Beneath a banyan tree at Haiyu No. 2 High, two girls had this exchange.
"Xiao Zi, since it’s your first day here, there are things I, your senior, must tell you." The senior spoke with grave sincerity.
"What is it, Senior?" Xiao Zi felt the weight in her tone and couldn’t help but tense slightly.
"You can enjoy youth here—but never, *ever* provoke the wrong people."
"The wrong people?" Xiao Zi frowned in confusion.
"Hmph. You might not know this prestigious school is also the city’s infamous monster breeding ground."
"Monster breeding ground?"
"Still clueless? Let me give a direct example." The senior pointed to a girl under distant shade. "See that bespectacled girl?"
"Hmm... she looks quiet and pretty. What about her?"
"Don’t be fooled. That quiet exterior hides one of the untouchables—dubbed the ‘Fujoshi Invader.’ Anyone who chats with her gets rapidly converted into a fujoshi. You know, those obsessed with... *that* kind of romance."
"No way..." Xiao Zi’s eyes widened in disbelief.
"Now look there." The senior gestured elsewhere. "See that golden-haired guy? A total heartthrob, right? Mixed blood?" Xiao Zi gushed.
"Appearances deceive. He’s a total masochist. Gets off on being abused, then clings to his tormentors. They call him the ‘Prince of Masochists.’ Imagine someone grinning blissfully while you punch them—*repeatedly*." The senior shuddered at the thought.
Xiao Zi trembled violently.
"But even they’re manageable. Worst case? You just transfer schools."
"Transfer? *Just*?"
"If you anger *that* person, transferring would be the *best* outcome."
"*That* person?"
"The one I’m about to name—you and I must avoid at all costs." The senior’s face darkened. "He reigns as this school’s apex predator: Xia Chuan, the ‘Black-Haired Demon King.’ Once crushed over two thousand fighters single-handedly."
"*Two thousand*? Is that even possible?" Xiao Zi gasped.
"Worse! Arson, murder, robbery, raping women, kidnapping loli—"
"—He’s done all that?" Xiao Zi blurted.
"Uh... no." The senior scratched her head sheepishly. "But I’m *certain* he’s *thought* about it." She declared it with absolute conviction.
"Hmph! Senior just loves scaring me!" Xiao Zi stamped her foot, then dashed off in a huff.
"Xiao Zi, wait—!" The senior chased after her.
---
Only after their voices faded did a figure drop from the banyan tree. Landing lightly, he revealed an utterly ordinary face—ordinary except for his excessively long black bangs, which completely veiled his upper face.
"*Two thousand*? It was barely twenty," the boy muttered wryly. Yes—he was their dreaded "Black-Haired Demon King," Xia Chuan.
But that wasn’t what bothered him.
*Why* saddle him with such a cringey nickname?
Wouldn’t "Black-Eyed Reaper Knight" sound cooler?
Or "Sharia of the Black Hair and Eyes"?
A wave of shame washed over him.
*What am I even thinking?* Clearly, his inner chuunibyo persona still lurked within.
Glancing at his phone, Xia Chuan headed to class.
---
"*This* is the ‘Black Demon King’?"
*It’s BLACK HAIR! Do I look like a walking shadow? Damn it—I didn’t even reject this embarrassing title out loud!*
"One look from him and I’d get pregnant!"
*Hey! Apologize to your biology teacher right now!*
"Same! Please don’t glance my way!"
*And you—dude, stop jumping on the bandwagon!*
Xia Chuan screamed internally but kept his face icy.
Before even reaching his classroom, he was swarmed. *Could you gossip quieter? I’m standing right here!*
Finally snapping under their monkey-cage stares, he activated his AoE skill: **Glacial Gaze**.
His eyes pierced through thick bangs, lancing toward the crowd.
Where his gaze fell, students took 100 damage and fled like startled birds.
Watching them scatter, Xia Chuan expected relief. Instead, he faced an empty corridor alone. A bitter smile touched his lips.
"Just how terrified of me are you all?"
The once-bustling hallway now held only his solitary footsteps, echoing with quiet loneliness.
---
Class bell rang the moment he entered. Math period.
While others found math dull, Xia Chuan didn’t mind it.
His desk sat isolated in the corner, others’ chairs deliberately distanced.
The lesson passed swiftly. When the dismissal bell chimed, classmates roared, "Freedom!"
Unlike outsiders, his peers treated him like a ghost—some from fear, others deliberate exclusion. Xia Chuan had long stopped caring.
With nothing to do, his gaze drifted blankly to the blackboard.
"Xia Chuan? Something wrong?"
A familiar voice made his heart skip. He turned.
A stunning girl stood beside him. Delicate features, large bright eyes, waist-length hair tied in twin tails. Her summer uniform clung to her slender curves, pale skin glowing in the sunlight. Only one flaw marred perfection: her chest was utterly flat.
"Just tired," Xia Chuan replied quickly.
"Good." She smiled warmly.
For a moment, he was transfixed.
This was Liu Yixia—his childhood friend, his sole companion in this school after *that incident*, and his secret crush.
"Why’d you come over?" he asked, snapping back.
"Saw you looked troubled. Wanted to check." Her laugh was light.
"I’m fine. Thanks for worrying." He returned a small smile.
"Then I’ll head back." She waved and left.
*So gentle... if only it were just for me.*
---
Xia Chuan had tried distancing himself to protect Liu Yixia from his isolation. Thankfully, her popularity shielded her.
The next bell jolted him back. He opened his textbook silently.
Time flew. School ended.
"Xia Chuan, I’m heading to the student council. Go home soon, okay?" Liu Yixia called from the doorway.
"Off to see Senior Liu Ziyang again?" Xia Chuan teased.
Liu Ziyang—senior class vice president. Brilliant, handsome, kind even to the "Black-Haired Demon King." The perfect guy any girl would adore. *Even I’d fall for him if I were female.*
"N-no! Who’d like that senior!" Liu Yixia’s cheeks flushed—a rare sight since transferring here.
"I never said *you* liked him," Xia Chuan murmured, his eyes dimming.
"You—! I’m ignoring you!" Her face burned crimson as she stormed off, missing his downturned gaze.
Watching her vanish, Xia Chuan’s chest ached.
Only when her footsteps faded did he calm. He glanced at the setting sun.
"...Time to go home."
---
Dusk painted the sky as Xia Chuan reached his apartment building. He paused at the entrance. Truthfully, he dreaded returning to that empty room.
He’d moved here alone due to... circumstances. A tiny rented unit was all he had.
After a long moment, he climbed to the third floor.
His doorway was blocked by stacked boxes.
"Huh?" Heart pounding, he sidestepped them cautiously and unlocked the door.
Inside—unchanged, undisturbed. He exhaled.
"Daddy..."
Xia Chuan seemed to hear a sound.
"Daddy!"
Suddenly, a babyish voice rang out. Xia Chuan jumped in surprise. He lowered his head, peering at the source, and was stunned to see the speaker was a...
Baby?
She gazed back, then crawled over at astonishing speed and grabbed his ankle.
Before Xia Chuan could react, movement stirred in the kitchen. He clearly saw a black-haired girl step out.
Xia Chuan stared at her, dumbfounded.
The black-haired girl stared back, shocked.
They locked eyes in stunned silence, not a word spoken.
No longer yesterday’s room...
Bathed in dusk’s glow...
It chronicled their absurd first meeting.
