Out of tune (5)

Weston changed his posture. Upon hearing this, he slightly raised his chin, crossed his arms, and leaned back in his chair. His sharp, emerald-green eyes scrutinized her as if trying to see right through her: "Speak plainly."

His expression was calm, without any emotional fluctuation.

Shu Ningmiao clasped her hands together and placed them beside her face. Sunlight shone on her flawless face, and her smile was sweet and bright. Her voice was so sweet that it seemed as if sugar threads could be drawn out: "I saw something called a Heart Stone at Teacher Yeluqi's place before. It can detect whether the person you come into contact with has used superpowers. Teacher, do you know where I can get a Heart Stone?"

Upon hearing this, Weston immediately lost interest and lowered his eyes, propping his forehead with one hand as he continued flipping through his book: "There were quite a few Heart Stones that came out of the research center at the auction. Let's get to the point, Miss Shu."

With her family's wealth and resources, she shouldn't be unable to acquire a Heart Stone. At the very least, others wouldn't mind giving the seller face.

“I want a heart stone that can sense a range of objects.” Shu Ningmiao flicked her fingertip, drawing a circle in the air in front of him: “A heart stone that will react as long as you use your powers within this range.”

"I've never heard of this kind of heart stone being something you researched in your dreams?" Weston sneered as she expected. "Why not apply for a patent?"

The questioning from the police station gave her a wake-up call, and Shu Ningmiao immediately became alert.

There are too many things she can't say. The game in the terminal not only holds her fate but also foreshadows the future of many others.

If she were to encounter a psychic or superhuman one day and, without taking precautions, inadvertently reveal what she knows, she would most likely be captured and studied by the research center.

After all, if it weren't for her "Arrogance" state, which grants immunity to additional superpowers, she wouldn't have even noticed Su Ni using superpowers on her.

After much thought, she still needed the Heart Stone to be vigilant about her surroundings, and it wasn't just any Heart Stone that needed to be touched to be activated—she couldn't just let every person she met touch her Heart Stone to confirm their safety.

So she set her sights on Weston, since he invented the Heartstone, and he might be able to make the improved version of the Heartstone she needed.

Of course, she had expected to be ridiculed by Weston for being unrealistic.

She felt no shame at all, and said slowly, "If I had something like that, I might feel safer at the academy... and then I'd have more time to continue helping the teachers."

She didn't need to be too direct when talking to Weston; she trusted he would understand.

After she finished speaking, she also helped him organize the teaching materials for Old Pinhian, and thoughtfully categorized the corrected homework.

Shu Ningmiao doesn't mind doing things for others, as long as she can gain something beneficial from it, it's not meaningless.

Taking advantage of Weston's slightly increased tolerance for her due to her voluntary labor, she tentatively gained quite a few small benefits, one of which was the right to use the training ground.

“Do you think I would agree to your request for something so trivial?” Weston slammed the book down on the table with a loud thud.

"For a genius like you," Shu Ningmiao flattered him politely, "my request is nothing more than a small matter."

Weston paused for a moment, took off his monocle, and said, "Your shamelessness is truly admirable."

He neither agreed nor refused.

Shu Ningmiao shrugged. It would be better if Weston agreed, but if not, she would think of another way. She should always try. She wouldn't lose anything if she was rejected, but if she didn't try, she would have no chance at all.

Regardless of whether she says it or not, Weston's attitude will not change.

Prometheus's appearance in the practice of supernatural abilities was completely unexpected for her.

According to the game plot she saw in "Secret Love," the first demonstration of her superpowers was only briefly mentioned in two sentences.

The original story simply states that Shu Ningmiao won first place in the superpower practice and quickly returned to her daily life, which can be described as peaceful and uneventful, without mentioning the name of Prometheus at all.

Why omit such an important part of the plot? During her few days off, Shu Ningmiao read through the game's story again, but still couldn't see any noteworthy details.

Erice's lengthy inner monologues, mushy back-and-forth conversations, and uneventful daily campus life made her fall asleep several times while reading.

Shu Ningmiao forced herself to skim the plot, thinking that this kind of romance game wouldn't have an audience even if it were released to the market.

After her first experience with her superpowers, Erici became good friends with You An, Su Ni, and others. Through different branching options, she can later choose which friend to take to visit the orphanage where she grew up and have a date at the place where she was born.

Arrighi was born in a slum, which was a world away from her and not something she should care about.

Among these storylines, the only one that might be related to her is the scene where the protagonist becomes acquainted with Shi Yu, which is the rainy day she saw in the game's opening animation, where the protagonist is bullied and rescued by Shi Yu, who was left in the music classroom.

While the other characters were still just friends, the protagonist developed feelings of "admiration" for Shi Yu for the first time, somewhat like a "white moonlight" figure. No wonder she got a place in the opening animation.

Shu Ningmiao really couldn't understand how the game's plot was triggered entirely by bullying.

The survival of the fittest and the tendency to treat people differently may be a specialty of elite schools, and she doesn't deny that she acts with a bit of that mindset as well.

But Erice is a superhuman. Even the weakest superhuman shouldn't be bullied every day. She's probably just a pushover. Because she doesn't fight back, those bored students at school saw that she was easy to bully, and they ended up taking advantage of her even more.

Shu Ningmiao sighed. She had been studying Eric's storyline every day, and now she just felt that Eric was a very magical person.

Despite living in less-than-ideal circumstances, her personality was so innocent and gentle that it was hard to believe.

She is unlikely to doubt others, does not lie, is wholeheartedly devoted to her friends, and has her own ideas and principles. Although she is poor, Erice must have grown up in a caring and loving environment.

—This can be seen by comparing her with Su Ni. Su Ni never lacked food or clothing before being taken back to the Shu family by her father, and her personality is definitely not normal now.

Although we can't see what happens next in the story, based on general game speculation, Erice will probably become a little angel and redeem someone like Su Ni.

Shu Ningmiao expressed her respect, since it had nothing to do with her anyway.

She only cares about who is responsible for her "death." Now, her paranoia has flared up, and she sees everyone as a murderer who stabbed her in the back.

The prime suspect is "Achini," who claims to see the future and wants her to become a prophet. Although objectively speaking, he is the most dangerous, Shu Ningmiao felt almost no aggression or malice from him.

The second-ranked person is Wei Shengqianheng. For no particular reason, Shu Ningmiao always felt that he was hiding something.

The third in line is Su Ni. Her father and grandmother might conspire with Su Ni to kill her over property issues. If that happens, she wouldn't be surprised. The kinship between people is not something that is so close from birth that it cannot be severed. Her relationship with her family is not good enough to rule out this possibility.

She had suspected everyone else to some extent as well, but unfortunately, she knew too little about them and there were no signs of any threat to her.

It would be better if there were more clues.

Shu Ningmiao sighed and was about to put down the terminal when she saw another notification pop up on the screen.

She picked it up again and saw that it was a short dialogue box with no words on it, only an emoticon.

『^_^』

Is that a smile...? What does it mean?

Shu Ningmiao tapped the dialog box, and a new one popped up.

"Not afraid"

The displayed text was incomplete, but Shu Ningmiao could barely make out the three words "Don't be afraid." When did this game system become so intelligent? Before, it would just frantically send her notifications and tell her to follow survival tips.

Fate has always watched your death.

"But I'm not afraid."

What does "fate still watches over your death" mean? Shu Ningmiao's heart skipped a beat. Does this mean that even though the plot has changed a lot since then, the dark cloud of death hanging over her head has not changed at all?

She didn't doubt the authenticity of the notification. From the moment she received the game until now, the game's purpose had always been to ensure her survival, which was basically consistent with her stance.

Shu Ningmiao tapped the screen twice more, and the incomplete subtitles that had just popped up appeared only briefly and never reappeared.

What was that just now?

After the reconstruction was completed, public opinion outside the school gradually calmed down. Although the invasion of Cornunos by outsiders made many parents feel uneasy, fortunately no students died in the incident. With the assurances of the authorities, no one mentioned the matter anymore.

After Shu Changyan left that day, he told her to send him a message every night to let him know she was safe. Shu Ningmiao felt that this was a bit too much, but she still didn't object.

The capital city where she had lived for more than a decade now seemed to be stirred up by an invisible hand, creating a turbulent and dangerous atmosphere.

Stringlight Academy has started classes as usual, but Weston has taken several days off for some unknown reason.

After the tutor of Class B substituted for Weston, Shu Ningmiao realized that sometimes Weston couldn't be blamed; this purely theoretical course seemed equally boring no matter who taught it.

The second test of their superpowers will take place two months later, during which time they must fully master the basics of 'control' and 'attack'. Shu Ningmiao has already practiced enough, so after the physical training class, she stays behind to practice extra.

After Yelü Qi finished teaching the other classes, he saw her still in the training field and would occasionally give her some pointers to correct some of her mistakes.

Shu Ningmiao had different attitudes towards different people, but in front of Yelü Qi, she was still a respectful and model student. Although Yelü Qi looked very fierce and burly, he was very kind to his students, answering almost every question, showing no trace of the arrogance he once had as an envoy. He was undoubtedly a good teacher.

When she smashed the training robot with a single punch, Yelüqi even applauded loudly for her.

Shu Ningmiao felt a little embarrassed, not knowing what he was celebrating.

Yelü Qi walked to her side, summoned another training robot, and mimicked her posture. With a flick of his wrist, he shattered the training robot, though his movements were twice as fast as Shu Ningmiao's.

"Did you see it clearly?" Yeluqi showed her the direction of the hand movement: "Speed ​​is definitely the way to go, and it can also make up for some of your other weaknesses. You are at a relative disadvantage if you don't use your special ability, but you can make up for it with other advantages."

Shu Ningmiao listened quietly to him finish speaking, then turned around and repeated his actions, and there was almost no difference between them.

Yelü Qi raised his long eyebrows and laughed heartily, but his expression was melancholy, mixed with a complex look that was hard to describe.

He said, seemingly jokingly, "I hope my daughter will have a personality like yours when she grows up; she'll never be bullied."

Shu Ningmiao stopped what she was doing and subconsciously glanced back at him.

Yelü Qi looked into her eyes, which seemed to contain everything else. His eyes were cloudy, with fine lines at the corners, carrying the weariness and desolation of someone who had experienced many hardships. But eventually, they settled down and became the familiar look to her.

The man asked her in a very gentle tone, "Have you ever thought about becoming an Enforcer?"