The Cannon Fodder Became the Empire's Beloved Omega - Chapter 23

“Is that you?”

Han Ran looked at Yu Ruan with a strange expression, her eyebrows raised as she gave him a thorough once-over.

The atmosphere instantly turned awkward.

Yu Ruan was confused, unsure of what he had done to provoke such a reaction. But the person in front of him clearly had no intention of explaining. She slung her helmet over her shoulder and waved a hand dismissively. “I’m leaving.”

Cheng Mu grew anxious. “Hey, Ran-jie, why are you being so cold. Hey!”

Han Ran completely ignored him and strode straight to the door, slamming it shut with a sharp “thud.”

Cheng Mu: “…”

Yu Ruan was also a bit stunned.

He actually had a favorable impression of this kind of decisive, no-nonsense older sister type. Unfortunately, it seemed she didn’t like him very much.

Cheng Mu was equally speechless. He had intended to introduce Yu Ruan to Han Ran early on, hoping to leave a good impression in advance. With Han Ran, the student council president, on their side, suppressing the campus rumors would have been a piece of cake.

But who would have thought things would turn into such a disaster? Now he was left feeling just as awkward.

Feeling guilty, Cheng Mu quickly tried to smooth things over. “Hey, Ruanruan, don’t be upset. Ran-jie has a bit of a temper. Maybe she had a rough day at work and someone set her off. We’ll try again another day when she’s cooled down. Today doesn’t count.”

Yu Ruan nodded, still not quite understanding the situation.

Cheng Mu, filled with remorse, turned to Gu Yu. “Gu Yu, you too. Couldn’t you have said something to help?”

“Han Ran doesn’t give face to anyone. Even if you called Ye Yizhou, it would be the same,” Gu Yu replied flatly.

“Well, that’s true!”

“Has anyone mentioned the entrance speech to you?” Gu Yu ignored him and redirected the conversation to Yu Ruan.

Instantly, Yu Ruan was thrown into confusion again.

He shook his head honestly. “No!”

He hadn’t been on the capital planet for long, and not wanting to trouble others too much, he had only asked Yi Tu to help him pack his luggage, planning to slowly figure things out after settling in.

He hadn’t expected there to be such a rule.

Hearing this, Gu Yu frowned slightly, found a seat, and opened the screen of his light brain.

Cheng Mu explained to Yu Ruan, “Because everyone who moves in here is the top student of their year, they have to give a speech as the student representative. But Ruanruan, don’t worry, it might not necessarily fall to you.”

The more he spoke, the less confident he sounded. After a moment’s thought, he couldn’t help but ask, “By the way, Ruanruan, what was your entrance exam score?”

He was thinking optimistically: Even though Yu Ruan was now the top heir, Starcloud Academy might not break tradition and let him take the stage as the top student for the entrance speech.

“Ah, that…” Yu Ruan felt a bit embarrassed. He hesitated before saying, “888.”

Cheng Mu let out an “oh” and instinctively praised, “Oh, 888, not bad.”

Before he could finish, the realization hit him, and he nearly choked.

Holy crap, 888!

What kind of godly score was that?!?!

With a score like that, forget being the top of the year, you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone in Starcloud’s hundred-year history who scored higher.

Cheng Mu was dumbfounded.

He looked at Yu Ruan, then at Gu Yu, who remained completely unfazed, and raised his eyebrows in disbelief. “First place?”

“Probably?” Starcloud hadn’t released the rankings, so Yu Ruan himself didn’t know for sure.

Judging from Gu Yu’s expression, it was probably a done deal. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have specifically brought it up.

Cheng Mu fell silent.

As the “slacker” with the lowest grades among the three, he felt unqualified to speak seriously, rumors were so misleading!

Who on earth had spread the word that the new heir was a delicate, useless pretty boy? The guy could clearly wipe the floor with a bunch of worthless Alphas!

Cheng Mu was on the verge of a meltdown.

Yu Ruan noticed his utterly defeated expression and felt momentarily at a loss.

For some reason, he instinctively glanced at Gu Yu beside him.

Gu Yu lowered his gaze to the light screen, his tone indifferent. “He’s just jealous that you’re better than him. Don’t pay him any mind.”

Cheng Mu: “…” Couldn’t he at least leave me some dignity?!

Cheng Mu was filled with indignation.

Yu Ruan blinked, suppressing a laugh.

Gu Yu tapped a few times on the light screen. Shortly after, Yu Ruan heard a notification sound.

He opened his light computer and found a private message from Gu Yu. The content was simple, it looked like a link, with a line of small text below it, labeled as the channel password.

“Every class has its own dedicated channel,” Gu Yu said, putting away his light computer. “I just sent you ours. Enter the password and join.”

Yu Ruan nodded obediently, clicked the link Gu Yu had sent, and entered the password.

While he was typing, Gu Yu added, “Do you have any prior experience?”

Yu Ruan thought for a moment, assuming he was referring to the speech, and shook his head. “No.”

In his previous life, he might have had some experience. But in this life, being fated to play the role of a cannon fodder character, a spotlight moment like giving a speech was never meant for him.

Honestly, hearing Gu Yu mention it made Yu Ruan a little nervous.

Gu Yu gave a noncommittal “Hmm” and said, “If you have any questions, you can come to me.”

Cheng Mu chimed in enthusiastically, “Me too, me too! Softie, look at me. I’m way better at talking than your Brother Gu. Don’t learn from him come to me, and I’ll definitely help you carry the whole show.”

“Thank you.”

He took out his light computer and exchanged contact info with the enthusiastic Cheng Mu. A moment later, a notification popped up in his message bar, informing him that he had been added to the class channel.

Yu Ruan clicked in without a second thought.

The channel was buzzing with activity. Countless messages flashed before Yu Ruan’s eyes, and the automated gray notification welcoming a new member was quickly buried.

[Hahaha, saying an Omega can be stronger than an Alpha? You can only fool yourself online, don’t tell me anyone actually believes that?!]

[If there’s nothing shady about that parachute student, I’ll write my name backward, okay?]

[Tch, making a bet you’re guaranteed to win, what kind of Alpha does that? Pathetic. You should feel sorry for Song Si, who got pushed out. Now that’s truly tragic.]

Just then, the bot’s automated welcome message popped up:

[Welcome @Yu Ruan to the channel! Please read the channel rules before posting~! Thanks for your cooperation ww]

That single notification instantly froze the atmosphere in the channel.

At this point, there was no need to guess the identity of the newcomer. Being caught badmouthing someone behind their back was beyond embarrassing.

For a moment, everyone felt awkward and ashamed.

Seeing this situation, even someone as slow as Yu Ruan finally caught on. Combined with Han Ran’s previous attitude towards him, he realized that he was probably being collectively dissed by the students of Nebula Academy.

Nebula had only recently begun to relax its admission requirements in recent years, allowing students of other genders to enroll. However, it was truly the first time an Omega had ever been admitted to Nebula.

Moreover, with his current status as an heir, it wasn’t entirely surprising that he’d face some covert exclusion before the official results were announced.

Before coming to Nebula, Yu Ruan had already mentally prepared himself for this kind of situation. He just hadn’t expected it to happen so quickly, which left him slightly taken aback.

After a moment of thought, he casually typed a “Hello, everyone” in the channel, then closed it without bothering to read the responses.

After all, those who disliked him wouldn’t change their minds easily over a few words. It was better to focus on the upcoming entrance speech and strive to showcase his true abilities.

Nebula, which adhered to the law of the jungle, only believed in strength and had no sympathy for the weak.

Although Yu Ruan was the type to lie down if he could avoid sitting up, having received such a generous salary from Ye Yizhou, he couldn’t bring himself to continue slacking off.

After silently glancing at the steadily increasing balance in his account, Yu Ruan put away his light brain and resolved to prepare earnestly for the upcoming freshman speech.

He thanked Cheng Mu and Gu Yu respectively, then returned to his dormitory with his robot.

Only when the Omega’s figure had completely disappeared behind the distant door did Gu Yu finally withdraw his gaze.

Ignoring Cheng Mu’s incessant chatter beside him, he slowly rose from his chair and headed toward his own room.

Cheng Mu had wanted to chat a bit more, hoping to discuss Yu Ruan. But the weary-looking Alpha clearly had no interest in entertaining him. Without a word, Gu Yu pushed the door open and slammed it shut with a loud “bang,” leaving only a single sentence hanging in the air: “I know what I’m doing.”

Cheng Mu: “…”

Like hell you do!

That evening, Yu Ruan received a private message.

He opened it and found that it was from his class assistant. The assistant had finally caught wind of the drama in the class channel, reprimanded the students, and then sent him a pile of materials, explaining that they were necessary for the freshman speech.

Yu Ruan didn’t question why the previously inactive assistant had suddenly reappeared. He politely thanked them and saved all the materials that had been sent.

Everyone admitted to Nebula was exceptional, and Yu Ruan had a lot to prepare. Gu Yu had also sent him speech drafts from the past few years, so he planned to finish organizing the materials quickly while there was still time, then seek Gu Yu’s help later.

Before he knew it, the night had deepened.

The quiet night was as still as water, with a bright moon hanging high in the starry sky. In this interstellar era, humanity had long lost the real moon, but they couldn’t forget the deeply ingrained habits from their memories. Thus, following tradition, every colonized planet recreated the familiar Earth-like scenery.

Yu Ruan was buried in a pile of materials, completely absorbed in his work, when he suddenly heard a rhythmic knocking at the door.

He looked up at the clock nearby and realized it was almost midnight. A wave of confusion washed over him: Who could possibly be visiting at this hour?

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