"Scram!" Joan spat, her tone woven and hemmed with ice.
Whimpering, the two goons rushed forward, their heads lowered, and dragged Viktor out of the bathroom. Each boy took one of his legs and pulled the collapsed boy. But Viktor's face remained pressed to the ground, the open wound on his lip oozing blood.
In his wake remained a noticeable stream of scarlet blood that gleamed under the fluorescent bathroom lights.
"I thought I told you to control your strength," PK scolded.
Joan internally scowled. What did the rat think she was doing? She'd hardly put any force in her punches. Viktor had just been overreacting. That drama queen.
Ignoring PK, she turned to look at Navier, who remained in his kneeling position. Tears streamed out of his large eyes in big, glistening droplets as he looked up at her. She didn't quite know what to feel when she looked at him. Before her was the man who had betrayed her country and leaked confidential documents to those damned Americans.
Should she despise him? But he was so… fragile. Joan feared she would break him just by looking at him. This was the genius that created superhumans and changed the world? He sure didn't look the part.
Joan couldn't imagine how this scrawny boy would survive a day in the military where strength was everything, where you'd be left behind if you couldn't keep up.
She remembered her mission and blurted, "I'm Rem," without a second thought.
Navier sobbed, and Joan felt a twinge of guilt. Was her face that scary? Scary enough to make someone cry?
Ding!
Suddenly, a notification rang in her head.
[Mini-Mission 1 Complete]
[Reward: 100 Dollars Transferred to Bank]
Ah, yes. Money. The key to survival. The reward Joan wanted all along.
An unstoppable grin stretched the corners of her lips. She could finally go shopping! Ah, no more greasy Youtiaos for breakfast, and she could finally buy a new change of clothes.
Relief broke through Joan, and her eyes sparkled in response. Happily, she turned and left the boy's bathroom to return to class.
"Congratulations, host. You've completed your first mini-mission. Calibrating second mission," PK chirped in her head.
A screen popped up in front of Joan.
[Mini-Mission 2: Pass Midterms]
[Reward: 200 dollars]
"Huh, what kind of mission is this? It has nothing to do with Navier." Joan frowned. What were midterms?
"Ah, I thought you were supposed to be smart," PK remarked. "He's going to Tsinghua, so you must go to Tsinghua as well. You're going to need access to his research documents. Hence, your grades need to be good enough to be accepted into Tsinghua."
"Midterms? Grades? What are those?" Joan asked, flabbergasted. What strange terms. She'd never heard them in her life.
PK nearly screamed in her ear. "Are you a moron? I thought you were supposed to be smarter than the average human!"
Joan cringed, and she rubbed the inside of her ear with her pinky. "Yeah, yeah. I'll pass the midterm thing."
"Why can't I just kill him now? You have all his precious research documents, no?" Joan asked.
"You could. But you'd become human. You don't belong to this timeline, so your existence isn't considered when the future changes. Which is to say, your future contributions to this timeline aren't taken into account," PK explained.
Joan slid open the sliding door to her class and saw the boys from before shyly sitting in their seats. Their hands fidgeted in their laps, and they were no more than puppies compared to the wild dogs they had been just a few moments ago.
Viktor turned to look at her, and his eyes briefly met hers for a split second. Fear spread, starting from his eyes and tensing up the rest of his face. Tears welled up in his eyes, and he quickly lowered his head to stare at his workbook.
His upside-down workbook.
Joan merely shrugged and returned to her seat near the corner of the room. She rested her chin on her hand as she stared out the window.
Her current mission was far different than anything she'd ever experienced. Previously, adrenaline would be circulating her veins as she chased down her prey. Now, she was beating up little kids.
When the school bell rang once more, signaling the end of lunch, Navier returned to his seat. She sensed his hands slither up behind her and tap her shoulder.
"Yes?" She looked behind her.
Navier's eyes held stars in them, his dark irises the night sky. His face gleamed, and although the whites of his eyes were a veiny red, he looked like he had been to heaven and back.
"Rem, you were so cool!" he babbled. "I was so scared for you when you came in. Do you know who those boys are?" He lowered his voice in a whisper. "They're the Grimm brothers. I can't believe who beat them up just like that!"
Joan wordlessly nodded, not quite paying attention to what he was saying. His words took a one-way express from her left ear to out the other. But she did manage to catch on to the Grimm brothers and something about a dog.
***
Ding!
The school bell rang, signaling the end of the day. Joan had hardly been there for four hours, but her legs tingled from sitting in the same seat for all those hours. The backs of her legs were uncomfortably warm, and sweat made her pants stick to her thighs.
Desperate to leave this cage, she shoved all her workbooks in the free bag the school had given her out of pity. The majority of the students at M High School lived in the slums, so the school was used to charity cases like Joan.
How loathsome, Joan couldn't help but think to herself.
Attending school was a more gruesome activity than she expected it to be. Lethargically, she cruised the wave of equally tired students out the door.
As she walked the streets to the hostel, she sensed a fast-moving object coming up from behind her. Without pause, she spun around, preparing to send the person trying to jump her flying.
Her fist swung at a terrifying speed before stopping inches away from the assaulter's face.
"Ah, it's you."
"Rem! Do you live around here? I do, too!" Navier happily chirped. Joan could almost see his imaginary tail wagging behind him.
Joan hummed and turned to continue her stroll.
"Did I already tell you? You were so cool back there!"
"Mmm."
"You beat up Viktor so quickly! Pa! Pa! Pa!" Navier swung his fists into the air with vigor. "And then all three of them were lying on the ground!"
"I see."
"I'm sure the Grimm brothers must be terrified of you now!" Navier clenched his fist and stared up at her, admiration in his eyes.
"Makes sense." Joan nodded her head.
"Will you teach me how to fight, too?"
"Sure."
"Really. Thank you so much! When should we start? Today? Tomorrow?" Navier's happiness added an extra skip to his step.
"Yeah."
"That reminds me! You're new here, right? Do you want me to teach you how our school works?"
"Ok."
Navier paused in front of the hostel. "This is my place!"
"For sure," Joan nodded as she pushed open the plastic flaps and stepped inside.
"Rem! Do you live here too?"
Ah, this fly won't stop buzzing. Joan rubbed her temples as she kicked off her shoes and headed straight to bed. Wrapping herself in a thin blanket, she curled up and covered her head with a pillow to mute the incessant buzzing.
With Ada Chun out for work, the room was empty. Well, it would have been if this dog hadn't come in.
"Rem! Rem!"
Ah, she never should've helped this brat.
"Are you prepared for midterms?"
Joan sat up at his question. "You know what those are?"
Navier gave her a puzzled look. "They're the test in the middle of the semester. Have you never had one?"
"No. How do you pass?"
"You have to get a 70 or above." Suddenly, Navier's features brightened. "My grades are good! I can tutor you in exchange for you training me!"
When had she agreed to train him? Joan flipped through her memories but was unable to come up with the one where she had promised him such a thing.
Ah, well. It didn't matter too much.
"That means I'll pass, right?" Determination sparkled in Joan's eyes.
Ah, my 200 dollars~ Here I come!
"I'll help you pass! Leave it to me!" Navier put his small fist in the air, matching Joan's determination.