Scratch-scratch-scratch.
Leaf Grace picked up a half-broken piece of chalk and wrote her name on the blackboard.
With poised confidence, she introduced herself to the class below: "I’m Leaf Grace. That’s my name."
Perhaps because she’d given this introduction too many times, her tone carried a casual ease that only amplified her effortless charm.
For a fleeting moment, many students mentally compared her to Zhao Min from the classic *Heavenly Sword and Dragon Slaying Saber* adaptation.
Not in looks—but in that uncanny, shared aura.
Leaf Grace stepped down from the podium. Water Poem took her place.
She didn’t write on the board. Instead, she smiled and said, "I’m Water Poem. ‘Water’ like rivers and seas. ‘Poem’ like innocent youth and recited verses."
"Ooh! I know this one!" A boy laughed, raising his hand. "I’m Bai! ‘Bai’ as in *all the colors of the rainbow*!"
The class burst into laughter. In that moment, everyone grasped the essence of Leaf Grace and Water Poem’s personalities.
"Alright, now that we’re acquainted, Leaf Grace and Water Poem, please take your seats," Teacher A-Dan said, patting their shoulders. The gesture looked comically awkward on her petite frame.
"Hey, Autumn Ease—what’s *really* going on between you and that girl?"
"Guess," Autumn Ease replied with deliberate mystery.
His vagueness only convinced others there was nothing special between them.
"Pfft. Probably just acquaintances. Stop showing off—you’ve got zero chance!"
"Yeah! A beauty like her? None of us guys stand a shot," others chimed in, teasing.
Autumn Ease merely smiled, saying nothing.
Arguing was pointless. Sometimes, facts spoke louder.
After morning reading came assembly. After assembly, first period.
But the students were distracted, buzzing about nothing but Leaf Grace and Water Poem.
Autumn Ease crumpled a tiny paper ball and flicked it toward Leaf Grace. It bounced off her head.
She glanced at the crumpled scrap on the floor, expressionless, and ignored it completely.
"Wenwen, aren’t you gonna pick it up?" Water Poem whispered.
"Tch. Childish antics. Just trying to grab attention. I’m not bothering," Leaf Grace muttered under her breath, though her eyes stayed fixed on the blackboard—even though its contents were painfully familiar to her.
This was math class.
Teacher Mao’s droning voice made eyelids heavy the moment he began.
Most students weren’t asleep, but they were trapped in that agonizing limbo—desperate to rest yet forcing themselves to stay awake.
Autumn Ease’s paper toss caught Teacher Mao’s eye.
He scanned the seating chart on his lectern. "Autumn Ease."
"Here."
"Sneaking notes to pretty girls now? Trying to flirt?"
The drowsy classroom snapped wide awake.
"Uh… no," Autumn Ease mumbled, flustered.
"Not paying attention means you’ll fall behind. Solve this problem."
"Uh…"
"Come up. Write it on the board."
The class perked up instantly, whispering to neighbors who hadn’t zoned out: *What happened?*
"Autumn Ease threw a paper ball at the new girl, Leaf Grace."
"Dude! Flirting *during class*? Unforgivable!"
"Yeah! He’s trying to steal *my* goddess!"
"Since when was she *yours*?"
"The second I saw her. She’s *my* goddess."
"*Ahem!* The chatterboxes in the back—you want to join him up here?" Teacher Mao’s stern glare silenced them.
Water Poem quietly retrieved the paper ball. Unfolding it, she froze for a split second.
"Wenwen… don’t you want to know what it says?" she whispered.
"Hmm?" Leaf Grace feigned disinterest, gazing out the window.
"Autumn Ease wrote: *‘I saw GuanPeng.’*"
"…Huh?"
GuanPeng. He’d vanished alongside the half-young, half-aged Autumn Ease in the final battle.
They’d spoken of "truly waking up." But had they disappeared forever? Or had they glimpsed the so-called "real world"?
No one knew.
Yet Autumn Ease claimed to have found GuanPeng. How?
Leaf Grace scanned the classroom. No sign of him.
"Teacher, is this correct?" On the podium, Autumn Ease had finished writing his solution and final answer. A hidden smirk played on his lips as he addressed Teacher Mao.
"Hmm. Correct. But don’t disrupt others’ learning. Knowing the answer doesn’t excuse arrogance. Understood?"
"Yes—" Autumn Ease drawled the word out.
"Pretty girls catch everyone’s eye. But deeper conversations? Save them for *after* class." Teacher Mao’s meaningful pause earned sly grins from the boys.
The math lesson finally gained momentum. Teacher Mao seized the chance to continue. Leaf Grace, a former teacher herself, understood the struggle.
*Though my classes were never this boring*, she thought. *At least I didn’t put half the room to sleep.*
Despite the brief energy spike, the latter half of math class lulled many back into drowsiness.
When the bell rang, half-asleep students jolted upright, blinking at the blackboard.
It was now a dense forest of numbers—utterly incomprehensible.
Teacher Mao rushed to finish his lecture as the bell faded, but to many, it sounded like gibberish.
This was how math grades slowly slipped away.
The moment class ended, the sleepyheads transformed. Boys swarmed Autumn Ease, hungry for gossip about Leaf Grace.
"Hey, Autumn Ease—spill it. Who was that note for?"
"The prettiest one."
"Which one’s the prettiest?"
Just as Autumn Ease opened his mouth, Leaf Grace appeared beside his desk, Water Poem in tow. Her expression was icy.
"Ahem. Obviously Water Poem."
"*Hey!*" Leaf Grace slammed her palm on the desk. "Say that again?"
Both girls were stunning—just in different ways. Neither truly outshone the other.
If anyone else had said it, Leaf Grace wouldn’t have cared. But coming from *him*? Even knowing he was teasing, jealousy flickered.
To the onlookers, it looked intimate.
She wasn’t actually angry. So what was this?
*Flirting?*
Many boys felt like they’d fallen in love and lost her all in the same breath.
"Of course… Water Poem," he repeated weakly.
"*Oh-ho!*" Leaf Grace pinched his cheek. "Outside. *Now*."
Water Poem covered her mouth, giggling as she followed. She knew this was just their way of reconnecting after time apart—like old best buddies falling back into their teasing rhythm.
When friends reunite after years, they often test the waters with old jokes. If the banter dies, replaced by stiff politeness, distance grows. But if the teasing sticks? The awkwardness melts away. Familiarity returns.
"Owwww—my cheek! My cheek!"
"You *have* a cheek to feel? I thought yours was thicker than castle walls," Leaf Grace huffed, dragging him into the hallway.
Students pressed against the walls, eavesdropping.
What followed was a soundless pause.
Not silence—just hushed whispers no one else could catch.
"GuanPeng’s actually in our class."
"I don’t see him."
"Uh… the girl in the corner seat by the hallway."
"That’s a *girl*."
"Yeah…"
"*What?*"
"But her memories are gone. So I’m not entirely sure."
"Then why mention it?"
"Well… her name’s Guan Yueyue?"
"…" Leaf Grace rolled her eyes. "What a messed-up world."
"Be grateful ‘Old Hui’ is still a man here."
"I saw him. He didn’t recognize me. Is anyone else’s memory intact?"
"Doubt it," Autumn Ease scratched his head. "Anyway, things are mostly the same—just… rearranged."
"Tch…" Leaf Grace pouted. "It’s a shame. So many lost memories… feels like I just woke from a very long dream."
"I get that too—" Autumn Ease shifted topics smoothly. "By the way, the new game’s dropping soon. A total game-changer!"
"Someone time-traveled to make it?"
"Wouldn’t rule it out. But trust me—it’ll be *the* mainstream hit of the future." He rubbed his hands together. "Wanna play?"
"Sure. We’ve got free time, right?"
"Exactly…"
"What’s it called?"
"*Chaos Online*."
"What a cheesy name. Might as well call it *Earth OL*."
"…Actually, you nailed it."
"*Hey!* So you were messing with me earlier?"
"*Ahem.* It *was* supposed to be *Chaos Online*, but they changed it right before launch."
"*Earth OL*… kinda bold, huh?"
"Supposedly set on a fictional Earth. Should be fun." Autumn Ease grinned. "Compared to Anomaly Points, games are way more entertaining!"
"Tch… still the same old you."
"Aren’t you?"
"Hmph. I haven’t changed either."
"Then that’s perfect."
"Yeah… perfect."
"Perfect?"
"*Perfect!*"
