Isabella Xiang entered the classroom, her icy demeanor naturally silencing the rowdy students. The previously noisy room fell into a hush.
She walked straight to Leon Chen's desk, her expressionless face making Leon feel surprisingly endeared.
"The student council has decided that you will host this year's welcome party. Here is your script." Isabella's emotionless delivery shattered Leon's good mood.
"I'm hosting?" Leon was stunned. This was like throwing him into the lion's den.
"Class rep, I can't do this," Leon protested. "I've already promised to perform with Lily Lin."
"This is a direct decision from the student council president. If you have any objections, take them up with her." Isabella turned and left.
Grace Wang personally decided this?
The briefly calm atmosphere turned tense again with Isabella's words. Gaining Grace Wang's approval seemed even more outrageous than kissing Lily Lin.
Leon had no response. Even if he managed to change Grace Wang's mind, he'd likely be the first person ever to make the student council president change her decision, and he'd be crucified for it.
It looked like the cover of next week's school paper had its headline already. Leon felt utterly defeated. He'd spent his first year being low-key, and now in his second year, his luck had completely run out.
After lunch in the cafeteria, Leon took the party script and headed to the student council to discuss canceling his hosting duties with Emma Shen. The student council members looked at him with wide eyes, thinking, This guy is bold, not satisfied with something the president herself approved?
The result was naturally disappointing—he was stuck as the host.
Leaving the student council, Leon scratched his head, holding the thick script.
"Hi, Senior Leon!" a figure flashed before him.
The romantic aura of the blonde, blue-eyed girl could only be Cynthia.
"Senior, are you a student council member?" Cynthia asked cheerfully.
"No, I couldn't get in," Leon shook his head, holding up the script. "I'm here to discuss hosting the party."
"Wow, the senior is the host for the welcome party. That's amazing."
Leon found it bothersome. "What brings you here?"
"Oh, I'm applying to join the student council, so I came to check it out," Cynthia smiled sweetly.
H University's rule was that the first month was for freshmen to acclimate to the environment. After that, the campus clubs and associations would open up.
"The student council is great," Leon nodded.
"Hehe, I was hoping you could recommend me."
"I can't help with that," Leon laughed.
"But there is something you can help with," Cynthia said.
"Sure, what is it?"
Cynthia led Leon to a stone table and took out a thin notebook from her bag. "My laptop is running really slow and keeps showing error messages. Could it be controlled by a hacker? Senior, can you take a look?"
"Sure."
Cynthia handed him the laptop, and their arms brushed. Leon couldn't help but note how soft and smooth her skin was.
This French beauty had incredibly supple skin.
The thought quickly passed as Leon started examining the laptop. Just as she said, it was sluggish. A quick check suggested it might be a virus rather than a memory issue.
Though Leon was no expert, he was a computer science student and knew enough to handle this. "Ever thought about running a virus scan?"
He started a scan using AVG Anti-Spyware.
While the scan ran, Cynthia rested her chin on her hands and asked, "Senior, have you heard about the XO phenomenon online recently?"
"Who hasn't?" Leon replied, looking at her. "Why, are people in France discussing it too?"
"Yes, everyone's trying to guess XO's identity. Want to know what French people think?" Cynthia asked mysteriously.
Leon listened attentively.
"They say XO means 'hugs' and think the hacker might be French."
Leon laughed. When a powerful, stateless figure emerged, every country wanted to claim them. It made sense—having someone who defeated American hackers would be a point of national pride.
Cynthia laughed. "But I've also heard that if XO really is Chinese, people think he might be a student at H University."
"No way. How did they come up with that?" Leon found it hard to imagine how XO could be linked to an H University student.
"I'm not sure, but that's what many behavior and psychology experts are saying," Cynthia said, shaking her head. "They believe that because XO was so passionate in the second US-China hacker battle and that the first retaliation data came from H University's coordinates, that's the basis for their guess."
"It could also be a deliberate misdirection by XO."
"True. It's hard to imagine a student hacking the fifth-generation American computer," Leon said, playing along.
Cynthia nodded in agreement.
Leon looked at the screen, amazed at how some experts and professors had almost nailed it. The power of state machinery indeed couldn't be underestimated.
After a while, Leon sighed in relief. "Done."
"Fixed it, Senior?"
"Yes, it was an embedded worm virus in a hidden program that bypassed the antivirus software. I've submitted the virus sample to the server. Tomorrow, when you go online, it should be cleaned," Leon explained, wiping his brow. Luckily, he had used data manipulation enough to detect anomalies even without his powers; otherwise, it would have been embarrassing.
"Senior, you're amazing," Cynthia said gratefully. "Thank you, Senior Leon. Now I can play WoW again."
Leon shook his head. He should thank Cynthia instead for providing unexpected intelligence, giving him new insights.
On his way back to the dorm, Leon thought about the upcoming party. A man dressed in black, despite the hot weather, walked towards him. His head was down, and he wore a hat, looking quite odd.
Leon glanced at him and stepped aside.
Unexpectedly, the man moved to the side as well, and they collided.
"Sorry," the man muttered in a low voice before hurrying away.
Leon frowned. That guy bumped into him on purpose!
Checking his belongings, Leon found nothing missing but felt uneasy.
Back in the dorm, Leon went to the bathroom as usual. Sitting on the toilet, he was eager to enter his holographic computer. It was far superior to regular computers.
Just as he was about to go online, his watch lit up with an incoming call.
It was Lina calling for the first time.
Leon answered.
"Missed me, Lina darling?" Leon joked, feeling at ease around her, knowing they could only converse.
Lina coughed a few times before her normally gentle voice turned serious.
"Mr. Leon, I need to inform you: we detected an abnormal energy signal on you—it might be a spy tool. You're being monitored..."
"What?"
Leon's smile froze.