MORIC - Chapter 4
Chapter 4: You're Such an Actress!
Guyun Academy had a four-year system, which in Xi Zhoumeng's eyes was pretty much like a university.
The fourth year was basically for internships.
However, many of the settings in this kind of interstellar world were also very unscientific.
For example, there were no dogs.
Even though Xi Zhoumeng wasn't a dog lover, she couldn't help but find it boring. Cats were also rare animals, and only members of the royal family could own them.
Her current family background was pretty good. They weren't a fallen noble family, but they weren't at the top of the aristocracy either.
Xi Zhoumeng didn't go back to the Omega Division. Wen Xinghuo had sent her a location and even ordered her a meal. In the time it took Xi Zhoumeng to exchange a few words with her love rival's little sister, that person had spammed her with screen-shaking notifications.
The blue, floating light-brain interface was filled with messages from Wen Xinghuo.
In public, Xi Zhoumeng refrained from rolling her eyes, but she cursed "psycho" in her mind.
She used to hate being with people who were so obsessed with timing.
And yet, for so many years, she had maintained a tacit understanding with Wen Xinghuo. For reasons all readers would understand, she had to stay by her side.
Fortunately, the image of the "psycho cannon fodder female side character" had become more fleshed out over time, with tags like "princess syndrome" added, so Xi Zhoumeng could play the part effortlessly.
Of course, she herself had plenty of flaws.
Xi Zhoumeng entered through the revolving door, took the elevator to the fifth floor, and went to her exclusive booth.
This floor was the exclusive territory of noble Alphas and Omegas, and many people greeted Xi Zhoumeng when they saw her.
"Hello, Senior."
"You're here, Junior?"
"Good evening, Miss Xi."
Xi Zhoumeng responded to all sorts of greetings with a forced smile. By the time she sat down across from Wen Xinghuo, she was already tired.
She wasn't physically tired; she simply didn't want to move.
The booth was made of soft velvet, with a top-quality, exclusive starry sky dome—all personally selected by Xi Zhoumeng.
Wen Xinghuo was long used to Xi Zhoumeng's demeanor. "Why didn't you have a fully automated AI robot bring you up?"
Xi Zhoumeng was lazy to the bone; the word "diligent" simply didn't exist in her vocabulary. Besides, when she had enrolled as a freshman last year, she arrived in a sedan chair, a spectacle even more extravagant than the royal family's. To top it off, she even carried a handkerchief, coughing from time to time, looking so frail it seemed she would breathe her last the next second.
Xi Zhoumeng: "Too ugly."
Wen Xinghuo let out a laugh. "I forgot about that reason."
Her skin was wheat-colored, and she had a scar running from her eyebrow, across her eyelid, to just below her eye. It was very faint, however, and only visible up close.
Wen Xinghuo was tall and well-built. Most of the male Alphas at the academy felt pressured standing next to her, so few people dared to approach her.
The planet's mainstream aesthetic valued a balance of inner and outer qualities. To put it bluntly, they liked people who were lean and powerful, yet also possessed aristocratic elegance.
But Wen Xinghuo possessed neither of these qualities.
Temperament is innate and difficult to change.
If Xi Zhoumeng had to describe her, she thought Wen Xinghuo was a bit like black rice.
Just looking at it made you feel full.
Back when she was following the serial novel, watching this character grow up gave her a sense of raising her. After all, she was just a 2D character.
The author's narrative angle highlighted the child's innocent cuteness, and since it was from the protagonist's perspective, Xi Zhoumeng felt a strong sense of immersion, as if she were raising and leveling up a daughter.
Enduring humiliation in the early stages, then bringing glory to her ancestors in the later stages... uh, no, the Wen Family was still a complete mess right now.
Xi Zhoumeng's entire being embodied the word "holy." Although she was crude on the inside, her appearance was impeccable.
Her style of dress also fit the aesthetic of the upper class, and her every frown and smile could completely capture a person's heart.
Wen Xinghuo didn't eat with Xi Zhoumeng every day. Today, Xi Zhoumeng had been the one to invite her.
It was their first meal of the school term, a tradition they had kept for years.
"Did something happen?"
Wen Xinghuo asked. Xi Zhoumeng was almost twenty minutes late.
Xi Zhoumeng: "Someone was fighting at the auditorium entrance."
She was concise. Wen Xinghuo's interest was piqued. "You watched people fight?"
Conflicts between students weren't strange at Guyun Academy. After all, all the planet's elite, school-aged Alphas were here. Even if they wore pheromone patches every day, there were occasional instances of them getting overwhelmed by pheromones and getting into fights.
The school had always advocated that Alphas should take their fights to the mecha room; otherwise, they would have to pay for any public property damage out of their own pockets.
As long as there were no major injuries or casualties, or any bullying of Omegas, the school would turn a blind eye.
Wen Xinghuo tucked half of her long hair behind her ear and looked at Xi Zhoumeng. "Didn't you always think Alphas fighting looked like monkeys?"
The comment was genuinely funny. Xi Zhoumeng raised her eyes in surprise. "Have I said that?"
Her eyes were like clear autumn waters, but in Wen Xinghuo's eyes, they were like the dark night at the end of an aurora. Although for many years, many people had speculated about her relationship with Xi Zhoumeng.
But Wen Xinghuo knew this person felt nothing for her.
They were very familiar with each other—more than friends, but less than lovers. Sometimes, Wen Xinghuo even felt that Xi Zhoumeng knew her better than she knew herself.
She nodded.
Xi Zhoumeng was quite pleased. "As expected of me."
She added, "It was an Omega and an Alpha fighting."
Wen Xinghuo was stunned. "The school explicitly forbids..."
Xi Zhoumeng corrected her with a playful "eh." "It was an Omega hitting an Alpha, you know."
"What?!"
Wen Xinghuo couldn't help but raise her voice, which made Xi Zhoumeng laugh.
She covered her face, her eyes tinged with amusement, her long lashes fluttering. Her profile was as perfect as a meticulously carved statue.
A first-year noble student, being led upstairs by a senior, passed by their booth and was momentarily lost in a daze after just one glance.
"Senior Xi is so beautiful..."
"Too bad her heart already belongs to someone..."
"It's Wen..."
Xi Zhoumeng was completely unbothered by these misunderstandings; this was exactly the effect she wanted.
After all, her role in the book was the cannon fodder who loved the female lead, Wen Xinghuo. Liking Wen Xinghuo was a plot requirement, an image she had to maintain until she found Wen Xinghuo's official wife.
"That Omega who likes you hit a first-year Alpha."
Xi Zhoumeng took a sip of sweet soup, her eyes narrowing in bliss. She rested her chin on her hand and watched Wen Xinghuo's reaction.
Wen Xinghuo thought of Chi Yueshan and couldn't help but facepalm.
"She..."
Xi Zhoumeng: "Is she your type?"
Her eyes were fixed on Wen Xinghuo. To any onlookers, this conversation would sound like she was probing.
But Wen Xinghuo knew perfectly well that Xi Zhoumeng was just enjoying the drama.
"I haven't thought about it."
Wen Xinghuo managed to squeeze out.
"I heard you saved her last week?"
Xi Zhoumeng opened a video from the forum on her light-brain. When she saw Wen Xinghuo holding Chi Yueshan, she let out a sigh of admiration.
"Xiao Wen, you're very heroic."
Her eyes held a smile. "No wonder."
From a bystander's perspective, Xi Zhoumeng felt that the size difference easily created a 'shipping' vibe.
Even though Chi Yueshan was dressed shabbily, her expression verged on sleazy, and her hand had even groped Wen Xinghuo's abdomen.
"Was she feeling your muscles?"
Xi Zhoumeng's question was too blunt. Wen Xinghuo's wheat-colored face flushed red, and she awkwardly touched her nose. "Yeah."
Xi Zhoumeng: "Pretty lewd."
Her commentary was getting more and more direct. Wen Xinghuo gave a dry cough. "Close it."
"What's there to be shy about," Xi Zhoumeng ate even more than Wen Xinghuo. She was tall for an Omega, but her waist was very slender. Especially when wearing her school robe, it made the cinched waist of the dress underneath seem so narrow you could wrap a hand around it, leaving Wen Xinghuo to wonder where all the food she ate went.
"Let's not talk about this," Xi Zhoumeng said, waving her hand. "Has the time for this year's Spiritual Power test been announced?"
Guyun Academy held a Spiritual Power test every year after enrollment. For first-years, it was a secondary evaluation.
Special admission students had to pass written and oral exams to enroll, while Alphas underwent a Spiritual Power assessment to be assigned to classes.
However, their Spiritual Power assessment didn't provide a specific numerical value.
For an Alpha, the numerical range of their Spiritual Power determined the degree to which they could control a mecha.
Alphas with higher Spiritual Power could pilot higher-precision mecha and could also resist the psychic attacks from alien races during interstellar wars.
The human race in this star system had a common enemy, the Zerg, but there were also differences between humans from different nations.
For example, the Omegas of the M-13 star system were not delicate and could even go to battle.
However, this star system had little contact with the outside world, and the available data came from the feedback of expeditionary forces.
Spiritual Power was extremely important for Alphas. In order to cultivate high-quality Alphas, the state would choose to match them with Omegas who also had high Spiritual Power.
This matching required specialized equipment; it wasn't as simple as any two Alphas and Omegas with ninety percent Spiritual Power being a perfect match.
It also involved DNA sequences.
Therefore, an Alpha-Omega pair with a compatibility rate above eighty-five percent was astonishing enough.
Of course, there were also Alphas and Omegas who fell in love freely. The standard for marriage required a compatibility rate of sixty-five percent.
Relatively speaking, the threshold was quite low.
Wen Xinghuo nodded. "Next week."
Xi Zhoumeng said, "Oh." She propped her hands on the table and rested her chin on the back of her clasped hands.
The candlelight above flickered faintly, and her absentmindedness was unusually obvious.
After the annual routine Spiritual Power test, there would be a matching test.
Omegas who had come of age were tested once a year. If they encountered a match exceeding eighty-five percent, they would be required to marry.
Of course, they could refuse, but such situations were too rare, and most people chose to go through with it.
After all, the Alpha's family status and background were relatively top-tier, and feelings could be cultivated.
When the heat period arrived and the tide of passion spread, an Omega would naturally develop an attachment to the Alpha after being marked.
Such feelings could also be love.
"Zhoumeng, are you worried about this year's matching?"
Wen Xinghuo asked.
Xi Zhoumeng sat up a little straighter, her sapphire earrings swaying twice with the movement.
She gave a lazy "mhm."
Wen Xinghuo: "Matches of eighty-five percent are very rare, don't worry."
Xi Zhoumeng's Spiritual Power was very high, but high-Spiritual-Power Omegas were rare, and they weren't necessarily a perfect match for high-Spiritual-Power Alphas.
Wen Xinghuo and Xi Zhoumeng's pheromone compatibility rate was less than seventy percent.
This was also why Xi Zhoumeng's family didn't object to her continued friendship with Wen Xinghuo.
Such a fallen noble was indeed not worthy of Xi Zhoumeng; being a servant would be good enough.
These were the exact words of Xi Zhoumeng's older brother, Xi Li.
Xi Zhoumeng: "I'm not worried."
She seemed a little sleepy. After all, she had only arrived at the academy this morning. This world's Omega mother had been hospitalized, and she had stayed with her for a week.
She had also been scheduled to give a speech right after arriving, which was even more exhausting.
"Compared to that, I'm more interested to see if you can find your fated Omega this year."
Xi Zhoumeng smiled teasingly.
"Maybe it's that junior who's lusting after your body?"
Wen Xinghuo was exasperated. "Stop joking with me."
Xi Zhoumeng: "Let's make a bet. Tomorrow, during the general education class, do you think she'll come find you?"
Wen Xinghuo was speechless.
Xi Zhoumeng: "Bet ten thousand Star Coins?"
Wen Xinghuo gave her a look that said she had no money.
Xi Zhoumeng: "Then the patrol access card."
Wen Xinghuo was on the academy's patrol team and could access all the major lounges.
Wen Xinghuo: "What do you want it for?"
Xi Zhoumeng: "As a prize. For someone like me who never goes out if I can help it, it would just be for display anyway."
Wen Xinghuo didn't think too much of it.
There are over a thousand people in the general education class tomorrow. That girl definitely won't look for me.
The next day, at ten o'clock.
The general education classroom was packed. As the recipient of last year's academy scholarship, Wen Xinghuo had to introduce the various general education courses and hold a Q&A session.
The final stage was for student questions, with the classroom's AI selecting the questioner.
Chi Yueshan was lucky enough to hit the jackpot!
She stood up with a bashful expression and, under the gaze of over a thousand people, touched her freshly washed, exceptionally soft hair.
"Senior Wen, what's your ideal type of Omega?"
The entire hall fell silent.
A soft chuckle broke the awkwardness.
Xi Zhoumeng, sitting in the first row, clapped her hands, indicating that she had won.
That night, on the academy forums—
-《Public Class Showdown: Wen Xinghuo's Two Admirers Face Off, Can the Newcomer Beat the Childhood Friend?》
-《Guyun Academy RPG: If you were a first-year special admission Omega who fell for a second-year 'tough girl' Alpha at first sight, how would you deal with your love rival?》
-《Reborn as Wen Xinghuo, I Choose Xi Zhoumeng!!!》
-《Place Your Bets!!! Anyone want to wager on whether Wen Xinghuo will find her fated Omega this year!?》
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