The Cannon Fodder Became the Empire's Beloved Omega - Chapter 54

Yu Ruan buried his face in the pillow, trying to pretend he was an ostrich.

There was no helping it, today had just been too embarrassing.

Just as he was wallowing in his awkwardness, his light brain let out two soft beeps.

Yu Ruan opened the communication interface and found a message from Cheng Mu: “I didn’t get a chance to ask properly yesterday did both of you end up in the hospital? Are you okay? Are your injuries serious? How bad is Gu Yu’s concussion?”

“It’s fine,” Yu Ruan quickly replied. “We’ve already been discharged. It wasn’t a big issue. The doctor probably just wanted to reassure us by having us stay overnight.”

“…” Cheng Mu was speechless upon reading the message. He had thought as much, how could someone like Gu Yu, who could take down ten ordinary Alphas with a single kick, end up hospitalized over a small competition? If anything, the monsters in the game would be the ones running away from him!

Despite his thoughts, Cheng Mu still dutifully comforted him: “Really? Well, if everything’s fine, then I’m relieved. You should rest up properly. Remember to come with Gu Yu in a few days to collect your championship medals.”

Yu Ruan froze for a moment. “With Gu Yu?”

“Yeah,” Cheng Mu said, sounding apologetic. “My bad, I didn’t explain clearly. Originally, the medals were supposed to be handed out yesterday, but you were in a hurry to get to the hospital, and I was pretty busy too, so I didn’t mention it. When do you think you’ll have time to come pick them up together?”

“…” Just when he had resolved to keep his distance from Gu Yu, this happened. Yu Ruan hesitated for a moment before asking quietly, “Could I come pick up the medals by myself?”

“? Are you not available?”

“No, no, it’s not that,” Yu Ruan stammered, fabricating an excuse. “Gu Yu just got out of the hospital, he should rest up first. Would it be okay if I came alone to collect them?”

“It’s not impossible.” Cheng Mu sounded uncertain. “But there’s no rush. You really don’t have to hurry like this.”

“…” Yu Ruan was at a loss for words.

“In that case,” Cheng Mu offered a solution, “why don’t you come to the Student Building later? I’ll talk to the people there and have them give the medals directly to you.”

“Okay.” Yu Ruan breathed a sigh of relief at his acquiescence. “I’ll head over now then. Sorry for the trouble.”

“No problem.”

No time to waste.

After ending the call, Yu Ruan grabbed a jacket and headed straight for the Student Building.

Perhaps because of their championship win the day before, Yu Ruan felt like he was attracting more attention than usual along the way. Whether they knew him or not, people were looking at him with sparkling, fervent eyes.

From a distance, snippets of conversation reached his ears:

“Ahhh, it’s His Highness Yu Ruan!! He’s even more gorgeous up close, wow!! So cute and smart after watching his clear recording yesterday, I was completely done for!! He’s my dream Omega, waaah!!”

“And his temper is so good!! Last time I talked to him, he was super gentle and his voice was so pleasant!!”

“Waaah, why does it have to be Gu Yu?? I was planning to try my luck! But if it’s Gu Yu, doesn’t that mean I’ll never have a chance in this lifetime?”

As they chatted, the two speakers suddenly turned their gazes toward Yu Ruan, their eyes full of enthusiasm: “Good morning, Your Highness! Would you like to go to the library with us?”

“……” Yu Ruan stiffly took a step back, instinctively shaking his head. “No need. I have other things to attend to, sorry.”

Their expressions immediately shifted to disappointment.

Just then, a familiar voice called from behind. Cheng Mu stood on the steps, shouting from a distance, “Ruan Ruan! Over here!”

Yu Ruan turned toward the voice, responded with a “Yeah,” and quickly walked over to him.

Cheng Mu was holding an exquisitely wrapped box.

He shoved the box into Yu Ruan’s hands and said, “This is it already wrapped for you. Inside are the medals for you and Gu Yu. When you get back, open it and just give Gu Yu his. Anyway, he doesn’t really care about this kind of thing, so you can keep it.”

Yu Ruan said, “Okay,” and took the box. “Then I’ll head back now. Thanks for today.”

“No problem.”

Waving to Cheng Mu, Yu Ruan clutched the medal box, avoiding the enthusiastic gazes along the way as he headed toward the dormitory.

Perhaps today really wasn’t a good day to go out. The entire way, Yu Ruan was chased down by people trying to strike up conversations. Some wanted to study together in the library, while others invited him to eat, have coffee, or go shopping.

Before he even made it back to the Sky Garden, he had already been forced to turn down over a dozen invitations.

Yu Ruan somewhat regretted not wearing a hooded jacket when he left.

He tried to lower his head even further, hoping to make himself less noticeable. Unexpectedly, another voice called out, “Ah, Your Highness Yu Ruan!”

Yu Ruan instinctively wanted to run but found the voice somewhat familiar. Looking up, he indeed saw a familiar face: “Your Highness, are you heading back to the Sky Garden?”

“Yeah.”

“Any plans for the holiday?” Le Meng immediately asked. “Want to go to the library together? Or how about trying the new items at 9PM? I watched the match yesterday, you were amazing! Let me treat you to something!”

Her eyes sparkled as she looked at Yu Ruan.

After all, not long after the match ended, the official gameplay recording had been uploaded to the school forum, attracting a flood of students to watch.

This competition had been exceptionally difficult even the initial stage had stumped a large number of participants. Naturally, everyone was intensely curious about the champion team that had swiftly cleared the final stage, eager to see how the experts had speed-run the dungeon.

To their surprise, as soon as they clicked on the recording, they were stunned.

It was actually that Omega heir who had recently stirred up a storm across the Star Cloud!

Everyone knew Gu Yu was exceptional. But with the competition being this tough, even Gu Yu couldn’t carry a deadweight teammate to a quick victory.

Which meant…

As everyone continued watching the recording, sure enough, they soon witnessed the Omega’s process of clearing the game stages.

Intelligent, meticulous, calm, and composed. Especially during the final battle, the sight of the beautiful youth standing amid a vortex of flames, commanding the fight with magic cards, instantly won over countless students.

Le Meng had naturally seen all of this in the recording.

Unlike others who viewed him through tinted lenses, she had held a favorable impression of Yu Ruan from the very beginning. And after witnessing that scene in the recording, her admiration for him soared to new heights, she had watched the entire video with shining eyes.

Wahh, His Highness is truly incredible!

Although clearly an Omega, they were in no way inferior to an Alpha. On top of that, their personality and temper were both excellent, their mind was sharp, and they were very considerate, truly too likable!

She couldn’t help but think.

Yesterday, His Highness Yu Ruan had been busy all day and must be exhausted. As his supporter, it was her responsibility to ensure His Highness had a good time and happily enjoy some sweets together!

Le Meng secretly clenched her fist.

Yu Ruan looked at Le Meng, who had suddenly become so fired up, and couldn’t quite grasp her thoughts. “Thank you for your kindness, I…” I’ll pass for now.

Before he could finish speaking, he caught sight of a familiar figure in the distance past Le Meng’s shoulder, standing at the corner.

The other person stood lazily under the shade of a tree, a backpack slung over their right shoulder. Someone beside them was speaking passionately, but they didn’t seem very interested.

The Alpha under the tree lowered their eyes indifferently, not responding. Suddenly, as if by some unspoken understanding, they abruptly looked up and glanced in Yu Ruan’s direction.

Yu Ruan immediately lowered his head, avoiding the other’s gaze, feeling his face grow hot. Pretending not to have noticed Gu Yu at the corner, he swallowed the words he had intended to use to refuse Le Meng and instead said, “I don’t have any plans for the holiday yet. How about we go to 9PM together? Last time, you treated me to something, and I haven’t thanked you yet. This time, let me treat you back, okay?”

Le Meng blinked in confusion. “Huh?”

Yu Ruan didn’t have the courage to look at Gu Yu’s expression and steeled himself to ask, “Do you not have time?”

Le Meng hesitated for a moment. “Well, I do. I just didn’t expect Your Highness to agree so easily.”

Yu Ruan felt a bit embarrassed.

To be honest, he hadn’t expected himself to go this far just to avoid Gu Yu. But since he’d already brought it up, it would be awkward to back out now. He could only console himself by thinking he’d treat Le Meng to a few more desserts later to make up for it.

With that thought, he said to Le Meng, “Shall we go now?”

Le Meng nodded, still not fully processing the situation, and was tugged by the sleeve as Yu Ruan hurriedly led her away from the campus.

“Senior Gu? Senior Gu Yu?”

Repeated calls came from beside him, and Gu Yu snapped out of his thoughts, withdrawing his gaze. “Let’s talk another day. I have something to do.”

The other person froze, seemingly wanting to protest. “But…”

In the distance, the familiar figure laughed and chatted, disappearing around the corner. Gu Yu frowned, an inexplicable sense of irritation rising in his heart and quietly spreading.

With a cold expression, he pushed aside the arm attempting to block him and turned to leave, following in the footsteps of the distant Omega.

Perhaps because it was a holiday, there were especially many students in front of 9PM. As soon as the two reached the entrance, they immediately attracted a lot of attention.

Yu Ruan: “…”

Had he made the wrong decision?

Remembering the chaos of fleeing across campus earlier, he immediately began to hesitate.

Le Meng, however, was quite used to it. “Your Highness, your performance in last night’s competition was truly outstanding! Everyone admires you! There’s no need to feel panicked, you’ll get used to it! Once the news of you being the heir is officially announced, you’ll have even more fans! Don’t worry!”

In other words:

The heir’s salary isn’t easy to earn just bear with it.

Yu Ruan: “…”

How disheartening.

Seeing his expression, Le Meng thought he was worried about the long queue. She patted her chest and said, “Your Highness, why don’t you wait over there? I’ll call you when it’s our turn.”

Yu Ruan immediately realized she had misunderstood and shook his head. “No need.”

He shifted his gaze to the other side. 9PM’s business had always been booming, so they had built a separate dining area for customers. However, since the area was surrounded by universities, students preferred taking their orders back to their dorms.

“Let’s go wait over there instead,” he told Le Meng. “It’ll be a while before it’s our turn anyway. We might as well sit for a bit.”

Le Meng blinked, nodded, and said, “Okay.”

The waiting area was also crowded, but it was still better than standing outside. Yu Ruan found a seat and sat down. Le Meng mentioned she wanted to check out next month’s new product catalog, grabbed her communicator, and dashed off.

Left with no choice, Yu Ruan picked up his light tablet to scan the code and place an order.

Fortunately, it hadn’t been long since his last visit, so he still remembered what she liked. He selected the items one by one from memory, then walked to the number dispenser to get a queue ticket before settling back into his chair to wait.

The box containing the championship medal sat on the table, quietly reflecting the sunlight.

Yu Ruan glanced down at it. The medal was carefully wrapped in brocade and nestled in the sponge lining at the bottom of the box. Its surface was intricately patterned, entirely gilded, and exuded an air of luxury.

It really was quite beautiful.

For some reason, his mind drifted back to the kiss in the secret passage.

The soft lips brushing against his gland, the tongue gliding over his skin, leaving behind a lingering warmth. The sharp teeth sinking into his flesh, sending shivers of tingling numbness throughout his body.

The back of his neck suddenly felt scorching hot. Yu Ruan’s face flushed, and he nearly dropped the box in his hands.

Just then, a hand reached out from beside him, steadily catching the box for him.

“Be careful.”

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