Chapter 11: Chapter 11

"Why do you all look so surprised? Is it really that strange for me to have a wife?"

"No, no, no, it's more than strange! In my memory, teacher Liushu has always been a super deadbeat, so how could you possibly have a wife? Who would be interested in you? And what trick did you use to fool someone into marrying you?"

Mo Ying was the first to express disbelief.

"Teacher Liushu, your wife... does she actually exist? A wife in your phone doesn't count..."

Even Xiya didn't believe him.

"Non-human doesn't count either!"

"Teacher Liushu! You must have read too many online novels and started believing some beautiful girl would fall into your lap for free. It's impossible. You need to wake up."

"What are you all talking about... My lover is real."

Liushu lit a cigarette.

Liushu's expression, for once, became a bit more serious. He didn't look like he was just spouting nonsense.

The three students glanced at each other, faces blank with shock.

"Then how come we've never seen her?"

"She's far away, but she'll come back someday, I'm sure of it."

That was the first time the students saw a hint of happiness in Liushu's smile.

It seemed to be true!

"I can't accept this!"

Mo Ying began rolling on the grass in frustration.

"Even Teacher Liushu has a wife now, and I haven't even been in a relationship! I want to have a passionate romance with a man just like my father! I'm already nineteen!"

"Please, just lower your voice a little. If this keeps up, the whole world will know you're a daddy's girl."

Liushu covered his face.

"Ahhh! I can't accept it, I can't accept it!!"

Mo Ying flailed her legs and then curled up, rolling around on the grass.

Do people really act when they're extremely unwilling to accept something...?

"Teacher Liushu... class is over..."

Teacher Zhi Ying walked over and quietly reminded them.

Liushu glanced at his phone; it was about time.

"I'm begging you, could you at least teach for one more minute, even if it's half-heartedly?"

Teacher Zhi Ying seemed exasperated.

"All right, all right, class dismissed. It's so late already. Mo Ying, stop rolling. Let's go eat."

Liushu picked up Mo Ying, who was now covered in grass, and headed for the cafeteria.

What? You're wondering why Liushu took Mo Ying to the cafeteria?

That's because there's a discount for student meal sets, but not for teachers. Liushu could have Mo Ying buy two sets.

"Teacher Zhi Ying, have you ever heard about Teacher Liushu's wife?"

Xiya was cleaning up the trash left on the ground.

"Teacher Liushu's wife? Huh, is this some new kind of cold joke?" Google seaʀᴄh Nove1Fire.net

Zhi Ying's first reaction was that it was a prank.

It seemed even Teacher Zhi Ying hadn't heard anything about Liushu having a wife.

"I don't think Teacher Liushu was lying, because... that smile was truly a happy one,"

Xiya tossed her trash into the bin.

"If Liushu really does have a wife, that's reasonable, I suppose. With you three beauties on his team, yet he still acts utterly listless and never tries to show off."

"It would make sense if he's been married all along."

"Still, I'm really shocked that someone could actually fall for Teacher Liushu..."

No wonder, really, because Teacher Liushu's entire demeanor was that of a super slovenly uncle, his dress was ordinary, he didn't look rich, and there was nothing about him that girls would find attractive at all.

"I'll ask him about it myself another day. For now, I need to plan where I can have a rare drink this weekend, whoop!"

Teacher Zhi Ying started planning her weekend and walked away.

It was Saturday. The school was on holiday and there were no classes.

As time passed, it became late afternoon.

Mo Ying lay in bed, covered with her blanket, holding her phone and scrolling through today's news.

One look at her and you could tell she'd pulled an all-nighter gaming.

Reaching under her pillow, Mo Ying took out a prism-shaped shard.

There was a clock hand on the shard, slowly rotating.

This was a gift from someone named Yinhua.

It was also this gift that brought her and Xiya to Yggdonia.

"I'm giving this to you. When you reach the future, return it to me."

"Goodbye, Mo Ying... we'll meet again in the future."

Those were the words spoken to her by the girl named Yinhua.

This thing couldn't be stored in her space, so Mo Ying could only keep it under her pillow.

She hadn't told anyone about the shard, not even Teacher Liushu or her roommate Xiya.

Because this fragment possessed an incredibly terrifying power.

Mo Ying gently moved the dial on the shard.

Soon, Xiya would open the dorm room door and bring her dinner.

... This shard allowed Mo Ying to see the future.

The sound of a key turning came from the dorm door.

Mo Ying quickly put away the fragment.

Xiya came in, carrying her dinner for the night.

Just as Mo Ying had seen moments earlier.

Xiya put dinner on Mo Ying's desk.

Mo Ying stretched, yawned, and sat up.

"You played games way too late last night."

"Well, it's my day off today—nothing scheduled."

Mo Ying headed to the bathroom, quickly tidied her messy hair, and threw on some clothes.

After getting ready, Mo Ying sat down at her computer, pulled up a video, and began to dig in.

"Good evening, ailu. Business is great as always,"

Liushu stepped into a tavern called Seat of Dawn.

Ailu was the proprietress here.

"Good evening, Liushu,"

Ailu greeted him warmly.

"It's a rare holiday tonight, so bring me three beers—chilled, thanks."

"All right, coming right up."

The tavern was busy and Ailu was a bit overwhelmed.

Liushu wasn't in a rush and found himself a seat.

A petite silver-haired girl brought Liushu three bottles of liquor labeled 96°.

"Tina, it's not vodka I asked for—just regular beer,"

The girl, Tina, was clearly not human—her eyes flickered with data. She was a Tianke: a machine.

Tina seemed to realize her mistake, took the vodka away...

Then she returned with six bottles of vodka.

"That's not what I asked for either..."

"Tina, don't come to the front counter if your systems are malfunctioning."

Another girl with long gray hair came out from behind Tina. Her name was Lilica, and like Tina, she worked part-time in the tavern.

It was normal for machines to malfunction occasionally, but Tina's glitches had lasted a long time, and still hadn't been fixed.

Lilica finally set down three bottles of beer for Liushu.

"You two don't have it easy here,"

Liushu sighed, cracking open a beer.

"It's not too bad. Work isn't exhausting—I don't get tired,"

Lilica replied. She wasn't human either, but a doll.

Both dolls and Tianke were rare races, but here they appeared together in this tavern.

"I'll get back to work. Call me if you need anything more."

Lilica wheeled Tina away.

Liushu didn't say anything. He simply drank beer all the way until deep into the night, when almost all the customers had left.

Lilica came back over to his table.

"Don't get too into your waitress role. You two aren't here just for the job, are you?"

Liushu lit another cigarette.

"We've been working on the hunting ground investigation too. We even spent a lot of money buying intel from Hunters, but it's all been useless."

"Hunting grounds just appear out of nowhere, no warning at all."

"I've fought my way to the deepest part of the hunting ground, and there was nothing, just a bunch of sickening monsters. I killed so many my hand nearly broke,"

Lilica said, pulling off her left hand with her right as easily as removing a doll's part.

"See? It's even cracking. I'll need to get it fixed again."

Lilica reattached her hand.

"How many monsters did you kill...?"

"Hundreds of thousands?"

Lilica replied vaguely.

"You literally hacked your way through the hunting ground..."

Liushu said, sweating.

"I've tried collecting information both inside and outside the hunting grounds, but there's really nothing useful. What do you expect—me to sit down and interview the monsters?"

Lilica spread her hands, clearly exasperated.

"You and the others found nothing either?"

"Not a thing! If I had, would I still be asking you?"

Liushu flicked his finished cigarette into the bin.

"Every day at a certain special time, the hunting ground resets, and the monsters are revived. So, going on a killing spree inside doesn't accomplish anything. We have to figure out why the hunting grounds appear in the first place."

"Honestly, it's a crap job,"

"I agree—the main reason is Luna doesn't care at all. If she'd make a move for once, we wouldn't be working this hard,"

"You're better off looking at the sky than expecting anything from her."

"Maybe someone will just fall from the sky and answer all your questions."

Liushu lit another cigarette.

He wasn't kidding, because their boss really was that unreliable.

"I also think that's more likely."

Lilica let out another sigh.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=

Hmmm, they're investigating something...

Also, is Yinhua the forgotten girl?