Chapter 29 : Sephirian Fantasy Club

I’m done.

Can’t take it anymore!

Whoever wants to solve this garbage math problem can have it!

I shoved the textbooks off my desk and stormed out of the classroom door under everyone’s shocked stares!

…Sorry, that was just a daydream skit in my head.

Anyone who’s been through the chaos I have—dodging assassins left and right—only to face the torture of math and physics would react the same.

Fiercely chickening out.

Thud.

Lost in my vivid, overly dramatic fantasy, I accidentally knocked a textbook to the floor with a slight flail.

“…” Meeting Teacher Xia’s gaze as she turned, I blinked awkwardly.

“Pick it up. What’re you staring at? I’m not free to help,” she said matter-of-factly, sparking friendly laughter from classmates.

Alright, I’ll pick it up quietly…

As I crouched, trying to be as low-key as possible, Teacher Xia added, as if remembering something, “Oh, Zhu Hanqi, come to my office after class. There’s something I need to tell you.”

Come on, it’s just a dropped book, not a tea-with-the-principal offense!

Seeing my silence, she coughed and emphasized, “It’s important!”

…

“Do you know why I called you here?”

“Because I disrespected my textbook?”

“Huh?”

Teacher Xia huh-ed me.

I lowered my head, feigning deep regret and remorse.

Regret, total regret.jpg

“Whatever I did wrong, I’m sorry, Teacher. I’ll repent and be a better person…”

“Your apologies are suspiciously polished,” she said, eyeing me skeptically. “Always up to no good, huh?”

Actually, I’m better at begging for my life, but those crazy girls—Shen Yingxu, Jiang Xiang—don’t listen, just chanting “stab you, stab you, stab you.”

From the south comes Shen Yingxu, from the north, Jiang Xiang.

Just as I reached a shaky truce with Shen Yingxu, Jiang Xiang-senpai comes at me with a fight-to-the-death vibe.

I haven’t applied to drop out—I’m loyal to this school!

“Maybe tell me what I did wrong so I can apologize more specifically?”

I ventured cautiously.

“Are you at a college thesis defense? Apologizing without explaining, just groveling at any question.”

Teacher Xia sighed deeply. “Thanks to kids like you, I now understand how tough my teachers had it when I was a student.”

“Haha, I’m not that great.”

“…” Rubbing her temples, she took a deep breath.

“I called you because you’re one of the few in our class who hasn’t picked a club.”

“Homebound Club,” I answered instantly.

“Dream on,” she shot back.

“Dream Research Club, then,” I persisted, unrepentant.

“Go die,” she shut me down.

So harsh.

“…Teacher, I really don’t want to join any club. I’m not social or group-friendly, and I don’t take orders well. Forcing me into one is just setting other clubs up for trouble.”

I pleaded with reason and emotion, nearly tearing up in confusion.

“You make a good case, but want to know the other students who haven’t picked clubs?”

Hold up.

“…Does that affect my club choice?” A bad feeling crept in.

“Normally, the school would turn a blind eye if you didn’t join. No one’s expecting much from you,” she said bluntly.

Ouch.

But props to the leaders—they read me right.

I’ll be a leader someday.

“But funny thing—when I asked Zhu Lulubing, Shen Yingxu, Ye Qingshu, and others, their club choice was unanimous: ‘Same club as you.’”

My eyes widened, lips trembling, speechless.

“The leaders couldn’t sit still.”

Teacher Xia spread her hands, looking at me with humanitarian concern.

“Those are good students—they can’t force them directly. But they can deal with you, the ringleader.”

Trouble finds me at home? I did nothing and I’m the mastermind?

Why am I always the scapegoat for their messes? Am I their control switch?!

You at least give a monkey a “wrecked the Peach Banquet” charge before pinning it!

“They ordered—ordered, mind you—that I make you pick a club and report it by Friday after school.”

Oh, by the way, it’s Thursday.

“I’ve dodged it for half a semester!” I protested. “Why now? What club would even take me, Teacher?!”

“Correction—you dared drag Zhu Lulubing and them for half a semester?!”

Teacher Xia added with dry humor.

“Don’t worry about no clubs wanting you. The restructured tennis club, the journalism club, and the art club that adores Zhu Lulubing would take you.”

Great. The first two, I’d probably die for stepping left foot first. The last, I’d be a bonus item, sold by the pound.

Fine, by the pound it is—better than workplace bullying.

“Then I’ll pick the art—”

“Oh, Zhu Lulubing said you didn’t want the art club, so she declined their invite. That option’s off.”

You can’t empathize with your past self.

I want to strangle the me who arrogantly swore off the art club for home.

Hey, past Zhu Hanqi, come out! Let’s duel!

“So what’s left, Teacher Xia? I jump off the roof, no elevator, no stairs?”

Propping her chin, she pondered. Despite the serious pose, her petite stature made it oddly cute.

Like a cat thinking—humans would laugh.

“I have an idea. Back when I was a student, I started a club with one of my teachers…”

She frowned at me.

“…You’re thinking something rude, aren’t you?”

“No way! I respect you 100%, hanging on your every word.”

I said humbly.

“Whatever, I won’t bicker with a brat like you.”

Teacher Xia waved it off.

“How about…”

“Starting your own club?”

…

“And so, our new club, ‘Sephirian Fantasy Club,’ is officially founded!!”

In the activity room we got from Teacher Xia, I collapsed onto the desk, pounding it in despair after my announcement.

Clap, clap…

Zhu Lulubing clapped enthusiastically, Ye Qingshu shook a maraca with an awkward smile, and Shen Yingxu just stared coldly.

“How did your bizarre brain come up with a name so vague yet pointedly specific?”

Good question—I’d like to know too.

Seeing Shen Yingxu’s existential-doubt face as she triple-checked the application, I knew the scolding was coming.

“I was joking with Teacher Xia, saying I just want to daydream, maybe call it the Dream Research Club.”

Slumping from the desk to the couch, I sprawled like my life was over.

“That’s better than this name.”

“She said no—conflicts with a past club.” My eyes were lifeless.

“…Our school actually had a club like that?”

Shen Yingxu gave a pained look.

The same girl who just said “Dream Research Club” was fine.

Fickle woman.

“I couldn’t find it, but she wouldn’t budge. So I said, fine, no daydreams—Fantasy Club. She said it’s okay but too vague, might not pass review, so add some words to make it seem legit.”

“Huh?”

Two days, two huhs. Call me Hah-qi from now on.

“Like Jiangcheng Folklore Club or Lucheng Humanities Club. High school clubs need specific, clear themes, ideally niche and neat.”

I waved the application form.

“And you jokingly picked this name?!”

Shen Yingxu stared, her expression screaming, “Are you an idiot?” and “No, you’re definitely an idiot.”

“It wasn’t me! It was—!”

“Me and Xiaoyao~”

The club door swung open, and, perfect timing, Jiang Xiang-senpai and Liu Senyao-senpai strolled in mid-conversation.

“Long time no see, juniors~”

“Uh? …H-Hi, senpais.”

Jiang Xiang-senpai glanced at me with a half-smile, gently taking the form from my hand.

“New clubs need at least five members. Zhu Hanqi came to Xiaoyao for help, hoping she’d join as a part-time member. I, with my vice-president workload lightened by new recruits, thought a club with you all would be fun, so I signed up as part-time too~”

Sounds nice, but she just tacked herself onto Liu Senyao’s application.

If Mu Ziqing hadn’t hit the three-club limit, I wouldn’t have been desperate enough to ask these “involved parties” for help.

“So the name was…”

Shen Yingxu eyed the senpais warily, always cautious of those who know Sephirian Continent.

“I picked it~”

Liu Senyao raised her hand, sticking out her tongue.

“It’s… the name of a continent from a story I imagined.”

Poor Liu Senyao didn’t notice the subtle looks on Shen Yingxu and Jiang Xiang’s cunning faces as she lied.

Zhu Lulubing? Her face was, as always, expressionless.

“I figured, since it’s just a name, one from a fantasy world fits, right? So I wrote it on the form—didn’t expect it to pass!”

“Yeah, totally unexpected. Sorry if it’s trouble.”

Jiang Xiang added.

I’d sooner believe Mu Ziqing’s a devoted romantic than think she didn’t nudge this along.

“The name’s too on-the-nose,” Shen Yingxu sighed, looking at me with pity.

I got her concern. The name’s so blatant, it’s like it was made to gather people tied to that world.

She first worried it was my trap to take them all down; now she’s worried I’ll be the one taken down…

Probably. I didn’t read her mind.

“So, ignoring the name, what does our club do?”

Ye Qingshu raised her hand timidly.

Haha, forgot we have a pure bystander here, clueless about Sephirian Continent, just tagging along…

Even mixed in, she’s an outsider.jpg

“I wrote something vague about fantasy creation and research. Since Zhu Lulubing’s here and ‘creation’ was in the pitch, the higher-ups approved it fast.”

For leaders banking on Zhu Lulubing’s influence, the club itself doesn’t matter—it’s about the national-treasure artist actively joining a Linjiang High club.

“Creation, huh… but…”

Ye Qingshu, the only member unlinked to Sephirian Continent, asked a bombshell question that silenced the room.

“Club activities count toward grades. Zhu Lulubing’s art counts as her output, but what about us? Skipping clubs gets a passing grade, but joining without results means zero points.”

…

“I declare the Sephirian Fantasy Club officially disbanded!!”

Fastest club collapse in history, center stage!