A Glimpse of Concern and a Shadow of Threat

“Xiang Ran, good morning.”

“Good morning.”

The girl replied to the classmate who had greeted her, her gaze sweeping around the room. Unable to find a certain person, a flicker of curiosity crossed her expression.

“Is Zhou Yousheng not here today?”

“I don’t know, I haven’t seen her. It’s strange.” The classmate also felt a touch of peculiarity. Zhou Yousheng, the class monitor, was typically an early bird; her rare absence today felt quite unusual. “Perhaps she’s ill.”

With that conjecture, the classmate settled into their seat and pulled out yesterday’s homework. “Xiang Ran, here you go.”

Xiang Ran, the class’s study committee member, consistently achieved excellent grades. Though she accepted the homework, she still felt a twinge of worry, hoping her friend was perfectly fine.

Yet, more than her classmate, she was truly concerned about her sister.

‘I wonder how my sister is doing alone at home…’

At this very moment, the person the girl worried about sat atop a nearby school building. A monocular was clutched in her hand, her eyes fixed intently in the girl’s direction.

“Hmm… there doesn’t seem to be anything special… Could I be overthinking it?”

Poppy lowered the monocular, her pale, slender legs swinging idly over the edge. A thoughtful expression settled on her face, and a glint of contemplation sparked in her dark crimson eyes.

She hadn’t stayed home obediently as Xiang Ran imagined. Almost immediately after the girl left, Poppy had tidied herself up and followed, trailing far behind. The face identical to Xiang Qi’s had instinctively made her overthink things, prompting her to follow and verify her suspicions.

During her years of slumber, Poppy had become somewhat disconnected from the world. This was an opportune moment to rectify those gaps, preventing any tell-tale signs of her presence from being discovered.

“I don’t particularly care about these things, but if Chen Zishu gets targeted, it would be troublesome…”

The girl murmured to herself, her tone involuntarily growing much colder, as if the very air might solidify. Then, it quickly returned to its usual warmth, a gentle smile gracing her lips. For the current Poppy, there were truly few things she cared about, and Xiang Qi happened to be the most important among them.

Harass Poppy? Fine. Harass Xiang Qi? Absolutely not!

Though she had lost most of her memories, even forgetting her own name, Poppy’s ingrained personality was immutable. It was a part of her no one in this world could ever contend with.

“Ugh…”

Exhaling softly, Poppy stretched, no longer focusing her energy on the classroom. She decided to return.

There were things that could deceive her, but very few. It was absolutely impossible for anything of that nature to appear on this seemingly ordinary girl; that was her confidence.

“It seems she truly has no connection with those guys. Even if she did, she wouldn’t know their plans… It’s probably a contingency left by that scoundrel Chen Xuan… I’ll just leave it for Chen Zishu to handle himself.”

Sometimes, she didn’t mind Xiang Qi undergoing minor trials. However, not minding didn’t mean she wouldn’t settle scores afterward. There were always some individuals she would personally visit later.

Poppy could protect her for a time, but not forever. Even so, there were some things she couldn’t deal with currently. For instance, the Game… Poppy had to temporarily avoid its sharp edge. While she didn’t fear it, being discovered would not end well.

“Speaking of the Game…”

Poppy’s dark crimson eyes narrowed as she pulled her phone from her pocket. With practiced ease, she logged into an account.

[High-Copy Account: Today’s saucy pictures, please sign for them.]
[High-Copy Account: Picture, Picture, Picture]
[High-Copy Account: Picture x12]
[High-Copy Account: Sharing complete.]

[Hundred Winds: Damn, these are your “saucy” pictures? You animal!]

Below was a barrage of cursing and complaints. Out of curiosity, Poppy clicked on the images, then retreated with a blank expression.

For Chen Zishu’s mental health, she should probably unsubscribe from this cursed group, hehe…

Don’t ask her what she saw; she didn’t want to answer in the slightest right now. In a sense, the player named “High-Copy Account,” who managed to shock Poppy, could truly be proud. It was something to brag about for a lifetime.

If that person appeared before Poppy now, they would undoubtedly learn the true meaning of cruelty.

That said, Poppy knew she couldn’t do that yet; it would truly be missing the forest for the trees. Such a clown-like character wasn’t worth the risk. However, collecting a little interest beforehand was certainly permissible…

She pulled out Xiang Qi’s crystal card, holding it before her eyes. She stared directly at the chibi image of “Xiao Ran” huddled and trembling on the card, and displayed an exceptionally gentle expression.

“You understand what to do… right?”

Though it was a question, it conveyed absolutely no sense of doubt. It was as if daring to utter a “no” would instantly result in something extraordinarily terrifying.

Nodding her small head as if pounding garlic, the chibi image feared even a moment’s delay would lead to her immediate demise. Her expression looked on the verge of tears, her large eyes shimmering.

‘Master, please come back quickly! This woman is too terrifying!’

“Be careful, don’t overdo it,” Poppy casually reminded her, then put the card back.

She stared at her phone screen for a few seconds in silence. Her slender, pale fingers tapped, logging out of the current account and entering a new one. Naturally, the password was incorrect.

“As expected, he’s not dead.”

She wasn’t surprised by this outcome; in fact, his death would have been the truly rare event. Beings of Chen Xuan’s caliber didn’t simply exit the stage so easily. None who could touch the truth of the world were simple individuals.

Returning her phone to her pocket, the girl pushed open the rooftop door, only to collide head-on with another figure simultaneously pulling the door open from the other side.

Maintaining his door-pulling posture, a boy holding a basketball offered an awkward smile. He raised his hands, somewhat at a loss, unsure where to place them, and eventually settled for rubbing his nose.

“Classmate Xiang… why are you here?”

‘I never thought the legendary good student would skip class,’ the boy secretly mused, feeling he had found common ground with the beautiful girl and uncovered her little secret. ‘Perhaps our relationship could deepen…’

Men, at times, tend to harbor unrealistic fantasies. Already lost in his own thoughts, he subconsciously overlooked the subtle differences in temperament between the person before him and the girl he knew.

“You know me?”

After a moment of silence, Poppy maintained her usual elegant and composed demeanor, her eyes narrowing.

“Of course I know you; we’re in the same class.”

“Troublesome…”

The girl stroked her chin, slowly enunciating the words.

“Then I can’t let you live…”