Special Treatment

After realizing that he had been banned, Wang Dalin cursed out loud. Not long later, he ignored it all and switched off his computer so he could go to bed early. Unbeknownst to him however, the ban triggered one of the truly disadvantageous aspects in the entire forum.

In the Dawning Forum, the freshman forum was not just a place for open discussion. The more important part of the forum was equipment transactions for new students, which were carried out in a section of the forum dedicated to trading. The ban took effect there as well… 

For the vast majority of freshmen who were eager and excited for the future, as well as in the dark over what would happen the next day, insomnia befell them on their first night at Dawn Academy.

Xiao Lin was also thinking a lot about things. He only managed to rest when it was already very late, but he spent half the night tossing and turning in bed. It was not until early morning that he fell asleep in a daze. When he opened his eyes, he discovered that it was already 7:30 a.m. Qin Chuan had informed the previous day that course selection would be done in the public classroom, but as the class monitor, Xiao Lin's selection form had already been submitted to the sophomore year leader the previous night.

As a result, he was not in a hurry. He changed into the light green uniform that was passed to him the day before after his shower. He did not forget to head to the dormitory's top floor to enjoy his hotel-like buffet-style breakfast. He wiped his mouth after he had his fill and walked leisurely toward the public classroom.

The dormitory area was not too far away from the public classroom. He simply needed to follow the cobblestone path and pass through a lush grove to arrive there. Relying on his memory, he came to the metal room that he was at the day before and pushed open the heavy door. Xiao Lin unwittingly found himself stunned for a moment as the hall was filled with chairs and tables instead of being empty like the day before. It had a distinct classroom-like atmosphere.

The hall was already full of people. Qin Chuan stood before the stage while everyone else laid their eyes on Xiao Lin.

Qin Chuan expressed his obvious dissatisfaction. "You're almost half an hour late! Hmph, I won't repeat the contents of the course selection again!"

"Uh, I don't think I need you to. I passed the selection form to sophomore year leader Chen Yu yesterday."

Taken aback, Qin Chuan questioned, "What? Why did the sophomore year leader collect your course selection form for you?"

Xiao Lin was also confused. "Isn't the year leader responsible for the class monitors' course selection? The freshmen have yet to get their year leader, so the sophomore year leader is responsible for the time being…"

Xiao Lin's voice slowly quieted. His brows furrowed too when he saw Qin Chuan's surprised expression. The procedures had clearly deviated from the norm, but no one could back up the fact that the sophomore leader was supposed to collect the class monitors' course selection form.

"Excuse me for a moment," Qin Chuan said blankly, then hurried out and left the freshmen.

Since Xiao Lin was very late, the front row of the hall was almost fully seated. It did not matter to him though, and he went directly to the back row to locate a position in a corner. His eyes then lit up when a familiar figure was caught in his line of sight.

"Looks like you're late too," Xiao Lin immediately took his seat next to Gu Xiaoyue and greeted her.

"No," Gu Xiaoyue uttered one word in a crisp voice.

Xiao Lin noted that she did not have anything else to say, and could not help but smile wryly. Remembering that she only had the last two years of life left, he thought of asking her, but did not know how to start.

Gu Xiaoyue pushed up her black-rimmed frames, and—in a rare turn of events—took the initiative to ask a question, "What's your name?"

Xiao Lin was stupefied for quite some time. He burst into tears upon hearing that question. As it turned out, she had not remembered his name even until then, "Didn't I use my authority as the monitor to add you to the class discussion group last night? It's a real-name system."

"I went to bed early."

"You were able to sleep?" Xiao Lin felt a little speechless when he thought of how sleepy he was after an all-nighter. "Well, my name is Xiao Lin. Don't forget it."

Gu Xiaoyue pursed her lips and nodded seriously. "Thank you for what happened in the test. I only learned yesterday that it was really difficult to get Grade S, especially for students who have no talent."

Could she have thought that achieving Grade S was easy? They were able to kill the Zombie King because Xiao Lin possessed secondary skills brought along by his SS-level talent, while Gu Xiaoyue was credited for her extremely high intelligence. How could any ordinary person in their shoes be able to do it?

Xiao Lin's thoughts spun wildly and he suddenly became curious. "Who told you that? Was it Qin Chuan?"

"I don't know. Chen something something."

Judging from her personality, she probably did not concern herself with anyone who had nothing to do with her!

Xiao Lin censured her in his heart, but he surmised that it must have been the sophomore year leader Chen Yu who took the initiative to meet Gu Xiaoyue, as well as ask about chat contents the previous night. He had a feeling that Chen Yu, or perhaps the so-called student union behind him, had a special interest in Gu Xiaoyue.

"Did he ask why you weren't selected as the monitor?" Xiao Lin guessed.

"He kept on persuading me to fight for the monitor's position in the comprehensive examination that'll be held in three months."

"I see. What did you say, then?"

"Not interested."

Xiao Lin observed that the girl's calm and gentle expression remained unchanged, as if she honestly had no interest in anything other than herself. He felt that Gu Xiaoyue was unlikely to be a scheming person. Although Xiao Lin was certain that Chen Yu had already explained the benefits of being a monitor to her, he was confident that she was not simply pretending to be uninterested in the position.

"Gu Xiaoyue, I can't accept this. What right does someone with a total attribute value of less than 10 have being the class monitor, when your attribute value exceeds 40! Doesn't this academy value strength the most?" asked a voice.

Xiao Lin raised his head and glanced over. It was Wang Dalin, and he rolled his eyes. "People who could only get Grade C in the admission test are unqualified to speak in front of me. Tch, how unfortunate for you to have a total attribute value of more than 30, but the monitor is truly selected based on the grade obtained in the admission test. Gu Xiaoyue and I are the only two in this class who achieved Grade S."

Although the cadres of the student union already knew the test scores, it would be impossible for the freshmen to know each other's scores unless they told each other.

Therefore, many who learnt about Xiao Lin and Gu Xiaoyue's test results could not help but be amazed. Since they received Grade S, they must have succeeded in killing the Zombie King!

Someone asked abruptly, "Wang Dalin, didn't you tell us yesterday that you got an A on your test?"

During the test, Xiao Lin could see that Wang Dalin was fond of showing off. Even an idiot could see that Wang Dalin deliberately lied about getting Grade A because he felt ashamed of getting Grade C.

Wang Dalin blushed. "That's nonsense! How do you know my admission test scores!"

"Oh, I forgot to tell everyone that the class monitor's authority isn't just to ban people on the forum. The class monitor can also view the class' personal information. Would you like me to show everyone right now?"

There was a burst of laughter in the hall. Wang Dalin was shaking with anger, but was at a loss for words.

"Monitor, what other authorities do you have!" someone asked in a half-envious and half-joking tone.

Xiao Lin heart skipped a beat and he said casually, "I can also appoint group leaders. Although a group leader's authority isn't nearly the same as that of a monitor, it's still significant. For example, a group leader can read up on stuff about the New World that ordinary people have no access to."

Having said that, Xiao Lin could clearly perceive everyone looking at him rather differently. If none of them cared about his position as monitor before, it was reasonable to expect that at least some of them would improve their attitudes toward him from then on.

Xiao Lin once again reveled in the superiority of being in power.