As soon as school lets out, almost no students linger on campus.

Jiang Yuan stood by the window, watching his classmates hurry off the field. A trace of helplessness flashed in his eyes.

“Come to think of it, it feels like there are a lot fewer people around.”

Usually, things got pretty noisy after school. But today, it was deathly quiet. The other students barely spoke to one another. They only let out a breath of relief once they’d left the school gates.

“I heard another hundred or so students transferred out today.”

Yi Nanye came to stand beside Jiang Yuan and looked out the window into the distance. Jiang Yuan had indeed made it so no one at school would bully him—but, little by little, he was also making the school empty.

Everyone who could leave had left, aside from a few students struggling financially and those who still hadn’t found a new school to transfer to.

Even the ones still here now will probably be gone in a few days.

By then, only a handful of people would be left at the school.

“If everyone leaves, will there still be teachers holding classes?”

Jiang Yuan was curious, too. Quite a few teachers had resigned over the past few days.

“So coming to class now is completely pointless. The government is turning a blind eye to this, probably because it wants you to return to society before you develop mental health problems. If you really want to study, I can arrange for a tutor to come over.”

“No. Even if everyone at this school leaves and it’s just Qin Xin and me, with not even a teacher around, you can call one then.”

Jiang Yuan had come to school at first to prove he was innocent, to show that he was trying to fit in with people with a positive attitude. Unfortunately, things hadn’t gone as planned. Now, perhaps the only reason he still came to school was to see Qin Xin.

No…

More accurately, it was so Qin Xin could see him.

“Qin Xin won’t be able to stay much longer, either.”

“I know.”

Jiang Yuan lowered his head and sighed. He still wanted to experience a little more of ordinary life. After all, everything would change in two years, and all the familiar things in his memories would go up in flames. But the truth was, ordinary life had already fallen apart the moment information from the future became public.

Even when people had been given a hard-won two-year grace period, hardly anyone seemed to take it seriously.

No…

Most people were probably just as lost. Even if they were told the world would end in two years, they might not know how to change anything. In the face of the unknown, sticking to what they knew—going to school or work, repeating the same daily routine—was more comforting to most people.

Jiang Yuan felt the same way. He’d simply thought that coming to school might help him feel a little more at home.

“Aren’t you going back?”

“There’s no rush.”

Jiang Yuan stood by the classroom window, gazing into the distance. Even if he went back, he couldn’t think of anything to do. He didn’t want to waste these two years, either. But the more he wanted to do something, the more he realized how little he had to show for himself.

It wasn’t the frustration of being unable to do anything. It was the restlessness of not knowing what to do, with nothing to do but watch time pass.

Even if he really learned something or managed to accomplish something, he could still be killed one day. In the end, it would all amount to nothing. He could wait quietly for his name to be cleared, sure—but could someone like him, with no skills to his name, really make a life for himself in the future?

If he hadn’t become a suspect in the Codename Jiang case, what would he be doing now?

Jiang Yuan hesitated for a moment…

In the end, he could only come to one conclusion: he’d be just like the other students, going to school and waiting for the country to decide what came next. Then, after the disaster, he’d scrape by in some settlement, or become an Esper and make a small contribution to humanity before meeting a somewhat glorious end.

If he really was Codename Jiang, maybe that wouldn’t be such a bad thing…

After all, anyone who could rival a god was destined to be remembered.

“Yi Nanye, do you think it’s possible that Codename Jiang and the other criminals are actually the real heroes who saved the world, while the other heroes are the criminals? What if we’ve only taken the people from the future at their word? How can we be sure they’re right?”

For some reason, the thought had suddenly occurred to Jiang Yuan. Photos and videos could be faked even now, let alone with future technology.

“That’s the argument made by another country that opposes executing you.”

“I see…”

Jiang Yuan suddenly lowered his head and gave a couple of quiet laughs. It made sense. Why would no one else have thought of something he could think of? The possibility was slim, but it wasn’t nonexistent.

“Though the odds are practically zero. Even if things really were as you said, do you think the people who’ve been hailed as heroes and accepted that role would betray everyone’s trust so easily?”

“Fair point. What Qin Xin did before was an exception. In the end, I’m the problem.”

The other Doomsday Heroes couldn’t possibly betray people’s trust. Qin Xin’s immature, impulsive remarks before were only because she and Jiang Yuan were so close.

“Done venting? Then hurry up and head back. I want to lie on the couch and play on my phone.”

Yi Nanye urged Jiang Yuan to stop brooding and get moving. He nodded, but just as he was about to turn and leave, Yi Nanye suddenly furrowed her brow and pulled her phone from her pocket.

As she answered the call, her expression slowly changed. By the end, she looked utterly serious.

After hanging up, she turned to Jiang Yuan and let out a long sigh.

“The worst-case scenario has happened. Zheng Chengjie has taken over a building and is demanding that the government let him leave. He’s already killed five hostages. The Ability Bureau has decided that conventional counterterrorism methods won’t work, and they want me to deal with it before things get any worse.”

“What…”

Jiang Yuan’s heart gave a jolt. He understood how important the Zheng Chengjie Incident was. It could very well be the first Esper crime to be exposed to the entire world, so how it was handled would be crucial.

One wrong move, and another group would be outraged.

“So I have to go there now.”

“You?”

Jiang Yuan had thought Yi Nanye was supposed to keep him under twenty-four-hour supervision and never leave his side.

“This came up suddenly. You’ll come with me for now. Someone else will keep an eye on you once we get there. It’s not like you can escape, anyway. You should be more worried about someone luring you away. I can’t promise the higher-ups won’t activate the neurotoxin in your collar if that happens.”

With that, Yi Nanye hurried out of the classroom. Jiang Yuan froze for a moment, wanting to say something but unable to get the words out. In the end, he could only follow her.

They reached the field and immediately boarded a helicopter, heading for the scene. Other helicopters passed overhead from time to time. The whole world was watching this incident, and Jiang Yuan pulled out his phone to look up the latest news.

News reports were flooding the internet, and Zheng Chengjie’s photo had finally been released.

It was a selfie of him standing on a mountaintop. He looked young, with bright, lively eyes. His expression was a little stiff, but his smile was completely sincere. He looked like the sort of person who was a bit shy, but honest.