Chapter 79

Chapter 79

Two days had passed since the end of the training camp. When they arrived, the bonekiss flowers on Yanbei were in full bloom; by the time they left, the land had become an endless expanse of green grass.

No matter how complicated the aftermath of the competition was, Meng Shijiu still had to go to class.

He easily locked away the memories of that training camp, no longer dwelling on them—but others hadn't.

St. Mary's Academy.

Elective Course: Metaphysics and Probability.

Since Professor Zou strictly prohibited auditing, the class wasn't overcrowded due to Meng Shijiu's presence.

Class hadn't started yet. Meng Shijiu sat by the window, his hand resting on the desk, leisurely spinning a stylus.

Sunlight sliced through the window, and the slender shadow of his fingers fluttered like a butterfly on the desktop.

The quiet classroom suddenly stirred with a bit of restlessness. The chair behind Meng Shijiu emitted a faint creak as someone sat down very lightly. Meng Shijiu glanced over.

It was Pei Ruji.

The boy who had originally been sitting behind Meng Shijiu left with a look of resentment.

Who knew why Pei Ruji, who usually seemed to avoid Meng Shijiu at all costs, had suddenly changed his tune. The boy lingered for a moment before finally leaving with reluctance.

Meng Shijiu had a keen nose: "Why does he smell so strongly of blood?"

It wasn't that obvious, but still easy to detect.

Alphas had robust physiques, and top-tier Alphas had terrifyingly fast healing abilities; ordinary injuries wouldn't last through the night.

See: "Hmm?"

See: "Probably a disciplinary beating from his family."

Meng Shijiu thoughtfully twirled his pen.

In the original story, Pei Ruji's family upbringing was extremely strict, almost inhumanly so. This assessment livestream had reached a massive audience. In a social context where the aristocracy was gradually fading into the background, every family urgently needed to strengthen their public credibility to consolidate their status.

For the Pei family's first-in-line heir to hand over his wristband in full view of everyone... it couldn't be considered dignified. And besides...

Meng Shijiu: "Speaking of which, according to the plot, Pei Ruji should be about to take power soon, right?"

He should be very busy then. Yet he still had the mood to attend a filler class.

Bold as brass.

See: "Host... you actually remember the plot?"

Meng Shijiu: "Mhm."

Before he could figure it out, a string of green text suddenly popped into his mind, accompanied by See's voice turning icy cold—

See: "Beep—"

See: "Current Correction Progress: 100%

Current Points: 361

Degree of Worldline Deviation: 2%

Congratulations, the worldline has been corrected."

See: "Task completed."

"Apply for task settlement?" "Yes" "No"

Meng Shijiu was stunned.

Yesterday, the correction progress had just reached 90%. How had it automatically maxed out now?

But that wasn't too strange; after all, Ye Lingxi's point additions were always odd.

What was truly strange was...

Meng Shijiu frowned: "—Worldline deviation 2%?"

See spun happily: "What's wrong?"

Meng Shijiu: "...Are you the AI or am I? According to your algorithms, after individually repairing a worldline, the final deviation degree should stabilize between 8% and 12%."

Meng Shijiu: "Find out what happened."

The high-performing system See facepalmed: "Oh, orz"

Ten minutes later, See returned.

See: "Host."

Meng Shijiu waited.

See: "Meng Shiyan went to the Ye family to break off the engagement."

*

The Ye Residence.

A restrained panic permeated the main hall.

Attendants under the long corridor hurried past with light steps. The family head's assistant stood by the door of the reception room, standing stiffly as he urged in a low voice tinged with rare anxiety: "Don't prepare tea, how many times must I say it? Go change it!"

A member of the Ye family's collateral branch happened to be there on business. Seeing this scene, he couldn't help but pull the steward aside to ask: "Who has come?"

"Shh." The other was a trusted aide. The old steward only lowered his voice: "The one from the Frost family... the brother of the in-laws of the young master's fiancé, has come in person."

The other fell silent for a moment, seemingly unable to resist the gossip.

"What is he here for?"

The old steward immediately fell silent.

The collateral relative was about to ask more, but when he looked up, he froze, his face changing slightly, and he suddenly fell silent.

Seeing him abruptly go quiet, the old steward seemed to sense something and turned around—his pupils constricting sharply—

A gloomy-looking Omega stood behind him, his gaze cold enough to be frightening, enough to make one's blood run cold.

"Quite lively?" When he spoke, his voice was as light as a venomous snake's hiss.

The entire hall fell into dead silence instantly, even the sound of footsteps vanishing.

Cold sweat beaded on the old butler's back, seeping dark stains into his expensive silk shirt.

But Ye Lingxi paid no more attention, his eyes locked on the parlor door like venom-tipped silver needles, his knuckles white.

The light cast eerie shadows across the sharp lines of his profile.

His Adam's apple bobbed slightly, as if swallowing back a surge of rage.

In the parlor, the head of the Ye family breathed a sigh of relief.

Only when Meng Shiyan mentioned his younger brother did the sharp lines of his brow ease slightly.

Though his expression remained stern, the suffocating pressure coming off the Alpha had indeed let up a bit after the engagement was dissolved.

This engagement was always a bargain for the Ye family. That it lasted this long before being called off, the family head had little to complain about. The crises of those years were over, their foundation now stable, so canceling it wasn't a big deal.

The family head understood perfectly well that Meng Shiyan had spared the Ye family's dignity by not dragging things out. He quickly signed the agreement Meng Shiyan had brought.

"Mr. Meng," the family head lifted the porcelain cup before him, "thank you for your support over these years."

Meng Shiyan: "No need."

The lawyer collected the agreement, checked it, and gave Meng Shiyan a slight nod.

Meng Shiyan didn't plan on sticking around. He rose to leave, and the family head hurriedly stood to see him out.

"No need to see me off." His voice was like the frozen surface of a winter lake, calm yet carrying an undeniable chill.

He never did understand what methods that Omega had used to deceive and bewitch his brother. If people hadn't been so unwilling to cross Meng Shijiu and upset him, this engagement would never have come about.

"At least let me escort you to the front hall..." Before the family head could finish, Meng Shiyan had already turned and left the parlor.

The family head stood where he was, watching that tall figure recede into the distance until it vanished completely.

As Meng Shiyan left, he was aware of that overly brazen gaze from the side.

The Omega had some sense, knowing it was useless to approach him now. Meng Shiyan's eyes swept past him as if he were merely an inconsequential piece of furniture, striding right past.

Ye Lingxi's feet remained rooted to the spot.

He knew it—what was meant to come had come. What wasn't his would never be his.

The pain was strange, as if his blood had dried up, and his hollowed-out chest was slowly filling with icy, piercing poison.

He suffered, he twisted, yet his correction progress was skyrocketing.

Because he loved him.

The engagement was called off... well, that's right. According to the original plot point, it should have been broken off by now, *Meng Shijiu thought.*

*

After class, Meng Shijiu returned to his personal dormitory in the Twin Towers.

The silver-haired Alpha lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling.

After a while, Meng Shijiu pulled up the green text in his mind again, stared at the 100% for two seconds, and suddenly spaced out for a moment.

After that moment, he couldn't quite describe what he felt.

Was there reluctance?

A little. Meng Shijiu was always honest.

He rarely lied to others, let alone to himself.

So, "a little" really was just a little.

Meng Shijiu rolled over, but See couldn't hold back any longer in his mind.

See: "Host."

Meng Shijiu: "Oh, I forgot to turn you back into a cat."

See: "..."

See: "Not that..."

Meng Shijiu chuckled into his pillow: "You really want to come with me, huh?"

See responded very seriously: "Mhm."

It understood its host well enough by now—throwing tantrums wouldn't work; Meng Shijiu's decisions wouldn't be swayed by such things.

In the host's silence, See seemed to "sense" an emotion called "nervousness."

Meng Shijiu sat up.

After a long while, Meng Shijiu said: "Fine, but you can't stay in my head."

See immediately set off fireworks in Meng Shijiu's mind.

Meng Shijiu: "?"

See sat up straight in an instant: "Hehe."

As soon as Meng Shijiu pulled up the system shop, See immediately flipped noisily to the page it wanted.

Meng Shijiu: ...

See turned into a cursor, excitedly pointing at a certain physical exchange option.

Permanent exchange into a human: 200 points.

Meng Shijiu: I knew it.

Meng Shijiu: ...You never give up, do you?

Meng Shijiu swiped that page away and carefully browsed through the shop.

See: "Host."

See anxiously: "Host, host, host... Shijiu, Shijiu, Shijiu..."

—Well, sometimes throwing a tantrum is the only way.

Meng Shijiu: "Be reasonable. Do you want to be an undocumented person?"

See said weakly: "Given the situation in your original world now, whether I'm documented or not doesn't really matter, right?"

Meng Shijiu: ……

Meng Shijiu sighed. "Alright then."

See immediately clicked "exchange" with joy.

Meng Shijiu didn't have time to stop him—?

Meng Shijiu: "No... wait a second..."

Too late.

"Beep—200 points have been successfully deducted."

The light source that suddenly appeared in the room instantly expanded.

Meng Shijiu flopped onto the bed numbly, then turned over again.

A few seconds later, a gentle touch rubbed against the silver-haired Alpha's hair. See lightly rested his chin on top of Meng Shijiu's head.

Silence fell.

"...I... I don't want to see you right now—go away." Meng Shijiu's voice came muffled from the pillow.

"Host."

The black-haired, silver-eyed man paid no heed and called out again, his silver-gray eyes reflecting the other's evasive posture.

His slender fingers threaded through Meng Shijiu's soft long hair; when he pulled him from the pillow, his movements were gentle yet unyielding.

Meng Shijiu kept his face buried, and even after being pulled out by See, his eyes remained tightly shut.

His fair skin was completely tense with nervousness.

After a long while, a mechanical voice sighed softly, then faded from the room.

See projected the instruction manual in Meng Shijiu's mind:

"Permanent Human Exchange: After purchasing this product, the system employee can permanently use the exchanged human body and switch between data form and human form at any time."

In other words, "it" had now changed into a "him."

Meng Shijiu turned over and breathed a sigh of relief.

See was out of the question; See was too familiar.

The silver-haired Alpha sighed again, still unable to face what had happened that night during his last rut.