After parting ways with the boss, Shi Ji wandered aimlessly through the streets. The fact that he’d be getting paid had put him in a great mood.

Right now, money was what Shi Ji cared about most. If someone came along and said, “I don’t like money,” Shi Ji would probably charge over and beat them to a pulp. He hated hypocrites like that. He was a materialistic person, plain and simple. Money might not be everything, but you couldn’t do anything without it.

A long while passed before Shi Ji even realized where he’d wandered off to. Along the way, he’d seen plenty of people around his age helping others with various tasks. He couldn’t be sure, but there was a good chance they were from Silver Frost Academy.

Among them, he’d seen people like this: all smiles and seemingly eager to help on the surface, but the moment the job was done and they got their proof, they turned into completely different people. People like that were so annoying. Still, Shi Ji didn’t feel like getting involved. There were countless people like them in the world—he couldn’t go around dealing with every last one, could he? He wasn’t about to waste his time.

When he got tired of walking, he’d sit for a while on one of the benches set up along the roadside and pick up a public magazine from the rack.

The boring thing was, most of those magazines were about Heroes. Shi Ji picked one up, flipped through the first page, then closed it again. He really wasn’t interested in this stuff. The only things that seemed to catch his interest were food and money.

He put the magazine down carelessly. Then his eyes wandered to a magazine displayed in a particularly prominent spot on the rack.

It was also a magazine about Heroes. The only reason it caught Shi Ji’s attention was that someone familiar was on the cover.

He reached out and took it, looking over the picture on the cover, the introduction, the slogan, and the rest.

“She really is a beauty in the making. She looks even prettier like this.”

The person he was praising was none other than Lin Xinyan.

The magazine’s cover story was about the Ge Sila incident from before. He flipped through the pages and couldn’t help chuckling. What surprised him was that Lin Xinyan hadn’t tried to take all the credit for defeating the Spirit-Rank Ge Sila. In the interview, she’d only said that she’d helped, and that someone else had defeated Ge Sila. She didn’t say who. That made sense, since they hadn’t even known each other back then. Besides, Shi Ji was sure that even if they had known each other, Lin Xinyan wouldn’t have casually revealed his name.

Besides that incident, the magazine also included a short record of what Lin Xinyan had done over the past few days. It specifically mentioned how she’d dealt with Human-Rank and Demon-Rank creatures, among others.

The Spirit-Rank Ge Sila incident, combined with all those small jobs dealing with low-level creatures, had sent Lin Xinyan’s points climbing steadily. She’d only just become a B-Rank Hero, but her score was already nearing that of an A-Rank Hero.

???

“Uh... Heroes have points and all that? What even is this? It’s so complicated.”

Shi Ji knew next to nothing about Hero affairs, so he didn’t understand any of this. Given that, it was only natural for him to say something like that.

“Warning! Warning! A Spirit-Rank monster has appeared in East Sixth District and is moving toward the city center. Residents of East Fifth District and East Fourth District, evacuate immediately. Repeat... East Sixth District...”

Suddenly, a nearby alarm blared out those words.

The passersby froze for a moment. Then one of them shouted and ran, and the others quickly followed.

“Spirit Rank... Run, run!”

...

Before long, not a single person remained nearby. Suddenly, Shi Ji was all alone.

Shi Ji wasn’t in a hurry. He was still leaning back on the bench, one leg crossed over the other, reading the magazine about Lin Xinyan.

The moment he put the magazine down, a string of booming explosions rang out in the distance.

The blasts were deafening. Just from the sound, it was easy to guess how powerful they were.

Shi Ji scratched his head, unbothered, and said casually, “What a pain. Who’s gone and gotten themselves killed this time? My long-awaited day off is ruined.”

...