Why Are the Psychos Obsessed with a Mere NPC?
Chapter 5: Master, Come Quick, She Smells So Good

Chapter 5: Chapter 5: Master, Come Quick, She Smells So Good

Jian Yu held her hand up in an exceptionally well-behaved manner, and the unconcealed emotion on Professor Lin’s face gradually receded.

He seemed to actually believe what Xu Jianjuan had said: that her roommate was timid.

His tone became exceptionally gentle. "In that case, would our timid student, Jian Yu, please stand and answer the question?"

Jian Yu rose, her fair fingers adjusting her glasses, her face serious. "I’m not timid. Social anxiety isn’t the same as being timid."

’Social anxiety is a psychological disorder, while timidity is a personality trait.’

’It doesn’t stop me from raising my hand!’

"Professor, before I answer, please allow me to clarify something. I’m not familiar with Xu Jianjuan. She’s rarely in our dorm room."

’After thinking it over, I decided I had to make things clear.’

’I don’t want the female lead thinking I’m a pushover and singling me out later.’

"I really did spend all of last night studying genetics. I’m very interested in your class, Professor Lin."

Jian Yu blinked sincerely. ’I hope Professor Lin doesn’t hold this against me. I can’t let it affect my scholarship application—that’s a million!’

"Thank you for your kindness, Xu Jianjuan, but next time, I can raise my own hand."

’So please, do me a favor and don’t raise my hand for me again!’

Her retort had all the force of a newborn kitten, making her seem rather spineless.

Xu Jianjuan apologized naturally, explaining with a hint of embarrassment, "I’m sorry. I must have misunderstood."

Someone laughed.

A sneer.

Once the little interlude was over, Jian Yu, maintaining a deadpan expression, quickly returned to the topic at hand.

"A Beast Soul’s Awakening is based on genetic lineage. So, regarding the Beast Soul evolution you mentioned, Professor Lin, I believe we might also be able to approach it through genetics?"

Professor Lin’s expression was neutral. "Mm."

Jian Yu was baffled. ’Was my answer that disappointing?’

She glanced around the room.

The other students weren’t mocking her, but their eyes had all returned to their textbooks, clearly having no intention of listening further.

’Whatever.’ Jian Yu pressed on.

She spoke with the speed of a news anchor. In reality, she was flustered, her arms were ramrod straight, and her fingers nervously clutched her pants.

Xu Jianjuan was even more nervous than Jian Yu.

After listening for a moment, her anxiety became visible.

She had noticed out of the corner of her eye that Sheng Yue hadn’t so much as lifted an eyelid. Jian Yu’s words hadn’t piqued his interest in the slightest.

’What’s the point of good grades if she’s this stupid?’

’She pulled an all-nighter and supposedly read the entire book, so how could she not know that her "insight" was proposed ages ago?’

’What was she even reading? Did none of it sink in?’

Xu Jianjuan’s face darkened. ’I might have picked the wrong person.’

Jian Yu split her focus.

Outwardly, she said:

"On the Star Network, I’ve read a lot of genetic research on Beast Soul Awakeners. But as for genetic research on Primordial Beasts, I searched for a long time and couldn’t find anything."

Inwardly, however, she was thinking about the answer the female lead gave in the book, including all her naive, irrelevant remarks.

’I don’t intend to copy it, nor do I want to do anything extra to steal the spotlight.’

’Given how things have developed, and with my omniscient perspective, I’d have to be brain-dead not to figure out the female lead’s intentions by now.’

’She just wants me to be the one to stand out.’

Jian Yu had no desire to play along, but she had to get her hands on Professor Lin’s medicine.

’The system will only come for me after the plot is complete, but the female lead lives to a ripe old age. That’s at least another fifty years.’

Jian Yu had a heart condition, chronic pain in her legs, stomach problems, and even issues with blood coagulation. She didn’t want to spend the next few decades living in such misery. She had decided long ago that she would join a research institute.

Those with an Awakened Beast Soul possessed a powerful Self-healing Ability. Since she wasn’t one of them, her only hope was to get her hands on the healing medicine from the institute—the kind you couldn’t find on the market.

"Why did you stop?" Professor Lin raised an eyebrow, looking quite satisfied with her answer. "Continue."

It wasn’t that Jian Yu was trying to multitask and her mouth couldn’t keep up with her brain.

Rather, she had been unintentionally captivated by Sheng Yue’s prolonged stare... ’He’s so handsome.’

She pinched her thigh, her face still a blank mask. ’This weakness for good looks is going to kill me. Is an F2 someone you should be staring at?’

"The Awakening of Beast Souls arose with the appearance of Primordial Beasts. In essence, it’s a phenomenon of ecological balance at the natural level."

Lost in her own world, Jian Yu grew more and more animated as she spoke.

"We can’t fight against Fierce Beasts like the Primordial Beasts, but Beast Soul Awakeners can."

The Noble Beast School was filled not only with ordinary people, but even more so with Awakeners.

It was no exaggeration to say that all the fresh blood among Soul Beast Users was gathered here; the school had been founded for them.

Their weakness would attract Soul Ghost Bodies, so they needed protection to prevent being devoured by Soul Ghost Bodies before they could mature. And Soul Ghost Bodies feared Primordial Beasts.

The F7, possessors of powerful Beast Souls, were the wielders of authority at the school, backed by seven great families.

On a deeper level, the Noble Beast School was like a game of exchanging power.

Those on the bottom rung fought desperately to climb, showing off their abilities, currying favor with the powerful, doing others’ dirty work, constantly reading people’s expressions, and even taking the fall for them.

Those at the top hosted banquets, threw resources around, and offered connections, carefully selecting ’star students’ who could bring benefits back to their families.

Jian Yu’s thoughts became a jumble, straying further and further off-topic. Her speech faltered, and compared to her earlier fluency, it was like watching a tortoise race a hare.

This was her usual power-saving mode.

"Tracing it... back to the source... the types of Primordial Beasts... are numerous... and if you look closely, they share... common species and lineages... with the Beast Souls... of Awakeners..."

The students were still looking down, deep in thought. But when they looked up, they saw Jian Yu’s vacant stare.

Sheng Yue, waiting for her to continue, paused the fingers that were drumming on the desk and shot Professor Lin a look.

Seeing Jian Yu’s dazed expression, Professor Lin comforted her, "Take your time. Don’t be nervous."

Jian Yu snapped back to reality. "By having an Awakener direct their Soul Beast to devour genetic fragments from a Primordial Beast of the same species, they could compensate for their own genomic deficiencies, achieving horizontal integration."

Her speech returned to its normal pace. "Through survival of the fittest, we could screen for stable and efficient Primordial Beast gene sequences, thereby completing vertical purification."

Sheng Yue looked up. His thin lips were pressed into a firm line, his deep blue eyes fixed on Jian Yu as he assessed her value.

Professor Lin frowned. He couldn’t say Jian Yu was wrong; after all, no one dared to conduct such an experiment anymore.

’There are advantages to being an ordinary person, living in a protective bubble without having to face the dangers of a Primordial Beast directly.’

It didn’t help that Primordial Beasts were so ugly and disgusting that the Alliance hadn’t released much information about them.

He could only lament, "Primordial Beasts aren’t that easy to capture."

They were either repelled or, upon being killed, immediately incinerated.

A dead Primordial Beast would release a virus that not only spread continuously but was also immune to all defensive measures.

It wasn’t that no Primordial Beasts had been captured alive, but rather that no useful discoveries had come from studying them.

Studying a single Primordial Beast had led to the destruction of an entire planet and the deaths of fifty Beast Soul Awakeners. The losses had been so catastrophic that the Alliance hadn’t dared to make the operation public.

The Alliance probably wouldn’t dare order another live capture.

Professor Lin cut himself off. "Come get your medicine."

Jian Yu swayed as she walked up to the front.

The aftereffects of her all-nighter were kicking in. She had been wide awake this morning, but after nine o’clock, her limbs had gone weak and shaky.

"Thank you, Professor." Jian Yu drank the medicine the moment she received it.

She stood next to Professor Lin, directly facing the rest of the class.

When she finished, she even turned the vial upside down, showing everyone that the medicine was gone, that she had drunk every last drop.

She looked terrified that someone would try to rob her the moment she stepped out the door.

Seeing this, the people present were a mixture of annoyed and exasperated, but mostly, they were just speechless.

"Hey, why did you drink it all at once!" Professor Lin was dumbfounded.

Jian Yu’s body tilted to one side, and she collapsed.

Before Professor Lin could even reach out, he felt an immense pressure.

A miniature snow leopard leaped twice through the air, catching Jian Yu before she hit the ground.

It was Sheng Yue’s Soul Beast.

[Master, quick! This person, she smells so good! I’m definitely not mistaken this time!]

Sheng Yue appeared in a flash before Professor Lin and coldly recalled his presumptuous Soul Beast.

’Troublesome.’

[Don’t just go touching any stray you find.]

He had originally intended to grab Jian Yu by her clothes and toss her to Professor Lin.

But once his hands touched her, Sheng Yue paused. He then decisively wrapped an arm around her waist and swept her up into his arms.

A faint, sweet scent washed over him. His body had moved to catch her before his mind had even processed it.

Sheng Yue lowered his gaze, his eyes fixed on Jian Yu’s pointed chin, looking thoughtful.