Chapter 2: He Yao’s Sanctuary

Summer mornings typically dawned early.

By eight o’clock, the sun was already blazing high in the sky.

He Yao involuntarily shielded his forehead with a hand, unable to stop himself from complaining, “Such a strong sun this early in the morning—does it want to roast people alive to be satisfied? And the school, too. Why don’t they give us a break for this scorching heat?”

Of course, his complaints were futile, destined to bring about no change whatsoever.

In such sweltering summer weather, even Kaijin probably wouldn’t bother causing trouble. All he wanted was to lie in bed, air conditioning blasting, luxuriating in his soft blankets, with a bottle of soda and an anime playing.

Nothing could be more blissful than that.

Walking along the school path, many students in uniforms similar to his own passed him by. No one greeted him, but it didn’t matter; he had no friends anyway.

As he stepped onto the school grounds, he spotted a ‘Senior Cat’ on the roadside, being fed by several schoolgirls.

‘Heh heh~ How wonderful! How could being human be as good as being a cat? What a despicable feline! Flaunting its pitiful appearance, completely forgetting its duty as a cat. If it were thrown outside, it would probably starve or be torn to death in one night, haha~ What a ridiculous, fawning posture…’

His dark murmurs went unheard by others. He wasn’t the type to unknowingly blurt out unpleasant words; he made sure no one could clearly hear him.

‘And these women, do they think they’re so loving? If they’re so loving, why don’t they care for other things? Is it because cats are cute? Heh heh~ Hypocritical…’

Lost in his own sense of superiority, He Yao slowly made his way into the classroom.

Classes officially began at nine, but by this hour, many classmates had already arrived.

He glanced up and saw the class’s popular heartthrob, Ye Liuyun, chatting with the girls. This man was, naturally, an object of envy and jealousy.

A type of person completely unrelated to himself.

He Yao silently averted his gaze.

He walked to his own corner, set down his backpack, pulled out his homework, and placed it on the desk. Then, he took out a book titled *Daughter, Do You Understand Filial Piety?*

Though its title sounded utterly bizarre, it was a work of the magical girl genre.

Magical girl stories were immensely popular, and for good reason: magical girls truly existed in this world.

Roughly fifty years ago, aggregations of humanity’s negative energy, creatures called Kaiju, first appeared. Simultaneously, magical girls—beings embodying humanity’s finest qualities, symbols of love and hope—were also born.

They fought against the Kaiju, maintaining world peace.

They were the true guardians of order.

Naturally, with the existence of magical girls, there were those who sought to exploit the power of Kaiju, leading to the emergence of the Kaijin organizations—

Magical girls tirelessly battled against humanity’s negative energies and these malevolent forces.

Consequently, the magical girl genre was extremely popular, an enduring series. The particular book he was reading, however, took a different approach.

It told the story of an old father-in-law who became a magical girl and competed with his own daughter for a man.

The author was arguably a little too perverse. Everyone knew magical girls were beautiful young women, yet this author not only turned a man into a magical girl, but an old father at that…

But for a seasoned otaku like him, such unconventional themes resonated more deeply. Ordinary stories rarely offered him any thrill anymore.

Before long, their row’s group leader approached, collecting the neatly arranged homework from his desk.

She cast a glance at the man engrossed in his novel, thick glasses perched on his nose. Then her eyes flickered to the two beautiful girls, one black and one white, depicted on the novel’s cover.

A look of disgust crossed her face.

“Tch! Disgusting,” she muttered under her breath, then walked away with the assignments.

He Yao subtly raised his head, watching the departing group leader. Then he lowered his gaze, continuing to read his novel.

‘What do foolish women understand? They are merely worldly people.’

As the school bell rang, He Yao tucked his book into his desk and looked up towards the podium.

Their homeroom teacher, a woman in her thirties named Liu Yun, walked to the front of the class. In her arms, she carried a stack of test papers.

“The monthly exam results from last week are in. First place is still Ye Liuyun. Keep up the good work. Come up and get your paper.”

Ye Liuyun gracefully walked to the podium, retrieved his test paper, and offered a gentle smile.

“Second place, He Yao.” Liu Yun seemed about to say something more, but seeing He Yao timidly approach the stage, she hesitated. “Your paper, you did well.”

Unlike Ye Liuyun, who claimed the top spot.

Murmurs rippled through the classroom.

“Did he cheat? Last time I asked him a question, he stammered and couldn’t answer. I heard he brings his phone to school to play games, so maybe he just looked up the answers online during the test.”

Similar comments abounded.

“Third place…”

Liu Yun continued distributing the papers.

He Yao took his test paper and returned to his seat.

How irritating.

But it mattered little.

If they thought he cheated, then so be it. When the college entrance exam came, wouldn’t his score be his own to command? Who were these people, anyway?

They were merely common people.

Heh, commoners~

After the test papers were distributed, regular classes resumed, followed by physical education.

In this era of Kaiju, Kaijin, and magical girls, physical education had become extremely important—primarily for improving everyone’s physical fitness, training escape methods, and even combat techniques.

The main goal was to equip ordinary students with the ability to escape during Kaiju or Kaijin attacks. However, history also recorded instances of exceptionally outstanding individuals confronting Kaijin with weapons, despite being mere mortals.

Of course, the primary focus of training remained escape. This included various methods of evasion and crucial considerations during flight.

This was a subject He Yao was particularly bad at.

However, after the strenuous exercise, there would be free activity time. More diligent students would actively seek out the P.E. teacher to learn combat techniques, especially the girls.

After all—what if one day they became a magical girl?

It was said that high school was the stage when one was most likely to awaken as a magical girl.

Of course, some magical girls chose to conceal their identities, while others openly revealed them. Both approaches had their pros and cons.

Those who concealed their identities were much safer, and their families were also more secure. However, they had to invent various excuses when needing to act, making secrecy a very arduous task.

Those who went public, on the other hand, received many privileges, such as the power to skip classes. Even those who kept their identities hidden still received substantial national subsidies, a very high income, awarded for their contributions to maintaining world peace.

However, openly revealing one’s identity primarily made them vulnerable to Kaijin exploiting their weaknesses.

Kaiju, on the other hand, were less affected by this.

He Yao liked this particular time mainly because…

He made his way to the physics lab.

“Yo~ He Yao, you’re here again today?”

“Teacher Lin, aren’t you here too?”

He Yao, holding his novel, entered the physics lab. “There’s no physics class today, is there?”

“Teacher, I don’t just teach your one class,” Lin Han said with a laugh. “Come check out the new spray paint I got today! This color is called ‘Psychedelic Rainbow.’ I can’t even imagine how cool it’ll look on my motorcycle, and it glows at night. I went through a lot of trouble to find the relevant information. Want me to spray a little on something for you? I guarantee you’ll be the coolest kid in school!”

He Yao quickly shook his head. “Teacher, you enjoy it yourself! Riding your motorcycle around all day—those who know you think you’re a physics teacher, but those who don’t might think you’re a delinquent biker! Thirty years old and still riding a motorcycle—no wonder you don’t have a partner, Teacher!”

Lin Han’s face immediately fell. “You, every single day! Teacher, I just don’t want a partner! You wouldn’t believe the looks those young women give me when I’m riding my motorcycle down the street!”

“Oh, please!”

He Yao’s connection with his physics teacher dated back to a year ago, just a month after he enrolled.

He hadn’t made any friends, and his reclusive life was to be expected. He saw no problem with it. However, Teacher Lin, who also served as a ‘mental counselor,’ meddled, believing he had psychological issues and insisting on providing counseling.

This included forcefully taking him for rides on his motorcycle through the streets after school.

Their relationship subsequently grew much closer.

He Yao, of course, still didn’t make any friends later on. But Lin Han also confirmed that the boy truly didn’t care about having friends, often immersing himself alone in his own world.

Yet, they truly shared a bond as both teacher and friend.

The position of mental counselor was essential in this world. After all, Kaiju were aggregations of human negative energy. If someone developed psychological problems, it could easily lead to the birth of a Kaiju, bringing disaster to others.

Therefore, every street had dedicated mental counselors, precisely to prevent the emergence of extreme thoughts.

And teenagers, in particular, were at a sensitive age.

Thus, individuals like Lin Han paid extra attention to those who might be isolated, bullied, or harassed.

But He Yao, clearly, was not one of them.

Though the boy harbored a dark side, he was ultimately good-hearted—this was the conclusion Lin Han eventually reached.

However, He Yao now enjoyed spending time in the physics lab. As everyone knew, such classrooms were rarely used more than twice in three years of school.

If one truly wished to conduct experiments, graduate school offered plenty of opportunities.

Here, it was sparsely populated and quiet.

Teacher Lin also held no prejudice against his hobbies.

This allowed He Yao to feel completely at ease.

When the dismissal bell rang once more, He Yao stood up, putting away his novel. “Teacher Lin, you keep busy. I’m heading back to class.”

“Alright, go to class! Speaking of which, you deliberately didn’t do that last big physics question this time, did you, kid? You knew how to do it.”

“I might have just run out of time.”

“Don’t give me that! I wrote that test myself!”

He Yao shrugged. “Well, I couldn’t very well score higher than Ye Liuyun, could I? Even now, I’m being accused of copying answers online with my phone. If I got first in class, I can’t even imagine! If it weren’t for having to explain to my parents at home, I would have just aimed for the average score. This is all because of you, Teacher!”

Lin Han sighed helplessly. “Fine, just go at your own pace, but don’t get so used to controlling your score that you mess up the college entrance exam.”

“You’re cursing me, Teacher Lin!”