BXBX NOVEL Chapter 185 Far From The Truth
After stopping by the cafeteria in the Academic building, Lee Seng headed over to the front office to check in. He walked through a huge door frame and saw two women standing around chatting away. He looked around as both of the women turned to look at him.
"Ah, what brings you over here?" A curly haired woman asked. "Got a problem?"
"Oh, uh," Lee Seng cleared his throat. "I just got back on campus and missed a bit of class, so I was wondering if I needed to check in here or not."
"Ahhh, first time?" The second woman asked. Lee Seng nodded. "Well, you can check in here or you can just go to class and check in there. As long as you register in the system, you're good to go. I can help you over here." The second woman waved him over as she moved to the left side of the room towards the center. The second woman sat down behind the desk and tapped away. "I'll just need your student ID and we'll be set to go."
Lee Seng moved over and pulled his student ID out. He handed it to her and the woman turned the ID and scanned it onto the keyboard. She handed the ID back and clicked a couple of buttons and nodded at him.
"You're all set." The woman told him.
"Thanks." Lee Seng nodded.
"First period just started not too long ago, so head over to your first period class ASAP."
"Will do. Thanks, again." Lee Seng waved. He turned around and headed over to his class. It was 8:24 when he reached his classroom. He knocked on the door before stepping into the classroom. Dr. Sanderson turned to look at him, acknowledging him and motioning Lee Seng to take his spot.
Lee Seng heard quiet murmurs and whispers about him as he passed and took his seat. He took his backpack off and grabbed his tablet and pen.
'They all seemed shocked to see me.' Lee Seng thought as he turned his laptop on and tapped on the notes app. He scribbled down notes, continuing off from wherever the other students were at.
The school day seemed to slowly pass. Hours later, it was lunch and he groaned as he stretched and started to put his things away. Students passed him, making comments about the rumors and him. He was beginning to wonder if this was really going to turn into one of those situations, again.
He zipped his backpack up and slung his backpack over his shoulder and left the room. 5 hours had slowly passed and he was starving. He moved to the cafeteria and looked at the large number of students standing in the different lines and moving to sit at the tables. Lee Seng stood in the burger line and decided he would order his usual. After paying for his food, he waited in line for pick up. He browsed his socials for news on the adventurers, but saw the Hound Invasion and him was still trending.
'Welp, I guess I won't look for a bit longer.' Lee Seng thought, stuffing his phone back into his pocket.
"Order for Lee Seng Chang?" The waiter announced. Lee Seng moved to the pick-up and grabbed his food.
"Thanks." Lee Seng nodded at the worker.
"He's back…" A student whispered.
"Remember the rumor?" Another student asked. "Do you think it's true?"
"He didn't show up to class for, what, three weeks? I think the rumors are true." Another answered. They all buzzed about the rumor and the invasion. Lee Seng assumed the whole Academy was talking about him and the invasion.
'Ain't nothing new.' Lee Seng moved to the cafeteria seating area and started to look for a spot. Students pointed at him and whispered as he passed. They were all mentioning the rumors about him and the invasion. Some rumors were far from the truth while others seemingly hit the nail on the head. He found a spot on the other end of the cafeteria, near the edge. Lee Seng set his plate down and sat down. He began to eat when a couple of unruly characters caught his attention.
'Just ignore them. They're just looking at you. Not like they'll come over here.' Lee Seng told himself. They were pointing at him and all collectively looking back and forth from Lee Seng to their group. Lee Seng started to eat his food, pulling his eyes away. He got about three bites in when the unruly group of students all stood up. They all moved towards him, some of the other students looking at them and whispering as they passed.
"Are they gonna…?" A student pointed.
"Oh crap, they're gonna confront him…!"
Lee Seng sighed and started to turn to look when two boys sat around him. They set their trays down and looked at Lee Seng. Jason and Jae acknowledged him. The unruly group of boys kept coming and Jae and Jason seemed to exchange looks at each other before settling their eyes on Lee Seng.
"What're you guys doing here? Tryna start something?" Lee Seng asked. Jae looked at Jason, nodding, but his eyes were trying to tell a different answer.
"Just go with it." Jae spoke through his teeth. He raised his arm and set it on Lee Seng. "So, what happened, huh?" He raised his voice to capture the attention of others and the unruly group closing in on them.
"You must've heard the rumors. Is it true? That the whole invasion happened because of you?" Jason added.
'Oh, that's what they meant…' Lee Seng connected the dots. 'I don't know where this is going though.' His thinking was taken as silence and the attention was focused on him.
"Well?" One of the group members asked. Lee Seng looked up and shrugged.
"I don't know. I'm just as clueless as you all were about this." Lee Seng truthfully told them. He pushed Jae's arm off.
"Well, it seems a lot of the city thinks it's because of you. You're the Creator's son and you like to make trouble." Another group member spoke up. Murmurs of agreeing sparked around them.
"It wasn't you?" Jae reasked. He brushed his chin and made a puzzled look. Lee Seng nodded and looked at the group. The group moved closer to him.
"We all know you're a problem maker. You put a target on your back from the moment you started causing trouble and now you're just trying to brush this off?" The first group member spoke up. He looked around like he was trying to pull more agreements towards him.
'They oppose me and Jae and Jason's plan doesn't seem like it's working…' Lee Seng thought as he continued to hold his neutral face. 'I gotta de-escalate this as best as I can.'
"So what do you think should be done with him then?" Jason asked. Lee Seng looked over at Jason with surprise.
'I have no clue what these two are doing… Are they helping me or not?'
"He should obviously be looked into!" One of the students yelled. Students began to blurt out random things that should be done to him including cutting him from the school.
'Outcasted.' Lee Seng shook his head.
"Should we really out someone based on their background and behavior though?" Jae asked, loudly. Groups began to agree with it as Jae raised his hand. His eyes twinkled and Lee Seng knew what this meant. "Do any of you have evidence that points to him being the reason why the Invasion started?"
"They were looking for someone! They forcefully scanned each and every one of us that opposed the scans!"
"We got hurt because of him!"
"So following procedure and fighting back was my fault?" Lee Seng stood up. Jae and Jason turned to look at him. "Last I checked, there's procedures in place that tell us what to do. You chose to fight. You chose to disobey. You choose what you do with your life. Comply or don't. If you wanna accuse me of being the reason why the Invasion happened, find actual evidence."
"WHO NEEDS EVIDENCE! WE KNOW ITS YOU!" The crowd shouted.
'Crowd mentality. They won't listen.' Lee Seng thought. He began to grab his things and move out, but the unruly group had circled him.
"Where you goin', troublemaker?" One of the unruly group members asked. Lee Seng backed up into the table and sighed.
"Alright, what's all this racket!?!" Carter's voice shouted. The cafeteria went quiet and students began to split. "You're gonna believe in some rumor started by some kids who don't like him? And I thought those at the Academy were better than that." Carter moved to where Lee Seng was and gave him a quick look before turning to address the students. "Tell me why I should consider punishing Chang for a terrorist invasion?" He looked around at the crowd.
"I heard he got ambushed by one of those golden hounds lurking around!" A student pointed out.
"The golden hounds were causing trouble all over the entire district. Lee Seng and his group were just one of the unlucky ones." Carter pointed out.
"Well, I saw him and some others flee to the West. They didn't even follow the procedures!" Another student shouted.
"About 43% of students aborted the main procedure after the North tunnels were compromised. Just because some of you got to the safe point, doesn't mean everyone else did."
"Screw this!" A platinum blonde student stepped out from the crowd. There was an heavy aura about him that caught Lee Seng's attention. He pointed at Lee Seng and looked straight at Carter. "I demand a match!"