The Short-Lived Cannon Fodder Is Haunted By A Gloomy Monster [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 3

[From an unknown day forward, the bullying of a certain scholarship student by the other students grew increasingly severe. It escalated rapidly from verbal insults to wanton physical violence. It was also from this day on that Mingde High School began receiving numerous reports from students claiming to have seen snakes on campus.

S City entered a long, damp rainy season.]

“The freak is here. Had a good time yesterday, didn’t you?”

“Hey, freak, I heard Miss Qi gave you a proper ‘reception’ yesterday.”

The next day, as Shen Lu arrived at her seat carrying her schoolbag, she was unsurprised to find her desk covered in more malicious slurs and graffiti. She had grown accustomed to wiping down her desk every morning before sitting down.

The surrounding students crowded around her, laughing and jeering, their faces filled with malice and a poorly concealed hint of jealousy.

Why her? A titan like the Qi family was naturally the top priority for anyone looking to curry favor. Their parents had all instructed them to do everything possible to establish a good relationship with the Qi family heir. However, Qi Qi had an eccentric personality and didn’t care for their flattery at all.

They completely ignored the fact that Shen Lu had been dragged away to be bullied, or rather, even if that were the case, they felt that being able to have contact with Miss Qi was an honor Shen Lu didn’t deserve.

“You really are a dark horse. Happy, aren’t you? Someone like you actually managed to catch her eye!”

“We’re complimenting you, why aren’t you speaking? As expected of a little bastard thrown into an orphanage at birth, no manners at all.”

“I don’t know how the school selects people, letting someone like you in. I really should give the school some feedback. They need to do a better job screening during the next admissions cycle so they don’t let every dirty, smelly thing mix in and ruin our school’s reputation.” The girl speaking made a disgusted expression, mockingly waving her hand in front of her nose.

The girl kept her head bowed low, hiding the face she was most self-conscious of behind thick bangs. She thought that if she just played deaf and mute as usual, these people who found joy in bullying would soon find her boring and leave.

Suddenly, someone reached out and pushed aside her bangs, revealing the face covered by a terrifying birthmark and her unusual heterochromatic eyes. Her gaze happened to meet theirs as she looked up.

“What’s with that look? Hmm?”

Staring into those disgusting, mismatched eyes, they suddenly felt a surge of inexplicable rage, and the malice in their hearts began to boil over.

Those who usually only used their words seemed different today.

They surrounded her relentlessly. Someone laughingly pulled out a pair of cold, gleaming scissors, brandishing them ostentatiously. “Your bangs are too long. Since you’re a ‘good student,’ you should follow the school rules. This is inappropriate. Let us help you trim them.”

The girl’s wrist, exceptionally thin due to malnutrition, was seized. She finally realized that today’s situation was different from the usual displays and began to struggle desperately with her head down.

Taking them off guard, she kicked a nearby boy, making him stumble. Amidst the laughter of the others, he kicked her back in a fit of humiliated rage.

“Bitch! You dare kick me? I might as well carve those words onto her face so everyone can see. Anyway, for her, being disfigured is basically the same as plastic surgery, right?” The boy suddenly had a better idea. He ran to his desk, pulled out a utility knife, and began gesturing excitedly at her face and neck. The cold blade grazed her pale skin time and again, like a cat toying with its prey.

Shen Lu only let out a muffled groan.

She was used to enduring pain, and in a moment like this, begging for mercy was useless anyway.

However, she was naturally weak and lacked strength, moreover, several people were now pinning her down. Soon, her strength was exhausted.

The surrounding area was filled with onlookers drawn by the commotion. They whispered among themselves before suddenly erupting into a cacophony of laughter. Some were cheering, while others stood at the door keeping an eye out for teachers. A scattered class seemed to instantly become an incredibly unified group.

“What is your class doing? Why is it so noisy?” A middle-aged man’s voice rang out from the doorway.

She faintly heard the teacher’s voice, it was like a tiny flame ignited in the dark night, and a weak flicker of hope rose in her heart.

I’m here! Save me!

Shen Lu wanted to open her mouth and scream, but hands were pressed firmly over her mouth. In the end, the tiny sound she managed with all her might was drowned out by the merry laughter, sinking away.

Despite being on solid ground, she felt it hard to breathe. It was a sensation of falling into the deep sea, plunging into bottomless, murky water, left with only the despair of waiting for the moment her oxygen would run out and she would finally drown.

“Teacher, we’re just playing with a classmate. Don’t worry about it. Don’t you have classes in other rooms to get to?” a student said with a smile, as if the bullying occurring in the classroom was a trivial matter.

And yet… “…Fine, then keep it down. Don’t disturb the students in other classes.”

The middle-aged man hesitated for a long moment. Under the student’s smiling gaze, he gave an awkward laugh, and then his footsteps gradually faded into the distance.

That voice, which for a moment had been seen as hope, never sounded again.

The tiny spark in the night was completely extinguished. From that point on, only an infinite, spreading darkness remained in her eyes.

Shen Lu was pinned to the chair, unable to move. She had unconsciously bitten her tongue until it bled, and the distinct metallic taste of blood spread through her mouth.

Everyone just go die.

Her perennially pale skin took on a flush of color from her violent struggling. Beneath her bangs, those heterochromatic eyes once again transformed into narrow, beast-like vertical slits, staring fixedly at the person approaching her with the scissors. No one noticed that the blue birthmark on her face was gradually undergoing a strange mutation, the originally smooth skin was shifting.

It was forming a peculiar shape, like the scales of a snake.

Under the expectant gazes of the crowd, the scissors drew closer and pressed against the girl’s forehead to cut.

However, before they had a chance to get a good look at the “freak’s” face, a familiar voice came from behind.

“What are you guys doing? You’re being loud as hell.”

Qi Qi had intended to catch up on some sleep during the early self-study period. She had tossed and turned on her desk, trying several different positions, but in the end, she was still kept awake by the noise. She stormed toward the source of the racket with a dark, menacing expression of low air pressure.

“Miss Qi?”

The classroom, which had just been as noisy as a wet market, seemed to have been hit by a pause button. Everyone was stunned to see the girl with the world-weary face and impatient scowl standing at the door.

How did they end up attracting this Great Deity?

The hands of the people pinning Shen Lu down instinctively loosened. She seized the opportunity to struggle desperately once more, knocking over the unprepared people around her. She fell from the chair, she tried to stand up, but due to the residual pain from that earlier kick, she staggered a few steps and collapsed again.

Never had she hated her weak body as much as she did at this moment.

She wanted to become powerful, strong enough to destroy this world. Even if she died, she would take everyone down with her.

The very next second after that thought crossed her mind, a uniform jacket carrying a familiar scent suddenly fell over her. It happened to cover her face, which could no longer be hidden after her bangs had been cut, plunging her into a remarkably comforting, warm darkness.

Shen Lu was dazed for a moment. Then, she noticed that the surroundings had gone silent, and a voice that didn’t belong to this class suddenly spoke.

“What are you doing sitting on the floor? It’s filthy.”

It was the familiar voice from yesterday. Unlike her own coarse and unpleasant voice, this one was clear and bright, like the sound of glass wind chimes hanging at a small shop entrance being gently stirred by the wind, the tone lazy and drawn out.

She tilted her head and slowly pressed her face against the soft inner lining of the fabric, her movements imperceptibly nuzzling it twice. The nauseating smell of blood surrounding her was forcefully masked by the light, woody fragrance infused into this uniform jacket.

It felt like being embraced.

She lowered her eyes, and the scaly texture on her face gradually faded away.

Qi Qi looked down at the snippets of hair on the floor, then looked up to scan the surrounding students, who wore expressions of unease and panic. She felt she really ought to learn from these people. As fellow bullying enthusiasts, while she was lazily trying to spend the whole self-study period in sweet slumber, these people had already started a new day of bullying.

Such a proactive and enterprising spirit, truly a model for the rest of us.

The bit of “rising from bed” irritation she had felt due to lack of sleep vanished instantly.

However, bullying the scholarship student was the only hobby she had managed to find in her boring life. She saw that these people usually laughed and had a lot of fun, so they probably weren’t lacking this one hobby, right?

Hmm, looking at it that way, she was the more pitiful one. It would be better to just give the scholarship student to her.

Seeing that the scholarship student was still sitting blankly on the floor, seemingly lost in thought, Qi Qi reached down and pulled her up. She dragged her through the huddle of people. It had to be said that this was a truly “unified” class, the classmates were very kind, wordlessly and tacitly making a path for her without the slightest intention of stopping her.

Today’s scholarship student, however, didn’t act like she was having a stress response the way she did during the “bath” yesterday. Even while being held by the hand, she didn’t struggle at all, behaving incredibly submissively.

Strange. Logically, shouldn’t she show more anger, pain, or sadness when she’s about to be taken away to be bullied? At the very least, she should struggle a few times. How could she be so obedient, leaving just because someone told her to?

Qi Qi felt somewhat concerned for the scholarship student’s future.

Passing through the crowd without hindrance, Qi Qi suddenly stopped just before they exited. She turned back to the class and said, “I’m taking her. From now on, this scholarship student is my exclusive toy. You aren’t allowed to touch her.”

Shen Lu mistakenly thought she was going to let go. She pursed her lips, and her fingers moved slightly, tentatively touching Qi Qi’s soft, warm palm. Seeing that Qi Qi seemed too occupied with speaking to notice, she cautiously curled the corners of her lips into a smile