IMAO Chapter 112

“Jiang Yuan? An Omega? Are you sure your info is accurate?”

“It’s been days, and Jiang Yuan admitted it himself. What do you think?”

“I still can’t believe it. You all watched the competition, right? Jiang Yuan’s moves were absolutely insane! And he’s actually an Omega!”

“I’m totally into it!”

“Shut up! You think you can take him on? He’s into Alpha-Omega relationships, and with Jiang Yuan, it’s probably Omega-Alpha!”

“OA relationship? What kind of madness is that?! Damn, you’re freaking me out!”

Jiang Yuan could hear various discussions around him, and he knew people were discussing him.

When he was a Beta, he had always drawn attention in Professor Xu Chen’s class. Now that he was an Omega, this attention… well, there wasn’t much he could do about it. He couldn’t exactly tell people to keep their eyes closed.

After getting over his initial shock about Jiang Yuan being an Omega, Ji Yang had completely calmed down. Seeing Jiang Yuan walk into the classroom, he immediately waved at him and Ji Rong.

“Jiang Yuan, Ji Rong, over here!” Ji Yang called out.

Jiang Yuan responded with a sound of acknowledgment as he and Ji Rong walked over together.

“Why are you all standing? Got here late?” Jiang Yuan asked, glancing at Ji Yang’s roommates and Ma Lin, among other familiar faces.

“Late? I think these guys didn’t even go home last night and just camped here,” Ma Lin said with a grin. “It’s been ages since we’ve had a proper seat in class.”

After Ma Lin finished speaking, Ji Yang immediately shook his fist at those sitting below, saying, “Yeah, I haven’t had a seat in forever! There are so many auditing students that we Manufacturing majors can’t even find places to sit anymore.”

“Can’t do anything about it though. Too many people come to Professor Xu’s classes. Not just students from other majors, but even our seniors come to audit.”

Jiang Yuan hummed in agreement, then leaned against the wall at the back. Before the class bell rang, he borrowed Ji Yang’s electronic notes to review the previous content. He hadn’t forgotten that there was an exam coming up in a few days.

The class bell rang, and Xu Chen walked into the classroom.

As soon as Xu Chen entered, the buzzing discussions in the classroom came to an abrupt halt.

Meeting Xu Chen’s eyes, Jiang Yuan gave a slight nod to the elderly professor. During those days in North Mali, the professor had done much for him, constantly pressuring Marshal Alfonso. Jiang Yuan felt grateful to him.

Professor Xu Chen’s lectures were not only engaging but also explained complex concepts in an easy-to-understand way. The number of people auditing the class was ridiculously high. After standing through the entire class, during the break, Xu Chen waved at Jiang Yuan before leaving, signaling for him to follow.

Jiang Yuan followed Xu Chen out of the classroom.

Xu Chen looked at Jiang Yuan with a serious expression, and his first words left Jiang Yuan unsure how to respond.

“I actually think you should take a break from school before returning. Transitioning from Beta to Omega, you must be experiencing pheromone disorders, right?”

Jiang Yuan stiffened slightly, then nodded. “Yes, there is some pheromone imbalance.”

Xu Chen looked up at Jiang Yuan with concern. “Are you sure continuing school like this is really good for you? You could take a break for a while and return when things stabilize. If you’re worried about the school’s approval, I can talk to the principal about it. I at least have that much influence.”

Jiang Yuan shook his head. Originally, he originally planned to take a break, but now that Ji Rong promised to stay with him until his pheromones stabilized, there was no need for it.

“You don’t need to worry about me, Professor. I can handle it myself.”

Xu Chen nodded and did not pursue the topic further. “Alright then. Remember, you can always tell me if you need help. I wouldn’t want anything to happen to such a good student.”

“Come to the lab next weekend. You’ll be my assistant. But if you’re not feeling well, forget about it,” Xu Chen added after considering Jiang Yuan’s condition.

Jiang Yuan: “It shouldn’t be a problem. I’ll be there.”

Xu Chen: “Are you keeping up with the course content?”

Jiang Yuan: “Yes, while I was at Hoyt, my friend sent me notes.”

Hearing this, Xu Chen nodded, “That’s good. You can come directly to me if you don’t understand anything.”

Jiang Yuan: “Okay, thank you, Professor.”

Xu Chen thought for a moment and added, “Come earlier next time, don’t be too late.”

Jiang Yuan gave a dry laugh, “Professor, I came twenty minutes before class.”

Xu Chen raised an eyebrow, “Then why were you standing way back there?”

Jiang Yuan spread his hands. “Because everyone else came even earlier.”

Xu Chen: “…”

“Professor, I’m heading back to the classroom.” Jiang Yuan glanced at the time. There was only one minute until class resumes. Xu Chen responded with a vague sound of acknowledgment.

“Jiang Yuan, what did Professor Xu say to you?” As soon as Jiang Yuan returned, Ji Yang immediately crowded over to gossip.

Jiang Yuan: “Nothing much, just asked about me becoming an Omega.”

Ji Yang: “What else?”

Jiang Yuan: “Asked me to be his lab assistant this weekend!”

Ji Yang: “Damn, weekend at Professor Xu’s lab? Could I possibly…” 

Ji Yang immediately pointed at himself, looking at Jiang Yuan expectantly.

Jiang Yuan didn’t refuse outright, “Well, I’ll ask the professor if I can bring you along.”

Ji Yang immediately broke into a bright smile, “Great, Jiang Yuan, you’re the best!”

…

The bell rang, and Ji Yang smacked his lips. He knew Professor Xu never ran overtime, but after hearing so much, he still felt a bit unsatisfied.

At the podium, Xu Chen didn’t immediately dismiss the class. Ji Yang was surprised for a second. Were they running overtime today?

Xu Chen looked down to count the number of students, then glanced at the number of desks in the classroom. In just a second, the old professor had calculated both the headcount and seats.

“Starting today, the one hundred and seventeen seats in the first thirteen rows will be reserved for students who are actually enrolled in this class. Auditing students, please take the seats in the back.”

After saying this flatly, Xu Chen didn’t linger. He glanced at Jiang Yuan then left the classroom.

“Ahhhh, Professor Xu is amazing! Finally, I don’t have to rush here at dawn anymore. We have seats! Waaah!” Ma Lin immediately burst into laughter.

“Thank god, who knows how many classes I’ve stood through. Which brave soul told Professor Xu about our situation?! Love it, absolutely love it!”

“Wasn’t me!”

“Wasn’t me either…”

While the students were chattering about this, after reaching the cafeteria, the more Ji Yang thought about it, the more something felt off. He asked around in the group chat, but nobody had said anything. Although they had discussed reporting to the school about how auditing was affecting them, they’d ultimately decided against it since it was Professor Xu’s class.

Jiang Yuan was eating from his tray when he heard a clang beside him. Ji Yang had suddenly dropped his fork onto his plate and turned to look at him.

Jiang Yuan: “???”

Ji Yang asked seriously, “Jiang Yuan, did you tell Professor Xu about us not having seats?”

Jiang Yuan: “I didn’t say anything.”

Ji Yang looked at him skeptically: “?”

Jiang Yuan raised his hands in surrender, giving a dry laugh. “Professor Xu saw me standing and during break told me to come earlier and not be late, so I just told him I wasn’t late…”

Ji Yang: “???”

Ma Lin: “???”

Everyone: “???”

Ji Yang felt incredibly bitter. It was too unfair!

Their entire department had been standing for three whole months, trying every trick to get seats, and Professor Xu hadn’t said a word.

But Jiang Yuan stands for just one day after coming back, and Professor Xu immediately gets concerned and assigns specific seats for them!

Out of these one hundred and seventeen seats, he even suspected that Professor Xu included them only because it would’ve been awkward to arrange seats for Jiang Yuan alone.

“Riding on your coattails …” Ji Yang weakly patted Jiang Yuan’s shoulder, looking lifeless. “Professor Xu really likes you, huh.”

Ji Yang’s roommates all looked at Jiang Yuan with the same lifeless expression.

Jiang Yuan: “…”

Ji Rong: “…”

Ji Rong was actually a bit annoyed about Xu Chen’s seating arrangement. Although he listened to the lectures too, he was mainly there to accompany Jiang Yuan. After all, he wasn’t a Manufacturing major. There wasn’t a spot for him among those hundred and seventeen seats.

Jiang Yuan gave a dry laugh. “You’re overthinking it. Professor Xu just didn’t understand the situation. If you had told him earlier, he definitely would have arranged seats for you.”

Ji Yang didn’t say anything, just stared at Jiang Yuan, his eyes seemingly saying ‘do you even believe what you’re saying?’

Jiang Yuan rubbed his nose.

Actually, he knew Xu Chen’s seating arrangement was probably because of those few words he’d said. After all, this was the same professor who had relentlessly harassed Earth’s Supreme Commander Marshal Alfonso for his sake!

That day on the school forum, a post appeared in the Manufacturing Department section—

[Which brave soul reported our difficulty attending lectures? Come out, I want to give you a kiss!]

“Yeah, which brother was it? No joke, I want to thank you again! Last time, to get a seat for one morning class, I arrived at dawn. I thought I was early, but… there was already a bunch of inhuman people who got there even earlier!”

“Finally, I don’t have to wake up early to wait for seats anymore, waaah, thank you brave warrior, I’ll remember you!”

“Still no one’s taking credit, huh? Whoever reported it, I’m grateful. I was about to throw up from standing so much, finally don’t have to anymore.”

= =: “Looks like you all missed the key point.”

“What key point?” Jessica glanced at the message and typed a reply under the anonymous post.

After a few seconds, the anonymous person replied.

= =: “Let me remind you, during class, Professor Xu only spoke to one person privately…”

“You mean that Omega called Jiang Yuan?” Jessica replied after thinking.

She knew this Omega Jiang Yuan’s name for a while, even before the mecha competition began. She learned the name because of Professor Xu’s class!

There had always been a rumor at school that the reason Professor Xu made an exception to teach them was because of this Omega called Jiang Yuan, but back then he was still a ‘Beta’.

= =: “Correct.”

“Damn, no way, but it really makes sense!”

“Jiang Yuan’s double-majoring in Mecha and Manufacturing. Before Jiang Yuan came back… Professor Xu ignored us completely, but as soon as Jiang Yuan returns, we get assigned seats…”

“Pfft, you’re all so behind on the news! What do you mean ‘makes sense’? I heard it in the cafeteria today! I was sitting right behind them and heard everything they said.”

“No need to speculate anymore, it’s true. Don’t have any illusions. Professor Xu didn’t come to school to teach us, he only wanted to teach Jiang Yuan.”

“Damn, is he really that good? I admit his mecha skills are strong, but in mecha design? No way he’s that amazing! I refuse to believe he’s better than us specialists!”

“I heard from a senior that Jiang Yuan improved the Thunder Seven fighter…”

“We’ll see, we’ll see during the midterm exam. Manufacturing isn’t about physical strength. It’s about brains. We’ll crush him in no time.”

= =: “Oh? The little one’s quite confident?”

“Heh.”

= =: “Which class are you in, little one? Leave your name, I want to see too.”

“Class 2, Lu Hang.”

Seeing the name they left, Ji Yang curled his lip. He originally posted on the forum just so he wouldn’t be the only one feeling unsettled, but he never expected someone would actually doubt Jiang Yuan’s abilities!

He knew all about the mecha improvements. That was the whole reason Professor Xu came to their school. Otherwise, Professor Xu teaching them? Keep dreaming!

…

After dinner, just as Jiang Yuan lay down to rest, his body suddenly alternated between hot and cold. He jumped straight out of bed, opened his closet, and pulled out a piece of clothing carrying Ji Rong’s pheromones, wrapping it around himself.

Jiang Yuan’s closet contained several pieces of Ji Rong’s clothes, all carrying his pheromone scent. They helped ease his sudden dependency symptoms, but they weren’t much use against heat cycles. Fortunately, he hadn’t experienced any heat cycles since returning.

Ji Rong’s pheromones seemed magical, quickly helping Jiang Yuan feel calmer, as if Ji Rong were right beside him.

Wrapped in Ji Rong’s clothes, sitting on the bed, constantly inhaling the lingering pheromone scent, Jiang Yuan felt a bit strange about himself.

Ji Rong promised to help him through his pheromone disorder. Initially, he thought it might have been because his father asked, making it awkward for Ji Rong to refuse. But even though he mentioned it several times since then, Ji Rong didn’t change his mind.

He felt somewhat guilty about his previous scheme involving Ji Rong, but now he had already grown accustomed to Ji Rong’s company.

And to the scent of Ji Rong’s pheromones.

Jiang Yuan curled into a ball, inhaling the scent of Ji Rong’s pheromones from the clothes.

The scent smells so good!

No.

This isn’t right.

Oh well, just one more sniff.

It wasn’t that his willpower was weak. It was just that Alpha pheromones had too strong an effect on Omegas.

As Jiang Yuan was lost in thought, a knock at the door interrupted his train of thought.

Outside the door, Ji Rong waited a moment, and just as he was about to knock again, the door creaked open.

Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly noticed Jiang Yuan wearing his clothes.

Jiang Yuan stood at the doorway, glancing at Ji Rong. “Why are you here?”

“I was worried about you, so I came to check on you.” Ji Rong said. “Are you having dependency symptoms?”

Jiang Yuan was silent for two seconds before nodding.

Ji Rong stepped forward, tentatively asking, “Then, can I stay here tonight?”

Jiang Yuan froze at his words, but Ji Rong had already moved close, eyes fixed intently on him. Ji Rong’s pheromone scent kept creeping into his nose.

Sure enough—

Compared to clothes, the real person had a much stronger effect! These damn pheromones were seriously addictive.

“Mm,” Jiang Yuan nodded as if possessed, turning to make way for Ji Rong while saying, “Come in.”

“Jiang Yuan.” Before Jiang Yuan could walk inside, Ji Rong called out to him.

Hearing Ji Rong call him, Jiang Yuan was about to turn around when someone gently caught his hand. Jiang Yuan froze for a moment. Although he didn’t understand why Ji Rong suddenly held his hand, he instinctively frowned and said, “Your hands are a bit cold.”

Ji Rong: “Then help me warm them up.”

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