Lohan’s return to the classroom went virtually unnoticed.
Even after he sat down among his classmates, no one there seemed to notice that he had returned after a few days’ absence, or even bothered to ask why he had been gone.
Unlike the classrooms in his previous world, where people liked to be present to make friends, discuss random everyday things, and even go out together to have fun.
In this world, that kind of situation only happened among the students from the Upper Zone.
Not only did they pay no attention to the students from the Lower Zone, viewing them as less than human, but even the Lower Zone students themselves didn’t try to make friends, afraid of making a mistake here and offending someone from the Upper Zone.
So the previous Lohan was already used to this.
Suddenly, the classroom door opened and everyone looked up.
But when they saw that it was a boy from the Lower Zone who had arrived, their interest vanished instantly, and the background chatter of the Upper Zone students resumed.
Only Lohan looked at that student for a few more seconds.
With his heightened instincts, he could sense that the boy’s power had increased significantly in recent days, with the amount of Mana emanating from his body being much greater than when he last saw him.
This was the boy with the Rare Base he had observed last time.
Surprisingly, just as Lohan was observing him with interest, the boy returned the gaze and looked at Lohan with a hint of surprise, as if he too sensed some change in him!
The two boys’ eyes met, and they noticed the surprise on each other’s faces for a split second, before the boy looked away and continued walking to his usual spot.
Lohan watched the boy with interest for a few more seconds before looking away as well, not wanting to be rude or attract any unwanted attention.
Lohan saw great potential in this boy, even entertaining the idea of inviting him into his guild like Lisa, considering how rare it was to find someone with a Rare Base among the Players.
Especially considering that he was someone like him, coming from the Lower Zone—that alone was enough to make Lohan feel a sense of goodwill toward him.
After a few minutes, with only two minutes left before class started, the classroom door opened again.
Once again, the room fell silent, only this time the silence lasted longer.
At the classroom door, entering without a care that she had caused the silence, Isabella Vance walked confidently toward an empty seat that she felt looked comfortable.
But on her way there, as she passed in front of a boy’s desk from the Lower Zone, she stopped.
Her small white nose twitched upward for a second, sniffing as if she were trying to recognize a familiar scent, but the sensation was so faint that she couldn’t figure out where she knew it from.
Looking around, she could only see a Lower Zone student with his head down, writing something, seemingly unconcerned by her presence.
’That boy... wasn’t he the one Julian Neal was picking on?’ she wondered, a little surprised.
"Isabella, you’re finally here!" Just as she spoke, Julian Neal stood up from where he was sitting and quickly came over to Isabella, greeting her in a very humble and subservient manner, totally different from how he treated the boy from the Lower Zone right in front of her.
Putting that feeling of familiarity aside, Isabella continued walking and went to sit with the other students from the Upper Zone.
Julian flashed a small smile when he saw her walk away from that annoying worm from the Lower Zone and followed her. "Do you want me to carry your backpack for you?"
Isabella simply ignored that comment and carried her own backpack by herself.
Given the technological advancements humanity had developed, the use of backpacks, in-person studies at institutions like this one, and other ritualistic practices like these were pragmatisms that the Human Federation insisted on maintaining as mandatory so that the mental development of young people would not be derailed.
When she left, Lohan had to control himself so as not to exclaim in surprise at the intensity of the energy she exuded!
If the energy he felt from the other boy in the Lower Zone was a 10, the energy Isabella Vance exuded was fluctuating between 40 and 50!
If his estimates that the boy had a Rare Base were accurate, this only further proved that Isabella’s Base was at least Epic, or even Legendary!
Thinking about Legendary Bases, Lohan remembered the only person he knew with a Base like that—the little white fox who, despite acting most of the time with a cold, indifferent, and proud facade, gradually opened up to him and offered a friendship far more genuine than any he had ever felt in his two lifetimes.
Comparing Lisa to Isabella, despite sensing the similarities between the two, Lohan felt that while Lisa was an ice queen with the cute side of an ordinary girl on the inside when dealing with friends, Isabella seemed to be an ice queen 100% of the time; even when dealing with friends from the Upper Zone, she still maintained that attitude, which left him in doubt.
’While they are very similar, the differences still exist between the two...’ he thought.
Because of this doubt regarding their differing personalities, Lohan kept his head down when she approached.
Unlike the other boy from the Lower Zone who couldn’t do anything to him when stared at, if Isabella Vance felt bothered by the gaze of someone from the Lower Zone like him, she could end his life in the blink of an eye, so for someone who just wanted to keep a low profile, it was best not to take any chances.
What they didn’t realize was that this brief interaction sparked curiosity and doubt in each other in real life as well, unaware that their virtual friendship was so close in the real world.