Ch. 94 - Finding People

If I were going to represent the bakery club in this event, I would also have to stop by the Academy’s designated spot to pick up our supplies. I mean, it wasn’t like I was some omniscient deity who magically sensed which terrified freshmen were currently hiding in which obscure corner of campus.

So the Academy kindly handled the information part for us.

They pulled data from all kinds of places—starting with the Dome’s entry logs, which were basically the one thing the school never messed up. Those logs, combined with the “one-way ticket” admission letters, told them exactly which freshmen had sneaked onto campus early.

Then they cross-checked who hadn’t registered, who hadn’t picked up their student ID or phone or room key, who hadn’t awakened their talent yet… The whole thing was laid out in neat little boxes.

All we had to do was find the kid, confirm their info, and bam—you’d know exactly which steps they’d missed.

So yeah, the entire mission boiled down to one thing: finding the target.

How we were supposed to do that… well, I figured I’d only know tomorrow, once I actually saw the setup.

According to Senior Tang Yihan, the Academy used some kind of Earthvein energy integration to do high-precision tracking. It sounded like something straight out of a sci-fi movie—very cool, very suspiciously convenient.

Was there anything Earthvein couldn’t do?

Honestly, her explanation got me a little curious, and I started debating whether I should drop by the library to read some beginner-level books on Earthvein energy.

And yes—beginner level.

No journals. No professional monographs. No “Advanced Theory of Earthvein Dynamics, Vol. 7.”

I had learned my lesson when Tan Han bulldozed my confidence after I borrowed that meditation manual. Thanks to her, I now understand my natural habitat: the Popular Science section.

So no, I wasn’t suddenly trying to become a researcher. I just wanted to know the basics—the sort of knowledge normal people could touch but didn’t fully understand.

Humans loved the unknown… but only enough to poke it with a stick.

In the end, I took on the bakery club’s assignment. Manager Shari even stopped by to check on me.

And after hearing I was willing to help the club, she instantly dragged me off to collect a mana core and a Spell Book. No hesitation. No dramatic buildup. Just: “Oh, you’re helping? Great, take these.”

It honestly scared me a little. For a second, I wondered if I had walked straight into a trap.

But hey, if it was a trap, it was a pretty good one. The spell she gave me was a solid defensive spell, and combined with the fixed spell on my badge, I basically became a one-person offense-plus-defense combo. You could even argue I was slightly… battle-capable?

Plus, the mana core bumped up my max capacity, which made daily life so much easier. Everything in the villa ate mana—lights, appliances, even my phone.

When I finally reached the event headquarters, I got a clearer idea of how things actually worked: we still had to find the target ourselves.

The Academy only gave us temporary access to the system so we could see freshmen profiles and their current coordinates.

Judging by the mood in the room, none of the seniors were particularly thrilled. The atmosphere was about as lively as a slug convention. Honestly, I might’ve been the only one treating this event seriously.

Then I submitted the bakery club and got our assignment—and nearly choked.

Our quota: one freshman.

One!!

That was way fewer than I expected. But thinking about it, there really weren’t that many early arrivals. The main wave of freshmen hadn’t even shown up yet.

I also noticed several clubs arrived late and didn’t get assigned any mandatory tasks at all.

Meaning they got to slack off without consequences.

And yeah… that was the moment I started regretting showing up early.

Once I stepped outside, I checked the Academy system and the temporary permissions they’d opened for me.

This feature only existed for this event—an honest-to-goodness location tracker. Normally, students didn’t get access to anything this fancy.

But it made me wonder: freshmen didn’t have anything on them, right? No locator, maybe no academy phone, and definitely not their Earthvein-linked student ID if they hadn’t picked it up yet.

So… what exactly was the system using to track them?

The more I thought about it, the creepier it felt. I glanced up at the Dome overhead—satellite tracking seemed impossible.

Yeah… trying to explain a transcendence-world system with modern logic was definitely my mistake.

“Hey? You there—freshman, right? What’re you doing here? Don’t tell me some shady club tricked you into joining this event?”

A voice called out from behind me, sounding half-surprised, half-accusatory.

“Hm? Ah! Senior Deng, hello.” I turned around and immediately recognized her—Deng Xiaonan, the senior I’d met on the train.

She’d introduced herself back then, and I barely remembered.

“Oh? You know me?” She blinked, then puffed up proudly. “Wow, am I really that famous among freshmen now? Hahaha—”

“Uh… kinda… I guess… haha…” I laughed awkwardly, dangerously close to revealing my secret. The fewer seniors who figured out I was a guy, the better.

“So, Senior… you’re here for the event too?” I asked tentatively. I had no idea how she’d figured out I was a freshman. And since I already had two mana cores, there shouldn’t have been anything obviously “newbie” about me.

“Yeah. I lost at rock–paper–scissors, so here I am.” She sighed dramatically. “But you—how could they shove a freshman out here to guide other freshmen? That’s outrageous.”

She sounded so genuinely offended on my behalf that if anyone overheard, they’d think we’d been best friends for years.

“It’s not so bad. There are perks, so I figured it was worth the trip. But Senior, you didn’t stop me just to chat, right?”

“Aww, come on, don’t make it sound so distant. This is fate! We already know each other, so let’s make it official. I’m Deng Xiaonan—just call me Senior Deng. If you ever need anything, find me. Here, let’s add each other.”

She whipped out her phone before I could even blink.

Her speed honestly left me stunned.

“Mm,” I added her too—because hey, I didn’t have many friends, and outgoing, friendly seniors were exactly the kind of people I needed.

“Alright, got it!” She grinned. “If you ever get into trouble, come find me. Although… heh… well…”

The sudden shift in her tone was suspiciously obvious—like someone about to ask for a favor.

“Senior, if you need something, you can just tell me…” I offered. Anyone this eager to approach me definitely had an agenda.

And sure enough—

“Could you maybe… possibly… take my quota for me? It’s only one freshman. Just help me out this once, and next time I’ll—”

“Of course I’ll help if you ask,” I said, cutting in quickly—then immediately switched to tragic mode. “But you should spare a thought for poor little freshman me… I’m new, I barely know the procedures…”

“T-Then of course I’ll make it worth your while!” she blurted out, clearly afraid I’d start performing emotional tea-ceremony theatrics.

“Really? Our club leader promised me a mana core for finishing my quota. She even gave it to me ahead of time. I don’t need anything huge from Senior, just a little token of appreciation…”

I looked at her with wide, hopeful eyes until she awkwardly turned her head away.

Yeah. She was cracking.

“No, no, no—fine, fine! I’ll give you a mana core!” Senior Deng finally surrendered, as if she physically couldn’t stand hearing any more.

The moment she agreed, I couldn’t help the tiny smile that crept onto my face. I still had no idea how much a mana core was worth, but free was free.

And it wasn’t like I planned to stop after just one quota.

Freshman-guiding-freshman sounded kind of fun, actually—especially if I ran into someone like Quan Xiuzhu again.

Now that would make things interesting.

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