Chapter 12: The Secret Coronation
After that night's conversation, Lin Xi entered an ordinary stage of life - at least on the surface.
"All ten rings. The shooting accuracy is very high." Lin Xi looked at the silver-haired boy with satisfaction, and was not stingy with his praise. "Grisha is really smart. He learns everything so quickly."
"It's a pity that we can't practice mobile shooting in the current venue. But there should be a chance in the future?"
The boy ignored her and practiced seriously at the target.
Lin Xi didn't expect a response from him, so she lay down leisurely in the rocking chair behind him, flipping through a book while letting the chair rock to the rhythm of the gunshots.
Her thoughts gradually returned to that night.
That night, she knocked on Karasuma Shigeharu's door and won the victory in a seemingly incredible way, making Karasuma Shigeharu cooperate with her.
In fact, the method to win the game is very simple, but only Lin Xi can use this method.
That's the Save/Load method.
Even when coming to the dungeon, Lin Xi can still save and load the game, but the save files here are not compatible with those in the main timeline.
She doesn't need illusory luck, as long as there is a probability of success, she can keep trying until she successfully wins the next game.
As long as she lost, she would really be killed. So she initially asked Karasuma Moharu to aim at her heart, but later changed her mind and asked him to aim at her forehead - when the bullet hits the heart, the person is still conscious, even if she quickly recovers, it will be very painful, but a bullet in the eyebrows will really make her lose consciousness in an instant.
After death, the system will automatically revert to the previous state.
So, she saved the game every time she won... Using this cheating method, she successfully fooled Karasuma Shigeharu.
This system feature was incredibly useful. Gin's real name had also been discovered this way. She was lucky, however, as she only had to try three names before she figured it out.
Before she knew it, Gin, who had just finished practicing with his gun, was standing in front of her.
His shadow fell on the book she was holding and on her body, and the smell of gunpowder and soap hit Lin Xi's nose.
She narrowed her eyes slightly: "Grisha."
"Don't you want to try?" Gin asked. "You taught me how to shoot, but you've never fired a gun yourself."
"I hope you can." She lowered her head and continued reading. "I hate the smell of gunpowder."
Gin frowned.
This person has a bad temper and many problems - he took a few steps back.
"After today, all my courses are completed," he said.
The course schedule Lin Xi gave him only lasted for one month.
The course schedule is different every week, filling up almost all of his time - it can be seen that the owner has carefully prepared this schedule.
There are so many courses and the time is so tight that it is simply impossible for a human to complete them.
But Lin Xi and Gin, one dared to make a decision and the other dared to learn. No one thought there was a problem, and no one questioned whether it was possible for a person to complete so many courses in one month.
They carried out the task in a normal way, and it was done.
By the end of July, Gin had completed all his courses, including Japanese, English, Russian, mathematics, physics, geography, philosophy, biochemistry, basic toxicology, law, psychology, social customs and etiquette, the basics of hot and cold weapons, how to operate various models of cars and airplanes, pistol shooting, physical training and combat training.
Every teacher that Lin Xi hired at a high price praised Gin highly, saying that the boy had an extraordinary IQ and talent, that he could learn anything quickly, and that he could apply what he learned to other similar situations.
Naturally, all the teachers gave Gin an Excellent grade in their course evaluations...except for Lin Xi, who had not yet given a grade for the two courses she taught personally.
Gin didn't care about the grades. It was just that if all the teachers had given grades—and filled in their opinions and blessings on the forms, except for Lin Xi—Gin would feel that the forms were incomplete.
No one likes incomplete things. Furthermore, the teacher's evaluations filled the form completely, leaving only the two subjects taught by Lin Xi blank, which made those two empty spaces even more noticeable.
But he stared at Lin Xi, not knowing how to start.
Please give me a score, remember to follow the format above, and don’t forget to write a comment - this sounds a bit too deliberate, as if he cares a lot about Lin Xi’s evaluation of him.
This is my course evaluation form. You're the only one missing—if that were the case, Gin doubted Lin Xi would even write one. After all, she had designed the course herself, and this evaluation form was likely just included as part of the course instruction, unrelated to the coursework. Lin Xi didn't care who gave her what evaluation she received.
The girl looked up at him from her rocking chair.
When she stared at him with narrowed eyes, the boy couldn't help but tense up, trying not to reveal any flaws under the scrutiny of those honey-colored eyes.
"You're doing great," Lin Xi said. "Every teacher has been praising you to me. Some even hope you'll continue your studies and are willing to create opportunities for you to attend schools in Japan... If you're willing, you can go directly to the university where they teach."
"If you want, I'll finish everything here by September, so you can catch up with the start of the school year. Well, going to college is an interesting experience, and it's a good time for you to practice the social etiquette you just learned--"
"—I'm not going." Gin interrupted her, "I won't go to college. Whatever college can teach me, I can learn on my own."
"Besides, you asked me to learn social etiquette so that I could kill people. There's no war in mainland Japan right now, so it can barely be considered a civilized society. So if you want to kill someone, you have to do it politely. That's the purpose of my learning social etiquette."
“…”
His words shocked Lin Xi. If only she had a glass of water, preferably her favorite juice, so she could sit up a little and drink some water to hide the expression on her face.
Who doesn't like college?! It's supposed to be so relaxing and fun...at least for the first two years.
If Gin wanted to, he could definitely become a figure like the student union president.
He'd have younger brothers admiring him, girls adoring him, and maybe even a few like-minded friends... He'd enjoy everyone's admiration, then return to his duties in his spare time, commit a few perfect crimes, and then go back to school...
Some people don't like this kind of life.
She tried to pretend nothing happened:
"I certainly believe you can teach yourself everything, Grisha. University courses are nothing to you. I just thought you might want a different life, one with options beyond the lab and the safe house."
"What about you?" Gin's voice became shrill. Even though he had tried his best to control his throat for a month so that his voice would not become dull and sharp, the voice change period still made his voice become shrill when he was emotional.
"You promised to help me become stronger, to ensure my safety, and to stabilize the effects of the drugs in my body. You have done all of these. I am strong enough now. Give me some time, and I can help you kill the people of the Karasuma family without you even intervening. No one will suspect us. I can also help you take away anything you want. This is what you said!"
"Now, you're letting me live that quiet, stupid life... You're pushing me out there to do things I should be doing all by myself!" He leaned halfway forward in the rocking chair and grabbed Lin Xi's collar. The book rolled off Lin Xi's knees and hit the carpet, but no one paid any attention to it.
Gin's heart was filled with strange anger.
In fact, anger never left him. It followed him like a shadow, filling his entire life for the past seventeen years.
It's just that the anger that Lin Xi brought to him was particularly sharp, but it did not have the urge to destroy everything. It was like swallowing a whole jalapeno pepper raw, so spicy that the whole throat was burning, but it made people clearly know that it was not a real wound.
It was just a harmless pain that Gin had never felt before.
He attributed this anger to Lin Xi's betrayal. For a whole month, he had constantly cast suspicion on Lin Xi, watching her discuss their plans with the young master of the Karasuma family, watching her have a researcher who also called her teacher move the laboratory equipment into the house, draw his blood every week, inject him with a small dose of Silver Bullet, and then stare at the beeping instruments and watch the data on them calculate.
Under Lin Xi's arrangement, he didn't have to do anything. He knew she had a deal with the young master, so even if he practiced shooting in the poorly soundproofed basement, causing the living room to roar with noise, the young master wouldn't report Lin Xi back to the family. He also knew that the researcher had become her confidant, and together they were trying to replicate his immortality. And what about him? In Lin Xi's house, there was nothing for him to do except study, as if he couldn't help Lin Xi's plan at all.
He hated this feeling. If the deal Lin Xi had struck with her—the "cooperation"—wasn't just between them, it would be meaningless. Didn't she understand that?
Killing her... only he could do it.
He wouldn't let her die before then.
"Grisha..." Lin Xi's helpless voice came.
The boy's silver hair fell on the side of her neck due to gravity, making her feel a little itchy.
His emerald green eyes were like deep pools, filled with impulsive anger, as if he wanted to pierce Lin Xi's mind with just his gaze. His silver eyelashes fluttered like the wings of a butterfly about to take flight, trembling with the rise and fall of his chest.
Lin Xi admitted that she, too, was bewitched by beauty. She had said before that it was human nature. She raised her hand and touched Gin's head, then gently tugged at his scalp, motioning him to get up.
Don't get so close to her. She really doesn't like the smell of gunpowder.
"Since you said so, then let's not go." Lin Xi said, "I respect your wishes."
If you think about it carefully, for someone like Gin who is bound to become a killer, being too socialized is indeed not a good thing.
"You completed your coursework with perfect grades. As your teacher—even though you only called me that once—I am truly happy for you."
"As a gift for your graduation and coming-of-age ceremony—" She reached out to her side and took out a hat with movements that Gin couldn't see clearly.
"I've prepared this for you. A fedora. It's soft, foldable, and easy to carry. It not only goes well with a suit, but also looks great with a coat or windbreaker. The ribbon is removable and washable, and if you don't like the color, you can always change it to another."
"You're right, Grisha. This is a civilized society. You declined the offer to go to university, so I assume that assassin is your future career plan. In that case, assassins walking in civilized society also need to observe etiquette, right? At least pretend to be gentlemen on the surface. Put on this hat and go kill. I hope it will bring you good luck."
Gin took the hat in a daze.
It was like being drunk down a glass of clear cold drink, and the burning anger that had been accumulating in the throat disappeared without a trace.
The hat made of precious fabrics was just as Lin Xi said, soft, easy to fold, and felt good, exuding the scent of luxury. It was obvious at first glance that it was not bought casually from a department store, but was specially selected from a clothing store.
This was the first time he received a gift.
And Lin Xi's blessing... To him, this means much more than anything else he gets.
He realized belatedly that during this month, Lin Xi's eyes had never left him. She had never left, and the environment around him was not a vacuum.
He pursed his lips and put the hat back into Lin Xi's hand.
"Put it on me." He said a little willfully, "Since it's a gift from you, you should put it on me."
Lin Xi blinked and watched the boy kneel down on one knee, his soft silver hair cascading onto the bright red carpet.
She turned slightly to the side and placed the hat on the boy's head.
In the secret basement, they completed a coronation ceremony that only they knew about.
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