Chapter 4: Who are You

The internet café was fairly close to the school so Liu Chuan had quickly returned to the dormitory.

Alone in the dormitory, Liu Chuan simply went to the balcony, narrowed his eyes and looked at the distant night view.

The sky was already dark and the warm yellow street lights formed a line as if a golden chain had wound around the whole campus. The dormitory building in front was brightly lit and it seemed as if the school was running an event at the public square not too far away. The coloured lights on the highly elevated stage were flashing and the lively music could be heard every so often.

After leaving for so long, there were many places that he had quickly become unfamiliar with.

Liu Chuan couldn’t help smiling. Leaning on the iron railing, he breathed out into the night air.

The warm yellow light on the balcony illuminated the sharp edges on the sides of his face, the smile on his lip also gave people the feeling that he could easily get along with others.

Unfortunately, only the people who were familiar with him would know just how bad this smiling guy1 was.

His old friends would all say: Liu Chuan’s raised lip and smiling appearance was truly too abusive!

This person grew to be someone who put on airs, but his style when competing was very cheap and rude. He often used six to seven puppets to surround the opponents while he hid far away. After doing everything possible to kill the opponent, he still needed to send out a long line of smiling faces in the Local Channel, taking pleasure in other’s misfortune…it was simply unbearable!

As a result, a group of people looked at what to do with him, feeling that he needed a good beating. Countless professional players wanted to kill him a hundred times to vent their anger but so far, there hadn’t been a single player who was successful in killing this first-class Tangmen master…

Before, when many teams played against Huaxia, the team captain’s command was almost always: Gather the attacks on Liu Chuan! Kill Liu Chuan! Speed up killing Liu Chuan!

You didn’t know how many people hated him so much that they gnashed their teeth with hatred and would secretly draw circles to curse him…

However, the present Liu Chuan, who was leaning on the iron railing breathing out into the night air and had his eyes narrowed, was extremely happy.

His return to the university campus and the new roommates in Room 301 left him with quite a good impression. The dorm supervisor, Li Xiang was a kind-hearted fool and the several people in the dormitory even played Wulin, it left Liu Chuan fairly surprised.

When he originally started this game Wulin, he was also with his roommates.

At that time, the game Wulin had just opened for beta testing. The Professional League, as well as professional teams, had yet to exist. Everyone in the online game played for fun. Major guilds would curse every day in the Global Channel, the forum would be filled with little threes and fours every day2, beating dungeons, stealing boss, basking in the scenery and showing off equipment, you could just imagine how lively it was!

Telecom area one: Recollecting Jiangnan3

The oldest batch of hardcore players had gathered there. Later, after following a few other brothers to go play in the professional league, he hadn’t been concerned about matters within the online game anymore. Thinking thoughtfully about it was quite nostalgic…

At this moment, while Liu Chuan was senselessly reminiscing on past events, there was a sudden burst of steady knocking that could be heard from the door.

Dong, dong, dong…

Dong, dong, dong…

Dong, dong, dong…

The knocking sound seemed as if it was like a repeater. The frequency and the rhythm of the three knockings were unexpectedly all the same.

Could it be that the foolish Li Xiang hadn’t brought his keys?

Slightly confused, Liu Chuan turned to open the door.

———What he didn’t expect was an unfamiliar young man standing outside the door.

The young man was around 1.75 metres, shorter than Liu Chuan by just half a head. He had very white skin, pitch-black hair like ink and grew to be extremely handsome and refined. He wore a white shirt matched with a pair of light blue jeans, a simple and clean outfit, giving off a kind of fresh and comfortable feeling.

In the arms of the young man was a pile of reference books as thick as bricks. He wore a pair of black-framed glasses and behind the lensed were a pair of eyes that looked like it had been washed clean by freshwater. There was a light scholarly air around him and seemed to be quite smart.

Liu Chuan met his gaze and saw what appeared to be his own shadow in the other person’s eyes.

…Who was this?

Liu Chuan didn’t have time to ask. The young man who was dumbfounded for a moment, lightly pushed up the glasses on the bridge of his nose and asked uncertainly, “Who are you?”

Liu Chuan: “……”

Even if Liu Chuan had recovered, being asked “Who are you?” almost made him drop!

Classmate! You knocked on my door and asked who I am?

However, just as Liu Chuan had opened his mouth, the young man lifted his head, glanced at the room number on the doorplate and said seriously, “Sorry, I walked one floor short. I live in 401.”

Then, in front of Liu Chuan’s surprised gaze, carrying a pile of the brick-like books, he calmly turned around and left.

Liu Chuan: “…………”

After a few moments, there was the familiar knocking sound again on the door of the fourth floor dormitory.

Dong, dong, dong…

Dong, dong, dong…

The repeater-like knocking sounded two times and the door opened. A young man wearing a smile said, “Zewen, you forgot to bring your keys again?”

The young man called Zewen calmly said, “Mn, just now I had walked one floor short and knocked on the third floor…”

The door closed and the two people’s conversation was blocked.

Turned out he had really gone the wrong way!

Liu Chuan glanced at the staircase beside him and couldn’t help letting out a smile before turning around to close the door.

That night, Li Xiang and the guys returned very late and the three people hung their head’s dejectedly. Liu Chuan took one glance and already knew they had lost miserably in the Ranked Arena.

Ignore your elders at your peril.

Losing consecutively in the Ranked Arena, this was the result of refusing advice!

The three people glumly stumbled into bed. Liu Chuan also didn’t have much to say and minded his own business. Laid down on the bed on his bed with his earbuds on, he played a few rounds of Rhythm Master.

Logging into WeChat, he discovered a new message in his circle of friends: “At today’s welcome, I met a shidi who’s a master at playing Rhythm Master, casually getting over a thousand combos. Watching him play a few rounds of Rhythm Master, I almost didn’t recognize the Rhythm Master game! I’m too tired for this!”

Liu Chuan remembered the enthusiastic sister he met at the train station today called Jiang Xue, who seemed to be one of the history department’s class monitor?

——Ah? Wasn’t that our grade’s class monitor?

Therefore Liu Chuan replied to the message with a smiley face: “Don’t be depressed, class monitor, please send me this semester’s schedule ：）”

：）This was Liu Chuan’s signature expression.

Two eyes and the corners of the mouths curved, the smiling face seemed to be very kind and harmless…

Was it really? People that knew him all wanted to send him one word: Haha…

Jiang Xue saw this reply and nearly spat out blood: “You, you, you are in our class?”

Liu Chuan smiled: “Yes, my name is Liu Chuan. I had suspended my study previously and now I’m going back to school. From now on, I’ll be going to class with everyone ：）”

Jiang Xue couldn’t help blanking out.

——Damn! Turned out this was the god that Teacher Lin Fang was talking to her about!

History’s God Liu Chuan, during his years in school, was also a great figure and was eloquent, winning many awards in various speech contests. Rumour has it that his father’s job seemed to be related to history in some way. Furthermore, when he was little, he’d take history-related books and treated it as if they were children’s storybooks. He would normally be in the dormitory not studying but he would get excellent exam results every time. He could be considered the type of talented people who made others envious and jealous of them.

After he had finished his third year, he suddenly suspended studying. The reason, however, was unknown.

Although Jiang Xue was a history student, because of the three-year gap, she had never seen Liu Chuan before and had only heard of rumours. She was surprised when her teacher had told her that this legend would be returning to study but hadn’t expected to suddenly meet him at the train station today…

Jiang Xue rubbed her temples. She then opened WeChat’s private chat and sent him the schedule: “There’s not a lot of class this semester. Remember to bring your student ID on the day of class, I need to bring the whole class’s student ID to the Academic Affairs Office for the registration stamp.”

Liu Chuan replied: “Okay, thank you, class monitor. Good night.” He then added a hand waving goodbye emoji.

Jiang Xue suddenly had a thought. “By the way, you were amazing at playing Rhythm Master, this weekend the school had organized a Rhythm Master competition, are you going to participate?”

Liu Chuan did not respond.

Jiang Xue added: “This competition is hosted by the Student Union and the Esports Association and is sponsored. The prize for first place is an iPad. I think you can try it, winning the championship with your skill level will certainly not be a problem!”

Still, Liu Chuan did not respond.

Feeling uncertain, Jiang Xue asked: “Are you asleep?”

Like previously, the message was like a stone dropped into the sea1

[1] 石沉大海: to elicit no response

Jiang Xue: “……”

He couldn’t have actually fallen asleep within a few seconds, could he?!

Jiang Xue didn’t guess wrong. The next day, as she was washing her face, her WeChat on her phone suddenly rang. It was Liu Chuan’s reply: “Sorry, I was too tired yesterday and fell asleep.”

Jiang Xue: “……”

After helplessly brushing her teeth, Jiang Xue typed: “Are you participating in the competition?”

Liu Chuan asked: “The championship prize is an iPad?”

Jiang Xue said: “That’s right, it costs more than three thousand to buy it outside. This time they were able to pull in a sponsor and the championship prize is an iPad.”

Liu Chuan sent a smiling expression: “That is pretty good, it’s worth a try. Let me practice a bit. If I get the prize, I’ll invite class monitor to a meal.”

Jiang Xue replied: “Okay, I’ll give you the contact information of the person in charge. Text her to sign up and it’ll be okay.”

On September 1st, C University had finally started school. Everywhere on the school campus were freshmen wearing green military uniforms and the sound of the military training slogan fell incessantly on their ears.

As Liu Chuan was wandering all around the campus after finishing lunch, he actually saw the promotional poster for the Rhythm Master competition that Jiang Xue had spoken about, cohosted by the Student Union and the Esports Association. The first-place prize was an iPad while the second and third place prize was a smartphone. Accomplishing such a school event to this extent was indeed not easy and it seemed that the sponsor they had pulled in was very impressive.

Stopping in front of the poster for a moment, Liu Chuan was a bit puzzled——Esports Association? The university actually had an Esports Association now?

At this moment, there was suddenly a familiar voice that came from beside him. “Zewen, you want to sign up to participate in this competition?”

Liu Chuan turned and sure enough, he saw the young man, who had gone to the wrong door yesterday, standing in front of the poster and seriously looking at the how to register. He had grown up to be handsome and refined with very white skin and wore a pair of black-framed glasses. When he looked at the poster seriously, it felt like a scientist studying a difficult mathematical formula!

After a while, the young man pushed his glasses and came to the conclusion, “The prize isn’t bad.”

Liu Chuan: “……”

The roommate beside him, He Xuyang excitedly said, “Right! The first-place prize is an iPad. Didn’t you want a tablet just a few days ago? How about you try participating in this competition, perhaps you could get first place and save a few thousand dollars!”

The young man thoughtfully thought for a moment then nodded and said, “Mn, then I will sign up to try.”

He then pulled out his phone and sent his name and student number on the spot to register.

In his mind, Liu Chuan thought: Classmate, do you know that this iPad is already in my bag? Did you think getting the first place was this easy? If I joined, it seems that you’ll have to be disappointed and give up.

Liu Chuan walked in front of the two, raised the corners of his lip and greeted the refined young man with a smile, “What a coincidence, are you also participating in this competition?”

The young man turned and looked confusingly at Liu Chuan. “Who are you?”

Liu Chuan: “…………”

Liu Chuan was once again mercilessly killed by the three words “Who are you”……