Throughout the week, Shen Yuan followed Zhou Yi's schedule. He came to school early every day, accompanied Zhou Yi tending the garden, and separated before half past seven.
Thanks to the recovery pod, he never felt hungry or had the need to go to the toilet. His A-grade neural ability let him stay awake for 10 straight days in reality and should be more in this space, but since there was nothing urgent enough he had to keep his eyes on yet, he slept like usual.
As for food, although he could taste it on his tongue, it didn't give him any satiation as it was only a figment of imagination. He could easily become a food fighter champion in this place without ever gaining weight.
If he wasn't inside the head of a person who could die anytime and kill him along with him, he would've long abandoned the mission and just lived a new life here. With his money, even without finding a job, he could live in luxury until old age.
"Did something happen?"
Shen Yuan came out of his thoughts and turned to Zhou Yi, crouching by the flower bed under the window. He shook his head. "I should be the one asking you that. That bruise on your neck wasn't there yesterday. Was it the bullies again?"
Zhou Yi continued pruning the plants. "It's nothing new."
"I hope you're keeping tabs on every injury they gave you. The only good ending to this kind of story is for you to double it back to them."
"How scary."
"I'm serious. Are you just going to wait for them to graduate?"
"I'm not in a position to choose." Zhou Yi snapped a rotting stem.
"Then do something to get that position." Shen Yuan sighed. "Nothing's going to change if you just accept being their punching bag."
"What about you?" Zhou Yi raised his head and stared at Shen Yuan. "Aren't you running away from your problem all the same?"
"Is that so?" Shen Yuan rubbed the silver ring around his finger.
He got down from the windowsill and slipped the ring out with one smooth push of his thumb. It fell under the window, just a couple of inches away from the wall.
"Since it looks like you're in a bad mood, I'll leave you alone for today."
Realizing his words were too thoughtless, Zhou Yi hurried to his feet. "Senior, I—"
But Shen Yuan turned a deaf ear and walked away without looking back. He turned towards the stairway and hid behind the corner to observe.
Zhou Yi didn't let him down and noticed his ring on the floor.
He couldn't reach it without having to step on the flower bed, so he left the garden to go inside and retrieve it. There was no one else other than the two of them at school yet, but seeing the ring still on the floor brought him a sigh of relief.
Taking off his gloves, he carefully picked it up from the floor and studied it. Shen Yuan wore it on his index finger, but the size could barely fit his little finger. His hands weren't small, but he realized now how slender his fingers truly were.
The design was simple yet distinguishable with only a streak of iridescent black in the middle that would change into deep violet depending on the angle of the light.
He glanced towards the stairway.
He knew where Shen Yuan's class was. There was also nobody there yet, so it wouldn't be a problem if he came by for a short second to return it. Without any question, that was the right thing to do.
"…"
Zhou Yi clenched the ring in his palm and tucked it into his inner breast pocket.
Shen Yuan watched him leave curiously. He wanted to force Zhou Yi to take the initiative to look for him for once but didn't expect him to keep the ring instead. He doubted it was because he fancied the design and wanted the ring for himself.
Could it be…
Amusement unfurled across his lips, and he turned to walk up the stairs. There was one way to confirm his guess.
***
Once the bell for lunch break rang, Shen Yuan left his classroom and made his way to the rooftop stairway. After he interrupted those bullies behind the shed, they no longer used the spot and moved to the rooftop instead. They weren't as dumb as they looked.
He opened the door to find the place was still empty. It was meant to organize the HVACs and water tanks and wasn't for students to enter, but someone filled the keyhole with glue, and the door couldn't be locked anymore. He wouldn't be surprised if it was those delinquents who did it.
After a bit of investigation, he found their names and background. Their fathers worked under the Mu family's businesses.
It was strange how they were even accepted to this kind of school. Based on their grades and records, they should've long been expelled in their first year or at the very least, got held back last year. But it was a different matter if they had someone backing them.
Setting the 'who' aside, he was more interested as to 'why'.
The door opened behind him, and he turned around to see the guests he waited for had arrived, bringing Zhou Yi in tow. He greeted them with a smile. "It's you three again. It's not enough to stink up the ground, now you want to stink up the sky?"
Qin Dong, the leader, clicked his tongue. "Scram. We're using this place."
"Is that how you talk to an upperclassman?" Shen Yuan didn't move an inch. "And I'm here first. You're the one who should scram."
"Leave while we're still polite, Senior." Jing Wan, the Frog Face, chimed in.
"We're not here to make trouble with you." Zhang Liu, the lanky one, added.
Shen Yuan crossed his arms, raising one eyebrow in challenge. "Make me."
"You asked for it." Jing Wan whipped out a pocket knife from his pants.
Just as he took a step, Zhou Yi kicked Zhang Liu's back and sent him straight to Jing Wan. The two collided and crashed hard to the ground, surprising Qin Dong.
"The fuck are you—"
Before Qin Dong could finish his words, Zhou Yi swung his leg and smashed his heel into his temple in a perfect arc. Qin Dong's eyes rolled back, and he fell limp to the ground.
Jing Wan and Zhang Liu had just regained themselves and tried to prop their body up when an iron claw grabbed their skull and slammed them back to the concrete floor. Their nose broke with a dull crack, and their consciousness flew on the second bang.
The glare in Zhou Yi's eyes slowly dimmed. He confirmed all three had blacked out before going to Shen Yuan's side to grab his arm and drag him away. Passing by the chemistry lab, he made sure it was empty and pulled Shen Yuan inside.
"What do you think you're doing?" He suppressed his voice from yelling. "Why did you provoke them?"
"You're blaming me? They were the ones who got on my nerves," Shen Yuan unapologetically said.
"Do you realize what would've happened if I wasn't there? They have knives and they're not ashamed to use them."
"I could handle them myself."
"Have you ever even punched anyone?" Zhou Yi grabbed Shen Yuan's wrist and yanked it up. "With this kind of hands?"
Shen Yuan winced. Noticing it, Zhou Yi quickly let him go.
A red handprint marked his wrist. He rubbed the sore joint and tried moving it in a circular motion. If his neural grade was on a lower level, his wrist would've probably broken. The strength of an S-grade power user was really no joke.
…Thinking about it, could all the imaginary people in this space have equal power to Zhou Yi? The strength he used on those three delinquents earlier should have been powerful enough to break the skull of a B-grade power user, but they only fell unconscious.
If this was true…it would be very troublesome.
"I'm sorry…" Zhou Yi carefully held Shen Yuan's bruising hand, as if holding a piece of egg that could break with the slightest force. "But I hope you understand what I mean. They're not regular delinquents."
"I get it. It was reckless of me." Shen Yuan didn't try to argue anymore. It was not his objective anyway. He shifted his eyes away. "But when I saw you with them and knew what kind of things they would do to you, I just…got pissed."
Zhou Yi's heart trembled, his eyes flared a soft glow. It was the first time anyone had ever become angry on his behalf.
"Sorry. You got yourself in trouble because of me, didn't you?" Shen Yuan reached out and touched the bruise peeking under Zhou Yi's collar. "I know you must have a reason not to fight back if you're this strong. If it wasn't because of me…"
"Don't worry about me." Zhou Yi held Shen Yuan's hand on his neck and gently lowered it down. "More importantly, they're the kind of people who never forget their grudges. It's not unlikely they'll come for you after this. Don't let them catch you by yourself. Stay in class throughout the day. They're not so powerful that they can throw their weight around on the senior floor."
Shen Yuan affirmed with a nod.