Chapter 86

In the real world, the summer heat was unbearable.

Two girls sat inside a milk tea shop with the air conditioning blasting, casually playing with their phones.

One of them suddenly asked, "Yanyan, have you seen the latest plot for Ability Hunter?"

Lin Yan looked up at her best friend, Liu Kena.

The two were currently out for a day of fun. From visiting the amusement park to checking out a trendy "influencer" restaurant, then seeing a 3D movie at the cinema, and finally arriving at this milk tea shop for a break—Lin Yan’s day had been extremely full. But even during a mid-day break, the two girls seemingly had no intention of letting a chance for gossip slip by.

Lin Yan tucked her stray hair behind her ear and took a sip of her milk tea through the straw. "No. Didn't summer break just start? I was busy with final exams a while ago, so I haven't had any time to read it."

"Is that so..." Liu Kena sounded a bit melancholic.

Lin Yan couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "Did something happen? Is that old hack Yuexia up to his usual tricks again?"

As a veteran reader of Yuexia Cao, Lin Yan had a love-hate relationship with the talented mangaka.

She loved Yuexia Cao’s exquisite art style, excellent characterization, and the way he wove foreshadowing throughout the story. She hated the occasional "insane" plot innovations, the oppressive atmosphere he’d build up for no reason, and the cliché tropes that had permeated the early chapters.

Thinking of this, Lin Yan suddenly dazed for a moment.

As of today, Ability Hunter Academy had been out for over a year. Although it wasn't well-received when it first launched, it had now become one of the stable, high-popularity shonen manga on KuMan.

The old hack Yuexia hadn't "broken down" and stopped updating like he used to with his short-form manga; instead, he maintained a steady weekly release schedule.

While it couldn't compete with pillar-level veteran manga like Mist City in terms of plot and update security, the results were exceptionally good for a newcomer’s first long-form shonen series.

Lin Yan felt from the bottom of her heart: Ability Hunter only needed one more opportunity to become a new pillar of the site.

"Then, how far have you read?"

Liu Kena didn't answer directly, but instead asked about her friend’s progress.

"Ah... let me think." Lin Yan recalled with some difficulty. "I think it was where the protagonist and Ji Qing’s team joined up. Because Ji Qing suddenly dropped out of the spotlight and the plot turned into a two-man show between the protagonist and the transfer student, I couldn't stand it and put it on hold..."

Lin Yan’s favorite character was Ji Qing.

She had fallen in love with the "cold on the outside, warm on the inside" S-Class Valedictorian the moment he stepped in to help the protagonist. Not to mention, his appearance during the ability test was truly heroic. However, the stronger a character was, the more the old hack Yuexia seemed to hide them away...

Up to Lin Yan’s current progress, Ji Qing’s appearances were few and far between.

The Ability Hunter forum had only managed to successfully deduce Ji Qing’s character profile a few chapters after the new Class S gathered. This revelation had successfully backstabbed countless fanfic creators; the Valedictorian's personality was just too different from the traditional No. 1 character archetype in hot-blooded shonen manga.

But Lin Yan didn't mind.

This current "alive" Valedictorian, with his massive gap between his appearance and personality, hit her specific preferences perfectly. There were far too few characters like this in shonen manga, and there was no need to strictly follow the usual tropes, right?

Still... Lin Yan suddenly sighed. "It’s quite a nostalgic feeling."

She had been following Ability Hunter for over a year.

Although the progress of her reading was often affected by competitions, exams, and skill training, she was still following it. By the year she graduated university, Ability Hunter might become a symbol of her student days.

"Oh my god." Liu Kena looked troubled. She complained like a deflated balloon, "Then I think I should wait until you finish reading. Why did you stop right at that specific plot point? Do you not love your favorite anymore?"

Her best friend's unexpected reaction piqued Lin Yan’s curiosity.

Lin Yan asked strangely, "So, the old hack really is up to something?"

"It’s not exactly 'up to something,'" Liu Kena hesitated. "It’s just... you know my favorite is Li Yuan, right?"

Lin Yan nodded. "Yes."

She didn't just know her friend was a hardcore fan of Li Yuan; she also knew her friend was a major fanwork creator in the Li Yuan fandom. Compared to Lin Yan, who was "content-less" because she found her own writing bland, her friend produced fan content quickly and it was always delicious.

Lin Yan followed the Li Yuan fandom closely because of this.

She had even thought about dragging her friend into the Ji Qing fandom—not asking for a change of heart, but just hoping her friend could produce a little bit of content for him.

"And then..." Liu Kena’s expression became quite complicated. Still holding the attitude of "a bestie doesn't trick a bestie," she asked quickly, "I’m going to spoil a bit of the plot. Is that okay with you?"

"That’s fine," Lin Yan said nonchalantly.

She didn't care about spoilers at all.

If she had insisted on no spoilers, Lin Yan would have dropped Ability Hunter Academy before the end of Volume 2. The early plot of Volume 2 was awkward and flamboyant; if it hadn't been for a "spoiler carrot" dangling in front of her, she would have abandoned the manga long ago.

"Very well—" Liu Kena closed her eyes and gritted her teeth. "It’s just—my favorite and your favorite might be the same person!!!"

"Cough, cough, cough..."

Lin Yan, who had just bitten into a tapioca pearl, nearly choked.

She coughed hurriedly, ignoring the startled looks from the surrounding customers, and stood up in shock, shouting, "What on earth? Yuexia Cao must be crazy! How could those two be the same person?"

"Even if Xie Chang’an and Zhou Que were the same person, Li Yuan and Ji Qing could never be the same person!!!"

Lin Yan poured out all her thoughts in one breath.

Only then did she realize that the customers in the milk tea shop were all staring at her. Lin Yan hurriedly lowered her head and apologized awkwardly. "Sorry, sorry, I got a bit emotional... ignore me... sorry for the trouble..."

Once the surrounding eyes had shifted away, Lin Yan stared at her friend like a hungry wolf. "Is that true?"

What she was referring to, of course, was not "Li Yuan and Ji Qing are the same person," but rather "has the old hack's plot really developed to this point?".

Her friend nodded heavily. "That’s why I think you’d better go see for yourself..."

Lin Yan sat back in her seat dazed, murmuring softly, "How should I put it, we really are best friends... Wait, if the old hack actually drew this plot, is he going for a threesome dynamic? A trio ship...?"

"No, I have to take a look tonight. How did that damn hack pull this kind of nonsense out of his hat...?"

Seeing this, Liu Kena said timidly, "To be honest, a trio... I might not be against it."

"No—I won't allow it—" Upon hearing this, Lin Yan was like a kernel of popcorn exploding in a pan, shouting angrily, " I will stick to my single-character stan! My favorite shall not be defiled by anyone! I was born to be a solo stan, unless it’s self-cest—otherwise, I won't ship it!!!"

Liu Kena fell silent. "..."

At that moment, Liu Kena suddenly recalled the "self-cest" theories on the forums. She said with a strange expression, "Then that’s perfect. We happen to have a 'pseudo-self-cest' pair right here, and I'm currently producing content for them. By the time you finish the latest chapter, my fanwork should be ready."

Lin Yan was completely bewildered. "???"

The conversation in the milk tea shop had completely reignited Lin Yan’s motivation to read the manga.

Lin Yan had originally intended to save up more chapters, but since the plot of Ability Hunter had taken such an absurd turn, she definitely had to check it out. Lin Yan was a hardcore solo stan; that was why she delved into shonen manga in the first place.

She loved the pure friendship between boys and girls that had nothing to do with romance.

But Lin Yan really hadn't expected Yuexia Cao to turn a hot-blooded shonen manga into something like this. Lin Yan frowned as she turned on her computer: What kind of plot could make my friend feel like Li Yuan and Ji Qing are the same person?

She had only missed a dozen or so chapters; why did it feel like she had missed an entire volume?

But when Lin Yan clicked on the familiar manga directory, realization dawned on her face: she really had missed an entire volume’s worth of plot.

Volume 4 of Ability Hunter Academy was finished.

While Lin Yan was preparing for her finals, Xie Chang’an and the others had finished their Winter Break Practicum. The old hack Yuexia chose to end Volume 4 there. Compared to Volume 3, which covered the ability test, individual competition, and team competition, the length of Volume 4 returned to the length of the first two volumes.

"I guess only Volume 3 was particularly long?" Lin Yan murmured thoughtfully.

But that wasn't certain.

During the serialization of Volume 3, fans had speculated which plot point the old hack would choose for the ending, but no one expected the usually "short" author to push all the way to the eve of the winter break practicum. This led fans to exclaim: "As expected, Xie Chang’an is the protagonist."

Lin Yan had been very happy about that at the time.

Previously, when Li Yuan’s popularity overwhelmed all the other characters, she had been worried: Will the old hack Yuexia specifically chase the hype, forcing Li Yuan to stay on screen and making the other characters mere foils for him?

Mainly, Li Yuan was just too popular.

Eighty percent of the current hype for Ability Hunter Academy was provided by Li Yuan. This man had successfully broken out of the niche, and his character design was incredibly charming. In contrast, Xie Chang’an’s character felt quite plain.

In today's shonen manga, growth-type protagonists are common.

It was hard for Xie Chang’an to stand out among a crowd of growth-type leads, especially since the current trend had shifted from "growth-type" to "genius-type" protagonists. Given the poor economic situation and high life stress, people weren't very willing to read dark, tragic manga.

But unfortunately, the old hack’s world-building belonged exactly to that category.

"Sigh..." Lin Yan let out a soft sigh.

She didn't dwell on it any longer but quickly composed herself and immersed herself in the world of Ability Hunter. Lin Yan had last seen the chapter "Xie Chang’an and Jiang Cuo’s Adventure in Ning City." Because she had no interest in gang-fighting plots, she had put it aside.

This time, she started reading from the end of that adventure.

When Xie Chang’an and Jiang Cuo returned to the inn in the early morning, they met Ji Qing again. Although for the characters in the manga, this was just a meeting after one night, for Lin Yan outside the manga, it had been nearly two months.

The three engaged in a conversation.

Perhaps influenced by her friend's spoilers, Lin Yan found it more and more suspicious the more she read. Ji Qing’s words really made one hallucinate, seeing him as a parent watching a child return late at night. Lin Yan thought: Is the old hack trying to ride the coattails of Li Yuan’s explosive popularity process?

[Wow, two problem children.]

[I didn't think there was anything wrong before, but isn't this just another 'parent' figure?]

[Not exactly?]

[Ji Qing just can't be bothered to care; he’s still a bit different from Li Yuan.]

[Ji Qing (Zen-like): As long as it doesn't affect the mission, do whatever you want.]

[Exactly, Ji Qing is the captain.]

[Stop calling him a 'parent' all the time. Li Yuan hasn't even been gone long; are you all so eager to find a new dad for Chang’an?]

At this point, the bullet comments suddenly turned a bit aggressive.

Lin Yan frowned. Just from this scene, she could already imagine the "sword-fighting" to come. Li Yuan’s fan base was larger than any other character's, and fanfiction writers almost always focused on the "parental" aspect of his dynamic with the lead.

But now that the core appeal of that dynamic was being given to another character by the author, it was no wonder the Li Yuan fans were getting aggressive.

Lin Yan groaned, "That damn old hack."

In the manga, the group soon returned to the train.

Xie Chang’an, who had been seeing flashes of Li Yuan intentionally or unintentionally, soon began to think about the situation in the quiet carriage: Am I just missing Li Yuan, or do I really think the Valedictorian and Li Yuan are similar?

Xie Chang’an’s gaze couldn't help but linger on Ji Qing.

While loathing himself, he thought desperately: Look, I even think the Valedictorian’s jawline looks just like Li Yuan’s...

[I ship it!]

[Just admit you're missing Li Yuan already (lol).]

[So is this caused by the protagonist's longing?]

[Why do I feel like something is wrong—]

[Chang’an said the jawline is similar, and I think so too. Is this also my imagination?]

[I think the posture is even more similar.]

[???]

[What’s the deal? Is the hack trying to make Ji Qing ride Li Yuan’s hype?]

The manga comments were in a state of chaos.

Lin Yan also instantly sensed that something was off. If the earlier "parent" label was just the author trying to mimic the success of Li Yuan, the overlap between the two now was clearly too high. When Lin Yan recalled what her friend had said, her expression became dazed. "So that’s how it is..."

The old hack wasn't just riding coattails; he was directly planning to blur the lines between the two!!!

"But why do this? What’s the point?" Lin Yan murmured in confusion. "Aren't the labels for these two well-distinguished? Did I miss some chapters? Does he just have to be 'innovative'?"

Wait, no, no—Lin Yan forced herself to think calmly.

Back at the end of Volume 4, she had already seen fellow fans say that the core character designs of "Li Yuan" and "Ji Qing" were essentially very similar. Both were classic "cold exterior, warm interior" types. Perhaps Yuexia Cao wanted to use this "similarity" plot to create a distinction between the two?

"Holy crap, did the old hack lurk on the forums during that time?" Lin Yan suddenly realized.

But from this perspective, Xie Chang’an’s "hallucinations" were quite reasonable. The character anchors for both were similar, so it was easy to see one in the other. Instead of waiting for readers to make blind guesses later, it was better to make a distinction now.

"Pseudo-self-cest?" Lin Yan murmured with a strange look.

Xie Chang’an’s prying was quickly caught by Ji Qing. Seeing this, Jiang Cuo asked like a whispering devil, "Buddy, are you actually gay?"

Xie Chang’an shook his head so hard it was like a rattle.

But Jiang Cuo didn't listen to him at all, flattering Ji Qing like a bootlicker. Seeing this, Xie Chang’an was so annoyed he directly started a scuffle.

The comments instantly became harmonious:

[Jiang Cuo is so fun, haha!]

[I feel like without Jiang Cuo on this trip, the other two wouldn't talk at all.]

[Hahahahahaha!]

[I love the transfer student’s chatterbox personality; he’s practically the class clown.]

But some readers were analyzing the plot seriously:

[This doesn't feel right.

If the earlier part was the author intentionally misleading us, this is now a blatant hint. Do Li Yuan and Ji Qing really have a connection?]

[Have you guys seen the image leak in the latest featured thread on the forum? An expert overlaid the panels of these two and found the jawline really does overlap perfectly. It’s not just the protagonist's hallucination. The key point: only these two overlap; no one else does.]

[So it’s not Xie Chang’an missing Li Yuan, and it’s not the author riding Li Yuan’s hype—do these two actually have a connection?]

[Holy crap, holy crap, I almost got misled by the shippers!]

Lin Yan immediately opened the forum and quickly located the featured thread mentioned in the comments. The original poster had only made one post, but because the implications were so terrifying, other fans had bumped it into a hot thread.

Lin Yan was speechless.

She was both glad she had avoided the forum wars at the time and regretful that she hadn't heard this bombshell news immediately.

In the manga, the fight between Xie Chang’an and Jiang Cuo was stopped by Ji Qing.

Facing the scrutinizing gazes of the two, Xie Chang’an asked awkwardly, "Can I ask... Valedictorian, do you have a brother or something?"

Ji Qing: "No."

Xie Chang’an: "I truly think you look just like someone I know."

Ji Qing: "And yet, I do not think that is possible. I hate it when people scrutinize me, especially when someone is intentionally looking through me to see someone else."

[Ahhhhhhhh!]

[I understand the plot less and less.]

[The Valedictorian says he doesn't have a brother. If he and Li Yuan are so similar, what exactly is going on? Even if they were brothers, having personalities this similar would be weird, right?]

[If they were twins, I think it’s possible...]

[Something is wrong. Are you saying Li Yuan is actually only sixteen or seventeen?]

[This plot is so exciting!]

[+1, I can't stop reading now. It’s so soapy but so addictive.]

[Whether they are brothers or not, I’m shipping the trio.]

In the manga, they soon arrived at Snow City.

Ji Qing took the two to the rental shop to get a car. Along the way, the scenery and geography of Snow City were revealed to the readers. The interaction between the three was quite interesting, especially Ji Qing’s "naturally black-hearted" comment as he drove out of the city: "Why haven't you two said anything for a while? Did you leave something behind in Snow City? Hmm? Why is no one willing to sit in my passenger seat?"

[I’m dying, hahaha!]

[He doesn't even know how scary he is.]

[Feels a bit intentional, like he’s teasing the two in the back.]

[Ji Qing’s character design is so addictive, and combined with his intricate connection to Li Yuan, it’s even better.]

[Honestly... I never thought the plot of a shonen manga could be this addictive...]

[If the old hack intended to bring traffic to the Valedictorian, I admit he won. I’m not angry about him riding Li Yuan’s coattails anymore; I’m just hooked on the melodrama... Plus Xie Chang’an, the three of them form a magnificent 'Grand Triangle'...]

[A triangle is the most stable shape in the world (whispers).]

"Hiss..." Lin Yan took a sharp breath after reading.

But then again, this relationship was really something to savor. Had the old hack evolved? His previous tropes were boring and hard to stomach, but the current manga was melodramatic and addictive. Lin Yan didn't have a shred of worry for her favorite character; she just desperately wanted to see the next chapter.

The beginning of the next chapter introduced some of Ability Hunter’s world-building settings.

After two days of long-distance travel, the three finally arrived at the C-rank Danger Zone where the train wreck was located. While searching the general area given by Liu Mu, Jiang Cuo and Ji Qing had a conversation about the Infected.

Jiang Cuo: "I think they are pitiable. Controlled by Aberrants to the point where they can't even commit suicide—it’s no different from being the living dead. Sometimes I really don't understand why people would harbor the Infected..."

Valedictorian: "Perhaps because you’ve only met those whose mutation stage has reached the late phase. To me, they have simply contracted an acute infectious disease that modern medicine cannot cure."

[Ahhhhhhhh!]

[So they are brothers?]

[Something’s wrong; the Valedictorian emphasized he doesn't have a brother.]

[Then could they be the same person?]

[Impossible; the Valedictorian isn't an Infected, he couldn't have bypassed the infection check.]

[Li Yuan is already a member of the Dawn Society; he definitely has more ways to sneak into the school than the protagonist.]

[Then why intentionally change identities to meet the protagonist?]

[Could it be one of those 'long-lost brothers' scenarios? Where neither knows of the other's existence? And isn't it possible the Valedictorian is lying to Xie Chang’an?]

[Please—the Valedictorian is clearly in a camp friendly to the Infected. If he hated them, it might make sense, but since he’s close to them, why wouldn't he know of Li Yuan’s existence? Is Li Yuan the type of person who would intentionally hide from his relatives?]

[Why not?]

[What exactly is the relationship between these two? It’s so addictive and soapy. And that old hack only updates once a week—is he trying to kill me with suspense?!!!]

Each comment raised a guess, only to be countered by more comments.

Lin Yan’s head was spinning.

"It’s over, bestie..." Lin Yan stared at the frantically scrolling comments, murmuring hollowly, "I’m afraid my life is going to be ruined by Ability Hunter..."

The plot was just too addictive.