I Marked My Arch-Nemesis Omega - Chapter 36

Song Qing wasn’t quite sure what to say. She glanced at Sheng Yu, raised her hand to lightly pat the back of Sheng Yu’s hand, then went to prepare for her turn.

Sheng Yu wasn’t surprised. She raised an eyebrow and withdrew her hand.

“Are you okay?” Bai Ying and Zhang Yunsu hurried over, looking at Sheng Yu. “That looked like it hurt like hell.”

“It’s fine,” Sheng Yu replied. “It’s not like it was real anyway.”

“Even if it’s fake, you shouldn’t have to endure that,” Zhang Yunsu frowned.

Sheng Yu just smiled.

One by one, others gathered around, mostly asking if she was in pain.

“Well, it did hurt… but with so many people watching, I couldn’t just cry, could I? That’d be embarrassing,” Sheng Yu chuckled.

The group exchanged glances, clenching their fists in frustration.

“Don’t worry, when it’s my turn, I’ll make the Haoyun Thirteenth High kids cry!”

“Haoyun Thirteenth High always bullies others—it’s way out of line!”

“Exactly!”

…

Someone from Haoyun Thirteenth High nearby scoffed. “All you Thirteenth High folks do is talk big. Once you’re in the arena, we’ll see who makes who cry!”

Just as the argument was about to escalate, Sheng Yu noticed that Song Qing and Qi Liao had been matched up. She raised an eyebrow, and the others quickly quieted down as well.

Sheng Yu turned her attention to the arena, and the crowd gradually fell silent.

When Qi Liao saw Song Qing, he wanted to curse his bad luck.

Song Qing, who was already expressionless, now looked like she was covered in frost, her fists clenched tight.

Due to the rules of this match, Qi Liao’s strength had been forcibly reduced. Under normal circumstances, Song Qing wouldn’t yet be his match, but this time might be different.

Qi Liao realized this too. Moreover, Song Qing was clearly furious, her state far more intense than usual. “Sheng Yu was the one who lost her mind—what does that have to do with me?”

Song Qing had no interest in small talk. She attacked immediately.

Qi Liao was starting to realize that both Sheng Yu and Song Qing were absolute lunatics.

Song Qing’s strikes were fast and relentless, her movements agile. She seized the initiative, forcing Qi Liao into defense. Song Qing favored leg attacks, and when Qi Liao managed to grab one of her legs, she simply leaped up and drove her other foot straight toward his face.

As Song Qing fell backward, she kicked Qi Liao’s chin, but with no support, she landed hard on her back with a loud thud.

Qi Liao had been trying to slam her down, and the impact was brutal. Once she was on the ground, he twisted her leg and pinned her firmly, licking the bl00d from his lips with a muttered curse.

Song Qing grabbed one of Qi Liao’s wrists and twisted it sharply.

“Damn it!” Qi Liao hissed. Seizing the opportunity, Song Qing locked onto his arm, flipped him onto his back, and punched him square in the face.

Sheng Yu couldn’t help but laugh.

Song Qing then dislocated Qi Liao’s other arm.

“Why does Qi Liao seem like he’s no match for Song Qing?”

“There’s no stamina drain in here—don’t let Haoyun Thirteenth High make excuses.”

“Tch, it’s obvious. That S-rank probably only won last time because of his physique. Must be nice being born lucky—nothing we can do about that.”

“Why does it feel like Song Qing is venting her anger?”

“Is there a problem? Last time, Qi Liao publicly mocked our school. This time, we should thoroughly humiliate him. The president did an excellent job this time.”

“Absolutely!”

…

This round, Song Qing won.

When Qi Liao emerged, his face was dark with anger. Seeing Sheng Yu’s smiling face only infuriated him further. He was convinced that all the rules of this training session were specifically designed to target him.

“Oh, lost again?” Sheng Yu greeted him with a friendly, beaming smile.

Qi Liao gave Sheng Yu a once-over. Back when his arm had been dislocated, he couldn’t help but cry out in pain. He had no idea how this person had managed to endure it.

“Don’t tell me—don’t tell me you’re thinking of hitting me.”

As soon as Sheng Yu finished speaking, several people swiftly appeared, forming a protective barrier in front of her, glaring at Qi Liao with hostility. The moment Qi Liao showed any intention to act, they would all strike together.

Qi Liao: …

He hadn’t even said a word yet.

Fu Lian watched from a distance, feeling a twinge of emotion. He never expected things to unfold this way. For some reason, he saw a pitiful reflection of himself in Qi Liao’s current predicament.

When facing Sheng Yu, it’s best to just surrender.

Qi Liao took a deep breath and ultimately said nothing. He cast one last glance at Sheng Yu and walked away.

Sheng Yu was slightly disappointed by Qi Liao’s reaction. The gland on the back of her neck began to burn again, irritating her. She touched the gland, then excused herself to the restroom after informing the instructor.

This time, the burning sensation in her gland was even more intense than at night. Sheng Yu braced herself against the sink, staring at her reflection in the mirror. She noticed her eyes were bloodshot.

“Yu Sheng.”

Hearing the voice behind her, Sheng Yu stiffened in surprise. It had been a long time since anyone had called her by that name. In the mirror, she saw a woman standing at the restroom entrance.

The woman was dressed in a formal Imperial military uniform, though her slightly casual posture lent her an air of nonchalance. Sheng Yu turned around, glanced at the woman’s rank insignia, and frowned slightly.

“Marshal Cheng Yuan?” Sheng Yu replied coolly. “My name is Sheng Yu.”

“No need to be so tense.” Cheng Yuan smiled. “I knew your father.”

“Is there something you need?”

“As someone who’s practically family, I noticed you weren’t feeling well and wanted to check on you.” Cheng Yuan had originally intended to discuss a few other matters, but seeing Sheng Yu so guarded… she figured it would only make the girl more wary.

Even with this excuse, Sheng Yu still looked skeptical.

“Thank you for your concern, but I’m perfectly fine.” Sheng Yu offered a polite smile. “I should head back now. The instructor might have other tasks, and it wouldn’t be good to return too late.”

As she passed Cheng Yuan, Sheng Yu heard the woman lower her voice: “If you suddenly go into differentiation, press the emergency button on your wristband. Someone will take you to a discreet location—and the person escorting you won’t know it’s for differentiation.”

Sheng Yu tilted her head slightly, studying Cheng Yuan without responding.

Cheng Yuan understood her confusion. “It’s a special connection between S-ranks. The S-rank in your squad is just too weak to sense it.”

“You’re overthinking it. I’m just a Beta.” Sheng Yu flashed another polite smile before walking away.

Cheng Yuan watched Sheng Yu’s retreating figure, lost in thought, then smiled with a hint of helplessness.

Sheng Yu was feeling irritable, even tempted to take a knife and carve out the gland on the back of her neck. What was this so-called “special connection between S-ranks”? She didn’t know if Cheng Yuan was spouting nonsense or if such a thing actually existed—she’d certainly never heard of it before.

“Sheng Yu!”

Sheng Yu saw Song Qing press her lips together, visibly struggling to suppress her own unease. “President, why did you come out?”

“Are you okay?” Song Qing had initially thought Sheng Yu had suddenly presented, but due to the combat training session, many Alphas had unconsciously released pheromones, leaving the training field saturated with mixed scents. She couldn’t tell whether Sheng Yu had emitted any pheromones or not.

“I’m fine.” Sheng Yu rubbed her temples.

Fortunately, as she approached Sheng Yu, she didn’t detect any pheromones.

“You look terrible.”

“President, you don’t look so great yourself,” Sheng Yu remarked, eyeing Song Qing’s pallor. “I just went to the restroom.”

“Alright.” Song Qing nodded, glancing in the direction Sheng Yu had come from. “Did you… run into someone just now?”

Sheng Yu replied, “No.”

“Okay.” Song Qing didn’t press further.

By the time they returned to the training field, only a small group remained—the combat session was nearly over. Sheng Yu leaned against a random spot, her expression blank, her gaze slightly vacant.

Song Qing stole several glances at Sheng Yu, unsettled by her state.

Sheng Yu’s eyes landed on Qi Liao in the distance. Given his level of intelligence, she figured asking him wouldn’t arouse suspicion.

Qi Liao was mid-conversation when he turned and found Sheng Yu staring at him—her gaze as if sizing up a slab of pork, making him deeply uncomfortable. As she approached, he couldn’t fathom what she wanted this time.

“Got a question for you,” Sheng Yu said, glancing back to confirm Song Qing hadn’t followed before continuing.

Qi Liao took a step back, straightening his posture to look down at her. “What, planning to step on me again?”

Sheng Yu rolled her eyes. “I heard a rumor—something about a special connection between S-ranks. True or false?”

Qi Liao gave her an incredulous look. “Are you stupid? You actually believe that kind of nonsense?”

Sheng Yu: “…”

“Maybe it’s just you who can’t sense it?”

Qi Liao fell silent for two seconds before shooting her another disdainful glare, visibly agitated. “Who’s the S-rank here, you or me? I’ve never felt anything like that. You should stop listening to ridiculous rumors. How could something like a ‘connection’ even exist?”

“Fine.” Sheng Yu felt like she’d wasted her breath. “What’s your pheromone number?”

“Why do you care?” Qi Liao narrowed his eyes. “I’m not interested in Betas.”

Sheng Yu: “…”

She scoffed. “Your ego’s truly impressive.”

The combat training finally concluded, and the results were sent to their wristbands, complete with a system-generated overall score. Sheng Yu’s ranking was decent this time, surpassing 70% of participants, while Song Qing remained in first place.

Five of the top ten were from Thirteenth High. Meng Yu secured third place, while Qi Liao’s score plummeted to somewhere in the 200s—now practically fully withdrawn into himself.

Bai Ying looked at the person displayed on her wristband as having “surpassed the top one percent” and nearly burst into tears. It was just too hard. Glancing at her three roommates, she couldn’t help but wonder—why was the gap between people so vast?

The following days passed in an orderly manner. Though Bai Ying pushed herself with extra training every day, her performance remained at the bottom with no visible improvement. But then again, seeing results from training was indeed a slow and arduous process.

Sheng Yu’s glands burned every day—sometimes briefly, other times for longer stretches. There were moments when the heat flared into pain, but more often, it was a dull, gnawing discomfort that clawed at his insides, making him want to carve out his glands with a knife day after day.

Most people didn’t interact much with Sheng Yu and didn’t notice much of a change, but Song Qing could sense his growing irritability. Once, she even accidentally caught sight of the scratch marks on the back of his neck.