I Marked My Arch-Nemesis Omega - Chapter 19

Sheng Yu turned to look at the person who had spoken. The other girl met her gaze with a slightly raised chin, her eyes brimming with arrogance and a hint of disdain that was hard to ignore.

“Who’s this?” Sheng Yu tilted her head toward Zhang Yunsu, her voice quiet but loud enough for others to hear.

Zhang Yunsu: “…”

“Yin Sheng. She’s in the same class as Song Qing,” Zhang Yunsu replied helplessly. Sheng Yu truly had no fear of offending people.

“Oh.” Sheng Yu acknowledged with a nod, then glanced back at Yin Sheng and smiled. “Song Qing is representing our school. Criticizing her only makes our school a laughingstock for others. Shouldn’t we be showing some collective pride right now?”

“Besides, what exactly is she lacking? It’s only been a short while—why rush to conclusions?” Her argument was logical and well-founded.

But the very next second after Sheng Yu finished speaking, gasps erupted throughout the school, growing louder and more widespread.

Amid the murmurs of the crowd, Sheng Yu caught the words: “Song Qing got eliminated.”

Sheng Yu: “…”

To be fair, Sheng Yu had never been publicly contradicted like this in front of so many people. Yet her expression remained perfectly calm, not a flicker of change.

“Can we say it now? And she was eliminated by a B-rank Alpha, no less. If it were an S-rank, fine, but this?” Yin Sheng was already laughing. “How embarrassing.”

Sheng Yu stared at Yin Sheng, acutely aware of the mocking gazes around her. She curled her lip in disgust. “Do you have zero camaraderie? If you were on the battlefield, would you laugh at your comrades like this too?”

Without waiting for a response, she turned away and replayed the footage of Song Qing’s elimination three times.

Song Qing’s eyes had been dazed, her state clearly off. Her reaction speed had noticeably slowed. But no one cared about her condition—only that she’d been eliminated on the first morning. How humiliating.

The chatter around her grew louder. Song Qing had been the school’s top contender for a top-three finish. Even the faculty was stunned.

“What happened to Song Qing?”

“Seriously…”

“I thought she was supposed to be strong. That’s it?”

“Did she get scared by the other schools? She can’t be that weak.”

“…”

Sheng Yu couldn’t take it anymore. She wasn’t particularly fond of Song Qing, but she didn’t dislike her either. The relentless verbal attacks made her deeply uncomfortable. Those who had always resented Song Qing were now seizing the chance to vent.

She stayed silent. The more she argued now, the louder their laughter would grow—and anyone who didn’t join in would be labeled an outsider.

“Are you okay?” Zhang Yunsu noticed Sheng Yu’s dark expression.

“Fine.” Sheng Yu stood and left the venue, finding a quiet spot to lean against a wall and stare at the sky.

Meanwhile, the moment Song Qing exited the virtual world, she swiftly left the competition area. Instead of heading to the rest area, she found a secluded spot and injected herself with a suppressant.

Her face was unnaturally flushed, her breathing heavy. It was a good thing she’d been eliminated—otherwise, something worse might have happened.

The virtual world replicates reality with 100% accuracy, including pheromones. During competitions, no one suppresses their pheromones unless they specifically want to hide them—especially those S-rank or A-rank Alphas.

She had pushed herself to the limit. The suppressants had also reached their breaking point—this was the first time she had taken two doses in a single month.

This was her first time participating in a combat tournament. Over the past two years, she had avoided it using various excuses. This time, she wanted to test just how far she could go. But in the end, this was all she could manage… Not even half a day. She had overestimated herself. Taking such a huge risk, only to end up with this result.

Was this the difference between Alphas and Omegas?

Song Qing took a deep breath. No matter how hard she had tried, in the end, she had still lost to the innate nature of an Omega.

It took a while before Song Qing’s condition stabilized slightly.

She picked up her neural communicator and glanced at it. Someone had sent her a message ten minutes ago.

Mom: You’ve disappointed me.

Song Qing pressed her lips together, her expression stiffening.

That was the only message. Nothing else.

She let out a self-deprecating laugh.

After steadying herself, she returned to the rest area. The teachers’ expressions darkened when they saw her. Though they didn’t say anything, their eyes spoke volumes. Song Qing could already imagine the rumors spreading through the school.

She packed up her things and left without lingering.

Zhang Yunsu noticed that Sheng Yu hadn’t returned after stepping out. She guessed the girl had run off.

And indeed, Sheng Yu had run away. Today, everyone was watching the livestream, so no one was stationed by the fences—making it incredibly easy to slip out. The main reason, though, was that Song Qing wasn’t around.

Before leaving, she had also taken her neural communicator with her.

When Song Qing saw the message from Sheng Yu, she froze.

Sheng Yu: .

Song Qing: School isn’t over yet. Why do you have your communicator?

Sheng Yu: ???

Of course. She shouldn’t have contacted this person.

Sheng Yu: I was worried you might cry, so I picked it up early. But judging by your tone, you probably won’t.

Song Qing knew Sheng Yu must have used some other method to get her communicator back. But… she didn’t feel like pressing the issue. She had expected Sheng Yu to message her just to mock her.

Song Qing: Why would I cry?

Sheng Yu: You didn’t look too good during the match.

Song Qing paused again. It wasn’t hard to notice her discomfort, but usually, no one paid attention to that.

Song Qing: You must have imagined it.

Sheng Yu: Oh, I watched your death replay several times. Pretty sure I didn’t imagine it.

Song Qing: …

Song Qing: Why would you watch it so many times?

Song Qing took a deep breath.

Sheng Yu: What, you can stare at me all you want, but I can’t watch you? Don’t be such a hypocrite, President.

Song Qing: …

Song Qing couldn’t help but laugh. Despite Sheng Yu’s sharp words, her mood lightened considerably.

Song Qing: I’ll be back tomorrow.

Sheng Yu: Why are you telling me?

Song Qing: If I didn’t, wouldn’t you get upset again?

Sheng Yu swung her legs idly, resting her chin on her hand.

Sheng Yu: Not unhappy, thanks. I couldn’t care less about your business. Why not stay there and enjoy yourself a few more days?

Song Qing: Nothing fun about it.

Sheng Yu: Oh.

Song Qing raised an eyebrow but didn’t reply further. She glanced at the school forum—unsurprisingly, someone had already started a thread. She had no idea where these people got their gossip from.

Was Song Qing’s performance this time just embarrassingly bad?

She clicked on it, knowing she shouldn’t bother with this kind of thing, but she couldn’t help herself.

1L: Honestly, was it really Song Qing’s poor showing, or is this just the standard for Alphas at our school?

7L: Song Qing was genuinely terrible this time. But her being bad doesn’t mean all the Alphas here are. No need to generalize—this is solely Song Qing’s fault.

13L: Speaking of, what’s the deal between Sheng Yu and Song Qing? The way Sheng Yu jumped to defend her was way too intense.

24L: Sheng Yu? The one in senior year? What’s the tea here?

53L: Does anyone know what Sheng Yu’s deal is? First, she pissed off Jiang Di, and now she’s crossed Yin Sheng too.

131L: Honestly, does Sheng Yu just look down on Jiang Di? Maybe she’s holding out for an S-rank Alpha. But usually, S-rank Alphas only go for S-rank Omegas. Isn’t she overestimating herself a bit?

137L: No need to drag Sheng Yu like that. She’s always said she’ll present as a Beta—clearly, she doesn’t want to be an Omega.

138L: Stay on topic, people. Shouldn’t we be discussing what the hell happened with Song Qing this time?

…

Seeing that Sheng Yu had spoken up for her, Song Qing was slightly surprised. The girl hadn’t mentioned a word about it.

Song Qing: Thanks.

Sheng Yu: ???

Song Qing: Thanks for standing up for me.

Sheng Yu: Don’t overthink it. I wasn’t doing it for you. I just didn’t like them and happened to say a couple of things in your defense.

Song Qing: Then I’ll thank you for the “happened to.”

Holding her tablet, Sheng Yu couldn’t help but click her tongue. How the hell had this person found out?

So embarrassing.