Chapter 471: A Small Request from the Fool's Dream
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 471: A Small Request from the Fool's Dream
The villa door was pushed open. Seeing the place empty, a figure darted straight for the second floor.
"Sister Xiao Han isn't here! Quick, quick, quick—set up the scene! Let's give her a surprise!"
Having confirmed the second-floor bedroom was empty, Hong Chenyi immediately began directing the group to decorate.
Pop!
With a sharp bang, a stream of colorful streamers shot toward the ceiling before fluttering down like snowflakes.
"Whoa!"
"Who set off a party popper early?" Hong Chenyi called out, looking down from the second floor. Some of the streamers had drifted up to the landing; there was no way she could have missed the commotion.
"Sorry, that was me," Dongli Yiren said, sounding slightly apologetic. "It’s my first time seeing one of these... I was curious..."
"Well, hurry up and clean the floor. Phew—good thing we prepared a few extras. Where are the Fool's Dream? Did that scare them?" Hong Chenyi breathed a sigh of relief before asking.
"I'm okay! That looked like fun!" A petite figure peeked out from beside Dongli Yiren’s feet.
"As long as you're okay. Everyone, stay sharp. Sister Xiao Han should be here soon; didn't she just pop up in the group chat? Get ready, everyone! We’re going to celebrate her becoming a Teaching Assistant!" Hong Chenyi cheered them on.
Two Fool's Dream had come along this time. Guan Qiuling had brought them from the Witch Cat Cafe. After learning about the relationship between those Fool's Dream and Xiao Han, the bond between the Fool's Dream and Guan Qiuling had become quite good. However, these two had specifically requested to tag along for this occasion.
Guan Qiuling had then met up with Hong Chenyi and the others after their class meeting ended to organize this simple celebration.
Because time was tight, they hadn't prepared much for the surprise. They had simply bought some disposable party poppers on the way back.
Once the simple decorations were finished, the initial burst of enthusiasm quickly simmered down.
"Sister Dongli Yiren... I'm sorry. I was the one who actually used the party popper just now..." The other Fool's Dream, who had been helping clean up the scattered streamers, hurried forward to apologize to Dongli Yiren.
"...No, it’s fine." Dongli Yiren blinked, stunned. This was the first time anyone had called her "Sister Dongli Yiren." That soft, sweet "Sister" made her freeze for a moment. She then knelt down and rubbed the Fool's Dream’s small head. The creature’s cat-like ears flattened out to the sides into "airplane ears," looking pitiful as if it had done something terribly wrong. "It’s just a small thing. Today is a happy day; don't let Sister Xiao Han see you looking upset."
"Mhm! Right! Then... next time Sister Dongli Yiren comes to the Witch Cat Cafe, I’ll treat you to a Fool's Dream Drink."
"I'll be there."
Dongli Yiren nodded and stood up. The brief exchange didn't draw much attention from the others—or perhaps they were just pretending not to notice.
"Hey, do you think we prepared too little? If I’d known Sister Xiao Han would be this late, we should have gotten more stuff," Hong Chenyi said, leaning over the second-floor railing and looking down at the group.
"I think it’s enough. Don't you think this kind of thing... well, doesn't really suit Sister Xiao Han?" Dongli Yiren picked up a stray piece of tinsel and tossed it aside.
"Oh, come on—it’s about the atmosphere! Sister Xiao Han just doesn't talk much; it’s not like she doesn't have normal human feelings. A surprise is a surprise."
"True. Should we send someone out to see when she’s coming back? We can't just wait here forever."
"Good point. Who wants to keep watch at the window?" Hong Chenyi suggested with a nod.
"I'll do it," Guan Qiuling offered.
"Thanks, Qiuling!" Seeing Guan Qiuling take the initiative, Hong Chenyi thanked her quickly. "Man, it’s about time... but seriously, why isn't she back yet? Usually, she’s really fast. She has a flight license and teleportation... Wait! Don't we have that thing to summon her? Wouldn't it be easier to just summon her back? It would save her the trouble of the commute."
"What if it’s inconvenient for her?" Guan Qiuling asked, glancing back from the window.
"How could it be inconvenient? She already said she was on her way. It’s not like she’s in the middle of something private, right?" As she spoke, Hong Chenyi pulled out a business card. "I have to say, Sister Xiao Han is really skilled. Even a business card is an alchemical item. This summoning tool is way easier to carry than the old one."
"Have you ever summoned her before?"
"No, she just taught me how to use it. So, should I do it? Hmm? What’s with those faces? Why are you all..." Hong Chenyi was fiddling with the card, about to say more, when she realized the people below had suddenly gone silent.
Just as she was about to ask what was wrong, a hand suddenly slapped her on the shoulder.
"What are you all up to?"
"Si—Sister Xiao Han!" Hong Chenyi jumped, startled by my voice. The business card slipped from her fingers.
"What kind of guilty secret are you hiding to be scared like that?" I smiled slightly. With a flick of my finger, a gust of wind blew the card back into my hand, which I then handed back to Hong Chenyi. "Hold onto it. You dropped it."
"Si... Sister Xiao Han? How are you here?"
"Why wouldn't I be here? What kind of question is that?"
"But I clearly checked and saw you weren't in the bedroom... and there wasn't a sound!" Hong Chenyi asked, still looking incredulous.
"I just got back, obviously. Isn't it normal to have a space teleportation mark in my bedroom?" I said with a smile, then looked down from the second floor. "Oh? Everyone’s here. Is this a surprise for me? Thank you."
Pop! Pop!
As I spoke, two muffled pops sounded as confetti shot toward the second floor.
"Sister Xiao Han, congratulations on becoming a Teaching Assistant!"
"Fool's Dream? You kidnapped the Fool's Dream to the dorm?" I looked in surprise at the two petite Fool's Dream holding party poppers, then glanced at Hong Chenyi, silently asking if this was her idea.
"No, no! Sister Xiao Han, we wanted to come back with Sister Guan Qiuling!" the two Fool's Dream explained hurriedly.
"Is that so?"
I walked toward the stairs to head down, but as I looked at the group, I caught a different vibe from their gazes. It was a hint of subconscious distance—or perhaps a tentative, distancing sort of caution.
"Well, since you went to the trouble of preparing a surprise, let me treat you. How about we go out for a meal? My treat."
"Great! We won't stand on ceremony then! Honestly, Sister Xiao Han, you became a Teaching Assistant on the sly without telling us a word. Our surprise wasn't even properly prepared~"
"Yeah, Teacher Ji Niang told us right before the class meeting started. I was terrified when she said your student records were being canceled, and then I found out you’d just become a Teaching Assistant," Yu Yuetian added as she stepped forward.
"Is that so? I just didn't want to affect you all or have you overthinking things." I gave a simple explanation and quickly changed the subject. "By the way, your class meeting was probably about the Joint Exam, right? Why don't you tell me about it? I don't know much about the details yet."
"Sister Xiao Han, you're a Teaching Assistant now. Are you still interested in the assessment?"
"Mhm. Even though I won't be participating as a student, I'll be helping maintain the exam as a Teaching Assistant. Naturally, I want to know what you'll be facing."
"Holy crap! Sister Xiao Han, you've become an invigilator?!"
"An invigilator? Not quite. I'm just a Teaching Assistant helping the mentors. At most, I'll be handling chores." As I explained, I led the group out of the dorm. As I’d said, we were going to have a proper celebratory dinner.
"That’s still amazing. Oh, Sister Xiao Han, since it’s just us celebrating your promotion, should we invite some others to liven things up? It would be more festive that way," Hong Chenyi suggested.
"The more the merrier... hmm... maybe not. I’m not actually a big fan of crowded, noisy places. Besides, I don't have many friends. I consider you all my friends, and even though I’ve become a Teaching Assistant, that hasn't changed."
"Haha! Sister Xiao Han, hearing you say that puts us at ease! You have no idea how worried we were that we wouldn't be in the same league anymore."
"Then I can only say you were worrying over nothing."
Chatting and laughing, we made our way to a nice nearby restaurant.
The five of us, plus the two Fool's Dream—a strange combination—entered a private room in the restaurant.
During the meal, we didn't talk about much else besides the Multi-School Joint Exam. Dongli Yiren and Guan Qiuling listened intently, as their classes hadn't held their meetings yet; theirs were scheduled for the afternoon.
Through our conversation, I learned more details about the exam. For instance, the practical combat portion wasn't the "Battle Royale" style free-for-all I had imagined.
Instead, it was a resource point capture scoring system that encouraged teaming up with schoolmates.
They would be deployed to the dangerous Bobapus Archipelago, a place teeming with all sorts of strange monsters. Danger lurked on the islands, underwater, and in the air. Killing these monsters would grant a small number of points, while capturing resource points would grant a large amount. When it came to teams, the distribution of these points would have to be decided by the students themselves.
Compared to students from other academies, their primary opponents would be the monsters.
There was a massive amount of room for maneuvering. A gathered team could split points evenly, or funnel them all to a single person.
Consequently, all sorts of scenarios were likely to occur: cross-school cooperation, stealing from other thieves, internal strife, and betrayal would probably be par for the course.
Furthermore, these resource points contained essential supplies like food and water, making them vital for daily survival.
Crucially, points could not be forcibly stolen this time, which greatly reduced the likelihood of students killing each other on sight.
The Joint Exam would last for a week. The practical final grade would no longer be judged by a numerical score but recorded as "Pass" or "Fail." Currently, because practical testing hadn't been systematically categorized like theoretical exams, there was no such thing as "flunking," but the Pass/Fail rating would be recorded in their personal data and could affect their choice of Mentor in the fourth year.
As for the judgment of Pass or Fail, the academy would use the Ley Line System for full data analysis to ensure no student was overlooked or incorrectly graded.
It had to be said that whenever large-scale combat testing was involved, it was always a headache. Testing students one-on-one would be incredibly tedious and time-consuming, while a grand melee had too many limitations, making it hard to evaluate an individual comprehensively. Combat power wasn't the only standard for judging a person's value, so team cooperation allowed an individual to maximize their specific strengths.
Undoubtedly, the leader of a team would receive a higher rating. Within the "Pass" grade, there were sub-evaluations like "Good" or "Excellent." However, if a leader was merely a figurehead and provided no guidance for the team's division of labor, their score would be appropriately downgraded.
Regarding this Joint Exam, the Witch Academy also reminded students that it was best to cooperate. After all, this was real combat, and one could "lose their life" if they weren't careful. If faced with irresistible danger, a student could actively call for a Mentor to take them out of the exam grounds. However, once they chose to leave, their exam was over, and their grade would be left to fate.
* * *
The celebratory meal ended quickly. Hong Chenyi and the others wanted to do more preparation for the exam, while Dongli Yiren and her group had to rush to the Central Teaching Area for their afternoon class meetings. Taking the academy bus would be a bit tight on time. Even though they had learned many of the rules during lunch, they weren't so reckless as to skip the official meeting.
In the end, only the two Fool's Dream were left with me.
"Should I send you back? To your residence, or the Witch Cat Cafe?" I leaned down, patted a Fool's Dream’s head, and asked softly.
"Sister Xiao Han, we actually came here because we have something we want to tell you."
"That’s right, that’s right. We didn't have a chance to say it earlier, so we had to wait until now."
"Something to tell me? What is it?" I raised an eyebrow, a bit surprised, but asked anyway.
"Sister Xiao Han, we actually came mainly to tell you one thing. Some of our sisters among us actually..."
"Actually, Sister Xiao Han let us work at the Witch Cat Cafe so we could support ourselves. We’ve lived in the academy for a while now, but some of our sisters don't really like that kind of work. They want to follow Sister Xiao Han and help share your burdens!"
"Actually... we just want to go back to how it was at the base, where we could help Sister Xiao Han... We want to become your assistants!"
"Huh?" Listening to the two Fool's Dream go back and forth, the information was a bit fragmented, but I got the gist of it.
Now that they were settled in the Witch Academy and didn't have to worry about survival, they wanted to do their best to help me after adapting to the environment. It was just like when my dream self went to Ninglan New City; I had needed the Fool's Dream to act on my behalf for everything while I conducted experiments in reality.
Upon realizing what the Fool's Dream wanted to do, my first instinct was to refuse. Given the Fool's Dream’s temperament and their questionable logic, they weren't exactly ideal candidates for experimental assistants.
But looking at their expectant expressions... and thinking about my trial agreement with the Academy Dean, I obviously couldn't just ignore the Fool's Dream. However, I still had no clue how to turn the Fool's Dream into true lifeforms.
Suddenly, a thought took root in my mind.
Perhaps... I could try to pass the concept of the Transcendent to the Fool's Dream. I could let them try for themselves and decide where the Fool's Dream race should go. After all, becoming a true living race was a desire born from the deepest parts of their hearts.
Furthermore, they were closely linked to the Great Wisdom Enlightenment Art, and that art was now connected to the Tree of Great Knowledge. Since I possessed the Tree of Great Knowledge, I was at least confident in teaching them Transcendent arts.
In fact... if I had Fool's Dream cooperating with me to test the ability derivations of the Tree of Great Knowledge, then the layout of the tree might be able to unfold even faster.
"Alright, I’ll accept your idea. But I won't take too many Fool's Dream as assistants at first—two or three at most. And any Fool's Dream who follows me must follow my instructions completely."