บท 107: The Teacher and the Student (5)
When Yin Mei got out of the VR pod, some teachers had already exited, while some were still inside. Yin Mei leaned up against the pod, flipping her wrist and logging onto the teacher's system to check the livestream of the final obstacle.
Qin Shuang was surrounded by corpses. So many corpses. They looked vaguely familiar too.
The last obstacle for the race course that Qin Shuang was in was really mean. It brought to life their greatest fears. It was extremely difficult for many to overcome, but in order to become a good Brigade member, one couldn't be rendered so easily frozen by their fears.
Mei Wen's fear, for example, had been bugs. If she hadn't been able to overcome that, then she may have never even survived the planet she had gone to, with all its mutated bugs constantly attacking her.
Qin Shuang would be able to pass this, and quite easily too. After all, he already had much experience in overcoming the deaths of his loved ones.
He was unlike those young chicks, and was a veteran of many years. Overcoming fear in the battlefield - he had long understood the importance of this.
Soon, there was a beeping, and one of the pods hissed open. As expected, Qin Shuang stepped out of the pod, his eyes slightly dark and gloomy. Although he had overcome the trial, it had brought up many bad memories, and as a result, his mood was now terrible.
Yin Mei flipped over her wrist, seeing the small silver diamond blinking blue as it projected a notification to the teachers that Qin Shuang had received first place for his race track. Yin Mei looked back up toward Qin Shuang, who also noticed her.
He paused. This person was similar to that girl from the obstacle race, but she was taller, and looked a bit more mature, and slightly older.
Yin Mei waved. "Good to see you've passed, kid. I hope this year I'll be able to have you in my class." She smiled brightly, and Qin Shuang inwardly groaned.
He should have seen it! Such an experienced person, of course she had been a hidden examiner!
Yin Mei left as a white robed proctor came to talk with Qin Shuang and guide him to the next exam room. Or more accurately, the interview room.
She would join up with a group of interviewers in order to talk with the applicants and get a grasp of their personality and thoughts. After all, the Brigade didn't want to be recruiting anyone who may potentially end up being an issue later on.
Though that being said, in the end, Song Hua had been an exception. Despite his less than pretty past, he had still been recruited due to his dazzling potential, as well as the fact that, at first glance, he didn't seem to have a terrible personality. He was polite and hid his daggers well.
Yin Mei entered a room, where Alexei, Hai Lan, and two other teachers were already seated at a table. There was one seat still available at the edge, next to Hai Lan. "You're finally done?" Hai Lan said as Yin Mei sat down. "How was it?"
Even though she asked this, she had already seen what had happened. Yin Mei knew this, so she kept her answer brief, only replying with a casual, "It was okay," before grabbing the tablet in front of her and tapping it on.
Sifting through the plot information, Yin Mei saw that Mei Wen had interviewed both Alice and Song Hua, but not Qin Shuang. She was a little disappointed, but thought that this must have been the faculty knowing the bad blood between the Qin and Mei families, and so had kept them separate.
Even so, it hadn't prevented Mei Wen from becoming Qin Shuang's homeroom teacher - after all, she had been the homeroom teacher for class 1-S for several years already, and for Qin Shuang, who scored first on the entrance exams, his entrance into class 1-S had been guaranteed, and nonnegotiable. As for Mei Wen, of course she wouldn't give up this prestigious position of class 1-S's homeroom teacher.
Yin Mei took the stylus attached to the tablet into her hand, spinning it a couple of times as she half listened to Hai Lan's babbling, with Alexei occasionally making a witty remark. Only after a notification was sent to their devices did everyone quiet down, a couple minutes later, the first applicant entering through the door. A metal plate with his number was pinned to his shirt, and he sat down on the chair in front of them.
He appeared nervous, as he should be, facing the people who would be deciding whether or not he passed or failed.
Yin Mei looked up, finding this person slightly familiar. He had black hair and gold eyes, looking like an honest and athletic type of boy. Very pleasing to the eye. She then recalled - this must be K's younger brother! They shared the same gold eyes and burnt honey colored skin.
But, Yin Mei couldn't show any favoritism, at least, nothing too obvious. That being said, everyone did have subconscious biases, and if his results weren't too shabby, she could still give him the little push he would need to pass.
Yin Mei looked down at the tablet in front of her with his information, tapping the tip of her stylus thoughtfully on the table. He had done pretty good, as expected of a member of K's family. That girl had been worrying so much, but wasn't he doing fine? Yin Mei thought that she thought a little bit too little of this brother of hers.
That being said, Black Cross Academy's entrance exam was something to worry over anyways.
But with results like this, Yin Mei probably wouldn't be accused of favoritism if she decided to vote for passing him.
The questions that came from the judges were all fairly normal, and had all been decided in advance. That being said, it wasn't like some judges didn't occasionally present a random question out of their own curiosity or interests though.
Yin Mei wrote down a few comments and thoughts as the tablet recorded his answers. They were good. Nothing special, but nothing to frown over either. She gave a slightly embellished review at the end, clicking on the button that voted to accept him.
Of course, after the votes were all given, a list of the accepted applicants would be compiled, and then after, they would proceed to cut out the less exceptional until they reached a certain number.
Some years, reaching that number was easy, while other years, they wouldn't even have to go through the extra step of thinning out the herd.
In comparison to toward K's little brother, Yin Mei was ruthless toward the other applicants. If they weren't important to the plot, she didn't look kindly onto them. Those mob characters she outright voted against, even thinking that she was doing them a favor - after all, many of these kids would end up dead through the brutal plot developments.
It was better that they go to a different school, where, though they may not receive as elite of an education, they could still keep their little lives.
After a while, Alice entered the room. Her short hair bounced as she walked, the silver strands glittering under the white lights, and her pale blue eyes had some sort of power and pull to them, shining and clear like lake water.
"You did very well on the written and practical exam," Yin Mei opened, much to the surprise of the others. She had shown little interest so far, only making a few comments here and there when she saw fit to voice her opinion. She had yet to directly show so much interest in someone.
Alexei couldn't help but look closer at this girl. If he recalled, she had been in the same map that Mei Wen had participated in. Could it be that was why she was showing interest in her? Thinking of it like that, then it made sense.
"I didn't do that well," Alice said with a slightly embarrassed tone, though she looked happy for the praise, able to raise herself up a little higher.
"It says here that your parents are government officials. With their salary, it would be hard to... create the ideal environment in cultivating talent. May I ask how you learned your skills?" Yin Mei said, casually casting a glance at the tablet, where it contained detailed information on Alice's background.
Alice's father was a diplomat from the United Federation, hence her Western name. Meanwhile, her mother worked a desk job for the Empire's government. Though diplomat and government official sounded like a nice job, in reality, it didn't pay that much, though it certainly had its perks.
"I did a lot of self study, using the public library and training on my own." Alice said honestly, not taking any offense. Although her family didn't have a lot of money, neither were they poor, and they could afford a fairly good quality of living. There wasn't any reason to be angry toward Yin Mei's words - only those who were insecure about their living situation would react in that manner. After all, Yin Mei wasn't talking down on Alice, simply expressing her curiosity.
It was true that most of the time, the people who entered Black Cross Academy tended to be from good families - after all, they had more access to materials and the time to cultivate their skills. In that way, those who were commoners with not as much money were actually looked upon with a more favorable eye to come this far with their hard work and talent, rather than money.
The teachers all let out sounds of appreciation. To come this far on her own was very good, very good. Such a talent like this naturally made the others crave to have her as their own student, polishing this rough stone into a shining diamond.
Yin Mei looked at Alice with an odd expression though. Honestly, she didn't really have much against this female lead. She was a strong girl, stubborn, and hard working. All fairly good traits. The only issue was that Qin Shuang had become interested in her because she was supposedly slightly similar to herself.
This caused her to have a big pot of mixed feelings as a result. She already didn't have any good feelings toward female leads, let alone adding this similar to herself trait, it was all sorts of bad bundled in one.
In the end, she went silent, letting the others take over as she wrote very little down on the tablet. Her summary was very short, only one word, "talented," in big letters as she voted to accept her into the academy.
Oh well, she may be the female lead, but in reality, she did not have that big of an impact on the plot. Aside from her role allowing Qin Shuang to recover from his traumas as well as aiding him in a variety of plot developments, she herself was not that much of a... troublemaker. Mm, Yin Mei thought this was the perfect word!
Only after several people later did Song Hua enter. Everyone perked up, casting a few glances in Yin Mei's direction as their eyes brightened with interest. They stayed silent first, thinking that Yin Mei would speak up, but when she said nothing, Alexei instead cautiously started.
"It looks like you have a bit of a... history, as a scavenger and bounty hunter here. Can you explain your experiences to us?" Alexei said, noting that not only was Song Hua's family situation bad, but that he hadn't been involved in the most legal of trades. Not that there was anything wrong with being a scavenger or a bounty hunter. In fact, there were many former members of the Brigade that would turn to this job for a bit of extra cash.
It was just that the personality of these people tended to be a little bit questionable, and more often than not, many of those who worked this sort of job had some sort of criminal record, dabbling in the ways of the underworld.
Song Hua was silent for a moment, before straightening up. The gloomy and dark cast across his face that Yin Mei had seen before was gone, replaced by a calmness uncanny for his age. He had good manners and etiquette, appearing more like a noble son than a street rat. That being said, Yin Mei could see that his fingers were twitching ever so slightly, and the sheen of sweat on his brow, both betraying his nervousness. Both betraying that he was a fake. His manners and etiquette carefully studied and crammed in the darkness of his tiny and poor room, and not learned from young in a gorgeous rich man's manor.
Yin Mei couldn't help but smile, finding this new reincarnation of the demon king oddly endearing.
When he began talking, he wove a story of epic proportions, a story of wonderful and bloody beauty. He made it sound like he was not some minor bounty hunter, but in fact, a hero that had come out of fairy tales and legends.
Yin Mei appreciated it, and so did the others, amused expressions on their faces. They did like a smooth talker.
She happily put down several comments heaping praise on him as she voted to accept Song Hua into the academy. Her bias was clear, but not unwarranted. After all, he had the talent, the ambition, the wits, and the determination.
In another world, he would have been the hero.
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littlemist
littlemist I just finished a book called Vicious, by V.E. Shwab. I actually think it's perfect, because the main character, Victor, is a villain and criminal! The person I was reading with described him as a model Slytherin <3 It's quite good, and I loved all the characters (except Eli... who is quite delusional). In other words, for those who like reading about morally gray characters, then you should definitely read this.
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