That was an indisputable fact.
Everyone around her thought so, and she believed it herself.
Setting aside the support she received from her family background,
Takagi Saya considered herself an absolute, unquestionable genius when it came to academics.
By her second year of middle school, she had already mastered the entire middle school curriculum.
She passed the Fujimi Academy entrance exam with the highest score, skipping her third year of middle school to become a first-year high school student.
Even in high school, where the coursework was slightly more challenging, she still easily secured the top rank in her grade.
However, just as she was planning to skip another grade last year, she discovered that annoying guy in her class.
Su Yan!
He was a classmate who had entered the school at the same time as her.
She was first in the grade, and he was second.
Initially, she shouldn't have had much to do with him, until she accidentally discovered that aside from history, Su Yan—the runner-up—had perfect scores in every single subject.
How was that possible?
How could someone who spent class time either sleeping or skipping school achieve such grades?
Excluding history, there wasn't a single subject where she could beat him.
The girl felt her pride as a genius being ruthlessly trampled.
Since then, she had completely abandoned any thoughts of skipping grades.
She poured all her effort into defeating Su Yan in every subject, wanting to stand before him as a victor and mock him mercilessly.
Unfortunately, even after starting their second year in the same class by coincidence, Takagi Saya still hadn't achieved her goal.
It was precisely because she viewed him as the ultimate rival she had to surpass.
That was why she cared so much about what Su Yan had just said, and why she didn't hesitate to follow him the moment he left the classroom.
She followed behind the pair until she saw Su Yan and Miyamoto Rei enter the infirmary one after the other.
Takagi Saya was stunned.
But Miyamoto Rei, who was inside the infirmary with Su Yan, was just as confused.
'Didn't we agree to go on a date?'
'Why did he bring me to the infirmary?'
'I was just saying that...'
'It's not like I'm actually feeling unwell.'
'He couldn't have brought me here just to mess with my cowlick, could he?'
She clearly had more interesting parts of her body than a cowlick, yet he usually only focused on playing with those two strands of hair on her head.
It was so frustrating!
Su Yan didn't know what the girl was thinking, but he was satisfied that Miyamoto Rei had followed him.
As mentioned before, due to the anime plot he had watched before transmigrating, Su Yan had some negative stereotypes about her.
Although his opinion of her had gradually improved through their shared secrets and the past two weeks spent together, completely erasing those stereotypes wouldn't happen overnight.
Therefore, this action was his final test for her.
After discovering that the zombie crisis was about to break out, he could have just pulled her out of the classroom directly.
But he chose not to; instead, he left the choice to her.
He had only casually said, "Let's go."
If she could ignore the strange looks from the rest of the class and choose to follow him, he would consider her one of his own from now on.
After all, a girl choosing to walk away with you for no reason in front of everyone in the classroom...
...was far more precious than sending a "Wanna play?" on a chat app...
...and having a friend jump online to accompany you.
Of course, if Miyamoto Rei hadn't followed him, she would have just been an NPC passerby with whom he had a brief history.
Perhaps, because he had spent the last two weeks messing with her hair, Su Yan wouldn't have minded helping her once when the zombie virus broke out at Fujimi Academy.
But that would have been the extent of it.
Fortunately, Miyamoto Rei chose the former.
However, after entering the infirmary, Su Yan didn't attend to Miyamoto Rei immediately.
Instead, he saw Marikawa Shizuka sleeping face-down on the infirmary desk.
Su Yan hurried forward, slid his hands under Marikawa Shizuka's arms, and lifted her up before tossing her onto the infirmary bed.
Then, he saw a pair of very bouncy mounds swaying up and down.
"Eh?"
Marikawa Shizuka opened her eyes and saw Su Yan. Snapping out of her daze, she said, "Oh, it's little Su Yan. Why did you skip class to come see me again today?"
"Shizuka-nee, how many times have I told you? Don't sleep on the desk!"
Su Yan stepped forward and pinched Marikawa Shizuka's cheeks. His gaze drifted slightly toward her chest as he said with mock annoyance, "What if you flatten my treasures? If that happens, don't blame me for abandoning you, Shizuka-nee."
That was a lie!
With a doting airhead like Marikawa Shizuka, even if he hadn't contracted her, he would never abandon her unless he was out of his mind.
Marikawa Shizuka knew this well, but she still played along with his words.
She leaned in and hugged him, putting on a tearful, pitiful expression. "Little Su Yan, pwease don't! You absolutely can't abandon your Shizuka-nee!"
"I was just thinking, aren't the infirmary beds for the students to rest?"
"Even if I'm a teacher, wouldn't I be a total salary thief if I hogged the beds meant for students?"
Su Yan pushed her head away with a 'disdainful' look as she clung to him. "Tell me, is it possible that you already became a salary thief the moment you decided to slack off and nap during work hours?"
"Eh? Really?"
Marikawa Shizuka's golden eyes widened instantly as she looked at Su Yan in disbelief.
Su Yan replied expressionlessly, "Of course. If you don't believe me, ask someone else."
"How can this be? I... I..."
Marikawa Shizuka: [I'm already crying from panic.jpg]
Seeing this, Su Yan patted Marikawa Shizuka's head and comforted her, "But you don't need to worry, Shizuka-nee, because starting today, you're unemployed."
After all, once the zombie virus completely broke out across the country, the currency would be nothing more than waste paper. Anyone still trying to work a normal job would be the crazy one.
"Eh?"
Su Yan's consolation was nice, but it stung a little. Marikawa Shizuka was completely stunned by his words.
She had only taken a nap at work; it wasn't like she had committed some heinous crime.
How could she suddenly be told she was losing her job?
Marikawa Shizuka instinctively clung to Su Yan's arm and acted spoiled. "If I'm unemployed, then little Su Yan, you have to take care of me! I promise I'll never sleep on the desk again!"
"Um..."
Miyamoto Rei watched the two of them act like nobody else was there, feeling increasingly out of place.
If she didn't speak up soon, she feared she'd end up hiding under the bed just to listen to them interact.
She gently poked Su Yan's arm with her index finger and asked a bit reservedly, "Su Yan-kun, can I ask what exactly we're doing in the infirmary?"
Su Yan casually uttered a single word: "Wait."
Miyamoto Rei was confused. "Wait?"
"That's right."
Su Yan nodded.
Waiting for Busujima Saeko's arrival.
They had agreed on this beforehand—if anything unusual happened at Fujimi Academy...
They would immediately gather at the infirmary where Marikawa Shizuka was located.
Beyond that, the 'wait' Su Yan mentioned also referred to waiting for the zombie virus to fully erupt within the school.
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]