Chapter 8: The Chuunibyou Delinquents

When Shen Ru was finally back at home and alone in his room, the notifications started appearing.

[Mission 1 completed!]

[Congratulations, congratulations, congratulations! Important things must be said thrice.]

[You have been awarded 25 points.]

[Mission 2: Prevent the wolf from killing the grandmother.]

After he scrolled through these notifications, he questioned the system, "Does completing Mission 2 give me more points than Mission 1?"

The system was confused: [You're really weird, Host, I thought you would've asked me what Mission 2 meant first.]

"I believe it's already pretty obvious what I'm supposed to do to complete Mission 2. I have to prevent Li Zhong from entering the grandmother's home to kill her. Only an idiot would ask further."

[…But my previous hosts always asked me about the missions.]

"Well then, they were complete idiots. Now, answer me, does it give me more points?"

[Yes, it does. Mission 2 yields twice more points than Mission 1. For example, Mission 1 yields 25, Mission 2 yields 50, and Mission 3 yields 100.]

Shen Ru was silent in thought. Completing at least three missions every world would be nice.

[Host doesn't have to feel pressure about completing more missions though. Most transmigrators can only complete one mission. Mission 2 and above are usually difficult to complete, especially for beginners.]

Shen Ru sneered, "I don't settle for mediocrity. Aren't you supposed to encourage me for completing my first mission?"

The system instantly started to flatter him: [Host, congratulations on completing your first mission! May you complete more missions and have a good sex life—]

"Okay, no need to flatter me, it feels disgusting," Shen Ru stopped the system from speaking further. The system obeyed and stayed silent.

Left to his own thoughts, Shen Ru began recalling the original timeline. Originally, the grandma would be killed by the wolf after Chinese New Year. That meant he had at most five months to prepare for it. It would be good if he stayed away from the main characters of the plot so that the deadline wouldn't deviate from the original plot.

And so, Shen Ru decided to ignore Hua Xiu's schemes and antics for now. Just like in the original plot, there were reports of phones and wallets getting stolen throughout the months. However, this time it didn't happen in their classroom. Hua Xiu would be a fool to bring suspicion to her, although some were still suspicious about her. Unfortunately, there wasn't much evidence to accuse her so they simply kept silent about it. After quite some time, Hua Xiu was able to live a normal life, though some would still gossip about her.

After finally completing the first mission, Shen Ru spent his days as a normal high school student. He listened to class, hung out with Gu Haoyu and Jia Hao during breaks, did his homework, went to Jun Zixin's tutoring lessons, and studied. Occasionally he would stumble upon Jun Zixin in school and they'd eat lunch together.

He wasn't completely a normal high school student, however. The original Shen Ru had a reputation as a delinquent wasn't just for the plot, he did in fact cause trouble, most especially with delinquents from other schools.

He was about to head to the library with Gu Haoyu and Jia Hao when he was approached by two male students with the same thug haircut as Gu Haoyu previously had. Shen Ru was able to identify them as their school's delinquents, although they were lackeys of another delinquent boss.

"What's the matter?" he asked.

Suddenly, a rough and husky voice sounded out loudly from the hallway, "What 'What's the matter'? You're really trying to become a school grass, so pretentious to think that you're much better than us!"

Shen Ru recognized the man as the boss of these two lackeys, Qiang Lei. He fought hard to not laugh at how chuunibyou that sounded just now and said, "I was just asking a question, what's wrong with that?"

At this point, many people in the corridor began paying attention to them. It was 100% guaranteed that everything they said now would turn into school gossip.

"Don't think that you can overturn your reputation just like that? What 'intelligent school grass'? I bet you just pay the teachers to boost your exam scores with your second-generation money!" Qiang Lei replied.

Shen Ru stared coldly at him. "If you have evidence of that claim, then feel free to report it to the teachers."

"What evidence? Ha, you're really good at pretending at being a school grass. In our delinquent world, something like evidence does not matter, only the winner and loser!" After saying the most chuunibyou line that Shen Ru had ever heard, he directed his right fist at him.

As Shen Ru flexibly dodged, there was a hubbub of hushed whispers and shouting in the hallway. He then chuckled and said to Gu Haoyu, "Call the teachers over, and say that someone is reporting me for cheating."

Gu Haoyu was confused. "What do you mean, Boss?"

"Just do it."

After Gu Haoyu broke out into a run, Qiang Lei fiercely said, "Don't think that you can just report me to the teachers and call it a day. Even if you're reformed now, you're still the same delinquent deep inside. I can just claim that we were fighting like usual and they won't care at all about it."

"Why are you always repeating 'delinquent' like it's a derogatory word? You could be considered a delinquent too. Aren't you just insulting yourself?"

"You—!"

Qiang Lei tried to punch him again, to which he dodged yet again. This became a cycle until Gu Haoyu finally returned with Teacher Peng and the guidance counselor following behind him.

Teacher Peng swayed his teaching rod as he shouted, "Hey, hey, stop fighting!"

In the end, Teacher Peng and the guidance counselor left them off with a warning. Before Shen Ru and Qiang Lei parted ways, Shen Ru asked, "Can I just ask why your two lackeys came earlier to me? You didn't possibly just come to berate me, right?"

Qiang Lei flinched as if he had just remembered something important. "Oh, yeah, it's about the guys from Y University. Since you haven't been causing trouble lately, they've forgotten that they're afraid of you. They've been messing with my lackeys lately."

Shen Ru nodded in understanding, inwardly rolling his eyes at the lack of creativity of Lord God. Seriously, why not give universities proper names? Is he just that lazy? "Oh, I'll find a way to deal with them. Sorry for the trouble."

"It's no problem— Wait, I mean, I hate you!"

Shen Ru laughed and walked away. On the way back to the classroom, he had a mysterious glint in his eyes. Alas, with the original owner's history, he couldn't just rise to become a phoenix that easily. He had to settle his past grievances.

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"Boss, are you really going to do this? Once you enter there, you'll be in their territory!" Gu Haoyu tried to dissuade him from walking any further into the gates.

Shen Ru shrugged. "What territory? As far as I know, Dong Chen's father is just some small-time drug dealer, not the principal."

"It's still his territory— Wait what, his father is a drug dealer? Isn't that illegal?"

Shen Ru patted him on the head. "Oh, you sweet summer child. With how he's been lording over Y University, what background would you expect from him?"

"Aren't gang leaders supposed to be rich these days?" Jia Hao wondered.

Shen Ru smiled and nodded. In fact, Jia Hao was correct. To attain a status higher than anyone else, you had to at least be rich and exceptionally powerful. This rule didn't apply to Y University, however. Unlike their university, Y University was a public school where all financially challenged students come because of the cheap expenses.

Unfortunately, this also meant that students from shady backgrounds tended to be in this school. After some time, an unwritten hierarchy was made. Students with the shadiest backgrounds and the most asshole-worthy behavior were at the top, looking down on these peasants whose families lived honestly and followed the law.

Currently, Dong Chen was the big boss of Y University. While his father was just a mere drug dealer, the catch was that he was not only that. His father was also a serial killer who had just recently been caught and imprisoned. Once this information was spread, Dong Chen was practically ecstatic as he bragged about beating his serial killer dad once.

Once the trio entered the gates of Y University, their attention was immediately attracted by students who had the same "interesting" hair as Gu Haoyu had before. Jia Hao stared at Gu Haoyu and laughed. Gu Haoyu simply shifted his eyes guiltily.

"Who do you think is going to win?" a blonde-haired boy asked.

Violet Hair replied, "It'll definitely be Boss Chen."

"No, it'll be Yu Ming!" Green hair argued.

"What if Yu Ming actually lives through it, though?"

Shen Ru was confused and asked a passing student who at least looked docile and polite. "What is this match everyone's been talking about?"

"Oh, you must not be from here." The student fixed his glasses. "A student named Yu Ming just transferred here not long ago. Since then, she's been going against Dong Chen. Last week, she challenged him to a match. Whoever loses will try to pull out a fork from a toaster."

"Wait, what?" Gu Haoyu was confused.

Shen Ru shook his head in disbelief. He thought that his death was already the stupidest thing one could do. He didn't expect that there would be a contender so soon.

"It sounds stupid that it's actually pretty honorable. If the loser lives through the ordeal, they'll become the new boss of Y University."

Jia Hao was amazed. "Wow, it's like King Arthur and the Excalibur!"

"The Walmart version," Gu Haoyu added cynically.

"If you two are both done with your English, we need to get going," Shen Ru said.

"We're going to see Dong Chen, boss?" Jia Hao asked.

"No, we'll just watch the match for a bit. I think it'll be pretty interesting."

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Thankfully, the match was scheduled on noon break so they didn't have to wait for too long. On the school grounds, teachers couldn't be seen as they had already fled for their lives long ago. Many students gathered around, leaving a large space at the center of the school grounds.

At this moment, the trio was watching the moment from the third floor so they could see Dong Chen and Yu Ming.

If his lackeys' hair was ugly, then Dong Chen's hair was outright atrocious. It was a blond and the word, 'Dong' was shaved on the back of his head. This would've looked intimidating for some, if not for his scrawny and thin arms. Only high schoolers would take him seriously.

Meanwhile, Shen Ru was actually very surprised by Yu Ming. From what he'd heard of her, she was very fierce and wild. Because of this, he imagined her to be muscular and intimidating. In actuality, she actually looked graceful like a scholar in ancient times. Her platinum blond hair made her look like an immortal.

"Wow, boss, Yu Ming is cute!" Gu Haoyu exclaimed.

Shen Ru chuckled and didn't reply. As thin and cute as these two people looked, he knew that they weren't normal people. He had heard from Old Hao that Dong Chen regularly frequented brothels and even forced a couple of girls. For Yu Ming, he was a bit unclear with the details, but he did know that her family had connections with the underworld.

Once a lackey handed Dong Chen a microphone, Jia Hao couldn't help but say, "Wow, gang leaders are really high-tech."

"Yu Ming, you'll rue the day you were born! I'll show you what it feels to die, you bitch!" Dong Chen screamed into the microphone.

Yu Ming looked around expressionlessly and finally received her own microphone. She scoffed, "Dong Chen, you're just a son of a small-time drug dealer. It would even be wrong if I say that one mountain cannot contain two tigers [1]. You can't even be considered human, much less a tiger."

"Then, what about you? You're just an orphan bitch!"

Yu Ming chuckled, although it wasn't in good nature at all. "Don't think that I don't know your dirty little secrets."

As if his reverse scale [2] was touched, Dong Chen simply threw his microphone at his lackey and rushed at Yu Ming. Yu Ming smirked as if she had expected this from a mile away and simply bashed her microphone at his head.

Several thumps came from the background, making the average passerby feel a chill of fear.

At this point, Dong Chen was incapacitated on the ground as Yu Ming beat him with only a microphone. Having his defeat heard by hundreds of students that he saw as inferior, this was the most humiliating experience of his life.

"Boss Shen, I don't think she's cute anymore…" Jia Hao trailed off.

Shen Ru patted him on the back in response.

When Yu Ming deemed the beating enough, she told through the bloodied microphone, "Since Dong Chen is the loser, I think that he should attempt to pull out the fork."

Although Dong Chen was suffering, he was still conscious and sober. Hearing these words, his eyes bulged and his limbs started trembling.

When a lackey of his brought out a toaster connected to an extension, he started cursing, "Fuck, you traitor, I'll fuck your mom—"

Yu Ming kicked him, causing his words to end in a pained groan. She asked the lackey, "Is it plugged in?"

The lackey nodded seriously. "Yes, ma'am. We used a couple of extensions."

"Good." She then had them put down the toaster on the ground. The iron fork was shining for everyone to see, much like the Excalibur. Then, she said to Dong Chen, "If you want to keep your dignity, pull the fork out."

"You— You must be joking, right?" Dong Chen was confused.

"Yes, I am. Did you think my challenge was a joke?"

Upon seeing the serious look in Yu Ming's eyes, Dong Chen immediately started shouting, "This is attempted murder! Murder! This bitch is going to kill me!"

Yu Ming rolled her eyes, grabbed a microphone from a nearby lackey, and pushed it into Dong Chen's mouth. "Since you want everyone to know so bad, then say it to the microphone."

Dong Chen was about to pull out the microphone from his mouth when Yu Ming said, "If you don't do it… Well, you must know of my family, right?"

Instantly, Dong Chen blanked out. Without even trying to get the microphone out of his mouth, he reached for the fork…and pulled it out.

Gu Haoyu was covering Jia Hao's eyes at this moment. Shen Ru chuckled at the side. "He's not going to die."

Shen Ru was indeed right. Dong Chen had a confused look in his eyes when he realized that he was still alive despite pulling out the fork from the toaster. He was about to say when he had another realization that a microphone was still inside his mouth.

Dong Chen angrily pulled the microphone out and threw it off to the side. "What is happening? Is this a scheme?!"

Yu Ming suddenly burst into laughter. "Haha, you actually did it? I can't believe you."

Dong Chen ignored her and instead asked the lackey that had fished out the toaster. "You traitor, did she bribe you?!"

The lackey calmly pulled out a microphone from his back and said, "Dong Chen, in fact, no one respected you. We were just afraid that you would kill us like your serial killer dad. It was our great fortune that Boss Yu informed us that you're just a coward lowlife with no background."

Yu Ming doubled down and said, "Our plan was just to humiliate you by beating you in front of everyone. Who knew that you actually did the Excalibur bullshit? I'm glad I hired a photographer today, this will be commemorated in our school yearbook."

After that, Dong Chen rushed up at Yu Ming again out of sheer anger. This time, though, his lackeys were done with the pretending and promptly shielded Yu Ming from danger, which she didn't actually need, of course. It was just a way of showing respect for the new school boss.

As the students finally went back to their rooms, Jia Hao remarked, "Wow, I didn't expect what happened today. I was kinda gearing up for a fight, maybe throw a punch or two."

"You, punch someone? I can only imagine." Gu Haoyu chuckled.

"Yu Yu!"

Shen Ru took a glance at his phone and said, "Let's go, we're going to meet Yu Ming."

The two boys did a double-take before exclaiming together, "What?!"

Shen Ru clicked his tongue. "What did we come here for? Of course, we're here to stop Y University from beating up our schoolmates. Since Yu Ming is the new school boss, we can just tell her to have her lackeys stop."

Hearing this, Gu Haoyu and Jia Hao's eyes sparkled. During the fight, which was better described as a well-deserved beating down, they thought that Yu Ming was the definition of badass. The first impression of a weak and cute woman completely disappeared from their mind.

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Yu Ming's lackeys led them into a classroom, presumably Yu Ming's. Upon entering, the teacher who was teaching froze and scurried off to the side, pretending that he didn't exist.

"Oh, you're Shen Ru of X University, right?" Yu Ming's eyes had a certain gleam in them.

Shen Ru nodded. "Yes, I've come here to talk about Dong Chen harassing our students."

"Oh yeah, he was doing that too. No need to worry about this. It won't happen again. Dong Chen will already be locked up in jail by tomorrow."

Shen Ru was mildly surprised and amused. He, too, wanted Dong Chen to get the punishment he deserved. Unfortunately, he only found out about his crimes through word-of-mouth and rumors. Yu Ming's connections in the underworld must be deep enough that she can find the needed evidence.

Shen Ru's eyes quirked up and he smiled. "Thank you for your consideration, Ms. Yu."

"Thank you for your patience, as well." Yu Ming similarly smiled. "Happy cooperation."

Shen Ru was confused, wondering what this so-called cooperation meant, but simply accepted it with a small smile.

When the time came for them to leave, Yu Ming's eyes stayed on Shen Ru as she watched his departing back. Her smile turned into a smirk as she thought, 'So this is Cousin's type? How interesting.'

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Footnotes:

[1] Two strong people cannot stay in the same place

[2] If you touch the reverse scale of a dragon, it'll kill you