Mind Freak

"Lin Chen….. Congratulations on successfully completing the challenge. The internship.. is yours!"

"Hah!" Lin Chen opened his eyes and leapt up from the bed, breathing heavily as he moved, and someone grabbed his shoulders from behind.

"Who-" Lin Chen turned around quickly and was about to grab the person's hand when he realized that it was Seohyun, the school doctor, and he let out a sigh of relief. "Ah.. It was you? Phew!"

"What do you mean 'Phew', you punk?!" Seohyun said with a snarky voice as she slapped the back of Lin Chen's head, and he groaned in response. "Don't tell me that you were about to attack me right now?"

"Oh, I would never!" Lin Chen lied as naturally as he breathed. Seohyun rolled her eyes before shaking her head and walking towards her desk. "You know, I feel like you've become a bit more aggressive these past few days."

"Have I really?" Lin Chen placed his finger under his chin as he thought to himself, and Seohyun nodded her head. "Really. I feel like you've been the hot topic among your fellow schoolmates these past few days. I'm sure I've heard at least five different students talk about your break up. And kids rarely get sent to the infirmary these days, so five is a pretty big number."

"Is this your roundabout way of asking me out or something?" Lin Chen teased Seohyun, who rolled her eyes once again. "You wish!" She took out her pen and scribbled on a piece of paper before handing it over to Lin Chen. "Buy this medicine and take it according to the dosage, and you'll be fine in no time. Okay?"

"Okay!" Lin Chen nodded his head as he received the piece of paper from the doctor, and he slowly walked towards the door.

"Oh, and Lin Chen!" Seohyun's voice was heard right when Lin Chen opened the door, and he took a step backwards and tilted his head in the direction of the doctor's desk before asking, "Yeah, doc?"

"Don't go around skipping school again, okay?" Seohyun said as he adjusted her glasses. "I know that your highschool life is finally coming to an end, but that doesn't mean that you should be playing hooky. Do you understand?" She was staring down at her phone as she spoke, and Lin Chen nodded his head. "Got it, doc!"

Lin Chen stepped out of the infirmary and closed the door as he exited the room.

"Hah, that was close! I can't believe I almost hit Seohyun." Lin Chen let out a sigh of relief before he started walking away.

Back in his first life, Lin Chen had a good relationship with the school doctor, Seohyun. He often got himself injured during cultivation practice in his first year, and was sent to the infirmary multiple times. As a result of his frequent visits to the infirmary, Lin Chen had slowly become acquainted with Seohyun.

"I didn't contact her after the results came out.." Lin Chen mumbled to himself as he walked through the hallway. In his first life, Lin Chen felt ashamed of his results, and he had decided to cut off all contact with everyone he knew from highschool before leaving home to become a vagrant.

As a result, Lin Chen had no clue whether or not Seohyun was someone like his family members. He wasn't sure if it would be wise to act friendly with her again, as the only person whom he talked to from highschool after the results were published was Fang Meng.

'Was she someone like Fang Meng, or was she similar to my family, who valued talent over everything else?' Lin Chen felt like he had to know. But he certainly couldn't ask her. Most people wouldn't actually admit to being a bad person. Especially when they don't have a reason to say those bad things to him.

'This is turning out to be harder than I thought…' Lin Chen leaned against the wall and rubbed his forehead. 'Does this mean that I can't be friends with anyone?'

If knowing how one would act if he was an E-Grade cultivator was a requirement for Lin Chen to decide whether or not he wanted to be friends with that person, then he'd most probably have no chance of making any friends. After all, he wasn't an E-Grade cultivator any more. The least he'd get on the third test would be a D-Grade.

"Seriously, I shouldn't be worrying about this too much.. and yet, I can't stop thinking about it!" It's not like Lin Chen wanted to make it more complicated. But for some reason, he keeps on being reminded of his terrible experience. He wanted to forget everything that happened, but at the same time, wanted to remember every single detail, so that he could prevent any sort of trouble that he could face in the future. And this contradiction was making everything way too difficult for Lin Chen.

"Ahhh, fuck this! I have to get out of this place!" Lin Chen spoke with an annoyed tone before rushing towards the back gate of the school. Since the school was related to the results, which was the source of all his problems, he felt that he had to get out of there in order to calm his mind.

Whoosh!

He had reached the back gate within seconds, and after making sure that there weren't any security guards around, he jumped over the gate and landed gracefully on the other side before immediately dashing away.

Clack!

The door to the infirmary opened slowly and Seohyun tilted her head towards the door, only to find a skinny man wearing an all white suit and a white top hat entered the room. "Excuse me.."

"Yes?" Seohyun looked at the man with a puzzled expression on her face, and the man, Freddy Chang, did a short bow before opening his mouth to speak. "I'm looking for Lin Chen? I was told that he would be here."

"Oh! He just left for his classroom. You'll probably find him there." Seohyun explained before pointing her finger in the direction of his classroom.

"Ah, actually.." Freddy Chang scratched his cheek as he said, "I was actually in his classroom just now. I didn't find him there, so…"

"Oh?" Seohyun's eyebrows raised with confusion for a split second before she slammed her hand against her forehead and sighed. 'You brat! Don't tell me that you ditched school again..'