SS-Class Guide - Chapter 19

In the blink of an eye, it was time for class again. This time, the lecture focused on how to perform mental grooming for Sentinels. Under the prevailing atmosphere of grief, the students’ enthusiasm for the course was notably low.

An Yuan’s head throbbed with a persistent ache. He did his best to organize the chaotic and massive influx of information while pressing a finger against his temple. Suddenly, the instructor called out Rong Xiushi’s name. An Yuan had not yet grown accustomed to his new identity; his mind was still drifting.

The instructor at the podium called the name a third time. An Yuan remained lost in thought until he finally became aware of the collective gaze of the class shifting toward him. Realizing late what was happening, he blinked blankly. After a moment of pause, he followed the students’ eyes to the front of the room.

The instructor appeared to be in her thirties, with her black hair pulled back into a tight bun. Wearing black-rimmed glasses, she possessed a sharp, curvaceous figure and an aura of fierce severity reminiscent of a disciplinary dean.

An Yuan tensed up. Seeing such a fierce teacher made him feel cautious and a little afraid.

“Student Rong Xiushi, please explain: when the compatibility between a Guide and a Sentinel is less than 50 percent, but you must perform grooming for them, what steps should be taken?”

An Yuan’s mind went completely blank. In his previous life as An Yuan, he had been measured as an S-level at age twelve and had been fast-tracked through his education. Theoretical knowledge was usually something he forgot as soon as he saw it. More importantly, due to his natural talent, his compatibility with any Sentinel had never dropped below 70 percent. Hearing this question now, he had no idea how to answer.

Beads of sweat formed on his forehead as he searched Rong Xiushi’s memories. As a top student, Rong Xiushi certainly would have known the answer. However, An Yuan despairingly discovered that he had not yet accessed that specific part of the original host’s knowledge.

The instructor’s brow furrowed, and her gaze turned sharp and cold. She repeated the question.

“I asked you to answer!” she barked, increasing her volume.

The entire classroom fell silent. An Yuan trembled, startled. In his memory, no one had ever shouted at him like that. He stammered, “I, I.” He could not formulate a response.

“You do not know?” the instructor asked.

An Yuan hung his head like a withered plant and apologized sincerely. “Teacher, I am sorry. I do not know.”

The instructor gave a cold sneer. “Since you do not know, then pay attention and do not daydream in my classroom.”

“Yes, Teacher. Please forgive me this once,” An Yuan replied obediently. For the rest of the long lecture, he sat bolt upright and did not dare to let his mind wander. He had to consider the original host’s future; he could not let Rong Xiushi fail his classes before the original soul returned.

When the class finally ended, the instructor said, “Rong Xiushi, come to my office.”

An Yuan felt a wave of misery. As he followed the “female demon” out of the room, his classmates looked at him with pity. One whispered, “How tragic to be caught daydreaming by her.”

In the office, the instructor scolded him, emphasizing that mental grooming can be dangerous for both parties if handled incorrectly. She let him go only after making him promise to study harder.

By the time he finished his afternoon classes, it was nearly 4:00 PM. Just as he was trying to figure out how to navigate back to Rong Xiushi’s current home, his phone rang.

He pulled a device from his pocket. Two years ago, the trend had been for sleek, full-screen models. The phone in his hand was an old model at least five or six years out of date. It was barely a step above a “senior phone,” though it could still access the internet.

He clumsily answered the call. A male voice on the other end said, “Hello?”

An Yuan, not knowing who it was, said politely, “Hello, I am An, no, I am Rong Xiushi.”

“Rong Xiushi, where are you now? Did we not agree to meet at the music room after the second period for a grooming session?”

An Yuan had no memory of this, but he knew from the host’s financial situation that he had to do this. Mental grooming was his highest paying job. He apologized and hurried toward the music building.

Rong Xiushi attended Fanse Academy, which was the same school An Yuan had attended. However, Rong Xiushi was in the ordinary Guide track, while An Yuan had been in the elite track.

Ten minutes later, a breathless An Yuan met a second-year student wearing the Fanse Academy Combat Department uniform. The student, a C-level Sentinel, waved at him. “I was not going to run away, so what is the rush?”

An Yuan smiled but did not answer. Grooming is best performed in an isolation room, but those were expensive. Since they could not afford to rent one, they used a music room with decent soundproofing.

Inside the quiet room, An Yuan sat down. In the past, he would have talked to the Sentinel first to lower their defenses. But he realized that the old Rong Xiushi probably just cut straight to the point.

“Rong Xiushi?” the Sentinel prompted when An Yuan did not move.

“Right, I will begin the grooming now.” An Yuan reached out and took the student’s wrist.

The student pulled his arm back. “What are you doing? Why are you touching my wrist?”

“Ah?”

“Here, hold hands,” the student said, extending an open palm.

An Yuan’s eyelid twitched as he took the student’s hand. He was nervous; though he had done this thousands of times as An Yuan, this was his first time doing it as a D-level Guide.

He checked his mental landscape and was hit by a “pupil earthquake.” His mental landscape was not that of a D-level; it was his original double S-level landscape, but evolved. During his final encounter with the Zerg Queen, its spiritual power had merged with his, and the resulting energy surge had purified his entire being. He had been reborn with the primordial power of a god-tier Guide.

“Hey, Rong Xiushi, what is wrong? Is there a problem?”

“No problem! I will groom you now!”

To avoid detection, he performed the grooming extremely slowly. Grooming a low compatibility Sentinel can feel like an invasion to them, so Guides usually finish as quickly as possible. An Yuan did not know their compatibility, and since he could not replicate the unpleasant feeling of a low level Guide, he just slowed the process down.

In reality, he could have finished in under a minute. He forced himself to stretch it to twenty minutes and lowered the effectiveness. Instead of the 90 percent clarity he used to provide at the Sean Temple, he stopped at 70 percent.

“The session is over. Are you satisfied?” An Yuan asked tentatively. If this were a Sentinel from the Sean Temple, they would have filed a complaint.

Instead, the student excitedly grabbed An Yuan’s hand again. “Rong Xiushi, has your level increased?”

“Ah?”

“No, it is not your level. Our compatibility must have improved!” the student said happily. Sometimes, for unknown reasons, compatibility between a pair can suddenly spike.

An Yuan gently pulled his hand back. He had never liked physical contact with strangers.

“When you groomed me before, it was actually quite painful,” the student admitted. “But you charge the lowest price, so I kept coming back! This time, I felt almost no invasion at all. I will definitely look for you next time!”

An Yuan felt a bit happy about having a loyal customer. “Okay. Thank you.”

“I will pay via QR code.”

An Yuan, used to swiping cards, clumsily opened the payment interface on his battered phone. The fee for a D-level Guide grooming a C-level Sentinel was 50 yuan. The Sentinel left, and An Yuan stared at the 50 yuan on his screen in a daze. 50 yuan? In his past life, a single meal could cost ten thousand yuan. Yet for Rong Xiushi, this was his highest income. He checked the account balance: after today’s 50 yuan, he had a total of 722 yuan.

He felt a crushing weight of responsibility. He had two younger siblings in the Fifth District, high school freshmen who relied on scholarships, grants, and part-time work. If they wanted to move from the Fifth District to the four major districts later, they would need a massive amount of money. Currently, the siblings were essentially pooling their resources to support Rong Xiushi’s education.

An Yuan sat in the music room for half an hour, lost in thought. When he finally left, his phone rang. It was Wei Hetai.

Wei Hetai was Rong Xiushi’s childhood neighbor and a second-year student in the Combat Department at Fanse Academy. He was a B-level Sentinel. The two had been close since childhood and had a high compatibility of 72. After a tragedy forced Rong Xiushi to move to a dangerous slum, Wei Hetai had helped him constantly, giving him old clothes that eventually trickled down to the younger siblings.

When they both got into Fanse Academy, Wei Hetai rented an apartment fifteen minutes from campus and invited Rong Xiushi to live with him. Wei Hetai paid the rent and bought most of the supplies; in exchange, Rong Xiushi did the cooking, cleaning, and occasional grooming.

“Xiushi, I am not coming home for dinner tonight. Do not cook for me,” Wei Hetai said over the phone.

An Yuan breathed a sigh of relief. He still did not quite know how to handle the interpersonal relationships or how to cook like Rong Xiushi. He walked home, using a fingerprint lock to enter the 40 square meter studio.

He checked the fridge. The original host mostly bought discounted food after 8:00 PM. An Yuan followed the host’s memories and made a simple bowl of noodles. It could not compare to his past life, but it was decent.

After dinner, he searched for information on Mrs. Wen and Wen Xiuyan. He found nothing on Mrs. Wen, but Wen Xiuyan, as one of the three double S Sentinels, was in the news. He was 27, single, and apparently being pushed toward a political marriage. There were blurry photos of him dining with a beautiful woman.

An Yuan’s heart gave a small jolt. It felt like yesterday that he was with Wen Xiuyan, but two years had passed. If he had survived the battle with the Queen, would Wen Xiuyan have confessed to him? He did not know. He only knew that Mrs. Wen wanted her son to lead a normal life.

He decided that for now, he could not go back to his old life. He was Rong Xiushi now, and he would live as Rong Xiushi until the original owner returned.

Checking his schedule, he realized he had a tutoring session at 7:00 PM. He hurried to the bus stop. The student was a high school sophomore needing help with math. An Yuan was relieved; his math was good, even if his literature was poor.

The student’s house was near the Jingye District, the area where An Yuan used to live. As he walked from the bus stop, a car with the Sean Temple insignia drove past. He recognized the license plate: it was Wen Xiuyan’s car. A bitter ache filled his chest, which was the pain of being so close to a loved one yet unable to speak.

The student, Xing Mingxu, was distracted during the lesson. “My sister is coming back!” he announced excitedly.

An Yuan searched his memories. He had only been tutoring here for two weeks. “You must have a great relationship with her.”

“Yes! She works at the Sean Temple!” Mingxu said proudly. “She went on a mission to the Shuhuan District a year ago and finally finished today!”

Mingxu continued to praise his sister’s hard work. “You know, so many people wanted to be Lord An Yuan’s assistant, but my sister won the job through her own ability!”

An Yuan’s heart nearly stopped. His former assistant, Xing Lulu, was the sister of his current student.

“If she comes back early tonight, Teacher Rong, you might get to meet her!” Mingxu said with sparkling eyes.

An Yuan smiled nervously and continued the lesson. As 9:00 PM approached, a familiar voice rang out from the living room. “Mom, I am back!”

Mingxu rushed out to hug his sister. An Yuan followed and saw a woman with short, ear length hair wearing the Sean Temple’s A-level Sentinel uniform. In two years, Lulu had been promoted from B-level to A-level, and her aura had become much sharper.

“Hello,” An Yuan said politely, offering a professional smile. Lulu nodded at him but quickly turned her attention back to her family. An Yuan made his excuses and left, not wanting to overstay.

On the bus ride home, he received another call. It was a friend of Wei Hetai, saying that the Sentinel was drunk at a bar and needed to be picked up.

At the bar, An Yuan heard students whispering as he helped a stumbling Wei Hetai toward the exit. “That is Rong Xiushi.” “He is the one who confessed to the school’s male god? How bold.” “Look at his white hair. It is not dyed; they say he turned white from heartbreak.”

An Yuan ignored them. He got Wei Hetai home, helped him clean up, and put him to bed. He then took a shower and looked in the mirror.

With the heavy glasses removed and the long bangs pushed aside, he saw a face that was 80 percent identical to his old self.

An Yuan had been known as the First Beauty of the Sean Temple. He realized that Rong Xiushi hid his face because, in the Fifth District, such a face was a liability. It brought trouble that a poor person could not defend against.

He sighed, knowing he had to wake up early to cook breakfast and go to class.

His new life was much busier than his old one. He was busy just trying to survive.

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