Early the next morning.

Jiang Yuan had barely woken up when Yi Nanye sprang out of bed with a kip-up, pulled open the curtains, and stretched toward the sunrise in the distance.

“Come on. Let’s go help you suffer!”

Yi Nanye turned around in the morning light. The breeze stirred the ends of her hair, and for a moment, she looked unexpectedly beautiful to Jiang Yuan. It was enough to wake him right up.

“Just a second.”

Jiang Yuan got up at once, tidied himself up quickly and neatly, and was soon ready to head out. But before leaving, he glanced downstairs and saw that the crowd was still gathered there. Only a few of the slogans had changed.

Jiang Yuan, please think of the future of human civilization.

Stop this selfish behavior at once!

Jiang Yuan, if you’re still a human being, hurry up and die!

“Looks like the public outrage you’ve stirred up is pretty intense. I heard government offices all over the country have been flooded with calls lately, all demanding that you die. The protests are getting more and more heated, too.”

“There was a clash overseas last night between protesters and the police trying to keep order. I heard people died.”

Yi Nanye came to the window to look down at the scene, too. She glanced at the crowd, then at her phone, before turning the screen toward Jiang Yuan. The top story this morning was a report about the incident.

Yesterday’s protest overseas had left two people dead and thirty-eight injured. The dead were a civilian and a police officer. Below the report, the journalist weighed in on the story and offered their analysis.

There were only three suspects under Codename Jiang.

And yet one of them had already caused two deaths. Things might only get worse from here. The journalist who wrote the report even urged the governments of the five nations to decide as soon as possible to execute all three suspects.

“Mm…”

Jiang Yuan nodded after reading the report, offering no comment.

“You don’t have anything to say? Two innocent people have died because of you.”

“Then I’ll mourn them.”

“That’s it?”

“Then I’ll mourn them for three minutes.”

What else could Jiang Yuan say? If he said the wrong thing and Yi Nanye reported him, he’d be in trouble. At a time like this, saying less—or nothing at all—was the best strategy.

“Forget it… Let’s not waste any more time. We should get to school. Maybe you’re still hoping your old friends, the ones you used to be so close to, will understand and comfort you. But all you’ll get is more grief if you go.”

“I know.”

“Even Qin Xin, your ex-girlfriend, will probably give you a hard time when she sees you. She’s a future hero, and she’ll stand firmly with the people. She’d never want to associate with you.”

“I’m ready for that. That’s why I’m going. And I’d say I know her personality a little better than you do. I’m going to break up with her today.”

To be precise, Qin Xin was Jiang Yuan’s childhood friend. They hadn’t lived very close to each other, but by coincidence, they’d attended the same school from kindergarten all the way through high school. They hadn’t been in the same class in middle school, but they still talked at school all the time.

“I see… So you do have a redeeming quality after all.”

Yi Nanye approved of Jiang Yuan’s plan to break up with Qin Xin. Qin Xin absolutely couldn’t have anything to do with Jiang Yuan anymore. One of them was the savior who would rescue human civilization from the apocalypse…

And the other was the great sinner who had nearly brought human civilization to ruin.

After that, the two left their room to head to school. Jiang Yuan was ready to face the angry crowd, but Yi Nanye led him up to the rooftop instead. She said that if he dared go out onto the street, the crowd would close in around him until he couldn’t move.

So he’d have to take a helicopter to and from school.

“I never thought I’d live to see the day I had to take a helicopter to school.”

Not long after the helicopter took off, Jiang Yuan sat in the co-pilot’s seat, looking down at the scenery outside the window. The busy city looked the same as ever. After all, the apocalypse was still two years away.

Human civilization would spend those two years ramping up production of all kinds of supplies to prepare, so society would only get busier.

“Well, you’re public enemy number one now. Everyone wants to take a shot at you. If a rat wants to cross the street, it has to fly!”

Yi Nanye piloted the helicopter from the seat beside him. Jiang Yuan honestly hadn’t expected her to know how to fly one. He couldn’t help thinking that her family must have been well-off before she became an Esper. She was the kind of kid who’d clearly had an elite education.

Before long, the helicopter reached the school and landed on the sports field. When the students saw Jiang Yuan climb out, their expressions changed, but no one did anything too extreme. They just stood off to the side, whispering among themselves.

Most people still didn’t dare mess with Jiang Yuan. It was easy to pass judgment online, but in person, they thought twice.

But a few boys who were already troublemakers—badly behaved, fond of fighting, and not too bright—came forward, ready to curse Jiang Yuan out and drive him away. Some had even started cracking their knuckles, as if they were about to hit him.

They knew Jiang Yuan was still an ordinary person. There was nothing to be afraid of!

“You’ve got the nerve to come to school?”

“Jiang Yuan, do you have any idea how bad your reputation is? We don’t want you dragging us down with you.”

“Get lost!”

“Just die already!”

“You’re so desperate to stay alive. Is it because you’re planning to get revenge later?”

Just as expected, Jiang Yuan’s schoolmates had no good feelings toward him at all. They only wanted to drive him away.

“I only got dragged into this because I look like him and happen to have the surname Jiang. Anyway, even people in the future can’t explain why the name Codename Jiang includes the character ‘Jiang.’ What if it’s just the other person’s nickname? I’m innocent. I really—”

Before Jiang Yuan could finish, one of the boys stepped up and kicked him in the stomach. Jiang Yuan toppled onto his backside, gritting his teeth in pain, unable to get a word out. He swallowed his anger and said nothing. He couldn’t afford to lose his temper.

Even though he knew it was pointless, all he could do for now was act weak and harmless, and keep insisting that he was innocent.

“I… I really am innocent…”

“Heh. You? Innocent?”

The boys glanced at one another. Seeing that Jiang Yuan wasn’t putting up much of a fight, the other students began to jeer, too. Those boys were notorious delinquents at school, the kind everyone usually avoided.

But now that they were going after Jiang Yuan, the others were only too happy to watch.

“Beat him to death!”

“Beat him to death!”

“Beat him to death! Get rid of this menace!”

With the others shouting to egg him on, one of the boys suddenly yelled and steeled himself. He charged at Jiang Yuan, aiming a kick at his neck that could’ve snapped it—but just then, a blurred figure appeared in front of him and hurled him aside.

“All right, all right. Everyone calm down. Please cooperate with the government’s arrangements.”

Yi Nanye stepped in with a cheeky smile, trying to calm the crowd. She’d meant to sit back and enjoy the show, but someone at this school had lost his temper.

After stopping the boy, Yi Nanye looked up at a third-floor window. A woman with long, straight hair was staring down at her with a cold expression. Yi Nanye glared right back without backing down, a clear warning in her eyes.

And the boy Yi Nanye had tossed aside…

A thin layer of ice had appeared on the back of his clothes.

Well, this is trouble…

Yi Nanye couldn’t help thinking.