to beg for mercy, then he really was just a coward. That sense of aggression must have been his imagination.

Seriously, thinking this guy could be a threat—he must’ve lost his mind.

Annoyed at himself for nearly fighting shadows, He Xu let go and kicked the boy into a pile of equipment in the corner. Cracking his knuckles, he smirked. "Nothing else to say? Then, newbie, let’s play rough."

Equipment clattered to the ground as Zhang Yu was sent sprawling. Before he could get up, a foot slammed down toward him.

His eyes sharpened, instincts screaming to lash out with his tentacles—but at the last second, he forced them back.

The fall had knocked over half the equipment, burying him under a pile. With the others crowding around and the dim lighting, no one noticed anything unusual.

Zhang Yu buried his face, curling into a ball to minimize the exposed areas.

Human strength wasn’t much to him, so it didn’t hurt much. But the places they hit, his skin would change color, risking exposure.

And his hair—if anyone looked closely, they’d see each strand moved on its own, like tiny snakes.

He had only learned to take human form two days ago under the System’s guidance and wasn’t fully used to the disguise. Normally, he could keep his hair still, but now, with his focus split between adjusting his pigmentation to avoid detection and suppressing his tentacles from instinctively fighting back, his six brains were working overtime.

Luckily, no one noticed—wait, what the hell are you doing, antagonist?!

After a while, He Xu grew bored when the boy still didn’t make a sound.

Shaking out his hand, he crouched beside Zhang Yu and grabbed his hair, yanking him up.

Zhang Yu’s eyes widened in panic as he desperately tried to stop his hair from writhing. Don’t twist! Don’t wrap around his fingers! Stop moving, damn it!! he mentally screamed.

He Xu paused. Something felt off—his fingers had brushed against something that coiled lightly around them, like hair... or maybe tentacles, before letting go.

He reflexively released his grip, frowning as he examined the black hair—coiled like seaweed, nothing particularly unusual except for being a little denser and wilder.

Probably just his imagination.

The fleeting thought drifted through his mind without leaving a trace.

He Xu again grabbed the thick curls, hoisting the boy up, staring down at his frozen expression. "Pretty stubborn, huh, kid? Not a single whimper?"

Zhang Yu was still desperately trying to control his hair, his brain stuck on a loop of *"Did they notice? Did they notice?"* He had no room in his head to process what was being said, so he didn’t react.

This, once again, pissed off the bully. Realizing he was being ignored, He Xu narrowed his eyes slightly, released his grip, stood up, and tilted his chin. "Rough him up."

"Got it, boss." Sun Ran and the others had been raring to go. At the command, they immediately closed in.

The muffled thumps of blows echoed through the sports equipment room. He Xu lit a cigarette, leaning against the wall as he watched, unmoved.

After a while, the group stopped. Sun Ran wiped his sweat and glanced at the curly-haired boy curled up in the corner, shielding his head. He turned to He Xu. "Boss, this kid’s got some tough bones. Didn’t so much as grunt after all that."

He Xu, one hand in his pocket, tapped his cigarette, letting ash fall. His voice was lazy. "Hard to break is good. Means there’ll be plenty of fun later."

He took one last drag, tossed the cigarette aside, and crushed the ember under his shoe.

Looking at the silent figure in the corner, He Xu scoffed, grabbed his jacket, and slung it over his shoulder. "Let’s go."

The door to the sports equipment room opened and closed, restoring silence. The boy in the corner didn’t move, like a discarded ragdoll.

"Host?" System 9527 called out.

The boy remained silent, seemingly unconscious.

9527 started to freak out.

*Oh no, oh no, did they kill him?!*

Sure, the host was powerful in the ocean, but this was land!

Even whales could beach themselves. Maybe the host had been out of water too long, his strength drastically weakened, and after taking such a beating, he just... shut down.

The system’s code glitched in chaos as it frantically called, "Host, are you alive? Host?"

After shouting for a while with no response, just as it was about to resort to electroshock therapy, the boy on the ground suddenly jolted. Slowly, he sat up, looking dazed.

"Host, you’re awake?!" System 9527 could’ve cried from relief, having almost believed its first damn mission would end in abrupt failure.

"Are you okay? Are the injuries serious?" it asked worriedly.

Zhang Yu blinked in confusion. "Injuries? What injuries? I’m not hurt."

System 9527 was equally baffled. "Then why weren’t you moving? I called you so many times, and you didn’t respond. Weren’t you unconscious?"

"Nah." Zhang Yu deadpanned. "They were taking forever. I accidentally fell asleep while waiting."

System 9527: "..."

So much for brotherly love.