Chapter 8: Cheating? I'll Blow Your Head Off!

As the sun set in the west, a heartbroken soul wandered at the edge of the world.

Inside the presidential suite of the Regent Hotel, a girl with long red hair dressed casually sat before a computer, her delicate and radiant face etched with profound doubt about life itself.

“This just isn’t possible.”

Her rosy lips parted slightly, the silver four-leaf clover earring dangling and swaying as if mirroring the turmoil shaking her heart like an earthquake.

“What’s impossible?” a sharp-featured girl with short hair in a business skirt glanced sideways, curious as she examined the screen showing a base devastated by a swarm of insect-like troops.

The red-haired girl, known as Nono—the one who had just challenged Lu Mingfei—stammered, “Just now, Norma and I teamed up two against one, and Lu Mingfei soundly defeated us in four straight matches.”

“Seriously? Even with Norma’s assistance, you lost?” Judea Ji found it hard to believe.

Norma was the academy’s central computer, a super-intelligent AI straight out of a sci-fi movie. With her help, losing would be unthinkable unless the opponent was cheating.

“It’s true. And in the very first match, he caught me cheating.” Nono turned the screen toward her senior, her face showing unmistakable frustration and embarrassment.

The other party’s mind was sharp and unpredictable, employing all sorts of deceptive tactics, rendering Norma’s map hack nearly useless.

Reading the barrage of insults in the chat—accusations of cheating, corruption, foul play, and claims that even cheating couldn’t secure a win, suggestions to go home and feed pigs, and mockery that her resistance was weaker than that of the eighteenth foot masseur—Judea Ji was left speechless.

This future junior was truly something, spouting one-liners non-stop.

Once enrolled, he would surely get along well with the academy’s gossip-hungry news department.

Seeing the junior’s puffed-up anger, Judea Ji gently soothed her, “Alright, don’t be mad. You’re just not good at this game.”

Since Norma had been directing most of the actions and Nono was only executing, losing wasn’t entirely unexpected.

Yet, Nono couldn’t swallow the bitter pill after reading the final taunt on the chat: “No way, I’m going to confront him!”

With that, she shut down the game and prepared to storm out, her fierce demeanor like a bandit ready to settle scores, unwilling to rest until she had left a few holes in Lu Mingfei.

The elegant senior quickly grabbed her arm, worried that this junior, known as the little witch of the academy, might really go cause trouble for Lu Mingfei.

After all, their upcoming interview’s prime candidate was Lu Mingfei himself. If he were injured and unable to attend, Professor Gudrian might be driven to despair.

Across the room, a handsome young man in a dark green school uniform set down his phone, his expression somewhat odd.

“The professor just sent a message. The candidate has confirmed attendance for the interview the day after tomorrow.”

Nono, defeated, sat back down. “Then why the face? Is he demanding a performance fee or something?”

“No, it’s just that Lu Mingfei disguised himself as his uncle to call the professor earlier. The professor was so excited he didn’t realize it,” Ye Sheng said with a touch of helplessness.

The Kassel Academy had sent out many interview invitations, but only Lu Mingfei’s came with a phone and Professor Gudrian’s number attached. The professor naturally assumed it was Lu Mingfei’s guardian calling.

“Why would he pretend to be an adult? Trying to sneak into the interview and give his aunt and uncle a big surprise?” The red-haired girl tilted her head and answered herself:

“That’s impossible. Lu Mingfei’s too timid, and his aunt is strict and controlling. He wouldn’t dare hide something so important as this interview.”

“Exactly.” Judea Ji glanced down at the materials in her hands, fully agreeing.

From all the information gathered, Professor Gudrian seemed to place great importance on the student—who, by all accounts, was a complete underachiever, a total loser.

“It’s strange. When he was trash-talking during the game, he was so aggressive. Why is he so timid around family and classmates?”

Concealed White Jade rubbed her chin thoughtfully. Nono’s gaze was deep, as if a blind student trying to find a glimmer of brilliance.

“Is he just hiding too well, or has he been spoiled to the point he only dares to vent his frustrations online?”

“No, tomorrow I must observe him up close.”

…

“I thought he was something special, but turns out he’s just a hacker. Dare to act tough? I’ll make you fly!”

Lu Mingfei twisted open a bottle of energy drink and downed it, the loneliness of an undefeated expert etched on his face.

Behind him, a crowd had gathered—no exceptions, all older internet addicts drawn in by his recent ruthless takedown of a cheater. They were now praising Lu Mingfei as a vigilante upholding justice.

“Admin, bring two packs of instant noodles for this handsome guy. That was truly satisfying to watch!”

“Two cans of pineapple beer too! I want to toast him!”

“With skills like that, why not go pro and make a name? Sitting in a cybercafe and playing god?”

The internet cafe was noisy, but Lu Mingfei barely noticed. After rising to fame, he rarely came here, so this was more like revisiting old haunts.

Grateful to the spectators who brought him snacks and drinks, he shut down the computer and prepared to leave.

Returning to seventeen, his hormones were still quite active.

Normally, he wouldn’t even care about such obvious provocations.

But because of his rebirth, there was a spark of anger inside.

Thanks to that cheating player, after thrashing him, much of his frustration and anxiety about the unknown had been quelled.

“What a good person,” he murmured, hailed a taxi, and headed toward the Regent Hotel.

Since he had nowhere else to go, he might as well stay somewhere close to the school and convenient for the interview.

It would also give him a chance to lie in wait nearby and see if he could catch a glimpse of Professor Gudrian.

Judging from the earlier phone call, the absent-minded professor seemed particularly invested in him.

There’s often a kind of face blindness between races—Caucasians see Asians as all the same, Asians see Caucasians as a uniform set—especially since Gudrian was an elderly man.

He wanted to see if this “chosen child” appearing accidentally within the professor’s sight would catch his attention.

If the professor could recognize him instantly or soon after, it would be clear that there was something fishy about this interview!

Either the professor was truly connected, or Kassel Academy had ulterior motives.

Outside the window, the scenery flashed by. Lu Mingfei stowed away his thoughts and struck up a conversation with the chatty taxi driver.

From traffic conditions to the school run, and then to the luxury cars ferrying the wealthy students of Shilan Middle School, Lu Mingfei skillfully steered the conversation toward the topic he wanted:

“Driver, I remember there used to be a ten-million-yuan luxury car in our city, really cool.”

In his previous life, he had gotten entangled with the Chu family because of that Maybach sliding on a rainy night.

“Oh, you mean the Maybach 62.” The driver clearly recalled the car and sighed:

“Good car, but it was scrapped after just two years.”

“Scrapped?” Lu Mingfei’s heart skipped a beat, masking his concern. “Didn’t it just flip over? Shouldn’t it be fixable?”

He vividly remembered the typhoon Dandelion’s arrival. The six-meter-long Maybach had slid and flipped right before his eyes.

If he hadn’t pulled the father and son out immediately, they would certainly have caught a cold from the rain.

Given the damage, if the car was scrapped, the people inside should have been pretty badly hurt too.

The driver glanced in the rearview mirror with a smile. “You must be mistaken. Five years ago during that typhoon, the Maybach crashed on the elevated highway and was so badly damaged it wasn’t worth repairing.”

“Elevated highway?” Lu Mingfei frowned. Didn’t Uncle Chu and the others detour because the elevated road was closed?

“Yes. Apparently, the driver took a shortcut and wrecked the boss’s car. Luckily, the boss wasn’t upset—just got a new car and a new driver afterward.”

The driver spoke with genuine admiration—no wonder such a big local taxpayer was so generous; he earned as much as his grand manners.

Hearing this, Lu Mingfei’s anxiety eased slightly. So it was the driver who had the accident.

Just as he was about to ask if there were any other passengers, the taxi stopped. Outside was the bustling, high-rise-filled Central Business District.

“You’ve arrived, handsome. Good luck on your college entrance exam—aim for Tsinghua or Peking University, and maybe my cab will soak up some of your brilliance, haha.”

Lu Mingfei paused while unbuckling his seatbelt, twitching a smile. “Thanks for the kind wishes.”