SCOM - Chapter 15
Chapter 15
The classroom's circulation system cleared the pheromones quickly. In less than ten minutes, the air was clean again. The second-year students finally regained some semblance of rationality, but residual pheromones still clung to them to varying degrees.
Especially Zuo Luohuan. She had been so close to Geng Yingyu earlier, and Geng had clearly used Omega pheromones to provoke her. Not just her clothes, even her hair seemed soaked in the musk-scented pheromones, as if she had bathed in someone else's scent.
S-rank Omega musk pheromones were also one of the most difficult scents to overcome in desensitization simulation training, filled with the aroma of desire.
"I'm heading out first, still have another class." Jiang Hong kept his distance from Zuo Luohuan, none of the earlier 'closeness' remaining. He took off his military jacket, rolled it up under his arm, and hurried back towards the dorm.
Kang Guang and the ten senior students had long since gone next door to clean up and change, leaving leisurely. A group of second-year students remained in the classroom, looking at each other. They hadn't brought clean clothes, so they could only stay in the classroom for a while. Once they felt they could barely manage to go out, they sprinted back to their dorms.
Finally, the entire classroom emptied, leaving only one person behind.
Zuo Luohuan: "..."
She hadn't expected the first Single Combat class to turn out like this.
Fortunately, the next Command Department course didn't start until 1 PM. Zuo Luohuan stayed in the classroom until 10:30 AM, when most students were in class, before finally stepping out.
Combat Department classes were mostly held in one building, which housed a high concentration of Alphas. Just as Zuo Luohuan went downstairs, she encountered an Alpha emerging from around the corner of the restroom. The Alpha first froze upon seeing her, then smelled the Omega pheromones on her and quickly turned, ducking back into the restroom.
Zuo Luohuan paid it no mind, only thinking of getting back to her dorm quickly to clean off the scent. She disliked having someone else's pheromones lingering on her. But she overlooked one thing: the Alphas at the First Military Academy collectively viewed Zuo Luohuan as a rival. After all, she had differentiated at fifteen, rumored to be the Federation's top Alpha, yet lacked any military merits, merely challenging the Red List, which wasn't enough to convince everyone.
Would a normal person feel goodwill towards a rival? No.
So, the Alpha who fled into the restroom immediately reported her to the Disciplinary Committee: [Report! Second-year student Zuo Luohuan is walking around campus reeking of Omega pheromones. Please apprehend!]
It wasn't just this Alpha; other Alphas Zuo Luohuan encountered along the way made similar reports.
After receiving multiple reports, the Disciplinary Committee members on duty exchanged glances. Finally, someone said, "It's said to be musk-scented pheromones. Alphas shouldn't go. Let the Omegas and Betas handle it."
"Should we deduct points from her?" Ding Wuming raised his hand and asked. "If Alphas don't go, what if Zuo Luohuan loses control?"
The senior sister from the Disciplinary Committee looked troubled. "Students often get contaminated with pheromones after combat classes. Usually, they just go back to their dorms. We don't deduct points for this." Combat classes easily led to overly excited fighting, and bloodshed was common. Even members of the Disciplinary Committee experienced this situation frequently.
"For so many Alphas to dare report her, it means Zuo Luohuan isn't just slightly contaminated with Omega pheromones," another senior brother said. "Did something happen? Pick a few Alphas, give them inhibitors, and send them over, just in case."
"What are you all gathered here for?" Ji Yuezhi, who had been absent from the Disciplinary Committee due to his differentiation period, happened to drop by today and found the on-duty members clustered together.
Seeing Ji Yuezhi, everyone breathed a sigh of relief and quickly explained the situation in a few words.
After listening, Ji Yuezhi's expression remained unchanged. He said calmly, "I'll take some people to check it out."
Those going all administered an inhibitor shot to themselves. The more cautious ones even applied a pheromone patch to their nape to prevent accidents, ensuring their own pheromones wouldn't cause a secondary disturbance if they lost control. Only then did they follow Ji Yuezhi.
With so many reports, the Disciplinary Committee members forwarded all the information to Ji Yuezhi. He could practically track Zuo Luohuan's real-time location.
...
Zuo Luohuan didn't return to her dorm. The after-effects of her headache surged again, the pain forcing her to find a secluded corner to lean against temporarily.
Because her location deviated, the reports stopped coming in, and she wasn't heading back to her dorm, the Disciplinary Committee members started to panic, thinking something might have happened.
"The pheromones are from class," Ji Yuezhi said, turning his head to the anxious person beside him. "Her first class today was with Instructor Kang Guang."
Instructor Kang Guang, notoriously ruthless.
The person beside him was still pondering what kind of class Instructor Kang Guang taught today that resulted in Zuo Luohuan being covered in Omega pheromones, completely missing why Ji Yuezhi knew Zuo Luohuan's schedule so clearly.
The group stopped at Zuo Luohuan's last reported location – a long flight of stairs flanked by tall grass. Down the stairs led to another teaching building. After descending, the left path led to a park for students to rest and walk, while the right path led towards the various dormitory buildings.
"Split into pairs and search," Ji Yuezhi ordered.
A total of nine people from the Disciplinary Committee had come. After pairing up, he was left alone.
Ji Yuezhi stood in place for a moment. A faint scent of Omega pheromones still lingered in the air, indicating just how strong the pheromones clinging to Zuo Luohuan were.
Even knowing Zuo Luohuan acquired the pheromones from class, standing here now, smelling this scent, thinking about an Omega's pheromones covering her extensively, perhaps even causing her to lose control and not return to her dorm promptly...
Ji Yuezhi lowered his gaze to the steps beneath his feet, his lips pressed into a thin line. Did she have so little self-control?
Those who came had taken inhibitors, drastically reducing their sensitivity to pheromones; they couldn't smell the faint residual Omega scent in the air.
Ji Yuezhi hadn't taken an inhibitor. He started down the stairs, following the lingering scent in the air towards the park on the left, specifically towards the bamboo garden.
The bamboo garden was designed by a master architect for a school anniversary celebration centuries ago, filled with bamboo groves, rockeries, and flowing water. The deeper Ji Yuezhi walked, the stronger the pheromone scent became. Finally, he stopped in front of a two-meter-high rockery.
He didn't approach, just stood on this side of the rockery for a moment, then tossed a small box over, saying coolly to the person behind it, "Inhibitor."
Zuo Luohuan, sitting behind the rockery, her face abnormally pale, heard his footsteps approaching but didn't move. Now, she turned her head sideways to look at the box that rolled near her hand. After a long moment, she pressed the cigarette between her fingers onto the ground, extinguishing it.
Zuo Luohuan tilted her head back, gently exhaling the last puff of white smoke. She reached out, picked up the inhibitor, stood up, and walked out from behind the rockery, meeting Ji Yuezhi's eyes with a nonchalant smile. "I don't need an inhibitor right now."
No uncontrolled Alpha pheromones leaked from her; her body only carried a muddled mix of various other people's pheromones, the most pungent being an Omega's musk scent, extremely strong.
Ji Yuezhi's previously tense back finally relaxed subtly. He looked at Zuo Luohuan and said, "Multiple students reported you walking around reeking of Omega pheromones. I hope you can return quickly and clean up."
Seeing Zuo Luohuan opposite him seem indifferent, he added, "It stinks."
Right in front of Ji Yuezhi, Zuo Luohuan tossed the cigarette butt into a nearby trash can, completely unconcerned about potential point deductions. She walked straight towards him until they were almost face to face. She raised an eyebrow, a hint of surprise in her eyes. "I didn't know that besides Alphas rejecting their own kind's pheromones, you Omegas also reject other Omega pheromones."
The pain in her head hadn't subsided much; Zuo Luohuan's mind wasn't fully clear. After saying this, she felt a slight regret: the person opposite her had just differentiated into an Omega after expecting to be an Alpha. The phrase 'you Omegas' sounded rather discriminatory.
Hearing this, Ji Yuezhi didn't get angry. He simply took a step back, maintaining his usual cool indifference, and retorted, "You're not going back to clean up, are you hiding here secretly smelling the Omega pheromones on your body?"
Her face was pale, no leakage of her own pheromones; she showed no symptoms of being affected by Omega pheromones.
Zuo Luohuan leaned down slightly, once again close to Ji Yuezhi, whispering beside his ear, "I don't like the Omega pheromones on me."
It was just a simple statement, but their proximity made it seem exceptionally intimate.
Especially the next moment, when Zuo Luohuan looked up at Ji Yuezhi, who was right in front of her, and asked with a light chuckle, "Classmate Ji, what now? You're tainted with the scent on me too."
He knew what she meant. The musk pheromone scent was particularly strong; being so close, some would inevitably transfer. But hearing it whispered by the person before him carried an alluring, lingering ambiguity.
Ji Yuezhi's fingertips dug forcefully into his palm, forcing himself to remain calm. He disguised it well, his dark eyes meeting Zuo Luohuan's coolly. "You're the one being reported."
Zuo Luohuan finally pulled back, not pushing it too far, and smiled politely. "I'll go clean up now." With that, she walked past Ji Yuezhi towards the dorms.
Ji Yuezhi stood in place, lowered his head to inform the Disciplinary Committee members to stop searching. A moment later, he turned his head to look at the trash can, containing the cigarette butt Zuo Luohuan had just tossed in.
A year ago, Zuo Luohuan never touched cigarettes. Since the start of this semester, this was the second time he had seen her smoke.
Remembering Zuo Luohuan's pale face just now, Ji Yuezhi couldn't help but wonder what happened to her last year.
...
Walking back, Ji Yuezhi smelled the extremely faint musk pheromone on himself. Recalling Zuo Luohuan's words about being tainted with the scent, the initial displeasure in his heart inexplicably mingled with complex emotions. The tips of his ears warmed slightly without him noticing.
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