Chapter 2 Arrival at School

Chapter 2: Arrival on Campus

"Ah, I'm practically numb from being cooped up on that spaceship for so long."

Ji Anzhi stretched as he disembarked. Since Military Academy Star was in early summer, he was dressed for the warm weather in a classic white shirt and black casual pants, wearing a mask, with his medium-length black hair hanging down and hiding most of his features.

The four-day, three-night journey had been mind-numbingly boring. What made it worse was that he had the whole ship to himself, and the starnet signal was pretty spotty. Fortunately, he had downloaded some materials in advance, or else he would've gone stir-crazy from boredom.

It was only ten o'clock. Ji Anzhi left the port and, following the plan he'd made over the past four days, flagged down an automatic hovercar. He input the destination for the Academic Affairs Office to check in early and to see where his dorm was.

The hovercar got there quickly. The Academic Affairs Office of the First Military Academy was large, covering hundreds of square meters and spanning six floors. The freshman check-in desk wasn't hard to find, however—five bold red characters stuck out like a sore thumb among the smaller black text.

Ji Anzhi entered. With official registration still over twenty days off, there were only two good-looking alpha women working the desk.

The two alphas were chatting when Ji Anzhi walked in. After all, no one had come all day, and if it weren't for those few graduation credits, they'd rather be out shopping on Scott Star.

When Ji Anzhi entered, it took them a second to react, wondering which department's beta this was. Was he here to take over their shift? But it wasn't time yet.

Ji Anzhi walked up to them, his voice a little muffled behind the mask: "Excuse me, is this where freshmen check in?"

That snapped them out of it, and they jumped to their feet. "Yes, please come over here to enter your information and confirm your major."

One of them, a short-haired girl with an energetic air, led Ji Anzhi to a machine and instructed him to scan his genetic info and confirm his major details.

"Huh? You're in the Star Chart Department?"

The short-haired girl looked at the major name on the machine in surprise. After all, this department was notoriously difficult, had very few enrollment spots, was heavily talent-dependent, and the bar for entry was almost as high as the popular Mecha Command major. Plus, the professors in the Star Chart Department would rather go shorthanded than lower their standards, so the number of students was tiny, with only a handful of freshmen enrolling each year.

She remembered that this year, the entire Star Chart Department had only five students. She never thought she'd actually meet one of them, and a beta at that.

The other alpha girl with a ponytail also came over. Seeing it was indeed the Star Chart major, she couldn't help but look at Ji Anzhi in a new light and praised him sincerely: "That's seriously impressive!"

Ji Anzhi replied politely: "It's nothing much. I just have a bit of talent in this area, so I got lucky."

Both girls knew he was being modest and joked: "It must be more than just a bit of talent, right? In the First Military Academy, this major relies at least 60% on talent and 40% on hard work. And you're a beta, which makes it even harder for you compared to us alphas. Don't be so modest."

"Exactly."

At that, Ji Anzhi smiled and said, "Thank you for the praise."

After confirming the information was correct, Ji Anzhi clicked to confirm and linked his comm ID. Shortly after, his dormitory assignment was sent to his personal device.

"Dormitory A, Room 309... Senior, do you know how to get to Area A?"

The short-haired girl was still finishing up the paperwork, uploading the data to the department's network. Hearing the question, she casually replied: "Just take an automatic hovercar and input the destination. It'll take you there."

Ji Anzhi thanked her. Seeing the short-haired girl was still busy, he asked the ponytailed girl: "Senior, can I also take an automatic hovercar to the school's express delivery station? And can we leave Military Academy Star before the semester starts?"

"You can go anywhere within the academy by hovercar, no need to worry. And yes, you can leave Military Academy Star before the military training begins."

"Thank you."

After finishing up, the seniors threw in a couple more reminders: "Remember, the military training starts on the first. Everyone must participate, and there are evaluations. If you don't meet the standard, you'll be expelled."

Funny, the Star Chart Department only had a few seedlings each year. How could they possibly expel someone just for failing military training?

After saying goodbye to the two seniors, Ji Anzhi took an automatic hovercar to his dormitory.

After he left, the two alpha girls chatted again.

"There's actually a beta among this year's Star Chart Department freshmen. That's really rare!"

The short-haired girl exclaimed with amazement. The long-haired girl poured herself a glass of water and sat down: "It is indeed uncommon. I remember the Star Chart Department used to be almost entirely alphas, with an occasional omega. But a beta seems to be a first."

"Then this beta junior must be rooming with students from other departments. The rest of the Star Chart Department students are probably all alphas."

"Probably. It's a shame we didn't get to see his face. I would've liked to see what the first beta freshman in the Star Chart Department looks like."

"Maybe he was shy, since we're both female alphas."

"True."

Unaware of the discussion about him after he left, Ji Anzhi headed straight to his dormitory.

The dormitory wasn't too far, about a ten-minute ride by automatic hovercar.

It was a three-story standalone villa, with each building spaced about fifteen meters apart and greenery in between.

Ji Anzhi entered via iris recognition. The individual bedrooms were all on the third floor and relatively far from other dorms, so each had good light. Ji Anzhi casually chose a small bedroom whose balcony didn't face other buildings.

After registering his fingerprint for the bedroom door, Ji Anzhi went in to tidy up.

He had to thank the eldest young master for that. If it weren't for that shopping trip, he wouldn't have bought such a complete set of daily necessities, and he'd even managed to snag a five-cubic-meter space bracelet.

Back with his family, he'd only been allotted a one-cubic-meter space bracelet.

Unfortunately, these things were pricey. A five-cubic-meter space bracelet cost 600,000 star credits. He felt too embarrassed to buy another and planned to look for a larger one later on Scott Star.

Since the previous occupants had moved out recently and cleaning robots had been through, the room wasn't dirty.

The layout was simple: upon entering, a shoe rack and a storage cabinet. On the right wall, a built-in double-layer wardrobe. By the window, a single bed, and opposite it, a large desk with a swivel chair. There was still plenty of space.

Ji Anzhi spread out his moon-white bedsheet and quilt. The dorm came with basic dark green curtains of decent quality, so he didn't change them.

He also took out and arranged his toiletries.

Ji Anzhi walked out to the balcony. It was quite spacious, about fifteen or sixteen square meters—plenty of room for a cradle bed later. The railing was made of wooden slats, which didn't obstruct the view.

He had wanted a cradle bed for ages. He'd seen his omega sister with one and loved it. Although he didn't get one back then, it wasn't a loss now.

He just needed to set up a rain shelter; otherwise, the bed would be ruined in a downpour.

After taking measurements, Ji Anzhi went downstairs to check out the first and second floors.

Just as the school's website stated, the second floor had a living room, kitchen, and a dedicated emergency isolation room for alphas and omegas in case of unexpected ruts or heats. The first floor was the training area, with two gravity physical training rooms and one mecha sensory simulation room.

Is this what you'd expect from the Federal First Military Academy? With facilities like these, charging only 3,000 star credits a year is practically charity!

After this realization, Ji Anzhi noticed it was almost one o'clock—no wonder he was feeling a bit weak.

After drinking a nutrient solution, Ji Anzhi tidied up his appearance and took an automatic hovercar to the express warehouse to pick up the holographic simulation pod he'd ordered a few days earlier. He also registered his student info and dorm location so he wouldn't have to go to the warehouse for future deliveries.

After storing the pod in his space bracelet, Ji Anzhi returned to his dorm and immediately set it up in his bedroom, placing it next to the desk.

Ji Anzhi lovingly stroked the holographic pod.

This was the first simulation pod in his life that belonged solely to him...

He gazed at it for a long time before finally snapping out of it and starting it up. Just like in his previous home, he input his information—no longer having to secretly borrow someone else's.

He logged into his StarNet account. His avatar wasn't his original appearance but a default system face—attractive yet common. Gender couldn't be changed, so he remained a beta.

This time, instead of heading to the library as usual, he went to the largest Moonlight Mall in Yuenuo City, located in the central area of Scott Star, to shop.

Large malls like this typically offered holographic shopping, meaning purchases could be made either from a Holographic Pod or in person, with virtually the same experience. This was very convenient for Ji Anzhi.

"Hello, what can I help you with?"

As soon as Ji Anzhi entered the lifestyle section, a beta saleswoman enthusiastically approached. Thinking a Cradle Bed might be hard to find, he asked directly, "Do you have adult cradle beds? The kind omegas tend to like?"

"Yes, we do."

The saleswoman warmly led Ji Anzhi to the omega section. Since it was vacation time, there were several omegas there, making him, a male beta, feel somewhat out of place.

Using a smart display, the saleswoman showed images of several bed styles: "Please take a look. These are some of the more popular models recently. I'm sure your family member will like them."

She clearly assumed Ji Anzhi was buying for an omega relative, as typically only omegas and female betas favored such beds.

Ji Anzhi scratched the bridge of his nose, tacitly agreeing without clarifying that he, a male beta, was buying it for himself.

He browsed the styles, selected a few he liked, and called up their holograms for inspection. Finally, he settled on a simple design he could afford, though the color was a bit garish—a pinkish pink.

Turning to the saleswoman, he asked, "For this model, can the two metal frames be changed to green sandalwood? And can the fabric color be changed? I'd like Cloud Water Blue and Xizi Pink."

"The frames can be changed, and the color can be customized. But these two colors are...?" The saleswoman smiled, indicating she wasn't familiar with them.

Ji Anzhi then remembered that most people might not distinguish these colors well, and getting them wrong would lead to troublesome returns. He opened his personal device, sketched a rough diagram of the design, filled in the two colors, and showed it to the saleswoman.

He specifically instructed, "Please match these color codes exactly, with no difference in shade."

The saleswoman checked it, nodded, cross-referenced the color cards in the database, and adjusted the holographic simulation. "Is this the effect?"

Ji Anzhi looked at the simulated cradle bed before him: a sandalwood arch frame with four nearly invisible metal wires suspending the bed, ensuring gentle, controlled swaying. The bed itself resembled a shallow bowl, with Cloud Water Blue bedding and a light, translucent Xizi Pink canopy, creating an ethereal, fairy-tale-like atmosphere.

He could modify it later, adding some gemstone accents.

Ji Anzhi was very pleased. "Yes, exactly like this."

The saleswoman acknowledged and saved the data, then guided Ji Anzhi to the fabric section. Here, the fabrics were physical samples, allowing customers to touch and feel them for better selection. Once chosen, a swatch would be cut and packaged on-site to be sent to the customer's home for material verification upon delivery.

Ji Anzhi had to admit, the service in the premier nation was excellent—truly worthy of the bed's high price.

In the end, Ji Anzhi selected an uncommon fabric for the canopy that blocked light yet remained breathable. For the bedding, he chose a soft memory foam mattress and skin-friendly, non-pilling sheet fabric, along with a weighted silk-cotton quilt to aid sleep.

The total came to 275,000 star credits.

"Please fill in your detailed address here. The item will be crafted within three days. If there are any issues, you can come to the store to resolve them."

After filling in the address, Ji Anzhi politely confirmed, checked the information, and left the store for the library.

The First Military Academy wasn't easy to coast through. Although Ji Anzhi chose this major to spend four years avoiding his family and the nobles he had used, he still needed to put in some effort to avoid getting expelled.

...

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"Brother! I really want a cradle bed! Please buy it for me~"

Qi Yanshen had a headache looking at his omega brother clinging to him.

As an alpha, he sometimes really didn't understand the aesthetics of omegas. Why did they like cradle beds—things only children should favor? At 15 years old, his brother still insisted they were beautiful, comfortable, and sleep-inducing.

"You know Mother doesn't like these things you're into. She's been training you like half an alpha. If she finds out, I'll suffer alongside you again."

Their alpha mother always believed her omega younger son needed to be stronger than alphas to be safe, so she opposed Qi Jinsi acting like an omega and made him learn to behave like an alpha.

Qi Jinsi knew this too and muttered, "Don't worry, I've already convinced Dad. Dad will cover for me with Mother!"

Qi Yanshen sighed helplessly. "Last time, I'm telling you. If I get dragged into trouble again because of you, you won't have a brother anymore."

"Yay! Thank you, bro! You're the best! Let's go in now."

After cheering, Qi Yanshen was pulled by Qi Jinsi into the lifestyle section.

Before a salesperson could approach, Qi Jinsi grabbed the nearest beta saleswoman and asked.

"Hello! Do you still have cradle beds available?"

The beta saleswoman was still processing the order backup for Ji Anzhi and was momentarily caught off guard. But years of work experience made her instinctively reply with a smile.

"Yes, we do."

The saleswoman prepared to guide the new customers to view the options, but Qi Jinsi had just seen the cradle bed image on her display and found it quite appealing.

"Is this a new model? I haven't seen this style online before."