Twenty-two. Twenty-two.

After finishing the match, Yuan Hanshuang dropped Wu Haoxuan off at the shuttle bus heading back to school and made a solo trip to the back office of the fighting arena. She exchanged all the prize money earned from today’s bouts into Tier 3 energy crystals.

Having already advanced to Tier 4, she would technically benefit more from Tier 4 crystals. However, the absurdity lay in the fact that these crystals were extortionately expensive; the price gap between tiers was like a chasm. The money she earned today could buy over a dozen Tier 3 crystals, but only two Tier 4 ones.

Beyond training to become stronger, Yuan Hanshuang had no other special hobbies. Thanks to her awakened mimicry, ninety percent of her money went toward food, and the brain-link device she used was still a refurbished model picked up from the second-hand market. Having just paid a tuition installment for Silver Star Academy, her hard-saved balance had bottomed out once again. To cut costs, she had no choice but to settle for Tier 3 crystals for a while longer.

With these errands finished, Yuan Hanshuang returned to school. The night sky had already descended. Unlike the Imperial Academy next door, which enforced a strict curfew and upheld rigorous, efficient school discipline, the gates of Silver Star Academy were still busy with students coming and going. From afar, she spotted a tall figure.

"Ke Junda?"

The figure jolted and spun around instantly. To be honest, had it not been for the faint, familiar traces in his brows and eyes, Yuan Hanshuang might not have recognized that this man—with his fleshy face, massive, imposing physique, and stature like a small mountain—was the same tag-along sidekick who used to trail behind her. Looking at this wall of a man from a distance, the lingering melancholy of their long-awaited reunion vanished in an instant.

"Boss!!!"

Ke Junda didn't even have time to close his screen before he instinctively lunged forward, wanting to give her a bear hug. Fortunately, he checked his impulse and stopped a short distance away, performing a "fierce bear shedding tears" routine on the spot. "Woooo, Boss! It’s been five years, and I always believed you weren't dead! My intuition was right! But wait, Boss, why has your hair changed color?"

"Just dyed it," Yuan Hanshuang replied. "The old color was too eye-catching." She tilted her head, curious. "By the way, what have you been eating to grow into such a giant?"

She had never been lax with her training over the years, never skipping a single session designed to increase height, which was how she had managed to reach 1.79 meters. Ke Junda, on the other hand, had been around her height back then, perhaps even a bit shorter. Yet, in just five years, he had surged toward two meters, his muscles nearly bursting through his short sleeves. He had developed into a physique reminiscent of Arnold Schwarzenegger, fitting the stereotypical image of a Defense-type talent user in the interstellar era.

"Well, maybe it's because the food at the intermediate academy was pretty good," Ke Junda said, scratching his head with a goofy grin. "Plus, I listened to you and kept training hard. I’ve been practicing the Tai Chi you taught me all this time, and with a proper diet, I just ended up like this before I knew it."

Yuan Hanshuang felt a pang of envy. "Not bad."

"Hehehe!" That slightly bland comment was enough to make Ke Junda beam with joy. "By the way, Boss, I’ve completed my enrollment. I’m a freshman in the Silver Star Defense Department now."

Ke Junda was not eloquent, but the loyalty he had pledged in his youth was no joke. He would prove his choice through his actions. Yuan Hanshuang nodded. She didn't say anything, but a satisfied smile crept onto her lips. "Let’s go. I’ll take you to the dormitory area."

They caught up on the walk, though it was mostly Ke Junda talking and Yuan Hanshuang listening.

"Do you remember that arrogant brat, Gu Deze? He vanished after dropping out back then, but apparently, he’s become the heir to the Gu family and went to Qingbei Academy. I never would have guessed."

"Most of our twenty-something classmates got into intermediate academies. We had a reunion last year, and everyone is doing well. But higher-level academies are just too hard to get into. Sigh, their grades weren't great, so they’ve started packing up to look for work."

"Teacher Xiao and Teacher Hong got married last year. The witness was Director Song, and the wedding was held on our elementary academy’s playground. It was beautiful!"

Yuan Hanshuang had warned Ke Junda beforehand not to tell anyone she was still alive, so he had come to Silver Star quietly, telling no one. Halfway there, he recalled the past. "Actually, Boss, when you went missing, both teachers were worried sick. When they found out you might have been in trouble, Teacher Xiao almost cried on the spot."

Yuan Hanshuang remained silent for a long time. "Actually..."

"It's fine, Boss, I understand. No need to explain." Ke Junda patted his chest. "The golden rule of being a sidekick is to unconditionally trust every decision the Boss makes!" He knew clearly that if the Boss didn't say, there had to be a reason, and it was likely for his own good.

Since Ke Junda was so understanding, Yuan Hanshuang didn't want to bring it up again, and the topic was lightly brushed aside.

"That's the boys' dormitory. You go on ahead." Yuan Hanshuang brought him to the building. "Oh, I noticed another freshman assigned to your room is named Wu Haoxuan. That’s quite a coincidence; look out for him when you can."

"Boss, who is he?"

"A new sidekick. We’ve been teaming up for 2v2s at the fighting arena lately."

*What!* The Boss, who had always been a lone wolf, was teaming up with someone else for 2v2s?! Alarm bells rang in Ke Junda’s head; he felt his position as the number one sidekick was in jeopardy.

"Yes! Mission accepted! I’ll head up now. Get some rest, Boss. Goodnight!"

"Mm, see you tomorrow."

Despite his internal vigilance, Ke Junda kept a calm expression. Watching her figure disappear, he turned around, sharpening his knives mentally. *Not just anyone can become the Boss's sidekick! I have to see what this Wu Haoxuan, who popped out of nowhere, is made of! Is he sincere, and is he qualified?* Clearing obstacles for the Boss was a precious virtue for a top-tier sidekick!

On the other side, Yuan Hanshuang returned to her dorm. As she reached the hallway, she saw the door wide open. A team of maids in black-trimmed white aprons was bustling about, carrying stacks of items and moving them inside in an orderly fashion.

She was puzzled. "Classmate, what's going on over there? Why are there so many people coming and going?"

"The Silver Star student forum is buzzing," one student replied. "Rumor has it a young lady from a major family is enrolling."

"The senior handling registrations was gossiping about it on the forum, too."

"Someone replied to the post just now, guessing it's the Xia family."

"If it really is the Xia family, that’ll be interesting."

One of the students, who had a streak of red hair in her bangs, seemed to recall something and wore a meaningful expression. "I wonder who’s lucky enough to be sharing a dorm with the young lady of the Xia family."

Yuan Hanshuang, the "lucky" winner, stood there silently. She opened her brain-link and searched to see what kind of deity the Xia family was. The strongest Saint-tier in the current interstellar era was the old marshal of the Empire. His name wasn't important; what mattered was that his surname was Xia.

Yuan Hanshuang: *Got it. Understood. Can't afford to offend them.*

After about half an hour of decorating, the maids left. When Yuan Hanshuang opened the door, she was stunned. "Is this still my dorm?"

When she had arrived that morning, the room was empty—nothing but two beds and two desks, practically bare. Now, the walls were covered in high-end holographic wallpaper that could change scenes according to the occupant's mood, the tables were piled with luxury goods, and an expensive localized space expander had been installed. Its purpose? To expand the closet so there was room for a few more rows of hangers. In the corner, she also spotted an automated clothing cleaner and a small housekeeping robot—any one of these items was worth a fortune.

"I really did get assigned a young lady as a roommate," she muttered, looking at the complete renovation. "With this style, she would fit right into the Zijinghua Academy. Why come to Silver Star and suffer?" Zijinghua was the recognized elite academy for the nobility, with the best facilities among the seven major academies. In contrast, Silver Star, which was average in every respect, couldn't even compete.

But it didn't end there. For the next two days, maids were in and out of the dorm. When Yuan Hanshuang returned from morning training, she saw the floor being ripped up to install expensive mahogany. By lunch, after visiting the cafeteria, she found a constant-temperature hot spring pool had been carved into the bathroom. After dinner, even the door had been replaced with shimmering pink precious metal.

Yuan Hanshuang: ??? She really didn't understand the world of the rich.

On the last day, a butler in a tuxedo knocked politely. "Greetings. Our young lady will be living here for the next five years. Given her aesthetic requirements for a unified room color, if you don't mind, our servants would like to decorate your bed and desk as well."

Yuan Hanshuang coughed twice. "That's really not necessary." She managed to make a question sound like a polite acceptance.

"It’s no trouble at all, please rest assured." The butler adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses. "The young lady has been privately educated at home and this is her first time at school. Please look after her."

"Oh, your young lady is too kind. We're all classmates; it's only right."

And so, without spending a single cent, Yuan Hanshuang received a set of pink bedding matching the young lady’s. The color didn't matter; what mattered was that the bedding was incredibly soft! She secretly checked on the Star Net and found that the mattress alone cost five figures. Looking at the four zeros, her favorability for this roommate she hadn't even met yet shot to the max. *What a kind-hearted, beautiful lady!*

Once the bedding was swapped and the maids had finished cleaning, she finally met the young lady herself.

The young lady had an outstanding temperament and exquisite makeup. She wore a pair of oversized sunglasses, her hair was styled in the trendiest curls, and the lace on her dress shimmered with fluorescent light. She radiated the aura of a wealthy person glowing with gold. Most importantly, she was a head and a half shorter than Yuan Hanshuang—roughly 1.5 meters—which greatly soothed the trauma Yuan Hanshuang had suffered after seeing Ke Junda’s two-meter height.

Though petite, the young lady had a strong presence. After entering, she glanced at her from behind her sunglasses, her gaze lingering on Yuan Hanshuang’s old camouflage uniform, before she primly removed her gloves. "Xia Mengrou, A-rank. Mimicry: Phantom Butterfly."

"Yuan Hanshuang, A-rank. Mimicry: Koi. Nice to meet you."

Their hands barely touched before Xia Mengrou pulled hers away. Through the thin door, Yuan Hanshuang heard her complaining to the butler, "Her fashion sense is even less aligned with my aesthetics than the bedding!"

*Holy crap, there's such a good deal?!* If she weren't afraid of it being awkward, Yuan Hanshuang would have opened the door and said, "Miss, please, help me replace that wardrobe of old clothes too! I can totally accept that shiny pink princess dress!"

Fortunately, Yuan Hanshuang still had some pride and didn't ask. That night, they didn't exchange another word.

The next morning, Yuan Hanshuang woke up early. Her biological clock was precise; she opened her eyes the moment the sun rose. After a five-minute wash and hanging her clothes out to dry, she slipped out of the dorm and jogged downstairs.

"Boss!"

In the distance, Ke Junda appeared with Wu Haoxuan. The latter was yawning, eyes bleary, but upon seeing Yuan Hanshuang, he snapped to attention: "Good morning, Senior!"

Wu Haoxuan hadn't expected the senior to be so efficient when she said she would train him—she had even arranged for a two-meter-tall brute to live in his dorm. He had been sleeping soundly when Ke Junda dragged him out of bed; it was a nightmare.

"Why aren't you awake yet? Get up!" Ke Junda looked at him with disappointment. "Rule number one of being a sidekick: Follow the Boss for exercise every single day without excuse!" Ke Junda’s bulk was terrifying, and Wu Haoxuan, knowing he couldn't take a punch, forced himself into the morning training squad.

The three arrived at the field. At this hour, it was foggy and nearly empty. Yuan Hanshuang warmed up her joints. "Today’s task is twenty laps."

Such a casual tone for such a terrifying demand! Looking at the wide field, Wu Haoxuan protested, "Senior, I’m a Support-type! A weak Support-type!" He emphasized the word "weak." If one were to rank physical endurance among talent users, the last place was undoubtedly the Support-type. Their bodies were naturally less resilient, and given that the interstellar environment didn't demand much combat from them, they were always the "fragile ones needing protection." Wu Haoxuan was the worst of the lot, exhausted after just a few steps.

"Yes, you’re a Support-type, and you’re very weak," Yuan Hanshuang noted, seeing this as the perfect opportunity to whip him into shape. "I understand your weakness, so while we’ll run the twenty laps in twenty minutes, you can take an hour. Let’s go."

Wu Haoxuan: "..." He watched their retreating backs, his face crumpled, but he started running. By the time Yuan Hanshuang finished her run, three sets of push-ups, three sets of pull-ups, a set of Tai Chi, and breakfast at the cafeteria, Wu Haoxuan had only finished fifteen laps.

"Se-Senior, I... I really can't go on..."

"Tired after just this? What are you going to do during military training tomorrow?" Yuan Hanshuang sighed.

Wu Haoxuan wasn't worried. "I checked the forum. Seniors said the military training at Silver Star is easy, especially for the Support department—the instructors go easy on us!"

Looking at his cheerful, ignorant expression, Yuan Hanshuang didn't have the heart to tell him that because Silver Star lacked high-level management this year, the training had been handed over to the Imperial Academy next door. Military school training wasn't just professional—it was deadly. This year would be a grind.

When she returned to the dorm after morning training, Xia Mengrou had just woken up. She hadn't done anything yet, instead taking a long, luxurious hot bath, sitting in front of her massive vanity while wearing a silk mask and playing with her skincare products. The most absurd part? Even the bottles were encrusted with diamonds.

Yuan Hanshuang gave her a glance and kindly reminded her, "We have to welcome the military instructors this morning. Freshmen are required to wear camouflage uniforms."

"What?! Wear that ugly, rustic thing?" Xia Mengrou nearly knocked over her perfume bottle. The uniforms were self-funded. To save money, Yuan Hanshuang had bought three used sets from a senior on the forum. She had warned the butler two days ago, but clearly, the servant had failed.

"It's fine, I have an extra set." Yuan Hanshuang, letting bygones be bygones, offered her spare uniform. Although the young lady had been dismissive, Yuan Hanshuang was willing to serve her after "white-loading" that expensive bedding. The only problem was that the uniform had passed through several owners, was washed to a faded white, and was frayed at the edges.

As expected, Xia Mengrou looked at it with a difficult expression. She opened her brain-link and commanded the butler to come up. "What is wrong with you! You didn't even prepare the training uniform! Get up here now!"

Moments later, the butler arrived with maids and a tailor. "I want thirty sets, one for every day!"

Hearing the young lady list off astronomical costs for materials and impossible aesthetic demands, Yuan Hanshuang rubbed her nose. She reached for the rejected old uniform when she heard a sharp cry: "Wait!"

Yuan Hanshuang turned, puzzled. Xia Mengrou pointed at her. "And her. Get her measurements too, and have thirty sets made for her in the same style and material."

"You country bumpkin, don't you dare misunderstand!" Xia Mengrou defended her actions, huffing, "I’m not thanking you for what you did earlier. I just don't want to see you walking around the dorm in that burlap sack that doesn't fit my aesthetic, polluting my eyes."

Yuan Hanshuang suppressed a laugh. "Alright, alright, I’ll take it as you command, Miss Xia."

*Tsk, I misjudged her.* She was just a silly, beautiful girl.