Chapter 130: Turning Point A

Chapter 130: Turning Point A

“Comic Club! Victory!!”

“Crack~ Crack~”

Spencer and Jiang Yun easily defeated the Swimming Club. She wiped the sweat off her forehead with a towel while fetching a bag of snacks she had prepared.

Inside were all kinds of chocolates and electrolyte drinks.

Yan Huan sat at the sidelines, fulfilling his duty as a referee, adding points for the Comic Club.

By the way, taking it all in.

“Spencer! Since our eyes have met, let’s have a thrilling battle!!”

“Ah?”

Spencer hadn’t finished chewing her chocolate and looked at the other clubs closing in around her.

She gulped down some electrolyte drink and followed them to draw lots.

As she passed by Yan Huan, her cheeks were full, and she stole a glance at him.

Her steps paused slightly, and she placed a golden bomb pig cookie on the armrest of his seat.

After doing all this, she hurriedly ran ahead, not daring to look at Yan Huan.

“.”

Yan Huan picked up the cookie and couldn’t help but ask Meow-chan in his mind,

“Meow-chan, how do you think Spencer did that?”

“What did she do, meow?”

Meow-chan suddenly appeared, her fluffy body manifesting in his arms, looking up at him.

“That group of people she stole from, she shouldn’t know them beforehand. So, how did she discern if they were genuine? Is it because of the Modifier?”

Meow-chan looked at Spencer, who stood at the back like a war god, sweat dripping down as she moved, and speculated,

“Modifiers probably wouldn’t grant her such abilities.”

“So it’s her own cause.”

Yan Huan looked down at the empty cookie wrapper in his hand, folding it repeatedly until it became a little ball.

He vaguely sensed that Spencer’s almost instinctual ability was related to the Modifier.

A loathing debuff?

Meow-chan watched his actions and after a moment of silence asked,

“Feeling better, Yan Huan?”

“Feeling better about what?”

Meow-chan turned to Yan Huan, meowing,

“Because of Sakura Kyoko, or perhaps because of the Modifier, you’ve been tense lately. Some emotions bottled up inside you can’t be digested alone.

“You didn’t say a word to Tong Yingying, but spoke up around Spencer, maybe this will help you feel a bit better, or maybe it won’t.”

Listening to Meow-chan’s words, Yan Huan recalled the things he yelled at Spencer at noon.

He still believed that even if those people were as hypocritical and disgusting as Spencer said, it didn’t justify her stealing from them.

But he had to admit, many of his words contained some truth, while the rest were all emotional outbursts.

Spencer seemed to represent “all Modifier hosts,” bearing some anger that shouldn’t have belonged to her.

“Crack~”

Yan Huan tore open the wrapper again and ate the golden bomb pig cookie.

“Comic Club, victory!!”

“Phew.”

Spencer walked back to her resting area, wiping her sweat, but before she could sit down to drink, another club approached,

“Spencer, we want to challenge your Comic Club!”

“.”

Spencer wiped her lips, biting into her chocolate as she stood up.

Every time she went to draw lots, she felt a little guilty passing by Yan Huan and would secretly hand him a golden bomb pig cookie.

Yan Huan had eaten two, leaving the rest to scrutinize in his palm.

“Comic Club, defeat!”

“Phew.”

“Spencer! Get up.”

“Hey! Is this enough already?! One after another, it never ends! Our numbers are already small; can’t we get a break?!”

On the Comic Club’s side, Jiang Yun looked angrily at the other clubs that continued to issue challenges.

“I’m talking to Spencer; the rest of you are just useless accessories, don’t interfere!”

Although Arakawa Kyouji and Nino didn’t speak, Jiang Yun gritted her teeth, almost ready to pounce on someone.

“What did you say? Say that again?!”

“Jiang-senpai, calm down! Calm down!”

An Le hurriedly stopped Jiang Yun to avoid a full-blown conflict.

The continuous club battles had drained Spencer’s stamina completely. Initially, with Spencer on the field, victory was assured, but when she rested, they lost more than they won.

However, even when Spencer was on the field, she began to struggle against the matches.

Without stealing from others, the Modifier provided her with no boosts, and with her stamina becoming a weakness, she couldn’t withstand the continuous consumption.

The others were precisely counting on this; the worse Spencer performed, the more they were eager to snatch points.

Spencer clenched her fists, her small face paling as she glanced at the boy in front, scaring him to jump, thinking Spencer might explode.

“What do you want? If you’ve got guts, we’ll meet on the field; don’t try anything else, I warn you!”

After catching her breath, she pushed herself up from her knees,

“Fine, let’s keep competing.”

“Enough already.”

Yan Huan’s voice suddenly rang out, grabbing everyone’s attention.

“President.”

He rubbed his shoulder, looking at the other clubs still lining up to challenge, and said,

“You guys keep piling on matches nonstop. The Comic Club isn’t exhausted, but I’m already tired. There’s half an hour left in today’s competition; come back tomorrow, I need to take care of some business at the Student Council.”

“.”

The others pondered for a moment, glancing at the pale-faced Spencer before finally responding,

“Alright, President, we’ll come back tomorrow.”

“Let’s go check out the Athletic Club.”

“.”

The clubs surrounding the Comic Club dispersed one after another, the tense atmosphere fading away, allowing the Comic Club members besides Spencer to breathe a sigh of relief.

“Little Huan, thank you.”

“Thanks, President.”

An Le’s expression lit up as she thanked Yan Huan.

Meanwhile, Jiang Yun beside her looked at Yan Huan and asked,

“President, the club battle isn’t over yet; are you sure it’s okay to help us this much?”

Yan Huan glanced at her, shaking his head,

“You being assigned to such an unreasonable position was the Student Council’s oversight, my oversight. So as a return, helping you a little is no big deal.”

As he spoke, he smiled slightly at An Le and asked,

“I have a bit of personal advice; do you want to hear it?”

“Sure, Little Huan.”

An Le blushed slightly at Yan Huan’s smile, quickly nodding, as if whatever he said would earn an affirmative response.

“The Comic Club has significant issues right now. To be precise, everyone here except Jiang Yun-senpai has issues:

“Spencer pushes herself too hard, wasting stamina; An Le, you lack initiative; Arakawa and Nino’s involvement is too low.”

Yan Huan narrowed his eyes, pointing at An Le, calling her to attention,

“Just because Spencer is the club president doesn’t mean you should heed her words blindly. Instead, you need to step up and organize the members more.

“Who’s best for which match, how to allocate team stamina, how to train coordination.”

He took out a sheet of paper and handed it to An Le, which was filled with details about each of the Comic Club’s matches.

In the victorious matches, Spencer’s pitfalls in her performance were noted, while in the lost matches, the main issues were indicated.

“As for Arakawa and Nino, I understand that with such a brief time since your club was established, it’s challenging to create a sense of belonging when everyone is still getting to know each other.

“So I want to ask: Did you join the Comic Club voluntarily?”

Arakawa Kyouji and Nino blinked, glancing at An Le and Spencer, quickly saying,

“Yeah, because… no other clubs wanted us.”

“And Spencer bought us so many expensive things, so we… will put in more effort later.”

“Uh-huh.”

Yan Huan nodded, saying,

“Good.”

Having said that, he finally turned to look at Spencer sitting next to him.

Her golden hair was a bit disheveled from an afternoon of activity, a couple of sweat beads on her forehead making her small face pale.

Only her pair of sky-blue eyes was particularly beautiful.

In those crystal-clear eyes, reflections of Yan Huan’s mysterious shadow shimmered.

She seemed to misunderstand the meaning behind Yan Huan’s words, not even realizing if he was still mad at her.

All she felt was that Yan Huan’s gaze was so translucent, without wearing any mask or hiding any motives.

When Spencer realized this, the reflection of the peacock rippled slightly in her azure eyes.

At the same time, looking at the pale-faced Spencer, Yan Huan suddenly lost the inexplicable hatred he had harbored.

Though it still couldn’t be said to be “fondness,” he clearly recognized that:

His current feelings for Spencer genuinely stemmed from his own heart, not influenced externally whether it be “hatred” or “liking.”

“Say her name, say her name.”

“.”

Upon realizing this, he couldn’t help but be taken aback, a multitude of questions swirling in his mind.

At this moment, had the Modifier’s side effect, which filled him with loathing for her, disappeared?

Why?

And the voice of the demon in his ear seemed to remind him that he had another means to explore this secret.

“Little Huan?”

At that moment, An Le’s voice drew near, forcing Yan Huan to retract his gaze, and he spoke,

“Let’s keep pushing onward; I’ll take my leave first.”

“Ah, okay, Little Huan.”

An Le waved at Yan Huan, while Spencer continued to stare at his retreating figure.

After a moment of silence, she suddenly stood up and followed him.

“Spencer, where are you going?”

“I’m going to the restroom!”

Spencer waved her hand, and An Le, watching her leave, had no doubts, instead recalling Yan Huan’s words, resolutely thinking:

She must help Spencer run the Comic Club well!

On the top floor of the first-year building, at the Student Council residence.

Yan Huan placed his hand on the Student Council Office door but seemed to recall Sakura Kyoko’s Modifier.

“.”

After a moment of silence, he didn’t pull the door open. Instead, he turned around to address the seemingly empty corridor behind him,

“Come out.”

Just as he spoke, a pair of watery, sky-blue eyes peeked out from around the corner of the corridor.

She tilted her head, revealing half of her face from the nose up.

Long strands of golden hair spread out, blinking and sizing him up, looking a bit shy.

It was Spencer.

Even after Yan Huan had called her, she remained pressed against the wall, merely observing him.

As if afraid she might be scolded again.

Yet Yan Huan said nothing, merely continued to look at her.

Thus, she began to avert her gaze, even the half of her face began shrinking behind the wall, out of Yan Huan’s view.

“You—”

“I?”

“That um… contradicts.”

“.”

Yan Huan was quite patient, watching her just like that.

After a while, Spencer stuttered,

“I’ve returned all… the stuff and… apologized.”

“I know.”

Spencer blinked, still hiding behind the wall, glancing at Yan Huan, looking quite withdrawn.

Yan Huan sighed and walked towards her.

With each step he took, her head shrank further behind the wall.

By the time Yan Huan was almost there, only half of her eye remained visible.

Thankfully, the next moment, Yan Huan turned the corner and saw her entire figure hidden behind the wall.

Realizing she had nowhere left to hide, Spencer finally straightened up, her gaze flickering towards Yan Huan,

“But you just said… I have issues, right? You didn’t tell me what they were?”

It was clear she hadn’t meant to ask that question.

Yet Yan Huan didn’t disregard her question; he explained,

“There are two issues, but fundamentally, they’re one.”

“So are there two or one?”

“On the surface, it’s because of your stamina management.”

Yan Huan had already gotten used to her low understanding capability, so he directly put forth his point, tired of explaining,

“You could win using just some stamina but insist on exhausting yourself in every match. Doing that once is fine, but if you keep doing it, you’ll inevitably run out of energy.”

“That’s… how it is.”

Hearing this, Spencer secretly glanced at Yan Huan again.

Her eyes evidently held more unasked questions.

In fact, Yan Huan could roughly guess what she wanted to ask, as this foolish girl wore everything on her face.

But what Yan Huan truly wanted to investigate was:

What exactly establishes the standards that cause her Modifier side effects?

How could she so precisely differentiate who is hypocritical?

With this in mind, Yan Huan decided to make use of the ability he had acquired.

The next second, he gazed directly into Spencer’s eyes.

“Say her name, say her name.”

“Aria Spencer.”

Yan Huan silently recited Spencer’s full name three times in his heart, and immediately afterward, the demon in his ear laughed with great satisfaction.

“Ha ha~”

That damp laugh distorted bit by bit, slowly morphing into an identical voice to Spencer’s, uttering three sentences,

“Yan Huan is a bit handsome.”

“Is Yan Huan still mad? He was all peacock-like at noon; he must’ve really been angry.”

“I’m so hungry too; I wonder if An Le has more food, the cute little pig setting loves to eat.”

Peacock?

What the hell?

What the fluff is a cute little pig?

Aside from the first sentence, Yan Huan could barely understand the latter two.

Wait, are you merely the “angry little pig” caught up in your own nonsense?!

“.”

Yan Huan’s expression darkened; he cast a dubious glance at Spencer before not even wanting to determine which statement was true.

Because, in truth, none of them made any sense.

Yes, Yan Huan already began to regret using mind-reading on her.

Meanwhile, Spencer, observing Yan Huan’s expression, appeared somewhat amused, and she shrank slightly towards the staircase.

Seeing the panic of being scolded again or being ignored entirely on her face, Yan Huan sighed and said,

“Spencer, I was indeed angry at noon; I admit I said some things that went too far.”

“.”

Spencer blinked, gazing at Yan Huan, pouting slightly, and softly said,

“I… forgive you, it’s okay.”

Upon hearing this, Yan Huan’s face darkened, nearly bursting into laughter from anger.

“I wasn’t apologizing; please read the atmosphere, okay?”

Spencer subtly glanced at him again, quickly averting her gaze,

“… Oh.”

“And Spencer, I still stand by what I said; just because others are wrong doesn’t mean you are right.”

“.”

“Ask yourself; if you just dialed back a bit, would you and your Comic Club be struggling this hard in school? If you want to win, do it fairly; don’t use these petty tricks to provoke others.”

“.”

Yan Huan averted his gaze, finally waving his hand at her, stating,

“Things you steal will eventually be returned, with interest, a hundred times over.”

“.”

Just as Yan Huan was about to turn and leave, Spencer quietly grasped his sleeve from behind.

Yan Huan was momentarily taken aback, turning around.

She presented a golden bomb pig cookie to him while looking at him, saying,

“So how many have you given me today?”

“Is it tasty?”

“… It’s okay.”

Hearing this, Spencer couldn’t help but grin, saying,

“Hehe, this is my favorite cookie!”

“.”

With her saying that, Yan Huan couldn’t refuse and reached out to accept her little pig cookie.

“So does that mean we’re good now?”

“We were never on bad terms.”

“… Anyway, just don’t be angry. I didn’t mean to say those things at noon.”

Spencer looked up at him, speaking,

“I don’t know why you did that to Sakura Kyoko, but… you seemed a bit tired back then.”

“.”

“After my matches, I’m quite tired too; a small cookie will do.”

Yan Huan glanced at the light cookie in his hand and finally smiled slightly, saying,

“… Thanks.”

“.”

Watching the smile blooming once more on his face, Spencer blinked and just kept watching.

After a moment, she snapped back to reality and hurriedly turned and ran downstairs,

“Bye bye!”

“.”

Yan Huan watched her retreating figure in silence, merely holding the cookie as he returned to the Student Council Office.

“Click~”

The office door opened, and it was empty inside.

He sat down on the sofa, placing the little pig cookie on the table.

As he gazed at the cartoon image of the “golden bomb pig,” he recalled the content he read during mind-reading.

“Birds and pigs? Angry little pigs?”

Yan Huan pondered for a second, before opening the app store on his phone, typing in the keywords, and began to download the “Angry Little Pigs” akin to Spencer’s.

Once he opened it, he almost couldn’t contain himself.

“The little birds reside in a beautiful fortress in the sky, while the little pigs live in muddy and dirty grounds.

“The birds deceive the little pigs with hypocritical lies, telling them:

“Because we’re born with beautiful feathers, while you are inherently ugly, so you ought to serve us.”

Looking at the familiar level of using slingshots to launch little pigs at the birds’ fortress, Yan Huan couldn’t help but retort,

“Isn’t this a pirated version of ‘Angry Birds’?”

“President, why are you playing this childish game like Spencer?”

Just as Yan Huan was complaining, Yaqiao Mu’s voice suddenly resonated beside him, startling him.

“… Yaqiao? When did you arrive?”

“Just earlier; it ended over there.”

Yaqiao Mu sat down next to Yan Huan, glancing at the screen on his phone, and commented,

“Ah, such an old art style. But President, it’s rare that you know ‘Angry Birds’!”

“… Wait, is this for real?”

Yan Huan initially thought this was the parallel world’s “Angry Birds,” only realizing from Yaqiao Mu that this world actually had the same game?

Then why was the current trend in something ridiculous like “Angry Little Pigs” instead of “Angry Birds”?

“For real; it’s popular for a while when I was young. But then, for some reason, it got taken down from all platforms, and the next project the company put out was this.”

“Angry Little Pigs?”

“Yup.”

Yan Huan stroked his chin, looking shocked.

He promptly opened the search engine, looking for resources for both games.

Indeed, just as Yaqiao said, currently, only resources for “Angry Little Pigs” were available.

He felt puzzled and secretly started searching for the company behind both games.

It was an entertainment media company from the West.

The industry experience below stated:

“After the second year of releasing ‘Angry Birds,’ the company was acquired by the Golden Lion Group.

“The next year, the company officially released ‘Angry Little Pigs.’”

Just as he read those two lines, Yan Huan’s pupils constricted slightly.