The midterm math exam loomed over the class like a looming cloud of doom.
Students whispered anxiously in the hallway. Calculators were clutched like life vests. Pages rustled as formulas were crammed in at the last possible minute.
But two students sat utterly calm in the center of the chaos:
Shi Mo and Fu Yunshen.
Zhou Zhi slumped over his desk with an expression of absolute defeat. "Why is math a thing? Why do numbers exist? Why did our ancestors invent this torture?"
Shi Mo handed him a tissue. "For your tears or your nose—whichever fails first."
Fu Yunshen, seated beside her, flipped his pen between his fingers. "Try not to fail too hard. You'll drag down the dorm average."
"Rude!" Zhou Zhi cried. "Where's the brotherhood?"
"Buried under your empty answer sheets," Shi Mo said sweetly.
When the teacher entered and handed out the test, the room fell silent.
The only sound was scribbling… and the occasional muffled sob.
Shi Mo's focus was absolute. Equations spilled fluidly from her pen, each step calculated, clean, confident.
She could feel Fu Yunshen's calm energy beside her.
There was something oddly soothing about competing with someone who made her brain fire on all cylinders.
She didn't have to hide here. Not her intelligence. Not her determination.
She could just… be.
Forty-five minutes later, she stood and turned in her paper with a satisfied breath.
Fu Yunshen followed exactly two minutes later.
They locked eyes as they returned to their desks.
Neither spoke.
But the message was clear.
Game on.
The next day, the results were posted.
Students gathered around the board, murmuring and gasping.
Zhou Zhi pushed his way through. "Please let me pass, please let me pass…"
Then he screamed.
"Shi Mo! You're first!"
He turned, eyes wide. "Full marks! A perfect score!"
Shi Mo blinked. "Really?"
Fu Yunshen stepped up beside her.
Second place.
Only one point behind.
Zhou Zhi clutched his chest. "You two aren't human."
Shi Mo smirked. "Just focused."
Fu Yunshen leaned in, voice low. "I'll win next time."
Shi Mo arched an eyebrow. "That a promise?"
"A challenge."
Later, as they walked back to the dorm, Zhou Zhi trailed behind them, ranting.
"You people make me feel like a decorative plant! I'm just here for aesthetics!"
Fu Yunshen said nothing, but a rare smile played on his lips.
Shi Mo bumped his shoulder gently. "Full marks. Not bad for a cursed student."
He gave her a sidelong glance. "You're not bad yourself. For a mysterious roommate with too many secrets."
Her smile faded just slightly.
But then he added, softer, "I like that about you."
She looked up, surprised.
His eyes were unreadable again.
But she didn't need to read them.
She could feel it.
Something had changed.
[System Notification]
Brotherhood Value +40 (Academic Rivalry – Emotional Recognition)
Current Total: 1,000 / 1,000,000
Shi Mo grinned to herself.
One thousand.
Still so far to go.
But this wasn't just a mission anymore.
It was a battle of minds.
A clash of hearts.
And she was finally enjoying the game.