Volume 3: High School Arc - Mirror Game
"Bai Juanjuan~"
"H-here!!"
Seeing Bai Juanjuan stand up nervously after her name was called, trying hard to respond loudly but unable to raise her voice much, I nearly laughed out loud.
Then, amid everyone's laughter, Bai Juanjuan stiffly hobbled to the podium on her crutches.
"H-hi everyone, my name is Bai Juanjuan... sixteen years old... I, I like reading, I will perform for everyone..."
As she said this, Bai Juanjuan suddenly looked flustered, her almond-shaped eyes darting around.
Then, as if remembering something, she pulled out her phone from her pocket, turned on the flashlight, and handed it to the female teacher.
She then asked the teacher to raise the phone higher.
After that, Bai Juanjuan placed both hands on her shoulders and stared at the ground.
Everyone instinctively looked at the ground too, and immediately saw... a turtle made from shadows.
The whole classroom instantly fell silent.
Then... erupted in laughter.
Bai Juanjuan quickly took her phone back from the teacher, her cheeks bright red, and ran back to her seat.
Now at this row, next would be the last row.
This classroom had five vertical rows and six horizontal ones, with a total of thirty students, so there were only four people left before it was my turn to perform.
I glanced at the boy next to me.
Since that small incident earlier, he hadn’t moved again.
It looked like everything earlier might have really been a misunderstanding.
But I knew it wasn’t.
At the very least, I saw my Evil Spirit Form reflected in his eyes.
Coincidence?
Accident?
No... absolutely not.
The motion of him reaching into his pocket, combined with the static shock just now, made me suspicious.
This guy was very likely a player in the game—perhaps even a seasoned one.
But I had no idea what exactly he had done.
Should I... try to make contact with him?
After thinking it over for a long time, I quietly rejected that idea.
At my current stage, I was only an intermediate player.
If his level was higher than mine, he would definitely have many hidden cards.
Once we made contact, it was very likely that my identity as an Evil Spirit Form would be exposed.
And once exposed, some unnecessary trouble might come.
At the very least, I was satisfied with my current life, and I didn’t want to cause any trouble for Liu Wanqian and Gong Lianyu.
Of course, this was on the premise that he didn’t come to me first.
I wasn’t looking for trouble—but I wasn’t afraid of it either!
The next three classmates were called up one by one to perform their acts, while I began racking my brain for something I could perform.
Dancing?
Definitely an option.
I had plenty of knowledge in my mind related to that.
And my body’s flexibility was no worse than someone who had done yoga for years.
If it was about dancing, I could certainly do it.
I had danced to “The Beauty Song” at home in Hanfu, recorded it... and honestly, even I was amazed by myself.
The key was, the strength this body could produce was incredibly... powerful.
Yes, that’s the only way to describe it.
However, if I really danced “The Beauty Song” in front of this many people, I’d be famous school-wide not by tomorrow, but by this afternoon.
So, I dismissed that idea for now.
Better not to dance.
I might just amaze too many people.
I already looked quite good as it was... if I danced, I’d definitely become famous.
Honestly, I didn’t want to use the word "amazing" to describe myself.
So, if not dancing... singing?
That could work, but too many people had already sung before me.
Wouldn’t that be too dull?
Even though I wasn’t particularly competitive, I didn’t like following the crowd.
That was just my personality.
Frowning, I thought for a long time but still hadn’t figured out what to perform.
Before I knew it, the three students ahead of me had already finished performing.
Then the female teacher called the name of the second-to-last person.
"Lu Haochen?"
Then... the boy next to me stood up and walked calmly to the front.
He exchanged a few polite words with the teacher, then turned back to face us.
"Sorry for the embarrassment earlier. Let me introduce myself again. My name is Lu Haochen. Lu as in continent, Hao as in vast wisdom, and Chen as in noble clarity."
As he spoke, Lu Haochen picked up a piece of chalk and wrote his name on the blackboard.
His handwriting clearly showed that he had studied calligraphy.
His slashes were like blades, his dots like blossoms, and his strokes were powerful and full of force.
He must have been learning since childhood, otherwise it wouldn’t be so beautiful.
I had always admired people with good handwriting.
Of course, I didn’t need to envy that anymore—because now I could write beautifully too.
Lu Haochen put down the chalk, turned his head to look at the classmates in the room, and smiled slightly.
"I'm the kind of guy... who really can't do anything except play games~"
"Hahaha~"
"Bro, that’s impressive!"
"Hey man, let’s play ranked together tonight!"
With just one sentence, the classroom atmosphere instantly ignited with laughter.
As the laughter gradually settled down, Lu Haochen waved his hand.
"However, I did learn a bit of martial arts by chance when I was a kid. Though it’s not anything fancy, I can still give you all a performance."
"Yo! A trained fighter, huh!"
"Haha~ Our class really is full of rare talents!"
"I totally love this place. Everyone sounds so nice!"
"Come on, sign up for tonight’s group to steal electric scooters!"
More laughter broke out.
But Lu Haochen seemed to have expected it all along.
He wasn’t flustered, just smiled at everyone.
Only when the laughter finally subsided did he say, "Then I’ll give it a try."
As he finished speaking and while everyone was still chuckling, he suddenly closed his eyes.
Then he slowly calmed his mind and focused his energy.
His actions immediately sparked the curiosity of everyone.
All eyes turned to the podium to watch Lu Haochen.
And I… couldn’t help but furrow my brows.
This guy’s opening stance was pretty solid.
He really did look like someone with real martial arts training.
But… why was that opening posture Tai Chi?
That’s right, he was doing Tai Chi.
And it was the kind with high practical application.
Every move was smooth and fluid without the slightest awkwardness.
That meant he’d been practicing it for years.
Seriously… a game player who also practiced Tai Chi?
The more I thought about it, the more suspicious this guy seemed.
By the time he finished his routine which only lasted a few minutes, he gathered his energy and exhaled slowly.
Then, suddenly, the classroom erupted in applause.
Martial arts really could boost a person’s energy and presence.
Even if the routine looked like showy fluff, the aura was still noticeably different from that of an average person.
Could it be… that this guy’s strong life force from martial arts training was the reason he could see anomalies?
Was I overthinking it?
But then, what was with that motion of reaching into his pocket earlier?
Granted, if he had trained in martial arts, that clean and swift landing from before could be explained.
But that pocket move…
Sigh… never mind, now’s not the time to dwell on that.
I needed to focus on myself—it was my turn to perform next.
"Thank you to Lu Haochen for the performance. Next student… Liu Yunyan?"