Dragons begin with courage

Chu Zihang stared at the computer screen. He rarely used QQ, not because he didn't use it or didn't use other chat software, but because he didn't have anyone he could confide in. He hadn't expected that initiating a chat would be such an awkward and nerve-wracking experience.

He thought for a long time and finally decided to start with "Are you there?"

The cold light from the screen illuminated Lu Mingfei's face. He stared at the gray default avatar, his fingertips hovering over the keyboard for a long while. He was also a little flustered. Chu Zihang had suddenly contacted him?

Has your account been hacked?

Lu Mingfei thought for a moment and replied, "Yes, senior brother."

Send. He instinctively straightened his back, like someone suddenly called on in class. His heart pounded irregularly in his chest. Chu Zihang…why would he contact him? Across the ocean, across four almost empty years, across that invisible chasm called “gap” between them.

On the other side of the ocean, Chu Zihang pondered for a moment, then, without offering any pleasantries or asking about the food or the weather, went straight to the point: "You participated in the interview at Kassel College?"

!!!

The question was as direct as a cleaver he wielded, cutting through all preambles without any pleasantries. Lu Mingfei's throat went dry. So that's why. Even Chu Zihang, far away in America, knew? Was it because Chu Zihang had contact with Liu Miaomiao and the others, and he learned it from them, or was it for some other reason?

Lu Mingfei: "Um... I just finished all the interviews."

Chu Zihang: "The result?"

Lu Mingfei: "They... said I was accepted. And with a full scholarship."

On the other end of the screen, Chu Zihang's brow furrowed almost imperceptibly. Admission, and a full scholarship… at Kassel College, this meant far more than just ordinary "excellence." It was recognition of lineage, a price tag for potential, and… a one-way ticket to another world. Lu Mingfei's lineage rating was probably even higher than he had anticipated.

Lu Mingfei: "Senior brother...you're in that academy too, right?"

Very perceptive. Chu Zihang looked at the question. Lu Mingfei's intuition and memory seemed even better than described in his file. He didn't answer immediately; silence spread through the data transmission. Deception was pointless and not his style.

Chu Zihang: "Yes."

A single word of confirmation carries immense weight.

Just how large a network has this college woven?

Lu Mingfei: "What...where is that?"

What kind of place is this? Chu Zihang's gaze swept over the cold, hard training equipment in the room, while outside the window, the Gothic spires of Kassel College stood silently in the night. A place where history is written in dragon script, knowledge is learned with swords, and growth is nurtured with blood. A place that cruelly tears open "reality" for you to see, demanding that you dance with it or even fight it.

He hesitated for a moment, then typed his reply:

Chu Zihang: "A place where you need to pay a price and have courage to see the world as it truly is."

Lu Mingfei gave a wry smile and typed: "Then I'd better not go. I don't even have the courage to confess to the person I like."

He slumped back in his computer chair, staring at the old, faded light on the ceiling. His aunt and uncle's complaints still echoed in his ears, calling him foolish and ungrateful. But they didn't understand that for a "dead kid" who was used to being submerged and too lazy to even breathe, the energy required for "change" itself was enough to drain all his strength. Crossing the ocean to face the complete unknown? Just thinking about it made him feel an almost suffocating exhaustion.

Courage? He doesn't have that kind of thing.

Chu Zihang: "No."

The reply was so quick it was almost as if it had been waiting in the chat box. A resolute "no" sternly negated his self-judgment.

Chu Zihang: "You do."

"I have courage?" Lu Mingfei sent a wide-eyed emoji. He has courage? Lu Mingfei has courage? What kind of fanfiction is this?

Chu Zihang's thoughts returned to that rainy day. He dared to drive into the god because of a single sentence from Lu Mingfei.

"You have courage, I've seen it."

Chu Zihang: "Lu Mingfei, sometimes the world doesn't give us the right to choose 'ordinary.' Some doors, once you see them, can't be closed."

He paused, seemingly finding it too cold and hard, and added another sentence.

Chu Zihang: "But when and how you choose to go in is something you can decide."

Lu Mingfei stared at the sentence, lost in thought. He remembered Chen Wenwen's lowered eyelashes and the forced smile on her face when she said, "I didn't pass the interview either." His knuckles clenched and then relaxed, and a thought that had been swirling for a longer time, a more humble one, began to stir, taking advantage of the connection between the late night and the distant past.

Chu Zihang: "Don't underestimate the courage you give to others, even if you don't realize it yourself."

Chu Zihang: "Don't underestimate the possibility that you possess courage."

Chu Zihang: "Some things, if you don't say them now, you may never have the chance again. Some doors, if you don't knock on them now, you may never know what's behind them."

Chu Zihang: "Even if you were rejected, even if there's nothing behind that door, at least you fought for yourself. That's better than standing still and waiting for the flood to reach your neck."

The floodwaters reached his neck… Lu Mingfei suddenly remembered his earlier analogy—that you only drown if you stay in the water. Chu Zihang's words were like a powerful hand reaching out to him as he slowly sank to the bottom of the water.

Chu Zihang: "Kassel College, you decide for yourself. If you choose to come, you can find me at the Lionheart Society. But—"

On the other end of the screen, the young man who wielded his sword as if severing destiny typed his final advice in his usual cold yet resolute tone:

Chu Zihang: "Don't leave any regrets when you like someone."

At this point in the conversation, Chu Zihang's profile picture went dark, decisively and without any hesitation.

Lu Mingfei sat blankly in the chair, the only sound in the room the low hum of the computer fan. The night outside the window was so dark it seemed impenetrable, but something in his heart seemed to have been pried open by those few words, letting in a sliver of cold light that he both longed for and feared.

"Senior brother..." he murmured softly, scratching his messy hair, "So... he's this gossipy?"

Just as Lu Mingfei was stunned and staring blankly at the darkened "senior brother" avatar, in the VIP suite of the Regent Hotel, Nuonuo clicked her tongue softly as she looked at the lit computer screen, her delicate eyebrows slightly furrowed.

Her "profile" showed a significant deviation the second time.

According to her analysis of Lu Mingfei's behavior pattern, that lazy kid who could keenly seize opportunities in interstellar battles but was like a confused paramecium in real life should have run over to ask "Are you the Nono who defeated me?" the moment he saw her (Nono) come online on QQ.

She had been waiting for more than ten minutes, and even deliberately clicked on and closed several unrelated web pages to create online noise.

But there was no response from Lu Mingfei's side. His profile picture was lit up, but he was as quiet as if he had gone offline.

This doesn't make sense.

Unbeknownst to Nuonuo, just as she logged on, a short message from a gray default profile picture, like a boulder thrown into stagnant water, completely stirred up Lu Mingfei's quagmire called "daily life," and gently shifted his original path towards her in another direction.

The gears of the world, in a dimension unknown to anyone, began to turn onto completely different tracks due to a tiny fork in the road.

This time, the timeline shifted to the other side.