Late at night, with the moon hanging high like a fishing hook above the clock tower.
Lu Mingfei sat cross-legged on the bunk bed, staring blankly out the window.
He shared a room with Fingel in Dormitory Area 1, Room 303.
When he returned from the study, he saw Fingel standing behind Caesar, the Student Union President, being criticized by a bald professor.
Fingel hadn't returned yet, so it seemed he had received a considerable punishment.
That made sense; after all, the incident had caused such a stir that it would at least warrant a public reprimand or probation, plus a series of operations like self-reflection while facing a wall.
It looked like he would be sleeping alone tonight.
No sooner had the thought crossed his mind than the dorm room door was pushed open.
"Are you alright?"
Fingel's head poked out from the doorway, and he waved the camera in his hand, "I'm processing the camera footage; we have something big to do tonight."
Fingel took two strides and plopped down on Lu Mingfei's bed, swinging his laptop bag to the front.
"Night Watcher Forum?"
Lu Mingfei looked at the website name that appeared on the screen and read it out word by word.
"It's our school's official forum. Many senior interns and graduated students frequent it, and occasionally, you can even see professors or instructors interacting."
Fingel hooked the bed table from under the bed with his foot, propped it up with one hand, and placed the laptop on it.
At the same time, the camera's memory card was connected to the computer, and a row of videos quickly appeared before Lu Mingfei's eyes.
"What is this again?" Lu Mingfei asked, puzzled.
"Of course, it's your majestic and heroic figure of bravely slaying enemies, Junior Brother!" Fingel rubbed his hands excitedly:
"I've already edited it. I came back specifically to ask for your opinion. Out of consideration for your portrait rights, there are some videos I need you to see."
"The Night Watcher Forum is currently debating intensely. Everyone is curious about who shot Caesar and then Chu Zihang."
Lu Mingfei paused, recalling the extended events mentioned in the fortune slip and Fingel's earlier talk about making a fortune.
"How do we make money from this?"
"Allow me to solemnly introduce myself again! I, Fingel, am not only the head of the Student Union's News Department but also an administrator of the Night Watcher Forum!" Fingel spoke passionately, full of pride.
"Uh." Lu Mingfei scratched his face, "Senior Brother is amazing?"
He wasn't quite sure if an eight-year senior becoming a forum administrator was truly something to be proud of. Could it be that Kassel College's administrator succession involved some strict ritualistic conditions?
If that were truly the case, then he would indeed have to look at Senior Brother Fingel in a new light.
Fingel ignored him and continued his passionate speech.
"Mingfei, you don't realize that this year's Free Day has two presidents as stakes, so the rewards are exceptionally generous."
"First, you will gain one year of usage rights for Norton Hall. Second, you will directly qualify for next year's College Star finals. Finally," Fingel exclaimed excitedly:
"You have the right for the first girl you pursue in college to not refuse you, and the other party must maintain a relationship with you for at least three months!"
"Getting out of singlehood at the start of college is absolutely not a dream!"
"What's even more explosive is that this year Chu Zihang used his Murasame as a stake, while Caesar's stake was a bugatti veyron!"
Lu Mingfei's eyes were dull. To be honest, he was indeed stunned.
But an ominous premonition quickly appeared in his heart, because he saw Fingel's ill-intentioned smile.
"Senior Brother, what are you going to do?"
At this moment, Fingel was placing the mouse on a draft page, which detailed Lu Mingfei's student ID, dormitory number, age, birthplace, and all his information. The last item even kindly stated: "Single!"
"Mingfei, as soon as I click send, a post about an S-rank freshman will immediately soar to the top of the hot list."
Fingel raised an eyebrow slyly, "This is an S-rank freshman, something not seen in decades at the College."
"I've even thought of the title: Shocking! S-rank Freshman Emerges! The College's Twin Stars' Reputation Is at Risk!"
"So what does this have to do with making a fortune?" Lu Mingfei pulled the conversation back. He had only agreed to Fingel's plan because it allowed him to deeply bury his achievements and fame.
"Freshmen are taking the 3E Exam tomorrow. I can totally open a bet on whether you can maintain your S-rank title after the 3E Exam." Fingel said smugly,
"They don't know your strength, and there's nothing outstanding in your file."
"But only we brothers know that you can withstand Chu Zihang's Golden Eyes and shoot him down. What is that if not S-rank?"
"Using this information asymmetry, we'll hit them hard!"
"That's it?" Lu Mingfei asked.
"Not just that," Fingel wiped his nose, "I also have a secondary account. At that time, I will spread news of your exclusive information, available for a fee, a total of ten copies, first come, first served."
He opened the edited video, which showed Lu Mingfei taking down Nono with one shot, then turning around and sniping three more people in quick succession.
"Make a fortune from the betting, another fortune from the information, and as the head of the news department, I'll make another fortune by creating news of an S-rank double-killing the presidents!"
"Moreover, the confidentiality of the information will only last until after the 3E Exam, at which point Mingfei, you will still receive the winner's reward for Free Day."
"It's a huge profit!"
"We both win!"
Fingel had already begun to fantasize about counting money until his hands cramped.
Lu Mingfei, however, felt a bit uneasy. Leaving aside the matter of deeply burying his achievements and fame, he had no confidence at all in this 3E Exam.
"Senior Brother, the premise of making a huge profit is that I can maintain my S-rank title, right?" Lu Mingfei pointed out the crucial issue, somewhat exasperated:
"But until now, no one has told me what the 3E Exam is about."
"It's just Dragon Speech. With your bloodline, there won't be any problems. You even looked directly into Chu Zihang's Golden Eyes!" Fingel said lightly.
"What does that have to do with Chu Zihang?" Lu Mingfei was dumbfounded.
"Chu Zihang has an A-rank bloodline. Very few people in the College can look directly into his eyes, but Mingfei, you not only looked directly but also blasted him. This indicates that your bloodline must be above Chu Zihang's."
Fingel explained, "As a hybrid, the power of the Golden Eyes can, in some aspects, be considered a measure of bloodline level."
"What's a hybrid again?" Lu Mingfei asked again.
"That's us, those of us with dragon blood flowing through our veins. For more specific history, you can look it up yourself once your student ID arrives. I won't go into detail now."
Fingel was entirely focused on making big money later, his emotions running high, and he didn't want to spend more thought on such academic questions.
A "bang bang" knock on the door sounded at this moment.
Fingel jumped up like a rabbit, startled. Could it be that Noma had been monitoring him, discovered his evil thoughts, and the Disciplinary Committee had sent someone to arrest him?
That shouldn't be the case.
"I'll get the door." Lu Mingfei put on his slippers and walked over.
Outside the door was Professor Guderian, holding a letter in his hand. "It seems you and Fingel are getting along very well."
More than just well, they've become accomplices in splitting the spoils. Lu Mingfei thought to himself.
"Professor, is there something you need coming so late?" Lu Mingfei asked.
"I'm here to deliver your student ID. With this card, you can enjoy 'S' rank privileges throughout the campus. Also, tomorrow is the 3E Exam. Are you prepared?"
Lu Mingfei nodded reluctantly, "To be honest, I'm actually quite unsure."
"Don't be nervous. With your bloodline, there will definitely be no problem. Something like bloodline summoning has happened to you, so you're definitely S-rank."
Professor Guderian patted Lu Mingfei's shoulder, "I believe in you."
"The 3E Exam tests Dragon Speech. Dragon Speech is a memory passed down with the bloodline. When you see Dragon Speech, you will naturally understand it."
Seeing the worry still on Lu Mingfei's face, Professor Guderian continued,
"There are some publicly available Dragon Speech texts in the College. If you're really worried, you can try to understand them using this card in your hand."
Only then did Lu Mingfei feel a little relieved, and he respectfully saw Professor Guderian off.
On the other side, Fingel loudly said, "Mingfei, take another look at this information and see if there are any problems. If not, I'll proceed as planned."
Lu Mingfei's mind was entirely on tomorrow's exam, and after a quick glance, he agreed.
Having undergone nine years of compulsory education, he inevitably felt a bit flustered the day before an exam.
Night Watcher Forum.
The posts in the discussion area changed again and again, but none could remain a consistently hot topic.
Until a striking red-marked post slowly floated up, finally pinning itself at the very top.
It was the administrator's red-highlighted, featured privilege!
"Shocking! S-rank Freshman Emerges! The College's Twin Stars' Reputation Is at Risk!"
The discussion area refreshed rapidly. The post pinned by Fingel accumulated hundreds of replies in less than half a minute, even causing some lag in the forum.
"Fingel, you're making such exaggerated posts again!" Someone reprimanded Fingel for abusing his privileges.
As a well-known senior brother, any experienced forum regular knew that Fingel was an excellent master of setting the pace.
Setting trends everywhere was a common practice for the head of the news department.
"S-rank freshman, really? How come I haven't heard?"
"And you're even stepping on Chu Zihang and Caesar. Fingel, you're quite bold."
"Exactly, when has a post like this, putting down Chu Zihang and Caesar, ever sunk? And it's even pinned and highlighted? Hilarious."
【Notice: You have been muted for one hour due to inappropriate language】
"Absolutely true! The S-rank freshman's mentor is my mentor, Professor Guderian. I asked him carefully; it's definitely an S-rank freshman." Fingel commented.
The webpage lagged again. After refreshing, the post had accumulated nearly a thousand replies, and Fingel's explanation was drowned in the sea of comments.
He had no choice but to post another linked thread, which quickly appeared after the red-highlighted post.
At this very moment, most of the students at Kassel College were reading Lu Mingfei's publicly available information.
"This... doesn't look like an S-rank at all." Someone said after reading Lu Mingfei's frustrating high school evaluation.
"Actually, it's quite tragic, understandable."
"Life under someone else's roof definitely isn't easy."
"Wow, he's so openly in love with someone, our S-rank is actually a big romantic."
"Three years of unrequited love, three years! Everyone knew, yet he never confessed? Is this really something an S-rank would do?"
"If you don't believe it, everyone can ask @Nono, who went with my mentor, Professor Guderian, for recruitment at the time." Fingel continued to comment.
In less than a minute, the @-ed "Nono" appeared, leaving only one sentence:
"The bloodline rating is indeed S-rank."
The post instantly exploded, the webpage lagging and stuttering, with hundreds of new replies appearing every time it refreshed.
"There's a huge divergence in everyone's evaluation of the S-rank. Tomorrow is the 3E Exam. How about we open a betting pool?" Fingel's fingers moved slightly, and he commented again.
"Fingel, tell me honestly, was it Lu Mingfei who shot Caesar and the others?" "Nono" messaged Fingel privately in the backend.
Fingel multitasked, setting up the betting options on one side.
"YES or NO."
And giving a business presentation to "Nono" on the other.
"This involves exclusive information, it's a paid option. Given our relationship, I won't charge too much. How about 1000 per copy?" Fingel typed:
"Disclaimer: The information cannot be freely disclosed before the 3E Exam ends. You can pay after the 3E Exam, but you should be careful, or I'll hang you on the forum."
Chen Motong, in Norton Hall, froze, then laughed in exasperation at Fingel's words. She actually had an answer in her heart, but she wasn't sure.
"Okay, I'll give it to you." Chen Motong replied, "Fingel, you're too greedy."
Fingel picked his nose. If you weren't ruthless, you wouldn't make money. He quickly sent the video of Lu Mingfei furiously killing three people privately.
Then he started setting the pace in the post again.
"I'll start us off. I'm betting 100 that he passes!" Fingel placed his bet.
"Fingel, are you so poor that you have to use your direct junior brother to pay off your loans?" Someone mocked.
The bets on the "No" side quickly soared, the number soon exceeding twenty thousand.
Meanwhile, the "Yes" side still only had Fingel's 100. From the information displayed earlier, no one could analyze Lu Mingfei as an S-rank.
Naturally, no one would bet on the "Yes" side.
But those who knew Fingel well understood that Fingel never made a losing bet. After all, if he lost this bet, he would owe a large sum of money.
Immediately, someone realized something was wrong and switched windows to private message Fingel.
And this was exactly what Fingel wanted.
He sent the same words he had given to Chen Motong, verbatim, to these people.
Just then, the video was still in the process of being transmitted.
Someone with the ID "Murasame" left a comment.
"I bet 500 that Lu Mingfei can pass the exam."
The discussion area fell silent for a moment. That was Chu Zihang, the Lionheart Society president's ID, rarely seen in the discussion area.
The silent Lionheart Society president had actually broken his rule to gamble, betting 500 on Lu Mingfei passing.
"I bet 5000." Someone with the ID "Dick Tudou" commented.
"Caesar!" Someone exclaimed.
"I bet Lu Mingfei cannot pass the exam." After Caesar said this, he disconnected, leaving behind a temporarily frozen discussion area.
The College's Twin Stars, not only a beautiful term for their strength but also a beautification of their relationship.
Caesar and Chu Zihang, in the students' memory, had actually never agreed on a single thing.
Except for today, when they admitted that the victor of Free Day was not them.
At this moment, the video Fingel was transmitting had just finished sending.
After a barrage of curses directed at Fingel, nine more investments appeared on the "NO" side.
Fingel's lips curved into a smile in front of the screen. This way, a guaranteed 5000 in shared profit was definitely secured.
He wasn't some unscrupulous senior brother; this money would definitely be split fifty-fifty with Lu Mingfei.
Oh, right, where's Lu Mingfei?
Fingel peered left and right, wondering where Lu Mingfei had run off to.