Chapter 194: False Information Spread on the Academy’s Internet
“Is there really nothing wrong?”
I stood by the bed in a private room of the medical room, asking the senior who came to check on me.
“It’s nothing; you’re just overly stressed mentally. Drink some potions to nourish your mental power, and who knows, if you delay a bit longer, she might wake up on her own,” the senior, who was helping in the medical room, answered me amidst my repeated inquiries, even managing to crack a joke.
“Then it’s good.”
After confirming everything was fine, I felt relieved. If something truly happened to Tan Han, I would definitely be implicated.
Should I… call someone to come visit?
But I hardly knew anyone Tan Han knew… Except for a few seniors from the bakery, and… Teacher Lina?
Maybe I should ask Teacher Ji…
I opened my phone and sent a private message, but I ultimately received a warm greeting from Teacher Ji. After learning about the medical room’s response, she directly stated it was a small matter not worth bothering her…
Well, for an Extraordinary Witch, this does seem to be a trivial matter. I definitely haven’t adapted to the extraordinary world.
After all, in a world where there are resurrection spells even for the dead, what does fainting count for?
Once I finished busying myself, I turned around and noticed Tan Han had already woken up.
I looked down at the time on my phone again. Well, I hadn’t spent too long in the medical room; I thought Tan Han would wake up tomorrow.
“Xiao Han, was I sent to the medical room?” After drinking the potion handed to her by that senior, Tan Han looked like she was recovering well; at least, the effect was undeniable.
“Yeah, you should’ve spoken up sooner. Why push yourself to this extent?” I said somewhat helplessly.
“Ha ha, I didn’t expect this to happen. Just a second before I passed out, I was still thinking about things,” Tan Han said with a bitter smile on her face. Maybe she also didn’t foresee that she would have such a day?
“Sigh… Next time… Well, I still don’t even know if there will be a next time. By the way, you fainted in front of quite a number of people from other schools. Have you thought about how to explain it?” I continued to ask.
“Ask me? Didn’t you tell them?” Tan Han was a bit surprised, but after thinking about it, it seemed reasonable.
“No, I didn’t say a word when I took you away. Oh, and that senior carried you; although it looks like she went back since she still needs to monitor the dream equipment,” I shrugged and said.
“Alright, thank… um, don’t bother. I’ll thank her in person next time.”
“But there’s no need to explain to those from other schools. It’s my own business, I don’t need to tell them. How about it? Isn’t it good to handle it your way?”
“As long as you’re happy. By the way, should we say something to the seniors from the bakery and the store manager? After all, this is a significant matter,” I casually asked.
“Forget it, it’s better not to worry them… By the way, no one took pictures of me fainting to post online, right? If it gets discussed, it could cause me some real trouble.”
“I don’t know.” I shook my head and eventually found a place to sit. After all, Tan Han was a “public figure” with more relevance than I had, right?
If public opinion isn’t handled well, it could really be a troublesome matter. I casually opened my phone, only to find that the class group chat had exploded at this moment.
Compared to the information online, I preferred to gather intel and information from the class group, a place that felt closer to me. After all, most of what’s discussed here was related to me or within reach.
At this moment, Tan Han found her phone on the nearby cabinet; she also needed to understand what had happened today or if there were any announcements from the academy.
The group chat was so overflowing with messages that I couldn’t keep up; I could only @ myself to roughly see what had happened.
But the more I looked, the grimmer my expression became, and my heart sank. I hadn’t expected to face such matters so quickly.
As people in the class began to curiously question and doubt my past gender, I scrolled back and found someone had confirmed that the elf from Aphhemia Academy was my ex-girlfriend.
I remembered Hong Chanyi mentioning it yesterday; why was someone bringing it up today? They even @ed me.
Until I found a link shared in the group chat that directed to an article interviewing students from Aphhemia Academy.
Taking a deep breath, I clicked on it. This report wasn’t from the familiar news club I knew, but rather from one I hadn’t heard of.
At that moment, I strangely calmed down. I coldly scrolled through the not-so-numerous comments.
Should I be grateful that the academy’s online platform required real-name registration?
From the comments, I understood that this reporting news organization was a type of small group, typically relying on ambiguous information and gossip to attract attention. Clearly, they had succeeded this time, even catching the attention of the main subject—me.
But to me, it seemed like just an interlude.
Now that I had jumped to the academy’s online platform, I might as well take a look at others.
Honestly, the Witch Academy doesn’t have explosive information every day; most of it is about various fun activities.
However, recently with the new student competition followed by the exchange competition and visits from so many academies, the hot topics have continued. Even so, I found my actions from this morning highlighted among the hot topics.
Extraordinary Witch Academy students did such things to bl**d Clan Academy students in the dream world!
The various small headlines were quite eye-catching.
“Xiao Han?”
“Hmm? What’s wrong?” Suddenly being called by Tan Han startled me; I had been too focused on my matters, considering I’d never experienced this treatment before.
“It’s nothing. I just noticed your expression wasn’t too good a little while ago. Are you alright?”
“The one with a problem should be you. What’s there for me to worry about?” I closed the academy’s online information with an indifferent expression.
“Oh, as long as you’re fine. I just saw many things about you on there. Your fainting incident isn’t drawing much attention; maybe it hasn’t fermented yet?”
“Information online always spreads. Why worry about it?” I said to Tan Han; after all, it was only fainting. Did anyone expect the whole school to be shaken by such a minor incident?
Though I said it for Tan Han’s ears, wasn’t I also saying it to myself?
Tan Han had seen my matters too… I don’t even know which incident it could be…
I recalled the conversation from last night with Sister Bai. Sister Bai wouldn’t lie to me; the Witch Academy wouldn’t ignore such information either. I was a contestant for the upcoming exchange competition; surely the academy wouldn’t let negative information about me circulate wildly.
Wait… if I have to consider negative news, do I actually have any?
Aside from feeling guilty about being a boy before, but that is a fact.
What else should I be worried about? My ex-girlfriend who has long since broken up with me?
No, I’m just afraid… afraid, um… of misunderstandings? Everyone’s misunderstandings? After all, such matters, rumors spread with just a mouth.
But borrowing what Tan Han just said, my matters don’t need to be explained to those I don’t want to get involved with. Ironically, Tan Han’s words are still spoken in my style.
After sorting out my thoughts, I suddenly felt much more relaxed. Heh, being overly absorbed in my own inner world and fantasies is indeed self-deception; I’m just scaring myself.
Even though it’s being discussed vigorously in the class group, jumping to the academy’s online platform reveals just one report. This isn’t everything.
“I think I saw a report on your ex-girlfriend. She’s a student from Aphhemia Academy and isn’t on the Witch Academy’s account, but the reports from these small clubs at the academy really love creating conflicts. It’s truly disgusting.”
Tan Han’s words interrupted my train of thought again. Clearly, she was now also transformed into a gossip expert, starting to browse through the academy’s online platform.
After all, that senior earlier mentioned Tan Han should rest here a bit longer to see if there were any issues, so Tan Han doesn’t have much else to do right now.
“Do you find it disgusting too?”
“Yeah, do you care about it?”
“Not really.”
“Haha, although you usually pretend to have a stoic expression, when something really happens, you still can’t help but show it on your face. Don’t worry; I know you care, and I’ll say a few words for you. Trust me, my words should carry weight.”
“Do as you please.”
I glanced away, pretending to browse my phone, but I was actually looking at my own face through the dark screen. Does this face really display any emotions? Why can’t I tell?
I opened my phone, unconsciously flipping to Sister Bai’s messages, since I realized I had been busy most of the day, and Sister Bai had actually contacted me privately.
After reading, it was mostly to continue comforting me about what we discussed yesterday, saying I would be fine.
The message was sent in the morning, and now it was already the afternoon.
But I still replied. Sister Bai’s private messages felt special; while I might ignore others’ messages for a long time, I couldn’t do so with Sister Bai.
Otherwise, if she saw I hadn’t replied, and thought I was being cyberbullied or might do something drastic…
Though I wouldn’t be that fragile.
Just as I was replying, Tan Han also picked up a phone call. After a few short exchanges, she hung up.
“Hmm? Who was it?”
“It was the store manager and Senior Ying Shiqian. They don’t know where they got the news but are here to see us. They’re already at the door of the medical room, asking which room I’m in,” Tan Han answered truthfully.
“The store manager, huh…” Sure enough, there are still people who care about Tan Han. This treatment is completely different from Ji Niang, who doesn’t even bother to care.
Before long, I heard a commotion outside the room. I opened the door to see the store manager and them carrying bags.
“Store manager, Senior Ying Shiqian, you came so quickly?” I greeted them as I opened the door.
“Xiao Han? You’re here too? Is Tan also here?”
“Yeah.” After welcoming the store manager and the others in, I stepped aside since I wasn’t the one in the spotlight this time.
Watching them chat animatedly, soon Senior Ying Shiqian, who couldn’t get a word in, came over to sit beside me.
“Senior Ying Shiqian, are you the only one who accompanied the store manager here?”
“Yeah, bringing some desserts? Let that fellow Tang Yihan stay at the store. Let’s tire her out～” Senior Ying Shiqian opened the bag she was carrying, revealing the pastries from the bakery. Well, the consolation gift for Tan Han was indeed from the store, very convenient, and Senior Ying Shiqian was already indulging.
“Thank you.”
I also accepted it without hesitation since I hadn’t had lunch yet; it could serve as a little snack.
“Why are you thanking me? You’re being polite. By the way, Xiao Han, do you know how Tan fainted? If I hadn’t been slacking off… ahem, anyway, if I hadn’t seen the latest news, I wouldn’t have known Tan Han fainted today.”
“Uh… Senior, you get the news really quickly.” I couldn’t help but retort. How long has it been since Tan Han fainted? High-intensity slacking off, huh?
“Where? Don’t talk nonsense. This is a big achievement, so how can it be slacking off? Tell me, what happened with Tan?”
“Tan Han was just practicing fighting in the dream world; the intensity was a bit high. She didn’t eat lunch from morning till afternoon and then passed out. It isn’t severe, actually, using the senior’s words here, if we had sent her a bit slower, she could’ve woken up halfway.”
“Tan Han is such a hard worker?”
“Yeah… I guess, the realm of a scholar is something ordinary students don’t understand.” I shook my head.
“Right, we can’t keep up with Tan Han’s brain circuit… Wait, I almost got dragged into it. You, Xiao Han, are not bad either. Wuwuwu, it seems only I am the waste in the bakery.”
“Alright, stop adding drama to yourself.”
“Hehe, just lamenting a bit. After all, you and Tan Han are both such prodigies now. You’re the twin stars of the new students at the Witch Academy. The two Xiao Hans, it’s hard to tell you apart. It really has meaning.”
“Don’t listen to the nonsense online; it’s all fake content. What’s so fun about it?” I curled my lips.
“Actually, I know. False information is flying everywhere on the academy’s online platform. I heard there’s even a rumor that your ex-girlfriend is from Aphhemia Academy. Can it get any more fake than this?”
“…”
“Uh… that’s fake news, right?” The senior saw my expression and uncertainly asked again.
“… It isn’t.”
“Huh? Wait… oh! I just remembered, Xiao Han, you… ah, I didn’t say anything.” Senior Ying Shiqian realized what she said in a low voice. After all, both she and Senior Tang Yihan knew I was a boy before, while the store manager failed to notice.
“Sorry… um, Xiao Han, are you okay?”
“It’s fine, just a small matter. I’m just a bit afraid of the trouble.” I shrugged again, indicating it was no big deal.
“Don’t worry, Xiao Han. With my experience in the academy for so long,” Senior Ying Shiqian leaned closer to me and whispered, “You might just be the best boy there is. Since you’ve already accepted your current identity, don’t be afraid of other things. Just be yourself. I have connections; if someone says something about you online, I’ll be the first to support you. Just be at ease being a witch. Gender isn’t something a witch should be concerned about. As long as we join this big witch family, we’re all good sisters.”
“Thank you…” I quietly replied. Is this what it feels like to be comforted? My mood had indeed improved a lot.
“Hey, why are you thanking me? Have another piece of cake. By the look of you, you didn’t eat anything for lunch, right?”
“I really haven’t eaten.”
“Then eat more, since there’s plenty, if no one eats, it’ll just pile up in the store.”
While I was chatting with the senior, the store manager and Tan Han had also been talking for quite a while.
I excused myself to leave first; after all, with the store manager present, Tan Han didn’t need me to accompany her anymore.
“Xiao Han, are you leaving? Sorry, I was just chatting with Tan Han and almost forgot you were here.”
“It’s okay; the store manager should care more about Tan Han. Since the one who had this incident was Tan Han, it’s best to spend more time with her.”
“Xiao Han is so understanding. Then I won’t see you off?”
“Mm, goodbye, store manager.”
After saying that, I left. Since there was nothing for me to do here, it would be best to leave early.
“Shiqian, I’ll take care of this; you should go help Yihan. She must be a bit overwhelmed alone in the store.”
“Ah? Alright…” Hardly managing to come to slack off, Senior Ying Shiqian could only be sent away by the store manager.
After watching Senior Ying Shiqian leave, Store Manager Shali then closed the door and walked back to Tan Han.
At that moment, she took out something from her pocket, a… testing item for lies.
“Tan, you really should be more careful this time. Even in the dream world, you should pay attention to your health.”
