Even while sleeping, Ren Zhu couldn’t get a peaceful rest.
Until he discovered the cause of his death, he didn’t feel much, but after realizing he had essentially died due to “hunger,” lying in bed he became acutely aware of his stomach’s various protests. Reflecting on his past lives, Little Teacher Ren Zhu couldn’t help but pity himself; he had never experienced such misery before.
Early the next morning, Ren Zhu got up, well before the other youngsters. He was excessively hungry, and combined with the anxiety of figuring out how to solve his food problem, sleep was evasive.
Quietly opening the door and stepping out, Ren Zhu didn’t notice that on the bed diagonally opposite, a pair of eyes silently opened, gazing silently in the direction he left.
Ren Zhu was eight years old this year, nicknamed Little Bamboo because he was so thin, resembling an underdeveloped bamboo shoot. Both his psychic and physical abilities were graded E. Unless an unexpected event occurred, he would either follow a technical path or become an ordinary civil servant or perhaps engage in business; there was absolutely no possibility of him becoming an adept with psychic abilities or pursuing advanced careers related to psychic or mech warfare.
But clearly, this wouldn’t do, because the person he needed to save was a double-S-ranked genius. Moreover, that person’s parents seemed to be heroic figures. If he couldn’t become exceptional before their academic journey ended, then after graduation, they would become two distant people in different worlds.
If they weren’t even in the same world, how could he talk about saving them? Furthermore, when it came to those individuals with eyes on their foreheads, the type that made geniuses or CEOs take notice due to their appearance, cuteness, or naive sweetness, Ren Zhu found this to be an insult to their intelligence. To save someone like that, you had to be an extraordinarily talented person yourself.
So, first look at how to fill your stomach, then consider specializing in a certain field, and only after that, deal with the chuunibyou adolescent who needs your help. After all, there would be at least ten years of school time, and that chuunibyou adolescent would have to stay in school for at least six more years; there was no need to rush.
Rubbing his stomach and pondering the future, Ren Zhu quickly arrived at the school’s task center. It was still before 6:00 AM, and the task center was nearly empty. Ren Zhu opened the self-service query machine and sat down to search for all school tasks or external tasks commissioned by the school.
At this point, let’s introduce the school Ren Zhu was in.
It was a highly unique higher education institution.
In principle, even in the “Wisdom Star,” which claimed to be a cradle for the top ten star alliances nurturing talents, “Stellar Academy” could easily rank in the top three. The school boasted an immensely strong faculty, with almost every teacher being an outstanding or even top talent in their respective fields. Yearly intercollegiate competitions led to overwhelming victories in psychic confrontations, psychic research, and mech production. The only competitors able to match it on a regular basis were the “Alliance Military Academy” just a street away, and the “Cosmic Exploration Academy” on the other side of the street.
Doesn’t “Stellar Academy” sound quite impressive?
However, this school had a characteristic that neighbors often criticized—compared to the mostly children of military and political figures at the Alliance Military Academy, or the mostly children from well-off families at the Cosmic Exploration Academy, “Stellar Academy” had almost two-thirds of its students classified as “orphans.”
Because of this, it was mockingly called the “Orphan Academy” by those two rival schools.
Among the students in this school, most have lost one or both parents and are left without anyone to care for them. Their ages range from six to eighteen years old, and each age group has its fair share of orphans, each with a past that invokes anger or sympathy.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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Because he believed that Stellar Academy was remarkable, and as long as he could study there, he could become an exceptional individual in the future.
Unfortunately, that young child couldn’t understand how difficult it was to “survive alone.” For a child who had the lowest level of psychic and physical abilities, “surviving alone” was an almost impossible task.
But life has no retreats, and by choosing Stellar Academy, he had to face the consequences of his choice.
Though the school’s motto was “everything is in your hands,” the atmosphere here was filled with a sense of self-reliance. Nonetheless, since many students were orphans, teachers and senior students wouldn’t be overly strict with them. Even most of the teachers at Stellar Academy were once students here themselves, which led to them caring more for students who shared their experiences.
Even the tasks assigned by the school were divided by age group. This was to ensure that the younger children, aged six to eight, wouldn’t starve due to their inability to do anything. While they might have a harder time compared to kids with parents, the difficulty was still within their capacity to endure. This was one of the reasons why most students from Stellar Academy were so resilient.
So, why was Ren Zhu struggling?
Here comes the issue of “campus bullying,” which occurs in every school. Don’t assume that just because everyone is an orphan, they’ll sympathize and help each other. Because most students here are orphans, they are more inclined to form groups, seeking a leader or forming small cliques to pool resources. These children know from a young age that pie won’t just fall from the sky; they have to earn everything themselves, sometimes even through seizing.
Despite the school’s supervision and discipline, some students still found it more convenient to seize than to work hard for a few credits each day. After all, the strongest one is the leader; the bullied won’t dare to report as long as they are intimidated.
Thinking about all this, Ren Zhu’s thin face remained expressionless. He had already found a suitable basic task for an eight-year-old student, assisting Teacher Soya in organizing books in the library. It was from 7:00 AM to 8:00 AM in the morning and 4:30 PM to 6:30 PM after school. The task reward was thirty credits, just enough for him to live frugally for three days or to have a sumptuous meal for one day.
After taking this task, Ren Zhu closed the page and opened the list of school courses. Other than the required Federation basics, planetary history, basic literature, and mathematics, there were some ordinary courses he was familiar with, such as culinary arts, music, and painting. However, most of the courses were completely new to him: black hole theory, cosmic anthropology, cosmic plant mineralogy, mech manufacturing theory, mech combat, psychic evolution theory, psychic combat, and more.
Seeing these courses, Ren Zhu found it difficult to identify a path to becoming a top student in a short time. He had to admit that the knowledge he possessed was falling behind in this world. If there was a subject called “Earth History,” he might have been a prodigy.
“Let’s listen to each one.” Ren Zhu sighed and then identified a few specializations that interested him or aligned with his talents. However, if possible, courses related to mechs or psychic abilities would be better. His physical abilities were already on the weak side, and despite practicing the relaxation and meditation techniques taught to him by Yi Xiao in his previous life, it would be a miracle if he could raise his physical abilities to grade C or above anytime soon. As for his psychic abilities, they might be different; he believed that with the soul that had traversed several hundred years and worlds, his psychic abilities should have improved significantly. Perhaps they could even reach grade A directly. “I should retest my abilities sometime.”
Only then could he better plan for the future.
When he left the task center, it was exactly 6:00 AM. The sky was still somewhat dark, and for children, early rising was one of the most detested things. Thus, the main road of the school was rather empty. Ren Zhu thought for a moment, then headed directly to the school’s library. Those three guys who liked to bully him wouldn’t wake up for another twenty minutes or so. Today morning, he shouldn’t cross paths with them. As for returning to the dormitory at night? Haha, wasn’t there a ferocious chuuni bear child? If he utilized it well, it would be quite effective.
“Um, what were their names again? Buck? Luca? Tsk, that fierce one who makes people stay three meters away from him.” Ren Zhu muttered to himself, “I need to find out sometime.”
When Ren Zhu reached the library, it was 6:20 AM, and the library was unexpectedly already open. He stepped in with light footsteps and saw Teacher Soya, who was already cleaning inside.
Ren Zhu inwardly marveled at how accurate those tasks with helping aspects were. He quietly walked towards Soya. When he was three steps away from the slightly grizzled, bespectacled and kindly old man, Teacher Soya turned his head and smiled at Ren Zhu, “Oh, you must be Ren Zhu, right? You came early indeed. Fortunately, I opened the door ahead of time; otherwise, you would have had to wait.”
Ren Zhu, observing this slightly odd old man, couldn’t help but twitch the corner of his mouth. Shouldn’t librarians be quiet and reserved? Why did he seem so lively? But Ren Zhu quickly realized that Teacher Soya might have opened the library early just for him. Since Ren Zhu had received the task at 5:45 AM, the energetic old man probably anticipated that Ren Zhu would have nowhere to go and thus came early.
And indeed, he had nowhere to go.
“Thank you.” Ren Zhu felt his old heart touched a bit and politely expressed his gratitude.
This response surprised Teacher Soya. This child seemed to have a keen sense of people’s emotions and language analysis. With just one sentence, he could deduce certain behaviors and reasons. Such sensitivity was valuable both in combat and research.
“Haha, well, I can’t sleep anyway, so I might as well consider this early morning exercise. Since you’re here, let’s start counting time from now. From 6:20 to 7:20, one hour in total. After finishing, you’ll still have time to grab breakfast. Mornings are the worst times to have an empty stomach.” Soya grinned, his eyes narrowing again, which seemed to be a recurring gesture. Ren Zhu suspected there was something wrong with the man’s eyes.
Nevertheless, despite the man’s apparent eye issue, his control over people’s emotions and moods was remarkable. Even though Ren Zhu said nothing, Teacher Soya could tell that Ren Zhu was quite hungry.
…Don’t tell him to eat first before coming to work. Because Ren Zhu would never do something like that, Teacher Soya moved the time up and left time for Ren Zhu to have his meal.
“Mhmm.” Ren Zhu nodded and began organizing the books. His main task was to dust the books and place those below the third level back into their designated spots. Perhaps due to excessive hunger, he was sweating after an hour of work, but he didn’t feel particularly hungry, just a bit dizzy by the end.
“Alright, time’s up. About a third of the books are sorted. You can come find me after school.” Teacher Soya looked at Ren Zhu with a slight trace of concern, though there were certain things he couldn’t intervene in. “I’ll transfer ten credits to your identity wristwatch now. After you’re done with the afternoon tasks, I’ll transfer another twenty credits.”
Ren Zhu nodded, “Okay. Thank you.”
This was the second time he thanked Teacher Soya, and this time Teacher Soya couldn’t muster a smile. This child…
“Don’t force yourself with certain things. If you can’t resolve them, you can always find a teacher.”
Ren Zhu smiled, “Don’t worry, I can handle it.”
Teacher Soya didn’t say anything more. After transferring the credits, he waved Ren Zhu away. If Ren Zhu remained as meticulous and attentive as he had been while organizing books, there wouldn’t be any worries about this matter.
At 7:20 AM, the time was a bit tricky. Those three bullies, Fatty One, Fatty Two, and Skinny Three, might still be eating, or maybe not. Should he take a gamble? Ren Zhu felt his luck was quite low; going there would probably lead to bad luck. But if he didn’t go, his body might not hold up. He was already beginning to feel dizzy.
“… Eating is more important than anything else.” Since the three guys at the cafeteria certainly wouldn’t dare to bully him after he ate his fill, he could decide how to deal with them later.
Ren Zhu took step by step toward the cafeteria. But as he walked, his dizziness grew worse. Suddenly, his vision blurred for a moment, and his heart skipped a beat. He quickly turned and headed toward a tree. He needed to rest for a bit…
Yi Xiao furrowed his brows, watching the weak-looking guy stumbling toward the cafeteria like a thin bamboo pole. It seemed like he was drunk, and his legs might not have grown properly. As Yi Xiao’s small legs passed this thin pole, the guy actually collapsed right into him!
Yi Xiao took a step back with an expressionless face.
Ren Zhu fell straight down, but just before his face was about to make intimate contact with the ground, Yi Xiao caught him by… the chest. Using his foot.
The force that hit his waist jolted Ren Zhu awake, and he opened his eyes abruptly. All he saw was a sea of black and gray. What the heck? Before he could react, he felt his body rising. When he looked down, he saw the blue and white striped school uniform pants and sneakers that hadn’t changed in style even after several thousand years. When he stood upright again and stiffly turned his head, he was met with the irritated, impatient expression of a teenage chuuni boy.
The two stared at each other like this, big eyes locking with small ones, for five seconds. Then Yi Xiao sneered, “Next time you want to fake an accident, find someone dumber. I won’t give you a credit.”
After saying this, the chuuni boy turned and left, leaving Ren Xiao Zhu standing there, almost fainting from anger. Perhaps because his fury stimulated his physical strength, Ren Zhu suddenly dashed at an incredible speed toward the cafeteria. As he passed by Yi Xiao, he made a rather childish hum to show his disdain.
It seemed that after becoming a child, his adult rationality and composure had drifted away.
Ren Zhu rushed into the cafeteria and got two meat buns and a bowl of pumpkin millet porridge. In total, it cost him five credits. The lady serving the food, seeing his frail appearance, even picked the two biggest buns for him and gave him a bowl filled to the brim with porridge, not letting a drop spill. For this, Ren Xiao Zhu offered the lady a very obediently thankful smile, almost convincing her to give him an extra milk bun for free. However, Ren Zhu ran pretty fast and managed to find a seat by the window before he started eating.
Taking a bite of the bun with a lot of meat filling, Ren Zhu felt like he had never tasted such a delicious bun before. Then, after taking a sip of the sweet pumpkin millet porridge, his hungry stomach was soothed by its warm temperature. Indeed, hunger made people appreciate the beauty of food, even a top-class chef couldn’t surpass such simple yet beautiful taste.
However, the bliss of this breakfast was spoiled as Ren Zhu saw the chuuni boy who had sat down across from him. And when he turned his head in annoyance and saw the three guys, Fatty One, Fatty Two, and Skinny, staring at him from the left, the joy of breakfast was completely extinguished.
Ren Xiao Zhu’s gaze turned exceptionally fierce all of a sudden!
A bunch of annoying brats! After breakfast, Teacher Ren will teach you a lesson!!
I’ve almost forgotten about this. LOL, it’s Teacher Ren lesson time to educate some naughty brats.
thanks for the chapter
This new arc is really promising 🤣
Teacher Ren become a cute little bun this time~~ <333