Chapter Eighteen: The New Transfer Student

Monday!

It had been a week since Su Mo arrived in this world.

Originally, he had hoped that the appearance of Toka would play out just as in the original story, with her blowing up the Metropolitan Raizen High School, which would have spared him from rising early and toiling away at his studies every day. Yet, the spirit girl named Toka refused to follow the expected script, and Su Mo’s little plans were thoroughly dashed.

Su Mo sat in the classroom, staring blankly at the ceiling above his head.

Compared to his previous life in Huaxia, school life in this island nation was undeniably more interesting. There were fewer formal lessons each day, most of the time was spent on club activities or engaging practical courses, and there were frequent large-scale events like culture festivals and school festivals. Yet, for Su Mo, all of this still amounted to a torment akin to hell.

And the reason for all this suffering was the classmate sitting behind him: Origami Tobiichi.

Ever since he had jokingly confessed to Origami due to a bet with Kotori, things had changed. What was just a joke for Su Mo seemed to be taken very seriously by Origami, for now, during every class, he could feel her gaze—sometimes faint, sometimes intense—fixed on his back.

Of course, if Origami’s constant attention was a source of daily annoyance, then his homeroom teacher, Miss Tamaki Okamine, a single woman of twenty-nine, was enough to drive him to the brink of collapse.

Perhaps his sudden proposal last time had been too abrupt, for ever since then, Miss Tamaki had taken to making subtle hints in private—suggesting, for example, that he could marry into her family after graduation, and it wouldn’t matter even if he didn’t work. This left Su Mo unable to meet her eyes during class, and in such dire straits, who could have the heart to study?

And so, during the routine homeroom meeting this morning...

Miss Tamaki clicked into the classroom in her high heels.

“All right, is everyone in their seats?” She pushed up the oversized glasses perched on her nose and spoke with particular energy.

Then, as if suddenly recalling something, she clapped her hands and nodded with a mysterious smile. “Oh, right, before I take attendance, I have a surprise for you all—a new transfer student will be joining our class!”

“A transfer student?”

At these words, the previously silent classroom erupted as though a bomb had gone off. Everyone began whispering and speculating—was the transfer student a boy or a girl? Were they handsome or beautiful?

It seemed all eyes were eagerly awaiting the appearance of this new classmate.

As for Su Mo, he merely curled his lip; in anime, transfer students were inevitably destined to be part of the protagonist’s harem.

This was an ironclad rule.

He honestly had no interest in transfer students anyway. He simply slumped limply over his desk, sighing, while Origami Tobiichi behind him kept her head down, seemingly indifferent and unconcerned.

Sitting beside Su Mo, though, Shiori looked quite excited.

At long last, after much anticipation, Miss Tamaki returned with the transfer student in tow. The previously noisy classroom fell instantly silent—even Su Mo, who had shown no interest, widened his eyes sharply to see who it was.

“Toka?” Su Mo exclaimed in surprise, for according to the timeline, she should still be undergoing tests at Ratatoskr.

How could she possibly appear in his classroom?

“Hello, everyone! My name is Toka Yatogami. Starting today, I’ll be here with you—please take good care of me!” Wearing a high school uniform and a radiant smile, Toka entered. Her breathtaking beauty alone made the entire class stir restlessly.

Toka paid no mind to the curious stares, though; she picked up a piece of chalk and scrawled her name in clumsy, crooked letters on the blackboard, then turned to look directly at Su Mo.

“Oh! Su Mo, I finally found you!”

The moment Toka called his name loudly, Su Mo knew trouble was coming. Especially when, ignoring the stares of everyone present, she practically leapt off the podium and rushed straight toward him. He could already feel Origami’s piercing gaze boring into his back.

For the first time since enrolling, Su Mo found himself the center of attention.

Whispers spread around him—no doubt many were speculating about his relationship with Toka. And when Origami, upon seeing Toka, immediately fixed her with a predatory glare, it was clear she’d recognized Toka as the spirit they had been hunting days earlier.

“Toka, what are you doing here?” Su Mo asked in astonishment.

“Mm! The check-ups are finally over. Once it was confirmed I wasn’t a danger, Kotori agreed to let me leave Fraxinus. And since I really wanted to see you, Kotori arranged all the paperwork for me—ID, enrollment notice, everything—so here I am!” Toka replied enthusiastically, clearly not understanding what school was even about.

Hearing that Kotori was behind this—without warning him—Su Mo realized it was all intentional on her part.

As Toka and Su Mo whispered to each other, suddenly a sharp gaze sliced toward them, followed by a flash of cold light. With a fierce swipe, a pen from Origami’s hand shot between the two of them.

Seeing this, Toka finally turned her attention to Origami. Like destined rivals, the instant their eyes met, sparks flew. Toka immediately recognized Origami as the AST member who had hunted her.

Toka frowned. “Hey, what are you doing here?”

“That’s my line!” Origami countered without the slightest sign of backing down.

Tension crackled in the air—one spark away from exploding—but both girls held back, aware of where they were. After all, on one side was a spirit who could bring disaster to the world, and on the other, a magician with powers far beyond the norm.

For now, though, Toka’s powers were sealed, and Origami wore no combat suit, so they were just two ordinary high school girls.

“All right, that’s enough, that’s enough!” Miss Tamaki hurried to intervene, preventing the classroom from turning into a battlefield.

Both girls snorted coldly and turned away from each other.

Only now, wiping away cold sweat, did Miss Tamaki awkwardly smile. “In that case, Miss Yatogami, your seat is—”

“No need, step aside!” Toka, in full “Princess” mode, waved her hand imperiously to cut her off. Scanning the classroom, she strode to the front desk, glared at the girl sitting there, and said in a tone that brooked no refusal, “Could you give me this seat?”

Her overwhelming presence made the girl nearly fall off her chair before she hurriedly vacated the spot and scurried away.

“Sorry about that!”

Toka sat down with an air of satisfaction, then turned her dazzling smile on Su Mo.

What a perfect seat—now, whenever Su Mo looked up, she would be right there.