After Being Transformed Into Cannon Fodder For Death, The Heartthrob Chapter 5
byYe Qingyun looked at the chair, then at Gu Shenyuan, unable to believe his eyes.
He knew that in the original novel, Gu Shenyuan was absolutely not the type of person who would care about his mocker after being ridiculed and questioned. Based on Gu Shenyuan’s personality, he should have ignored Ye Qingyun completely, letting him stand there until the end of time, or until his legs broke, remaining indifferent and focusing only on the test paper he needed to write.
As a tech geek, Ye Qingyun was definitely someone who would sit rather than stand. He hesitated for less than a second before taking the seat.
“What kind of broken chair is this? It’s so hard,” Ye Qingyun complained, biting the hand that fed him and perfectly playing the role of the jealous Cannon Fodder. “Hmph, the chair in my room is much softer than yours!”
Gu Shenyuan didn’t speak again. He finished reviewing all the questions, then picked up his pen and began writing on the test paper.
The initial questions were relatively simple, purely throwaway points designed to ensure Gu Shenyuan wouldn’t score an embarrassing zero. So, while Ye Qingyun was pleased to see Gu Shenyuan writing, he wasn’t overly surprised.
Ye Qingyun supervised with his hands tucked in, his attention gradually shifting from the test paper to Gu Shenyuan himself.
Gu Shenyuan was very quiet. His entire body, except for the hand writing and his chest breathing, was completely still, like a stone sculpture.
His dark eyelashes were lowered. His cool, pale skin and thin lips gave him an air of detachment, making him seem unapproachable and unlikely to be moved by anyone.
And that was indeed the case.
In the original book, countless people were attracted to Gu Shenyuan because of his face, and his suitors were numerous. But no matter how many people pursued him, it was useless; Gu Shenyuan treated them all like air.
Although this book was a melodramatic BL novel, the reason Gu Shenyuan was the Protagonist and not the Protagonist Shou was that he remained single from beginning to end, never getting involved with anyone.
The author originally intended to write an absolutely icy, aloof beauty Shou. So, in the early stages, they desperately described how unmoved Gu Shenyuan was by romance, and how he was only to be admired from afar. However, the characterization was too forceful. Later, the author didn’t know how to write Gu Shenyuan falling in love. After forcing out two chapters, they were mercilessly flamed by readers, suffered a mental breakdown, and ran away, leaving the novel unfinished.
As Ye Qingyun finished recalling the book’s content, he saw Gu Shenyuan raise his eyes, meeting his gaze directly.
Being caught staring by the person himself was extremely awkward. Fortunately, Ye Qingyun’s mind worked fast. He immediately said sourly, “You’re not even as good-looking as me, so why did Pu Tian take a liking to you? Hmph, you can be smug now, but he’ll get tired of you soon enough.”
Gu Shenyuan’s expression remained unchanged, as if he hadn’t heard the jealous provocation at all. He lowered his gaze and resumed writing the test paper.
Ye Qingyun’s attention also turned to the paper. He was shocked by what he saw—Gu Shenyuan had already finished the fill-in-the-blanks, multiple-choice, and true-or-false sections, and was now working on the application analysis questions.
Ye Qingyun quickly scanned the completed questions and found that they were all correct. Even the questions that required careful reading and deliberation over the book’s content had been answered.
This test paper was of medium-to-high difficulty. Except for the final, extremely difficult question, the rest focused on understanding the entire textbook. The fact that Gu Shenyuan could finish the previous sections so quickly indicated that he must have repeatedly read and generally understood the whole book.
Ye Qingyun couldn’t help but want to show a kind, fatherly smile. Fortunately, he reacted in time and maintained the vicious facade of the Protagonist.
Gu Shenyuan wrote smoothly until he reached the final major question.
It was an analysis question regarding Ability and Element, asking what Ability a person with an Ability concentration level of 37.5 and Mental Strength level A would need to survive in a specific extreme environment.
A large amount of environmental data was listed beside the question, some real and useful, others purely misleading. This content was not found in the old books of others, nor was it detailed in his textbook. It would be quite difficult to fully master through self-study alone.
Gu Shenyuan frowned and calculated on the scratch paper beside him. Ye Qingyun watched Gu Shenyuan fill two full sheets of scratch paper. After a very long period of silence, Gu Shenyuan finally wrote down the final answer on the test paper.
“Is it correct?” Gu Shenyuan looked up and asked.
Yes, yes, the problem-solving approach is flawless! There’s just a tiny error because you misremembered one piece of data among those dozens of pages. But what does it matter if the answer is wrong? The Outstanding Student Award for this year goes to you!
Ye Qingyun cheered internally, yet on the surface, he remained aloof and cold, sneering, “Of course not. I told you, how could you possibly understand my book?”
This time, the mockery was not ignored. Gu Shenyuan’s brow furrowed, but he quickly relaxed it, saying coldly, “Understood.” Gu Shenyuan paused, perhaps realizing his tone was too harsh, and added, “Thank you for your trouble.”
Ye Qingyun: “…?”
He hadn’t misheard, had he? Gu Shenyuan, who spoke to everyone in the same tone, had softened his voice when speaking to him?
Ye Qingyun was stunned, but his words were filled with biting jealousy: “Don’t give me that nonsense. Pu Tian told me to explain it to you. Do you think I have a choice? So you can find an excuse to go back and badmouth me to him?”
Gu Shenyuan was silent for a moment before replying, “I won’t.”
My god, Gu Shenyuan had said more than two soft sentences to him!
Ye Qingyun sneered and turned away: “You think I’d believe you? Fine, I’ll go prepare suitable material for you. I’ll come back tomorrow.”
After speaking, Ye Qingyun strode away without hesitation.
————
The door slammed shut, completely blocking Gu Shenyuan’s view behind him.
Ye Qingyun let out a huge sigh of relief, his strained nerves finally relaxing.
It was too abnormal. Gu Shenyuan’s attitude was far too strange.
[System, is Gu Shenyuan also being played by a Transmigrator?] Ye Qingyun asked.
The System weakly explained: [No, a world can only have one actor/Host. If there are too many, the world will collapse. Besides, if he were an actor, Breaking Character like this would be suicide. Only the original person can ignore the character setting and act however they please.]
Ye Qingyun frowned.
While he enjoyed being treated this way by Gu Shenyuan, if this was the real Gu Shenyuan, his actions were too bizarre.
Was he enduring humiliation and being nice to Ye Qingyun just so Ye Qingyun would teach him without reservation?
Although the Gu Shenyuan in the original novel was willing to learn new knowledge, he wasn’t this desperate for instruction.
The System felt uneasy: [Could Gu Shenyuan be attracted to your face?]
Ye Qingyun smiled upon hearing this.
[Gu Shenyuan won’t fall for anyone because of their face,] Ye Qingyun said slowly. [Have you forgotten the plot in the book?]
In the original novel, there was a scene where the galaxy’s number one beauty was sent to seduce Gu Shenyuan. Gu Shenyuan told the beauty to put her clothes back on, then stated that she had violated the public security management regulations, and promptly called the police to have her taken away, showing no pity for the fair sex.
The System recalled the original plot and immediately fell silent.
Ye Qingyun couldn’t figure out Gu Shenyuan’s motive, so he decided to stop thinking about it and just assume Gu Shenyuan was a diligent student. Anyway, he was just a conscientious little Cannon Fodder. What did these inexplicable plot changes have to do with him?
Ye Qingyun returned to his room to prepare the content for the next day’s lecture. Time flew by, and soon it was noon.
The Star Pirate Crew ship had a mess hall that was open for two hours during each mealtime. If you missed it, you had to eat nutrient paste.
Ye Qingyun was tired of eating nutrient paste. Plus, as a newcomer, he wanted to walk around and observe the surroundings. So, he put down his book, opened the manual the big man had given him when he moved in, confirmed the location and conditions of the mess hall, and headed out.
The mess hall was arguably the liveliest place at this hour. As soon as he got close, Ye Qingyun heard the noisy chatter inside.
“I heard that guy who makes everyone want to puke from ugliness moved in? Big Black, you drove to pick him up yesterday, right? Did you crash the car on the way back from being too grossed out?”
“Huh? What? When did he arrive?”
“Why did the Boss agree to let him on the ship? Could he really have been moved by that years-long, unwavering enthusiasm?”
“Hey, hey, Ake, calm down. Don’t throw things just because you’re jealous!”
Ye Qingyun heard the discussions inside but continued walking forward without stopping.
“Don’t talk nonsense, he’s actually good-looking in person.”
The voice of the big man who had driven Ye Qingyun back sounded.
No one believed the big man. They burst into laughter: “Are you kidding me? If he was good-looking, would the Boss have ignored him for so many years?”
“Everyone knows how promiscuous the Boss is. He brings back plenty of average-looking people to play with for a few days. That guy must not even meet the standard of average.”
“What benefits did you get, kid, to lie like that?”
The big man who brought Ye Qingyun back was still arguing: “There’s no absolute truth in anything. He really is good-looking!”
Everyone scoffed, completely unconvinced, and steered the conversation elsewhere.
Ye Qingyun reached the entrance of the mess hall, lifted the curtain used for cover, and walked in.
The previously bustling mess hall fell silent. Ye Qingyun could feel their gazes sticking to him, following his movements.
The silence didn’t last long, quickly replaced by whispers.
“Who is this? The Boss’s new beauty?”
“He’s better looking than all the previous ones. Must be super expensive…”
“Brothers, I’m reserving the right to take over after the Boss is done, okay? Anyone who tries to snatch him is disrespecting me.”
“Pah, you wish!”
Ye Qingyun ignored what others were saying and just kept walking forward. He smelled the aroma of cooked food, which was incredibly tempting for someone who had mostly eaten nutrient paste since Transmigrating.
The mess hall looked quite similar to the school cafeterias Ye Qingyun was familiar with. He walked up to the serving window and saw over a dozen dishes.
The dishes were divided into two categories: one free, with relatively common food; the other charged, with noticeably more luxurious dishes.
What they charged wasn’t money, but Contribution Points.
Contribution Points were earned by contributing to the Star Pirate Crew. Theoretically, everyone had them because the ship didn’t keep idlers. Even the various beauties Pu Tian brought back had Contribution Points, because they made Pu Tian happy, and he would generously share many points with them.
Everyone had Contribution Points; there were no exceptions. If someone was new, they would receive a hundred Contribution Points as a welcome gift, unless Pu Tian deliberately withheld them.
Ye Qingyun walked past the face-scanning machine. The machine immediately lit up and emitted a piercing alarm—
“Drip—Attention, your Contribution Points are zero!”
Ye Qingyun: “…”
Was he seriously a free laborer?
Fine, Pu Tian, you live up to your Scum Gong reputation!
Ye Qingyun took a deep breath, rubbed his forehead, and was about to get some free food when he heard a commotion among the dining crowd.
When the pirates heard the zero Contribution Points notification, their eyes immediately lit up.
What did zero Contribution Points mean? It meant the Boss was tired of this beauty, and they could make their move!
An opportunity not to be missed!
A burly man sitting closest to Ye Qingyun darted forward, stood next to Ye Qingyun, placed one hand on the face scanner, striking a cool “wall-slam” pose. Amidst the machine’s loud balance announcement, he slowly turned to Ye Qingyun, flashing a wicked, arrogant smile: “Eat whatever you want. My treat.”
Ye Qingyun: “…”