I Marked My Arch-Nemesis Omega - Chapter 18

After finishing her meal, Song Qing didn’t leave immediately. Instead, she waited for Sheng Yu to finish eating before leaving together. It had to be said that Sheng Yu ate really slowly—whether it was intentional or not was anyone’s guess.

The two walked out of the cafeteria side by side, with Liao Keke trailing behind them before quickly catching up.

“Sheng Yu!” Liao Keke called out.

“Hmm?” Sheng Yu turned her head to look at Liao Keke. “What’s up?”

Liao Keke glanced at Song Qing and quickly relayed the matter about Jiang Di.

After hearing it, Sheng Yu was speechless. “He thinks I’m crazy?”

“Yeah.” Liao Keke nodded.

“Sounds like he’s the one who’s crazy,” Sheng Yu scoffed.

“I think so too. I gotta go—he told me not to tell you, but I couldn’t help it.” Liao Keke waved her hand.

Sheng Yu noticed Song Qing’s gaze beside her. “President, if you have something to say, just say it.”

“I don’t have anything to say. I’m just curious why Jiang Di would think you’re crazy.”

“Because he’s crazy.” Sheng Yu shot Song Qing a look. “Isn’t it obvious? Someone as smart as you should be able to figure that out.”

Song Qing: “…”

The two parted ways at the teaching building. Sheng Yu returned to her class, contemplating the possibility of ambushing Jiang Di and beating him up in a sack.

She thought the chances were pretty high—she could even list three solid reasons for it.

Life in senior year was undeniably dull. After sitting quietly in class for half a month, Sheng Yu couldn’t take it anymore. Ever since Wen Nian had dragged Jiang Di away that day, Jiang Di hadn’t bothered her again, and life had lost much of its excitement.

During a break between classes, Sheng Yu clutched her stomach and walked into the teacher’s office.

“Teacher, I have a stomachache. I need to leave school early.” Sheng Yu’s face was pale, beads of cold sweat dotted her forehead, and her body trembled slightly.

The teacher, who had just watched the classroom surveillance footage a few minutes ago, stared at Sheng Yu, unsure what to say. She had witnessed the entire process of Sheng Yu preparing her performance.

“Are you really in pain?”

“Yeah.” Sheng Yu nodded. “I think I might have eaten something bad… Teacher, could you write me a leave slip first? I—I need to go to the bathroom.”

The teacher: “…”

She was really selling it.

The teacher quickly wrote out a leave slip and handed it to Sheng Yu, her expression a mix of exasperation and resignation. Still, she added, “Get some rest.”

“Thank you, teacher.” Sheng Yu put on a grateful expression, took the slip, and hurried out.

Sheng Yu packed up her bag and left the classroom.

Fu Lian could only watch enviously—he didn’t have Sheng Yu’s acting skills, nor her shamelessness.

On her way downstairs, Sheng Yu ran into Song Qing. With one hand clutching her stomach and the other waving the leave slip, she strutted past Song Qing with a smug look.

Song Qing turned to glance at her, only to see Sheng Yu skipping away as if afraid no one would notice she was faking it.

Sheng Yu returned to her rented apartment and retrieved the personal terminal she kept there. The latest notification was a transfer record—this month’s compensation had been deposited into her account.

She sat cross-legged on the floor for a while before undoing her hair tie and connecting to the terminal.

A man’s face appeared on the screen.

Sheng Yu smiled.

Although the teacher had only granted her a one-day leave on the excuse slip, Sheng Yu stubbornly stayed out until Monday before returning to school. She figured there was no harm in giving herself an extra day off on Friday.

By Monday, she had waited the entire day, yet Song Qing still hadn’t come to give her any trouble.

Upon asking around, she found out that Song Qing had actually gone off to participate in a competition.

“Tch, didn’t even bother to mention it,” Sheng Yu narrowed her eyes.

“Why would she tell you?” Fu Lian asked, somewhat puzzled.

Sheng Yu: “…”

She couldn’t think of a reason, but that didn’t stop her from making one up.

“It’s just a casual thing, what’s the big deal in mentioning it?” Sheng Yu said. “By the way, what kind of competition is it?”

“Oh, it’s the district-wide high school Alpha combat tournament. How do you not know this?” Fu Lian gave her a look. “If they make it to the finals, the school will arrange for us to watch the livestream. I doubt the student council president will have much trouble getting there.”

“How many people from our school are participating?” Sheng Yu asked curiously.

“The top five from each grade’s Alpha class, so fifteen in total. For our senior year, it’s Song Qing, Cheng Shu, Meng Yu…”

“Stop, I don’t know any of them,” Sheng Yu cut Fu Lian off.

“You have zero sense of collective pride,” Fu Lian remarked.

“And why is someone who sleeps every day, ranks last in exams, and drags down the school’s average score talking to me about collective pride?” Sheng Yu stared at Fu Lian expressionlessly.

Fu Lian: “…”

“You’re ruthless,” Fu Lian decided to shut up.

It was unclear how long the competition would last, but in the first round, two students from their school were eliminated—both first-years. By Friday, Sheng Yu pulled out her tablet and sent Song Qing a message.

Sheng Yu: .

The moment she sent it, Sheng Yu already regretted it. But deleting it now would seem even more suspicious.

Song Qing: ?

Sheng Yu: How long is this competition of yours going to take?

Song Qing: The second round is tomorrow. The finals are from next Friday to Sunday.

Sheng Yu: Oh. Will you get eliminated?

Song Qing: I don’t think so.

Sheng Yu: Oh.

Song Qing: Did you need something?

Sheng Yu: No.

Song Qing stared at her tablet, baffled by Sheng Yu’s tone. The messages felt oddly off.

Sheng Yu: You know, I’m kind of sad. After knowing each other for so long, you didn’t even tell me you were leaving for a competition.

Song Qing: …

Song Qing: It was announced during Monday’s assembly.

Sheng Yu: Bye.

Sheng Yu put her tablet away and tossed it aside.

Song Qing frowned. She could tell Sheng Yu was upset, but she had no idea why. It wasn’t her fault Sheng Yu hadn’t paid attention during the assembly.

After that, Sheng Yu didn’t contact Song Qing again—she even had the urge to block her.

In the second round, eight more were eliminated, leaving five to advance to the finals—Song Qing among them. It was a decent result for the school, considering only twenty students in total made it to the finals, and Thirteenth High had claimed a quarter of the spots.

The school organized a livestream viewing for the entire student body to watch the finals together.

The finals of the competition lasted three days and took place in a constructed virtual world. The finals weren’t just for students from one district—participants who had made it to this stage from other districts also competed. Otherwise, creating a virtual world for just twenty students from a single district would have been excessively extravagant.

The thought of having to attend school on Saturday and Sunday put Sheng Yu in a sour mood. Even though it was just watching the livestream together instead of regular classes, she still wasn’t happy about it.

The school arranged for students to watch in the auditorium with a holographic livestream. Each viewer only needed to wear a device to choose what they wanted to watch. It was clear the school was genuinely thrilled this time, willing to go all out to let students enjoy the competition.

Sheng Yu brought a lot of snacks, as did almost everyone else. The four girls from her dorm sat in a row, each with a large bag at their feet.

After the principal said a few words, everyone put on their devices.

Before the competition officially began, the organizer gave a lengthy speech, followed by introductions of the contestants from each district. By the finals, it wasn’t just a competition between schools anymore—it was a rivalry between districts. This time, twenty-three districts participated, totaling 460 contestants.

As soon as Sheng Yu entered the livestream, she quickly located Song Qing’s position.

Song Qing stood there, her expression neutral, her back straight. Sheng Yu smirked, scrutinizing Song Qing from head to toe, front to back. The girl didn’t move a muscle. When Song Qing was introduced, she simply bowed slightly.

Sheng Yu noticed the livestream system had a built-in comment feature. Raising an eyebrow, she opened it, and a flood of messages popped up.

Ugh, Alphas who are both good-looking and talented—how are the rest of us supposed to compete?

Song Qing? From the Song family? I thought someone from the Song family would be an S-rank.

There’s only one S-rank, right?

Do you think S-ranks grow on trees? You can’t just have one whenever you want.

But Song Qing really is quite good-looking.

…

The introductions alone took a long time. After the contestants were presented, the rules for the finals were explained.

Since high school students generally had no exposure to mechs, the finals’ rules were relatively simple.

Each participant entered the virtual world with only a military dagger. The virtual world had four zones: forest, mountain, desert, and polar region. Spawn points were randomized, and supplies could be obtained by looting others or visiting randomly generated supply points.

Rankings were determined by points, which could be earned by eliminating opponents or collecting points at random locations. Eliminating an S-rank Alpha awarded ten points, an A-rank Alpha five points, and a B-rank Alpha one point. If multiple people ganged up on one opponent, the points would go to whoever dealt the final blow. Eliminated players would be immediately removed from the competition.

Sheng Yu noticed Song Qing furrow her brows briefly before quickly smoothing her expression.

Was she actually nervous?

Song Qing’s spawn point was in the desert—an endless expanse with no one in sight.

Leaning back in her seat, Sheng Yu watched as Song Qing checked her wristband to locate the nearest supply point and headed straight for it. The distance wasn’t too far.

It had to be said—Song Qing was truly confident in herself.

Sure enough, just as she neared the supply point, Song Qing encountered another contestant.

The moment that person spotted Song Qing, they sped up toward the supply point.

Then Sheng Yu watched as Song Qing picked up a dagger and hurled it with full force at the other person.

Sheng Yu: ???

Damn, Song Qing actually hit the mark—and with a single lethal strike at that. Just how much strength did that take? Song Qing sprinted toward the fallen person, retrieved two daggers, and headed for the supply point, using the same method to take out someone else who was currently picking through the supplies.

To be fair, others had thought of doing the same, but most lacked the confidence in their accuracy and strength. The daggers were the only weapons available—once thrown and missed, they were gone for good.

Only Song Qing and that S-rank contestant had chosen this approach.

Song Qing grabbed a gun and some ammo but didn’t take much else. After securing the weapon she wanted, she simply kicked the supply crate over, letting it sink into the sand. Before long, everything inside would be buried.

Sheng Yu opened a bag of chips.

“Who are you watching?” Zhang Yunsu asked from beside her.

“Song Qing.”

“Of course. You should check out that S-rank contestant—absolutely insane.”

Sheng Yu raised an eyebrow, glanced at Song Qing, who was still on the move, then switched to another feed.

The S-rank contestant had the most viewers, with a barrage of comments flooding the screen—so dense they obscured the view. Sheng Yu turned them off.

Currently ranked first in points, the S-rank contestant had already scored twenty-seven kills. He carried one gun on his back and another at his waist, walking through the forest as if he owned the place, completely unafraid of ambushes.

True, many lurked in the shadows around him, but no one dared make a move. Just the sheer aura of the S-rank contestant was enough to intimidate.

The next second, he pulled out his gun and fired blindly in one direction twice. His kill count ticked up to twenty-eight, and a faint look of disdain crossed his face.

Sheng Yu turned the comments back on—unsurprisingly, the screen was now filled with exclamation marks. She checked the replay and saw that the person he’d shot had merely shifted slightly in the trees.

Was his hearing really that sharp?

“Is this what an S-rank is like? Terrifying,” Zhang Yunsu muttered. “Feels like first place is already decided.”

“Not necessarily,” Sheng Yu said. “If one person can’t take him down, a group could. But that’s unlikely to happen since only one person can claim the points.”

Though she thought it’d be more efficient to gang up on the S-rank first and then fight among themselves, not everyone would see it that way.

After one person was discovered and killed by the S-rank contestant, the others—already on edge—froze in fear. Two more fell soon after.

Sheng Yu couldn’t help but click her tongue.

“If you’re gonna die anyway, why not fight back?”

“Easy for you to say,” someone behind her sneered.

Sheng Yu turned and flashed a smile at the speaker. “So you think it’s better to just wait for death?”

The person clearly hadn’t expected her to retort and stiffened awkwardly before falling silent.

Sheng Yu turned back, propped her chin on her hand, and resumed watching the stream. She switched her view back to Song Qing.

So far, Song Qing had mostly relied on ambushes to score points—twelve kills, placing her sixteenth. It took Sheng Yu a while to spot where she was hiding.

No doubt about it—Song Qing was giving it her all.

She was incredibly patient, convinced that someone would eventually pass by a certain spot, so she lay there motionless.

Sheng Yu watched for a while and even started feeling drowsy. She wondered if Song Qing had developed this patience from crouching by railings, lying in wait for targets. Yawning, her eyelids gradually drooped until she was startled awake by the sound of a gunshot.

Song Qing had finally fired.

Sheng Yu yawned again—this person had finally changed positions. No more lurking in the shadows; now she was taking the initiative. She scored fourteen points in a row, but for some reason, Sheng Yu couldn’t shake the feeling that Song Qing’s expression looked terrible.

Song Qing’s score remained at a middling level, and Sheng Yu could already hear people nearby whispering, most expressing disappointment in her performance.

“Somehow, I didn’t expect Song Qing to be like this.”

“Right? Wasn’t she pretty impressive at school?”

“Tch, she only knows how to act tough in school.”

…

“If you’re so amazing, why haven’t I seen you in any competitions?” Sheng Yu scoffed, glancing at the group of gossiping people nearby.

“I’m not an Alpha,” one of them retorted irritably.

“Oh, so you’re saying if you were an Alpha, you’d definitely be better than Song Qing?” Sheng Yu raised an eyebrow. “Then can I assume that, as an Alpha, you’d be better than most of the Alphas in our school? After all, only five people made it to the finals in this competition.”

Several Alphas nearby turned their heads, their gazes sharp.

The speaker’s expression instantly changed, their face paling.

Zhang Yun Su: “…”

There was no denying it—Sheng Yu’s mouth was a master at drawing hatred onto others.

“That’s not what I meant.”

“But that’s exactly how your words came across.”

“Oh, so it’s Sheng Yu speaking up for Song Qing. Anyone with eyes can see Song Qing isn’t performing well this time. No need to drag all of us Alphas into this.”