Chapter 38: Wait and See

Chapter 38: Chapter 38: Wait and See

Even if someone with sharp ears heard the whistle, at most they’d just be a little suspicious, or maybe they wouldn’t suspect anything at all and just roll over and keep snoring away.

Back then, Renee Morgan only had a fleeting suspicion—she thought everyone was way too relaxed for their first emergency assembly, which felt totally off. It wasn’t until the second emergency whistle that she jumped up right away, no hesitation.

Lynn Miller listened to Renee’s explanation, gave her a thumbs up, and said, "Girl, I’m totally convinced, you win."

Miles Yates, standing to the side, kept his eyes fixed on Renee, a glint of admiration sparking there.

Renee lowered her own thumb. "This isn’t anything special. I just stayed a bit more alert than usual, that’s all."

Just like the instructor said: in the base, sometimes vigilance matters more than strength. Hell, vigilance is a kind of strength too.

Wendy Aldridge looked at Renee, surrounded by everyone’s praise, and couldn’t figure out how she’d lost to her. After all, she was first in tonight’s emergency assembly too. Renee just got lucky and snagged first place the second time around, and suddenly the instructor is singing her praises, everybody’s thanking her, while she herself gets nothing—worse, she becomes the comparison point.

It’s not fair. It’s just not fair.

Wendy couldn’t swallow the jealousy burning in her chest. She secretly vowed to herself she’d find a way to drag Renee down someday.

After saying goodbye to Lynn and Miles, Renee returned to her room to rest.

She hadn’t even lain down yet when Wendy showed up at her door.

Renee opened the door and saw Wendy standing there. Before she could say anything, Wendy’s eyes filled with tears, looking all pitiful and guilty at once.

Wendy: "Renee, I came to apologize to you. I’m sorry—it was me who locked the door this morning. I really misunderstood you and the PD staff, and I wanted to give you guys a chance. At the same time, yeah, I was jealous. You’re just way too popular with the production team, and I wanted to out you two as a couple... Anyway, it’s all just petty girl drama. I’m ashamed of myself for acting like that. I hope you can forgive me, give me a chance to make it up to you."

Renee didn’t know if Wendy was genuinely clueless or just pretending. What happened this morning—if Renee hadn’t been on her guard, it would have destroyed her. I mean, for a rookie to get caught in such a scandal, what future would she have left?

But now all Wendy wants to say is "just girl stuff" and try to smooth it over, expecting Renee to forgive her?

"Renee..." Wendy reached out to grab her hand when she saw Renee stay silent.

Renee quickly stepped back, grabbed the door, and slammed it shut with a loud "bang."

Wendy nearly got her fingers caught. Her face went red with anger. She wanted to kick the door but was scared of waking everyone else, so all she could do was storm off in frustration.

She’d even planned to hold back a bit, thinking that if Renee forgave her, she could use that opportunity to get close—turn enemies into friends, then strike at the right moment.

But since Renee wouldn’t play along, she’d only have herself to blame. Wendy resolved to show her no mercy in the future—it would all be Renee’s fault.

Renee listened to Wendy’s footsteps fade away, then let herself relax, crawled into bed, and closed her eyes again for sleep.

Right now, all Renee cared about was catching up on rest—there were more tasks to do come daylight. As for Wendy? Not her problem. Since this was now an official matter, the instructors would deal with it. All Renee had to do was trust them.

This nap didn’t last long, but Renee slept well. She grabbed her toiletries and headed to the bathroom; on her way out, she bumped into Wendy.

Wendy’s face looked normal. She wasn’t fake sweet and gentle, but she still kept up that innocent, quiet-girl vibe. She nodded at Renee, greeted her coolly, and walked into the bathroom without a care.

Renee didn’t even twitch an eyebrow, just hugged her washbasin and left.

It was still before seven. The livestream hadn’t started yet, but last night’s footage had already been posted. This was the hottest variety show around, with fans not only from Zhonglia but also from the West. The moment the video dropped, it was posted globally, and it broke a hundred million views in just half an hour.

A bunch of viewers were drawn in by the Mercenary Guild theme.

But then, watching the elite Team One lose to supposedly harmless Team Two in such a ridiculous way left everyone speechless.

Especially when one of Team One’s merc guys joked, "What we really need is a Renee Morgan," everyone couldn’t help but crack up.

The comments were hilarious:

[Hey, come on dude. Team Two only has Renee Morgan as their poster girl, and you still want to poach her?]

[Haha, the team setup cracks me up. Team One’s all about being elite, Team Two has no skills, no stamina, just a bunch of basic coddled normies with zero hardship. And yet? Their real ace is Renee Morgan—none of Team One’s guys can beat her. She smoked them in both sit-ups and push-ups, and she’s the brains too. Two emergency whistles in one night, and she’s the only one who figured out it was a setup by the instructor and got everyone up immediately. That decisiveness? That guts? Instantly convinced. Really, it isn’t that Team One’s elites lost to Team Two—it’s that Team One’s elites lost to Renee Morgan alone.]

This comment quickly got pinned and racked up the most likes—an instant classic.

[LOL, everyone says Renee Morgan is the most influential female celebrity among folks in special occupations. That’s definitely true. (Big bro always tells it like it is!)]

[Let’s bet some chips—if they get to the match, these merc guys are for sure taking out Renee first. (Team Two is weak, if you get rid of Renee, they’re zero threat!)]

[Damn, that actually makes sense. Renee’s in trouble—she’s got skills and strength, but she doesn’t know how to cover her own back. All these merc guys saying they like her, but behind closed doors, bet they’re plotting how to take her out first.]

Not that netizens are being paranoid—even if you only watch a little bit of international news, everyone knows people in those special jobs see human life as dirt. Morality? Never heard of it. As long as you pay them, they’ll do anything.

People were already betting on the competition’s outcome. Right now, Renee’s the queen of the show, but setups like that always crash and burn in the competition phase—there’s no way she’ll end up with the highest score.

On the flip side, those low-key ordinary folks are way more likely to be dark horse winners.

They were waiting to see what would happen next.

At assembly, everyone lined up right at seven. The class leader didn’t say much at first, just signaled for Wendy Aldridge to step forward.

Wendy held her written apology and stood in front of everyone.

The livestream had already started. Netizens grabbed their snacks, leaned in close, and got ready to listen to Wendy’s thousand-word apology letter.