Chapter 6: Is he also a beta?

On the day of enrollment at School A, Xu Lin arrived promptly on the date specified in his admission notice.

It was only when he set foot on Danshi’s soil that he truly felt the reality of leaving home.

District Thirteen was far from Danshi, so Xu Lin had to travel by water. He first hitched a ride on a fishing boat that was delivering goods from District Thirteen, then disembarked at the District Ten port, bought another ticket, and transferred three times before finally reaching Danshi.

He would have to drift on the sea for nearly half a month before reaching his destination.

Why not take a plane? Because even flying required a transfer, and plane tickets were too expensive. His circumstances didn’t allow it; he couldn’t afford them.

Taking a boat was the cheapest and most cost-effective way to travel.

Following the meeting point indicated on his admission notice, Xu Lin found School A’s shuttle bus in the parking lot outside the port. The driver checked his admission notice and let him board.

Several people were already seated on the spacious bus, all from other districts. A few had already gotten to know each other and were chatting in low voices. When they heard Xu Lin board, they instinctively glanced up at him.

But just one look was enough. They quickly averted their gazes as if scalded, and their conversations grew even quieter.

Xu Lin knew better than to impose. He walked to the back of the bus, found an empty seat, and sat down quietly.

He remembered what Little Fatty had said to him at the dock before he left: that he should smile more in Danshi so he could make friends. Otherwise, people who didn’t know him would definitely think he was a prickly troublemaker. Xu Lin didn’t care. What was the point of smiling? Having a face that could scare people off wasn’t such a bad thing.

Another two hours passed. From time to time, more people boarded, filling the bus in small groups. After about a dozen or so passengers had trickled in, it seemed the bus was full. The driver started the engine and headed for the destination.

As they drove out of the port, Xu Lin saw the true face of Danshi for the first time. His eyes widened.

Danshi was open and bright, with skies as clear as washed jade. Overhead, crisscrossing highways were suspended in midair. Below, magnificent skyscrapers towered into the clouds. Every pedestrian on the street looked clean and prosperous.

There was none of District Thirteen’s damp, musty smell here, nor the lifelessness that seemed to have the very essence sucked out of the air by the atmosphere.

No wonder outsiders compared Danshi to the clouds. Compared to the environment they came from, it was truly worthy of the name.

Once at the school, at the freshman registration area, Xu Lin saw all the out-of-district freshmen from his cohort. A total of just over a hundred. Then again, not everyone was as poor as him, forced to travel by boat. There were naturally those who could afford to fly or arrive in private cars.

These new students were collectively assigned to the teaching buildings and dormitories that School A had specially designated for out-of-district students.

School A was sprawling, with each area serving a specific purpose. Xu Lin and his group, being outsiders, had their classrooms, dorms, canteen, and recreational areas all confined within a fixed perimeter. The student ID cards they wore only granted access to the gates within their designated zone.

If they wandered where they weren’t supposed to go, school security would quickly intercept them. Three such offenses, with no signs of improvement, would result in deportation.

The main city students had their own teaching and living areas.

They and the people of Danshi were separated by a clear, distinct boundary.

Upon learning this, some of the new students were indignant, accusing the school of discrimination against outsiders.

Xu Lin remained unmoved.

Such things were common in District Thirteen—even people who grew up on the same patch of land would turn on each other, let alone outsiders. Danshi was no exception. It wasn’t surprising.

School A was a labyrinth of layered realms, like the nine heavens, each level with its own immortals and deities.

The celestial beings had graciously cast down a ladder to heaven. Mortals, after much scheming, had climbed up and barely managed to reach the clouds.

They gave the mortals a patch of land they no longer wanted, earning a reputation for charity. The mortals were grateful, but that didn’t mean they could overstep. They were penned in, confined to a pen specifically built for them by the upper class, labeled as outsiders.

The dormitories were divided by gender. The male Beta students filled three rooms, with four people to each.

Aside from Xu Lin, two of the other three came from District Nine, and one came from District Seven.

Just like the numbers, the higher the district, the better the family background. They were all pampered young masters. When they learned Xu Lin was from District Thirteen, they wore the look of disgust he had come to expect. However, they didn’t dare to actually provoke him physically; they only flexed their muscles with words.

District Thirteen’s reputation as a lawless place preceded it. When Xu Lin’s face was expressionless, he had a don’t-bother-me scowl that made him look like he had several murders under his belt. As the saying goes, barefoot people aren’t afraid of those who wear shoes. Sensible people knew you could mess with a vicious dog, but not a rabid one.

Xu Lin kept Pu Sha’s advice firmly in mind and was prepared to endure what he could, avoiding conflict wherever possible. As long as they didn’t cross his bottom line, he would treat their words as nothing more than barking dogs.

He had heard plenty of sarcastic remarks in his time. He paid them no mind.

Among these three, there was one who was a little different.

A boy from District Nine named Yi Wei. He was fair-skinned, with curly hair. He was clearly a pampered youth who had never done a day’s manual labor. He couldn’t even manage to put the school-issued bedding together, struggling for ages to get the duvet cover on, his face flushed red with frustration.

School A’s dorms were quite comfortable. The bedding, pillows, and toiletries provided were all brand new, even bearing a certain brand’s logo. Xu Lin didn’t recognize the brand, but he could guess it wasn’t cheap. They were generous with the supplies, but they still needed to be sorted out by the students themselves.

So Yi Wei, turning around and spotting Xu Lin already lounging on his bed, gathered his courage, his face reddening, and timidly asked, “Um, classmate… could you give me a hand?”

Xu Lin, seeing his polite attitude, casually helped him out. Thanks to this “duvet favor,” Yi Wei completely opened up. He was naturally gregarious and not at all guarded. He thanked Xu Lin profusely.

“Thank you so much! With your buzz cut, you look pretty scary, and being from District Thirteen—my mom said people from there are hard to get along with, really fierce, and do some pretty immoral things—so I was a bit afraid of you. I never expected you to be so helpful!”

“I heard you’re the only one from District Thirteen who got in this time. Standing out from so many people in District Thirteen, you must be really amazing! What are you doing?”

Xu Lin had been ignoring him, fiddling with his phone. Yi Wei leaned over to see what he was doing and saw that he was trying to send a message. He wanted to let Pu Sha know he’d arrived safely, but every message he sent had a red exclamation mark next to it.

Then he remembered Pu Sha saying Danshi would block all out-of-city numbers. It turned out to be true.

“Are you trying to message your family?” Yi Wei could tell. “Have you switched to a Danshi-specific SIM card yet?”

Xu Lin blinked. “There’s such a thing?”

“Yeah,” Yi Wei said. “Out-of-city numbers don’t work in Danshi. If you want to send messages, you have to get a main city-specific card.”

Yi Wei pulled up a website on his phone and showed it to him. “They sell them here. My mom and I both bought our cards from this site.”

Xu Lin looked at the price. His vision went dark.

Wasn’t four digits a bit too much?

Besides, even if he bought one, Pu Sha wouldn’t have one, so it was useless anyway. He didn’t know anyone in Danshi he needed to message. It seemed this card wouldn’t be of any use.

Xu Lin set the matter aside for now.

While organizing his backpack, he noticed that the envelope in the inner pocket seemed thicker. Pu Sha must have secretly added more money at some point.

Taking it out, he also found a small note inside:

Take this and use it. Don’t shortchange yourself. Take care of your health.

It was Pu Sha’s handwriting. Xu Lin’s nose stung.

The next day, the school organized an opening ceremony for the freshmen in the auditorium. The hall was enormous. The out-of-city freshmen occupied only a small section, while the rest of the seats were filled by local Danshi freshmen.

“Oh my god, so many people.” Yi Wei, sitting beside Xu Lin, looked around, feeling as if the locals were all radiating golden light. He clicked his tongue in wonder. “Sure enough, everyone in Danshi is rich. Look at those neck rings and wrist bands they’re wearing. Whoa, even the cheapest ones on the official website start at six figures. This is really an eye-opener.”

Xu Lin was also taken aback by the sheer number of people in the auditorium. So many Alphas and Omegas—this was the first time he’d seen so many in one place. Indeed, what was rare in the slums was nothing out of the ordinary in the main city.

“You’re a Beta, so why are you checking the prices of those things?” Xu Lin asked. “You can’t use them anyway.”

“True, but I’m just curious. Aren’t you curious about what it feels like to wear them?”

“What’s there to feel?” Xu Lin leaned back in his seat, resting his eyes. “Putting something around your neck for no reason can’t feel good. It’s like a dog collar. Do you want to be a dog?”

Hearing this, Yi Wei quickly put his index finger to his lips and whispered, “Shh, keep your voice down. Don’t let anyone hear you. That’s not very polite to Alphas and Omegas.”

Xu Lin didn’t respond.

Yi Wei then answered his earlier question: “But you’re right. Not having a gland is actually pretty nice.” He said gleefully, “Saves a ton of money.”

Xu Lin said nothing.

After a bout of commotion, the principal took the stage and gave a speech.

One round of official platitudes after another. Xu Lin was nearly dozing off.

Suddenly, a slight stir ran through the auditorium. The students had been whispering to each other during the principal’s speech, but now they were all staring fixedly at the stage.

Xu Lin followed their gazes.

It was the freshman representative giving a speech.

That was the first time he saw Ji Jixuan.

Ji Jixuan was blessed with a strikingly attractive appearance. His features were refined, his figure tall and lean, with long, well-proportioned limbs. He wore the simplest white shirt and black trousers, one hand casually resting on the edge of the podium, sleeves rolled up to his elbows. The watch on his left wrist glinted faintly under the lights.

His face held no particular expression. He simply lowered his head slightly to speak into the microphone, his voice like a spring of ice—elegant, refined, and cold.

His appearance was flawless, but he seemed like someone difficult to get close to.

Xu Lin’s gaze lingered on his face for an inexplicably long time before he noticed that Ji Jixuan had neither neck rings nor wrist bands. Like a Beta, he wore nothing.

Was he also a Beta?

Xu Lin blinked and asked Yi Wei, “Who is that?”

“You don’t know him?” Yi Wei had done his homework before entering school. He was outgoing and had already gotten familiar with most of the new students on the bus, so naturally, he knew more than Xu Lin.

Yi Wei told him enviously, “That’s Ji Jixuan. He’s our age. Very popular.”

The Beta roommate sitting behind them overheard their conversation and scoffed, “Popular? That’s all an illusion. Those people are just after his family background. A pretty face like that has no substance. He’s just riding on his grandfather’s and brother’s coattails. A fox borrowing the tiger’s might.”

Yi Wei pulled Xu Lin closer and whispered in his ear, “Ignore him. He’s just jealous and bitter.”

Xu Lin picked up on the key part of what was said and asked, “His grandfather and brother? What do you mean?”

“Oh, that’s not really a secret. You know that medication called KW-02? It’s a special suppressant for Alphas. One shot can get any Alpha below S-rank through their rut in under an hour, with no side effects. That suppressant is now exclusively used by the military and high-level government officials. His grandfather is the researcher who invented it.”

Xu Lin understood vaguely. “So he’s very impressive…” He’d read about it in books. An Alpha’s rut typically lasted at least a week and was accompanied by a loss of consciousness. Compressing seven days into one hour would indeed save a lot of trouble.

“His older brother is even more impressive. He’s a major general in the Linghai War Zone, with a distinguished record of service. But it seems he was discharged due to injury. There hasn’t been any news since. Probably went somewhere even more prestigious. The Ji family kept it under wraps. How could ordinary people like us know their whereabouts?”

“Ji Jixuan’s whole family are the chosen ones. How could he be any different? With his family background, his looks, and his intelligence—he skipped several grades to get here. Who knows how hard School A’s exams are. And he also—”

“Skipped grades?” Xu Lin was puzzled. “Then how is he the same age as us?”

“Because he started school late. For some reason, he didn’t start school until he was twelve.”

Xu Lin was taken aback. In a sense, he and Ji Jixuan actually had something in common: they both started school at twelve. But Ji Jixuan’s reasons were surely different from his.

Yi Wei continued where he had been interrupted. “And his pheromones are S-rank. A rare, one-in-a-million find. We actually get to see one in the flesh!”

Pheromones. He had pheromones. So he wasn’t a Beta.

Xu Lin asked, “Alpha?”

“Obviously. With a face that could kill someone, could he be an Omega?”

…No, that didn’t seem likely.

Xu Lin asked, “Then why isn’t he wearing a wrist band? With so many people here, isn’t he afraid of being affected by pheromones?”

Omega neck rings and Alpha wrist bands were both used to monitor the wearer’s pheromone levels in real time. If the wearer felt unwell, these devices would sound an alarm at the appropriate time and help suppress the pheromones, allowing time for treatment. Generally speaking, the higher the pheromone rank, the more indispensable such devices were, to prevent accidents.

Yi Wei didn’t know much about it either. He guessed, “Maybe S-ranked individuals can’t be compared to ordinary Alphas and Omegas. Perhaps they have better self-control or something.”

Ji Jixuan’s speech was short and quick. After finishing, he didn’t linger but left the stage and exited through a side door.

As soon as he left, the atmosphere in the auditorium became dull again. They slogged through another tedious forty minutes before it finally ended.

The crowd scattered like birds and beasts.

Initially, Xu Lin only had a fleeting impression of Ji Jixuan and didn’t pay him much attention.

He just wanted to finish his four years at School A safely, graduate successfully, get the documents he needed, and return to his hometown. He wanted to spend the rest of his life there, with Pu Sha and his friends.

That was his original goal, his only mission in Danshi.

He thought four years would pass in the blink of an eye, and he would be home soon.

But fate always had other plans.