Fifty-fifty.

On the very night the tournament concluded, the entire Silver Star Academy was brightly lit, filled with music and celebration.

Unlike the Imperial Academy next door, which grew as silent as a graveyard the moment curfew struck, Silver Star's students, unrestrained by any teachers, led an extremely rich and vibrant nightlife. Furthermore, today was the auspicious day they had defeated those pretentious snobs from across the way. Anyone wearing the Silver Star badge on their chest felt a profound sense of shared honor.

The Silver Star forum experienced continuous lagging throughout the entire day. It wasn't until eight o'clock in the evening that everyone's excited discussions finally subsided slightly from the shock that Silver Star had actually defeated the Imperial Academy, shifting their attention to other topics.

"Speaking of which, our victory today felt completely like a dream. Us upperclassmen were standing anxiously outside the arena, staring right at the scoreboard. When it hit 499, I never expected we could still pull off a comeback."

"Don't even mention it, senior upstairs. As a freshman participating in the melee, I was completely baffled myself. One second I was roaring here, 'Brothers, grab your weapons and charge to buy time!' and the next second victory was suddenly announced."

"That just means you don't understand. We were walking a tightrope between life and death, but in reality, it was all thanks to classmate Yuan carrying the heavy burden behind the scenes."

Among them, Xiao Hua was the most smug. Feeling that he had discovered a future genius of Silver Star, he crossed his legs and typed on his optical computer: "When freshman Yuan participated in the military training and helped us poor support-track folks who couldn't run, I already felt she was a kind-hearted classmate who loved to help others. Sure enough, she is as beautiful as she is kind, fierce yet immensely strong. She even beat the Imperial Academy's nearly Tier 5 melee-track chief into the dirt."

As for the minor detail of getting paid, Xiao Hua automatically glossed over it and didn't mention a single word.

True to expectation, his post immediately sparked a wave of enthusiastic discussion.

"That freshman junior is an absolute beast! A lower Tier 4 and she hung up and beat a half-step Tier 5."

"I reckon when our ranking matches roll around next year, the junior will probably become a major powerhouse! Speaking of which, isn't President Ming Jia graduating next year? The vacant academy president position can be given to the current melee-track chief, and the junior can become the new melee-track chief!"

"The person upstairs is already daydreaming. Although that's true, I still want to point out that the Imperial Academy's melee-track chief hadn't undergone resonance mimicry yet. Aren't you all overestimating the junior's combat power a bit too much?"

At this point, Meng Mingcheng also logged in with his administrator account to leave a comment and join the fun: "Hey upstairs, I just checked, you happen to be a lower Tier 4 yourself. How about this, you go and clash with the opposing melee-track chief too. If you can win, I won't mock you."

"Hahahahaha, waiting to watch!"

"freaking hilarious. If I had the skill to snatch a badge right out of the neighboring chief's hands like freshman Yuan, I'd freaking brag about it for a whole year."

After playing the role of a righteous little police officer, Meng Mingcheng also began to boast about his own contributions: "Sigh, come to think of it, freshman Yuan was recruited into the school by me in the first place. If I hadn't been daring and brazenly bragged about our school back then, the junior would have already entered that den of thieves at the Imperial Academy. All things considered, shouldn't my contribution be the greatest?"

"Yes, yes, yes, Senior Meng's contribution is the greatest!"

A group of people giggled and bantered in the forum.

It wasn't just Yuan Hanshuang, Xuanyuan Sheng, Xia Mengrou, and a few defense-track freshmen with particularly outstanding performances who were all brought up for discussion. They had essentially made quite a small name for themselves within the entire academy.

Discussions about Xuanyuan Sheng focused heavily on his mimicry defect. People universally expressed genuine sympathy for the young imperial grandson who suffered so much from this affliction, while praising his command abilities. Even Wu Haoxuan, who had blocked a blade for him, attracted attention; after all, the buff he had bestowed upon Xuanyuan Sheng was overwhelmingly powerful, causing a lightbulb to literally light up over the latter's head before he roared and charged into the formation of Imperial Academy students to slaughter left and right.

Based on this, discussions praising Xia Mengrou were also in the majority. Although she was only at Tier 3, her control-track potential was visibly infinite.

However, amidst the discussions, an untimely voice suddenly popped up.

"This Xia Mengrou you're all talking about, is she that eldest young lady from the Xia family? Hahaha, absolutely hilarious. As if nobody in Silver Star knows about her dirty little scandals."

Unfortunately, the in-good-spirits Meng Mingcheng didn't notice this. Humming a tune, he prepared to stand up and head to the neighboring pantry to make a cup of coffee. As he turned around, he saw the door to the president's office pushed open.

"Good day, President!"

He immediately straightened up, displaying the sycophantic flair of a top-tier lackey.

Meng Mingcheng's own combat strength wasn't much to speak of, and he hadn't secured a chief position. He survived purely by running errands for Ming Jia and helping Zuo Zitao manage the order of the academy forum, dutifully acting as a loyal minion. It was precisely because of this that he successfully moved into the White Building and secured a private bedroom of his own inside.

Ming Jia ignored his flattering expression: "Organize a list of the freshmen who showed outstanding performances during the tournament into a spreadsheet and send it to me."

"Yes!"

On the other side, the standalone villa belonging to Silver Star was packed with people.

The spacious room had been converted into a luxury ward, housing two fully automated hospital beds where Xuanyuan Sheng and Wu Haoxuan lay respectively.

The imperial family's private doctors were truly no joke. Wu Haoxuan's injuries, which had been severe enough to reach his bones, were instantly mostly healed after an entire expert consultation team worked on him. However, due to the golden rule that broken bones take a hundred days to heal, he was still forcibly ordered to rest for ten days.

No matter what, Wu Haoxuan's injury was an undeserved disaster he suffered because of Xuanyuan Sheng. Consequently, throughout these days, all of his medical and recuperation expenses were grandly covered by a wave of the young imperial grandson's hand, and they were even arranged to stay in the same ward.

When Yuan Hanshuang brought Ke Junda and Gu Dong over, Wu Haoxuan was lying on his hospital bed, commanding a mechanical arm to feed him fresh seasonal fruits while browsing dramas on his optical computer. From time to time, he would let out muffled chuckles, annoying Xuanyuan Sheng—whose mood didn't look particularly good to begin with—to no end.

Just as the young imperial grandson was about to put on noise-canceling headphones, he turned his head and saw Yuan Hanshuang pushing the door open holding a bouquet of flowers. The expression on his face instantly turned anxious.

"Boss! Good evening!" Wu Haoxuan waved while munching on a piece of pineapple.

"How is it? You two look like you're recovering pretty well. Is anything on your bodies feeling uncomfortable?"

The etiquette of ancient Chinese civilization instilled in her past life did not allow Yuan Hanshuang to visit the wounded empty-handed. However, interstellar fruit was truly a bit too expensive, and she wasn't quite willing to buy nutritional fluid, so she simply plucked a few wild flowers from the roadside outside the standalone villa and wrapped them in kraft paper. To be honest, they actually looked quite decent.

Xuanyuan Sheng spoke in a low voice: "Quite well. Nothing feels uncomfortable, and the injuries are basically healed."

The injuries were mostly healed, but the aftereffects of the high-potency tranquilizer were still lingering. For instance, right now, Xuanyuan Sheng could only command the hospital bed to raise itself and tilt his body, unable to stand up yet.

To reveal such a vulnerable side of himself in front of new friends made him feel immensely uncomfortable.

"Don't get up, don't get up. Just lie down properly."

Seeing the unnatural look on his face, Yuan Hanshuang deliberately took a step forward: "This time, we achieved a complete victory in the freshman tournament. Starting next week, it's rumored that all Silver Star cafeterias will offer a 50% discount to us freshmen, with unlimited servings."

Putting everything else aside, this reward was genuinely practical, hitting right at Yuan Hanshuang's soft spot.

"Unlimited servings?" Evidently, her subject-changing tactic was extremely effective.

Xuanyuan Sheng shuddered, recalling how he had treated all the freshmen to a meal not long ago and ended up being hit with a nutritional fluid bill of hundreds of thousands of star coins run up by a certain someone.

In his heart, he silently lit a candle for the Silver Star cafeteria.

"Right." After chatting absentmindedly for a while, Xuanyuan Sheng finally made up his mind: "Everyone, there is something I need to tell you."

Seeing his serious expression, everyone restrained the smiles on their faces.

"Actually, I've always had a mimicry defect. As long as my emotions get too excited and out of control, I fall into a frenzy where I can't tell friend from foe. Because of this exact reason, my mimicry is called the Golden Berserk Lion. I didn't proactively tell you all earlier because I simply couldn't get past the psychological hurdle in my heart. Ever since I was a child, I've regarded this matter as a humiliation and a stain, and I'm even reluctant to tell others the name of my mimicry."

Hearing these words, even Gu Dong, who usually maintained a blank expression and purely acted as background scenery, raised an eyebrow.

He had expected the young imperial grandson to hide and cover it up; he hadn't expected him to confess proactively, which instantly made him view the other boy in a somewhat higher light.

"I didn't expect that failing to inform you in time this time would almost lead to an irreversible and catastrophic mistake."

Xuanyuan Sheng straightened his upper body, practically dragging his powerless limbs to sit up, and executed a standard bow on the hospital bed: "I'm sorry."

"Xuanyuan, you don't need to be like this."

Seeing the young imperial grandson—who was always flamboyant and proud—act this way, Ke Junda waved his hands repeatedly: "This isn't your fault. If it were me, I'd find it hard to completely open my heart to classmates I've just met either."

"Yeah! Big Brother Xuanyuan, this kind of thing involves privacy after all, we all understand!"

Wu Haoxuan was flustered: "And Big Brother, you were already super awesome!"

"No. A mistake must be owned up to." Xuanyuan Sheng shook his head: "If it weren't for Hanshuang turning the tide, Gu Dong delivering the intelligence, Mengrou giving me a shove, and you giving me that doubled buff, Little Wu, which allowed me to retain a shred of consciousness at the very last moment, today's tournament might have had a completely different outcome."

Admitting one's mistakes obediently when in the wrong was Xuanyuan Sheng's consistent principle.

He looked earnestly at everyone in the ward. Even Gu Dong, who stood at the very back and had always been at odds with him, was not avoided by Xuanyuan Sheng's gaze: "If we had lost the tournament because of me, I would have carried that regret for the rest of my life."

For a moment, the atmosphere in the ward grew somewhat heavy.

Yuan Hanshuang proactively broke the silence: "Alright. I've accepted your apology. If something like this happens again next time, you must tell us in advance before the match starts."

"That goes without saying!" Xuanyuan Sheng raised his voice.

"Isn't that enough then?" Yuan Hanshuang smiled.

Her smile seemed infectious, and everyone standing in the ward burst into laughter one after another.

Even Gu Dong couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth.

"Right. You, me, Little Wu, Old Ke, and Gu Dong are all here. Why didn't Mengrou come?"

Yuan Hanshuang: "Her press-on nail fell off during the fight, so she rushed back to fix it. She said she'd come to see you tomorrow."

"What, you actually call me Little Wu?!"

Before Xuanyuan Sheng could say anything, Wu Haoxuan started, almost tumbling off the hospital bed in shock.

"What? We're all friends, can't I use a nickname?"

"Xuanyuan, aren't you only friends with the boss..."

"Oh, it seems you guys disown our friendship then." Xuanyuan Sheng intentionally let out a cold snort.

"No, no, absolutely not! Of course it's our honor to become friends with the Imperial Grandson!"

"That's more like it."

A few of them burst into laughter together.

The sound drifted out through the hospital window, carrying the unique vitality and youthful spirit of teenagers.

A tournament might seem like just a battle, but within this battle, many things had settled and precipitated.

For instance, inside this luxury ward converted from a standalone villa, a deeper kind of friendship and bond was slowly taking shape. In the future, it would follow them like a shadow, accompanying them through many more spring blossoms and winter snows.

Amidst the noisy laughter and chatter, the assassin with half his face half-hidden in the shadows seemed particularly out of place.

Gu Dong cast a cold glance at Yuan Hanshuang.

The smile on the face of the twin-tailed black-haired girl, clustered in the center, was brilliant and dazzling, brighter than the lights.

Clearly, such warmth was still too much for an assassin who had wandered in the dark for years. It was like a golden-red sun; if one got too close, there was a risk of being burned.

So, after just a hurried glance, Gu Dong quickly looked away.

Unfortunately, it didn't do much good.

As she laughed, Yuan Hanshuang suddenly remembered something, walked over, and bumped him with her elbow: "Senior Gu, now that the tournament is over, I should fulfill my promise. Tomorrow morning during the morning exercise time, remember to show up at the playground."

"Alright," Gu Dong said indifferently.

He had already decided that once he finished learning the fist techniques, he would gradually distance himself from them.

After all, a lone assassin didn't need any life-and-death friends.

Countless ancestors of his family had taught him through bloody experience that yearning for the light would only make a corpse grow cold much faster.