He’d gotten carried away just now and, without thinking, had slammed the five hundred thousand he had on hand onto the ground. Shi Ji was completely stunned. With no steady source of income, his mind went blank.

Looking at the camera smashed to bits, Shi Ji’s heart ached. He even picked up the pieces like a fool, checking to see if he could fix it.

He put a few parts together, but they collapsed before he could even get them steady.

“No, no… It’s broken. I can’t fix it.” Shi Ji was panicking. His voice trembled with worry. He’d completely forgotten about things like the report and registration process.

The camera was so thoroughly smashed that even a child would know it couldn’t be fixed. Of course, you couldn’t blame Shi Ji. His reaction was perfectly normal. If a poor person lost five hundred thousand in the blink of an eye, who wouldn’t be heartbroken?

The little girl beside him watched with an exasperated look on her face. She pursed her lips, clearly looking down on Shi Ji for acting like this.

Hearing Shi Ji’s heartbroken cries made her deeply uncomfortable.

“You’re this upset over a camera? How can someone like you have the General Star bloodline? You’re supposed to become a Hero someday, yet you don’t have an ounce of backbone.”

Her words made Shi Ji’s anger flare. He turned and glared at the little girl.

Shi Ji really hated the way people talked about Heroes these days.

“Heroes, my ass! What kind of Hero is that? You fill out an application and pass one test, and suddenly you’re a Hero? The bar for becoming a Hero is ridiculous these days. The police help people every single day, so why don’t I hear everyone calling them Heroes? Does that mean they aren’t Heroes? I swear, most people these days have bean curds for brains. Don’t talk to me about Heroes or whatever. I’m just this materialistic. What the hell is a Hero worth?”

Shi Ji was worked up, and neither his voice nor his tone was pleasant. His words left the little girl speechless.

She looked at Shi Ji, her expression complicated, and began to think.

A few seconds later, she spoke.

“All right, quit yelling here. You’re a grown man—what a hassle. It’s broken, so it’s broken. I’ll figure something out about the camera. Come with me.”

The little girl couldn’t understand how Shi Ji felt right now. That was why she’d said something like that.

The camera was smashed beyond any possibility of repair. So Shi Ji steeled himself and stomped the pile of large parts into bits.

Shi Ji felt deeply wronged, but what was done was done. There was nothing he could do about it now.

For now, he’d leave it at that. If they came asking later, he’d take responsibility. Worst case, he could just leave. He’d only stayed because, given his financial situation, he wanted to freeload here. And if he wanted to go, nobody could stop him.

He ignored what the little girl had just said and walked off along the road.

“Hey! This way.”

Just as Shi Ji was losing hope, the little girl’s voice sounded behind him again.

After a bumpy journey, the little girl led Shi Ji to the administrative building. She even kindly showed him to the office where new students registered.

The only person in the office was a burly, middle-aged man dressed in a suit and wearing glasses. He had a somewhat artistic air about him.

When the man saw the little girl bring Shi Ji in, he immediately stood up and hurried over to greet them.

“Mentor Jing Xin! You’re here!”

Hearing that, Shi Ji—who’d still been feeling a little down—was stunned. His eyes widened as he stared at the little girl beside him.

…