011. A Thorough, Refreshing Bath!

Snake Cannon—that was the name Su Ye wrote on the registration form. He understood the rule of the road: when wandering the world, you never use your real name. On the wrestling stage, he actually signed up as Cannon. But the announcer clearly had a penchant for renaming people; seeing Su Ye wearing an Iron Man helmet, he simply dubbed him Ironhead.

Perhaps he thought piggybacking on Iron Man’s fame would boost popularity? Su Ye neither knew nor cared—what was done was done.

Toiling away until the dead of night, Su Ye finally completed his battle suit and web shooter. Then, he collapsed on the workroom table and slept until his phone’s ring startled him awake the next morning.

“Hey, yeah! Why didn’t you come to school? Did you think today was the weekend?” It was Gwen calling. As the class genius, she had a bit of a student council president air about her.

Blinking his bleary eyes, Su Ye replied with a laugh, “Whenever I think about going on a date with you this weekend, I wish every day were the weekend.”

Flustered by his flirtation, Gwen’s tone softened immediately. “I wish the weekend would come sooner too. But it’s only Wednesday, and you’d better get to school quickly, or you might lose credits. That could hurt your chances of getting into college.”

Glancing at the battle suit and web shooter on the table, Su Ye suppressed the urge to dash out immediately and packed them in his bag. After all, it was broad daylight—he wasn’t about to treat everyone like fools and run across the city in full view with his face exposed, unlike Spider-Man.

This was a world with S.H.I.E.L.D.—they’d have him investigated in minutes. Even with a masked suit, it was safer to make his first appearance at night. Daytime and nighttime light made little difference to him anyway.

The day’s classes went smoothly, and his interactions with Gwen were warm and easy. Although they hadn’t officially gone on a date yet, that subtle chemistry between boy and girl was already budding.

This naturally led to more intimate moments—shoulders brushing, hands being squeezed—and, of course, academic discussions.

Gwen was a top student, never second to anyone, not even Su Ye, the transfer from the Land of Exams. The high school curriculum here was vastly different from that in the Dragon Country, with distinct learning methods and thought processes.

So, even students who excelled back home didn’t automatically stand out here. But after discussing with Su Ye, Gwen realized the legend of Dragon Country students wasn’t just a myth—their strength was real. At least Su Ye, right before her, matched her intellect and grades.

This pleased Gwen immensely. She liked strong boys, but didn’t want a boyfriend whose only asset was muscle and an empty head. Su Ye checked every box, including height and looks.

Su Ye was delighted as well. Dating a smart girl was a breeze—you didn’t have to endlessly field questions about whether her makeup looked good, whether her outfit was sexy, or which lipstick shade matched best.

He wasn’t the type of guy oblivious to girls or feelings, but he absolutely couldn’t handle those never-ending, inane questions. He’d happily compare C to B, but when it came to which lipstick—rosewood or caramel—made one’s face look paler, he was completely lost.

As for lipstick, he only had one question: Is it edible? If you ate it all, would you get poisoned?

That afternoon was activity period. The gym was abuzz—some were chatting, some swapping fluids, some playing basketball, some brawling in corners.

Su Ye and Gwen sat together in the bleachers, casually discussing their studies—a typical day in the life of academic overachievers. Think of Sheldon and Leonard: even when they argued, it was with advanced physics jargon that left everyone else bewildered.

Thinking of those two, Su Ye’s mind wandered to Leonard’s girlfriend, Penny—a woman who fit his tastes, and whose impressive assets had inspired countless Howard quotes in the very first episode.

“Time for a nice long shower!”

“This woman’s milk supply could feed a family of five, with enough left over to open an ice cream shop!”

Sadly, the latter line seems to have been cut—or perhaps he misremembered the episode.

If Su Ye could meet someone like Penny, he wouldn’t even need to think about college applications; he could just go straight to teaching.

As for Sheldon’s girlfriend Amy, she wasn’t his type, and besides, Sheldon’s social skills were so lacking he was often mistaken for a lunatic.

In front of Su Ye and Gwen, a bespectacled girl with her hair in a bun was crouched over, writing something. A long sheet of paper stretched before her, with a small bucket of paint beside her.

Su Ye, absorbed in his conversation with Gwen, paid no special attention to the scene—until a basketball bounced over, knocking over the girl’s paint.

Thompson had sent the ball their way, and the bun-haired girl immediately stood to protest. “You did that on purpose, Lightning!”

Thompson, ready for his usual retort, paused when he spotted Su Ye sitting just beyond the girl. Su Ye turned at the sound, a knowing, half-amused smile on his face.

In that instant, Thompson’s bravado vanished.

Seeing the paint bucket tipped over, Su Ye had been prepared to step in and show off—last time it was in the classroom and cafeteria, this time it would be the basketball court.

Thank you, Thompson, for providing almost all of my high school’s most memorable moments to shine. Thank you for warming every season...

He couldn’t help but smile at the thought. Then, he saw Thompson’s once-arrogant expression collapse into defeat.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to. I’ll be more careful from now on and try not to let the ball roll over here again—don’t worry!” Thompson blurted out.

When Thompson finished, not only was Su Ye—robbed of another moment to shine—stunned, but so was every student in the gym. Had they all misheard?

Thompson, the school bully, always the tormentor and never one to apologize—Lightning Thompson had actually caved?

Was it April Fool’s Day?

Or had Lightning been kidnapped? If so, blink twice to let us know.