Chapter 1

"If you really want to make something of yourself, go to Hersh." That's what the boss told me. The boss was a somewhat decent person, I guess... I call him the boss because I used to be one of his slaves. "But the tuition there is very expensive. The salary I'm giving you will probably only cover your tuition for one semester, not even enough for your living expenses..." That's what the boss also told me. A slave, as the name implies, is someone who has completely lost their freedom, even the right to life itself... a beast... Slaves are not human. This is what the boss told me in person the first time I met him... "You look good; you'll definitely earn me a lot of money because in my establishment, many wealthy women will come for you... But you must remember one thing: in front of them, you are not a person; you are just a plaything, something that belongs to me... a beast..." Then came the cruel lash, striking my back in a threatening manner... So far, I still haven't fully understood what the boss meant. He... was probably a good person, but his values might have been very different from mine. "Ā Yǔ, do you know? This world is made up of poor people. Your master used to be very poor, so poor that he even had to pawn his underwear just to get half a steamed bun. You are my successor, my everything, and you must go through it all... So, for everything that happens in the future, you can consider it my intention..." These were the words my master left me with before he left... along with a large bag of precious gems worth who knows how much... My master taught me many things, like martial arts, hunting, how to fake my death, how to peep at women bathing... and even theft... many, many things... My master said his only regret was that he couldn't teach me how to cherish life. I think he probably didn't need to teach me; I would have learned it on my own because I value my own life... I am an orphan... if it weren't for my master, I would probably have frozen to death in the wilderness a long time ago. My master once said that when he found me, he was actually planning to feed me to the mother wolf he was raising because I looked like I was already dead... Fortunately, the mother wolf saved me. She used her warm body temperature to revive me, a baby at the time, and I found her teat amidst all that fur... My luck is incredible... my master once said, "You, you fool, do you ever know what you're doing? Do you think snake fangs are fun to play with? If I hadn't found you in time, you'd probably have turned into a pile of rot..." But my luck is also cheap... the bag of precious gems my master left me was taken by A-Dāi, who had served my master, the next day. "You're really lucky. I followed that old man for forty years, and he never gave me anything decent. You've been with him for just over ten years, and he's given you everything he had... But now it's time for me to take back what belongs to me. Haha..." A-Dāi's expression at the time was so strange... so sinister and despicable... "You don't have the strength to resist now, so stop struggling. I can see that you can't even speak anymore. I know everything about you. If I didn't poison you, how could I take back what belongs to me so easily? Hahaha..." I could only open my eyes wide and stare at him with all my might... I don't care about that pile of gems, and I don't care about that so-called sword that can cut iron like mud... I just hope he won't make me really hate him... I just can't... Unfortunately, all my thoughts seem so naive... A-Dāi not only took everything from me but also left me with nothing... "I've already sold you to the boss of the martial arena, so I'm going to write your name on your forehead... a mark that can't be erased for a lifetime, making you a slave for the rest of your life... hahaha... You know, I originally wanted you to die, maybe I would be safer that way. But two hundred silver luks saved your life. Someone like you is just what they need..." While A-Dāi laughed maliciously, he took out a blue potion and carefully dipped a small amount on a slender stick, then wrote it on my forehead... I will never forget that searing touch... a blue "Yǔ" written forever on my forehead, and even if I use a knife to scrape it off until my face is bloody, I will find that it has been deeply engraved on my skull... an indelible mark representing a slave... Now I wear a mask... a mask that covers only the lower half of my face. This mask cost me half of my savings and was bought from an old lady who looked as if she had been sitting outside the martial arena forever, as if she had been waiting for me... "Young man, this mask is quite extraordinary. I think you'll need it. It won't obstruct any of your senses, but it can hide your true face. Only you can take it off; no one with an impure heart will be able to remove it from your face..." The old lady's mouth, with only two teeth, spoke words full of leaks, and it took me a long time to understand some of the enticing words... So I didn't hesitate to buy it, even though it cost me half of my savings... This mask suits my face well. It has no adornments, just a light blue color... much lighter than the blue on my forehead... a smooth surface and soft lines that fit perfectly on my face. I can't feel its presence because I can never touch it. I can only touch it when I want to take it off, feeling its smooth, cold texture... I really needed this mask. Without it, I might not have taken fifty steps out of the martial arena before being surrounded and dragged off to a slave concentration camp, awaiting sale. So, even though I don't have the best luck, there are times when I'm incredibly fortunate... Now, I'm standing outside the gates of Hersh Academy. My current feelings, I probably can't describe them as excitement. Even I'm not sure what kind of mood I'm in right now. Excitement? Nervousness? Worry? Or an infinite longing for a better future for myself... However, there's a brutally harsh reality that keeps reminding me: I only have a total of three hundred silver luks... this is what I got by trading Dilu's life... or you can say, using half of the boss's life... Until today, I'm still grateful to the insane Dilu. He and I are both slaves and our fates are almost the same... He used to be a knight on the battlefield, invincible, and his sword had tasted the blood of countless enemies... but unfortunately, his wife betrayed him, poisoned him, and sold him to the martial arena to support a young lover... In the martial arena, we had to eat the food