The Detective of the Noble Male Academy 30

30

"I'm leaving."

Ji Yue couldn't care less what he was thinking.

Under Yuwen Qing's gaze and silent assent, Ji Yue pulled the door open. The streetlamp's light spilled in like a fleeing rabbit, bolting through the half-open door at top speed—only the flick of a tossed ponytail visible as it whipped past.

Not a single word of farewell left behind.

Yuwen Qing leaned against the doorframe, watching his figure vanish swiftly around the corner.

The entryway stood empty, letting in only the night wind, and somewhere in the distance, the faint sound of footsteps fleeing like refugees.

Tch.

He withdrew his gaze and shut the door.

Back in his own room, Ji Yue removed his communicator and carefully scrolled through the series of messages the other party had sent. They covered nearly every move he'd made since accepting the commission—everything that could directly prove he was the scheming detective with ulterior motives.

Without a doubt, the client was threatening him.

What was the motive? What did the client gain from this?

He couldn't understand.

Ahhhh—

He wordlessly rolled around on the bed a few times.

【Rolling tangyuan, rolling tangyuan.】The System teased him.

He lay flat on the bed and pulled up the original novel again, reading through it once more.

The story ultimately ended with the special-grade student losing his freedom.

Reading it again now, he couldn't help but be reminded of that shivering, rain-soaked night.

Forced love.

...A detective would never fall to such a fate!

【The client is now threatening you, planning to expose your identity.】The System analyzed along with him. 【Whatever their purpose, they're threatening you.】

In a flash of lightning, the Conan theme blared deafeningly—

Ji Yue suddenly realized something.

If we assume the client isn't a genuine character from the original novel, and the time-space distortion isn't the F4 special-grade students' doing either, then everything falls into place.

The client's original goal was for the plot to proceed normally—a series of forced-love events would occur on the island, so they hired a detective to come to the island. But due to various bugs, the F4 and the special-grade student never developed any romantic subplot, instead becoming entangled with the detective.

The client wanted the detective to leave the island as soon as possible, so as not to interfere with the plot any further. Hence, they needed to sabotage the relationship between the detective and the F4 special-grade students.

So that's how it is.

A prophet has infiltrated our ranks.

Who is he?

Or perhaps—the client doesn't exist at all, and is simply a plot-advancer sent by the Main God.

Yes. This is the truth.

Si Jing and the F4 were clearly trying to break free from control—that was why they were always so vague with the detective.

【So that's what it is?! No wonder the Main God System has been ignoring my OA request this whole time!!】

The System erupted in rage.

【After all this, the client is one of their own people! They've screwed our great detective over so badly, we almost got—】

'...'

A sudden downpour struck in the middle of the night, rain pelting urgently against the window glass, a series of irritating muffled thuds.

Ji Yue sat in the Art Studio, gazing at the saint and child on the canvas.

He recalled Li Xihé's question: Do you have faith?

No.

He was simply interested in this kind of human thought—how humans liked to imagine unknowable things as gods in their own likeness. Quite fascinating.

In this world, he was the detective.

Tonight, the detective planned to conduct one final investigation of the F4 special-grade students, to confirm his conclusion.

Ji Yue walked over and closed the window. Rainwater streamed down the glass, dampening the curtains.

Why had such a heavy storm suddenly come tonight?

He decided to go find Si Jing first.

Going downstairs, he saw a crowd of students running through the rain toward the parking area, like a school of fish fleeing through the rain. The area was already filled with luxury cars of every color, headlights blazing, beams of light piercing the darkness. Men who looked like butlers stood in the rain holding umbrellas, glancing at their watches from time to time—clearly waiting to pick up their young masters.

...This was a scene that only happened during breaks.

Ji Yue suddenly realized something.

The timeline had changed again?!

He immediately got into the self-driving car and headed straight for Si Jing's dormitory building.

The rain kept falling.

The air was damp and cold.

Si Jing had just poured a cup of hot cocoa, and before he could take a sip, there was a knock at the door.

Knock knock knock—very urgent rapping, as though something desperately urgent required his attention.

The indoor lights suddenly began flickering on and off, bright then dim.

"It's me."

Ji Yue's voice.

Si Jing started, and almost instinctively pulled the door open.

The corridor lights were still flickering between bright and dim, illuminating the face of the person outside. His dark hair was soaked by rain, a few strands clinging to his cheeks and neck. He wore very little—a black knit shirt drenched by the rain, clinging tight to his body, a sliver of snow-white chest exposed, rising and falling.

He had clearly run here through the rain.

He said: "The timeline changed again."

A cold, impassive face, pale, sickly-looking, made even whiter by the wet black hair framing it like ink. He looked unwell, but the moment he lifted his eyes, there was a focused light within them.

This was the first time Si Jing had seen such visibly fluctuating emotion on his face.

That always-expressionless cold face now looked like a frozen lake with a crack blown open across its surface.

The young man stood on the carpet, his long wet hair still dripping, uncaring, and with keen interest—truly like a detective now—began to reason.

The light fell on him like a private stage, missing only a smoking pipe.

Deduction time.

"Si Jing, you're bound by some kind of force, forced to come to the Imperial Male Academy, forced to stay here, forced to deal with the F4 people—because those forces are pushing you to do these things. Am I right?"

"You don't like the F4, and you don't want to be pushed along. What you couldn't explain to me is all of this."

"Today is the last day of this semester, the day the timeline jumped to. I'm guessing you did something, trying to change the status quo?"

"It's time to come clean with me, Si Jing."

The classic Conan BGM drifted through the air...

Making one feel as though someone was about to drop to their knees and confess to the detective any second.

...You really are a detective.

Si Jing didn't want to spell this out too clearly, but he'd still been cornered at the door by the detective.

"What you're saying is largely correct."

He took a paper document from the table and handed it over.

A flash of lightning streaked across the night sky, accompanied by thunder, and a burst of white light illuminated the text on it.

《Withdrawal Application Approval Letter》

The student Si Jing, a special-grade student of our school's Class of 256X, has applied for voluntary withdrawal on September 256X due to personal reasons. After review, the student's withdrawal is approved, and effective immediately, the student's enrollment has been canceled.

This is hereby certified.

—Si Jing had withdrawn from school.

【Ahhh??! The special-grade student male lead of the original novel actually withdrew from school?!】

The System couldn't help but shriek.

【If that's the case, the entire book's setting has collapsed! A noble academy novel without a special-grade student shouldn't exist!】

'Hmph.'

Ji Yue hummed expressionlessly, because he had already deduced this point.

Si Jing—an awakened character from the original novel. All five of them, including the F4, had realized something was wrong with this world and were trying to break free.

He'd expected Si Jing to choose a leave of absence, or simply leave the school without a word. He hadn't expected the other to choose a more resolute path.

Si Jing corrected one point: "I didn't come here because I was forced. It's not that complicated—I just came to meet you. Everything I said before was true. Withdrawal approval takes a month. I only got this document tonight, and finally I can speak about it. Though I don't know what that force is, it can no longer control me now."

So that's how it was?

Ji Yue stroked his chin.

He had also noticed the date on the application earlier.

...It was January 12th.

In the time it took to do a quick sketch, the timeline had already jumped to the end of the semester. This kind of force could only come from the Main God System.

This was also the point in time when the detective was captured by the F4.

His earlier reasoning was correct—the "client" was the force of the plot itself. Upon discovering that the special-grade student and the F4 had broken away from the romantic subplot and become entangled with the detective instead, it sought to expose the detective's identity and drive him off the island.

Indeed, there is only one truth!

Ji Yue silently pushed up a pair of glasses that didn't exist.

【Host, you are a genius detective!!】

The System gave a thumbs up.

【But we're facing a terrifying problem now!】

'What?'

【Today! Today is the day the detective gets captured by the F4! Your time-space distortion was also on this day!】

BBS Forum

Hot Posts/HOT.....

Subject: Like, what is the school beauty doing charging into the special-grade student's dorm at full speed?! (crying)

0L: Break is coming, can't the school beauty just break up with him already! (crying)

1L: The special-grade student's been acting all mysterious lately too, no idea what he's scheming! (vomit) (fist)

2L: Next time you bring the school beauty down to the lower city, can you at least take him somewhere decent, please don't take him to eat at roadside stalls (praying hands)

3L: Your imagination of the lower city is just roadside stalls, lmao, have you no imagination? Better try persuading the special-grade student to fix up that dump of a place!! (angry)

4L: Don't you guys think the F4 have been awfully quiet lately? Some aren't doing their irregular training and are vanishing, some aren't gardening or going to academic salons, some aren't drinking anymore, Yuwen【】's dog isn't even barking (confused)

5L: The way you all put it, there's this feeling of a storm about to break... (dazed)

6L: Even if something big happens, it has nothing to do with us noble academy nobodies, right... (tears)

7L: 【Image】Holy crap, the school beauty and the special-grade student went out together, where are those two headed this late? That direction doesn't look right...

8L: WTF special-grade student, you're taking the school beauty to the dock??

9L: What do you mean, are they in such a rush to take a boat home tonight? It's raining this hard, not really boat weather (confused)

10L: So weird, for some reason I get this illusion of a rich girl being led astray by some delinquent to elope??

11L: You're not wrong, Ji Yue didn't even take his works from the Art Studio, so they really are leaving in a hurry... Is there something urgent that has to be tonight? In this rain?

12L: WTF...

13L: First time seeing this kind of scene since coming to the island... scary

14L: What on earth happened, I'm not near the dock, you guys' discussion is making my heart race (white flag) (white flag)

15L: The celestial dragons are doing a mass manhunt for the eloping couple, blocking cars and searching everywhere... (white flag) (white flag)

16L: I can't even imagine... if the school beauty gets caught... won't they all just... um... (crying) (fist)

17L: School beauty, just run away with the special-grade student, I'm praying for you... (praying hands)

-------

Outside, the storm still raged, mingled with some cursing. Because of the weather, many flights had been canceled, and students on break couldn't leave for the moment, stranded at the airport, waiting for the weather to clear.

Inside, however, it was as quiet as another world.

Si Jing turned on a small lamp. The dim yellow light illuminated Ji Yue sitting on the wooden stool. His hair was still wet, strands clinging to his cheeks, his face turned as he kept gazing out at the rain.

To avoid the forced-love ending, the detective had to leave the island.

Tonight.

"Will we ever see each other again?"

Lightning split the entire bedroom at that moment, illuminating every detail of Si Jing's expression. He stared at Ji Yue, his face slightly flushed, stubborn.

"I don't know."

Ji Yue's face was ghastly pale in the lightning, his lashes trembling faintly beneath the light, casting fan-shaped shadows.

After the excitement of his deduction state faded, he had returned to his usual cold, distant manner.

The mysterious detective, who had come for a mission—so he might vanish into the crowd one day, off to find his next subject of investigation.

Si Jing didn't want to leave him, even after withdrawing from school.

"Do you want to come with me? We could look out for each other."

【Tsk tsk tsk, after all that, the special-grade student wants to elope with the pretty rich kid! Not a bad deal even after withdrawing!】

Elope?

That word was familiar.

Ji Yue looked up at the window. The rain was still falling, lightning striking down one after another, reminding him of another rainy night in his memory.

An identical rainy night.

By midnight, the boat finally arrived at the harbor.

The wind and waves had calmed a little. Si Jing was speaking with the sailors, discussing bringing an extra person. When he talked with these people, he was mature and worldly—completely a different person.

His communicator rang countless times. He walked to the edge of the gangway and threw it into the sea.

It was quickly swallowed by the water.

Ji Yue stood not far off with an umbrella, watching him through the rain. The green, inexperienced face from the Art Studio now wore a different look—something with a roguish ease about it.

Everyone had a different side. The F4 were like this, and so was the special-grade student.

Rainwater overflowed from the umbrella's surface, splashing onto his arm.

...Cold.

Ji Yue shifted the umbrella down a little, almost blocking his view. It was at that moment he saw several beams of light at the edge of the umbrella.

Dark vehicles sped into the dock one after another, the beams from their headlights piercing the rain curtain, slicing through the darkness from every direction—a few of them about to sweep across him.

He threw himself sideways, grabbed Si Jing's wrist, and dragged him into a nearby boat.

In truth, there was nowhere left to go. The entire island was the F4's private property—they could turn heaven and earth upside down and still find who they wanted.

Unless...the boat left right now.

【I understand. As the plot collapses, the F4 have also returned to their real selves, the state before the plot began.】

【Do you remember? Yan Min has all your personal information. Li Xihé thought of finding you just from one glance in the crowd. Yuwen Qing and He Yuanxi are about the same... They're essentially lawless celestial dragons at their core.】

"Get inside first."

Si Jing pushed his soaked fringe back. His silver-white short hair had turned a darker shade from the rain. He was drenched all over, rainwater streaming down his jawline, and something different from usual showed in his eyes.

He told Ji Yue to head into the boat, then turned back to look at the figures drawing closer and closer.

The boat finally started.

The hull floated on the water, pushing forward slowly, beginning to leave the shore.

Ji Yue hid behind a wine barrel, knees drawn to his chest, a sliver of moonlight breaking through the rain curtain and falling at his feet.

He heard chaos outside.

Speedboats cut through the water, someone negotiating with the crew.

They were still searching.

"Hey?! Are you insane!"

A clap of thunder swallowed their subsequent conversation.

Ji Yue heard wet footsteps.

Like a male ghost crawling up from the sea, drawing closer step by step, trailing water marks.

"Are you in here?"

The voice—its owner wasn't He Yuanxi, but...Li Xihé.

Soaking wet, truly as though he'd swum up from the sea. His glasses had been taken off and tucked in his pocket. The high-collared black shirt still concealed the marks on his body.

When he didn't wear glasses and didn't smile, a strange aura surrounded him—without the lenses to soften it, his gaze was direct and undisguised, sharp.

【Why is it Li Xihé who came? But tonight might be a night for you to see him in a new light.】

His wrist was seized, and Ji Yue was pulled out from behind the wine barrel.

An expressionless face, ghastly pale, half-wet black hair in disarray, clinging to his face, his wet lashes stuck beneath his eyes like smeared eyeliner.

Li Xihé crouched down, cupped Ji Yue's face, and smiled: "Little sister, you eloped with the special-grade student?"