Chapter 43

Chapter 43

SM (Sancta Maria) Forum

+0 Section+

"Pinned" "Hot" "Explosive" "What on Earth is Sancta Maria Doing?"

"OP" User3658:

"I really don't understand what the school leadership is doing?!

Take the incident during the first training session for second-years, for example. Why hasn't there been an official explanation or notice up to now? After that, they haven't dared to use the full-immersion system again. When asked, they just say it's under maintenance. But what exactly have they been maintaining?? Is this still Sancta Maria?? Why can't they even guarantee the basic safety of students?! Do you still deserve to be called Sancta Maria?!

Fine, let's not dwell on past issues. But what is this current training camp all about??? Didn't the school even review the training contract?? Or was it intentional? And what about the safety measures here? I mean, I'm not a military cadet; I came to Sancta Maria for research. Are you trying to mess with me?? And what's the deal with that crappy livestream? Do they think we'll slack off or lose, and they want to watch us make fools of ourselves? Some students from grades that haven't even taken mecha classes yet have to risk being blamed for dragging the team down if we lose...

Sorry, I got a bit too emotional above.

I just want to ask: as an old, prestigious academy that has enjoyed the highest praise and resources for so many years, claiming to be the top school in Qiyu, has Sancta Maria ever truly considered the needs of its students?

Or is this so-called talent-nurturing platform just using 'cultivating talent' as a facade, while in reality, it's merely a resource-trading platform for those in power, no different from other high-sounding institutions?

Otherwise, I can't comprehend the sudden purpose of this training camp.

As a formally enrolled student at Sancta Maria, I believe I have the right to use the SM platform to demand that Sancta Maria address the unfair treatment I've received—

1. A reasonable explanation regarding the first training session for second-years.

2. A reasonable explanation regarding the unreasonable contract for this training camp.

3. A request to immediately terminate the training camp and explain the reasons behind all its arrangements."

...

"! Insufficient permissions, unable to delete"

"! Insufficient permissions, unable to delete"

...

Watching the successive lines of reminders flashing on his terminal screen, Qian Chunyan raised an eyebrow and continued scrolling down.

"Top Comment": "OP, you give me the feeling it's your first day at Sancta Maria."

[Likes: 1025]

1l: "OP, if you're really that bold, you should be criticizing the people who forced us to participate in this training camp."

[This comment has been deleted]

2l: "But the OP does have a point in some areas. I also want to ask: has Sancta Maria gone mad?"

"Has Sancta Maria gone mad?" ×99+

193l: "How did this post get pinned?"

194l: "Maybe it's because the 0 board on SM hasn't seen a grievance post in a long time? The OP doesn't seem to have high permissions either, right?"

195l: "No, I'm so exhausted I don't even want to type, but I'm just too furious... After the match, I asked if there were any mental energy replenishment reagents available, and the relevant personnel actually said students don't have permission to use them. Are they really training us like dogs?"

196l: "That's not all? I've already seen people on external forums saying we would have definitely lost without No. 19... followed by a barrage of insults calling us trash. Excuse me? :)"

197l: "Hah, don't even mention it. Some idiot came asking me for No. 19's contact info. Hilarious, as if he's worthy?"

198l: "I still can't understand why they showed No. 19's face?? Shouldn't they have cut the camera immediately after seeing No. 32 forfeit?"

199l: "What's hard to understand? It's for hype. Who wouldn't want to know what No. 32 looks like? After seeing No. 19's face, who wouldn't lust after the skyrocketing platform traffic..."

200l: "I'm really fed up. No. 19 even greeted us so warmly; we, the students at this school, don't even get that treatment."

201l: "Boring. I'd rather go next door and check out the post analyzing the operational comparisons between Sleep God and No. 19."

...

1003l: "Damn, the mecha players on external forums are all brainless trolls. I saw one moron screenshot my mecha operation GIF and caption it, 'Replace xxx with a dog.' I replied with one sentence below, and then my DMs exploded, filled with nothing but insults."

1004l: "That's pretty rough."

1005l: "So rough it's almost funny again."

1006l: "I was really angry and venting, but I couldn't help laughing when I saw this comment. 1003, you're still too young."

...

1621l: "Although the OP clearly has ulterior motives and seems a bit brain-dead, I genuinely think those last three demands are valid."

1622l: "+1"

...

Seeing this, Qian Chunyan narrowed his eyes, scrolled back up, and reached the top of the post.

The interactive poll for this grievance post had already reached over two thousand participants.

86.63% of the students had voted in support.

He exited the platform and saw that the entire SM forum's atmosphere had been hijacked. A flood of posts questioning Sancta Maria's actions had begun to appear, and the moderators couldn't delete them fast enough.

Messages from Wen Qiuyu kept popping up frequently at the top of his terminal.

For a fleeting moment, he suddenly remembered his own campus card that had disappeared. But for some reason, he quickly recalled the scene from the first day of school: that lazy, silver-haired Alpha handing over his own student card.

An indescribable irritation welled up in his chest, but it felt stuck, impossible to dispel. Qian Chunyan hastily closed his terminal, not even bothering to look at the messages Wen Qiuyu had sent.

Before closing his eyes, like a lion feigning sleep, in the instant his eyelids finally shut completely, he still imperceptibly cracked them open a slit, greedily sweeping his gaze over the bed opposite.

The silver-haired Alpha was sleeping soundly. Three minutes ago, when Qian Chunyan had looked over, he was in this position, and now he remained completely still, not even the angle of his fallen hair had changed.

The night was deep. The slowly flowing moonlight crept onto Meng Shijiu's brow, softening the Alpha's features. Gone was the usual lazy or coldly sharp edge, replaced by a rare, gentle docility, revealing an unguarded, pure innocence.

Qian Chunyan unconsciously lifted the corner of his mouth, but his expression froze the moment he realized it—as if he had suddenly stumbled upon a tender thought that shouldn't exist, his breath even halting.

He turned over, stared at the pitch-black wall, and closed his eyes.

On his now-shut terminal, on the SM forum, the post by "Haven't Used the Forum in Years" had unknowingly been pushed to the trending section.

There were still about 5 hours until daybreak, when Meng Shijiu would wake up and click on that post.

Qian Chunyan didn't know that, in the moment he closed his eyes, he had actually made a decision.

He chose to fall peacefully asleep.

Thus, he enjoyed a rare, gentle, and beautiful night, yet missed out on all the future years with the person he liked.

He did nothing, but from an omniscient perspective, doing nothing meant he gained nothing.

—

The post Meng Shijiu made wasn't anything special.

It was simply a breakdown of the match that he wrote while waiting for Yue Xuanli.

Discussions and analyses of this match were abundant on both the SM and Cloud Shadow forums, with no shortage of experts sharing their links.

The reason the post by "NotPlayingForumsForManyYears" stood out was because—

The defining characteristic of this post was that it completely omitted No. 32, who had captured almost everyone's attention.

Among the flood of posts overflowing with various opinions and analyses about No. 32, it appeared exceptionally "refreshing."

Yet, the replies in the comment section barely strayed from the topic of that No. 32.

And so, the pinned post that had stirred discontent among St. Mary's students gradually cooled down, while the word "Viral" appeared next to "NotPlayingForumsForManyYears" post titled "Multi-Feasibility Analysis of the First Training Match in the Bootcamp."

The comments section looked like this:

"After reading so many analysis posts, this one is still the most authoritative. Truly an s20 master."

"...This is a real master."

"Nothing to say, just strong, a Play God."

"Play God."

"...Looking at the post's publish time, it was before the match ended. So, is Play God a tech nerd but average in real fights?"

"But why is there no mention of 19 at all in the initial analysis?"

"Huh, really, there isn't."

"...I remember the master previously made disrespectful remarks about 19, right?"

"+1, I recall it was because 19 was suspected of skipping without leave during a sensitive period."

"Off-topic, after the match, there were almost no solo posts about 19 on the forum; they just wouldn't go through. Using the s20 master's high permissions, I want to ask, what does 19 think of this bootcamp?"

...

Once this comment was posted, the following replies almost all changed course, using "NotPlayingForumsForManyYears" high permissions to discuss Meng Shijiu within the post.

Top-voted comment:

"I don't know what 19 thinks. I believe, whether 19 is willing to admit it or not, and whether we are willing to admit it or not, 19 has effectively become our core."

Second top-voted comment:

"Almost no one analyzed the messy second half of the match, but those of us who experienced it know how we won."

"It's strange. If someone told me a month ago that I would be so infatuated with someone who hasn't even spoken a word to me, I would tell that person to go get their head checked first."

"A crush is just a crush."

"That's how it is. Although I feel this bootcamp is a waste of time, if 19 finds it fun, I'm willing to play along with him a thousand times."

"You're wrong. Actually, as long as he's here, I'm willing to stick around forever."

...

The forum's mood shifted rapidly, going through all four seasons in one night, finally settling into the pleasant morning of the transition between spring and summer.

Upon waking, Meng Shijiu stared at that top-voted comment and, for once, revealed a helpless smile—

He seemed to finally get what Shen Huaixu meant.

He was really asking him.

"Then, will I lose?"

At the time, Meng Shijiu thought he was referring to whether, if Meng Shijiu was willing, he could lead the Red Team to victory over the Blue Team as the commander.

—And that bet.

But what Shen Huaixu wanted to say to him was:

As long as you're willing, you don't have to do anything. St. Mary's will win this round for you.

Meng Shijiu rewatched the recording of the second half of that match.

Two aspects of the match surprised him: the Red Team's calm concealment in the first half, and their savage ferocity in the second half... both were actually because of himself.

He seemed to have truly become the "core" of this academy in a certain sense.

Meng Shijiu wiped the smile from his lips, casually turned off his terminal screen, leaned back, and sank into the bed with a hint of lazy weariness.

See leaped over lightly. Meng Shijiu reached out absently, his fingertips landing exactly on the tip of that high-arched black tail.

The black cat's tail gave a light flick in his palm, like a piece of premium silk sliding through his fingers.

Meng Shijiu: "Once I finish restoring the worldline, I can return to my original world, right?"

See slowly crawled closer, rubbing its fluffy head against his face: "Mhm."

The black fur brushed against the corner of his eye, feeling a bit ticklish and bringing a faint rosy hue. Meng Shijiu lifted his eyelids slightly but said nothing.

See, however, didn't move away. It carefully licked the silver-haired Alpha's cheek, its damp nose leaving a small mark on the soft, pale skin: "Host..."

Actually, it wanted to know if Meng Shijiu knew.

—Did he know that it had most likely bound the wrong host?

Meng Shijiu: "Mhm."

Meng Shijiu: "You bound the wrong person, didn't you?"

See was startled, its silver pupils dilating suddenly, almost thinking its host had gained mind-reading abilities. It looked at its host in startled disbelief.

Meng Shijiu stared at the ceiling with half-open eyes, unmoving, as if unaware of its reaction.

Meng Shijiu raised his hand, pressed down on its head, and moved it away from his face: "Do you know what doesn't match up?"

See blurted out reflexively, "...Where?"

See didn't understand. If it had bound the wrong person, why hadn't the main system detected anything, given that the face and name were exactly the same?

And how could it be such a coincidence to bind another person who was completely identical?

There was no response.

Meng Shijiu suddenly sat up, giving it a half-smile.

That one sentence had exposed See: ...Crap, I'm blown.

Meng Shijiu didn't seem to blame it. He raised a hand and gave its ear a firm but gentle tap, saying calmly, "The age doesn't match."

He withdrew his hand, picked it up, got out of bed, and walked to the window. "You didn't bind the wrong person. You just got the timeline wrong."

The morning light gently enveloped this Alpha, his long hair tied up, casting a soft golden glow around him.

His eyes were lowered, serene as a river preserved forever in memory—

A river surface scattered with the light of dawn, yet it no longer reflected in his eyes.

Meng Shijiu said, "I'm already twenty-four. The one you were supposed to bind was actually the 19-year-old me."

...See was stunned.

In *But the Sunlight Is So Good*, the character Meng Shijiu transmigrated into—the protagonist's fiancé—was set to be 19 years old.

But See had bound the 24-year-old Meng Shijiu from another world.

...See had always thought that someone like Meng Shijiu must be a central figure in his world, making binding impossible. After all, if he left his original world, it would collapse.

—But what if that world was already collapsing?

From 19 to 24.

Five years.

Five years of an emerald-green lake.

The emerald color remained, just as before.

But the cloud shadows and sunlight were gone.

—

Cafeteria.

Meng Shijiu arrived a bit late.

He had left early but arrived late, mainly because he walked slowly, pausing frequently along the way. By the time he reached the cafeteria entrance, it was nearly empty.

Right at the entrance, he ran into a certain coach who had just stepped out—

Wen Hui.

Meng Shijiu raised a questioning eyebrow at him.

Wen Hui's tone was cool, his expression normal. "Isn't it heavy? Let me take it."

With that, he lifted See off Meng Shijiu's shoulder.

See: "!?? Could you find a more ridiculous excuse, I *—"

Meng Shijiu heard See's bleeped-out curses cut off abruptly as it left his shoulder.

So, the silver-haired Alpha gladly accepted Wen Hui's gesture.

Here's the thing: although See didn't need to eat, Meng Shijiu had indeed promised earlier to let it experience human delicacies—

So Meng Shijiu had let See perch on his shoulder as he ambled lazily to the cafeteria.

...

A certain coach who had already finished his meal followed Meng Shijiu back into the cafeteria.

But then he saw the silver-haired Alpha ahead suddenly stop in his tracks.

See, trapped in its cat body: "Meow."

See: "What's wrong?"

Meng Shijiu raised an eyebrow subtly, looking toward a certain black-haired Alpha who had seen him but pretended not to, walking past from the front entrance.

Meng Shijiu clicked his tongue lightly: What's up with the antisocial kid?