Chapter 30: The Nightingale

“Hello everyone, my name is Allen. Starting today, I’ll be part of the Elite Class too. Please take care of me.”

Allen nervously swallowed as he looked at the twenty prodigies seated below the podium.

Even though he had awakened an incredible power, the sudden gap in his status made it hard for him to feel anything real.

All he could think was that these people in front of him were still way out of his league.

A few scattered claps rang out from the audience.

Focusing his gaze, Allen saw that it was Lilian and Gus—who had teamed up with her earlier—clapping for him.

“My name is Lin Yue, Lin Yue Hawk. You all probably know who I am, so I won’t bother with a long introduction.”

Lin Yue let out a look of relief as he surveyed these familiar faces below him.

He hadn’t originally planned to enter this monster class, but refusing to join would only bring trouble and arouse suspicion.

So he came in.

Besides, it wasn’t entirely useless to join—at least he could keep tabs on the protagonist’s every move in real time.

“Hmph, what’s with the attitude?”

Just as Lin Yue was about to take a seat, Charles, still wearing his hat, gave him a scornful glance and scratched his ear.

This guy… So he’s still here…

Seeing Charles’ disgruntled face, Lin Yue stuck his hands in his pockets and walked right up to him, expressionless.

“W-what? You want to fight?”

It seemed Charles still had some PTSD from last time Lin Yue beat him up.

He flinched instinctively before remembering he had no reason to fear Lin Yue.

“You little—”

Lin Yue flashed an odd grin, then swiftly lifted Charles’ magic hat, revealing a head shaved completely bald, scorched black.

“Pfft…”

“Hahaha…”

“Wow, a bald head!”

“That Lin Yue kid…”

Lin Yue’s move instantly set off a roar of laughter in the class.

Even Isabella, who was usually emotionally stable, couldn’t help but smile a little.

As for who didn’t laugh…

One was Isabena, lost in her own thoughts.

Another was Airella, hoping Lin Yue wouldn’t notice her sitting alone.

The last was Yuan, whose face was full of worry.

“You!”

Charles shot to his feet, about to make trouble.

“Alright, quiet down.”

The teacher on the stage put an immediate stop to the commotion.

“Lin Yue, find yourself a seat. There are plenty in the Elite Class, but once you pick, you’d better not change.”

“Then I…”

Lin Yue scanned the room and spotted a particularly ideal seat.

“Don’t sit near me, don’t sit near me…”

A girl was silently praying.

If she ended up sitting next to Lin Yue, she’d die of embarrassment for sure.

She finally understood why Lin Yue always kept his distance before.

Only when real trouble landed on her own head did she realize how tough it was to handle!

Airella’s biggest worry came true.

“Hey, good morning.”

Lin Yue, rarely, greeted Airella.

It’s over…

Airella resigned herself.

Lin Yue leaned back with his hands behind his head, glancing casually at Airella.

He saw that, just like last time, she was still extremely tense, as if facing a ferocious beast.

Still like this?

Guess I’ll have to look for Isabella instead.

Lin Yue turned to look at Isabella, who was sitting with Isabena.

Sensing his gaze, Isabella tilted her head in confusion.

I’ll wait until lunch break.

During class, Airella avoided Lin Yue’s eyes as much as possible, but with how close they sat, accidents were bound to happen.

Clatter!

“Ah… my pen.”

Airella reached to pick it up, only to bump into a slender, broad hand.

She jolted as if shocked by electricity, yanking her hand back.

“L-Lin Yue! You—”

Lin Yue, baffled, placed the pen back on Airella’s desk.

“I was just picking up a pen for you. Why are you so worked up?”

What do you think!

Airella was furious but dared not speak out, forcing herself to act calm and continue jotting down notes.

After class, just as Lin Yue was about to stand and look for Isabella, Airella sprang up and hurried out of the classroom before he could move.

Lin Yue: “?”

Was that really necessary?

Whatever, I can still ask Isabella.

Lin Yue stood up and walked towards the Valiana sisters.

What’s Lin Yue up to now?

Seeing Lin Yue approach, Isabena tensed up.

She didn’t know why she was nervous—she just didn’t want any contact with Lin Yue right now, or her brain would crash again.

“Isabella, can I ask you a question?”

Hmm?

But Lin Yue wasn’t talking to her.

“Go ahead.”

“Well… during the exam, weren’t you Airella’s teammate? Did she use any… extraordinary powers during the test?”

“Extraordinary powers? Hmm…”

Seeing Lin Yue talking to her sister, that uncomfortable feeling in Isabena’s chest rose again.

“Bella! Let’s go!”

“Sis?”

Isabena couldn’t help herself—she shot up from her seat.

“Come on! I want to go back to the dorm!”

“Alright… Then, next time—”

This Lin Yue, with Airella already, still dares approach my sister.

Shameless!

“Bella!”

With that, Isabena dragged Isabella away.

“…”

I haven’t even finished my question!

Just as Lin Yue was about to call after them, a big hand clapped his shoulder from behind.

“Hey, Lin Yue, are you feeling better?”

Turning, Lin Yue saw Gus—the same one whose weapon he’d borrowed that day.

Gus still had his signature hearty smile, as if oblivious to the fact that Lin Yue had broken his weapon.

“Uh, good morning, Gus.”

“Morning? What’s with the formalities between us!”

He threw his arm around Lin Yue’s neck.

Remembering how he’d broken Gus’s weapon during the test, Lin Yue scratched his head.

“About your magic device, I broke it. How much… I’ll pay you back—”

Gus burst out laughing.

“Oh right, that! Hahaha! You really blew my mind. That was a magic device, you know. I should ask you how you even managed to break it!”

He didn’t seem to care at all, just kept talking to himself: “To welcome you to the Elite Class, how about we all go for drinks tonight? Do me a favor… and forget about the magic device!”

Drinking?

I’ve got more important things to do.

He hadn’t finished his questions, and was about to refuse, when he saw Isabena dragging her sister out of the classroom without even glancing back, giving him no chance at all.

“This…”

Lin Yue noticed that behind Gus, Allen was chatting with Lilian.

He immediately understood.

“Alright, fine.”

…

“Congratulations, Lin Yue and Allen! Welcome to the Elite Class!”

Besides the three familiar faces, there was another guy at the table, looking quite unhappy.

“Why am I here too…”

Charles grumbled, but still gulped down half his beer in one go.

“Come on, we’re in the same class now. We’ll be seeing each other all the time—no need to act like strangers.”

Gus put his arms around both Charles and Allen, forcing the two with previous grudges to sit together.

It looked rather comical.

But Allen’s face remained expressionless; no one knew what he was thinking.

In the end, Charles gave in first. Scratching the back of his head, he said to Allen, “About before… that was my bad. You’re not useless.”

Allen looked at Charles’ outstretched hand, then at his face, and punched Charles hard across the face.

Unable to take the hit, Charles staggered and fell.

“You little—”

“……”

Charles was about to lose it when Allen extended his hand, signaling for him to grab it.

“Now we’re even.”

Allen smiled, and without waiting for Charles to respond, pulled him back up.

“Tch.”

Charles realized Allen had held back, using a magic barrier to protect his face—there wasn’t a scratch.

“Don’t let this guy’s cocky face fool you,” Gus laughed.

“He’s actually a poet at heart. His novels are pretty interesting.”

“Gus! Shut up!”

Charles hated having his little hobby exposed.

Watching the group banter, Lin Yue smiled knowingly and downed his beer.

Finally, things are starting to feel like a real adventure.

Lin Yue thought of his character’s fate in the original story—maybe this wasn’t such a bad ending after all.

“Hey Lin Yue, you and Charles have history too, right? Want to take a shot at him?”

Gus joked.

“I wouldn’t dare. It’s not the same.”

Lin Yue grinned too.

“Besides, I already made my move this morning.”

Can’t let him off that easily.

After a round of noise and laughter, Gus’s face grew serious as he glanced at the others.

“Everyone, I think you all realize we were the ones involved that day. I called you here partly to celebrate these two joining, but also to talk about what happened, and Allen’s powers.”

At once, everyone sat up straight.

“After I woke up that day, I was dazed and saw Allen attacking Lin Yue like a madman.”

Gus picked up his weapon from behind him—it was already falling apart.

“Pure composite magic stone, with a layer of magic protection. Even advanced magic shouldn’t have been able to do this.”

Of course—it was the power of laws, after all.

No material in this world could escape that principle.

Lin Yue kept listening until Allen spoke up.

“I don’t remember what happened afterward. I only remember blocking Isabena’s attack, then it was just me and Lin Yue. The rest is…”

Allen looked at Lin Yue, seemingly hinting at something.

Lin Yue shook his head, signaling Allen not to say more.

Allen got the message and continued, “Also, the reason Isabena lost control is pretty suspicious.”

“I might know something.”

Lilian raised her hand.

“Allen should know—our family has worshipped the gods since childhood. We never trained divine power, but we’re sensitive to it.”

“At the time, I felt a faint trace of divine aura lingering around us. It only disappeared when Isabena used advanced magic.”

Charles raised an eyebrow.

“You mean, the Church might target Avelina?”

As a rich heir, he instantly grasped the gravity of the situation.

“That’s serious. Could be the prelude to war.”

Gus fell silent for a while before saying, “This is odd. Everyone be careful. Avelina has deep roots and complicated factions…”

“Talented people always seem to die young.”

Thinking of Isabena’s out-of-control advanced magic, everyone felt a lingering dread, as if someone had tried to use her hand to kill them all.

…

After the gathering, Lin Yue went out alone to the tavern balcony.

The wind in Avelina was gentle and cool—perfect for sobering up.

As he gazed at the moonlight, trying to calm down and figure out how to steer the plot back on track, a familiar voice sounded from behind, “Lin Yue, what are you doing?”

He turned and saw Lilian.

“What’s up?”

Lin Yue checked the time.

“It’s about time. Aren’t you heading back with Allen?”

Lilian bowed deeply to Lin Yue, sincerely saying, “Thank you for saving Allen, regardless of past grudges.”

“There were too many people in front of the council hall that day—I couldn’t find you. I came with Allen today just to thank you face-to-face.”

“Allen’s always liked to act tough since he was a kid… Now that he’s in the Elite Class, I’m sure he’ll get into some scrapes. Please take care of him.”

What a devoted partner.

Lin Yue smiled. “It’s nothing. I’m glad he’s being recognized by the school. You comforted him for a long time after the test, didn’t you?”

Thinking about what would happen to these two in the future, Lin Yue couldn’t help but study the girl in front of him.

In the later stages, her choices might matter even more than Allen’s.

After all, Lilian’s real identity was a huge hidden card.

As for why Lin Yue hadn’t interfered with Lilian’s plot—the biggest reason was that this game had way too many bad endings.

Before reaching a crucial node, he couldn’t act.

As someone who loved this game, he really didn’t want to see them all walk toward tragedy.

“By the way, Allen said he wants to talk to you too. If you’re not in a rush, should I call him over?”

What could the protagonist want with me?

After Lin Yue agreed, Lilian walked over to Allen and whispered a few words.

Allen then walked up to Lin Yue, patting him on the shoulder.

Lin Yue turned and saw Allen, his face unreadable.

“You remember?”

That was Lin Yue’s first question.

“How could I forget?”

Allen looked down at his hand, a bit dejected.

“This power feels too heavy. I don’t know what to do.”

“That day, you didn’t hurt Lilian. It seemed like you were just trying to provoke me.”

“Do you… know something?”

Allen turned away, seeming to guess that Lin Yue knew some secret about him.

Lin Yue looked away and took a deep breath.

“As the price for saving your life, can we leave it at that?”

Allen was silent for a while, then quietly unwound the bandages on his hand and channeled his magic.

The image of a nightingale appeared faintly on the back of his hand.

“This—do you recognize it?”

Seeing the familiar mark on Allen’s hand, Lin Yue’s eyes flickered with a trace of light.