Chapter 6

Chapter 6

SM (Sancta Maria) Forum

+Fun Zone+

"Trending+++" "Anonymous" "So, is it still only the school beauty who showed up for the second-year opening today?"

"OP": "Does anyone know what the F4 are up to today? PS: Honestly, No. 1 really is like a soulless clock-in machine, his sightings are way too frequent."

1L: "3 seems to have come too; someone said they saw 3 at the public training ground."

2L: "[Raises hand] I know about this, Training Area No. 3 that the Tyrant frequents is sealed off, so..."

3L: "No wonder there weren't many people at the training ground today."

16L: "Newbie here, polite question: who is the school beauty?"

17L: "In the last school beauty/hunk poll on the neighboring gossip board, someone with a death wish put Brother Pei's photo on the beauty list, and it shot up to tenth. 'School beauty' is just a nickname."

18L: "And it didn't get banned?"

19L: "No. 1 doesn't care about that."

20L: "Also, word is the person who posted the photo was likely 4, who's closest with the school beauty."

21L: "Huh? With 1's looks, he only made it to tenth?"

22L: "It's not about looks, bro."

23L: "Ugh, can we stop using this nickname? Does it even have anything to do with No. 1?"

24L: "So who's the school hunk? [doge]"

25L: "Poster above, I suggest you delete that. Any later and your account is gone. 2 doesn't like that title."

"After review, posts 24L and 25L have been deleted. 2 users muted, 1 account permanently banned. Forum Cleanup, Let's Do It Together. [rose]"

28L: "Anonymous for nothing [bitter smile]"

29L: "Blind guess: the permanently banned one is 25L, the sacrificial wolf."

32L: "Don't derail the thread. What about the others?"

33L: "Unclear about 2. Latest news is he bought a private sea area named Chris. As for 4, the prince is still in detention. PS: Most speculate it's his rut, because there's been no drama lately. If you know, you know."

34L: "Still that newbie from above, polite question: what is this 1234 ranking based on?"

35L: "It's obvious."

36L: "—It's the age order, to avoid controversy."

57L: "Is this forum just a gathering place for F4's bootlickers? [vomit] [vomit] [vomit], F4? What era is this?"

58L: "Is starting an account like this really a good idea? [candle]"

59L: "Account started, life ended [candle]"

60L: "I clocked 0.0001 seconds in the gender-guessing challenge for 57L, beating 98% of people. Come try it too~"

"After review, post 57L has been deleted, and the account holder has been permanently banned. Forum Cleanup, Let's Do It Together."

69L: "Notice the detail: the rose is gone."

70L: "Notice the detail: Sancta Maria is about to lose another Omega."

...

"This thread has been locked."

——

"Hot" "Explosive" "Searching for My Crush"

"1L" No Strength, Only Rage: "Pic."

"2L" Sleep Until Noon: "No pic is considered clickbait."

"5L" Zzzz: "I don't think it's fake, because it's not a Blue Magpie, it's a Blue Crane. Not an Alpah, it's an Alpha [doge]"

"6L" Small: "I can tell you're genuinely excited."

"7L" sun: "OP, come out and say something."

"12L" Sleep Until Noon: "Looks like a narcissistic delusional Alpha-homo at first glance." [Like: 104] [Dislike: 56]

"13L" Rub for Luck: "A-homos are terrifying."

"26L" Open the Door: "The last person who looked for a crush here already broke up. One party beat the other into the hospital for three months. Turned out they signed a couple contract just to gain followers."

27L: "Hard to say if it's true or not."

28L: "Let's wait and see."

29L: "It's you again, Teacher Ba."

36L: "It's been half an hour, did OP fall into the toilet? Still not online?"

37L: "Definitely clickbait."

38L: "I'll reserve judgment."

39L: "I saw it too... it's real."

"42L" Zzzz: "Saw what? OP falling into the toilet, or the mysterious crush?"

"49L" "Anonymous User 2698": "You Alphas really love the spotlight, even a post like this can trend."

50L: "?"

51L: "???"

52L: "You ** who only dares to be anonymous, you **, I ****——"

The thread quickly spiraled, with endless arguments from the main post to the nested replies, mixed with cryptic "me too" trolls. The number of online moderators soared from 1 to 5.

Comments were scrubbed, accounts were banned, and roses flew everywhere.

Until the OP, who had been lurking as if drowning, finally posted a video.

"143l" "OP" L.: "[Video]"

The video starts off a bit blurry, shakes a couple of times, then manages to stabilize.

—A silver high ponytail obscures the sun. From a backlit angle, the edges of the silver-white hair gleam brilliantly, making the handsome, refined figure in the frame even more distinct.

The camera shakes again. The flickering, dimming image blurs once more as the pale sun comes fully into view. A white streak flashes across the lens and disappears in a flash, the brief glare causing a dizzying effect.

The wings of a white dove shimmer at the tips of its pristine feathers. The highlights shift as the dove spreads its wings, transforming from a single droplet into a curtain of water, before vanishing into the heavens.

A red claw lifts from the boy's shoulder.

The boy turns his face slightly.

"..."

"..."

—Have you ever seen winter?

A snowfall that hushes an entire world.

—Have you ever seen a lake?

A whole universe nurturing a single corner of peace.

[If loving you is a crime, I'm sentenced to life.]

If you've ever cupped a brown sparrow in your palms in winter, your fingertips touching its warm belly, your heart would beat in time with its own.

「Where to jump?」

「—fly into raptures.」

—Leap for joy.

The thread fell silent for a full five minutes.

【144l】: 【What do you mean *your* crush? Who agreed? Did anyone agree? Zero people agreed. I traveled 20,000 leagues under the sea, to the farthest reaches of the universe, to the end of time itself. I went to heaven and hell, asking who agreed. No one agreed. An alien spaceship sent me a signal. I spent 49 days deciphering it, opened it up, and saw a huge number: "0"—Please stop trying to ride on my wife's coattails, okay? Okay.】

"145l": "Really wanted to upvote, but after seeing the last line, I gave it a downvote. Bros, did I do the right thing?" [Upvotes: 653]

The silence continued.

"emmm……"

"Speaking of"

"Uh"

"What's everyone doing?"

"Everyone's doing it."

"...Where are the mods?"

"Where are the mods?"

"Where are the mods?"

"Where are the mods?" x99+

……

"311l" Open the Door: "That outfit is from Sakura. Custom pieces require a three-month advance booking. You can't even get an appointment unless you're from a top-tier family. Haven't heard about any new influential transfer in the second year?"

"312l" ^^: "wow, even Teacher Ba hasn't heard?"

"313l": "Off-topic, but Teacher Ba is being so calm..."

"314l" Open the Door: "Not really... force of habit."

"324l" New Evil: "sakura? but I just saw the crush wearing a commoner's uniform at Zhixing Building..."

"Location."

"Is the person upstairs directionally challenged? Zhixing Building."

"So a noble wearing a scholarship student's uniform? That's pretty audacious."

"What's audacious about it?"

"Don't know, just audacious. My wife is the most audacious."

"?"

"What's wrong with commoners? Can't the crush be a commoner?" [134 nested replies collapsed]

【339l】 Got Some Energy: 【Does anyone remember that "beta" recommended by Principal Shen...】

【340l】 Got Some Energy: 【And that rumor about "a super handsome Alpha showed up at the lcgc test center"】

"Huh?"

"Angry Guy changed his username fast."

"I'm numb."

"..."

"……"

"I never insulted him. Am I worthy of having my wife's terminal number?"

The thread blew up again, but still, no one managed to dig up specific info about the person in the video. They'd already started checking class by class.

………

………

"Holy crap, looks like the crush got stopped by Chairman Qian."

"?"

"The crush climbed a tree, and Chairman Qian happened to be nearby. ps: Looked really cool when he jumped down."

"Climbing trees, cute."

"?"

"Crap, why is Chairman Qian onto him? That's kinda troublesome."

"Not surprised at all that Qian noticed him..."

"I'm so done."

"OP, watch your mouth. Don't forget who runs this forum around here..."

"Help..."

"Don't let him stir up shit..."

601L Interesting: "Still at Zhixing Building?"

"Snapped a pic."

"Drop it."

"Post"

"Post"

...

621L Interesting: "Hit me back, okay? Still at Zhixing Building?"

...

"Post"

"Post"

634L Interesting: "Hello???"

647L Interesting: "You soulless creeps will never get my wife's deets!"

[Post 647L has been deleted by the moderator due to multiple reports]

L.: "Omw [ok]"

"Ugh, I'm so far away."

"I'm here."

"This is wrong, don't bug him."

"Yeah, I was gonna say earlier when we were scraping his promo pics..."

"What's happening? Is this a face-off between sane fans and stalker fans?"

"Already reported. Isn't doxxing his location going too far?"

"? You're talking boundaries at St. Mary's? Do you think this is the St. Mary's kindergarten next door?" [Likes: 195] [Dislikes: 46]