The Campus Heartthrob Keeps Trying to Mark Me

Coming soon: "Forced to Be Reborn Again and Again". If you're interested, please add it to your collection~

Yanda University has two celebrated newcomers who have been on the winner lists for competitions and scholarships ever since they enrolled.

One is Li Chengyue, the Computer Science department's heartthrob: exceptionally skilled, ruthless, and sparing with words. He once took down several punks who were harassing an Omega classmate, all by himself.

The other is the campus heartthrob, Chi Jing: gentle, well-bred, and a little bit good at everything. The love letters he receives could circle the campus three times.

One night, however, a student happened to see the two arguing on a path beyond the reach of the streetlights.

They argued, then came to blows, with one pinning the other to the ground.

The students of Yanda were stunned: so the two big shots can't stand each other!

*

Later, the whole student body voted for the two of them to compete in a reality show for ordinary college students.

After the show aired, everyone gathered around to watch the drama, expecting them to fight tooth and nail for first place.

Instead, they saw this:

The host, an NPC who'd been their friend since middle school, exclaimed, "You're not on the same team? Are you trying to make it easier for everyone else?"

The students of Yanda: "...?"

During a faction game, Chi Jing turned down several invitations to team up, then found someone in a room and wordlessly put a team marker on him.

Li Chengyue stared at the wrist Chi Jing had clamped in his hand and frowned. "What are you doing?"

Chi Jing smiled faintly. "I want to be with you."

The students of Yanda: "!!!"

*

No one knew what had happened that night.

Li Chengyue was held down, a deep bite mark left on the pale nape of his neck.

Wincing in pain, he cursed, "I'm a Beta! You can't mark me!"

Chi Jing lowered his eyes and brushed the striking dark-red mark, replying slowly, "I know."

I just want to leave my scent on you.

Gentle, scheming pseudo-romantic x uninhibited free spirit who can't stand romance

[Blurb written on 2023.1.14, revised on 4.1]

Reading Guide:

1. Set on a college campus. All main characters are adults. There are some reality-show scenes, but no showbiz plot and no real-life inspirations.

2. The recipient is a Beta at first, then later presents as an Omega.

3. The author isn't a professional, so there may be plot or worldbuilding bugs. Please overlook them, orz. If it's not your thing, click x~

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"Forced to Be Reborn Again and Again"

After the apocalypse, pollution runs rampant and species mutate.

People joke that in a life where you could become a different species tomorrow, staying alive is much harder than dying.

When Su Jiayi heard this, he wholeheartedly agreed.

But then he quickly shook his head. I don't have a choice.

Su Jiayi appears to be in his twenties, but he has a secret:

He's been alive for a very long time.

Every time he dies, he is forced to come back to life at the same time and place.

By his reckoning, his true age is... probably over a hundred?

-

After opening his eyes an uncountable number of times, the centenarian youth Su Jiayi settled on three rules for life:

1. Save people if you can. If they want to die, let them.

2. Keep a low profile. I'm just a kind-hearted citizen.

3. Stay away from Xie Cheng (Note: the most important rule)

He diligently followed these principles, and felt he was doing a decent job with the first two.

But... something went wrong with the last one.

-

At a high-level pollution site, contaminants poured endlessly from underground, and numerous ability-user squads were locked in a fierce battle.

Then a streak of black light, too fast for the naked eye to follow, plunged from the sky straight into the area swarming with monsters.

Within minutes, every contaminant in that area had been annihilated. A tall, slender figure emerged slowly from the dust.

"Colonel Xie! Colonel Xie is here!"

Cheers rang out across the battlefield.

Only one person felt differently from everyone else.

Su Jiayi spotted the newcomer from afar, frowned without drawing attention, and turned to leave.

But his feet felt as though they were sunk in a swamp, and he couldn't take another step.

A cool sensation wrapped around his ankle and crept up his calf, displaying its owner's brazen disregard for boundaries.

The arm locked around his shoulders, however, was warm. Su Jiayi didn't need to turn around to hear the man chuckle in his ear. "Why are you running so fast? Don't you want to see me?"

Theme: Struggle is the color of youth.