Ch 24: Those who wronged me are now begging me for mercy

Whoever Can’t Finish Is a Dog

What the heck! Is this Rong Ziyin cursed or something?

At that moment, every student who read his post felt like they’d just been punched in the gut.

While many people say that college academics are a lot easier than high school, the truth is that true overachievers build their success through time and dedication.

These students rarely spent much time on forums, but this paper issue was so significant that they couldn’t resist checking the forum for updates. Rong Ziyin’s blatant mockery didn’t directly involve them, but his arrogant attitude was enough to make them explode with anger.

After all, if it weren’t for the Veterinary Department’s report, they wouldn’t have missed their chance to submit their papers.

If Rong Ziyin were in front of them right now, they would likely beat him up on the spot.

As for the ordinary students who spent their time enjoying youth, playing games, and hanging out on forums, they felt directly insulted and immediately offended.

The worst part was that they couldn’t even find a way to argue back.

Slacker Li Dalian’s Resentment Value +1000

Slacker Yu Congcong’s Anger Value +1000

Overachiever Zhang Fugui’s Speechlessness Value +1000

…

The system notifications filled Rong Ziyin’s mind in rapid succession.

The system was on edge, seriously worried that Rong Ziyin’s large-scale provocation would get him beaten up.

After all, in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Zhuge Liang was able to out-argue his opponents not only because of the novel’s exaggerated portrayal but also because everyone was too civilized to slap him.

And then, Rong Ziyin suddenly received a notification: “Skill Activated: Greetings from the People of Zu’an. Your opponent’s intelligence has decreased. Duration: Five minutes. Please make the most of this opportunity.”

What does that mean? Rong Ziyin didn’t quite understand, but when he refreshed the forum page, he noticed that the students who had been arguing suddenly seemed to lose their ability to respond intelligently, as if they were too angry to think straight.

Speechlessness Value +1000

So the decrease in intelligence meant that during an argument, the other side would lose their ability to organize coherent responses? This skill was almost too wicked!

Rong Ziyin couldn’t help but laugh.

But then, a reply appeared in the thread that truly demonstrated what a decrease in intelligence meant.

The reply was unbelievably stupid!

“Some people claim to be so amazing, but who really knows—”

The person mimicked Rong Ziyin’s style, inserting a long string of spaces that forced readers to click to see the rest of the message.

Curious, Rong Ziyin clicked to read the rest, only to find, “—they got kicked out of the lab and had to finish the second half of their paper in the village. How low can you get?”

System: Pffft, hahahaha!

Everyone else: …

That response was so dumb it was shocking. The people who had already been rendered speechless by the skill were now completely at a loss for words, thinking that the person who posted this must be a spy sent by Rong Ziyin.

What the heck does “low” even mean in this context? The project was interrupted, and Rong Ziyin was forced to leave the lab, yet he still managed to complete the second half of his paper in the village. How is that something just any overachiever could accomplish?

It was clearly something only an extraordinary overachiever could pull off!

“Damn, this idiot must be Rong Ziyin’s lackey.”

“Stupid sycophant, get lost!”

“Disgusting leg hair.”

The hatred originally directed at Rong Ziyin was smoothly diverted by this person. Instead of rubbing salt in the wound, he had turned himself into a target.

Garbage Roommate 1’s Frustration Value +2333

System: …This system is so half-assed! For someone who’s just cannon fodder, at least they could have been given a proper name by now. Even a petty thief stealing bike batteries gets a name like Zhang Dagou!

Rong Ziyin struggled to hold back his laughter, thinking that fate was indeed a very interesting force, even creating a system with such a human-like personality.

Meanwhile, back in the Agricultural University dormitory, Garbage Roommate 1 was getting yelled at by the other three roommates.

“Are you an idiot? We told you to insult him, not compliment him!”

“But, but I was insulting him!” The roommate was genuinely confused. He didn’t think he said anything wrong, but somehow, his words ended up sounding like praise for Rong Ziyin.

The complexity of the Chinese language was to blame—there was no saving someone this dumb.

The other three decided to ignore him and logged into the forum themselves to take matters into their own hands.

But with five minutes left on the intelligence-decreasing skill, their outcomes weren’t much better.

Two of them found themselves unable to string together a coherent sentence, while the third, in a moment of heated frustration, ended up copying Rong Ziyin’s format.

“Some people claim to be amazing, but if you’re really that amazing, then hurry up and qualify to publish in a core journal!”

“See! Now that’s a real zinger!” The roommate bragged after posting the comment.

However, the other three roommates had a nagging feeling that something was off with the statement. But when they thought about it carefully, they realized that it was actually true and that there was no flaw in the logic.

For Rong Ziyin to publish in a core journal, he had to meet the additional requirements imposed by the journal.

There were only two months left before the core journal’s submission deadline. For Rong Ziyin to qualify, he needed to publish three papers within that time.

All three papers had to be in provincial-level journals or higher, and even the fastest provincial journal would take 1-3 months to publish. This meant that even if Rong Ziyin had three papers ready right now, it was unlikely that he could meet the core journal’s final deadline. Not to mention the possibility that he didn’t even have those three papers written yet.

It was an impossible task.

Someone couldn’t help but laugh, but the forum quickly fell silent again.

Because, while the comment seemed like a harsh takedown, it was still a blanket statement that affected more than just Rong Ziyin. After all, it wasn’t just Rong Ziyin who had lost the opportunity; it was the entire school’s top students.

“I just want to know, who the heck is this idiot, and what department are they from?!”

“Schadenfreude? What a piece of work!”

The backlash was immediate, and the roommate who posted the comment instantly found himself the target of a wave of insults.

“What the heck is wrong with these people?” In the dorm, all four roommates couldn’t help but curse.

Finally, the dorm leader tried to comfort them, saying, “Let them curse, it’s anonymous anyway.”

“Exactly! They won’t be able to trace it back to us!” With that, the four finally felt a bit more at ease.

What they didn’t realize, however, was that forums like this one, which claim to be anonymous and seem very safe, are actually full of leaks.

Such forums typically have administrators who have the authority to trace back to the real student IDs of the posters. Teachers responsible for managing the school’s network security also have access to student lists, as do department heads and other administrative staff. The school principal, of course, has even more authority.

Moreover, this is just the surface. Humans are social creatures, and where there are people, there are no real secrets.

Some administrators are students themselves, and they inevitably have friends to whom they might reveal these “anonymous” identities. Teachers, too, might not explicitly tell students but might share unusual stories with friends or family, spreading the information further.

So, when you post something anonymously, it may seem like only you know, but in reality, dozens of people could know who you are.

Rong Ziyin had previously gotten along well with the teacher in charge of network security, so he had heard some gossip from the teacher now and then.

For instance, the story about the university’s top ten beauties actually originated from the girl ranked fifth. She started the ranking but ended up not getting first place, leading to someone else’s rise to the top.

Because of this, during his freshman year, Rong Ziyin was cautious and never posted on the campus forum. By his sophomore year, after learning the ropes, he stopped posting altogether. And he never used his connections with the teachers to try to expose anyone’s identity on the forum.

But this time, it wasn’t Rong Ziyin who exposed someone—it was the roommate who exposed himself.

The roommate had responded using his main account’s alias. So, when he posted the comment attacking Rong Ziyin, he had already revealed his identity.

The key issue was that his comment was just too much of a blanket statement. Seeing this, Rong Ziyin couldn’t resist fanning the flames a bit more.

“I know, bro, you’re just standing up for me and accidentally made a blanket statement. Don’t worry, the ones who won’t be able to submit their papers are someone else.”

This single sentence was packed with implications. The Veterinary Department had caused a big stir recently over the recommendation issue, and now the paper submission controversy had also started with the Veterinary Department. After reading Rong Ziyin’s reply, many people naturally thought of another person—someone who had always been at odds with Rong Ziyin, the rich young master.

Like Rong Ziyin, the rich young master’s paper was rejected. But compared to Rong Ziyin, the rich young master was far more suspicious. Rong Ziyin at least had a reputation as an academic overachiever, with three years of national scholarships under his belt. The rich young master, on the other hand, was known for being wealthy and handsome—nothing more.

Yet in his senior year, he suddenly turned into a top student, which was quite unbelievable. He had also lost his recommendation due to a cheating scandal, having violated school rules by hiring someone to take his exams.

Although this incident didn’t spread widely, enough people knew about it. So it wasn’t long before someone brought it up.

“So, could it be this rich young master?”

“Makes sense. His grades were pretty terrible back then.”

The rich young master was immediately dragged into the controversy, and he was furious.

He had been trying to arrange for someone to write his paper, but with the tight deadlines and subject restrictions, everyone he approached was charging exorbitant fees, making him extremely frustrated.

Reading the comments mocking Rong Ziyin in the campus forum was the only thing that had given him some comfort. But now, the tables had turned, and the gossip was suddenly all about him.

Meanwhile, Rong Ziyin switched over to the class group chat and directly tagged his roommate. “Wouldn’t it be better to study more and spend less time on the forum? Didn’t you fail the retake again?”

“!!! Damn.” The roommate was furious.

And the other classmates in the group chat were equally furious, wishing they could beat up Rong Ziyin’s roommates.

The Veterinary Department was now the target of the entire school’s ire. Instead of standing united, Rong Ziyin’s roommates were backstabbing him.

The whole class banded together to hurl insults at the roommate, tearing him apart.

But what good was that? On the forum, the Veterinary Department was still under attack, and their reputation would be difficult to restore.

“This is so annoying. Which idiot made the report?!”

“Even if we knew, it wouldn’t change anything. None of us can publish our papers now!”

The classmates in the group chat continued to discuss, trying to find a solution.

At that moment, Rong Ziyin suddenly spoke up, “It’s okay. Let’s just write three papers now and submit them.”

“Publish them now?” The group was stunned.

Rong Ziyin: “Yes!”

After answering, Rong Ziyin disappeared.

Five minutes later, someone in the class group chat shouted, “Guys! Go check the forum! The top student has made a post under his real name!”

This person was quite the teaser, not even bothering to share a link.

Everyone had to navigate to the campus forum to see for themselves, and they were all shocked.

Rong Ziyin, true to his reputation as the top student in the Veterinary Department, had posted a new thread with an extremely arrogant title that made people want to punch him even from miles away.

**#If You’re a True Top Student, Hold Hands—Whoever Fails to Finish Their Paper Is a Dog!#

🍉🫐🍇🍒🥝