"Hmm..."

Lin Zhong held the girl in his arms a little tighter, murmuring softly. His usually expressionless face softened with tenderness as her slender, graceful form pressed against his chest.

The girl was undeniably beautiful. Her skin wasn’t unnaturally pale like Lin Zhong’s, yet it held a flawless, poreless smoothness. Framed by striking black-and-white eyes, her perfectly balanced features left no room to deny she was a true beauty.

"You’re back late... Did you go look for—"

A radiant smile bloomed on her face, yet it carried an unsettling chill that made the air around them drop several degrees.

But she never finished her sentence.

"Dungeon Instance."

Just two words. For any academy student, dungeon runs were routine. For Lin Zhong, they were an outlet. He ran far more instances than average—even skipping classes to do so. Only he and the girl before him knew this truth. To everyone else, Lin Zhong was just a coward too scared to step into a dungeon.

"Let me see your hands."

Su Han pulled back from his embrace, gripping his hands to examine his palms and knuckles. His skin remained that same unnaturally pale shade, unbroken by cracks or scars.

"I’ve said it countless times: your body is far weaker than others’. Please cherish it. I’ll earn the credits. Don’t go again."

Only after her careful inspection did she finally exhale in relief.

"No..."

"Not going? That’s my good boy."

Lin Zhong spoke slowly, but she’d already finished his sentence after just one word.

"I..."

"I won’t do it again! Please forgive me! I’ll stay home and be good!"

"M..."

"Mom? No, silly—it’s *wife*!"

Every time Lin Zhong managed a single syllable, Su Han completed his thought, leaving him flustered while she giggled behind her hands.

Su Han—this girl’s name, Lin Zhong’s fiancée. The very reason he drew scorn from every corner of the academy.

"I’m going inside..."

Lin Zhong tugged Su Han into his dorm room. The hallway was empty, but he desperately hoped no one had witnessed that scene.

The student dorm wasn’t spacious: one bed, a desk, a small table with three chairs, and a mini-kitchenette—the standard layout for academy housing. More luxurious rooms existed, but their credit requirements were astronomical. Here, credits *were* currency. Without them, nothing mattered.

Lin Zhong sank onto the soft bed, having shed his black hoodie earlier. His snow-white shoulder-length hair spilled messily over his shoulders. From the bag on the floor, a gray Scottish Fold cat had already wriggled out and curled up on his lap.

[Loading user profile...]

[Profile loaded. Welcome to Student Handbook.]

[Student ID: Lin Zhong]

*Task Search*

Lin Zhong tapped the text beneath his photo on his phone. For academy students, the phone *was* their ID—and the Student Handbook app came pre-installed, unremovable. Credits flowed through it: earned, spent, tracked. It also handled dungeon assignments, inter-academy bulletins, and success-rate calculations.

D-rank. D-rank. E-rank. C-rank. D-rank...

Lin Zhong scrolled. Dungeons were ranked S to F—S being the deadliest, F the easiest—with higher ranks yielding more credits. But dungeon spawns were random. Tougher instances appeared far less frequently.

*All low-rank again?*

Lin Zhong sighed inwardly. He craved dungeons as emotional release—but not against ants. No one vents fury on insects.

*The Freshman Trial... Should be open soon.*

"What’re you looking at?"

Su Han’s voice broke his thoughts as she stuffed a sandwich into his mouth.

"Nothing."

Lin Zhong powered off his screen. Honestly, he *was* starving after clearing that dungeon.

"Aren’t you eating?"

Su Han had already nestled her head on his shoulder, her half-lidded eyes and serene smile revealing her intentions.

"Not hungry yet."

She smiled faintly, breathing in his scent.

"Mm."

Lin Zhong didn’t press further. He picked up a piece of food from a nearby plate and offered it to the gray cat.

"Tomorrow’s the Freshman Trial, right?"

The quiet didn’t last. Su Han’s question shattered the calm.

"Yeah..."

Lin Zhong nodded. The Trial mattered little to them directly, but for most students, it was a major event.

"Don’t you dare sneak in."

Su Han twirled a strand of her own raven-black hair together with Lin Zhong’s stark white locks, weaving them into a dark-and-light braid.

"No one would invite me anyway."

Lin Zhong tilted his head toward her, letting her play with his hair. *Would anyone invite him?*

The answer was certain. No one in this academy liked Lin Zhong. No one would ever ask him.

The Freshman Trial let new students experience dungeon horrors under teacher supervision—testing whether they’d stay enrolled. Only high-rank dungeons could deliver true despair. During this period, all high-rank instances opened to upperclassmen seeking credits. But the monsters within weren’t pushovers. Though upperclassmen could enter, teams of two or more were mandatory.

This rule locked out students like Lin Zhong—those with no friends.

"Good."