Chapter 48: The Treatment Befitting a Protagonist

"Was it... someone tripping over uneven ground?" Alpha Ji fluttered her wings, her beady little eyes wide with excitement. "Ye Chao, look at you, getting the main character treatment now!"

눈_눈

Ye Chao shot Alpha Ji a look, signaling her to figure it out herself.

But Alpha Ji had no intention of reflecting—she was positively elated, hopping with glee...

Such a scenario actually unfolding in real life—how thrilling! Truly, you live long enough to see anything.

"Face-slapping! Showing off! Go! And if it’s not satisfying, I’m not paying!" she shouted, waving her tiny, needle-sized fists in a frenzy.

This calculating AI had entered another phase of madness—incurable...

Ye Chao forcibly turned his gaze away to prevent her from stealing the scene, and as he looked at the students, all burning with indignation and ready to speak, a sudden voice thundered through the crowd.

"You bunch of weaklings, shut up!"

The voice rolled over them like a clap of spring thunder, drowning out all the noise. Clearly, some sort of amplification device was in play.

A group of indignant youths, who would hardly be cowed by a single shout, looked around to see who dared insult them so brazenly—

Well, insult or not...

But when they saw the burly figure with a megaphone on the main platform, that gleaming bald head brighter than the floodlights, every student recognized him instantly—their own grade director.

They shrank back, not daring to utter a word.

With the students silenced, Guan Junyuan had much to say.

"You wanted someone to forfeit the exam, and you all acted like it was your right to demand it!"

"Let me tell you, even if this person skips the six main subjects and gives you all a chance, you still can’t beat them... You’re weak, and you’re proud of it?"

"You claim that having them represent our school is disgraceful, but if you were the ones representing us, that would be the real embarrassment! If you can’t beat someone, you try to drag them down... Don’t go around saying you were taught by our school—I can’t afford that shame!"

In the heat of the moment, the students had all felt justified, but now, scolded so sharply by Guan Junyuan, they were instantly overwhelmed with shame.

Indeed, this person failed every main subject, yet still managed to win first or second place... It wasn’t that they were so strong—it was that the others were too weak.

Trying to force someone to forfeit was nothing but dragging them down...

How had they become so self-righteous about it?

A wave of reflection swept through the crowd.

Ye Chao, too, was lost in thought—why was it that everything he wanted to say, Mr. Guan had already voiced?

The words might differ slightly, but the rhythm, the gist, the core idea—they were exactly the same...

Thank goodness he still had more to say.

As he drifted off, Guan Junyuan continued, "Even if you’re ashamed, even if you feel guilty and know you were wrong, it’s useless! Because it doesn’t change the fact—you’re just too stupid!"

"You let a few words make you lose all your stance, all your sense—you just blindly follow the crowd. If you’re not stupid, who is? If you’re not weak, who is?"

The students received another verbal blow, feeling even more humiliated and self-reflective...

Some were merely pretending, but others were genuinely reconsidering their actions.

Gradually, all eyes turned toward a certain spot.

There, feeling the burning gaze from all directions, like ants under a magnifying glass, Wang Zhi trembled, wishing she could truly turn into an ant and be scorched away in an instant...

In the crowd, Xu Tiange followed the others' gazes and pinpointed Wang Zhi.

"Was all this your doing?"

"I... I..."

"You’re out of the team."

Σ(っ°Д°;)っ

"Don’t panic, Wang Zhi," said Zhao Sanxiang, the ever-reliable assistant, seizing the moment to comfort her. "The college entrance exam only has individual subjects left, so it doesn’t matter much whether you’re on the team."

Xu Tiange shot Zhao Sanxiang a glare and continued, "And from now on, don’t say you’re my associate—I don’t have someone like you in my group."

"Thud!" Wang Zhi figuratively collapsed, utterly defeated, and slumped to the ground in despair.

Ye Chao paid no attention to Wang Zhi’s fate; he was still brooding over his stolen lines.

"Enough, enough, stop doubting yourself. The bald one said all that to suppress the crowd. If you’d said it, you’d have been beaten to a pulp—believe it or not?"

"It’s not what’s said that matters, but who says it."

Taking the opportunity, Alpha Ji began a lesson in emotional intelligence, sighing deeply at the end.

Ah, where was the promised moment to show off and slap faces? Someone else had done all the showing off and face-slapping. This was nothing like what she’d anticipated!

Could it be that the person she possessed wasn’t the protagonist, but just an ordinary side character—or worse, a background extra?

Maybe the bald one was the real protagonist, and this was the world of “One Punch Man”?

Even Alpha Ji began to harbor doubts about her host’s identity.

Just as Ye Chao thought the trouble was over, a tall, athletic figure blocked his path. Looking up, he saw Xu Tiange—her long legs illegal, her aura fierce, ponytail high, sledgehammer slung over her back, radiating confidence and energy.

"Morning... Xu Tiange, is there something you need?" Though he asked, Ye Chao had a sinking feeling in his chest.

Xu Tiange eyed him and said, as expected, "Ye Chao, I want to spar with you!"

Ye Chao’s head ached. "Just because I won once or twice, is it necessary to chase me down like this?"

On second thought... it really was necessary.

He remembered a friendly match against No. 1 High School, when someone beat Xu Tiange once and was chased around for two weeks.

Even her older brother, Xu Tianye—rumor had it that once, playing with one hand and accidentally winning, he’d been forced to spar with her for half a month.

And there was another time...

Thinking of this, Ye Chao’s headache intensified. If only he’d lost that last round... Even if his score was lower than Xu Tiange’s, it would still be more than enough for his college application.

"I’m not skilled at combat, nor interested in it—you know that, Xu Tiange!" Ye Chao, having swept the culture courses countless times, was well-practiced in refusing her challenges.

"Fighting isn’t something you can just avoid! Your electives are stronger than mine, but you always fail the core subjects and could never beat me—yet this time, you surpassed me by a fair margin... So it’s highly likely you’ll beat me in the college entrance exam and become No. 1 in our school!"

"Those people’s words may not hold much weight, but in some ways, they’re right—the higher your score, the greater your responsibility..."

"Pfft—" Alpha Ji burst out laughing.

Ye Chao was at a loss, unable to see what Alpha Ji found funny.

"You may dodge my challenge, but can you avoid the graduation showcase or those interschool events?"

"Xu Tiange, do you think all the teachers at our school do nothing all day? Is this something you need to worry about?" Suddenly, a thunderous voice rolled in.

Turning at the sound, they saw that dazzling bald head outshining the stadium floodlights.

"Ye Chao, from today on, I’ll be training you personally! Since you don’t need to study the electives—none of the teachers know as much as you do anyway...—in this next month, you must pass all four physical tests and both combat events!"

Ye Chao’s face changed dramatically.

I-I never planned to study here, I just wanted to ask where the military tablet was...

Is it too late to request a leave of absence?

"Mr. Guan, actually, I haven’t had breakfast yet..."

"You’ll get your nutrition meal later!"

Guan Junyuan polished his blinding scalp, leaving Ye Chao no room to refuse.

[Guan Junyuan’s favorability +100!]

He hadn’t ignored Yao Dexian’s warning. In fact, he’d already foreseen the consequences of Ye Chao taking first place.

The competition in high school was intense!

In a city like Jiangcheng, with just four high schools—everyone competing for the best students and top results—how could there not be rivalry?

Teachers would do everything to train their own, and exploit every weakness in their rivals.

That saying was true—the higher your score, the greater your responsibility.

But unlike Yao Dexian, who would try to prevent Ye Chao from claiming first place, Guan Junyuan would rigorously train Ye Chao until he could guarantee it.

"As for you..." Guan Junyuan turned to Xu Tiange, grinning menacingly. "The elective teachers have already prepared nearly ten years’ worth of college entrance exam papers and top school mock tests for you. Xu Tiange, you’ll be just as busy!"

Xu Tiange’s face paled, her energetic persona faltering at last.