Restricted Fantasy Invasion

Chapter 16
Today’s Yan Huan is not yesterday’s Yan Huan.

This is a kind of sophistical argument; Yan Huan didn't agree with it, but he did feel a bit of regret about the choice he made yesterday.

It was like when he was six and made a wish for something fantastical, only for the modifier to show up in his first year of high school and knock him to his knees.

In any case, he was just really regretting it now.

After washing up, Yan Huan stood in front of the mirror to tidy up his appearance, and Meow-chan came running over, tail raised, circling around his feet.

A white cotton T-shirt, topped with a loose floral shirt-jacket, paired with long denim jeans-this was his Monday school outfit.

As he looked, the boy in the mirror yawned, and that added a touch of laziness to his handsome face.

Only now did Yan Huan realize what that lingering drowsiness he couldn't shake off really meant.

Splashing his face with cold water, eating breakfast-no matter what he did, that feeling just wouldn't go away.

Even though it was pretty mild, it still made him feel listless.

Only when he was seriously focused on something would that feeling fade, but how many moments like that could there be in a day?

At about 7:10, he slung his backpack over his shoulder and said to Meow-chan behind him,

"Meow-chan, I'm heading out."

"Meow?"

Anyway, Meow-chan would show up whenever called, but Yan Huan still made a point of saying goodbye before leaving-it really looked like he was trapped by that drowsiness.

He went downstairs with his phone in hand; it took seven or eight minutes to walk to the school bus stop, and by the time he got there, several other students from the southern district were already waiting.

"President, good morning."

"Hello."

Yan Huan smiled and greeted them, then leaned against the platform and scrolled on his phone for a bit. Not long after, a bus with the Yuanyue school crest pulled up.

He pulled out his school card, queued up to scan it, and then chose a familiar window seat.

It would take about forty minutes, with stops along the way, to get to school-arriving at eight, with the first class at eight-thirty.

Yan Huan's stop was one of the earlier ones in the southern district, so there were only a few people on the bus when he got on.

At the next stop, when the door opened, Yaqiao Mu got on with his phone in hand-they took the same bus line.

"Yo, morning, President."

"Morning."

Scanning the bus, he quickly spotted Yan Huan by the window, greeted him, and naturally sat down next to him.

As soon as he sat down, he couldn't wait to turn his phone sideways and open up a certain wife-raising anime game.

"Hey, leader, you're already working this early? So diligent! Then Yuanxing-chan has to work hard too~"

The mascot girl greeted him sweetly on the screen, making him, with his Bluetooth headset on, smile unconsciously.

"A new banner is about to drop, and the new character is Da Lei-I've saved up a ton of gems, I'm definitely pulling for her!"

Clearing stamina and doing dailies, he declared boldly.

Yan Huan glanced at the screen of Yaqiao Mu's phone, propped his cheek and said,

"You pulled both characters last banner, and you're pulling again? How much have you spent already?"

"Just all my pocket money-it's worth it for my waifus. I even pulled the exclusive weapon. Look, President, this sword-"

On the phone, the realistic physics engine made the girl character's soft body jiggle, and dazzling effects with a flood of numbers poured into the boss.

Yan Huan yawned, didn't comment, just leaned back against the window, ready to take a nap.

"I didn't sleep well last night, so I'm going to rest my eyes for a bit. Wake me up when we get to school."

"That's rare, President, you're actually resting on the school bus? Was that Auntie's house really that fun, you still can't get enough?"

"Heh."

You think being hypnotized is fun?

He was still rattled by how Ye Shiyu had come to pull on his door Saturday night.

Thinking about this, Yan Huan closed his eyes, letting the drowsiness swallow his consciousness.

Meanwhile, Yaqiao Mu was still tending to his digital potted plant-he did these daily tasks every morning, it was practically a habit now.

As he played, suddenly a hand reached out from the aisle beside him and gently tugged his shirt.

"Hm?"

Yaqiao Mu turned his head and saw a girl looking at him with a slightly flushed face.

"."

Yaqiao Mu paused for a second, adjusted his glasses, and asked in confusion,

"You don't usually take this bus, right? I've never seen you before."

"Hehe, sorry, I slept at a classmate's house yesterday. She takes this line. And, Yaqiao, can you..."

As she spoke, she took out an envelope scented with her perfume and a can of candy, handing them to Yaqiao Mu.

Her face was pink as she subtly pointed at Yan Huan sleeping next to him-everything was clear without words.

Yaqiao Mu turned to look at the handsome boy sleeping by the window, and just seeing him made you not want to disturb him.

He took the gifts from the girl with an understanding smile and said,

"I'll give them to the President when he wakes up, don't worry."

"Thank you, you're such a good person, Yaqiao!"

"...That's not exactly a compliment that makes me happy, you know."

The girl walked away, and Yaqiao Mu muttered as he prepared to open another game.

Then, again, a hand reached out from the aisle and poked his shirt.

Yaqiao Mu looked up, a bit dazed-this time it was a senior girl, holding out some chocolate to him.

"Haha, Yaqiao, you get it."

"."

"From now on, President, you take the outer seat on the bus-I want the window."

At school, after getting off the bus, Yaqiao Mu suddenly said this.

Yan Huan, arms full of gifts, looked a bit helpless,

"Usually I don't accept them, so you can just refuse for me."

Yaqiao Mu turned to him, face flushed, gesticulating as he spoke,

"H-how am I supposed to refuse? I'm not you-I don't have that much experience! And if I refuse, won't it seem really rude?"

"Not at all, or you can just ignore them and wait till I wake up..."

Amid the noisy chatter of students all around, a steady rhythm of construction sounds came from a distance, catching Yan Huan's attention.

Following the sound, he saw the outline of a nearly finished building at the far north side of campus.

"The school's building again, making such a racket so early in the morning."

"Looks like a new teaching building-they started over winter break, and it should be done this month."

Chatting idly, Yan Huan and Yaqiao Mu climbed to the top floor of a teaching building, which was all student council territory.

At the door at the end of the hallway, the nameplate read,

[Yuanyue Academy Student Council Office]

Yaqiao Mu checked the mailbox hanging by the door, but found it empty.

"Huh, that's weird-no documents delivered this week?"

"How could that be? It's Monday."

Every Monday morning, the student council had a meeting-that's why Yan Huan and Yaqiao Mu came here instead of heading to class.

Usually, the school administration would send over some documents on the weekend, notifying the student council of the coming week's schedule so they could plan accordingly.

So why was the mailbox empty right now?

Yan Huan walked up to the door, gesturing for Yaqiao Mu to open it as he smiled and said,

"Sakuramiya Vice President is already here."

"Huh? This early?"

Yaqiao Mu pushed open the door, revealing an office of about thirty square meters.

A wool carpet covered the wooden floor, a glass coffee table was flanked by two black sofas, and a pot of green plants sat on top.

Against the wall was another sofa, with a row of cabinets opposite, piled with various documents and books.

At the far end, the curtains were open, and lattice floor-to-ceiling windows let in the morning light, illuminating a slightly larger desk by the window.

On the desk, a gold nameplate read,

"Yuanyue Student Council President"

And right by the bookshelf, a girl in a black British-academy-style uniform was standing.

Her black hair was tied in a knot at the back of her head, simply adorned with a plain white ribbon.

At the tips of the hair hanging by her temples, there was a hint of cherry blossom pink.

A dark green jacket and white shirt wrapped her petite, soft figure, with a white bow at the collar adding a touch of elegance.

Below, under her dark green long skirt, were pale calves, white short socks, and black little shoes with the heels off the ground-she was dusting the bookshelf.

Because of her height, she had to stand on tiptoe to reach the upper shelves.

Hearing the door open, she dropped back onto her heels, turned around, and revealed her delicate features.

Her eyes sparkled with a lively light as she glanced at Yan Huan, who was carrying a pile of things into the room.

She smiled, beautiful as an elf,

"Good morning, President, Yaqiao."

"Morning, Sakuramiya."

"Good morning, Sakuramiya Vice President."

Yan Huan walked to the coffee table and put all the things he was carrying onto it.

"Sakuramiya, see if there's anything you want to eat. Let's all finish these together."

Sakuramiya Hitomi put down the duster, not looking at the snacks, her gaze instead caught by a pink envelope among them.

She reached out and picked it up, examining the writing on it.

"To the adorable President Yan Huan, personally!"

Holding the letter, Sakuramiya Hitomi then looked at the name signed below.

"Class 1-C, Park Shuwen."

Unconsciously, the envelope was pinched into a few creases. After a moment, she spoke.

"Mm, but let's wait for Yuan Lina and Ashley to get here before we eat together."

Then, the letter dropped onto the table and she turned to the tea table at the side to pour tea.

"Alrighty."

Behind her, Yan Huan and Yaqiao Mu sat down on the sofa and started sorting the snacks.

Sakuramiya Hitomi brought back two cups of hot black tea and placed them in front of Yan Huan and Yaqiao Mu.

"Please enjoy, President, Yaqiao."

"Ah, thank you, Sakuramiya."

"Thank you, Vice President!"

After that, Sakuramiya Hitomi put two more cups on the coffee table, then sat across from them holding her own cup.

Not long after, the door opened again, and a girl's energetic voice rang out.

"President! Sakuramiya! Yaqiao! Good morning!!"

Turning to look, they saw a girl in a JK uniform, her hair dyed in pink and red highlights, striding into the room with her hands on her hips.

Her face had distinct mixed-race features, and her wide grin, along with her confident pose, made her curvy figure all the more prominent.

Behind her followed a tall, golden-haired girl with a blank expression, seemingly long used to the other's brashness.

"Good morning, everyone."

These two were the student council secretary Yuan Lina, and the discipline committee chair Ashley.

"Morning, Yuan Lina, Ashley."

"Ooh, so much yummy stuff! Where did it all come from?"

Ignoring Yuan Lina, who was squatting by the coffee table with sparkling eyes trying to decide what to eat, Ashley sat down beside Sakuramiya Hitomi. She glanced at the heart-shaped sticker on the candy jar and said,

"Must be from a girl to the president. It even has the president's name on it."

"Eh?!"

Yuan Lina's head shot up like a tiger, her eyes blazing as she looked at the lazy-faced Yan Huan.

"Are you in love, President?!"

"Yuan Lina, we're about to start the meeting."

Sakuramiya Hitomi spoke up in time to interrupt her enthusiasm, and went to get some documents from the desk.

"How can you be like this?! Sakuramiya, aren't you curious at all? Ashley, what about you? Who will win the president's heart... Hey, why are none of you interested in this kind of thing?! The student council is about to become a den of lonely kings, it's all your fault!"

Sakuramiya Hitomi, having sat back down, didn't respond-she just picked up her teacup, ready to drink.

Ashley, meanwhile, took out her phone and started scrolling through short videos, saying,

"The president and vice president won't have trouble finding partners, but the president's always so busy, there's no time, and probably no one he likes anyway. As for Sakuramiya Vice President, didn't she say when she joined the student council that she'd never date?"

"I have to work part-time too. With student council and schoolwork, my head's already full, let alone dating. As for Yaqiao, isn't he getting along just fine with his 2D wives?"

Sakuramiya Hitomi's hand paused slightly as she drank her tea, while Yaqiao Mu pushed up his glasses with a "you're not wrong" look.

Yuan Lina, still unwilling to give up, sneaked a glance at Yan Huan and whispered,

"President, tell me secretly if you like anyone, I promise I won't tell anyone~"

Yan Huan yawned and smiled, saying,

"Mm, I like you, Yuan Lina."

Sakuramiya Hitomi continued to sip her tea, the ripples in her cup reflecting her blurry eyes.

Yuan Lina's face instantly turned red. She waved her hands frantically and said,

"No, no, no! I can't be with the president. If that happened, I'd worry every day about the handsome president cheating on me, I'd definitely get depressed! And if we got married and had kids, I'd cry myself to sleep every day and never make it to twenty-five!"

Ashley rolled her eyes and complained,

"You're really thinking that far ahead? How much did you drink to get like this?"

At this, Yuan Lina turned to Yan Huan, her face full of disbelief.

"President, are you joking with me?"

"Weren't you the one joking first?"

Yan Huan spread his hands, unable to keep lying to the innocent Yuan Lina.

"You say you won't tell, but if I did like someone and told you, the news would be all over every group you're in before first period even started."

"I-"

Yuan Lina pouted, about to argue, but Yan Huan had already taken the documents Sakuramiya Hitomi handed over.

He glanced over them, his expression turning more serious.

"Alright, let's start the meeting now. Everyone, look at the relevant documents."

The documents were handed out. Sakuramiya Hitomi had already read them, so she just took a sip of her black tea and said,

"Actually, there are only three things. First, the results of last week's opening exam will be out tomorrow. I heard the grades are pretty disastrous."

"Getting the grades out in just one weekend-no wonder, since the special teachers were brought in from Longguo."

Yaqiao Mu curled his lip and said so.

Yan Huan was already used to it and simply started assigning tasks.

"Posting the grades will be handled by Yuan Lina, just like before."

"Alright!"

Sakuramiya Hitomi continued,

"Second, the [Club War] is coming soon. This is the second time our student council has organized such a large event; last semester's sports meet had some issues, which made the school board suspicious."

"I object! Why should they be suspicious?"

Before Sakuramiya Hitomi could finish, Secretary Yuan Lina raised her hand to speak.

"Filling the swimming pool with cola for a race and the half-naked men's basketball game were results of a vote, even if the school board didn't approve them. But I think the 5,000-meter teachers' marathon was reasonable-the vice principal getting wrecked by the students was his own fault!"

"Who told you to put the vice principal in the track club's group?" Ashley was always sharp.

"He said in his opening speech he was an athlete, so what's wrong with letting him prove it?!"

Yan Huan glanced at the document and smiled at Yaqiao Mu.

"Anyway, there are still two weeks before it starts. This week, Yaqiao, confirm the budget first, then I'll go with Sakuramiya to notify the clubs. We'll figure out the detailed schedule later."

"OK, President."

The first two matters were school notices, but the last document didn't come from the school.

It came from the Linmen Education Department.

Sakuramiya Hitomi glanced at the beginning of the document: "Linmen's Notice on Preventing School Bullying."

She immediately raised the document and asked the others,

"Is there bullying in our school?"

Yuan Lina, the dummy, shook her head right away and said,

"Nope, I feel like everyone's really friendly, and there's never been any fighting between students."

"Fighting isn't the only kind of school bullying, you know?"

Yaqiao Mu glared at Yuan Lina and said,

"Fighting is already a serious case and the easiest to spot and handle. The real problem is all the covert insults, slander, exclusion, and suppression. Those are hard to define, and even directly asking the people involved won't get you the truth."

Ashley nodded, picking up where Yaqiao Mu left off.

I've heard privately that last semester, a second-year got depressed and dropped out, and the neighboring Xiuzhi Academy even made the news because of a student jumping off a building. I bet this document was issued because of that.

"When they investigated afterward, they found the school had already done a survey before the incident. The students being questioned were great at playing innocent and lying, so it didn't help prevent anything."

After being refuted by two people in a row, Yuan Lina put on a pitiful face and threw herself into Sakuramiya Hitomi's arms, wailing.

"Waaah, Sakuramiya! They're bullying me, hurry and do something!"

Sakuramiya Hitomi patted her back, at a loss for words.

Yan Huan, meanwhile, looked at the document and recalled a line full of dialectical reasoning from his previous life.

"Subjectively, no; objectively, maybe?"

As he thought about it, his brow suddenly furrowed.

Because he suddenly thought of Ye Shiyu.

She was also coming to school today, and had transferred in unexpectedly.

With her weird personality, could she really get along with a class she'd been with for over a year?

She ran into someone with a modifier just by visiting the aquarium and got into trouble-if she has a conflict with someone else, just watch, if Ye Shiyu uses Hypnosis on you, you're done for.

Amen. Sophomore classmates, may you all have good luck.

"President?"

Just as Yan Huan was imagining Ye Shiyu going on a rampage with the modifier, Sakuramiya Hitomi's voice sounded, pulling his wandering mind back.

"Sorry, I was just thinking about something."

Yan Huan looked at Sakuramiya Hitomi and smiled slightly as he spoke,

"Well, it's good that this problem wasn't thrown at us to solve. The Education Department has already taken the lead. The documents directly state the measures they hope the school will take, so we'll just follow them."

"Okay, President."

Meanwhile, at that very moment, in Class 1-C.

"Hey, Shuwen, did you really hand the letter to the President this morning?! Doesn't the President never accept those? How did you do it?"

Since classes didn't officially start until 8:30, the students were all doing their own thing inside and outside the classroom.

Toward the back of the classroom, several girls were gathered around a girl seated at her desk, chatting animatedly.

The girl being called "Pu Shuwen" covered her mouth, grinning mischievously,

"Really! The President fell asleep on the bus this morning, and the student council accountant next to him is obviously an otaku, super easy to talk to. I acted cute and he got dizzy, said he'd pass it on to the President~"

"Wow, the President fell asleep on the bus?"

"Really, look, I took a photo-he looks so handsome, right?"

"Sneaky shot, huh? Don't just keep it to yourself, send it to me, send it to me."

As they chatted, a girl quietly walked past the aisle beside them.

She kept her head down, her thick black hair hanging low and obscuring her fair face, which made her aura seem even heavier.

Even though it wasn't a special day, she was still wearing the Yuanyue school uniform, making her look completely out of place among all the others in casual clothes.

What drew even more attention was how her uniform was stretched tight by her ample chest, almost as if it was about to burst.

The buttons on her shirt and coat at that spot were barely holding the fabric together, as if they were flushed red and yelling,

"I can't hold on any longer!! Command center! Tell the buttons below-I love them!!"

On her school uniform's name tag was written:

"Class 1-C, An Le"

As she walked by with her head down, a word from the girls' conversation seemed to catch her attention.

Her steps slowed, and her pink lips parted slightly.

The girls chatting also noticed the gloomy girl who had stopped; Pu Shuwen, surrounded in the middle, glanced at her friends and suddenly laughed,

"Hey, do you guys smell milk?"

"Haha, yeah, it's such a strong milk smell."

The girl with her head down pursed her lips when she heard them, but still mustered her courage and spoke to one of the girls sitting behind Pu Shuwen,

"This seat... it's... it's mine."

The girl in the seat just laughed and didn't move, only saying,

"Just let me sit here a bit, don't be so stingy-have a bigger heart."

"Pfft."

Pu Shuwen, surrounded by the others, snorted and turned away, not bothering with the downcast An Le.

Just as she was about to share the photo of Yan Huan with her classmates, the homeroom teacher for Class C walked in at the classroom door,

"Quiet down, I have something to say. We'll start class five minutes early."

"What?!"

"None of the other classes have to."

But the homeroom teacher couldn't be bothered to argue, just shouted loudly,

"Quiet! Everyone back to your seats!"

Under the teacher's authority, the students reluctantly returned to their seats.

Like birds and beasts scattering, An Le was finally able to sit back in her own seat.

She lifted her head just enough to see the screen of Pu Shuwen's phone in front of her, and so she saw the photo secretly taken that morning of Yan Huan sleeping.

An Le's eyes were instantly drawn to the handsome sleeping boy in the photo, her throat bobbed, and her face flushed a little.

Pu Shuwen, sitting in front, sensed the gaze from behind and looked back at An Le with disgust.

Then she straightened up and hid her phone screen,

"Disgusting."

"."

An Le pursed her lips and lowered her head again, embarrassed.

Under the desk, her fair fingers nervously pinched the hem of her skirt, as if stung by Pu Shuwen's words.

Yet under her sleeve, a phantom snake-shaped tattoo seemed to squirm across her skin in response to her emotions.

"Gurgle~"

Huh?

What was that sound?

An Le stared blankly ahead, searching for the source of that phantom noise, when the teacher at the podium spoke up,

"So, Class C has a new transfer student today. Please come up and introduce yourself, everyone give her a warm welcome."

"Clap clap clap"

Sparse applause rang out below, and An Le was one of those clapping.

Then, in An Le's field of vision, a beautiful woman with long golden hair, a striking figure, and her head held high strode confidently in from the door.

She stood at the podium, her gaze sweeping down over all the students below.

With a chuckle, she revealed an exceptionally prominent canine tooth.

She said casually,

"I'm Aria Spencer, and I'll be your classmate from now on, so please take care of me."

(End of chapter)