Chapter 35: A Drunken Predicament and a Revealed Identity

It’s a well-known fact that the wealthy approach gaming differently from the average person.

Take He Yao, for instance. Though the game he played was merely a mobile one, he was not only the guild leader but also ran a guild that paid its members salaries.

“I wasn’t supposed to be online today, but here I am! Brothers, you know the drill! Let’s conquer the leaderboards!”

Upon receiving his message, the guild members, who had assumed their leader wouldn’t be online, erupted in excitement.

He Yao’s guild was renowned for offering some of the best benefits among all guilds. Playing games here not only cost nothing but even offered a chance to earn money.

He Yao promptly put on his headphones, knowing that if anything truly urgent arose, Liu Xingyue would find him.

At this moment, his focus needed to be entirely on the game. While mobile game controls were simpler than PC games, simplicity often demanded even greater concentration.

To surpass others in something seemingly easy, one had to strive for absolute perfection in every minute detail.

Thus, he had to wear his headphones and maintain unwavering focus.

Therefore…

“He Yao!”

Liu Xingyue called out twice, already knowing He Yao hadn’t heard her.

She gazed at Lin Han, who was pressed close against her, almost on top of her.

‘Could this entire situation today actually be a trap set for me?’

She recalled Teacher Liu’s admonishment from that morning.

‘I was wrong. I shouldn’t have such devious thoughts. And why did I volunteer to look after Teacher Lin in the first place? This is terrible!’

‘No, I have to transform into a magical girl again. Teacher Lin interrupted me halfway through my transformation earlier… I need to be more careful about that in the future…’

‘Wait, such a strong smell of alcohol. What are you doing, Teacher Lin!’

‘No, you can’t! You absolutely can’t!’

‘I have a boyfriend!’

‘If you do this, what am I supposed to do?!’

‘Come to think of it, from this angle, Teacher Lin actually looks a little handsome…’

‘No!’

It was difficult to describe the complex turmoil within the young girl at that moment.

She struggled frantically, only to discover that Lin Han’s strength was terrifying. Her hands felt as if they were clamped in an iron vice, utterly unable to move.

‘I’m sorry, Teacher Lin. If it comes to this, even if it hurts you, I will…’

Pinned beneath Lin Han, she transformed into Emerald.

He Yao subtly lifted his head, sensing the aura of a magical girl.

‘Liu Xingyue truly has no patience. Is she really going to transform into a magical girl just to sober up Teacher Lin? Is it truly right to abuse the power of a magical girl like this?’

‘Still, never mind. It’s fine. I transform myself for no reason all the time, so it’s probably not a big deal,’ he mused.

With that, he resumed playing his game.

However, Emerald was utterly stunned at this moment.

Because…

Even after transforming into a magical girl, her wrist remained firmly gripped by Lin Han, leaving her utterly immobile.

“Wtf?!”

‘What kind of joke is this?’

‘Didn’t I transform? Did my transformation fail?!’

‘What the hell is this?’

‘She felt as though she could collapse the entire bed with her strength, yet why was she still so tightly restrained by Teacher Lin?!’

Lin Han seemed to sense an abnormality.

He leaned even closer to Emerald, his entire body pressing against hers.

“…”

The man’s alcohol-laden breath washed over Emerald’s face, causing her cheeks to flush crimson, like a fiery sunset.

‘This, this isn’t right, is it?’

‘If this continues, something very bad is going to happen, isn’t it?’

‘Liu Xingyue, this is wrong, something is amiss here… but…’

Her breathing grew ragged, and she felt her mind slowly losing the ability to think clearly.

How could she possibly remain lucid?

‘Lucid!’

‘Yes!’

‘Lucid!’

She decided to stop struggling, allowing Lin Han’s entire body to press against hers.

Forcing herself to endure the warmth radiating from him, she cried out, “Emerald Healing Light!”

A faint green light flowed into Lin Han’s body.

The scent of alcohol on Lin Han slowly dissipated.

Half a minute later, the haze in Lin Han’s eyes gradually cleared, replaced by lucidity.

At that moment, Liu Xingyue also reverted from her magical girl form.

Lin Han blinked, taking a moment to reassess his current situation.

‘Wait a minute, what exactly is happening here?’

‘Why is it that I seem to have woken up to find my student pinned beneath me, her cheeks flushed crimson, her eyes moist, looking utterly exquisite—’

‘What on earth happened?’

‘My teaching license?!’

“Teacher… are you… going to continue?”

As if springs were coiled within him, Lin Han shot up from the bed, stumbling back a few steps.

“Liu! Liu Xingyue! You, what is this! What am I doing?!”

Lin Han swore that this was the most flustered he had been since leaving that organization and becoming a teacher.

Even when He Yao had transformed into Ink Crystal and teased him a while ago, he hadn’t been this panicked.

After all, he had been sober then and capable of rejecting Ink Crystal.

Now, in this situation, what could he possibly say?

From Liu Xingyue’s expression, it seemed as though he had already committed some utterly inhumane act.

‘If she decided to pursue this matter, his life would be completely over!’

However…

If he truly had done those things, then he would have no choice but to face the consequences.

After all, one must bear the results of their actions.

He slapped his own face, forcing himself to calm down.

Liu Xingyue must be incredibly panicked right now, and as the culprit, he absolutely couldn’t scare her further.

“Liu Xingyue, I know you’re scared right now, but I’m sober, and I won’t do anything inappropriate to you. Can you tell me what just happened? If I did something out of line, you can call the police and have me arrested. I absolutely won’t utter a single word of protest.”

Hearing his words, Liu Xingyue slowly regained her composure.

‘What was I even thinking just now?’

She quickly climbed off the bed herself, tidying her clothes.

“No, nothing, Teacher Lin. Nothing happened. You were drunk. He Yao was originally going to look after you, but I realized he had a game event today… so I offered to take care of you.

It was just a few accidents just now. Nothing major happened.”

‘Did nothing happen?’

“You don’t need to worry about me. I, your teacher, won’t deny my mistakes. You can tell me what I did; I won’t deny it.”

He knew Liu Xingyue’s identity, so he understood that his sudden sobriety was likely due to her using Emerald’s powers.

However, he had no intention of exposing that fact.

Yet, this also meant that he had pushed Liu Xingyue to the point of transforming into a magical girl.

‘Had he truly intended to do something inappropriate to her while he was drunk?’

‘But that shouldn’t be right… When he got drunk, he was usually supposed to be quite well-behaved.’

At this moment, Liu Xingyue had truly sobered up.

She couldn’t help but think of someone.

Kamen Rider Great Aum.

After all, she had just transformed into a magical girl; humans shouldn’t possess such powers.

Of course, it was also possible that Teacher Lin was a monster.

But that didn’t quite fit.

Currently, there were still four masked figures at large, but their active times didn’t align with Teacher Lin’s.

In this Clear Sky City, the only peculiar individual who had recently appeared was Kamen Rider Great Aum.

Speaking of which, Great Aum had escaped her and Amethyst’s pursuit before, riding a strange motorcycle.

‘She had heard that Teacher Lin’s salary was entirely spent on modifying his motorcycle.’

He Yao had previously mentioned being very interested in this Kamen Rider Great Aum.

‘Could he really not have noticed that he was right beside him?’

However, such things were actually quite normal. Throughout history, there had been cases where a powerful magical girl’s arch-nemesis turned out to be her closest friend.

The closer people were, the less they suspected each other of having other identities. Their mutual understanding and firm conviction in their own judgments led them to trust each other’s words implicitly.

Even if there were some issues, a casual explanation was enough for them to believe.

‘Who would ever investigate someone they held dear?’

Thus, it was entirely normal that He Yao hadn’t discovered Teacher Lin’s true identity.

In that case…

“Teacher Lin, you certainly did do something inappropriate to me just now. I honestly thought I was going to be ‘eaten’ by you today.”

A subtle change flickered in Liu Xingyue’s eyes.

Lin Han bowed deeply and earnestly.

“I am truly very sorry! I won’t ask for your forgiveness, but I hope to alleviate your anger.”

“Teacher Lin, there’s no need for that.”

A playful expression crossed Liu Xingyue’s face.

“However, if Teacher can answer one question for me, I think we can keep today’s incident our little secret. How about that?”

Lin Han looked up, surprised, his gaze fixed on Liu Xingyue with a hint of confusion.

Liu Xingyue spoke with a touch of embarrassment.

“Nothing actually happened between us, but such intimate contact… I am He Yao’s girlfriend, after all. If someone found out about us like this, it wouldn’t be good, and I don’t want anyone else to know.”

‘Lin Han felt he had truly gone too far.’

‘He resolved to quit drinking in the future, never imagining He Yao’s alcohol could be so intoxicating.’

“Speak.”

“Teacher, you didn’t seem surprised when you sobered up just now. Is it because you know my identity?” Liu Xingyue asked with a smile.

“I saw you glance at your watch earlier, Teacher.”

‘She noticed,’ he thought.

“Are you referring to the identity of Emerald?”

“So Teacher, you really do know… Did He Yao tell you?”

“You two left together during the exam, didn’t you? You said you were going to the infirmary, but when I checked, you weren’t there. That’s how I generally figured out your identity.”

‘Was Teacher Liu also discovered?’ he wondered. ‘After all, Teacher Liu said she was going to check the surveillance, but she didn’t actually.’

‘Still, it’s probably better not to mention that here,’ he decided.

“Well, since Teacher knows my identity, but I don’t know Teacher’s identity, isn’t that a bit unfair?”

“My identity? What identity do I have?”

Liu Xingyue leaned closer to Lin Han.

“Heh, Teacher, that’s not very nice, is it? Didn’t I say I could make a condition? But Teacher, you’re not admitting anything at all~ Kamen Rider, Mr. Great Aum~”

“…”

‘If I drink again, I’m a dog,’ Lin Han silently vowed to himself.

‘To think I’m completely exposed,’ he thought.