ALL NOVEL Chapter 5: Xanthia On School (UP)
Anyone who has been sick, or is currently ill, understands how precious a healthy body is.
Xanthia's previous frail and sickly status was like a ticking time bomb, always at risk of being invaded by illness.
Once she fell ill, it would definitely lead to loss of appetite, lethargy, and a sharp drop in happy, severely disrupting her progress in improving her attributes.
From the original host’s memories, this body with a poor immune system was often sick, catching colds and fevers with every change of season. Over time, the original host became increasingly depressed and weary of life.
Therefore, Xanthia felt that spending her happy points on health was worth it. Although "healthy body" was just a common attribute, its presence greatly reduced the likelihood of getting sick and even death.
Feeling relieved, Xanthia had a good night's sleep.
Upon waking, the system notified her of an increase in happy points. This made sense, as a restful sleep indeed boosts one’s mood.
In the morning, while washing up, she noticed in the mirror that her complexion was vastly improved.
Previously, her face had been sickly pale, giving off a lifeless vibe.
Now, although her skin remained pale, her complexion was much better.
To her delight, as the negative status transformed into "healthy body," her charm points increased slightly. Perhaps the "social butterfly" attribute also played a role.
It's true that compared to overly introverted people, lively and cheerful individuals are generally more popular.
After having a delightful breakfast, Xanthia took a bus to Thessaloniki First High School, following the original host’s memories. The original host, a neglected young lady, didn't even have the privilege of a private car.
Having experienced hardships in previous life, Xanthia didn't mind taking the bus. It was only two stops to the school, with a commute of just over ten minutes, which is quite fortunate for a working person!
Xanthia eagerly anticipated the school life ahead.
First, the school environment would undoubtedly present more challenging tasks. Additionally, maintaining a positive mindset would surely help her accumulate more happy points.
Those who have faced the harsh realities of society understand how carefree and liberating school days can be.
Xanthia had once been a dedicated student, spending her youthful days buried in books.
In this new life, she decided to adopt a more relaxed and open-minded approach to enjoy high school life to the fullest.
In short, finding joy and accumulating happy points was paramount. As for academic performance, she planned to use her "Wisdom Root" attribute to its fullest advantage!
After just two stops and about ten minutes, Xanthia arrived at the school gate.
The entrance of Thessaloniki First High School was quite grand, and the campus was vast, with luxurious and complete facilities, living up to its reputation as the top high school in the province.
At the gate, vigilant guards checked the "day student passes." According to the original host’s memory, in her class 1-3 or Year 1 Class 3, most students were boarders from various parts of the province with fewer day students.
Morning reading class was about to start when Xanthia walked into the classroom, unnoticed by anyone.
The original host had been so low-profile that her presence in the classroom was barely felt. She was socially anxious, familiar only with her deskmate, Xenia La Sagrada, and didn't even know the names of other classmates.
Likewise, others probably didn't know her name either, as it had only been two weeks since school started, and she hadn't joined the military training due to her poor health, so she hadn’t integrated into the class.
When Xanthia sat at her seat, Xenia didn’t initiate a conversation.
To Xenia, this low-profile deskmate seemed very bad at interacting with others and even afraid of it, so she decided not to disturb her.
Having such a quiet deskmate was peaceful but rather dull.
Xanthia didn’t rush to change the original host’s behavior. She took out an history textbook from this world and started playing a "spot the difference" game, finding that some texts were the same as in her previous world while others were different.
Wait, where did all of William Shakespear’s essays go? Oh… William Shakespear himself doesn’t exist here, so that explains it.
Indeed, for some authorities, his works are too anti-government in here, causing discomfort.
She then flipped through the politics textbook and found that it also didn’t teach the dark muds of political world anymore, focusing solely on patriotism. Quite positive…
As Xanthia was engrossed in comparing the differences between the textbooks from the two worlds, the arrival of the homeroom teacher and greek language teacher, Emmanuel El Alcantara, captured the attention of the entire class.
Though Emmanuel was male, his high-pitched voice, coupled with his unpredictable temperament and sudden bursts of anger, made him incredibly intimidating. As a result, the students had privately nicknamed him "Ultimate Terror," a clear indication of how unpopular he was.
Emmanuel was older and embodied the old-school teacher archetype. He never joked around with the students and always maintained an air of authority.
He believed that only by instilling a sense of fear could he ensure the students would not defy him. This way, managing the class became much easier.
Emmanuel walked to the podium with a sullen expression. The sporadic reading voices in the classroom displeased him, but what displeased him even more were the results of the diagnostic test from the previous day.
"Everyone, stop reading!" Emmanuel's sharp voice cut through the room, silencing the students immediately. The atmosphere grew tense as everyone looked up at him, waiting for what was to come next.
"I've just seen the results of your diagnostic test," he began, his voice dripping with disappointment. "And I must say, they are utterly appalling. This is meant to be one of the top class in the finest high school in Thessaloniki, and yet your performance is absolutely deplorable"
Xanthia glanced at the original host's memories and felt a slight unease. The original host's performance in such exams was typically subpar, a consequence of her frequent illnesses and lack of energy to keep up with her studies.
"As your homeroom teacher," Emmanuel continued, "I expect better from all of you. There is no excuse for such poor performance. Starting today, we will be implementing stricter measures to ensure everyone improves."
He began to outline the new rules: more homework, mandatory study sessions, and stricter discipline. The students exchanged worried glances, understanding that their already rigorous schedule was about to become even more demanding.
Xanthia sighed inwardly but remained composed. She knew that the key to navigating this new life lay in maintaining her newfound health and leveraging her "Wisdom Root" passive attribute to handle these challenges efficiently.
As Emmanuel droned on about the consequences of failing to meet his expectations, Xanthia's mind drifted back to her strategy for accumulating happy points. She needed to find a balance between meeting academic demands and maintaining her personal well-being.
When the lecture finally ended, Emmanuel dismissed the class with a stern warning. "Remember, your future is at stake. Do not take this lightly."
The classroom buzzed with quiet conversations as the students discussed the new changes. Xanthia took a deep breath, determined to face the challenges head-on. The path to happy and success might be fraught with obstacles, but she was resolved to make the most of this second chance at life.
"Everyone, please pause for a moment. For today's greek morning reading class, we will hold a class meeting, and then I will adjust the seating arrangements for the whole class," announced Emmanuel.
Next, he launched into a storm of admonishment!
Although Class 3 of the first-year students was not an experimental class, in reality, the top 40 ranked students were all admitted through provincial-level exams. The quality of students was absolutely not low, but it was evident that their performance in the grade ranking tests couldn't satisfy the proud class teacher, Emmanuel.
Besides being the class teacher for Class 1 of the first-year students, he was also a greek and latin teacher for that class, and as a top-tier educator, his teaching level was very high.
As for those students who ranked lower and entered the class through back doors, Emmanuel looked down upon them greatly. As long as they didn't cause trouble or affect the performance of the top students, he would just ignore them.
Unfortunately, Xanthia was one of these students who uses familial connections. Her total score in the beginning-of-term assessment placed her at 43rd in the class of 56 students. She hadn't fallen into the bottom ten, which was a relief!
Being entirely inconspicuous, she was naturally completely ignored by Emmanuel, while those students with poor grades and disciplinary issues would be targeted harshly by him.
Of course, even if the students had good grades, if they were mischievous and liked to cause trouble in class, they would also be dealt with severely by him.
The reason he was adjusting the seating arrangements for the whole class was because the current seating was chosen randomly since the beginning of the term. Close friends sat together, especially among the boys, which was simply dragging down each other's performance.
After the admonishment, Emmanuel ruthlessly rearranged the seats. Many close friends who were separated showed expressions of helplessness and reluctance.
"Dematero! You seem to have a lot to chat with Glenn, right? Laughing and joking all the time, now you switch seats with Xenia and sit next to Xanthia," Emmanuel said rudely. In fact, he had high hopes for Dematero's potential. This boy ranked 7th in the class in the beginning-of-term assessment, and most importantly, his essays were indeed good, showing some talent.
Dematero was stunned. He almost wanted to ask, "Who is Xanthia?"
But fortunately, he knew Xenia. Then he glanced towards Xanthia beside him, and his expression changed suddenly, as if he had put on a mask of pain—
Oh no, he, who liked to talk, was assigned a mute deskmate!
Xanthia, however, remained indifferent, lost in thought. But at this moment, the voice of the system sounded in her ears—
[ Ding, pain points from Dematero +233, the shopping function has been automatically activated! ]
"...?"
Xanthia suddenly felt an unexpected surprise. She didn't expect the first batch of pain points to come like this.
But what made her speechless was, did this boy really reject being deskmates with her like this? He looked as if he were about to go to jail with that pained expression on his face.