"What's wrong with a buffet?" Benjamin suddenly popped out of nowhere, looking genuinely puzzled as he asked the group.
Standing next to him was Zhao Shishi. Since both of them had come down from the rooftop, it meant the situation upstairs had been completely resolved.
That said, today's magic class was officially toast. No one was willing to try another summoning ritual after that incident.
Who knew what abomination would pop out next?
"Uh… it's all taken care of? What was that thing, anyway?" Teacher Bard frowned and asked, clearly uncomfortable that, as a professional instructor, he had to turn to his students for answers.
"Sir, have you ever heard of a Dark Wraith?" Zhao Shishi asked seriously.
"Ah! That thing was a Dark Wraith… First time I've seen one in real life. Lucky you two were here. Otherwise, we probably would've had to shut down the entire school just to deal with it." Bard's eyes widened in realization. It was a bit awkward getting schooled by his students—but hey, when those students were literal descendants of the Hero Party, it wasn't exactly a disgrace.
What could he say? The big-name families still monopolized all the important intel. Guys like him—just your average citizen—only had access to surface-level knowledge.
"Well then… I should head up and check the area again. Gotta file a report too… Man, I envy you youngsters," Bard muttered and dipped, escaping like a ninja under fire. The disapproving glares from nearby students were getting a bit too spicy.
"Anyway... no one's answered my question yet. What's wrong with a buffet?" Benjamin asked again, genuinely confused.
"We were discussing where to hold Zhao Shishi's welcome party."
"If it's a buffet, Dylan might get turned away at the door."
"Yeah, a fancy place would totally blow our class budget."
Everyone chimed in, clearly eager to roll out the red carpet for the class's newest goddess-tier beauty.
Considering Zhao Shishi was basically a real-life princess, it's not like she needed fancy food or anything. So the discussion veered toward something more low-key and down-to-earth. KTV maybe? Singing and goofing around together?
But there weren't any karaoke spots nearby that could fit their entire class of fifty. And traveling too far might be a problem for students with curfews or tiger moms.
"How about my gym?" Benjamin raised his hand with a look of heroic resolve. "Free drinks, and we can use the yoga room for the party. Plus, if you're interested, I can hook you up with annual memberships! I'll even lead everyone through a workout!"
"…Class Rep, could you maybe offer useful suggestions?"
"Yeah, who throws a welcome party in a gym?"
"You just wanna sell us gym memberships, don't you? Give it up, we're all broke students here!"
The crowd fell into collective silence. Benjamin's brain was clearly made of protein powder.
"C'mon, it's budget-friendly! My boss and I are tight, I can reserve the yoga room, and we can use class funds to grab drinks and snacks. Throw in a few decorations, and boom—perfect party venue!" Benjamin looked incredibly pleased with his "brilliant" plan. He even offered to do thirty consecutive power cleans as a performance piece, because obviously, that's what every welcome party needs.
"That's way too unhinged…"
"Yeah, no one throws parties at the gym… bro, you're so off-track it's almost impressive."
The group piled on the banter. Once again, Benjamin's enthusiasm had sprinted straight into the realm of delusion.
"How about this—let me cover the cost today?" Zhao Shishi offered with a gentle smile. "My family just opened a new star-rated restaurant nearby. My treat!"
Her sincerity stunned the group. Zhao Shishi wasn't used to dealing with commoners, but the class's warm energy was starting to melt her. No wonder her father had supported this "go undercover at a public school" idea. This must've been what he wanted her to experience.
"Stop right there! It's your welcome party—no way we're letting you pay!" Karls was the first to object.
"That's right! You're the flower of our class now, Shishi. We're definitely giving you a party to remember!"
"Yeah! No doubt about it!"
"We swear on the honor of all the boys in Class 2-B—we're making this party legendary!"
The boys shouted in unison, their testosterone-fueled pride igniting like a bonfire. Failure was not an option—they couldn't let all the girls in class look down on them!
…To which Luo Qi silently muttered: "Can y'all not drag me into this?" He couldn't care less about the party. He just wanted to go home before another disaster popped out of thin air.
Judging by the girls' scowls, the boys were definitely about to get smacked. They just blew their chance to dine at a star-rated restaurant, and the girls were not having it.
"…Forget it. I'll pay for everything," Karls sighed through gritted teeth. "We'll go to that place I mentioned earlier."
"You'll cover the whole bill?" Luo Qi blinked in surprise. From what he knew, Karls was technically a rising star, but his agency had him locked in some kind of bloodsucking slave contract. Dude barely made any actual money.
"Yeah. I shot a commercial recently and got a little bonus. I'll handle it," Karls said with a smile that masked his inner suffering. Deep down, his soul was bleeding.
After all, this party was about to wipe out six months' worth of savings. His management company sucked him dry, his workload was inhumane, and his mom confiscated the rest of his earnings under the excuse of "saving for future marriage expenses"...
But if it made a lasting impression on Zhao Shishi—if something romantic happened with this princess-level beauty—then every cent would be worth it!
"Wait, you can't—MMPH!"
"Yeah, it's not fair for one person to—MMPH! MMPH!!"
Click—!
Click-click—!
BOOM!!
BOOM-BOOM-CRASH!!
…
Of course, the other boys caught on to Karls' little scheme. No way were they gonna let him steal the spotlight and walk away with a potential royal romance!
Too bad for them, the girls were entirely on Karls' side this time.
A handsome guy offering to pay? At a super fancy restaurant?? And these idiot boys wanted to ruin it?! Unforgivable!
Moments later, the chaos had been resolved... by brute force. Most of the boys were now lying unconscious on the floor, foaming at the mouth. The only survivors were the neutral pacifists like Luo Qi, who'd stayed quiet the whole time.
"Girls these days are terrifying…" Luo Qi muttered, looking at the carnage around him. Yep—modern girls were no joke.