Golden light flashed, and when Xu Lun opened his eyes again, he was back in his apartment. The room was still messy, and the blood on the floor hadn't completely congealed.
Xu Lun found his phone. It was past two in the morning, which made him sigh in relief.
"I was gone for seven hours, so the time ratio is probably 24:1."
Not feeling sleepy at all, Xu Lun needed to quickly clean the room. It was already past three by the time he finished thoroughly washing the floor with soapy water.
Now, a more severe problem lay before Xu Lun.
The collapsed floor!
Xu Lun carefully lifted the broken pieces, secretly praying it wasn't too serious. He had no money for compensation, nor did he want to be evicted by the landlord.
Unfortunately, it was an old, two-story apartment and not very sturdy.
With Xu Lun's full-power 'Ora', the floor still couldn't hold up.
After Xu Lun removed the rubble from the upper layer, it completely collapsed, and the debris fell downstairs, forming a hole the size of a basketball.
Xu Lun peered his head into the hole. He saw warm, yellow, cozy decor below, and the rubble had landed by a table. Luckily, no one was woken up; otherwise, if there had been a shout in the middle of the night, the landlord would definitely have come knocking.
There was still hope for a remedy.
—
As the alarm rang, there was no lingering in bed; a pair of tender, white hands reached out from under the covers to turn it off.
The lit screen showed no messages from anyone else, as was always the case, and it no longer caused any change in emotion.
Shiina Mahiru got up and went into the bathroom. After washing up, she changed out of her pajamas into her school uniform. When she returned to the living room, she finally noticed the rubble on the floor.
"What is this?"
Looking up at the ceiling, Shiina Mahiru was shocked to discover that there was a hole in it.
Just as Shiina Mahiru was feeling confused, a knock came from the door.
Knock knock knock
Opening the door, Shiina Mahiru saw exaggerated muscles. She had to tilt her head slightly to see the person standing before her.
"I'm your upstairs neighbor. Due to some special circumstances, as you can see, there's a hole in the floor."
"I hope you won't tell the landlord. I'll take care of it promptly and offer compensation."
Xu Lun breathed a sigh of relief when he saw a petite, beautiful girl come out.
As long as he spoke a bit more fiercely and maintained a cold expression, she wouldn't dare tell the landlord about this.
Once he repaired the floor, all traces would be covered, and no one would ever discover what happened.
"Okay, Xu Lun."
Facing Xu Lun, who was feigning fierceness, Shiina Mahiru showed no fear. Instead, she called out Xu Lun's name, and her body, which had been hiding behind the door, confidently stepped out.
"You know me?"
After saying this, Xu Lun noticed the school uniform the girl was wearing. It turned out she was a Soubu University student.
Then there was no problem. Since she had heard of Xu Lun's reputation, she would surely choose to keep quiet.
"Xu Lun, I'm your class monitor."
Shiina Mahiru felt a bit frustrated. She wasn't invisible at school, but Xu Lun didn't seem to remember who she was at all.
"Class monitor?"
Meeting someone he knew, in a sense, Xu Lun couldn't maintain his fierce demeanor anymore.
Activating his intelligence of 9 points, Xu Lun vaguely remembered that she had indeed appeared in class. As for her name?
"Shiina Mahiru?"
"Although you used a question mark, I'm still happy you remember me."
Shiina Mahiru's caramel-colored eyes flashed with an unidentifiable light as she said, "I'll keep your secret."
She glanced at the time again. It was just past seven o'clock.
"Do you want to stay for breakfast? I just cooked some porridge."
"Uh, no thanks."
This person was too gentle, wasn't she? He had just broken Shiina Mahiru's ceiling and hadn't recognized her as his class monitor, yet she still invited him to eat.
Xu Lun declined.
It wasn't because of the awkwardness of not recognizing her as his class monitor, but because he knew that Shiina Mahiru definitely hadn't made enough for him. With his appetite, staying would likely mean he wouldn't get full.
Although Xu Lun recalled the plot he had seen in his previous life, he hadn't seen everything or finished everything.
For example, he couldn't watch his favorite One Piece after Doflamingo; he mostly watched edited clips through short videos.
Later, he became a societal workhorse and didn't have time to watch many new anime.
Xu Lun still remembered the name Shiina Mahiru because his friends constantly preached about "how amazing Shiina Mahiru is," so he knew a bit about Shiina Mahiru herself, but he hadn't really watched the plot.
Shiina Mahiru, who was as gentle as an angel, was actually a lonely person who longed for genuine affection due to her family circumstances.
(Her parents married for family interests and unexpectedly had Shiina Mahiru, but she was not accepted by either parent.)
—
Xu Lun walked on his way to school, looking for food along the way.
Curiously, he activated his Heavenly Eye, intending to see the so-called 'evil spirit tide' during the day.
As the Heavenly Eye activated, a pupil-like symbol gradually appeared on Xu Lun's brow.
The world in his eyes changed dramatically. Black mist condensed over the city, lingering and full of ominous implications.
As for evil spirits, they could be described with a Pokémon lyric.
In fire, in water, in grass, in the forest
In earth, in clouds, in that girl's skirt
They were everywhere, and their appearances were even more gruesome; Satan himself would bring some back to hell to enrich biodiversity.
He casually used the Golden Light Charm to crush a centipede-like evil spirit. This guy had been hovering in front of him, constantly muttering, "Can you see me? Can you see me?"
These evil spirits were much weaker than Xu Lun had imagined, possibly a result of the so-called long-term governance.
After buying three large toast burgers by the roadside, he had very little money left in his pocket. A large part of his poverty was due to his appetite.
"Looks like I need to find a job."
Biting his toast, Xu Lun wondered where to get income next.
Working at a convenience store?
He had beaten up that scumbag boss last time, and it seemed no one even hired him for moving goods anymore.
Mixing cement at a construction site?
The construction site that provided meals had specifically paid him to leave the time before last.
His Workshop had quite a bit of gold jewelry plundered from Bed-Lord City, but these had no legal source. To sell them, he would have to go to some underground forces.
But Xu Lun was somewhat wary of the existence of players. Since this world had a Paradise and players, it was possible that these underground forces might also have players.
A sharp sound came from the sky; a group of large birds circled overhead.
"Vultures?"
To eat his meal, Xu Lun was sure he had turned off his Heavenly Eye. If they weren't evil spirits, then how did vultures appear over the city?
Walking towards the center, at a corner, a figure crashed into him, but Xu Lun deftly avoided them.
"Hu Shi Huzi!"
Recognizing her, Xu Lun unleashed his full aura, pressing down on the person in front of him.
"Xu Lun!"
Standing opposite Xu Lun was a blonde, beautiful girl wearing a blue and white sailor uniform. Her purple eyes also erupted with an astonishing aura.
"Are you looking for trouble again, Hu Shi Huzi!"
This blonde, beautiful girl was Xu Lun's lifelong rival from middle school. After dominating all the delinquents inside and outside the school, she set her sights on Xu Lun, this towering mountain, trying to take Xu Lun as her subordinate and ascend to become the strongest.
Under her incessant harassment, Xu Lun spent a day crushing her delinquent group, officially forming this ill-fated connection.
He hadn't seen her since middle school, but unexpectedly, they met again today.
Just then, someone passed by, wearing the same sailor uniform as Hu Shi Huzi, whispering loudly.
"Hey, is that President Hu Shi?"
"Why is President Hu Shi here?"
Hu Shi Huzi's aura instantly shattered, her face filled with panic. Before Xu Lun could say another word, she jumped up and covered his mouth.
???
Xu Lun was full of question marks. What kind of move was this?
"You can't expose my identity!"
Hu Shi Huzi's face was terrified as she urgently spoke to Xu Lun.
"Oh, are they a couple!"
"Big news! That's the beautiful, academically excellent, athletically versatile, legendary beautiful girl! The perfect President Hu Shi is in love!"
"How sweet! Their uniforms look like Soubu University students."
Hu Shi Huzi held her hand up, her body pressed against Xu Lun's. From their perspective, it indeed looked very intimate.
The students' words made Hu Shi Huzi's face grow redder and redder, but the hand covering Xu Lun's mouth never let go.
Compared to the rumor of being in love, she was more afraid of her unspeakable secret being exposed.
Her dark past of becoming a delinquent girl influenced by shonen manga—if that were exposed, her smooth-sailing university life would end, and her efforts to turn over a new leaf and become an honor student in university would also come to naught.
With this thought, Hu Shi Huzi's hand covered him even tighter, roaring internally, why weren't they leaving yet.
Seeing that Xu Lun and Hu Shi Huzi made no further moves, the group finally chattered and left.
Hu Shi Huzi also quietly released her hand, waved at Xu Lun, and turned to leave as if nothing had happened.
"Bye-bye."
Turning around, she found Xu Lun's hand already resting on her shoulder.
"Hu Shi Huzi, why are you in such a hurry to leave? What are you trying to hide?"
Xu Lun's voice rang out, sounding like hell in Hu Shi Huzi's ears, and her face turned from crimson to ashen white.