Chapter 23: Resonance Successful!
Mercer hadn’t even finished explaining the process of Resonance and energy regulation when the artificial egg on Jeryon’s desk began to glow.
His jaw dropped. He blinked several times to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating.
But Hazel’s gasp from the corner of the room made him realize he hadn’t imagined it.
Hazel, who had remained expressionless throughout the class, was genuinely shocked.
From where she stood, she could clearly see the energy flowing smoothly from Jeryon and Shani’s hands. The two streams merged perfectly in the center before the artificial egg lit up completely.
It was already unbelievable for first-year students to achieve Resonance on their very first attempt.
To do it with such flawless energy regulation was even more impossible.
Hazel narrowed her eyes. ’No... This isn’t Jeryon’s first time... Wait!’
"They succesfully resonated?!" Hazel cried out before she realized it.
The glow from Jeryon’s desk first caught the attention of the students sitting nearby.
But after Hazel shouted, even those in the back noticed the glowing egg.
Whispers instantly spread throughout the classroom. Everyone completely forgot about their own artificial eggs.
"They really did it? Wasn’t Jeryon supposed to absorb his partner’s energy?"
"Maybe that Shani girl just doesn’t realize her energy’s being drained."
"Or maybe Jeryon has been cured. He just turned eighteen last month, didn’t he?"
"That’s true. Yvonne Larrlyng became his partner when he was only seventeen."
The students quickly agreed that Jeryon’s curse broke on its own and assumed Shani had simply gotten lucky.
At his desk, Jeryon heard every word.
As the person experiencing it firsthand, he knew he hadn’t recovered. Still...
When he guided his energy this time, he hadn’t felt the crushing pressure that always accompanied the process.
Jeryon lifted his head and looked at Shani.
She was looking back at him. The silver-haired girl gave him a smile as bright as the morning sun.
It struck him right in the chest. His heart skipped wildly.
His concentration broke, and the flow of energy stopped. The glow surrounding the egg dimmed.
Jeryon looked at Shani apologetically. She simply smiled, as if to say it was fine. The eighteen-year-old prince’s ears turned bright red.
Mercer didn’t notice the brief exchange. He hurried over to Jeryon instead. "Congratulations, Jeryon! You did it!"
Like the rest of the class, Mercer assumed Jeryon’s condition had improved by itself.
If that was true, Jeryon had officially become the most outstanding first-year student.
The instructor turned to Shani and smiled.
Even though there was now a huge gap between their ranks, Mercer still believed she was worthy of being Jeryon’s partner.
Not only because she had willingly accepted him despite believing her rank would fall...
He also believed Shani possessed remarkable talent.
Regulating beast energy for the first time wasn’t easy. Maintaining a stable Resonance was even harder.
That was precisely why Resonance class was scheduled to last an entire day.
Unfortunately, the other students didn’t think the same way.
Seeing Shani seated in the very last row, everyone knew her beast energy was the lowest in the class.
Several girls wanted to take her place.
But they also knew they couldn’t behave recklessly in front of the prince. Besides, they still wanted to see whether Jeryon had truly recovered.
At the very least, they planned to wait until class ended before approaching him.
Even so, a few couldn’t keep their mouths shut.
"The Prince is amazing. I’ve been waiting for him to find the right partner."
"Our class has someone with C-Rank beast energy. It isn’t that high, but it’s still the highest here. That’s the partner the Prince deserves."
They spoke as though Jeryon had no partner. As though Shani didn’t exist.
Jeryon shot the gossiping girls an icy glare.
Then he turned to Mercer and said loudly, "Instructor, may my partner, Shani Rowan, and I continue?"
Mercer snapped out of his thoughts before flashing his signature charming smile. "Of course. Please continue."
Although he had countless questions, they could wait until later. "The rest of you, continue as well!"
Meanwhile, Shani remained completely silent. She only smiled whenever Jeryon looked her way.
It wasn’t because she wanted to avoid conflict. She hadn’t even heard what her classmates were saying.
She was too busy dealing with the flood of notifications echoing inside her head.
[Resonance Connected! Cashback Target Found! Jeryon of Argenor!]
[Congratulations, Host. You have completed the hidden mission: "Help the Target Candidate Successfully Achieve Resonance." Reward: 1x Elite-Grade Sedative Potion, 50,000 Credits.]
[Host, you have triggered the Special Mission: "Cure the Target’s Conscious Abyss Syndrome within one week." Reward: 200,000 Credits. Failure: Forced Connection Severed and Baby Beast Died.]
[Baby Beast Progress: 0.1% (Egg Phase). Progress Speed: 5%/hour. Baby Beast Gene: Unidentified. Regulation Process: Stable.]
Shani was stunned.
She hadn’t even known the system could assign missions. It was far more versatile than she’d thought.
’If there are hidden missions and special missions... are there also main missions and daily missions?’ she wondered.
The system gave no response. ’Looks like the biggest flaw in my system is that it’s anti-social. Hehe.’
The system inventory, which had been empty until now, now contained one Elite-Grade Sedative Potion.
Her Cashback balance had also increased by 50,000 Credits.
On top of that, the new mission offered a potential reward of 200,000 Credits.
Shani felt like she could fly from happiness. Jeryon really was her lucky star!
Every time their eyes met, she couldn’t stop herself from smiling from the bottom of her heart.
That genuine smile only made Jeryon’s ears burn even redder.
Meanwhile, he struggled to calm the frantic beating of his heart as they resumed regulating their energy.
About two hours later, the class broke for lunch exactly at noon. So far, no other pair in Class 5 had successfully achieved Resonance.
A few students had managed to regulate their own energy into the egg, but because their partners couldn’t keep up, their Resonance attempts failed.
Unable to help themselves, everyone turned to look at the only successful pair. The very pair they had all expected to fail.
...