The System Teaches You How to Be Human

Si Yisi actually knew this chubby boy.

His name was Huo Jinren, a fallen noble. His meager family background was nothing worth mentioning among the aristocratic students. Because of this, he was secretly ostracized, just like Si Yisi.

Huo Jinren had a humiliating nickname; “Dumb Fatty.” He was almost obsessively devoted to researching discarded mecha parts he had scavenged from who-knows-where, trying to assemble high-energy weapons on his own. He wanted to turn trash into treasure!

This thankless and foolish pursuit made him a laughingstock among the aristocratic students. To them, he was nothing but a delusional fool; a dumb fatty.

Huo Jinren’s eyes turned red with frustration. Holding his crudely assembled crossbow, he angrily shot at the four-member group!

The aristocratic students sneered as they used their psychic abilities to deflect the arrows. The leader looked down at Huo Jinren with contempt.

“I already told you. The things you make are trash, and you’re nothing but trash yourself.”

“We let you go earlier out of respect for your noble title. But this time—”

“Ptooey!” Huo Jinren suddenly sprang up and spat at the leader’s face, his eyes wide with rage. “Is mental power really all-powerful?! I’ll defeat you with this alone!”

His resolute declaration was met with unanimous laughter from the four students.

“Why don’t you steady your hands first before you come back, hahaha!”

Si Yisi glanced at Huo Jinren and noticed that his hands were trembling uncontrollably as he gripped the crossbow. Sweat trickled down his flushed face, leaving faint stains on his clothes.

Si Yisi shook his head.

Huo Jinren noticed the movement, and his face flushed even redder. His lips were clenched so tightly that he was about to draw blood.

“…” Si Yisi shook his head again.

“I don’t mean to look down on you,” Si Yisi said to Huo Jinren. Then, without another word, he reached for the crossbow in Huo Jinren’s hands.

“What I mean is; your method is wrong.”

Huo Jinren’s vision blurred, and before he knew it, the crossbow had somehow ended up in Si Yisi’s hands!

In the next instant, he watched in shock as Si Yisi, without using any external force, moved like a blur and lunged at the leading student!

There was sound of a bowstring being drawn; Si Yisi had activated the crossbow!

A series of sharp, successive releases echoed through the air. In just a few rapid shots, the white-feathered arrows locked onto the noble student’s limbs, pinning him firmly against a tree!

The leader barely moved before the arrows that had pierced through his clothes let out a tearing sound. Yet, no matter how much he struggled and shredded his garments into tatters, he couldn’t break free!

Huo Jinren saw it clearly; Si Yisi hadn’t used even the slightest bit of mental power from start to finish!

Then, without hesitation, Si Yisi swiftly counterattacked the remaining aristocratic students who had rushed at him. One arrow, two arrows—just like that, he took down all four of them in an instant!

Huo Jinren’s pupils contracted, and his palms suddenly felt cold.

Si Yisi nodded at him and placed the crossbow; now with only a few remaining arrows, back into Huo Jinren’s hands. “I told you, the problem isn’t with what you made. It’s the limitations of other factors… such as physical ability and technique.”

Si’an had wanted the people from the slums to be recognized as human beings. So, Si Yisi would leave behind a spark for him.

A single spark could start a wildfire. However, Si Yisi would only provide the “raw materials”, he wouldn’t fulfill Si’an’s grand ambition for him.

Huo Jinren; what he had done wasn’t entirely without merit, which made him someone worth befriending.

Si Yisi’s actions were partly for Si’an’s wish, but perhaps, in truth, they also reflected his own beliefs. He despised seeing people being treated as worthless. When faced with these arrogant, self-serving elites, the best response was to slap them hard with the reality of their own weakness!

Si Yisi’s gaze was calm, as if he was looking straight into Huo Jinren’s soul.

“I-I… can I take a look at those arrows?” Huo Jinren asked nervously, but his eyes gleamed with excitement.

Though he had the perseverance to keep going, the relentless ridicule from his classmates and the opposition from his own family had worn down his spirit.

Si Yisi had descended like a sudden beam of light.

“Sure. Do you have any more arrows?”

Huo Jinren had already strode over to the leader of the group, who was now hanging from the tree. He completely ignored the student’s darkened expression and the string of profanities spilling from his mouth.

“Such deep marks…” He examined the scene as if he had discovered a treasure. After a long moment, he returned to Si Yisi’s side.

“I can assemble arrows,” Huo Jinren said, digging into a small satchel slung across his body and pulling out an assortment of strange materials.

Focusing intently, his fingers moved skillfully before Si Yisi’s eyes. In just a few dozen seconds, he had assembled an arrow.

“I… Can I team up with you?” After finishing, Huo Jinren looked at Si Yisi expectantly.

“…Sure.” Si Yisi looted all the mineral stones from the four students, leaving them trembling in the wind.

Well, he hadn’t gone so far as to eliminate them completely. After all, they still had their uses; as stepping stones.

Si Yisi had just taken a step forward when that familiar sense of craving surged through him again, bringing with it a faint hunger in his stomach. He glanced at Huo Jinren and, for a fleeting moment, thought… This guy looked kind of tasty?

Huo Jinren was still reveling in his excitement when he suddenly met Si Yisi’s gaze. He reflexively gulped. W-why does it feel like Si’an is looking at me as if he was about to peel me apart and eat me?

If Si Yisi failed to recognize something was off now, he’d be an idiot.

At first, he had assumed Si’an might actually be the Third Prince, which would explain his exceptional physical condition. But now; This peculiar sensation of finding people appetizing…

Could it be related to the Zerg?

Si Yisi could clearly feel that invisible craving tugging him toward a specific direction. In truth, from the very beginning, he had been “unconsciously” heading that way. Running away had never been Si Yisi’s style!

***

Right in front of the patrolling ships, an invisible spacecraft silently landed on the desolate planet. Alina had arrived, using a humanoid mimicry body. She twisted her body slightly, adjusting to the constraints of the form. When she sensed the situation on the planet, her eyes lit up.

“A newly hatched larva! They’re heading toward….” Alina closed her eyes and concentrated for a moment before opening them again in wild joy. “This is—an opportunity from the heavens!”

As long as these naturally undetectable larvae mimicked one of the students and taken back to the two human empires…

The Zerg would achieve total victory!

Alina leaped several meters forward in excitement. Not only would she take action herself, but the spies she had planted years ago would also assist her from the shadows!

Several kilometers away, Tru paced back and forth in agitation. He had no idea what was going on, but an eerie restlessness churned in his chest.

It must because Si’an was taking too long to take the bait.

Damn those Zerg eggs—why were they hatching so slowly?! From the very beginning, Tru had never worried about being harmed by the Zerg. He had no intention of caring about the lives of the other students, as long as he himself remained unharmed!

In fact, Tru had even planned to wait until the students suffered heavy casualties before stepping in to clean up the mess. That way, he was guaranteed to win the unwavering support of these future pillars of the empire’s aristocracy!

It was a profitable deal; at the mere cost of a few insignificant lives!

Suddenly, Tru noticed that the tracking signal he had placed on Si’an was getting closer. Then, a faint sound reached his ears.

It was the sound of Zerg larvae breaking out of their eggs!

For a split second, Tru lost control of his expression, revealing a twisted smile. He turned to the noble students on his team and signaled them to scout the area.

Newly hatched Zerg were extremely weak. To grow rapidly, they needed fresh, living flesh! These noble students were the fresh meals Tru had prepared long ago to feed the Zerg!

Tru watched as the noble students, completely oblivious, walked toward their deaths. For a brief moment, his pupils dilated, dark as the storm clouds hanging over the barren planet’s sky.

***

Meanwhile, on Si Yisi’s side.

Huo Jinren was gasping for breath, utterly exhausted.

Si Yisi was racing toward that overwhelmingly compelling destination at an unimaginable speed. Along the way, he noticed something unusual several times; his reflection in the puddles revealed a fleeting glimmer of dark gold in his otherwise black eyes!

That dark gold sheen was sharp, razor-like, as if it had sliced through his eyes, splitting them into something eerily unnatural! Yet, aside from this anomaly, he hadn’t discovered anything else related to his growing hunger.

He speculated that Si’an wasn’t fully Zerg, but rather a hybrid of Zerg and human; or perhaps someone who had been deliberately infused with Zerg genes!

Closer… I’m getting closer!

Si Yisi could feel the pulsating presence of that “thing”, so intensely active that, as he neared the destination, he simultaneously sensed another peculiar existence…

A dense swarm of creatures, all vying with him for this “thing”!

The Zerg!

Beneath the ground, countless Zerg let out cries of joy as they broke free from their eggs. Thick, black liquid oozed outward, staining the last remaining patch of pure land in inky darkness!

The newly hatched Zerg suddenly detected an appetizing meal. They surged forward, bursting out of the sand from below, launching a frenzied attack on the four noble students; who had absolutely no idea what was happening!

“AHHHHHH!”

In the desolate wilderness, bloodcurdling screams pierced through the sky!