8: An invitation to court death and initial suspicion

Over the next few days, Excellence found himself in an unprecedented state of deep internal conflict. This entanglement even temporarily overshadowed his anxiety about system tasks and failing grades, becoming a persistent, lingering cloud in his mind.

On one hand, the task for [First Step of Invisibility] weighed on him like a mountain, making it hard to breathe. The obscure and difficult-to-understand principles of metamaterials, the complex and mind-numbing adaptive circuit designs, and the almost perverse demands for material processing precision all challenged the cognitive limits of him, a physics slacker. He looked at the guide provided by the system, which, despite being extremely 'simplified,' still read like a divine scripture. He felt like he was watching a sci-fi blockbuster without subtitles—the visuals were cool, but he had no idea what was happening. He urgently needed a helper, someone truly knowledgeable who could pull him out of this quagmire. And Su Mu was undoubtedly the most perfect and closest choice he could access at this moment. Her neat handwriting and clear, logical notes had already proven her extraordinary accomplishments in this area.

On the other hand, the deep-seated fear of revealing his secret, ingrained in his bones, coiled around his heart like a cold venomous snake. The system was his biggest trump card, but also his biggest minefield. Once exposed, the consequences would be unimaginable. Su Mu was a top student, but she was also a normal person. Any normal person, hearing something like, “I have a Civilization Rise System that forces me to hand-crafted nuclear fusion and optical camouflage, or else it will publicize my browser history,” would immediately call a mental hospital or report it to school security. He couldn't imagine that scenario.

The two emotions clashed fiercely in his mind, a tug-of-war that lasted for three whole days. He lost his appetite, couldn't sleep at night, and even made frequent mistakes while 'hand-crafted'ing, receiving several cold warnings from the system: [Host's attention is scattered, error rate increased by 12%].

Ultimately, the specific and terrifying 'social death' punishment hanging over his head won out. The fear of public execution outweighed the concern about exposure risk. He told himself: no need to reveal everything, just carefully and subtly seek a little technical guidance, as if he were just a novice who had suddenly developed an interest in electronics. As long as he was careful enough, it should... be okay, right?

He decided to take a risk. A meticulously planned, seemingly accidental risk.

He spent most of the day studying Su Mu's daily routine. With the stealth and observation skills he had honed while 'borrowing' ultrapure water, he quickly figured out Su Mu's habit of usually leaving the Third Teaching Building after class at this time each week, walking through a small path lined with Camphor Trees, and heading to the library for self-study.

He carefully selected the location—a corner of that small path, with moderate foot traffic, neither too secluded to seem deliberate nor too crowded to prevent conversation. The timing was set ten minutes after her class ended, ensuring she would reach that spot.

Excellence arrived early, feeling nervous like a job applicant waiting for an interview. He repeatedly rehearsed his meticulously prepared speech, envisioned various possible responses and countermeasures, and his palms were constantly sweating.

When that familiar figure appeared at the other end of the path, holding books and walking unhurriedly, Excellence felt his heart leap into his throat. He took a deep breath, forced himself to calm down, and then, pretending to have just seen her, stepped out from around the corner.

“Class Monitor!” He summoned all his remaining courage and called out to her, his voice sounding dry and wavering from nervousness.

Su Mu stopped, turned, and looked at him. The setting sun cast dappled light through the gaps in the Camphor Trees onto her. Her gaze was clear and calm, with a hint of inquiry, seemingly surprised to encounter him here.

“Uh... thank you for lending me your notes...” Excellence first thanked her as planned, trying to appear natural, but his slightly trembling fingertips betrayed him. He took a deep breath, as if going to his death, and uttered the lines he had rehearsed countless times, which still sounded incredibly stiff at this moment: “I... I've recently become very interested in electronic crafting and want to make some small things myself, but... I've encountered some technical problems. The circuit diagrams always turn out wrong, and the simulations fail... Could you... please give me some pointers? Just a little bit!”

He stammered, his eyes involuntarily darting around, not daring to make prolonged eye contact with Su Mu, his palms slick with sweat. Every word seemed to be squeezed out through gritted teeth, full of insecurity and an unconcealable guilt.

Su Mu watched him silently, not answering immediately. She keenly noticed that Excellence seemed particularly nervous today, even more so than when his grades came out last time. His posture was a bit stiff, his eyes darted around, and he didn't even dare to meet her gaze for more than two seconds. This state didn't seem like someone simply asking for academic help.

“Electronic crafting?” Su Mu repeated, her tone calm but with a subtle hint of scrutiny. “What kind of electronic crafting?” She tried to make the question more specific.

“Just... just a... um... special... display device?” Excellence tried to recall the vague descriptions of optical camouflage in the system task, trying to keep it general and harmless, avoiding any sensitive words. “It might... involve some... um... non-traditional materials... and... non-linear circuits... and so on...” His voice grew softer as he spoke, and he himself felt that these words sounded incredibly strange and unconvincing coming from his mouth.

A special display device? Non-traditional materials? Non-linear circuits?

Su Mu's beautiful brows furrowed slightly. These words combined didn't sound at all like a field a beginner electronics enthusiast would delve into. This was more like topics graduate students in professional laboratories would encounter. Recalling his previous furtive trip to get ultrapure water, the subtle scars on his hands from precise manual work, and this sudden, clearly nervous request for help... Su Mu's suppressed curiosity was instantly piqued again, and even more intensely than before. This Excellence had too many inconsistencies about him.

She pondered for a moment. Based on politeness and camaraderie, a direct refusal seemed inappropriate. But based on intuition and caution, she felt she couldn't easily agree to his vague request. Who knew what he was really up to?

“Can I see your circuit diagram first? Or your design ideas?” She adopted the most prudent and compromise solution. Drawings and ideas best reflect a person's true intentions and skill level.

Excellence's heart suddenly sank! Circuit diagram? Design ideas? He didn't have any of that! The system directly gave him finished solutions and material lists. As for the underlying principles and design process? Sorry, insufficient permissions, or not enough civilization contribution, unable to view! He only knew what it was, not why it was, and even trying to imitate it was full of difficulties!

“Uh... the diagram... the diagram isn't drawn yet,” Excellence immediately panicked, his eyes darting even more, subconsciously taking half a step back, hastily making excuses, “It's a bit messy... very messy! They're all drafts, not presentable... I'll... I'll show them to you, Class Monitor, after I've drawn them and tidied them up!” His tone carried obvious evasion and panic.

Su Mu watched his obviously trying-to-cover-up, flustered demeanor, and her suspicions immediately reached a new height. Someone who couldn't even produce (or was unwilling to produce) a basic circuit diagram, yet came to ask about “non-linear circuits” and “non-traditional materials”? This was too abnormal.

She remained calm, nodded, and her tone was still flat: “Alright. Then you organize it first. We'll talk once you've drawn it.” She didn't expose him or press further, simply leaving an open-ended conclusion.

Not immediately getting the help he expected, Excellence felt a wave of disappointment, but at the same time, he was inexplicably relieved—at least, he had gotten by for now, without exposing more.

An awkward silence fell between them. Excellence racked his brain trying to find some academic topic to lighten the mood, stammering out two idiotic questions about example problems in the notes. Su Mu answered briefly, her tone polite but distant.

Soon, this deliberately arranged “chance encounter” ended in an extremely unnatural atmosphere. Excellence, as if granted a great pardon, found an excuse and hastily bid farewell, his retreating figure even carrying a hint of fleeing in disarray.

Su Mu didn't leave immediately. She stood there, watching Excellence almost jog away, disappearing at the end of the path, deep in thought. The evening breeze rustled the camphor leaves, making soft whispers.

This Excellence definitely has a problem. What exactly is he secretly up to? That nervousness and panic were definitely not just the inferiority of a slacker asking a top student for help. It was more like... a fear of being seen through, a panic of secrets being revealed.

She subconsciously took out her phone, unlocked the screen, and her fingertip hovered over a name in her contacts—it was a 部長 from the Student Union's Academic Technology Department, responsible for managing the school's various scientific innovation projects and competitions. She wanted to ask if there had been any rumors recently about a student or department privately undertaking some rather special, even peculiar research projects.

But her finger hovered over the send button, and she hesitated.

Would doing this count as a secret investigation? What if... Excellence was really just clumsily trying some small, inconspicuous but harmless invention? Would inquiring like this make her seem too sensitive and meddlesome? Would it cause him unnecessary trouble?

Finally, after a few seconds of thought, she gently shook her head, turned off the screen, and put her phone back in her pocket.

She decided to observe for now. But undoubtedly, after this conversation, her level of attention towards Excellence, without her even fully realizing it, had quietly risen to a whole new level. A mix of curiosity, doubt, and even a faint hint of vigilance spread within her.

She secretly decided that if she encountered him again, she would observe him more carefully and discreetly. Observe his words and actions, his state, and even... whether he had new artificial scars on his hands.

This classmate named Excellence seemed to have become a puzzle waiting to be solved.