- The Next Day -

I woke up to the familiar buzzing of my alarm clock. I was still using an old-fashioned one since I couldn't afford a phone. Regardless, it functioned, and that's all I cared about. My eyes remained closed as I attempted to reach my arm over the table to shut off the alarm clock, but-

"What the..." I muttered, and blinked my eyes slowly open. There was a weight preventing my left arm from moving. But it wasn't too heavy, and didn't strain me whatsoever. Instead, it was warm, and felt nice and cozy.

After a long struggle, I finally got the remaining sleepiness out of my eyes, and looked down to see what the weight on my left arm was.

"Mm..." I heard a cute sound that almost sounded like a moan.

I blinked. Was I hallucinating? A beautiful red-haired girl was latched onto my arm tightly, as if I was her lifeline, her last hope. For the record, she was completely naked, and I had a full view on her glossy body. I shook my head vigorously and blinked a couple of times again to make sure this was reality, and I wasn't still in a dream. Unfortunately (or fortunately), I wasn't. I then recalled the events of last night...

After I had gone to sleep, this girl must've crawled into my bed without me noticing. I sighed and gently shook her awake.

"Mm...?" she moaned softly, a blinked a couple of times. She then sat up, still groggy. I averted my gaze immediately and bit my lip.

"Er...Mei Gui, didn't you say you wanted to sleep on the couch last night...?" I asked, still not looking at her lest I get a nosebleed early in the morning.

Her reply, as monotone as always, was, "I only said 'Master should sleep on the bed'."

I blinked. She was right...not once has she ever said that she didn't want to sleep in the bed...

"But still, that doesn't explain why you are naked and clutching onto my arm..." I murmured.

Mei Gui, however, seemed unconcerned. "I cannot retain my clothes while I am sleeping. Additionally, the easiest way for me to regain energy is to be as close to Master as possible."

I sighed. "R-Right, okay..."

After that, I told her to put her clothes on, and stay in my room for the entire day. If she was seen together with me, it could spell trouble since she wasn't exactly a student. Only the teachers knew about her being a golem, after all (well, that was a lie as well, but they didn't need to know the truth).

I took a quick shower, brushed my teeth, and headed out. I wasn't even hungry at not eating breakfast, since I was used to it. Not exactly a good habit, but I'm stuck with it nonetheless.

On the way to school, I met up with Feng Mian, Yu An Yan, Yu An Xue, and Qing Yue. Our team walked to school together, though I was very much uncomfortable the entire way there. From the outside, it seemed like a dream - walking together to school with the four most beautiful girls in the entire city. But to me, all that brought was nervousness. Though I was used to being stared at in disdain and contempt my entire life, every time I was seen together with the girls, I was stared at with jealousy instead.

While they weren't as directly insulting as the looks I had received before, they felt far more uncomfortable. Regardless, the girls didn't seem to notice they were causing me to be uneasy whatsoever, and so I didn't bother telling them either.

"How do you guys all feel?" Yu An Yan asked, the one to initiate conversation as always.

"Hm...good, I guess," Feng Mian replied hesitantly. "I'm a bit nervous about the tournament, but..."

"Don't worry, Feng Mian. We've already made it this far, what's a little more?" Qing Yue joined in, cheerful as usual.

"Mm...we got this," Yu An Xue said in encouragement.

"Everyone..." Feng Mian smiled. "Thanks. I feel more at ease now."

I had been just listening in to their conversation without saying anything, but then I got picked on for no reason whatsoever.

"Big Brother Xuan Kai, how about you?" Qing Yue asked devilishly. "How was your first night with Mei Gui, hm?"

I stiffened. I turned around slowly like a cranky old robot as cold sweat trickled down my back, and was met with four pairs of curious gazes.

"W-What do you mean, Qing Yue?" I stuttered, an innocent smile on my face.

"Hehe~you know what I mean, Big Brother Xuan Kai~" Qing Yue replied with a wink.

The other girls all looked back and forth between the two of us. I swear, Qing Yue was either psychic (without using Psychic Magic) or she had just found out about the incident this morning somehow. I awkwardly turned back around and did my best to continue walking as if nothing had happened.

The girls' idle chatter accompanied me as we headed towards the school, and the tournament that would decide our fates.

*****

- The Arena (Outdoors) -

The five of us had arrived at the classroom, where Mr. Wang then gave us instructions to head to the outdoor arena, a special place meant to host the main tournament. And so - here we were.

I had thought it would be big, but this was beyond my imaginations. One look at the four girls and it was clear they were also visibly amazed and captivated by this glamourous sight. The shape of the Arena was more or less a giant circle, but perhaps it would be more accurate to say it was a round hexagon.

Six ominous black pillars arose at the vertices of the shape, and they were connected by round lines bending slightly towards the center in the middle. At the top of each pillar lay a burning flame, each a different color. Four of them, which, if linked by invisible lines, formed a square, resembled the team colors of the four teams that would be competing today in the main tournament, while the other two flames were white, contrasting with the black walls and portraying Shenzhen Magic High School's uniform colors (white for girls, black for boys).

Of the four, our team's fire's color was a deep, fiery crimson, similar to Mei Gui's hair and my mana. The Lion's Roar, led by Ming Hao (though I still wasn't 100% sure on that), had the pillar to the right of ours, and had a glorious golden flame. The Cursed Warlocks, led by Xuan Kun, had a dark and ominous purple fire, directly diagonal from our pillar. Lastly, Liao Fen's Death's Door was below ours, in the bottom-left corner. It had a bright yet eerie green that reminded me of the Midnight Syndicate's secret lairs in Shenzhen. Bad memories, didn't want to remember them again...

Overall, the entire structure gave off a deadly coliseum kind of look. We entered through the wide entrance, where we were then led to another room through a narrow corridor. There were three other rooms in the area, one for each team. Ours was painted crismon since it was our team color, and the other rooms were also painted in their team colors respectively.

Within each room was a TV, a table, a couch large enough to fit exactly 5 people, and a whiteboard. I assume the TV was for watching the other battles, while the whiteboard was for strategizing and such. In addition, several platters of fruit were placed on the table, along with a variety of mana elixirs.

In one word, the room could be described as - beautiful. The furniture was all exquisitely designed, and reflected our team color very well. Since I didn't eat breakfast, I picked up an apple and took a bite out of it after using Detect Poison, the Level One Poison Element spell, to check whether or not there was any poison. Of course, I didn't say my incantation out loud, lest the girls start calling me paranoid. My theory was, it never hurt to be more careful.

That aside, the apple was delicious. I've eaten apples before, but none of them were as sweet and fresh as this one. It was clear all the items in this room was top-tier, and I honestly wasn't used to such luxurious treatment. I plopped down on the centre of the couch, and sighed in relaxation. The fabric was smooth, and whatever was used as filling was soft and comfy.

"Man, this is pretty comfortable," I mused. "You guys come give it a try as well."

I beckoned the girls to try sitting on the couch as well. Qing Yue was the first, and hopped onto the couch after taking off her shoes, revealing a pair of alluring white stockings. She jumped a couple of times as if testing the spring of the couch, and eventually settled down.

"How is it?" I asked.

"Hm..." she appeared deep in thought. However, to my surprise, she then scooted closer to me and eased herself onto my lap.

"Uh...Qing Yue?" I said anxiously.

"Ehehe~Big Brother Xuan Kai's lap is the best seat after all," she replied happily. Seeing her cute smile, I sighed and let her be. Sensing my tension released, Qing Yue leaned back into my chest, and I patted her head with a smile.

After a short while, I noticed the other three girls staring at us in disdain. I began sweating profusely and quickly made Qing Yue get off my lap. She was kind of disappointed, but I was more scared of the three girls and what they would do to me had I not stopped. I was so lost in admiring her brilliant white hair that I didn't even see the venomous glares I was receiving.

"Er...you guys want to try sitting on the couch?" I asked, breaking the awkward silence.

The three girls exchanged glances with each other, and wordlessly sat down on either side of me. I was now squished between four gorgeous girls, Qing Yue and Feng Mian on my right while Yu An Yan and Yu An Xue were on my left.

After a while, just when I was thinking I couldn't bear the pressure and awkward silence anymore, my godfather saved me. The TV screen before us flicked to life, and Song Qian Long, our school's principal, appeared within the frame. He seemed to be in the large announcer platform suspended off the back wall of the Arena. A loud ceremonial music began playing in the background, and when it stopped, Song Qian Long spoke.

"Welcome, everyone, to the final stage of Shenzhen Magic High School's Year 2022 Advancement Exams!"

I clenched my fists, all other thoughts forgotten.

Xuan Kun...it's time to settle the debt you owe me once and for all.