Shen Mingtao and Wei Xufeng left, and Mu Chenxing turned to his dormmates. “Why the sudden interest in training with Shen Mingtao? Weren’t you guys against me getting close to him before?”
“That was then, this is now. You’ve got a boyfriend, so no worries,” Tong Xiao said solemnly.
“We’re not trying to hang with Shen Mingtao,” Xia Weizhen added, fidgeting awkwardly.
“Xingxing, when do you start training? Can I come too? Even if I’m not practicing, I can buy water and grab towels for you guys,” Tao Xirui said, shy yet eager.
Mu Chenxing felt a sense of déjà vu.
…When he’d first arrived, these dormmates had dragged him to the Gymnasium just like this.
But he was sure these three had no interest in Shen Mingtao.
He pondered for a few seconds and got it. “Because of Wei Xufeng?”
The three showed varying degrees of bashfulness and squirming.
Mu Chenxing: “…Is he that handsome?”
Tong Xiao: “??? What kind of nonsense is that?”
Xia Weizhen cupped his face. “I think he’s the campus heartthrob of our grade.”
Tao Xirui had a dreamy look. “Handsome and good-tempered! Perfect boyfriend material.”
Mu Chenxing recalled Wei Xufeng’s appearance. His features were indeed fine—eyes that were eyes, nose that was a nose, and fair-skinned, like a screen idol from his original world.
But… such a pretty boy.
He frowned at the three Omegas. “Don’t you guys like powerful, capable Alphas? Wei Xufeng doesn’t look that sturdy.”
Tong Xiao: “He entered as grade rank one, and he was grade rank one in the midterms too!!”
Xia Weizhen: “He’s one of the only two Alphas from our college to make the School Games finals!”
Tao Xirui: “He’s on the basketball team too! Once the upperclassmen graduate, he’ll probably be captain!”
Mu Chenxing: “…”
Whether men or Omegas, humans were all about worshipping the strong, after all.
He muttered, “I made the finals too.”
The three gave him synchronized eye-rolls.
Back in the large classroom, waves of Omega classmates came over to inquire one after another, all beating around the bush about Wei Xufeng. Tong Xiao and the others shooed them away until the end of the big break finally brought some peace.
Mu Chenxing couldn’t help but click his tongue. Did Wei Xufeng have that much charm?
He ignored the buzz on the School Forum. After classes ended that afternoon, as Mu Chenxing reminded Tong Xiao and the others to handle the Association’s running tasks, he got a message from Yuan Hong—the guy told him to rest his hand injury first and come over the weekend to test other events.
Mu Chenxing flipped over his palm, now healed without scabs, and sighed helplessly. He could only reply “Got it” and end the chat.
Thinking of how Pei Yao had disguised himself yesterday to watch his tests, he casually messaged the guy about the delay.
Pei Yao was probably busy and didn’t reply.
Mu Chenxing didn’t mind, turned off his Holo-Screen, and prepared to head out for dinner with Tong Xiao and the others.
When Tong Xiao and the trio heard he didn’t need to go to the Command College that evening, they excitedly urged him to invite Wei Xufeng for night training.
Mu Chenxing’s head throbbed from their nagging. Remembering he’d indeed promised, he opened his Holo-Screen and messaged Shen Mingtao—he only had Shen Mingtao’s contact.
Shen Mingtao didn’t beat around the bush, just replying with a single “Okay.”
Mu Chenxing then went off to eat with his dormmates.
For the eight o’clock run, Mu Chenxing arranged to meet Shen Mingtao and the others at 7:30. No one bothered going back to the dorms; after dinner, they headed straight to the Association activity room, hunkered in a corner doing homework while they waited.
Shen Mingtao and Wei Xufeng arrived right on time.
“Good evening,” Wei Xufeng greeted first.
Shen Mingtao trailed behind with a sour face.
Tong Xiao and the other two let out low gasps and immediately stood, offering stiff smiles.
Mu Chenxing glanced at the barely-contained excitement on Tong Xiao and the others’ faces. Still sitting cross-legged, he pointed at the Dance Machine. “You’re here, so get on the equipment. Play a couple rounds first—let Xia Xia and them see your scores.”
Xia Weizhen and the trio buzzed with excitement. “Sure!”
Shen Mingtao and Wei Xufeng: “?”
Shen Mingtao’s expression soured instantly. He held back his irritation. “We’re here to train, not play around with you guys.”
Mu Chenxing blinked innocently and pointed at Xia Xia. “He’s only trained for two months and ranked 77th in the School Games Precision Strike. If you two trained just two months to get your current scores, you can skip it.”
Shen Mingtao: “…”
Xia Weizhen whispered, “It’s not two months—it’s two months and 14 days.”
Mu Chenxing: “Don’t sweat the details.”
Wei Xufeng looked thoughtful. “So the Omegas in your Association got into the top 500 of the School Games just by grinding these Dance Machines?”
Mu Chenxing: “Yep.”
The three beside him nodded like bobbleheads.
Shen Mingtao: “What child’s play—”
“I’ll give it a try.” Wei Xufeng stepped forward, eyeing the Dance Machines carefully. “We need to crank it to the highest level, right?”
Shen Mingtao froze, then grabbed him. “Don’t! I think he’s getting revenge on us—he’s super petty.”
Tong Xiao and the other two dropped their smiles, glaring furiously at Shen Mingtao.
Mu Chenxing had already ducked his head to check his Holo-Screen. He looked up at that. “If you don’t believe me, leave. I’m not the petty, suspicious one here, and we don’t owe you explanations—Xia Xia, see them out.”
“Sorry, Mingtao didn’t mean it that way. He just has some misunderstanding about Mu Chenxing,” Wei Xufeng said to the three glaring Omegas, pulling Shen Mingtao’s hand down. “Mingtao, apologize.”
Shen Mingtao: “You know what he was like before—”
Mu Chenxing looked up helplessly. “Big bro, the Mu Chenxing you knew is dead.”
Tong Xiao and the other two bristled with righteous indignation:
“People don’t stay the same forever, okay?”
“Xingxing’s not the old Xingxing anymore!”
“And it’s all because you guys bullied him!”
The three Omegas glared daggers, and Shen Mingtao instinctively stepped back.
Wei Xufeng hurriedly explained, “He didn’t mean that. He even helped Mu Chenxing before—he wouldn’t bully anyone. He’s just, uh, a bit—”
“No need to say more.” Mu Chenxing cut them off. “We agreed you’d follow my training. If you can’t, get out—and apologize for wasting our time and ruining our mood.”
Wei Xufeng immediately: “Sorry!”
He even tugged Shen Mingtao.
But Shen Mingtao stared at Mu Chenxing. “You really letting bygones be bygones?” He hesitated, then added tactfully, “I’m really not looking to date right now.”
Mu Chenxing had no clue what had happened before. He just said flatly, “You’re not even on my radar. Don’t worry, I’ve got a boyfriend. Do whatever—just apologize now.”
Tong Xiao planted hands on hips. “Apologize! Our Xingxing’s boyfriend is richer, more mature, more refined than you—way out of your league, you narcissist?!”
Xia Weizhen and the other two kept nodding like bobbleheads.
Mu Chenxing: “…”
Why pause in the middle? His brand-new boyfriend was just better than these two, period.
Wei Xufeng’s gaze swept over Tong Xiao in his sassy pose, then he nudged Shen Mingtao. “Didn’t we agree on this before coming?”
Shen Mingtao gritted his teeth and bowed to Mu Chenxing. “Sorry.”
Tong Xiao and the others eased up a bit, looking to Mu Chenxing.
Mu Chenxing smirked. “Alright, you getting on the equipment or what?”
Wei Xufeng and Shen Mingtao: “Yes!”
Mu Chenxing gestured invitingly.
The two took positions at separate machines, with Tong Xiao and Xia Weizhen helping calibrate them.
Mu Chenxing: “Set to max level.”
“Got it.”
Mu Chenxing: “You three might as well hop on too—let them feel the gap.”
Tong Xiao: “…We can’t, right? They made top 50.”
Wei Xufeng stayed quiet, but Shen Mingtao looked smugly superior—though after offending Mu Chenxing, he kept his mouth shut.
Mu Chenxing had already bent back to his lesson notes. “Not asking you to compete on completion rate. Just let them see how ugly their dancing is.”
Wei Xufeng and Shen Mingtao: “…”
This really wasn’t revenge?
Either way, they had to dance.
After some grumbling, Tong Xiao and the others set five machines to the same level, speed, and song, then started.
The intro music kicked in.
Wei Xufeng and Shen Mingtao were a bit tense. They exchanged glances, peeked at the half-closed door, and relaxed slightly.
Tong Xiao, on the far left, called out: “Ready, three, two, one—”
All five jumped in sync.
Mu Chenxing snuck a glance.
The flanks moved with graceful poise and rhythm, barely missing steps. The middle two—tall, long-legged, flailing like their limbs were brand-new and uncoordinated with their bodies.
He pulled up his Holo-Screen, recorded a clip, shut it off, and went back to studying.
The song lasted under five minutes and soon ended.
The five machines scored: 92, 98, 72, 67, 91.
Tong Xiao and the others panted as they stepped down; Wei Xufeng and Shen Mingtao weren’t even winded—just looking uncomfortable.
Mu Chenxing had appeared behind them unnoticed. He scanned the scores and nodded. “No wonder you made finals. Speed’s solid.”
Wei Xufeng brushed off the awkwardness first. “What’s the point? They got high scores but didn’t make finals.”
Mu Chenxing shook his head, gesturing at the three wiping sweat—those weaklings. He sighed helplessly. “They couldn’t make finals because of stamina. Give them another month, and they’d all qualify.”
Wei Xufeng paused, then got it. “The semifinal Precision Strike lasts half an hour.”
Mu Chenxing nodded grimly. “Yeah, they can only hold peak scores for 15 minutes max. They collapse in the second half.”
Tong Xiao and the others looked anywhere but at him.
Wei Xufeng and Shen Mingtao exchanged looks. The former pressed on. “This has fast speed and rhythm like Precision Strike, but isn’t our dedicated Precision Strike practice even faster?”
Mu Chenxing: “Add me as a friend. I’ll send you the video.”
Wei Xufeng didn’t hesitate, friending him on the spot.
Shen Mingtao wavered, then mumbled weakly, “Me too.”
Mu Chenxing eyed him. “Fine.”
He sent it over. They opened it immediately.
Seconds later, both cringed, eyes squeezing shut at their own stiff, robotic ugliness.
Mu Chenxing huffed. “Didn’t tell you to watch yourselves. Look at Xia Xia and them.”
They reopened, enduring the embarrassment to check the three Omegas beside them—
And actually blushed a little.
Five minutes of jumping without blushing, but now they did?!
Mu Chenxing snapped, “Not to admire the Omegas’ dance moves!!”
The three involved flushed too.
Wei and Shen apologized in unison.
“What exactly are we looking at?” Shen Mingtao couldn’t hold back.
Mu Chenxing: “Movement paths.”
The two Alphas blinked blankly, rewatching the video.
“…Just, the dance moves?” Wei Xufeng ventured.
Mu Chenxing: “…”
He fired up his Holo-Screen, projecting onto the room’s lone white wall at reduced speed, and began breaking it down—
“Xia Xia and them never studied dance. They just coordinate well, syncing their limbs.”
“You brute-force it with speed and power. Your bodies are too rigid—no flow between moves, lacking smoothness. Even if your eyes catch it, your body can’t keep up…”
“Like here: you gotta bend at the waist so your hands hit these pads just right. Then, from that crouch, you explode up to kick the back ones, freeing your arms for the next sequence…”
Wei and Shen grew riveted, even mimicking swings and kicks mid-explanation.
By the time Mu Chenxing finished dissecting the whole song, their eyes shone.
Mu Chenxing wrapped up. “In your state, I suggest starting at the slowest level.”
No arguments this time. “Got it,” they chorused.
Mu Chenxing checked the time. “Two more songs tonight. Get a feel—no chasing accuracy yet. Focus on coordinating moves.”
“Okay!” Wei Xufeng added, “Two’s not enough, right? It’s not even eight. I can run more reps.”
Mu Chenxing: “Nope. We’ve got a run soon, and this place needs locking.”
The Association was famous now—tons of people peeking around. They had equipment here; couldn’t let it get wrecked.
Wei Xufeng: “Come back after your run?”
Shen Mingtao: “We can practice here waiting. Won’t let anyone else in.”
Mu Chenxing: “…Sure.”
Wei and Shen whirled back to the machines, dialing down the speed, and dove in.
Mu Chenxing watched a bit, then herded the gawking Tong Xiao trio away. “Let them practice. Hurry and finish homework.”
The three had probably gotten over their crush on Wei Xufeng a bit and followed along without hesitation.
The half-open door suddenly burst open.
“Mu Chenxing, did you put another curse on my brother—” Shen Mingshu burst in, dragging two Omegas with him, and they all froze on the spot.
Wei Xufeng and Shen Mingtao, who had been clumsily swaying on the Dance Machine, also went rigid.
The four-Omega study squad, sitting cross-legged opposite the Dance Machine, looked up in bewilderment.
Shen Mingshu shrieked, “Bro! Didn’t you say you were going to train? Why are you dancing here for them?! Did Mu Chenxing curse you?!”
Wei Xufeng, Shen Mingtao: “…“
The four little Omegas: “…“
