Chapter 40: At the Gates of Star University!

Chapter 40: At the Gates of Star University!

I am currently standing directly under the massive velvet banner welcoming the incoming student body to the Star University campus.

A completely peaceful four weeks have breezed by since that tense dinner meeting with Tina at the high-end downtown restaurant. Standing here on the pavement, my mind naturally drifts over everything that has shifted and been accomplished during these past four fast weeks.

Regarding my personal physical growth? I have become far healthier than I was back when my eighteenth birthday first arrived. Thanks to two solid months of grueling, everyday physical conditioning down in the gym, my physical health has improved enough that I can now comfortably channel the hardwired muscle memory of my Kung-Fu Master skills at a true Master level, without my muscles locking up from the strain.

With the wealth I gained from stripping Dr. Chris Honda's floor safe clean and the premium cash payouts from my ongoing bodyguard jobs, I managed to build two brand-new custom computer setups boasting some incredibly sweet specifications to maximize my Master-tier computer use skills. One is a sleek, ultra-thin laptop that I keep tucked securely inside my leather briefcase, and the other is an absolute monster of a liquid-cooled home tower dominating the desk down in my den.

Now that my physical health has drastically improved, my appearance has officially shifted from completely average-looking to noticeably better than average, though I am definitely not going to randomly turn heads walking down the block. That is perfectly fine with me, considering I already have two incredible wives at home who don't care about my raw looks as much anyway. Still, I let out a quiet sigh, wishing the system had left me with some of those legendary, top-tier light-novel protagonist looks to work with.

My second wife, Mary Lee, is currently ten weeks pregnant. Her sudden waves of morning sickness have finally started shifting toward the lighter side over the past few days, which the old pregnancy books say means she might be carrying a boy. Personally, I would absolutely love to have a boy running around the house. Over at the station precinct, the Sergeant officially shifted her daily duties over to sorting paperwork for heavily backlogged cases and desk tasks—assignments that the department can more easily consider safe for an expecting mother.

My third wife, Hana Lee, is now most definitely pregnant at six weeks along. Amazingly, her raw sex drive has actually grown significantly due to the early hormonal changes, which is great for the time being, though I know the texts say this can easily fluctuate as her timeline progresses. Even though she is officially six weeks along, to Mary's immense internal annoyance, Hana has yet to suffer from a single wave of major morning sickness, experiencing nothing more than a few moments of temporary mild nausea. Work has been going incredibly smoothly for her at Star General, and she has been super happy with our joint lifestyle layout lately. Plus, she can still comfortably show off her legs in her provocative miniskirts around the house for a little while longer before her belly starts to show.

Why exactly am I spending so much time detailing the ins and outs of their early pregnancies? Because living under the exact same roof with two pregnant women at the same time is both completely awesome and mentally taxing for a husband. Mary is already using her condition as the perfect excuse to have me whip up all kinds of complex foods she suddenly takes a liking to, despite her body not even being in the official hormonal cravings stage yet.

My in-laws are absolutely over the moon about the confirmation of Hana's pregnancy. Frankly, I think Dean-Dad and Professor-Mom are significantly more excited about the upcoming grandchild than Hana is, but given their age, I completely get it. My new father-in-law used his massive administrative leverage to grant me special, high-level university exemptions to carry my concealed firearms anywhere on campus grounds, though the permission came with a strict, solemn personal promise that I would never pull or use my weapons to threaten others unless there was absolutely no other choice left on the board. Translation: do not go waving my handguns around for casual intimidation.

Who else should I talk about across the city board? Oh, let's start with my sweet, adoring blood cousin, Scotty!

According to the latest digital gossip logs, it seems the two black-haired girls whose virginity Scott carelessly took during his drunken wedding-night bender are officially pregnant from their very first week with him. They are currently nine weeks along. To avoid a massive high-society scandal, Scott's father forced him into a sudden legal marriage with both girls, officially labeling them as his fourth and fifth wives. Despite the loaded household, he is still stubbornly leaving his primary wife spot open for Linda Lang, who has still not been officially announced as his fiancé yet, though the political alignment should come later this year.

Nichole Tang has stayed in direct contact with me a few times a week, casually chatting over secure text lines. She even openly told me that she and her twin sister are actively being paid a solid bounty by Scott to 'fuck with me' once university starts, letting out a creepy, mischievous laugh through the receiver when I asked how exactly they planned to mess with my head. She is an incredibly intelligent trickster, sigh. And no, my analytical mind still has absolutely no idea that she and her sister are actually, just like Mary, ten weeks pregnant with my own biological children. But I will find out that reality much later down the line!

Nadia Tang has also been secretly keeping in contact with me on a separate, private number without telling Nichole a single detail, explicitly swearing me to absolute secrecy. Whenever she messages me, she acts just like an innocent teenager with a massive mischievous side. But about half a week ago, the last text she sent straight to my screen made my heart completely freeze up, and I haven't been able to bring myself to hit the delete button on the text thread...

[ Nadia: Ricky, sorry... I think I really love you. See you in our advanced computer class for a massive surprise! ♥ :P ]

Yeah, my mind and my heart are completely conflicted over that line. Some part of me desperately hopes she is merely joking around to mess with my head, while another part of me deeply wishes her confession is one hundred percent true. But something deep in my gut tells me she might actually be serious this time. I think if she were married to any other guy in the city besides Scott Tang, I would have immediately texted her back to draw a hard line and tell her that we can't be like that, but...

It is Scott's house, so why the hell should I care about protecting his marriage?! Plus, I will feel significantly less guilty about messing with his world because my biological uncle Anthony explicitly stated the Tang main branch would not get involved in our personal fights, so? I think if Scott ever found out that his own cousin was getting close to his wives, his fragile heart would break into a million pieces, right?

No, tracking that specific thought is a dangerous rabbit hole for my focus.

What about Linda Lang? I actually found out one day by complete, freak coincidence that she lives right next door to our new home inside The Garden Estates. It seems her family has been maintaining that high-end property for her since high school started, letting her use it for absolute solitude and peace away from the clan. From what I can tell from my morning watch, she lives there with only her personal maid and her driver, Mercy Mu. Well, today will be the very first time I see her face-to-face since the night of the Hospital Ball.

James Tong, my absolute best friend, has officially jumped straight into the Rick boat! Akeno Minamoto is now his legal fiancé. She is currently six weeks pregnant and openly told him during dinner that she wants to marry him and stay in the country permanently to raise his child. James happily accepted the layout, and the two of them are scheduled to officially marry this winter. To help cover their costs, he is currently working part-time shifts at the exact same Quick-Mart location where I bravely fought off Scott's two bodyguards weeks ago.

As for Dr. Chris Honda? His criminal court case moved incredibly fast, delivering a wave of swift, heavy justice. Unlike the legal systems of my previous life's Earth, the courts in this world do not allow a high-society criminal an unlimited number of legal appeals to fake their innocence, especially when you are actively starring as the main lead in your own hidden-camera movies. No, my current world's court system possesses basic, common fucking sense. The exact second you are caught red-handed with hard files, you are just completely fucked under the law. He is never coming out of jail for the rest of his natural life—unless, of course, some evil identical twin suddenly emerges from the woodwork to admit it was actually him all along!

Steve Woo? He has surprisingly stayed completely away from Mary's precinct lately, most likely due to the blunt, physical threat delivered directly to his face by Tony Feng. Woo's legal wife from the North State has also recently moved down to join him in the district, and she is officially enrolling as a student at Star University this term. She originally comes from one of the single most powerful, wealthy noble families up north, but as Woo's wife, she relocated her assets here. I don't currently give a shit about her role on the board, though.

As I stand here checking the crowd, I spot a familiar face over to the far right of the courtyard. Carrying a heavy gear bag across his back, Tony Deng—the exact same guy I delivered a brutal axe-kick to during our dojo match a while back—is walking down the concrete path, chatting animatedly with a group of friends. This is officially his fourth and final year at the university. Despite being the reigning Karate club champion on campus and majoring in advanced computer engineering, it looks like his real dream is to design and program computer games as a real-life career down the road.

"Hey, Rick, why the hell are you spacing out over there?" Tina's sharp voice suddenly cuts straight through my thoughts. "You are supposed to be operating as my active bodyguard for this entire first week of classes so I won't get continuously harassed by horny noble boys. So get your head in the game, geez."

I shake off the memories, shifting my posture into a mock submissive bow. "My deepest apologies, Miss Feng! This humble servant has clearly seen the error of his ways and shall correct his focus immediately!"

Pfft!

Standing exactly one step behind Tina, Jennifer Han quickly covers her mouth, almost laughing out loud at the display. The exact second her boss turns a sharp glance back toward her, Jennifer instantly forces her face back into a perfectly professional, stiff smile. Yes, she personally loves it when I pretend to be a heavily abused, mistreated servant just to make Tina's skin crawl and get her completely agitated in public.

Tina's mother also finds my ongoing master-and-servant act with her daughter highly amusing whenever I pull it around their house. But Tina just lets out a heavy sulk, rolling her eyes as she looks around the busy courtyard.

"Look, I know you are just messing with my head," Tina mutters, keeping her voice low. "But now that we are on university grounds, can you please promise to not pull that specific act in public? I don't want the entire student body thinking I am actively mistreating my staff, sigh."

I let a genuine smile spread across my face, looking at her. We have spent enough time working together over the summer that we can easily be considered real friends by now.

"Don't worry, Tina," I promise her, smoothing down the lapels of my coat. "The absolute last thing I want to do is mess with your public reputation around campus. But you have to understand, whenever we are around your parents, it is just my personal hobby to practice my Acting skills."

Tina rolls her eyes hard, a sharp, playful grin spreading across her lips as she matches my casual light-novel timing.

"Then you better keep practicing hard, because your acting sucks absolute ass, fufu!"

Tina and Jennifer were both wearing pristine white summer dresses, taking full advantage of the lingering warm weather before the autumn chill officially set in. Walking side by side, they both looked like elegant, noble young misses out for a stroll—well, at least one of them actually was.

As for me? I was dressed in a blue and grey Star University athletic gym outfit, pulling the matching zipper windbreaker up high to completely hide the two handguns resting in my underarm holsters. My in-laws had gifted me this university gear, and they had thoughtfully secured a total of seven different colors for my wardrobe so the other students wouldn't think I was wearing the exact same outfit every single day like a low-budget anime character. This specific gym uniform was the exact same heavy-knit style that Tony Deng had worn on our big match day, and it was honestly as comfortable as sleeping in pajamas while still being loose enough to comfortably launch into a full-scale fistfight at a moment's notice.

Both women followed closely behind my heels as we crossed the main courtyard, making it completely obvious to any onlookers that the men on campus shouldn't bother approaching them. But as the minutes ticked by, that defensive barrier was going to prove completely pointless.

Due to Tina’s rather generous physical assets, it was inevitable that arrogant noble boys would want to try and dominate her world. Her face alone was fantastic, but her body was the exact kind of silhouette you dream of holding tightly every single night on the sheets. Because of that allure, the flies were going to swarm around her even with a built guy like me standing watch at her side. High school had been the exact same story for her during our freshman year, at least until she forcefully kneed a few guys directly in the balls to teach them a lesson.

I pull out my smartphone, checking the campus map while keeping an eye on my Cat and Mouse tracking application as it silently pings notifications across my screen. The readings place our destination—the main Business Building—right near the east corner of the campus layout. I have already completely memorized the physical layout of the university grounds from my background work, but it is always good practice to pretend I am lost so looking down at my phone doesn't seem strange to the passing students.

"Ladies, our first class is this way," I turn to tell them, pocketing the phone. "Follow me."

According to the live readings on my app, the other major targets who are currently on campus grounds look like they have already headed straight to their respective classrooms early. Scott Tang apparently showed up way ahead of schedule, most likely running a calculation to secure a desk right next to Linda Lang before the seats fill up.

The three specific courses I am scheduled to tackle today are Micro/Macroeconomics, Introductory Computer Management, and lastly, I will officially begin my term with the campus Kung-Fu Club alongside Tina.

I had briefly mentioned my long-term plans regarding that martial arts faction back during my high school conflicts, but the university Kung-Fu club is actually one of exactly four major combat teams directly supported and fully sponsored by Star University. If you possess high-tier skills, the school funds your travel to compete directly against rival universities across Eurasia. Yes, competitive martial arts in this world are treated as serious, high-stakes business on par with normal academic degree classes.

Both Tony Deng and Scott Tang are heavily active inside the Karate Club. Naturally, the two separate martial arts organizations are bitter, historical rivals on campus, which makes joining the Kung-Fu faction the absolute perfect vehicle for me to legally mess with Scott's world. Oh, I seriously cannot wait to step onto the mats with him! As for the rest of the main four fighting disciplines on campus, the other two sponsored slots belong to the Boxing and MMA clubs.

Any other forms of recreational combat—like fencing or similar martial styles—are merely treated by the administration as extra fluff, carrying about as much weight toward your final degree as a casual class of racquetball. Anyone wanting to enter high-level law enforcement or professional bodyguard work is legally required to actively participate in one of the main four fighting classes for the full four years of their enrollment, or your credentials will be completely looked down on by the major firms.

"Rick, don't you dare forget that we share both the first and the last class period together today," Tina says, stepping up to my shoulder as we approach the building. "I will wait inside my advanced management classroom for you while you are taking your computer management course. Do you actually know where my room is located?"

"I already marked the exact location on my phone," I reply, offering a reassuring nod. "But make sure you keep your device within arm's reach at all times in case of an emergency."

A moment later, the three of us come to a halt in front of a beautiful, seven-story red-brick building. Thick green ivy crawls up the masonry, giving the entire structure a deeply rustic, high-class feel. You can easily see the immense amount of money and structural care the administration puts into maintaining its appearance for the wealthy elite.

I point a finger toward the upper windows, looking back at my partners. "Teacher Long’s office and our economics classroom are located on the third floor, so we need to take the stairs."

Jennifer blinks in surprise, shifting her bag on her shoulder as she asks, "Why on earth aren't we just using the main elevator to get up there?"

I let a knowing smile spread across my face as I look at her. Jennifer is a sharp secretary, but she definitely isn't the athletic type.

"The classroom is only exactly three floors up, so walking up the steps is not only incredibly simple, but it's significantly safer from a security standpoint," I explain to her, my voice dropping to a grounded, street-smart whisper. "If our lecture was situated all the way up on the seventh floor, then risking the elevator's closed quarters would be perfectly fine for the timeline. But do you honestly want to be trapped inside a tiny, enclosed metal box with a bunch of strange men if you can easily avoid it? On the stairwell, I have enough physical space to launch into a full fight while you two run for safety. Get my logic now?"

To tease her a bit, I lean in and finish her off with a smirk. "But hey, you are a big girl, Jennifer. You are fully welcome to go ride that elevator completely alone~ while I take Tina up the steps with me."

Jennifer’s face flushes slightly, and she lets out a small huff, quickly falling into line. With our strategy set, the three of us begin marching up the wide, grand stone steps, which are made of a light, polished greyish marble that gleams under the morning sun.

The micro/macroeconomics classroom featured two heavy double doors positioned on the far left and right sides of the back wall.

Inside, about twenty two-person desks were arranged in tiered, stadium-style seating overlooking the lecture floor. The middle of the room held two columns of double tables separated by a pair of parallel walkways, while the remaining rows featured an additional two-person desk pushed right against the left and right walls. The seating stretched five rows from front to back, capping the absolute room capacity at exactly forty students if every single table was occupied.

Down at the front, the professor’s designated workspace featured a heavy desk situated on the left side of a raised podium lecture area, right next to a massive projection screen meant for displaying digital slides from a laptop. Due to the high ratio of women to men across the territory, you would find very few teachers of the male gender anywhere on campus. Even two of the university's main martial arts coaches were women.

Jennifer and Tina moved down the left walkway, immediately locating an open table pushed against the left wall. Tina slid into the chair directly against the brick to naturally block any passing boys from approaching her as easily. As if my stupid luck had coordinated the layout, a pair of women took the desk directly behind them, while a guy and a girl claimed the table situated right in front of their position.

Because of my years of being systematically bullied in high school, I absolutely loathed having people sitting directly behind my back. I marched straight to the back row, claiming the center-left table and sliding into the inner seat furthest from the open aisle.

This specific vantage point gave me a clear, unobstructed view of every single body in the room. To my right sat another two-person table that remained completely empty, while the chair directly to my left on the main walkway was completely vacant as well. I was deliberately saving it to serve as a private buffer for James.

While the classroom steadily filled up with wealthy students, I leaned back comfortably in my chair, scrolling through my smartphone. I occasionally pulled up the interface for my tracking app, watching the radar indicator warning me that Scott Tang had officially closed the distance to within three hundred feet of my location.

Right on cue, James stepped through the double doors, scanning the tiered rows until his eyes landed on my position. He marched up the steps and immediately slid into the seat to my right, deliberately avoiding the open aisle chair where passing students could easily bump into your shoulders.

With our layout locked, the two seats framing the outer walkways remained completely open.

"Sup, brother," James whispered, leaning closer as he unzipped his bag. "I managed to score us some extra protein bars from the Quick-Mart counter this morning in case your stomach starts growling during the lecture!"

"Thanks, Jim," I grinned, nudging his shoulder. "Go ahead and hand over the chocolate-chip ones, haha!"

"Dammit, I knew you would immediately take those," James grumbled, shaking his head playfully as he tossed them over. "Now I am stuck eating the peanut-butter ones. Oh, wow... look at that incredibly sexy brown-haired girl sitting right next to Tina Feng! Nice to think I might actually stand a chance with a girl like that on campus?"

"That is Jennifer Han, Tina's personal maid and administrative assistant," I told him, breaking open the wrapper. "So go right ahead and shoot your shot."

James’s face instantly fell, looking like a student who had just received a failing grade on a major exam. "If she works directly for that psycho ball-blaster, then completely forget it! I want more sex, not to get my junk destroyed!"

The second James finished complaining, a very pretty young woman with long white hair and sharp blue eyes walked up the tiered steps and claimed the open aisle seat directly to his right. Sadly for James's romantic aspirations, the heavy light of the overhead lamps caught the distinct gleam of a silver wedding band resting on her finger, causing his eyes to instantly die inside his skull. Her overall figure and facial looks matched Jennifer's aesthetic completely. Just by the fluid, controlled way she carried her weight, I could tell she belonged to a wealthy noble house, on top of possessing the basic skills of a trained martial artist.

Over on the left side of the room, my focus caught the entrance of an incredibly irritated Linda Lang. She was wearing a loose-fitting black dress that stretched all the way down to her ankles, the short-sleeved fabric shifting as she marched down the aisle, actively trying to outpace a smug-looking Scott Tang who was tailing her right down the walkway.

Thankfully, both of them kept their attention focused entirely forward, completely failing to notice James and me sitting in the shadows of the back row. Linda, acting like a textbook good student, marched straight to the front row to secure a perfect view of the podium. Scott, completely unbothered by her cold shoulder, stepped right up to the girl sitting at the adjacent desk and demanded she move. The second the student heard his last name, she grabbed her bag and scrambled out of the row without a single word.

I pulled up my phone screen, watching the tracker indicate that both Victoria Long and Ashley Hue were officially approaching the third floor. The class was about to begin.

Ashley stepped through the double doors first, her short blonde hair and striking pink eyes immediately drawing the attention of every guy in the room.

James stared along with the rest of them, looking like he had just discovered his ultimate university crush based on her tight, athletic figure. But the woman who stepped through the threshold directly behind her was the one who completely stopped time for the entire room.

Victoria Long was wearing a sharp, tailored grey business suit paired with black high heels. She had her long, dark-purple hair pulled back into a sophisticated, tight bun. Behind the frames of her glasses, a pair of lazy purple eyes slowly scanned across the tiers like a sleepy apex predator evaluating her territory.

Even after a month of distance, my body and my natural instincts were completely charmed by her undeniable beauty, but the harsh reality of her family's actions completely ruined the illusion of this goddess for me. Our eyes locked across the rows for a split second. I could tell from her micro-expression that her mind was flooded with incredibly complicated, heavy thoughts, but carrying herself like a total professional, the look lasted only an instant before she broke contact. Absolutely nobody else in the room noticed the shift.

Halfway down the walkway, Ashley came to a sudden halt, her pink eyes scanning the rows for an open desk. Her gaze landed squarely on the empty aisle seat directly to my left. She froze, showing a clear, mutual lack of desire to sit anywhere near my position, and I certainly had no intention of welcoming her either.

Down at the front of the room, Victoria placed her corporate leather bag onto the desk, preparing to power up her laptop to start the morning slides.

Then, the predictable chaos finally exploded.

Smack!

A loud, resounding crack echoed off the brick walls as Linda Lang violently slammed her textbook flat onto the wood. Her face twisted into a look of absolute, unbridled annoyance as she stood straight up from her chair, spinning around to point a furious finger directly into Scott Tang’s face.

"I explicitly told you to stop talking to me, Scott!" Linda shouted, her voice easily carrying across the tiered rows for every student to hear. "Stop following me around campus, you pathetic stalker! I do not give a single shit what my father arranged with your clan—you mean absolutely nothing to me!"

Victoria let out a heavy, exhausted sigh, staring down at the Lang and Tang heirs already starting a massive dramatic scene inside her classroom on day one. She leaned over the podium, her voice dropping to a cold, authoritative command that cut right through the yelling.

"Linda Lang and Scott Tang, if you two choose to continue disrupting my lecture hall, I will personally drop both of your names from this course before the hour ends. Do you understand my terms?"

Linda, deeply disliking being harshly scolded in front of her peers, immediately gathered her notebooks into her arms. She spun around to scan the tiers for an alternative seat, realizing the room was entirely full except for a single open chair. If you guessed that her eyes locked straight onto the exact same walkway desk next to me that Ashley had been evaluating, then you are being highly observant. Talk about my absolute stupid luck!

Linda looked up at my row like a drowning sailor spotting a literal lifeboat in the middle of the ocean. She marched straight up the steps to my left and slid into the empty seat. Ashley, seeing the aisle chair furthest away from my presence suddenly become available down in the front row, quickly moved in to claim it, sitting right next to Scott. The second Scott looked back and spotted me sitting directly next to Linda, his face flushed a violent, angry red.

I let a broad, mocking grin spread across my face, raising my hand to give him a slow, casual wave since every single eye in the room was currently tracking our row. Come on, you arrogant prick, lose your cool, throw a tantrum, and get your ass kicked completely out of the university on day one.

Just do it!

Sadly for my entertainment, it looked like the bastard had actually wised up a bit since his public humiliation at the Ball. He forcefully choked down his rage, letting out a sharp huff as he turned his back completely, choosing to ignore me while entirely missing the dangerous, trained assassin woman sitting over on his left side.

Linda glanced over at my grinning face, and a microscopic, fleeting smile touched the corner of her lips, though it was so subtle I barely managed to track the movement. She leaned in slightly, her voice quiet.

"I am honestly not trying to make things incredibly hard on your life, Rick, I promise," Linda whispered, her eyes pleading. "But I absolutely cannot tolerate sitting next to that man for another second. Please... just let me stay here?"

I offered a casual shrug of my shoulders, keeping my tone detached.

"I don't legally own the rights to this desk, Linda," I told her, opening my notebook. "And you are the only student who actually claimed the seat, so do whatever the hell you want."

She offered a polite nod, her posture completely relaxing against the chair as she murmured.

"Thank you, Rick."