Chapter 12: Fate
Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Editor: PlumSauce
Yun Yingzhi felt dazed and bewildered. He had already forgotten how he managed to get back to the dorm. His mind was now filled with one thing—Wei Yuanqing could read minds. He could read minds. He could read minds.
Wei Yuanqing could read minds—what did that even mean? He recalled not long ago when Wei Yuanqing had held him gently in his hands, those tranquil eyes as deep as a forest locking onto his, asking him question after question. What had he asked again?
Yun Yingzhi shook his head, forcing himself to stay composed. Those were just rumors without solid proof, spread around by gossip. No way. Impossible. He thought in despair that if Wei Yuanqing truly could read minds, then he must already know that he wasn’t a real little white rabbit—that he was actually a human.
Yun Yingzhi thought he couldn’t face Wei Yuanqing anymore. Sniffling, he fought the urge to bang his head against the wall and forced himself to calm down. It had only been half a day, yet he felt like too much had happened today.
Rather than thinking about all these miserable things, he might as well focus on finding ways to earn more money, take revenge on that scumbag Huai Boshe, score higher than him on exams, beat him in real combat, and find himself a better partner.
Under the worried gazes of his three roommates, Yun Yingzhi opened his personal terminal, planning to see if there were any good ways to make money. But before he knew it, he had opened the school forum instead.
The moment the page loaded, the first thing he saw were three familiar characters: His Highness Elvis.
Instinctively, he tapped into the post. The original poster had written that His Highness Elvis had been holding an adorable little white rabbit today—one just as cute as their school’s most beautiful student’s second form.
Yun Yingzhi’s little bunny face fell as he scrolled through the comments below. Many people were saying that the little white rabbit in His Highness Elvis’s arms was their dream bunny and that they wanted to know where to buy a rabbit that looked so much like the school beauty’s second form.
Yun Yingzhi’s three roommates kept sneaking glances at him.
When Yun Yingzhi, blushing furiously, finally closed the post, his roommate Ji Xiaobo couldn’t hold back and said, “Yingzhi, your second form looks exactly like the little white rabbit His Highness Elvis was holding! Change into it—let’s see if there’s any difference!”
Yun Yingzhi said, “No, stop messing around!”
After firmly rejecting them, he hesitated a bit and did a search instead.
Wei Yuanqing, mind reading.
After digging through a few threads, he found plenty of related posts, but none with solid evidence. They only speculated that Wei Yuanqing might possess that ability.
Yun Yingzhi’s already burning cheeks grew even hotter. Soon, his attention was completely diverted by Yu Feiwen’s next comment. Yu Feiwen looked at him and said, “By the way, Yingzhi, congratulations to your little sister.”
Yun Yingzhi was startled. “My sister?”
Yun Yingyao? He figured it must be about the Ranking Battle.
Yu Feiwen said, “Yeah, Lieutenant Colonel Allen from the Seventh Corps came to our academy today to recruit students for a special mission. Normally, they’d never pick a first-year student, but thanks to Huai Boshe’s recommendation, Yun Yingyao was chosen too.”
Yun Yingzhi’s eyelids twitched hard. The commanding general of the Seventh Corps was General Huai. Huai Boshe, being General Huai’s son, carried weight whether he intended to or not. Every word he said held real influence.
Yun Yingzhi asked, “What kind of mission?”
Ji Xiaobo shook his head. “No idea.” After a pause, he added, “But I heard that most of the upperclassmen who qualified for the Ranking Battle were also chosen.” His face showed deep admiration.
Jing Haomiao said, “They’re not leaving right away though. They’re just confirming the roster. They’ll depart at the end of this month.”
Yun Yingzhi was silent for a moment, then said softly, “…So, at the end of the month, Huai Boshe and A-Yao will be going to the military headquarters together?”
Yu Feiwen nodded, then shook his head. “Not just them. A lot of upperclassmen will be going too.”
One roommate said that unless someone was as outstanding as Elvis, a first-year student almost never got selected. The fact that Yun Yingyao was selected was entirely thanks to Huai Boshe.
“Yun Yingyao is indeed impressive,” another added, “but she’s still far from matching His Highness Elvis in the past.”
In the end, it all came down to one thing—Yun Yingyao got this opportunity because of Huai Boshe. None of the three roommates knew about the delicate relationship between Yun Yingzhi and Huai Boshe, so they kept congratulating him.
Yun Yingzhi bitterly thought, So basically, Huai Boshe would be taking this beloved little sister away into their own two-person world—sweet and intimate. His own account was still empty1, and his revenge was nowhere in sight. He felt a bit mad. Yun Yingzhi pressed his lips together and stopped thinking about them, turning his attention back to searching for ways to make money.
When it came to earning money, Yun Yingzhi had always relied on Alvin’s help in the past. Now, he had to depend entirely on himself. He soon came across a job listing.
Waiter wanted. Working hours: 9 p.m. to 12 a.m. Hourly wage: 100 credits. Requirements: high school education or above, decent appearance, under 26 years old…
Yun Yingzhi calculated—300 a night, not even 10,000 a month.
He kept looking. He didn’t find any job that really suited him, but instead stumbled upon a trending topic. Each year, the Yaoming Group hosts a source-weapon manufacturing tournament, open to everyone regardless of level.
The Starshine Competition followed an elimination format—divided into preliminaries, qualifiers, semifinals, finals, and the grand final. The top 100 competitors all received prize money based on their final ranking. It wasn’t uncommon for unknown source-weapon makers to rise to fame overnight through this competition. Once they gained recognition, the weapons they made afterward would sell for much higher prices.
In the past, Yun Yingzhi had never dared to take part in such contests, mainly because General Yun and Madam Yun didn’t approve. He never saw a reason to go against his parents’ wishes.
But now…
To allow unrestricted participation and to discover the strongest source-weapon makers from across the Empire, the annual Starshine Competition fulfilled every possible need of its contestants—even allowing them to compete anonymously.
There were no entry barriers for the preliminary round. Yun Yingzhi thought that if he entered the competition anonymously, General Yun and Madam Yun would never find out—and thus, they would have no reason to be angry. He then looked at the prize list, the thing that concerned him most right now.
Every year, source-weapon makers from all over the Empire gathered on the Imperial Star for the tournament. During that time, the whole planet became filled with source-weapon craftsmen. Since the major families of the Empire sponsored the event as a way to advertise themselves, the prize pool was enormous.
The first-place prize alone reached eight figures.
An eight-figure prize, Yun Yingzhi thought, that would be enough for him to forge a Level 8 source weapon.
But… only one.
In his mind, a single source weapon wouldn’t be nearly enough to stand against Huai Boshe. He’d need several. Still, if he could build a reputation through the tournament and successfully sell his work, the money he earned afterward should allow him to craft a second and even a third weapon.
Of course, the chances of him actually winning first place in the Starshine Competition were… almost nonexistent.
Yun Yingzhi continued reading through the prize details.
First place: a gold trophy and 18 million credits.
Second place: a silver trophy and 8 million credits.
Third place: a bronze trophy and 3 million credits.
Fourth through tenth place: a medal of honor and 1 million credits.
Eleventh through one hundredth place: participation awards with varying amounts of prize money.
Even without the top prizes, two things made the tournament irresistible. First was fame. Thanks to the tournament’s prestige, even those who only received participation awards would still gain a following, and their weapons would sell easily. The second reason—the one that tempted Yun Yingzhi the most—was this: During the preliminary round, each contestant had to supply their own crafting materials. After that, starting from the qualifier round, participants became eligible for special sponsorships.
There were three types of sponsorships. The first was from the tournament organizers themselves, who would cover 60% of the material costs for every participant entering the qualifiers.
The second was from sponsors. Various powerful factions throughout the Empire would select contestants they favored, obtain their contact information from the organizers, and sponsor them directly based on their situation. This kind of sponsorship depended entirely on personal luck.
The third type of sponsorship came from fans. Starting from the preliminary round, every match was broadcast live. Viewers could send monetary gifts to their favorite contestants, and the total amount would be split fifty-fifty with the organizers. Because of the live broadcasts, every year some source-weapon makers would show up dressed extravagantly, hoping to attract attention.
As the second young master of General Yun’s household, however, Yun Yingzhi could never join any faction. He was most tempted by the tournament’s material sponsorship and the idea of fan donations. He didn’t have much confidence in how much he could actually earn from fan donations, but even a little was better than nothing.
Starting from the preliminary round, after each match ended, the organizers—if granted permission by the contestant—would auction off the weapons forged during the competition. Based on past experience, due to the excitement surrounding the tournament, the source weapons crafted during the matches usually sold for far higher prices than usual.
Yun Yingzhi opened the official website for the Starshine Source Weapon Manufacturing Tournament and decided to sign up. Come to think of it, Yun Yingzhi mused, this might just be another subtle twist of fate. The Starshine Competition was a project under the Yaoming Group—and the current head of Yaoming Group’s operations was none other than Wei Yuanqing’s father.
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