Chapter 8: Peculiar World, Hard-Boiled Freeloading

เผยแพร่เมื่อ 17 มี.ค. 2569 03:23

Chapter 8: Chapter 8: Peculiar World, Hard-Boiled Freeloading Southwind City was massive. The previous night, Jiang He had someone drive him, and it had taken a very long time. The light at night had been dim, obscuring everything. Only in the daylight could he get a clear look at the strange scenes from his memory. Metal rails crisscrossed in mid-air with orbital trains zipping along them. The closer he got to the city center, the taller the buildings on either side became, reminding him of the towering skyscrapers from his past life. ’What kind of world is this...’ Even though his original body’s memories contained similar scenes, Su Chen couldn’t help but marvel. He walked slowly through the streets, occasionally asking for directions to get his bearings. The closer he got to the area under the light source, the more prosperous it became. There was even a toll to cross from the outer city to the Inner City. Su Chen didn’t have a single coin on him. Thankfully, showing his Borrowing Letter was enough to get him through. The pedestrians’ attire was a motley assortment, as if time itself had become jumbled. He even saw a guy with a mechanical metal arm. As he walked and asked for directions, the various scenes from his original body’s memories truly started to become his own. After the better part of a day, he finally arrived at Southwind Academy, located in the Southwind Inner City North District. Its grayish-brown walls stretched far into the distance, standing three to four meters tall. The magnificent metal main gate was carved with intricate patterns and currently shut tight. Only the smaller gates on either side were open. Quite a few people, all of them young, were coming and going. He spotted Jiang He at once, standing by the small gate on the left. She was simply too eye-catching. Her gray teacher’s skirt barely covered her knees, and her purple blouse traced a stunning curve. She was even wearing gold-rimmed glasses. Not a single student coming or going, or even people on the street, failed to cast a glance her way. Jiang He seemed accustomed to it, though her face wore an impatient expression as her eyes continuously scanned the area. Jiang He spotted Su Chen immediately and walked toward him with a bewitching gait. "What took you so long?" Her expression was grim. She had been waiting for the better part of the day and thought something might have happened. "It’s too far. I couldn’t help it." "You didn’t take the lev-rail?" she asked with a frown. "No money," Su Chen said frankly. Jiang He fell silent, then turned. "Follow me." Their exchange attracted a lot of attention. People started whispering, and the eyes of some male students were filled with envy and jealousy. Jiang He was a well-known teacher at the academy. Rumor had it that many good-looking students had engaged in "in-depth exchanges" with her, which let everyone’s imagination run wild. After they entered the school grounds, this attention became even more pronounced. Some people even took out some sort of device and secretly pointed it at them. Southwind Academy wasn’t small, so it took the two of them some time to reach the academic affairs building. "A borrowing student?" The person in charge of the admissions office was a middle-aged woman. Her voice drew the attention of several middle-aged men in the same office. Their gazes, which already held a certain implication when they looked at Su Chen, now turned into naked jealousy. "Yes, Teacher Zhao. Please hurry." Jiang He urged. "Oh, and remember to arrange a dorm for him." Su Chen added, "A single room, preferably." Teacher Zhao glanced at Su Chen’s face, shook her head inwardly, and took the Borrowing Letter. She began operating a device that projected a grayish-yellow virtual screen in front of her. "Identification code." Su Chen recited a string of characters from memory, and a file loaded onto the virtual screen. "A refugee?" Teacher Zhao’s eyes widened. The gazes from around the office grew even more astonished, and the way they looked at Jiang He turned strange. "Just hurry up," Jiang He said impatiently. She clearly had some status. The other woman didn’t dare to delay. She quickly operated the device, transferring the file into the Southwind Academy system. "Alright. First-year, Mysticism Department. He’ll be in your classes. His dorm is Room 301, Building 13, B-Block. The total for tuition, room and board, and miscellaneous fees comes to 1,246 gold..." Teacher Zhao looked up at Su Chen. Su Chen looked at Jiang He. Jiang He’s face darkened. "I know. I’ll pay it for him later." "Okay, and... huh?" Teacher Zhao’s expression suddenly changed. "Why is he scheduled to leave the city in half a month?" she asked, surprised. "Half a month?" Jiang He was also shocked. She looked at Su Chen. "Didn’t you say you had three or four months?" "In my memory, it was three or four months," Su Chen recalled. The original owner’s memory of this was very clear; he shouldn’t have gotten it wrong. Jiang He’s expression shifted. "I see." "Your student ID..." Teacher Zhao took a Gilded Card from a device beside her. It had Su Chen’s photo on it. "You’ll need it for most things at the academy." The two left one after the other, and the discussion in the office immediately sparked up. "Since when is she into pet projects? And a refugee, no less. Tsk, tsk... She’s even paying his tuition..." "Who knows? The kid probably has some ’special talent’ and knows how to keep her happy..." "Still, isn’t it a bit late to enroll? He has to leave the city in half a month. Even though he’s a borrowing student and only needs to do near-city patrols, it’s not without its dangers..." "Someone altered your file..." Jiang He said in a low voice once they were in the hallway. "Can’t you change it back?" Su Chen asked. "If your file were still with the Refugee Bureau, I could find someone to change it. But now that it’s in the Southwind Academy system, it’s very troublesome..." Jiang He was clearly annoyed. "They must have acted last night. They’re fast." "He probably wants to use you to find out what happened last night." "Why haven’t you killed him yet?" Su Chen asked, knowing who she was talking about. "This whole affair is strange. He’s not the only one pulling strings behind the scenes. We want to root them all out. Besides, he’s not easy to deal with..." Jiang He said evasively, then added, "But you’re a Warrior now, so you won’t be in too much danger. I’ve already made the necessary arrangements. I’m going to investigate who changed your file. Maybe I can use it as a breakthrough." She looked rather excited. Su Chen’s usefulness was already apparent. After leaving the building, Jiang He hurried away. Su Chen looked around, then stopped a student. "Excuse me, where’s our school library?" Seeing the Gilded Card in Su Chen’s hand, the student’s attitude softened considerably, and he pointed him in the general direction. After taking a few steps, Su Chen stopped abruptly. ’Forgot to ask for money,’ he thought with regret. Shaking his head, he headed for the library. He needed to figure some things out as quickly as possible. 「The artificial sun hanging over all of Southwind City slowly shifted from incandescent white to a grayish-yellow.」 On the fourth floor of the Southwind City Library, Su Chen let out a long breath and twisted his stiff neck, which let out a series of cracks. He closed the book in his hands, *Professional Basic Precautions*, and returned it to its shelf. He had been cramming a lot of basic information that even his original body hadn’t known, such as the professional sequences. They could be broadly divided into three categories: Physical, Mental, and Miscellaneous. Physical Type professions focused on strengthening the body, emphasizing that great power comes from within oneself. Mental Type professions focused on the mind, allowing one to manipulate the mysterious and unfathomable forces of the outside world. However, the two were not always clearly distinct. According to the book’s vague descriptions, some professions could encompass both Physical and Mental aspects. The categories were merely a method of classification. The Miscellaneous category, however, was quite unique. For instance, the Rope Master was a Miscellaneous profession. The book also gave some common examples. A Cartographer, for instance, could take someone’s description, or even the thoughts in their mind, and turn them directly into a physical blueprint. Or an Architect, who could uniformly command building materials to construct large-scale structures in a short amount of time. Many Miscellaneous professions were spread throughout all walks of life.

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