Ch. 98 - Bringing My New Roommate Home

By the time I finished handling everything for Guan Qiuling, night had already settled in.

I grabbed her a quick dinner from a street vendor, then headed to bring her back to my villa—well, our dorm, technically. She counted as one of my roommates now, after all. 

I figured Dongli Yiren would be surprised.

If she was even home.

Knowing her, she probably spent the whole day quietly hiding inside. Outside the villa was a battlefield full of predatory seniors—way too risky for her to wander around.

Qiuling still wore the full Witch Starter Set, her oversized hat practically swallowing her entire silhouette. What stood out the most, though, was the huge staff she held with both hands.

I had chosen that for her. She didn’t know which wand or staff to pick, so she asked me.

In the end, I recommended a long staff—something big enough to give her a sense of security. Dongli Yiren agreed enthusiastically, claiming, “At least this way she has something to hit people with.”

When we went to apply for her student ID, she even had the option to choose a new name for her “fresh start.”

But she kept “Guan Qiuling.”

Said she didn’t want to erase who she used to be.

Her talent awakening turned out to be an item-type ability. The moment it activated, a single object dropped into her hand—a fragment of a broken weapon, as some ancient blade snapped during a war.

I checked it with Psi-vision.

Totally ordinary.

Not even a trace of transcendence energy.

But Qiuling held it like a treasure—no idea what it was for, but it came from her awakening, so it mattered to her.

I couldn’t blame her.

If it were me, I’d be the same. 

Even the most ordinary thing could carry meaning if you decided it did.

When we reached the villa—our dorm—Qiuling froze.

Her eyes went comically wide.

She had clearly expected some cramped shared room… not an entire standalone villa. She had assumed the place she stayed before was some luxurious property owned or rented by that senior. She never imagined this was the actual school-issued dorm.

I opened the front door, and the warm glow from the living room spilled out.

Inside, Dongli Yiren lay sprawled lazily on the couch, watching TV. The outfit she wore wasn’t something I had seen before—meaning she had gone out to buy clothes.

She actually went shopping? 

That surprised me more than anything.

Honestly, I half expected her to buy men’s clothes.

This academy was huge; there had to be a shop selling them somewhere. But the outfit she wore now—while a bit androgynous—had a very clear feminine cut and print.

She tilted her head lazily when she heard the door.

“You’re back?”

But then her eyes landed on the unfamiliar figure beside me. She jolted upright immediately, suddenly very proper.

“Uh… who’s this…?”

“Oh, her name’s Guan Qiuling. She’s one of our roommates. I brought her back with me.”

I gently pulled Qiuling closer, resting a hand on her shoulder as I introduced her.

I turned to introduce them properly.

“Qiuling, this is the other person living in the villa—the one I mentioned earlier. Her name’s Dongli Yiren.”

“Hi…” Yiren greeted her.

“H-hello…” Qiuling answered softly.

Yiren had lost all of her earlier laziness; her voice came out stiff and overly polite.

The atmosphere grew so awkward that I could barely stand to watch.

“All right, all right. Neither of you is the talkative type, so it’s fine. You’ll warm up to each other eventually. Qiuling, come on—I’ll take you upstairs to pick a room. You can sleep there tonight; everything you need’s already set up.”

I gently ushered Qiuling toward the stairs. If they had nothing to say, then they had nothing to say. No point forcing it.

Seriously… they were roommates now. Why was the vibe this stiff? A little enthusiasm wouldn’t hurt.

Were they suspicious of each other?

Well… I hadn’t told Yiren anything about Qiuling’s situation. I promised I wouldn’t talk about it. And Qiuling herself didn’t like speaking, which naturally made things worse.

Whatever. 

It couldn’t be helped.

With four people assigned to this dorm, the remaining one—the last roommate who still hadn’t shown up despite holding a keycard—was probably also a guy. 

No way a senior girl would go around “kidnapping” another girl for fun…

If someone had been dragged off, odds were he was male and probably in a situation just as miserable as Qiuling’s.

But I couldn’t do anything about it. 

There was no way to find him—it was like searching for a grain of sand in the ocean.

So I decided to let things be for now.

Once we went upstairs, I started explaining.

“The second floor is pretty much all guest rooms. That first one is my room. If you need anything, just knock. The one at the very end belongs to Dongli Yiren. The rest are free for you to pick.”

“I… I’ll choose this one,” Qiuling said after a moment of thought. Honestly, I expected more hesitation—or at least a question. Didn’t think she’d pick so fast.

“Huh? This one? Already?” I glanced at the room she pointed at—the one right next to mine.

“Yeah… I want the room next to you, Yuehan… Is that… not allowed?”

“It’s allowed, of course it’s allowed.” She looked so nervous—like I might scold her for choosing wrong—that I couldn’t bring myself to refuse even if I wanted to. Not that I would have.

I opened the room for her.

The bedroom had no smell, and the furnishings were almost identical to mine.

Honestly, bigger bedrooms weren’t always better. Too much empty space just felt hollow and oppressive.

But the villa’s rooms were well-furnished; the size felt just right—open but warm, comfortable instead of overwhelming.

“This is your room now. Want to look around? You’re going to be living here a long time, so treat it like home. Be casual. Look at Yiren downstairs—she got used to it immediately, and she didn’t arrive much earlier than you.”

I tried to reassure her. If she stayed this tense in her own dorm, life would be rough.

“Mm. Thank you, Senior Yuehan.”

“Just call me Yuehan. Senior makes it sound way too formal.”

“O-okay… Yuehan…”

“That’s better. Go ahead and get familiar with the place. Oh—don’t forget to keep the room key safe. I’m heading back downstairs.”

After reminding her, I went straight back to the living room. Staying in my room was boring anyway.

And I needed to talk to Yiren about the situation in our dorm—the energy usage, the charging schedule, and my theory about the still-missing fourth roommate.

Since Qiuling didn’t want her situation revealed, I would keep it quiet. I could at least give Yiren some peace of mind about the last roommate instead.

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