"Bang!"
A gunshot rang out, and paint exploded, covering Su Xun in a multicolored mess like a clown's face. Her hair was also dyed white, making her look like a mouse that had fallen into a bag of flour.
But it wasn't Yuan Luoyi who had fired the shot - it was Sen Junxuan, standing next to Su Xun with a cold, indifferent expression, gun in hand.
Getting shot at point-blank range must have been painful. Yuan Luoyi was surprised that Su Xun didn't cry out, maintaining her ladylike composure. She was really dedicated to her role.
Sen Junxuan's sudden betrayal caught Su Xun off guard, and she was furious: "You...!"
Sen Junxuan said flatly, "You're supposed to be a corpse. Corpses can't talk."
Su Xun was so angry she nearly bit through her silver tooth.
This dramatic betrayal was exactly the sort of thing Director Zhang would love, and the cameras immediately focused on the disheveled Su Xun, zooming in for a close-up. Su Xun had to muster all her strength to keep her expression under control. Losing the game just meant fewer fans, but if her refined lady persona collapsed, it would be the end.
The three boys who were supposed to protect Su Xun froze for a moment when they saw her get eliminated, then remembered they were supposed to avenge her.
"Sen Junxuan, you bastard!"
Sen Junxuan opened fire on the trio, missing his shots, and they returned fire with equally terrible aim. Paint pellets flew back and forth, splattering the walls, trees, and even the gym teacher's chest, but never hitting their intended targets.
After a brief exchange of inept gunfire, they abandoned their weapons and charged each other, using the guns like baseball bats in a wild melee.
The gym teacher's expression didn't change, but his heart was aching at how they were abusing these perfectly good weapons!
Yuan Luoyi remained crouched in the bushes, enjoying the bizarre spectacle.
Soon, Sen Junxuan's gun was knocked away, and two of the boys grabbed him.
The third boy leveled his gun at Sen Junxuan: "Die!"
But it wasn't Sen Junxuan who died - it was the boy himself, struck first by a shot from Yuan Luoyi.
Black paint exploded on his chest, and he staggered back two steps, utterly bewildered: "I'm dead?"
"Bang! Bang!"
From a hundred meters away, Yuan Luoyi fired two more shots in rapid succession, hitting the other two boys squarely in the chest. To them, Yuan Luoyi was like a silent, unseen reaper suddenly reaping their lives.
Covered in black paint, they stood there dumbfounded.
The comments flooded in:
"Holy crap, those were Yuan Luoyi's shots, right? A hundred-meter killshot! Her aim is insane!"
"Where is she even hiding?"
"Aaah, how can one little girl be so cute and cool at the same time!"
The recoil from the gun had left Yuan Luoyi's hands a bit numb.
She crawled out of the bushes, brushing off the fallen leaves, and calmly walked forward. The cameras immediately swiveled to focus on her, Director Zhang practically shoving the camera in her face to capture every moment.
Now only Yuan Luoyi and Sen Junxuan remained on the field. He lay on his back, utterly spent and without the strength left to resist as Yuan Luoyi approached to finish him off.
Everyone stared at Yuan Luoyi in awe, their gazes following her as she moved, utterly captivated.
The students from Class A in particular looked at Yuan Luoyi like they were seeing her for the first time.
The old Yuan Luoyi barely spoke, always keeping to herself. Now, though alone, she radiated an aura of commanding presence.
She had transformed, from the inside out - more natural, more magnetic.
Standing over Sen Junxuan, she leveled the black muzzle of her gun at his chest.
Sen Junxuan pleaded, "Listen... I only took out Su Xun to protect you. If she had spotted your hiding place, you would have been in trouble."
Yuan Luoyi stayed silent.
Sen Junxuan suddenly realized this was the first time in a week he'd been this close to Yuan Luoyi. Their relationship had become completely estranged.
He felt powerless to do anything about it.
Long-sealed memories resurfaced. Sen Junxuan recalled first meeting Yuan Luoyi - she had rescued him from the brink of despair, and they had once depended on each other.
In elementary school, Sen Junxuan's home was constantly filled with noise.
Sen's Mother would erupt into furious rages, her hair disheveled as she cried and cursed. When too upset to speak coherently in Chinese, she would switch to raging in Norwegian.
So beautiful on stage, her golden hair shimmering as she danced, her azure eyes captivating - yet all that could not stop Sen's Father from keeping mistresses.
Sen Junxuan had met one of those women - not as beautiful as Sen's Mother, cheap and foolish, simpering sweetly as she begged Sen's Father to buy her a Maserati.
Whenever she saw Sen Junxuan, she would feign kindness, disingenuously praising him as if grooming herself to become his stepmother.
How stupid, as if Sen's Father would ever actually marry her.
Sen's Father needed a beautiful wife for appearances, but also wanted tasty young morsels to indulge his wandering appetites. Just because he enjoyed sampling a particular treat didn't mean he would bring it to the family table.
At first, Sen Junxuan was utterly repulsed. He wanted to tell Sen's Mother the truth, but Sen's Father told him:
"Son, a perfect marriage doesn't exist. Your mother is a proud woman, and the only reason I've been able to keep indulging her for so long is that I've diverted my frustrations elsewhere."
"All men lie. Bad men let those lies unravel, but good men keep the lie going for a lifetime."
"So help your father out, son. Let's keep this lie alive together."
And so Sen Junxuan chose to stay silent. Gradually, he realized his father was right - living the lie, Sen's Mother was happy, reveling with her friends and boasting about her husband and son.
Unfortunately, Sen's Father wasn't such a good man after all. He was caught in a compromising position with his mistress in his new Maserati - by Sen's Mother, who had unexpectedly returned home to find them.
Their house of lies collapsed.
The endless fighting, Sen Junxuan's own breakdown... He knew he was sick, and that at home, his sickness was the mildest.
Yuan Luoyi had noticed him and sat by his side, genuinely concerned.
"You're hurt," she said.
"It's none of your business," Sen Junxuan replied.
"But it looks painful."
"I can't feel a thing, so mind your own business and get lost!"
Sen Junxuan's sudden outburst startled Yuan Luoyi, but she didn't leave. Instead, shaking, she took out her handkerchief and tied it around his wrist.
"There," she said. "Now it won't hurt anymore."
In fact, the handkerchief rubbing against the wound only made it hurt worse. Sen Junxuan should have ripped it off and berated Yuan Luoyi for her foolishness. But he didn't - he was too busy using his other arm to hide the tears welling in his eyes.
How pathetic, being made to cry by a girl in his class.
