After returning to our own Base — or rather, Class A's — that night, I met up with Ming Hao and Long Lu once more in the meeting room.

Placing the Flags I had stolen on the table, I prompted for Ming Hao to take them. He did, gratefully.

"Good work, Xuan Kai," Long Lu praised. "I thought you just had a good head on your shoulders, but your magic is no joke either, huh? Normally, other people, even Shadow Magic specialists, can only hold Invisibility for a minute at most. But you stood there for nearly two."

"Ah… about that, I have a Magic Artifact that helped me, that's why," I replied.

"Oh… is that so?" Ming Hao smirked suggestively, and I shot him a glare.

"Haha, I see, I see… but that really was brilliant. I saw the whole thing happening… it seems Class C thinks Class B stole their Flags, huh?"

I nodded. "We just got lucky, really. If those two classes hadn't fallen apart at that exact moment, it might not have worked out this well."

"Tomorrow, a big battle is bound to happen," Ming Hao analyzed. "What do we do, Xuan Kai?"

I scoffed. "Is that even a question? We third-party it, of course. While they are busy fighting one another… we'll sneak in from behind and steal the Flags of both teams. Class B's Flags should be resetting in a few hours at midnight, after all."

"I see… that will indeed put us at a huge advantage."

"Oh yeah, don't forget to send someone over to Class D's Base to retrieve the 5 flags that will be spawning at the same time," I reminded.

"Don't worry about that," Long Lu interjected. "I'll head over right now and wait for them to spawn, then bring them over once they do. I'm not really needed here anymore anyway, haha…"

Saying this, he left the room, leaving Ming Hao and I alone. I quickly put up a sound barrier so I could speak to him privately, in case anyone was trying to eavesdrop from the outside. Seeing me do this, Ming Hao laughed.

"What, Xuan Kai, want to talk to me more?"

"Mhm." I nodded. "I just want to know… why are you helping me like this?"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm sure some people in your class will be unhappy with you after the results of this exam. You'll be placed last, and some people will possibly even be expelled. Is it really worth it?"

"You helped Class A in the previous exam. It's only natural we help you in return here. And if someone does end up getting expelled, well… there's nothing I can do about that. I've already made up my mind to help you, but…"

"… But?"

"There are some in this class that don't listen to me still. If I were to tell them the truth about letting you take all our Flags right before the exam ends, someone — or rather, most people — will try to interfere."

"I don't blame them. They want to win — it's only natural."

"Yeah, but you can't just throw away your morals just because of that. You helped us get first — we'll help you do the same."

I scoffed. "Morals… what even are they, in this world where dog eats dog, and the only law is strength?"

"Well, there is an alternative, if you really feel bad about someone from Class A getting expelled," Ming Hao said with a evil chuckle.

"I don't feel bad about anything, but I'll hear you out," I said with a neutral expression plastered over my face like some sort of statue.

Ming Hao smirked. "Think about it. If we take so many flags from the other two teams and make sure they don't make a comeback when the exam's about to end… you can take just enough Flags so that Class D wins, while still letting Class A stay in second. How about it?"

"Sorry, not happening."

"Yeah, thought so. Ha!"

"… The amount of class points we receive is based on the score we get in the exam, not the final placements. I deduced this from the previous exam. And besides… if I take just enough to win, there won't be that 'shock' factor there. Remember, my goal is to make everyone think it was just some kind of bug in the system; a miscalculation on the school's part. That's how ridiculous the final standings have to be, and how overwhelmingly Class D must win. Otherwise, we'll start to get targeted."

"I see… that makes sense."

"…"

We both fell into a tranquil silence. It wasn't awkward by any means, but actually rather peaceful. The air in the room was gentle and calm, allowing the two of us to just sit there and appreciate the quietness.

But as usual, peaceful moments like this could never last long with me around.

"Hey, Xuan Kai. Wanna fight?"

I slowly turned my head up to stare at him. "… Come again?"

"I'm not kidding. The last time we fought, you won. I've always wanted to get back at you for that. Now that we're both stronger, let's compete once more. Who will reign victor this time?"

I sighed and stood up, before turning around so that I was facing away from him.

"… Sorry, not interested."

"Aw, c'mon!" He pouted. "F-Fine, how about this — if I lose my virginity before you, you have to fight me. How about that?"

… I don't think this guy realizes I already lost mine, and I have about ten girls surrounding me…

As I stared at him awkwardly, he realized his mistake.

"Oh, man! What am I thinking! I just challenged a harem god in the art of losing virginity!" He clawed at his head, slamming it against his desk.

Seeing this pitiful state of his, I couldn't help but chuckle lightly.

"Alright, alright… tell you what. If you find a girlfriend before this school year ends, I'll fight you again."

"R-Really? No holding back?"

I scoffed. "What are you, a masochist? I won't hold back."

"Hell yeah! Just you wait, Xuan Kai, I'll snag myself a girlfriend before you even know it, hahahah!"

"… Sure. But don't just find a random girl to call your girlfriend just because you want to fight me. Find someone who you genuinely love…"

"Pfft…" Ming Hao did his best to stifle his laughter.

I narrowed my gaze. "What?"

"N-Nothing, it's just… you, of all people, out here giving love advice? I'm sorry, I just can't…"

Rolling my eyes, I headed out the door after canceling my sound barrier.

"Good night!" Ming Hao hollered from inside the room.

"… Good night."

*****

After taking a shower in the bathroom building, I headed over to the building where all the Class Ds were supposed to stay every night. Inside, beds were laid out across the three floors, but apparently, the girls had saved the topmost floor for themselves and me.

Usually, this building was supposed to be a training dojo and place to meditate or cultivate, but it wasn't too necessary at the moment.

"… What's the meaning of this?" I asked as I stared at the scene unfolded before me.

Eight individual beds had been neatly placed side by side, forming one large bed, essentially. A ninth bed was placed off in the corner, which I automatically assumed was for Obsidia, and the tenth bed was on the opposite side. Lin Luo, of course.

"Heehee, Big Brother Xuan Kai, come here~" Qing Yue giggled seductively, pulling me down onto the bed so that I was lying right beside her. Then, she leaned in by my ear and whispered softly.

"You said you would do it with me too, didn't you~?"

"… That's after we return," I quickly replied, pulling away from her.

Qing Yue smiled and turned to the others. "C'mon, everyone. Feng Mian and Mei Gui both have already kissed Big Brother Xuan Kai on the lips already, getting ahead of the rest of us. I think it's about time we do the same. Isn't that right?"

The girls, apart from Mei Gui and Feng Mian, all blushed and looked away (save for Lin Luo and Obsidia, who just snorted in response and did their best to sleep despite the noise).

Qing Yue flashed a dazzling smile and turned back to me. "See? C'mon, Big Brother Xuan Kai… it's not fair if you only do it to two of us."

"Uh…"

"Unless…" Qing Yue leaned in once more so only I could hear what she was saying. "… You want me to tell them about what happened on that night?"

I stared at her in response. "Are you… threatening me?"

Qing Yue smiled seductively. "Perhaps."

"…"

This girl… she's really grown from that innocent little sister, huh?

Well… I've already made up my mind to just accept all these girls around me anyway. No more running away. No more of that 'dragging them into my mess' bullshit. They're already in far too deep to leave now, anyway.

I suddenly pulled Qing Yue closer, bringing my mouth to hers. Her eyes widened slightly, but she didn't resist and instead wrapped her arms around me.

I forced her mouth open and slipped inside using my tongue, exploring every slippery nook and warm cranny of the wet interior. Her tongue entangled around mine, and we practically fought to see whose would be on top.

After a long while of deep kissing, I finally pulled away. I had gotten hard, but I wasn't going to go all the way with them today. It just wasn't the time.

"You're surprisingly good at this, Qing Yue."

"Hehe~" She giggled evilly. "You are too, Big Brother Xuan Kai~"