Chapter 14: You Have Overstepped

[One and a half stars?]
[Only one and a half stars? That's such a low rating.]
[Judging by the looks, she really is quite ordinary.]
[Her figure is average too.]
[Overall, she blends into the crowd; this rating seems fitting.]
[With only one and a half stars, she's not even half as challenging as Qiqi. Looks like she'll be easy to conquer.]
[Easy to conquer? Are you all misunderstanding the Beginner's Trial Area? I remember that most female ghosts in the trial were less than one star. One and a half stars is already quite high; she could eliminate a lot of novice players.]
[True.]
[But this is Ye Jiu's stream.]
[He’s the top player who can simultaneously conquer three-star, three-and-a-half, and four-and-a-half star female ghosts.]
[Exactly.]
[This mission is in the bag for him, no suspense. I'm out of coins.]
[By the way, has anyone encountered this "top student" female ghost before? What kind of boss is she? Contact type? Fluid type? Or something else?]
[How do you conquer this one?]
[Never seen her.]
[Never met her.]
[No clue.]
[Doesn’t matter, with only one and a half stars, unless it’s a particularly timid or foolish newbie, it should be easy to clear.]
[Exactly, you don’t even need to know her type. The pro can just chat a bit and breeze through.]
[Agreed.]
...
...
Wen Nan stood dazed in front of the desk, gazing at the girl sitting an arm’s length away.
Yu Shujun, at first glance, was the textbook image of a senior student—
She wore Seventh High’s blue-and-white striped uniform, the loose clothes covering her limbs completely. Her hair was tied in a high ponytail, bangs obscuring most of her face. Thick glasses hid the emotion in her eyes, lending her an air of mystery and distant coldness that kept others at bay.
They locked eyes for a moment before Yu Shujun dropped her gaze and tapped her pen twice on the empty desk beside her, signaling Wen Nan to sit.
Wen Nan took the cue and sat down next to her.
She pushed up her glasses, glanced at her wristwatch, and spoke in a flat, emotionless voice:
“You’re an hour, twenty-three and a half minutes late. That’s enough time for me to finish three sets of Olympiad practice papers.”
“Uh, sorry.”
Yu Shujun looked at her watch again. “Apologies are pointless. You’re just wasting another minute of my time.”
With that, she shoved a test paper toward Wen Nan. “This is your math diagnostic. Take a look—
“Sixty-one points! How did you even manage this score?”
Wen Nan, remembering the nine-point paper Fatty had brought to the homeroom teacher, quietly protested, “It’s not that bad… At least I passed.”

“Passed? Full score is one hundred and fifty!” Yu Shujun tapped the paper forcefully with her pen. “You only got three multiple-choice questions right at the start! If I scattered rice over the sheet and let a chicken peck at random, it’d probably pick better answers than you!”
After her tirade, Yu Shujun’s tone softened: “I’ve marked every problem area, solution approach, and common mistakes in red. Go through it from start to finish, ask if you have questions, otherwise keep quiet. Let’s not disturb each other.”
With that, she pulled out her own Olympiad practice papers from her bag and began working, ignoring the person beside her as though he were air.
...
...
[???]
[A pressure fiend?]
[Is she really that scary?]
[Her aura feels more intimidating than the homeroom teacher, almost like the discipline director.]
[Is this really just a one-and-a-half star ghost? Why is her presence so overwhelming?]
[I’d give her five stars.]
[Five stars is too low.]
[You’re all getting carried away by Ye Jiu’s charisma. Don’t fool yourselves into thinking this is some soap opera stream.]
[Right, the difficulty of conquering a character is based on the threat they pose to the player, not their suitability as a love interest.]
[Exactly. She’s fierce with her words, but notice: she never touched the streamer, barely even looked at him. All she asks is that he review the questions and not disturb her. This kind of ghost is actually the easiest to deal with.]
[Yes, she ignores you entirely. You ignore her back, don’t ask questions, and just get through the next twenty minutes. The task is done.]
[That simple? Sounds even easier than the uptight married homeroom teacher.]
[It’s not hard. This is probably a newbie-friendly option; picking it is a win.]
[So the streamer just needs to keep quiet and look at the questions?]
[Correct.]
[Ugh, how dull.]
[Let’s go check out “Small and Cute”’s stream.]
[Agreed.]
...
...
Just as the chat was erupting with messages about leaving, Wen Nan’s next move stunned them all.
“Classmate Yu,” Wen Nan raised his hand.
Yu Shujun’s brow creased, her impatience obvious.
She ignored him, pretending not to hear, focusing intently on her own test paper.
Wen Nan cleared his throat and continued, “Forgive my boldness—”
“—You are bold,” Yu Shujun replied, still not looking up.
Wen Nan: “Uh, I have a question.”
Yu Shujun: “No, you don’t.”

Wen Nan: ...
He was a conscientious student, and despite her chilly attitude, Wen Nan decided to voice the questions weighing on his mind:
“It’s so hot outside—aren’t you uncomfortable wearing such thick clothes?”
Yu Shujun: ...
Seeing no response, Wen Nan pressed on, “Your bangs are so long, don’t they block your vision and bother you?”
Yu Shujun: ...
He continued, “Did you put on makeup? Is your technique taught by the PE teacher?”
...
...
[?]
[???]
[(=ﾟДﾟ=)]
[∑(O_O；)]
[Wait, what is the streamer doing?]
[Is he courting death?]
[Wouldn’t it be easier to just quietly get through these twenty minutes?]
[Why insist on asking questions?!]
[And not just any questions, but ones totally unrelated to studying!]
[Is he deliberately probing the danger zone?]
[Does he not value his life?]
...
...
Crack!
Yu Shujun’s pen snapped in half.
She finally turned toward the man beside her, her lips twisting into a grimace more painful than a smile, barely containing her fury.
“If you don’t have a legitimate question, either shut up or get out of the classroom.”
“I do have one.”
Wen Nan reached out and pointed to Yu Shujun’s knee.
There, on her uniform pants, was a stain of brown iodine.
“When you walked in earlier, I caught a strong scent of disinfectant on you.”
Wen Nan said, “Classmate Yu, did you just come from the school infirmary?”