Just a few days ago, Raiden Mei was still rejoicing at her journey into the extraordinary world, setting herself lofty goals to make a great career for her father to be proud of...
But today, everything changed.
Raiden Mei sat in her classroom seat, staring blankly at her classmates like a zombie, as they either turned their heads away or covered their mouths, as if by doing so they could prevent her from hearing their discussions.
However, Mei's enhanced senses empowered by her Honkai energy keenly picked up on the conversations of her classmates:
"Wow, I never expected Raiden Ryoma to be like this!"
"A fraudster, huh? He looks like a wolf in sheep's clothing, not a good person at all!"
"I bet all of his research achievements were fake!"
"Yeah, he probably spent that money on extravagant living!"
It's not true, my dad isn't a fraudster, and his research achievements are real!
Mei wanted to shout out loud, but the news of her father's arrest that morning had drained her of all her energy.
After getting up and getting ready in the morning, she received a call from an uncle from the ME Corporation whom she knew, a close friend of her father's, who told her the news in hurried and low tones.
"I'm sorry, I couldn't help your father."
Mei held the phone in confusion, feeling the vibrations of the news reverberating in her chest.
She looked at the lunchbox on the table, prepared by Raiden Ryoma's personal chef, who was standing nearby with a regretful look in his eyes.
"...Is that true? My father..."
The chef silently turned on the nearby television where the morning news was continuously reporting the arrest of Raiden Ryoma the president of the ME Corporation, various experts exposing Raiden Ryoma's "crimes," and overnight, her father had gone from a renowned scientist to a criminal despised by everyone.
"Miss, I don't know the truth, but it seems that my job here can't continue, after all, it's the master who pays me..."
Mei opened her mouth, took out her phone, "I actually still have some money... How could this be?"
The notification showed that all of her accounts were frozen, not a single one remained.
The chef shrugged, "To be honest, my work with Mr. Ryoma has been quite pleasant and easy, at least much better than the several rich families I've worked for before... But now, with this happening, I have to find another way out..."
"Thank you..."
"Miss, consider this breakfast a gift from me... By the way, you should check if there's any cash or anything in your house, in this age where money is needed everywhere, it's hard to get by without it."
The chef bowed slightly to Raiden Mei and left.
Mei got into her family's driver's car in a daze and came to the classroom in a daze. Amidst the whispers of her classmates, time seemed to fast forward, and she quickly reached noon.
The bell for the end of class brought the blue-haired girl back to her senses. She watched as her classmates stood up, the "friends" who would usually gather around her at noon now gathered together, looking at Raiden Mei with the eyes of strangers.
"I never thought it would be like this. Isn't Raiden Ryoma the head of the ME Corporation?"
"He must have been sidelined. Even the police can ride on his head now..."
"Indeed, maybe all the influences we heard about before were just... False.'"
Their eyes filled with obvious malice swept over Raiden Mei, making her hairs stand on end.
Summoning her courage, Mei took out the lunchbox from her backpack, intending to have lunch with them as usual.
"Um..."
"Sorry, Mei, we're busy."
They all said in unison, quickly moving away as if they had seen something disgusting, leaving the place.
"Why...?"
Mei held the lunchbox, feeling lost.
The story between Mei and her "friends" caught the attention of their classmates.
They knew the identities of the children who usually followed Raiden Mei, mostly from wealthy families, and the "friends" showing an attitude of dispersing made them believe that Raiden Ryoma's arrest for fraud was highly credible.
After all, the children of high-ranking officials and wealthy people always looked well-informed, and they all chose to stay away from Raiden Mei, indicating that the girl's father had completely lost his power, and no one was willing to follow him anymore.
"These people are so hypocritical..."
"Maybe she's a fraudster like her father..."
"Probably using dirty money too..."
At this moment, a classmate stood up, stomping on Raiden Mei's seat as she passed by, the sudden sound startled the blue-haired girl, making her instinctively shrink back.
"Scared?"
"Ha ha ha ha ha ha!!"
The onlookers were stunned, then inexplicably burst into laughter.
Watching from the sidelines, Luo Lin felt something was wrong. This kind of small action revealed Raiden Mei's confusion, vulnerability, and weakness to everyone, even making classmates who had previously doubted the news now suspicious.
"I smell trouble brewing..."
The voice of Senti resonated in Luo Lin's mind: "People are restless, with a growing sense of cruelty, even without reason... Hiss, it's terrifying, no, I'm a Herrscher, isn't this emotion a good thing for me?"
"It's not a good thing, because prolonged exposure to these things will turn one into a fool who abandons oneself in the dark corner, ready to manipulate humanity to destroy the world, and will be blasted into fireworks by those who believe in the beauty of humanity, who don't know where they came from."
That's you, a Herrscher!
Before Luo Lin could make any move, Kiana rushed out, roaring at everyone to shut up.
But the girl who frightened Raiden Mei said, "What, are you playing the hero now?"
"That's right."
More hecklers joined in, loudly hurling vicious words at Raiden Mei.
"Criminal!"
"I think you should go to jail with your father!"
"Go to hell!"
This really startled Luo Lin. Although she knew that bullying was prevalent in the Far East, she didn't expect that after the news in the morning, they would gang up on her like this?
"I..."
Raiden Mei stood up, lowered her head, and rushed out of the classroom.
Luo Lin could see the sparkling droplets in the air, they must be tears.
Senti reminded, "I feel the guy inside Raiden Mei is restless."
Luo Lin turned her head to see Kiana who was arguing with the entire class. Her ability to curse profanities just like her father who had once visited European bars was really outstanding in terms of speed, accuracy, and viciousness, causing the girls who had never seen the special culture of Europe to retreat step by step.
Kiana was preparing to establish her authority through this verbal battle, resolutely intending to protect Raiden Mei...
This is...quite the Kaslana family style choice...
The white haired girl even winked at her, urging her to act quickly.
"Fu Hua, where did Raiden Mei go?"
"The rooftop."
"No way? Is she planning to jump?"
Luo Lin hurriedly followed.