Chapter 16: Subjectively Absent, Objectively Present

Restricted Fantasy Invasion

The Yan Huan of today was not the Yan Huan of yesterday.

This was a sophistical way of putting it, and while Yan Huan did not necessarily agree with it, he genuinely felt a twinge of regret regarding the choice he had made yesterday.

It was just like when he was six years old and wished for a life filled with fantasy elements, only for the Modifier to pop up during his freshman year of college and nearly beat him to his knees.

In short, he was incredibly regretful right now.

After washing up, Yan Huan stood in front of the mirror to tidy his appearance. Myau-chan trotted over as well, its tail raised high as it circled his feet.

A white cotton T-shirt, a loose-fitting printed shirt worn as a light jacket, and a pair of straight-leg jeans comprised his school outfit for this Monday.

As he looked at himself, the young man in the mirror let out a yawn, painting a touch of lethargy across his handsome features.

Only at this moment did Yan Huan realize exactly what that inescapable sense of drowsiness entailed.

Splashing his face with cold water, eating breakfast... no matter what he did, that feeling simply would not fade.

The sensation would only recede when he was deeply focused on a task, but how many moments of complete concentration could one possibly have in a single day?

At around ten past seven, he shouldered his school bag and spoke to Myau-chan behind him.

"Myau-chan, I am heading out."

"Meow?"

Since Myau-chan would appear whenever summoned anyway, the fact that Yan Huan still bothered to say goodbye before leaving showed that he really was bogged down by that lingering drowsiness.

He grabbed his mobile phone and went downstairs. It took another seven or eight minutes to walk to the school bus stop. By the time he arrived, several students were already waiting there, all of them from the South Ward.

"Good morning, President."

"Hello."

Yan Huan smiled and greeted them, then leaned against the edge of the bus shelter to scroll through his phone for a bit. Not long after, a large bus bearing the emblem of Far Moon Academy arrived.

He took out his school ID, lined up to swipe it, boarded the bus, and then chose his familiar window seat.

With all the stops along the way, the ride to school would take about forty minutes. He would arrive at eight o''clock, with his first class starting at half-past eight.

Yan Huan''s stop was relatively early on the South Ward route, so there were only a few people on board when he got on.

When the doors opened at the next stop, Yabashi Ki boarded the bus, his eyes glued to his phone. He took the same bus line as Yan Huan.

"Yo, morning, President."

"Morning."

Scanning the inside of the school bus, he quickly spotted Yan Huan leaning against the window, greeted him, and casually took the seat next to him.

The moment he sat down, he eagerly turned his phone horizontally and launched a certain two-dimensional waifu-collecting game.

"Ah, Leader, are you starting work this early? You work so hard! Then Yuanxing-chan has to work hard together with you!"

The digital mascot girl greeted him sweetly on the interface, causing him to smile unconsciously behind his Bluetooth earbuds.

"The new banner is about to drop, and the new character has huge assets. I have saved up a ton of gems, so I am definitely pulling for her!"

While burning his stamina and doing his daily quests, he made this bold declaration.

Yan Huan glanced at the screen of Yabashi Ki''s phone and rested his cheek on his hand.

"You pulled both characters from the last banner, and you are pulling on this one too? Just how much money have you whaled on this?"

"Merely my entire allowance, but it is all worth it for my waifu. I even pulled her signature weapon. Look at this sword, President..."

On the screen, the realistic physics engine caused the female character''s soft body to jiggle, while flashy special effects erupted alongside a massive flurry of damage numbers that slammed ruthlessly into the boss.

Yan Huan let out a yawn and offered no comment. He simply leaned back against the window frame, preparing to take a short nap.

"I did not sleep well last night, so I am going to rest my eyes for a bit. Wake me up when we get to school."

"That is rare. You are actually resting on the school bus, President? Was that auntie''s house really that fun? Still wanting more?"

"Heh."

''Would you call being subjected to hypnosis fun?''

He was still experiencing lingering trauma from Saturday night when Ye Shiyu came over and tried to yank his door open.

With those thoughts in mind, Yan Huan closed his eyes, allowing the drowsiness to bury his consciousness.

Meanwhile, Yabashi Ki continued tending to his digital bonsai next to him. Logging in every morning to complete these fixed tasks had almost become a deeply ingrained habit.

As he played, a hand suddenly reached out from the aisle beside him, gently tugging at his clothes.

"Hmm?"

Yabashi Ki turned his head, only to see a female student looking at him with a slight blush on her cheeks.

"..."

Yabashi Ki paused for a second, pushed up his glasses, and asked in confusion.

"You do not usually take our bus route, do you? I have never seen you before."

"Hehe, sorry. I slept over at a classmate''s house yesterday, and she takes this line. Um, Yabashi-kun, could you perhaps..."

As she spoke, she pulled out an envelope tinged with her body fragrance, along with a jar of candies, and handed them to Yabashi Ki.

With a blushing face, she discreetly pointed a finger at Yan Huan beside him. Everything was understood without being spoken aloud.

Yabashi Ki turned to look at the handsome young man sleeping peacefully against the window. His tranquil appearance was the sort that made anyone reluctant to disturb him.

Understanding perfectly, he accepted the gifts from the girl and spoke.

"I will hand them over to the President when he wakes up, do not worry."

"Thank you! You are such a good person, Yabashi-kun!"

"...That is a compliment that brings me absolutely no joy whatsoever."

The girl turned and left. Yabashi Ki muttered this complaint to himself as he prepared to open another game.

Then, another hand quietly reached out from the aisle beside him, gently poking his shirt.

Yabashi Ki blankly raised his head again. This time it was an older senior female student, holding up a box of chocolates toward him.

"Haha, Yabashi-kun, you know the drill."

"..."

"From now on, when we take the school bus, you sit in the aisle seat, President. I am taking the window seat."

After getting off the bus at school, Yabashi Ki suddenly blurted this out.

Yan Huan, holding an entire armful of gifts, wore a rather helpless expression.

"I usually do not accept these, so you could have just refused them directly."

Yabashi Ki turned to look at him, his face flushed red as he flailed his arms wildly.

"H-h-how was I supposed to refuse?! I am not you! Where would I get that kind of experience?! Besides, wouldn''t rejecting them make me look incredibly rude?"

"Not at all. Or you could have just ignored them and waited until I woke up..."

Beyond the noisy chatter of the diverse crowd of students around them, a rhythmic sound of construction rang out—clang, clang, thump—drawing Yan Huan''s attention.

Following the sound, he spotted the silhouette of a nearly completed building in the distant northern part of the campus.

"The school is constructing another building. It is so loud this early in the morning."

"I think it is a new teaching building. They started building it during the winter break, and it should be completed around this month."

Chatting about this and that, Yan Huan and Yabashi Ki walked up to the top floor of a teaching building. This entire floor belonged to the Student Council.

In front of the door at the end of the corridor, the nameplate read:

[Far Moon Academy Student Council Office]

Yabashi Ki groped around inside the mailbox hanging by the door, but his hand found nothing.

"Huh, that is strange. Did they not deliver any documents this week?"

"How is that possible? Today is Monday."

Every Monday morning, the Student Council held a meeting. This was precisely why Yan Huan and Yabashi Ki had not headed to their classrooms, but instead came straight here.

Normally, over the weekend, the school administration would send over documents detailing the schedule for the upcoming week, allowing the Student Council to properly arrange their work.

As for why the mailbox was currently empty?

Yan Huan stepped up to the door and gestured for Yabashi Ki to open it, smiling as he spoke.

"Vice President Sakuramiya has already arrived."

"Ah? This early?"

Yabashi Ki pushed the door open, revealing an office of roughly thirty square meters.

A woolen carpet covered the wooden floor. A glass coffee table was surrounded by two black sofas, with a potted green plant resting on top.

Another sofa sat against the wall, facing a row of cabinets stacked with various documents and books.

At the far end, the curtains were drawn back, allowing the morning light to stream through the floor-to-ceiling lattice windows, illuminating a slightly larger desk by the sill.

On the desk, a golden plaque read:

"Far Moon Student Council President"

Standing right beside the bookcase was a young girl wearing a black, British-style academic uniform.

Her black hair was tied back in a knot at the nape of her neck, adorned with an incredibly simple white ribbon.

The very tips of the black locks framing her temples bore a faint, unnatural hint of cherry blossom pink.

A dark green jacket and white shirt wrapped around her petite, soft frame, while a white bow at the collar of her shirt added a touch of elegance.

Beneath her dark green skirt were fair calves, white ankle socks, and black leather shoes with their heels lifted off the ground—she was currently holding a duster, sweeping away the dust accumulated on the bookcase.

Because of her height, she had to stand on her tiptoes to clean the upper shelves.

Upon hearing the sound of the door opening, her heels dropped back to the floor. She turned her head, revealing her delicate features.

Her eyes shimmered with a lively gleam, her assessing gaze landing on Yan Huan as he entered the room carrying a mountain of items.

She smiled, as breathtakingly beautiful as a fairy.

"Good morning, President, Yabashi-kun."

"Morning, Sakuramiya."

"Good morning, Vice President Sakuramiya."

Yan Huan walked over to the coffee table and dumped the massive pile of items from his arms onto it.

"Sakuramiya, see if there is anything you want to eat. We can all tackle this pile together."

Sakuramiya Hitomi set down the duster. Without glancing at the snacks, her eyes were instantly captivated by a single pink envelope among the pile.

She reached out and picked it up, inspecting the text written upon it.

"To the lovely President Yan Huan!"

Pinching the envelope, Sakuramiya Hitomi''s gaze locked onto the signature at the bottom.

"Class 1-C, Park Seo-moon."

Unconsciously, her fingers pinched a few creases into the envelope. A moment later, she spoke.

"...Right. But let''s wait until Yurianna and Ashley arrive so we can eat together."

With that, she let the letter drop onto the table and turned toward the nearby tea stand to pour some tea.

"Alright."

Behind her, Yan Huan and Yabashi Ki sat down on the sofa and began sorting through the snacks.

Sakuramiya Hitomi returned with two cups of hot black tea, placing them in front of Yan Huan and Yabashi Ki.

"Please enjoy, President, Yabashi-kun."

"Ah, thank you, Sakuramiya."

"Thank you, Vice President!"

Afterward, Sakuramiya Hitomi set two more cups on the coffee table, holding one for herself as she sat across from them.

It wasn''t long before the door swung open again, followed by an incredibly energetic female voice.

"President! Sakuramiya! Yabashi! Good morning!!"

Turning their heads, they saw a girl wearing a high school uniform, her hair dyed with streaks of pink and red, walking through the door with her hands planted firmly on her hips.

Her face bore distinct mixed-race features, and her wide grin perfectly complemented her confident posture as she stood tall with her hands on her hips, proudly displaying her full curves.

Behind her followed a tall girl with short, golden-blonde hair. She was expressionless, seemingly long accustomed to the boisterous behavior of the person in front of her.

"Good morning, everyone."

These two were the Student Council Secretary, Yurianna, and the Head of Discipline, Ashley.

"Morning, Yurianna, Ashley."

"Ooh! So much good food! Where did this come from?" Ignoring Yurianna, who was squatting by the coffee table with sparkling eyes, trying to decide what to eat, Ashley took a seat next to Sakuramiya Hitomi.

She glanced at the heart sticker on the candy jar and remarked,

"It must be from a girl who gave it to the President. It even has his name written on it."

"Eh?!"

Yurianna whipped her head up like a fierce tiger, her eyes shooting beams of intense light as she stared at the lethargic-looking Yan Huan.

"Are you going to fall in love, President?!"

"Yurianna, we are about to start the meeting."

Sakuramiya Hitomi interrupted her enthusiasm at just the right moment, standing up to retrieve a few documents from the desk.

"Why are you like this?! Aren''t you curious, Sakuramiya? What about you, Ashley? Exactly whose hands will the President end up falling into... Hey, why do none of you care about this kind of stuff at all?! The Student Council is practically turning into a gathering spot for perpetually single loners, and it is entirely your fault!"

Sakuramiya Hitomi sat back down without offering a response, simply picking up her teacup to take a sip.

Ashley pulled out her phone and started scrolling through short videos, casually remarking at the same time,

"It is not like the President or Vice President lack admirers. It is just that the President is always so busy, he hardly has the time, and probably does not have anyone he fancies anyway. As for Vice President Sakuramiya, she declared the moment she joined the Student Council that she would absolutely never date."

"I also work part-time. Student Council duties and my studies already give me enough headaches without adding romance to the mix. As for Yabashi-kun, isn''t he living quite harmoniously with his two-dimensional waifus?"

Sakuramiya Hitomi''s tea-drinking motion paused for a fraction of a second, while Yabashi Ki pushed up his glasses with an expression that clearly said, "You are absolutely right."

Yurianna refused to give up. She sneakily looked over at Yan Huan and whispered,

"President, tell me in secret if you have someone you like. I promise I will not tell anyone else."

Yan Huan stifled a yawn, offered a soft smile, and replied,

"Hmm, I like you, Yurianna."

Sakuramiya Hitomi continued to drink her tea. The faint ripples on the liquid''s surface reflected her blurred, obscured gaze.

Meanwhile, Yurianna''s face instantly turned bright red. Waving her hands frantically, she babbled in a rush,

"No, no, no! I cannot be with the President! If we got together, I would spend every day worrying if my handsome President was going to cheat on me. I would definitely become depressed! And if we got married and had kids after that, I would be washing my face with tears every single day. I definitely would not survive past twenty-five!"

Ashley rolled her eyes and shot back,

"You actually thought about it, didn''t you? How many drinks did you have to get this drunk? Thinking that far ahead..."

Hearing this, Yurianna turned her head back to Yan Huan, her face filled with absolute disbelief.

"President, were you just joking with me?"

"Weren''t you the one joking first?"

Yan Huan threw his hands open, unable to bear teasing the naive Yurianna any further.

"You say you wouldn''t tell anyone, but if I really had someone I liked and told you, the news would be flying all over every group chat you are in before the first period even started, you big blabbermouth."

"I..."

Yurianna pouted, just about to defend herself, but Yan Huan had already accepted the documents handed to him by Sakuramiya Hitomi.

He scanned the papers, his expression turning a shade more serious.

"Alright, let''s officially start the meeting now. Everyone, take a look at the corresponding documents."

The papers were distributed. Sakuramiya Hitomi had already reviewed them, so she simply took a sip of her black tea and stated,

"There are basically only three items on the agenda. First, the results for last week''s placement exams will be out tomorrow. I have heard the scores are a bit disastrous."

"Graded over a single weekend. As expected of the special visiting teachers hired from the Dragon Country."

Yabashi Ki curled his lip, offering this comment.

Yan Huan was long used to this and simply delegated the task.

"Posting the results will be handled exactly like before. Yurianna, I am leaving it to you."

"You got it!"

Sakuramiya Hitomi continued.

"The second item: the Club War is fast approaching. This will be the second time our current Student Council has organized such a large-scale event. Since there were a few issues with the sports festival we ran last semester, the school board is harboring some doubts..."

"I object! What right do they have to doubt us?"

Before Sakuramiya Hitomi could finish, Secretary Yurianna raised her hand and interrupted.

"Filling the swimming pool with cola for the swimming competition and the half-naked men''s basketball tournament were both born out of democratic voting, even if the school board ended up rejecting them! But I still maintain that the five-kilometer teachers'' long-distance run was completely reasonable. The Vice Principal getting utterly smoked by the students was his own problem!"

"Who told you to put the Vice Principal in the same heat as the Track and Field Club members?" Ashley''s critique was sharp and right to the point, as always.

"He was the one who claimed he used to be a student athlete during his opening speech! What is wrong with giving him a reality check?!"

Yan Huan scanned the document and smiled at Yabashi Ki.

"Anyway, there are still two weeks before it starts. For this week, Yabashi, finalize the budget first. Then, Sakuramiya and I will notify the various clubs. We can brainstorm the specific event arrangements later."

"OK, President."

The first two matters were notices sent directly from the school, but this final document did not originate from the school at all.

It came from the Department of Education in Linmen.

Sakuramiya Hitomi glanced at the heading of the document: "Linmen Directive on the Prevention of School Bullying..."

She then held the document up and asked the others,

"Do we have any instances of school bullying at our academy?"

Yurianna, the lovable fool, immediately shook her head and replied,

"No way. I feel like everyone is really friendly. Plus, I have never seen students fighting."

"It is not like physical violence is the only thing that counts as school bullying, alright?"

Yabashi Ki glared at Yurianna and elaborated.

"Hitting someone means things have already reached a severe stage. It is also the most obvious and easiest to manage. What we really need to worry about is covert insults, slander, exclusion, and suppression. That stuff is incredibly hard to define, and even if you asked the victims directly, you wouldn''t get a straight answer."

Ashley nodded, picking up right where Yabashi Ki left off.

"I have heard whispers privately that a sophomore dropped out last semester due to depression. The neighboring Shuurei Academy even made the news because of a student jumping off a building. This directive was probably issued because of that incident.

"During the follow-up investigation, they found out that the school had already conducted an inquiry prior to the incident. The students being investigated were extremely skilled at playing innocent and deceiving everyone, so the inquiry did not serve as a preventative measure at all."

Having been completely refuted by the two of them in succession, Yurianna put on a pitiful face, immediately diving into Sakuramiya Hitomi''s arms and wailing.

"Waaaaah, Sakuramiya! They are both bullying me! Hurry up and discipline them!"

Sakuramiya Hitomi patted her back, utterly speechless.

As Yan Huan looked at the document, a line filled with dialectics from his previous life crossed his mind.

"Subjectively absent, but objectively it might be present?"

As he pondered this, his brow suddenly furrowed.

Because he abruptly thought of Ye Shiyu.

She was starting school here today, having transferred out of the blue.

With her bizarre, twisted personality, was she really capable of blending in with a class of students who had already been studying together for over a year?

Just going out to the Aquarium caused her to run into another person with a Modifier and start a conflict. If she got into a dispute with someone else, who knew if Ye Shiyu wouldn''t just turn on her hypnosis and ruin them on the spot.

Amen, sophomore students. May you be blessed with good fortune.

"President?"

Just as Yan Huan was picturing Ye Shiyu frantically using her Modifier to go on an absolute rampage, Sakuramiya Hitomi''s voice rang out, pulling his wandering consciousness back to reality.

"Sorry, I was just thinking about something."

Yan Huan looked at Sakuramiya Hitomi, smiled faintly, and replied.

"Well, thankfully this difficult problem wasn''t dumped into our laps to solve. The Department of Education has already taken the initiative. This document directly outlines the measures they expect schools to take, so we will just follow their instructions."

"Understood, President."

At the exact same time, inside Class 1-C.

"Wow, Seo-moon, did you really give that letter to the President this morning?! Doesn''t the President normally refuse these things? How did you manage it?"

Since classes did not officially start until eight-thirty, the students were scattered inside and outside the classroom, minding their own business.

Near the back row, several girls were gathered around one particular girl, chatting excitedly.

The girl sitting at the desk, Park Seo-moon, covered her mouth with a wicked smile.

"It is true! Today the President fell asleep on the bus. That Student Council accountant sitting next to him is obviously a total otaku and an utter pushover. I just acted a little cute and his head started spinning, mumbling about how he would hand it over to the President for me."

"Eh, the President fell asleep on the bus?"

"Really! Look, here is the photo I took. He is so handsome, right?"

"A sneak shot, huh? You sneaky girl. Send it to me! Send it!"

As they were gossiping, a young girl quietly walked down the adjacent aisle.

She kept her head lowered, her heavy, long black hair cascading down to obscure her pale face, dragging down her entire aura, making her appear extremely gloomy.

Even though it was not a designated uniform day, she was still wearing the Far Moon Academy school uniform, which made her look completely out of place among everyone else dressed in casual clothes.

Even more eye-catching was the way her school uniform was stretched tight, bulging heavily over an overly prominent bust that looked like it was about to burst right out.

The buttons on her shirt and jacket in that area struggled desperately to grip the fabric on both sides, as if they were turning red in the face and screaming,

"I cannot hold on much longer!! Command! Tell the lower buttons that I love them!!"

The school ID badge pinned to her uniform displayed her name:

"Class 1-C, An Le."

Just as she was walking past with her head down, a certain word from the girls'' conversation seemed to catch her attention.

Her footsteps gradually slowed, and her pink lips parted slightly.

The chatting girls also noticed the gloomy girl who had stopped in her tracks. Park Seo-moon, sitting in the center, glanced at her friends and suddenly chuckled.

"Hey, do any of you smell milk?"

"Haha, yeah. What a strong smell of milk..."

Hearing their words, the girl with her head bowed pursed her lips, but still mustered up the courage to speak to one of the girls sitting on the desk behind Park Seo-moon.

"That seat... is... is mine."

The girl sitting on the desk let out a scoff, not moving an inch as she replied,

"I am just sitting here for a second. Don''t be so stingy. Be a bit more broad-minded... you certainly have the chest for it."

"Pfft."

Park Seo-moon sneered, turning her head away, completely ignoring An Le, whose head remained bowed.

Just as she raised her phone to share the photo of Yan Huan with the classmates around her, the homeroom teacher for Class 1-C walked through the classroom door.

"Quiet down, everyone. I have something to announce, so we are starting class five minutes early."

"Why?!"

"None of the other classes are doing that..."

But the homeroom teacher was not in the mood for nonsense, shouting loudly instead,

"Quiet! Everyone back to your seats!"

Under the strict authority of the teacher, the students reluctantly returned to their seats.

As the students scattered like startled birds, An Le was finally able to sit back down at her desk.

She raised her head slightly, just enough to catch a glimpse of the phone screen belonging to Park Seo-moon at the desk in front of her. Thus, she laid eyes on the photo secretly taken this morning of Yan Huan fast asleep.

An Le''s eyes were instantly captivated by the handsome young man sleeping in the picture. She swallowed hard, a slight flush rising to her cheeks.

Sitting in front of her, Park Seo-moon sensed the gaze behind her. She cast a disgusted glance back at An Le.

Then, she straightened her posture and hid the phone screen from view.

"Disgusting."

"..."

An Le pursed her lips, lowering her head again in embarrassment.

Beneath the desk, her fair fingers nervously gripped the hem of her skirt, seemingly hurt by Park Seo-moon''s stinging remark.

However, beneath her sleeve, a phantom-like snake tattoo appeared to respond to her emotional shifts, beginning to writhe along her skin.

"Gurgle..."

''Eh?''

''What is that sound?''

An Le blankly raised her head, searching for the source of that illusory sound. At that very moment, the teacher spoke from the podium.

"Now then, Class 1-C has a new transfer student joining us today. Please come in and introduce yourself. Everyone, make her feel welcome."

"Clap, clap, clap."

A sparse smattering of applause echoed from below. An Le was one of the few clapping.

Following that, into An Le''s line of sight walked an absolute beauty with long blonde hair and an incredible figure. Her head held high and her chest thrust proudly forward, she strode through the doorway with absolute confidence.

She stood at the podium, her gaze sweeping condescendingly over all the students in the audience.

She let out a soft chuckle, revealing an incredibly prominent canine tooth.

She spoke casually,

"I am Aria Spencer, and I am going to be your classmate from now on. I look forward to working with you all."