Dark Light Chaser.

Chapter 2 Campus
Looking around, there were many classmates wearing school uniforms.

Ai Liang School only has morning reading sessions for third graders; the fourteen- or fifteen-year-old students are at a rebellious age where they are very playful.

Unless it's a strict rule, only a very small number of people will study diligently, so most of the people on the same bus should be graduating students who will be taking the high school entrance exam next month.

Even with the high school entrance exam approaching, their attitudes are not entirely unified; some take advantage of the time spent riding the bus to close their eyes and rest.
Some students were memorizing words with expressions that suggested they wanted to eat the dictionary in their hands.
Some people casually scroll through videos on their phones;
Everyone has their own attitude towards exams.

Nevada may not be considered a major developed metropolis, not comparable to first-tier cities, but it is still among the top-tier second-tier cities.

Their city is particularly famous for its social atmosphere; it is one of the few cities in the Asian Union that opposes early romantic relationships.

Most people living here always wear polite smiles, and they like to speak and act with a serious and stern face. Their style of doing things is very rigorous, which is completely the opposite of the free and easy Chika City next door.

This trend has led to a constant state of psychological repression among people, especially students facing entrance exams.

Under pressure from their parents and school regulations, they suppress all their anxieties about life, the sadness of graduation season, and their feelings for their peers deep in their hearts, planning to release all their emotions after the high school entrance examination. Therefore, the graduation season is also a period when accidents frequently occur.

After getting off the bus, Ai Liang first bought a pancake from a nearby breakfast cart before walking into the familiar campus.

He didn't rush to the classroom; it was still a long time before morning reading began.

Besides, given his level, he could still get a perfect score on the high school entrance exam even if he didn't read a single page of the book for the remaining month. In other words, it would be shameful to have superpowers and still not get a perfect score.

Following the school wall, Ai Liang arrived near the school's garbage dump, where there was a small, dilapidated shed used for storing miscellaneous items.

"Glasses, are you there?"

Ai Liang pushed open the half-closed wooden door and walked into the house filled with old books and various odds and ends.

A disheveled man with a buzz cut, a forehead as broad as Confucius's, and large round glasses was hunched over a desk with one leg broken, writing and drawing.

If you ignore his tattered dark blue shirt and dirty, greasy face, a closer look will reveal that this man, who at first glance looks to be in his fifties, is actually only in his early twenties.

As if he could smell the aroma of pancakes, the bespectacled man looked up and stared blankly at Ai Liang with a silly smile.

His smile was simple and honest, but it was hard to find anything flattering about him when paired with his appearance.

It was precisely because of his appearance that the students at the school firmly believed that he was mentally ill, because whether he smiled or not, he looked like a dull idiot.

Glasses' real name is Xu Zhihai. He has been scavenging at this junior high school for two years. He got the nickname "Glasses" because of his big, round glasses.

Xu Zhihai is also a legendary figure on campus. Two years ago, when he first came to the school to collect beverage bottles, the teachers investigated his identity because they found him suspicious.

He was originally a student in the mathematics department of Peking University, a key university in Asia-Pacific. He was the kind of successful person who would immediately receive offers from major companies to work in management positions after graduation.

The reason why legendary figures are called legendary figures is because their lives are bound to have dramatic changes.

When Xu Zhihai was young, his father abandoned the family and disappeared. His mother raised him and his sister alone. Despite being poor, Xu Zhihai was determined and hardworking, and was admitted to the prestigious Asia-Pacific University.

It was as if fate was playing a cruel joke on him. After finally getting into Peking University, he received the devastating news of his mother's death from cancer in his first year.

On his hurried journey home, his sister also died in a car accident. The vehicle that caused the accident fled the scene. The blow of losing his only remaining relatives one after another drove him insane.

Upon returning to his hometown, he became mentally unstable. Instead of looking for work, he spent his days wandering around garbage dumps, scavenging for scraps to make a living. In his spare time, he would draw strange pictures in his notebook or prove complex mathematical formulas.

After learning about his background, the school specially hired him to manage the garbage truck and allocated a dilapidated house near the garbage truck for him, so that he would have a place to stay and would not have to sleep in the relief station every day.

Ai Liang brought him pancakes for two reasons: first, because she felt sorry for him, and second, because he always received many interesting books that couldn't be bought in stores.

In exchange, I would bring him a pancake every morning and go to the pile of old books to find some books that interested me.

"You don't need to look for it since I didn't go to collect recyclables yesterday."

Glasses mumbled through his mouth, biting into a pancake.

His eyes were clear and bright, not at all like a madman, and his voice was the opposite of his appearance, quite like a literary youth of the last century.

"Ah."

After responding, Ai Liang straightened up in the pile of old books.

As the person with glasses said, there were indeed no new books, just the same batch as yesterday, but there were some sports equipment in the corner next to the wall, such as badminton rackets with broken nets and jump ropes.

Looking back at the glasses and the silly grin, Ai Liang noticed a worn-out monocular telescope on the table. "You'd better throw this thing away, or if someone finds out, they might say you're spying on the students."

He had been warned by his teacher once before because of this, and it seems he didn't throw it away that time.

"It costs several tens of yuan."

Ai Liang didn't say anything, but simply lowered her eyelids and left the small, dilapidated house.

Upon reaching the classroom on the second floor, one finds many students quietly reading aloud from their books, while a few others sit and chat idly.

Although third graders are required to sign in for morning reading, there are actually no teachers supervising them; whether or not they read is entirely up to their own initiative.

For example, Ai Liang's deskmate, Ma Yu, is currently playing games on his phone.

"Ma Yu! Can't you pick a normal jungler?" The girl who spoke had long, slicked-back hair that fell down her back, her bangs parted with a hair clip, and she was looking disgusted.

"Hey, everything can be jungled."

Ma Yu laughed proudly and controlled the healer to run towards the jungle, completely unaware of the increasingly terrifying look in the girl's eyes ahead. After the jungle monsters appeared, he shouted, "Sister Hua, help me auto-attack a couple of times, I can't beat them."

"If you do this again, just go play by yourself! Don't waste my time. If you weren't holding me back, I would have gone to Hundred Stars already!"

The girl made a bold statement, then happened to look up and meet Ai Liang's gaze. She raised her hand in greeting, "Hey, good morning. Did you deliver breakfast to Glasses today too?"

"Good morning." Ai Liang responded and pulled out a chair to sit down. His seat was in the middle of the third row, the golden throne in the teacher's eyes.

The girl who greeted Ai Liang was named Yue Qihua. She was not only the class monitor but also one of the most beautiful girls in the class. But don't be fooled by her appearance.

In the first semester, some students from other classes were rejected by the girls they liked. After learning that their crush liked Ai Liang, the rejected student led a group of people to ambush Ai Liang that afternoon. It was only because Yue Qihua intervened that those boys did not make any rash moves.

Despite Yue Qihua's seemingly carefree demeanor, she was a school bully, and her family owned a martial arts school. She was even more ruthless in fights than the men, and quite a few students who got into fights with her were reprimanded and placed on probation.

As for why Yue Qihua was unharmed: first, she never started trouble; second, she was an excellent student, second only to Ai Liang, that freak; and third, the principal was her uncle.

Every time she got into a fight, she would be called to the office for criticism. The teacher would say the most to her: "Study hard, don't be led astray by these thugs, and if you have any problems, come to the teacher instead of taking matters into your own hands."

This angered several boys nearby, whose faces were bruised and swollen, but they dared not speak out.

"Xiao Ai, you're here early today too." Ma Yu, who had just been killed by a monster, took the time to greet Ai Liang.

"Well, morning."

"Good morning, Ai Liang." Yue Qihua's deskmate turned around with a carton of milk after hearing two greetings in a row.

She pulled the straw, covered in teeth marks, from between her pearly white teeth. Her long, flowing hair was tied into a ponytail that hung down in front of her chest. The small white flower hair clip in her bangs added a touch of girl-next-door charm to her. One couldn't help but admire her bright eyes and white teeth, her full figure and graceful figure, as delicate as a flower in full bloom.

"Good morning, Xingyue. Have you finished the test paper I assigned yesterday?" Ai Liang asked after taking out a red pen from her desk, without paying much attention to her beauty.

"Well, it's all here."

Yang Xingyue turned around and pulled out two test papers from under her textbook. She had expected Ai Liang to ask this question, so she had prepared the test papers in advance.

When Yang Xingyue handed it over, Ai Liang accidentally touched the back of her hand, which immediately made the girl's face turn bright red, but she did not nervously shake it off.

With a failed electronic sound, Yue Qihua and Ma Yu put down their phones and looked at Yang Xingyue, who was slumped over Ai Liang's table.

"All you ever do is bother Ai Liang. She helps you make study plans, buys reference books, helps you with exam questions, and tutors you. You might as well just repay her with your body."

Yue Qihua looked at Yang Xingyue and teased her.

"Flower!"

Yang Xingyue was stunned for a moment, then she sat up straight and shouted with a flushed face.

"You don't need to repay me in any special way. The gratitude is enough. Besides, it was you, Sister Hua, who asked me to tutor her."

Ai Liang calmly marked up the exam paper with a red pen, unmoved by Yue Qihua's teasing or showing any fantasies.

“But Xiao Ai, you helped her improve her grades from above average to the point where she could get into the Experimental High School. Just thinking about it makes me shudder,” Ma Yu said slowly as he pulled out his textbook.

"Yes! I'm not very smart, unlike you three geniuses who can easily get into top universities!"

Yang Xingyue, who was initially a little shy, instantly changed her expression upon hearing Ma Yu's words, looking at Ma Yu with a dangerous smile, which frightened him so much that he buried his head in his textbook.

"It's just that she doesn't know the right method and only studies by rote. I usually just use it to pass the time since I have nothing else to do."

Ai Liang said without looking up.

"No way, it's all thanks to your excellent teaching. Look, my grades didn't improve this much when Hua Hua was teaching me."

Yang Xingyue pursed her lips, a hint of shyness on her face.

The stark contrast in how they treated Ma Yu and Ai Liang before and after caused the other two to roll their eyes.

"Why are you dragging me into this? We grew up together, you know I'm no good at teaching people. Girls, as expected, always side with outsiders when they grow up."

Yue Qihua looked at Yang Xingyue with disdain, and was immediately met with a fierce beating.

Yue Qihua hooked Ai Liang's arms with one hand and looked at her with a smile, saying, "It doesn't have to go to so much trouble to ask you to tutor me. You wouldn't happen to have feelings for my Xingyue, would you?"

Ai Liang, a guy who's usually indifferent to everyone, is willing to sacrifice his free time and go to great lengths to tutor a girl. Even though he claims it's just mutual help between classmates, it's hard not to think that way.

Ai Liang flipped the test paper over dismissively: "I felt a little sorry for her when I saw her squatting in the garden crying her eyes out. I just helped her with her studies because I'm usually free."

“Sister Hua, if you and Ma Yu also want to take it a step further, I can also help you make a study plan. It’s not a problem for me.”

Yue Qihua stared intently at Ai Liang's face, but he showed no emotion, his eyes mechanically scanning the test questions.

After staring at Ai Liang's face for a long time without being able to discern anything, Yue Qihua had no choice but to give up.

"No thanks, my grades are good enough to get me into the top class, and I want to make some time to play games."

Ma Yu also peeked out from his book: "Yeah, yeah, even though I can't get into the top class, I'll be satisfied with getting into Experimental Middle School. After all, I don't have the same burning passion as Xingyue who studies all night long."

Yang Xingyue was both amused and exasperated to see the two backing down. She felt as if Ai Liang had used her enthusiasm for studying as a shield.

The morning reading session ended quickly amidst the casual conversation of the group, and before they knew it, it was time for class.

In the last month, the teacher rarely lectured anymore. He usually sat on the podium to maintain discipline, and would occasionally come down and walk around. The students below would do their own practice problems and discuss with each other. They would only ask the teacher questions if they still didn't understand something after the discussion.

In this intense learning atmosphere, even Yue Qihua was diligently studying her reference books, while Ai Liang was the only one neglecting her studies by reading novels.

Even if the teacher happens to pass by and notices, they will just turn a blind eye. It's not a problem if a genius who gets perfect scores in all subjects doesn't come to school.

Normally, students feel like the days drag on endlessly during class, but as the high school entrance exam approaches and they begin self-study, a morning flies by in the blink of an eye, and before they know it, half the day has passed.

"Hmm~ Ah~, my shoulders are sore from lying down all morning."

Ma Yu stretched and rubbed his shoulders, letting out a groan. "Stop looking, or all the good food in the cafeteria will be gone."

The students in the class had already gathered in twos and threes and headed towards the cafeteria.

The interpersonal relationships in their class are very complicated, with dozens of people divided into more than a dozen large and small circles.

Unlike Yue Qihua, Ai Liang is not able to get along well in any circle.

He didn't want to hang out with a bunch of immature idiots who were always trying to show off and demonstrate their masculinity through fighting, so Ai Liang only had Ma Yu as a male friend in the class.

He closed the novel, got up, and went to the cafeteria with Ma Yu.

As the high school entrance exam approaches, schools have moved the mealtime for graduating students forward by 15 minutes, so they don't have to waste a lot of time queuing with first and second-year students.

He didn't spend much time eating, and soon he was back in the classroom. Yang Xingyue and Yue Qihua were even faster than him, already sitting in their seats reading.

Ai Liang returned to her seat and reopened her novel. Before she could read more than two lines, she heard someone calling from the doorway: "Ai Liang, someone is looking for you."

"Xiao Ai, there's a girl looking for you at the door. She looks kind of familiar."

Ma Yu nudged Ai Liang with his elbow.

"Huh? Isn't that Gao Jiajia from the next class?"

Yue Qihua, a big sister with extensive connections, recognized at a glance who was looking for Ai Liang outside. "Could it be someone who's about to confess to Ai Liang before graduation?"

Upon hearing the second half of Yue Qihua's sentence, Yang Xingyue frowned and lifted her face from the exam paper to look at the doorway.

(End of this chapter)