Chapter 52: After the Exam

Feeling inexplicably down, Ye Chen spotted a chair flying toward him. He decided to use this opportunity to vent his emotions. With a sharp gaze, he unleashed his newly mastered intermediate sword-drawing technique. The sword’s shadow sliced through the chair at a speed invisible to the others, and he sheathed the blade again. The spectacle enthralled the students, and thunderous applause and cheers suddenly erupted throughout the classroom.

“Ye Chen, your sword is a dangerous item. You’re not allowed to carry it,” Kanade Tachibana recalled her responsibility as the student council president. She decided she couldn’t permit Ye Chen to keep such a hazardous object, spreading her hands for him to hand it over.

“We’re not objects! If anything, you’re the object! No way, you can’t hand it over!” Xing poked her head out from behind Ye Chen and threatened Tachibana with exaggerated gestures. Her behavior left Ye Chen exasperated—wasn’t it you who told me no one but me could see you? Even if you threaten her, she won’t be able to see you anyway.

“Kanade, this is an extremely important partner to me—I can’t hand it over. Besides, they can’t leave my side!” Ye Chen, unwilling to give up his Twin Phantom Swords, gently tapped Tachibana’s forehead with his finger as he spoke.

“All right, but don’t use it to hurt anyone,” Tachibana conceded after Ye Chen’s reasonable refusal. Given his usual exemplary behavior as a model student and the fact that he never brandished his weapon at inappropriate times, she thought, “If it’s Ye Chen, it should be fine,” and nodded in agreement.

“Thank you, Kanade! Let me treat you to mapo tofu later!” Knowing Kanade’s innocent nature, Ye Chen realized she would normally abide strictly by school rules. Her willingness to break them for him meant he held a special place in her heart. Ye Chen, delighted, hugged Kanade in gratitude.

“Okay!” Kanade was equally happy at the prospect of eating mapo tofu. Bai jumped down from Ye Chen’s shoulder and shifted forms, declaring, “Me too! I want ice cream!”

“Of course! And I want sweet-and-sour pork!” Ye Chen blurted out his favorite dish, preparing to take Kanade and Bai out for a lavish meal. He’d been so absorbed in the commotion earlier that he’d forgotten Yuri and her group were actually dealing with Kanade. Soon, Kanade would find out her grades, and might be upset for a while.

At the gathering spot of the Afterlife Battlefront, Hinata and Otonashi strode angrily toward Yuri, intent on confronting her. Hinata’s hair was still sprinkled with bits of rubble as he slammed his hand on Yuri’s desk and shouted, “Why is it always me getting launched? And this time, Otonashi and I were both catapulted, along with Takamatsu’s chair! Just now, you clearly launched everyone except yourself, Takeyama, and Oyama!”

“Come on! Didn’t you see Oyama is already traumatized?” Yuri, feeling guilty, pointed to Oyama beside her, who was crying into a handkerchief.

“Then why me? It makes no sense!” Hinata protested, pointing at himself.

“Yeah! Why was I dragged into it too?” Otonashi complained bitterly. He’d thought he’d be left out of this, but when Hinata was launched, he followed suit and ended up dangling from the ceiling. Only one person needed to be launched, yet he suffered an unnecessary disaster, leaving him simmering with anger.

Knowing she’d angered everyone and feeling at fault, Yuri smiled cheerfully and changed the subject: “Anyway, let’s go have lunch together!” Without waiting for a reply, she pushed through the crowd and dashed out of the classroom.

On the rooftop, Hinata and the others grumbled to Yuri as they ate. After a morning of such operations, they were fed up; surely, being launched every time would eventually leave lasting psychological scars. Even now, their mental scars weren’t insignificant.

“How many more times do I have to endure this?” Hinata felt his coming days would be bleak, wanting to know how long he’d have to endure.

“You’ll have to do it throughout the exam period,” Yuri replied indifferently—it wasn’t her being launched, after all.

“Let’s change members tomorrow. If it’s always me, no matter how spectacular the launches are, people will get bored: ‘That guy got launched again!’ or something,” Hinata argued desperately for his own safety.

“That’s why we need to spice things up! Next time, maybe the person and their chair crash into the ceiling, then fly out the window together and fall. That would be epic!” Yuri said excitedly, sipping her milk.

“Waiting for that is terrifying—we’re supposed to be partners!” someone protested.

“So please cooperate with me!” Yuri pleaded.

“That’s exactly why I’m scared!” Hinata and Yuri argued fiercely. The group felt the harshness of their future. Takamatsu, his expression now numb, muttered, “Do I have to take off my pants this time too?”

Thanks to Yuri’s carefully crafted attention-grabbing tactics, Hinata and the others successfully completed their distraction missions. But after the exam period ended, they all became hollow-eyed, unable to recall how they managed to survive such a grueling time.

After this operation, Yuri had become more terrifying than the Angel in their minds. Fighting the Angel only meant physical injury or death, but Yuri’s torment was endless—no one knew who would be launched next, and if it might be themselves.

Thus, after the operation, Hinata and the others collectively took time off, slowly recovering in their dorms from both mental and physical wounds.

Meanwhile, Yuri spent the next few days tailing Kanade with Yusa, hoping to observe Kanade’s reaction the moment her grades were released. Since Kanade had become family with Ye Chen, most of her time was spent with him, Bai, and their subordinate, Shiina. Consequently, all four found themselves under surveillance, which made Ye Chen, Bai, and Shiina—who could sense it—quite uncomfortable.

The three waited until Yuri and Yusa began their pursuit, then surrounded them directly and had a cordial, in-depth discussion. Only after Yuri and Yusa promised not to monitor them for a while did they let them go. Each day before the grades were published was spent like ordinary people, playing and having fun.

Until one day, while the group was on their way out together, an NPC student brought a message: the teacher wanted both Kanade and Ye Chen to visit the office. Ye Chen found it odd—Kanade being called in because Yuri did poorly was understandable, but why him? He was certain his answers were all correct—surely a perfect score.

Not wanting Kanade to go alone, Ye Chen naturally accompanied her to the office.