Lian had just lost another one v one match against Hazy.
"Don't take this the wrong way, but you're even below ground zero. You didn't even know how to hold a sword properly until I taught you a few years ago, and you haven't improved much since then."
Lian replied, "Yeah, I remember those days. We used to spar all the time, and there were even a couple of times when I managed to defeat you."
"The fuck do you mean, spar? We were playing back then. I purposely let you win a couple of times so you wouldn't cry about losing every time."
"I guess you could say that too," Lian replied, laughing awkwardly.
Hazy added, "You may not be good at fighting, but you do have good coordination and strategic thinking. If you don't have the talent for something, you can always make up for it with your head. Just play to your strengths."
Lin Ling nodded. "Just keep training. You're already improving bit by bit every day."
"Yeah, I think I've done enough for today," Lian replied.
He left the training area and started walking down the hallway, with Lin Ling walking beside him.
Lian suddenly stopped in front of a notice board and started reading one of the flyers pinned to it.
Lin Ling glanced at the flyer and asked, "Hey, are you thinking about signing up for the Domain Raid this semester too?"
"What about you?" Lian asked.
"Yeah, for sure. It's useful since we get to explore and fight in real danger."
Just then, Nox walked up behind them.
"What are you losers up to?"
He glanced at the poster before continuing.
"Yeah, enjoy facing real danger on the first two floors. That's about as far as they'll let you go. You'll probably end up fighting some lame golems, skeletons, or those giant rats."
Lin Ling replied, "But it would be fun if we went together as a team."
Lian also joined in. "Yeah, let's all sign up together. It'll be fun to work as a team."
Nox thought for a moment before agreeing. "Whatever, man. I guess I'll come since you both are insisting so much."
He then looked at them and asked, "What about Sunny? Did anyone ask him?"
Lin Ling replied, "I already asked him yesterday. He said he wouldn't be coming."
"Damn, this guy is no longer one of us. It's like he got a girlfriend and completely forgot about us," Nox replied.
"Just ignore him. Let's sign up, the three of us," Lian said.
--
A while later, the three of them were sitting in a classroom, filling out their application forms.
Nox had already finished his and was waiting for the other two to finish theirs.
"Why are you taking so long just to fill out a piece of paper?"
Lin Ling replied, "You need to answer the questions properly. Otherwise, your application will get rejected."
Nox shrugged. "There's this question asking what you'd do if you were in a dangerous situation with no way out, surrounded by too many enemies or facing an opponent who's too strong. What would you do in that situation? I answered that I'd easily defeat them because I'm built different."
Lian looked at him. "No wonder your application got rejected last year."
Lin Ling ignored their conversation and said, "I just finished filling mine."
"Alright then, take my application and submit it at the office," Nox said, handing his form to Lin Ling.
"Why does it always have to be me?" Lin Ling complained.
Lian took both applications from Lin Ling and said, "Alright, I can submit them. No problem."
--
Inside the office, Lian handed over his application form before walking out. He then tossed two crumpled sheets of paper into a nearby dustbin.
Just then, a voice called out from behind him.
"Hey, Lian!"
Lian was slightly startled, but turned around to see who it was.
"Oh, it's just you guys."
It was his older brother, Felix, along with his little sister, Elly.
Lian looked at his older brother and asked, "Also, what are you doing here? Didn't you graduate like two years ago?"
Elly looked at Lian and said, "It's a surprise! Come with us."
Felix added, "We came here to take you out and celebrate your birthday."
Elly gave him a disappointed look. "You just spoiled the surprise."
Lian laughed. "I already guessed that when I saw the two of you together on this particular day."
--
A while later, the three of them were sitting in a café.
Lian was wearing a birthday boy hat while Felix sat across from him, telling him to blow out the candles. Meanwhile, Elly was holding a camera, getting ready to take a picture.
Lian smiled awkwardly. "Damn, this is so cringe. I'm not a kid anymore."
They had also brought him a few birthday presents.
Lian opened the first gift and found a watch inside.
"I got this for you. It looks great, right?" Elly said.
Lian put it on and lifted his hand to take a closer look.
"Yeah, it looks great, not gonna lie."
He then opened the next two gifts. One was a box of cookies and sweets, while the other was a thick book with words like Discipline, Success, and Hard Work printed across its cover.
Lian set the book aside and said, "Yeah, these are definitely Mom and Dad's gifts."
He then opened the next present and found a flip phone inside.
"Whoa, this is cool!" Lian said.
Felix smiled. "Yeah, I knew you'd like it."
Elly added, "Also, Mom asked Felix to get it for you since you rarely call home."
"Yeah, I mean, they always start the conversation with 'How are you doing?' and follow up with 'How are your grades?' No wonder he rarely calls," Felix joked.
Felix then added, "It also has that Snake game you can play since you love video games so much."
Lian looked at the phone and replied, "This world's technology needs a lot of improvement before I can play the games I like."
He then turned towards Felix.
"By the way, how's your job going these days?"
Felix replied, "It's pretty normal as far as medical jobs go, but the pay is stacked. I'll probably buy a new car in a few months."
Elly chimed in, "Yeah, let's all go on a trip once you get that new car."
"Yeah, that would be great," Lian replied.
He then added, "Also, can you drop me somewhere after this? I have a meeting to attend after lunch."
Elly looked at him. "A meeting with your friends at the arcade?"
"It's some important business shit," Lian replied.
"It's definitely just you playing video games at that arcade," Elly said.
--
A while later, Felix dropped Lian off in front of a huge building belonging to a well-known company.
Lian approached the security desk and gave the guard his name. The guard immediately greeted him and allowed him inside.
Felix and Elly exchanged surprised looks.
"Damn, so it's really some important business shit," Elly said.
--
A couple of hours later, Lian walked out of the building and found Felix waiting nearby to pick him up.
Lian got into his brother's car, and they started driving back.
"So, is that the thing you mentioned once? You said you design electrical stuff and runes, and they manufacture them, right? How much do you even make?" Felix asked.
"Yeah, exactly. I probably make little less than half your salary," Lian replied.
"Damn, that's really great. Also, do you want to grab a cold drink?"
"Sure."
A little later, the two walked out of a nearby convenience store, each holding a can of cold drink. They went to a small park nearby, sat down for a while, and drank before taking a walk through the garden.
It was around five in the evening, and the setting sun cast a warm golden light over the town.
As they walked through the park, Felix suddenly stopped near a large statue.
Lian looked at Felix, then at the statue.
"Who's that guy in the statue?" Lian asked casually.
Felix looked at him with a confused expression. "You really don't know who Nikolai Vavilov is?"
"Nope. Who's that?"
"It's in the first chapter of your history textbook. How do you not know?"
Lian replied, "Okay, okay. I've been skipping a few classes here and there."
Felix sighed and said, "It was one of the most inspiring stories in history.
"During the last Great Apocalypse, everything was covered in snow. The world had become a frozen wasteland. Food was getting scarce, and growing crops was becoming increasingly difficult. More people were dying from starvation than from war.
"Nikolai Vavilov spent his life travelling across five continents, collecting seeds. A quarter of a million samples. His plan was simple: keep every variety of every seed alive in one place so humanity would never have to worry about starvation again.
"People were boiling scraps of wood from dead trees and even pieces of furniture to make soup and fill their stomachs.
"Nikolai wanted to build a Domain, an underground bunker that stored all those seeds. His goal was to preserve them so that whoever survived the apocalypse, even generations into the future, could use them to rebuild civilization.
"Food had become so scarce that wars were being fought over whatever little remained. Eventually, enemy soldiers surrounded the city for 872 days. Nothing could get in. The scientists were completely cut off and isolated inside their own bunker, slowly starving.
"And sitting in that bunker was the largest collection of seeds in the world. Rice, wheat, peas, and countless other varieties. The scientists guarded the collection in shifts, even keeping rats away from it through the night. Not one of them ate a single seed.
"Nine of them starved to death. The rice scientist died surrounded by rice.
"The man who had spent his life collecting those seeds and preserving humanity's future died of starvation himself, shortly after finishing the Domain and sealing it. It was designed to open only many years later, once the catastrophe had ended and the atmosphere had become stable enough for crops to grow again.
"Nine people died in a room full of food so that strangers, eighty years later, would have something to plant. Those seeds eventually went into the ground and are still feeding people today who will never even hear their names."
Lian replied, "Yeah, humanity's progress is built on collective effort and individual sacrifices for the future. A scientist might spend his entire life trying to find a cure for an incurable disease and fail every time till his last breath. Years later, someone else might use his research to jump ahead decades of effort and reserach and make a cure. It's the same with doctors, scientists, soldiers, rulers of a nation, and everyone else who contributed to humanity's progress.
But if I were in their place, I'd probably focus on my own personal gain, even if it meant sacrifising others.
Felix nodded. "Yeah, that's true. The world we live in today was built on countless sacrifices made by people before us. The least we can do is remember them and appreciate the life we have. You only live once, so make the most of it. Do what you actually like."
He continued, "Since you don't like the academy and aren't particularly talented when it comes to ether or combat, why not become an engineer? It's something you enjoy and are actually good at. Now that you're earning money too, it'll be easier to convince Mom and Dad. I can help you talk to them if needed. You could even start your own company someday and live a pretty comfortable life. I know you'd prefer that over joining the military."
Lian replied, "That's kinda similar to what I have in mind too. But since I'm in Class A, I'll stick around for a little while and see how things play out."
"Yeah, just do what interests you the most. I'll always support you, whatever you decide," Felix replied.
--
Later that evening, Lian stood near the window of his dorm room, watching the sun slowly disappear beyond the horizon.
Yeah, he does have a point.
I could probably achieve what I wanted in my previous world much more easily here, especially with ether and runes. I could even take a safer route instead of unnecessary risking my life by going against the entire world on my own.
Well, I don't think I'd be satisfied with taking the slow and safe road. But it's nice to know I have that option.
Outside, the sun had almost completely set, and darkness was slowly taking over the streets. One by one, the streetlights began to glow.
As Lian watched the city, the warm light reflected in his dark pupils.
A tiny smirk appeared on his face.
I almost forgot about this completely.
--
A while later, the streetlights suddenly went out. Lights in nearby buildings and houses followed, leaving entire streets in darkness.
A power outage.
Far away, near an electrical substation, Lian walked right past a group of security guards, completely invisible thanks to his invisibility rune.
"Do we have any technicians on duty today?" one of the guards asked.
"No. Let me call someone. It'll probably take an hour to get the power back up," the other replied.
Lian listened as he quietly walked past them.
After putting some distance between himself and the guards, he deactivated the rune and continued walking.
Eventually, he reached a bridge that crossed over a river. Beneath it was a stretch of grass along the riverbank.
He sat down on the grass and looked around.
Tiny dots of radiant golden light floated gently above the grass and along the riverbank.
Fireflies.
Above them, countless stars filled the clear night sky.
From across the river, the scene looked almost like a painting. The fireflies drifted through the darkness, their golden lights reflecting on the surface of the water alongside the distant stars. Among those reflections sat a lone boy in a white hoodie, his black hair barely visible against the night.
Lian quietly watched the scenery for a while.
"This brings back memories."