Ch. 130 - The Burden of Leadership (Part One)

As the assembly wrapped up, the tidal wave of freshmen dispersed across the campus.

Some headed straight back to their villas to decompress; others wandered the grounds in a daze, trying to make sense of this new world.

A few adventurous groups were already scouting out the more "exotic" attractions the Witch School had to offer—things they’d only ever dreamed of seeing in a movie.

Then there were the panicked few, sprinting back to their dorms to find the Student IDs they’d forgotten, terrified that missing the binding process would haunt them for the rest of the semester.

Me? I was airborne. I had a job to do: track down the stragglers who couldn't even bother to show up for the first mandatory meeting. Whatever their excuse was, I wasn't in a forgiving mood.

Finding them was surprisingly easy. The moment Ji Niang assigned me the task, the Academy’s system pushed a mission notification to my phone, complete with target profiles and real-time tracking coordinates.

Earthvein... seriously, is there anything this system can’t do?

I triggered my Class President admin privileges to ping their locations. I didn't usually have this kind of "Big Brother" power; it required a specific authorization from Ji Niang. If a Class Prez could track every student 24/7, this place would be a horror movie.

My first target: Ming Yun.

I remembered her clearly—the girl who sounded like she was in a coma when I called her last night. I had a sinking feeling I knew exactly what she was doing right now.

There is no way she’s still in bed, I thought, banking my broom toward her coordinates.

I touched down in front of a sleek villa. My target was definitely inside. I walked up to the front door and hammered on the doorbell, but after two minutes of silence, I realized no one was coming.

The rest of her roommates were likely still stuck on the shuttles or exploring campus, and Ming Yun wasn't budging.

I wasn't about to stand on the porch all day, but I wasn't going to kick the door down either.

Ji Niang said "forceful persuasion" was on the table, but she didn't say the Academy would pay for property damage. I wasn't spending my meager allowance on a new front door.

Instead, I took the tactical route.

A quick flight around the perimeter revealed an unlocked window on the third-floor balcony. Beginner mistake, I thought as I slipped inside.

I felt a little guilty for trespassing, but I was on official business.

Besides, every second I spent playing bounty hunter was a second I wasn't in the lab analyzing that Fireball spell.

The way those formulas had unraveled under my Psi-vision yesterday was addictive. The research papers Ji Niang gave me were like the missing pieces to a puzzle.

I was this close to figuring out how to reprogram the spell's output. But instead of magical engineering, here I was, chasing a sleepyhead.

I followed the ping on my phone to a bedroom door.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

I hammered on the wood, the sound echoing through the quiet hallway. Silence.

"Hello? I know you're in there!" I knocked again, louder this time. Finally, I heard the faint rustle of sheets and the slow, heavy thud of footsteps.

"Who... who is it? Coming..." a voice groaned. It was low, raspy, and sounded like it was being dragged through a swamp of pure exhaustion.

The bedroom door creaked open, and a figure emerged.

She was wearing oversized pink pajamas, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand. Her gaze was completely vacant, like she was looking through me rather than at me.

"Mmm... who... are you?"

"I’m Yang Yuehan, the Class President for Section 14. You can just call me Yuehan," I began, trying to maintain a professional tone despite the surreal setting. "Ming Yun, do you remember our call last night? The one about joining the group chat?"

She tilted her head to the side, blinking slowly as if processing a complex mathematical equation. Then, she let out a massive yawn. "Oh... yeah. It’s you. Hi, Prez..."

"Hi. So... did you pull an all-nighter or something?" I asked, watching her sway on her feet. She looked like she was about to fall back into a coma right there in the doorway.

"No," she mumbled. "I went back to sleep immediately after I hung up on you."

"Then why are you still in bed? Did you not know Section 14 had a mandatory assembly this morning?"

"I didn't know."

My eyes widened. "Seriously? I’m positive I mentioned it on the phone last night."

"Maybe I... forgot..."

I sighed. This was going to be an uphill battle. "Okay, let’s get to the bottom of this. Do you always sleep like this? Is it a family thing, or do you have some kind of medical condition I should know about?"

I needed to understand if this was laziness or a genuine issue, so I could explain it to Ji Niang.

"Mmm... it started after my Talent awakened," she whispered. "So sleepy..."

"Your Talent?" I froze for a second.

Witch Talents were notoriously unpredictable. If her specific power manifested as chronic narcolepsy or extreme lethargy, she was in for a rough time.

I’d planned to have her check her stats, but then I remembered she hadn't linked her Student ID yet, so her phone was still useless for data. It was time to get back to business.

"Right. Well, since you missed the meeting, our advisor sent me to track you down. Everyone signed a Confidentiality Pact today. I need you to sign yours here." I pulled out the parchment and handed her a pen.

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