Noble Academy's Mob Character: Reborn as the Campus Heartthrob - Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Rebirth

“Big Brother, go get the groceries.”

Qi Meng knocked on her brother’s door, her voice tinged with impatience.

“Yeah, I know. I’ll be right out.”

Qi Yuan shut down his computer after submitting his last job application and replied.

He was a top-performing scholarship student at Weilika Noble Academy, having graduated just a few days ago.

A quiet presence at the academy, Qi Yuan had no close friends. His only acquaintances were fellow scholarship students who, like him, came from humble backgrounds.

It was a well-known fact that the wealthy elites of the Noble Academy looked down on scholarship students. While they wouldn’t go out of their way to target them, they certainly wouldn’t lower themselves to befriend them.

At least, that was the case before that person appeared. Until then, the history of Weilika Noble Academy had never recorded an instance of a noble befriending a scholarship student.

Before that, the two groups kept to themselves, each with their own distinct social circles.

From the moment he enrolled, Qi Yuan had adhered to a strict policy: Don’t get involved. Don’t interfere. Witnessing countless dramatic scenes only strengthened his resolve.

His parents had died in a car accident five years ago, leaving him and his younger sister, Qi Meng, to fend for themselves.

The driver responsible for the accident died on the spot. He had been driving while exhausted, desperate to earn more money for his impoverished family. With their sole breadwinner gone, they had nothing to offer in compensation.

All Qi Yuan could do at the time was collect his parents’ bodies.

Demand money?

They were even poorer than he was.

It was laughable, but it was reality.

Time seemed to wash away grief, but Qi Yuan knew that was impossible. He had merely set it aside for now. When the time came, the memories would return.

Afterward, driven by the need to keep himself and his sister alive, he seemed to grow up overnight. He studied relentlessly, his sole focus on getting into Weilika Noble Academy. The academy offered full tuition and housing waivers to exceptional scholarship students.

They also provided a scholarship, and students in dire need could apply for on-campus jobs through their advisors, with various positions and wages available.

For Qi Yuan, this was his only chance to change his fate.

Fortunately, after giving it his all, he succeeded in getting into Weilika.

Four years later, he graduated without incident.

At the graduation ceremony, Qi Yuan breathed a sigh of relief, his heart filled with anticipation for the future.

Graduates of Weilika, scholarship student or not, were highly sought after. All he needed to do was choose a job he liked, then bide his time, slowly climb the ranks, and earn a higher salary.

It was a shame he had offended someone during his fourth-year internship. Otherwise, the company would have been perfect—relaxed work environment, high pay.

Honestly, to this day, Qi Yuan still had no idea how he had offended someone, or who that person even was.

He only learned he couldn’t stay at the internship company because he’d offended someone when a kind-hearted colleague mentioned it in passing. Qi Yuan didn’t dwell on it, considering it a waste of time. Instead of trying to figure out who he’d offended, he decided it was better to find a new job. After all, his internship company wasn’t the only good one out there.

Unburdened, Qi Yuan hummed a tune as he went to the bathroom to splash his face with water. Gazing at his reflection in the mirror without his glasses, he stroked his chin with a touch of narcissism and murmured, “So handsome.”

He was indeed quite good-looking. His skin was fair, his frame tall and slender. His hooded eyelids gave his gaze a lazy, indifferent quality, lending his features a cool, detached air.

Handsome, yes, but as his sister Qi Meng would say, he lacked “human warmth.”

Qi Yuan didn’t quite grasp what she meant by “human warmth,” but he understood she was complimenting his looks.

In truth, his prescription was weak; he could manage perfectly fine without glasses.

He wore them to lower his profile. Throughout his time at the academy, he had deliberately dressed in a dowdy, old-fashioned style, sporting a heavy, long fringe and thick, black-framed glasses that obscured half his face—the very picture of a bookworm who’d studied himself into a stupor.

He wanted to minimize his presence because he knew that beauty alone could be a fatal flaw. He couldn’t guarantee the academy was free of perverts, and if some powerful noble took an interest in him, Qi Yuan would be powerless to resist. It was better to avoid the spotlight altogether.

In the late afternoon, as evening approached, many stalls at the wet market sold vegetables cheaper than in the morning. The trade-off for the lower price was that the produce looked less appealing.

Qi Yuan didn’t care whether the vegetables were ugly or not; to him, they all tasted more or less the same once cooked.

Carrying his grocery bags, he bought some of his favorite vegetables and some of Qi Meng’s. When he felt he had enough, he left the market and headed home.

The market was close to his apartment, only about a ten-minute walk away.

To get home faster, Qi Yuan decided to take a shortcut. The path led to a road with very little traffic. He’d heard that many people had been killed in accidents on this road, so few people used it, likely considering it bad luck.

He wasn’t bothered by such superstitions. As the sky darkened, only one thought occupied his mind: he was worried about Qi Meng being home alone.

Their old apartment complex was a mixed bag, home to all sorts of people. There had even been a home invasion robbery there before.

Qi Yuan only let Qi Meng leave the apartment to go to school; otherwise, he kept her inside.

Once he earned enough money, he planned to move them to a safer place. Then they wouldn’t have to be so cautious.

He had just taken a few steps out of the alley.

BANG!

For the first time in his life, Qi Yuan experienced the sensation of flying. In that moment, time seemed to crawl.

His entire life, from birth onward, flashed before his eyes.

After the memories faded, he saw a kindly old woman beckoning to him.

Fuck.

So it’s Great-Grandma.

Even after he hit the ground, Qi Yuan felt no pain. He just couldn’t move. The adrenaline rush was terrifyingly effective.

He saw the groceries he’d worked so hard to buy scattered across the ground. What a waste.

Warm blood gushed from the corner of his mouth.

A single thought rose in his mind: Qi Meng’s going to go hungry. If only he hadn’t gone out. Now he was dying, leaving her to face this cruel world alone.

He had promised… promised he would always be with her…

I can’t accept this…

Human potential is limitless. Even with such grievous injuries, Qi Yuan summoned his last ounce of strength, determined to see who had sent him flying.

A young man stumbled out of the sports car, utterly panicked. With trembling hands, he fumbled for his phone, dialing as he staggered toward Qi Yuan to check on him.

At that moment, Qi Yuan got a clear look at the driver’s face.

He had blue hair and a youthful, baby-like face with large, panicked eyes already rimmed with red. He’d been chewing on his fingernails, only stopping when the call connected.

A broken voice reached Qi Yuan’s ears.

“Bro… what… I hit someone…”

“On Peach Blossom Road…”

Fuck.

Qi Yuan thought he might still have a chance if they acted fast. Couldn’t you at least call an ambulance first?!

His consciousness began to fade. He knew that if he passed out now, he was almost certainly dead.

After cursing the driver’s ancestors back eighteen generations, Qi Yuan closed his eyes.

The sunlight was blindingly bright.

The golden characters spelling “Weilika Academy” on the school gate seemed like a relic from another lifetime.

New students enrolling streamed past Qi Yuan, while a procession of luxury cars stopped at the gate, dropped off passengers, and drove away.

“Junior, do you need any help?”

A girl in a school uniform noticed Qi Yuan, dressed like a scholarship student, standing motionless at the gate for a long time. Concerned, she approached him.

Her voice snapped him out of his daze.

“Senior, no, I’m fine. I’m just… a little overwhelmed,” Qi Yuan said, scratching his head in feigned embarrassment.

The girl nodded in understanding. She had also been a scholarship student and remembered being just as stunned by the grandeur of Weilika Academy’s entrance on her first day.

“Well, if you’re okay, take your time looking around.”

“Okay.”

Though their thoughts were on completely different tracks, they understood each other perfectly.

Qi Yuan was overwhelmed by the shock of finding himself back on his first day of university after being hit and killed by a car.

Rebirth was such an illusory concept. When it actually happened to him, the confusion was indescribable.

He had thought he was dreaming, but the sharp pain from pinching himself felt all too real.

Shaking his head in resignation, he dragged his secondhand suitcase toward the dormitories.

The dorm key was a card that had arrived with his acceptance letter, marked with the building and room number: Building 7, Room 607.

Weilika Academy spared no expense. Every dormitory was lavishly furnished, like a luxury apartment, though without a kitchen. Elevators served every floor, saving Qi Yuan the burden of climbing to the sixth floor.

The academy’s campus was enormous, nearly the size of a city district, so the school provided free shuttle buses. Similar to tour buses in tourist areas, they followed designated routes with specific stops, and students simply needed to pay attention to their destination.

The shuttles were used almost exclusively by scholarship students; the wealthy and powerful had their own private cars.

Walking from the campus gate to Building 7 would take at least an hour. Not wanting to put himself through that, Qi Yuan boarded the shuttle, his hand gripping the suitcase handle tightly.

As the bus moved, the wind swept aside his thick bangs, revealing cold, indifferent eyes.

He pulled out his cheap phone and, after a moment’s thought, sent a message to his younger sister.

Qi Yuan: You there?

It was also the first day of school for Qi Meng, who was in high school. She felt her phone vibrate in her pocket while cleaning.

Pausing, she found a quiet corner to pull out her phone. Seeing the message was from her brother, she assumed it was urgent and quickly replied.

Qi Meng: Yeah, what’s up, Ge?

Qi Yuan: Nothing, just wanted to check in.

Qi Meng: Okay. I have to turn in my phone soon.

Qi Meng: Ge, take care of yourself. Don’t skip meals to save money.

She knew Qi Yuan was hiding something, but she also knew asking would get her nowhere. All she could do was show her concern.

That’s just like him, she thought, acting like a self-righteous adult, never saying anything and leaving me to worry.

Qi Yuan: Got it. You too.

After chatting for a few moments, they both turned off their phones.

Soon, the shuttle arrived at Building 7. Qi Yuan got off, dragging his suitcase. He glanced at his reflection in the glass, took a deep breath, and walked inside.

He was the only one in the elevator and rode it smoothly to the sixth floor.

Arriving at the door of Room 607, he pulled out his key card and swiped it to enter.

Qi Yuan gazed at the dorm room—the same one he had lived in until graduation in his past life. The familiar surroundings eased some of the tension in his tightly wound nerves.

All dorms at Weilika Academy were double rooms. The academy didn’t require students to live on campus, so the wealthy students generally lived in their own off-campus residences. However, regardless of whether they stayed or not, the academy still assigned a dorm room to every student.

This meant Qi Yuan had a roommate. It was just that he had never once seen his roommate in the dorm. Until graduation day, the bed opposite his had remained empty.

Qi Yuan couldn’t care less whether his roommate ever showed up. In fact, he would have raised both hands and feet in approval if the guy never came back at all.