"The city wall is crumbling apart!"
"There's Grimm everywhere!"
"The Grimm Dragon just crashed into Beacon?!"
"It's the end of the world!"
"Run!!!"
"Please, Mommy, save me!!!"
"Hold up, is that... IS THERE A TEENAGER STANDING ON TOP OF THE DRAGON?!"
[+999 Aura]
=======================================
Despite the many horrible situations you are about to see, know that this... is a romantic-comedy.
========================================
8 Months In The Past
My head hurt.
It was that deep, pounding ache right behind the eyes, the kind that usually followed a long night drinking expensive Maotai at some useless corporate banquet. The kind of events where every investor smiled too hard and lied for a living.
Only I hadn't been drinking.
As the fog in my mind lifted, the smell of premium alcohol gave way to overcooked meat, old sauces, and the sharp sting of cheap floor wax.
A true expert knows that waking up in an unknown place calls for caution. The first thing to trust is hearing. I kept my eyes shut, letting my other senses paint the picture.
"Look at it twitch." A nasal voice chuckled, followed by the scrape of a chair. "It's like it knows what's happening."
"Do you think it feels it in its ears too?"
A soft tug followed by a wet, ugly sound answered the question. Then came a muffled sob, the pathetic sound of someone trying not to cry and failing anyway.
I opened my eyes.
I wasn't in my penthouse in Shanghai. I was sitting at a long cafeteria table in a crowded room full of teenagers wearing grey and burgundy uniforms. Across the table, three idiots stood around a girl with soft brown rabbit ears. One of them still had a hand half-raised, as if deciding whether to keep pulling or laugh at his own joke some more.
For a second, the sight just sat there in my head.
Waking up in a strange place was one thing. Waking up in a room where three schoolyard trash-bags were bullying a crying bunny girl was another thing entirely. Any normal hot-blooded young man would have rushed over by now. He would have slammed a fist on the table, shouted some grand line about justice, and made a scene loud enough to impress the girl he was saving.
That kind of behavior was for simple men.
I wasn't simple. I was HIM.
Having studied the sacred arts of webnovel cultivation during my mandatory PLA days, I knew the deep truth of the world. I understood the Dao of Aura Farming. A true master didn't leap before seeing the board.
I stayed seated and looked.
The girl's ears twitched again. Real ears. Not costume props or cheap fake clips. They moved with the natural, minute motions of any living thing. Scanning the room, I spotted more girls with animal ears, and a few with tails, horns, and other strange features.
So this isn't some weird dream. This is a world where things like that are normal.
I rubbed my chin, my fingers pausing. My hand was bigger than I remembered. The sleeve was a gray uniform shirt beneath a dark vest, and my arm looked thicker than it should have. I raised my hand to my face, feeling a jawline carved out of stone by a bored sculptor.
What is this?
It took me exactly three seconds to understand the situation.
I had been transmigrated. My soul had moved into another body.
Leaning back in my chair, I let out a slow, smug nod. Of course. The heavens did the only sensible thing. It would be a tragedy to keep me trapped in one world. Greatness like mine was meant to spread. Other realms deserved a taste of my excellence.
I just need to figure out where I landed.
Before I could search through the memories drifting at the edge of this new mind, a sharp sound pulled my attention forward.
A girl with black hair and amber eyes stepped in front of the rabbit-eared girl. She slapped one of the boys' hands away and stood between them, her glare cold enough to freeze water.
I took her in at once. Black hair. A large bow perched on top of her head. Long legs, a lean figure, and enough attitude to make a statue feel judged.
My memory clicked.
Blake Belladonna. The black cat girl from Team RWBY.
And if Blake was here, that meant this was Beacon Academy.
Shifting my gaze, I caught my reflection in the dark glass of a nearby window. Orange armor accents. A big, brutish frame. A ridiculous haircut that screamed trouble before I even opened my mouth. A mace hanging at my side.
My stomach sank.
Cardin Winchester.
The racist bully. The cheap early-game enemy. The guy who only existed so the blonde fraud Jaune Arc could get a little character growth out of humiliating him.
I sat very still. What sort of sins did I commit to wake up as a low-tier mob character?
I searched my memory carefully. Nothing. No betrayal. No evil deed. No public scandal.
This can only mean one thing. Some higher being looked at my natural brilliance, felt insecure, and decided to throw me into a hard-mode life out of spite.
Pathetic. No matter. I am still HIM. I would climb. I would rise. I would make this body shine. My inner greatness could never be hidden by a bad reputation and some bad naming choices from the writers.
As I nodded sagely to myself, securing my own enlightenment, I noticed the room had gone quiet.
The three idiots at my table—my so-called teammates—stood around like frozen livestock. Blake glared at me with narrowed eyes. The rabbit girl behind her still sniffled.
My memories settled into place.
Right. This was a canon event. One of my teammates had been acting like a pig, messing with the rabbit girl. In the original story, Cardin was supposed to sneer, say something awful, and cement himself as the sort of person the audience loved to hate.
That wouldn't do. Not because I had a sudden moral awakening.
Bad press is poison. A true Aura Farmer cannot afford to start off as a walking stain.
A blue screen flashed in front of my eyes.
[System Booting...]
[The Aura Farming System V1.0 has been initialized.]
[Congratulations, Host. Due to your remarkable success in the sacred art of Aura Farming in your previous life, the System has determined that you are a proper match.]
[The sole purpose of the Aura Farming System is to raise the ultimate Aura Farmer across the multiverse while preserving the delicate balance of Aura Gain and Aura Loss.]
[Starting bonus granted: Title unlocked — 'For I Am An Aura Farmer' and +10 Aura Points.]
[Would you like to view your status?]
I didn't even need to speak. I simply willed it to open.
[Your Status]
Name: Cardin Winchester
Age: 17
Buffs/Debuffs: None
Title: For I Am An Aura Farmer {Gain +10% More System Rewards}
AP (Aura Points): 460/460 (E+) [14+13+19]
[Stats]
STR: 14 (F) -> 56 (D-)
AGI: 13 (F) -> 52 (D-)
END: 19 (F+) -> 76 (D)
AURA: 16 (6 + 10 Starting Reward)
I stared at the numbers. They were pitiful. For a body this large, the base stats looked less like a champion and more like a brawler built out of spare parts.
[System Notice: An explanation of your stats has been provided to assist the Host.]
[STR (Strength): This stat reflects raw physical power. An average male civilian has around 5–10 points. Your base score of 14 places you at F Rank, just beyond the limit of an ordinary human.]
[AGI (Agility): This stat reflects movement speed, balance, and reflexes. An average male civilian has around 5–10 points. Your base score of 13 places you at F Rank, just beyond the limit of an ordinary human.]
[END (Endurance): This stat reflects vitality, stamina, and toughness. An average male civilian has around 5–10 points. Your base score of 19 places you at F+, nearly twice the limit of an ordinary human.]
[AP (Aura Points): This reflects Remnant-specific Aura, the manifestation of the soul. It works as a shield and also enhances your body. AP is calculated by adding STR, AGI, and END, then multiplying the total by 10.]
[As long as your AP remains intact, your three physical stats gain a constant x4 passive multiplier and a minor healing effect.]
[For reference, an average Beacon first-year with F-rank base stats usually has around 200–400 AP. A notable student like Jaune Arc has just over 900 AP, placing him at a decent C Rank in raw capacity. Host, your 460 AP barely exceed average. Pathetic.]
I clicked my tongue against my teeth. Below the blonde fraud. That stings.
[Most important stat:]
[AURA: True Aura. Also called Swag, Rizz, Face, or Charismatic Presence in other worlds. You gain AURA by collecting Awe, Reverence, and Shock from others.]
[AURA is not merely a score of your greatness. It is a unique form of energy separate from your Remnant Aura shield. It can be used in many ways, and more methods will be unlocked as you grow as an Aura Farmer.]
[AURA may be exchanged into physical stats at will. You may invest AURA into STR, AGI, or END. You may also reassign physical stats on the fly to survive danger, or sacrifice physical stats to raise AURA for future skills.]
[WARNING: Be careful when shifting your physical stats. If END or STR is lowered too much, you may collapse from a light breeze.]
[Final Note: Your original base AURA was a weak 6. This body has the presence of a nobody bouncer in a side street bar. Work hard, Host!]
Right below the insult appeared a red warning box.
[EMERGENCY MISSION ISSUED!]
[Host, you are in a dangerous social situation. One wrong word will brand you as a generic racist mob character. This will cause catastrophic AURA loss and place you in AURA Debt.]
[Preserve your honor and Aura.]
[Mission: Racism?! Impossible!]
[Goal: Cleanly defeat the racism allegations against Cardin Winchester.]
[Penalty: -20 AURA, which will result in AURA Debt. You will also receive the 'Starting Out Losing' debuff, reducing all physical stats by 30% for one full week.]
[Reward: +50 AURA, +1 to all Base Physical Stats, +10 Positive Impressions from the student body, +10 Positive Impressions from ?????]
My golden finger had arrived. And the first thing it handed me was a public relations nightmare.
If I fail here, I lose face immediately. Going into Aura debt on day one would be humiliating. A true master would sooner commit seppuku.
I shut the screens away.
Blake still stood there, arms crossed. Velvet, the rabbit girl, sniffled behind her. The three idiots at my table—Russel, Dove, and Sky—grinned like they had done something clever.
Blake drew breath, ready to begin the righteous lecture the plot demanded. "You people make me sick. You think just because she's a Faunus you can—"
"Hold on." I kept my voice flat and bored, letting it cut through her rising anger. "Who exactly are you talking to?"
Pushing my chair back, I stood up. My height worked in my favor. I didn't hunch. I didn't clench my fists. I simply stood there with my hands loose at my sides, looking at her with the calm exhaustion of a man forced to watch someone embarrass themselves in public.
Blake blinked, her tirade stalling out. "I'm talking to you. And your friends."
I turned my head left. Then right. Then I looked at the idiots beside me.
"Friends?" A dry snort escaped my lips. "Do not group me with these clowns. I only sat here because this table had decent lighting and a clear view of the exits. I have no ties to these people."
Russel nearly choked on his drink. "Wait, Cardin, what the hell? We're on your team!"
"Silence, junior." My eyes flashed with cold warning. "Do not attempt to pull me into your lowly mud. A true man does not pull the ears of a crying girl. He stands above such petty actions."
The boy stiffened, his mouth snapping shut.
I gestured lazily toward the table. "I don't know what these three were doing, and frankly I don't care. If they were being rude to a girl with rabbit ears, that is their failure, not mine."
Sky opened his mouth, his face turning red.
"Let me make this simple," I interrupted smoothly. "Do not drag me into your nonsense just because we wear the same colors. That is not how this works."
Blake's eyes narrowed. "So you're pretending you had nothing to do with it?"
"I am telling you that I refuse to be lumped in with these trash. There is a difference."
The rabbit girl shrank down further in her seat, her ears trembling. Blake noticed the movement and her glare sharpened.
"That doesn't make you innocent."
"Did I say it did?"
That threw her off for half a second. Her frown deepened.
"Let me be clear," I continued. "If my teammates were acting like brutes, then I have no reason to defend them. And if you think I am going to stand here and accept blame for the habits of these low IQ goons, then you are wasting both our time."
Russel stared at me as though I had grown a second head. "Cardin, what are you doing?"
"Saving this team from embarrassment."
Sky narrowed his eyes. "By throwing us under the bus?"
I looked at him with open disgust. "You were already under the bus. I am merely making sure I am not strapped to the bumper."
That finally shut him up.
Blake crossed her arms tighter, refusing to yield the moral high ground. "You still sit with them. You still let this happen."
Letting out a slow breath, I looked at her like she was being difficult on purpose. This little kitty has eyes, but she truly cannot recognize Mount Tai. She is practically begging to be educated.
"Tell me something, Belladonna." I tilted my head. "Do you think a man is responsible for every idiot in the room simply because he shares a table with them?"
Her jaw tightened. "You're their leader."
"Officially, that means I am responsible for the team's combat performance. It does not mean I am the babysitter of their every bad thought." I nodded toward the rabbit girl. "And if you are trying to tell me that your friend there cannot handle a few loudmouths, then you are insulting her far more than I am."
Velvet let out a tiny squeak and lowered her gaze.
Blake's lips pressed into a thin line. I saw the opening and took it.
"Listen." I lowered my voice, adopting a reasonable, tired tone. "If your problem is with them, take it up with them. I am not here to defend idiots. I am here to eat lunch, and this conversation is already more tiring than it should be."
I made a show of reaching for my tray.
Blake stepped directly into my path. "No. You don't get to walk away after acting like that."
I stopped. Very slowly, I looked down at the hand she had lifted to block me, then back up to her face. Her expression held that sharp, righteous anger that always came from people used to winning arguments in their heads before they started speaking.
I almost respected it. Almost.
I set my tray back down. "Do you know what I find interesting?"
"What?" Blake frowned.
"You keep calling me a racist."
Blake's eyes flared. "Because you are one."
"That is a strong claim." I laced my fingers together, resting them on the table. "To accuse me, Cardin Winchester, son of esteemed Councilman Winchester, to be a racist is some pretty heavy slander. Especially considering I haven't said a single word in your favor or against it. You are accusing me of a crime while standing next to a table full of people who were doing the thing you claim I support."
Blake's brows drew together, her stance shifting slightly.
"Here is a better question," I offered, gesturing with one hand. "Why are you focused on me when the idiots who actually pulled on the girl's ears are standing right behind me?"
Russel gave a weak laugh. "Hey, come on, Cardin—"
"Not now," I snapped without looking at him.
"Because you're their leader," Blake countered. "Because they follow your lead."
A sharp smile spread across my face. "Do they?"
She hesitated.
Good.
I leaned forward slightly. "Then let me educate you on how this works. If one of my dogs bites someone, I discipline the dog. I do not throw myself on the floor and claim to be the one who barked."
Blake's face darkened at once. "Did you just compare your teammates to dogs?"
"I compared their behavior to something lower than dogs. Try to keep up."
A low murmur spread through the cafeteria. People were watching now.
Perfect. The room had gone from background noise to a stage, and stage time was a valuable commodity for an Aura Farmer.
Blake stepped closer. "You know exactly what you're doing."
"Of course I do. I am trying very hard not to let this turn into a circus."
"This already is a circus."
I glanced at the crowd around us, taking in the whispering students and the wide-eyed onlookers. "That part is not my fault."
A few students at nearby tables tried very hard not to laugh. Others stared as if they couldn't tell whether this was a fight or a public execution. Blake clearly struggled with deciding whether to push harder or retreat.
I gave her no room to recover. I lifted a finger and pointed across the room.
"Tell me, Belladonna. Did I not shove Jaune Arc into a locker this morning?"
The blonde boy in question nearly choked on his sandwich two tables away. A ripple of shocked laughter spread through the crowd.
I kept going, pacing a slow step to the side. "Did I not make that human senior fetch my lunch yesterday because he had been standing in my way? Did I not tell a whole group of upperclassmen that their weapon designs looked like scrap from a cheap junk pile?"
The cafeteria got even quieter. Several people looked toward the upperclassmen I had mentioned. One of them coughed into his hand and looked away quickly.
I pointed back at Blake. "Do you honestly think I only pick on Faunus? That is lazy thinking. If someone annoys me, I let them know. Race has nothing to do with it."
Blake stared. The first crack had appeared in her righteous armor.
I pressed that crack wider.
"Your mistake was assuming that because these three idiots behind me acted like generic, low-tier bullies to the rabbit girl, I must somehow share their idea of what is and is not worth bothering with." I turned slightly, indicating Velvet with a casual nod. "And let us not pretend this poor girl is helpless. She is a second-year student. A senior. If a few first-years were really such a threat, that would say more about her than about anyone else."
Velvet let out a tiny, offended sound and sank even lower in her seat, hiding behind her hands.
Blake shot me a look of disbelief. "That isn't the point."
"Then what is?"
She opened her mouth. Nothing came out right away.
I smiled. There it was. The moment her argument lost shape.
"If your point is that I should care because she is a Faunus, then no. I do not care." I ticked off the points on my fingers. "If your point is that I should be judged by the trash at my table, then also no. I do not accept guilt by association."
"You're still acting like this is all a joke," Blake hissed, her hands balling into fists.
I spread my hands in a gesture of innocence. "Not a joke. This is a misunderstanding you seem to have about me."
Taking one step closer, I dropped my voice so only she and my immediate audience could hear the venom in it.
"If someone is weak enough to be pushed around by those trash, that is unfortunate. If someone thinks pulling a few ears makes them mighty, that is stupid. And if someone wants to stand in front of me and pretend the world is divided into clean little boxes of good and evil, then that person is going to have a hard time."
The room remained dead still. Even my teammates had stopped breathing loudly.
I looked down at Blake with cool, measured contempt.
"Did you honestly think that merely because these three low-IQ, zero-EQ mobs sitting behind me decided to pull the ears of a Faunus, that I am by association a racist? How narrow-minded of you. But fine, I can accept that. As long as you have some better evidence than this, at least."
Her face tightened. "You're unbelievable."
"Thank you."
"I meant that as an insult."
"I know."
That only made her angrier. Anger meant she was still paying attention.
I tapped a finger against my own chest. "Let me make this simple so even an empty-headed, victim-complex addict like you can follow it. I do not care if someone has rabbit ears, cat ears, horns, scales, a tail, or a face so plain it could be used as a warning sign."
I swept my gaze around the room, making sure the entire cafeteria caught the next part.
"In front of me, you are all equally trash."
Returning my focus to Blake, I let my voice drip with arrogant poison. "Don't you dare try to slander my pristine misanthropy by declaring your race makes you special. None of you are special enough for me to target you."
Straightening my coat, I dusted off an imaginary speck of dirt from my shoulder.
"Why should I bother wasting my precious time and effort distinguishing your race, your background, or even who you are... when you are all simply the dirt at the bottom of my boot?"
The line landed better than expected. A few students shifted in their seats, exchanging unsure glances. One boy gave a small nod before catching himself and staring hard at his tray.
Blake frowned, still unconvinced, but the edge in her posture softened by a fraction. She had expected a coward. She hadn't expected to run into a man who proudly declared himself a misanthrope.
It was useful. But I wasn't quite done.
Folding my arms, I held her gaze. "You should be smart enough to know what real prejudice looks like. Do not insult me by pretending I am the same as these idiots just because we sit at the same table."
Russel muttered under his breath, shifting uncomfortably. "Man, this is getting weird."
I shot him a side-glance. "You can leave this table anytime."
He shut up again.
Blake exhaled through her nose, the sound sharp. "You still let them act like this."
"No," I corrected. "I let them dig their own graves."
That made her pause.
I nodded once, offering a sensible agreement. "Here is what happened. They acted like idiots. You came over to defend your friend. I do not blame you for that. But I also will not sit here and allow you to attach me to their stupidity like it belongs to me."
Turning my head, I looked at the rabbit girl again. Velvet had gone red in the face from embarrassment, her ears folded flat against her hair.
It was enough.
I sighed, speaking more quietly. Not because I was soft, but because there was no point crushing her any further.
"And you." I addressed Velvet directly. "Do not let a few morons make you look fragile. If you are going to eat in a room this crowded, you need thicker skin than that. You're a second-year in a combat academy, for God's sake. Act like it."
Velvet blinked, her eyes wide.
Blake's expression sharpened again, but it lacked the certainty she'd carried earlier.
The system is waiting. It wanted spectacle. It wanted a clean win. It wanted the moment of shock when the crowd realized I was not the monster they expected.
So I gave it exactly that.
Straightening up, I drew in a breath and let my voice carry.
"Listen carefully. I do not care if you are Faunus, human, or some odd mix the world decided to make for fun. I do not care if you have ears, tails, horns, wings, or a face so dull it puts me to sleep. If you act like trash, I will call you trash."
I glanced back at Blake. "And honestly, I find it insulting that you thought I would need to hide behind these clowns to defend my own name."
Her mouth opened slightly.
The reaction around the room shifted. A few students looked amused. A few looked confused. A few looked disturbed in that special way people got when they realized the person in front of them was too strange to sort into a neat, predictable category.
That is the sweet spot.
Deciding to twist the knife just once more, I pointed over my shoulder toward my team.
"These three can answer for themselves. I am not their father, their guard dog, or their moral shield. If they want to embarrass themselves by pulling on someone's ears, that is their problem."
Russel looked horrified. Dove looked like he wanted to sink into the floor. Sky had gone deathly pale.
I gave them all a cold look. "And for the record, I would advise all of you to stop acting like this before someone decides to educate you with a chair."
That did the trick. The table went dead still.
Blake stared at me, then at them, then back at me. She looked far less certain now.
I picked up my tray. "Now, if this little tribunal is over, I would like to finish my lunch in peace."
Blake didn't move for a long second. Then, slowly, she stepped aside.
Her face hadn't softened, but the hard edge had shifted into something far more careful. She was still angry. Still suspicious. But she was no longer certain I fit neatly into the role she had prepared for me.
As I passed her, I paused just long enough to catch her eye.
"You should be more careful with your assumptions."
Then I walked away. I simply left the cafeteria with the calm pace of a man who had just won a fight without throwing a single punch.
The blue screens exploded in front of my vision before I even reached the hallway doors.
[Mission Success! √]
[Goal achieved. The racism allegations have been crushed beneath the weight of your sheer, arrogant confidence.]
[Title Active: For I Am An Aura Farmer! -> Bonus +10% to all rewards.]
[Calculating gains...]
-> +55 AURA
-> +1 to all Base Physical Stats (STR, AGI, END)
-> +11 Positive Impressions from the student body (You are now being viewed as a difficult misanthrope rather than a simple racist.)
-> +11 Positive Impressions from the teachers watching the security cameras (You have proven that you are not a liability, merely highly problematic.)
A warm rush flowed through my body. My muscles tightened a fraction. My body felt fuller. Sharper. Better.
I kept my face perfectly still. Inside, I was shouting.
That is what I'm talking about.
Who needed character development when you could simply gaslight the entire room into believing you hated everyone equally? True equality meant treating all people like garbage.
Stepping out into the empty hallway, I left the confused cafeteria behind me. A grin tugged at my mouth before I could stop it.
The path of the Aura Farmer was not an easy one. But looking at those gains, I knew this world was going to be an absolute goldmine.
"Cardin Winchester is dead," I muttered, adjusting my collar with a smooth flick of my wrists.
My grin widened into a predatory smirk.
"Long live the new Cardin Winchester."