Chapter Eight: Taking the Fall

Luo Chen suddenly let out a cold laugh. "Director Henry, when the incident happened, I attacked the monster. The beast gave up chasing Ellie and turned to hunt me instead. Kevin appeared at that moment, but when I asked him for help, he refused. Now he claims I abandoned Ellie—what a ridiculous joke!"

"Luo Chen, it would be better if you could admit your mistake and change your ways. Yet now you turn around and slander Kevin!" Henry's face was full of sorrow. "Kevin's character is well known throughout the academy. He is a man who lives by the code of chivalry. Would he ever abandon a companion and run? Go outside and say that—who would believe you? Besides, Luo Chen, as far as I know, you’re only a level three psychic warrior. Even Ellie and Kevin, with their strength, were defeated by that high-level monster. If you were hunted by the beast, how did you make it back alive? Don’t take me for a fool, alright?"

Luo Chen truly had no way to explain. Who would believe the bizarre story of him falling into the Hungry Ghost Swamp and somehow surviving?

Before he could say more, Henry sighed, "Luo Chen, considering you’ve studied diligently at Winston Academy for nearly three years and will soon graduate, the academy won’t expel you. But if you continue to slander others, the academy might reconsider. You may go now."

When Luo Chen left the dean’s office, the anger pent up inside him was nearly explosive.

He had almost given his life to save Ellie, and not only did he receive no praise, he was maligned as a criminal.

He’d been set up—set up by that hypocrite Kevin!

But Luo Chen had no previous disputes with Kevin.

Quickly, Luo Chen figured out why Kevin had framed him—it wasn’t out of hatred.

If he considered Ellie’s factor, the answer was simple. Ellie was the academy’s belle, pursued by countless admirers. Kevin was one of those suitors, but Ellie hardly paid any attention to him, barely even giving him a chance to speak. Kevin was like a dog chasing a turtle, unable to find a way in.

Yet the accident became a golden opportunity.

Think about it—hero saves beauty. Such tales are always moving, and heroes are often favored by beautiful women.

But to play the hero, one needed enough strength. Kevin wasn’t sure he could defeat that fierce monster; one misstep and he might end up inside its belly.

Ordinary people wait passively for opportunities, but clever people create their own. Kevin was clever. He let Luo Chen, who had already angered the beast, lure it away, then pretended he was the one who drove it off. Thus, he played the hero in a perfect act.

For Kevin, sacrificing an obscure, unrelated nobody like Luo Chen came at no real cost. In exchange, he might win Ellie’s favor and boost his reputation at Winston Academy. Why wouldn’t he take the chance?

What a despicable hypocrite! Luo Chen gnashed his teeth in hatred, but he had no way to deal with Kevin.

No matter whom he met along the way, everyone mocked Luo Chen, but he did not defend himself. As Director Henry had said, no one would believe his explanations—character was the deciding factor.

Kevin’s reputation far surpassed Luo Chen’s in everyone’s eyes, so the blame was destined to fall on Luo Chen.

Luo Chen’s dormitory was in the oldest pavilion at Winston Academy, said to have existed since the academy’s founding centuries ago. Originally a library, it was later abandoned. After Luo Chen applied, it became his dormitory. The academy had given up on the old pavilion long ago; if not for a certain incident, it would have been demolished.

The reason the pavilion survived was a haunting.

On the night following the decision to demolish and rebuild, ghosts appeared near the pavilion. Rumor had it they were the spirits of former librarians who couldn’t bear to see their workplace destroyed. After that, the academy dropped the demolition plan and let the building decay.

Luo Chen laughed off the haunting stories, preferring to believe it was a nostalgic professor playing tricks.

His reason for applying for the old tower as his dormitory was simple: to save money. He was too poor—even his tuition and living expenses were earned through hard labor at the docks. He economized wherever he could.

His application was approved. The decrepit tower, ready to collapse at any moment, was so dilapidated the academy was ashamed to charge much for it. They only took a nominal fee—a handful of copper coins.

As an abandoned building, its comfort was extremely limited. To put it bluntly, the environment was dreadful: doors and windows riddled with wormholes, every corner reeking of mold.

But Luo Chen didn’t mind at all. He accepted it gladly. Finding such a cheap dormitory was no easy feat, and it was quiet—what more could he ask?

“Creak, creak!”

Luo Chen’s not-so-heavy footsteps made the wooden stairs groan as he climbed to the second floor. Several fat rats sauntered along the corridor, completely ignoring his presence.

“Hey, guys, how’s your day?” Luo Chen greeted the rats. To others, they were vermin, but in this lonely tower, they were his companions.

Maybe sensing Luo Chen’s lack of hostility, the rats grew used to his presence. They squeaked a few times in response to his greeting.

Luo Chen sighed, “Seeing how happy you are, I suppose your day went well. Mine’s been rotten—I really envy you.”

The rats squeaked again, whether in sympathy or for some other reason.

“All right, see you later,” Luo Chen said as he walked into the hall.

Despite its ruin, in some ways the old building was quite luxurious. The hall was broader than any dormitory at the academy, even those reserved for nobles, spanning several hundred square meters. Yet it was empty, devoid of furniture; this was the original library.

The adjacent storage room had become Luo Chen’s bedroom. There was a wooden bed—so crudely made it was painful to look at, clearly not the work of a carpenter. Indeed, the old library had never had beds for students; Luo Chen had chopped the wood himself and fashioned the bed, saving even more money.

Luo Chen lay on the bed, stewing in his anger all day. It wasn’t until nightfall that he finally got up. Oddly enough, he felt no hunger—perhaps he was full of rage, he reckoned.

Leaving the hall, he noticed his roommate, Shi Feng, hadn’t returned. That scoundrel was probably out chasing girls again.

Since the fusion with the other dimension, Earth’s weather had become wildly unpredictable. One moment, the sky was clear and moonlit; the next, thick clouds gathered, wind howled, thunder rolled, and a torrential rain was imminent.

Luo Chen ignored the approaching storm and left his dormitory, heading toward the back of the mountain.

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