novelraw Chapter 32 Nono Saves the Day
Chapter 32 Nono Saves the Day
Lu Mingfei raised his head and looked up at the sky.
The sun was shining brightly, and the sky was cloudless.
He took a deep breath, turned around, and walked towards the dormitory.
His silhouette stretched long in the sunlight.
Lonely, but upright.
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Behind the Golden Curtain: The Future World - Kassel College Forum
Fingel's post garnered over 50,000 views within ten minutes of being published.
Exclusive! S-Class Freshman Lu Mingfei Accepts SS-Class Mission "Project Kuimen"! Principal Angers Personally Invites Him!
[Photo attached: Lu Mingfei and Principal Angers talking under an oak tree, sunlight filtering through the leaves and falling on them, like some kind of sacred ritual]
The reply section exploded.
"An SS-rank mission? Those can kill people, right?"
"The Kui Gate Project? The urn containing the bones of the King of Bronze and Fire? The Seven Deadly Sins? What level of secrecy is this?"
"Lu Mingfei has only been enrolled for a few days! Even if he's an S-rank, this is far too risky!"
"The principal of Angers is going too? That should be... safer?"
"Safe my ass! SS-rank mission! Historically, the survival rate for completing an SS-rank mission is less than 30%!"
"Has Lu Mingfei gone mad? Why did he agree?"
"Perhaps it's because... he has nothing to lose?"
This reply received the most likes.
Yes, Lu Mingfei has nothing to lose.
His parents weren't around, he had almost no friends, the girl he liked had a boyfriend, and the only senior who cared about him was a heartless gambler.
He's like a blank sheet of paper, you can write on him or tear him up at will.
Nono's account appeared in the replies section.
User "RedWitch" replied: Lu Mingfei, don't go! SS-level missions are too dangerous!
This reply was immediately pushed to the top.
"Senior Nono!"
"The senior student has stepped in!"
"The senior student is worried about Lu Mingfei!"
"But Lu Mingfei has already agreed..."
"Senior, go and talk to him!"
But Nono did not reply.
She left the forum, turned off her computer, and sat by the window in her dormitory, watching the sunset outside.
Her long red hair shimmered like flames in the setting sun, but her eyes held a deep, unfathomable worry.
The Kuimen Plan.
Bronze City.
The King of Bronze and Fire.
She knew these words all too well. As the adopted daughter of the Chen family and a student in Kassel, she had known these taboo names since childhood. Norton, the King of Bronze and Fire, who controlled the power of metal and fire, had his palace lying dormant 180 meters below the Yangtze River, a death zone inaccessible even to submarines.
But Lu Ming insisted on going there.
Where is that loser, that freshman who can't even hold a gun properly, that boy who cries for his mother in his dreams, going?
"Damn it," Nono muttered under her breath, though it was unclear who she was cursing.
She remembered how Lu Mingfei "avenged" her on Freedom Day, the tender yet desperate look in his eyes as he held her "dead" body, and his lonely figure standing alone under the shade of a tree after the 3E exam.
She shouldn't care.
She has Caesar. Caesar is the student council president, the heir to the Gattuso family, handsome, powerful, proud, and good to her—though that kindness feels more like a form of possession and showing off.
But Caesar would not die for her.
At least he wouldn't be like Lu Mingfei, who knew it was a game, knew it was a tranquilizer dart, but was still willing to "commit suicide" to end his life for her.
What kind of feeling was that?
Nono didn't know.
All she knew was that when she saw the news that Lu Mingfei had accepted an SS-level mission, her heart felt like it was being squeezed by an invisible hand, and the pain made it hard for her to breathe.
"Ricardo..." she murmured the name, her fingers unconsciously tracing the silver cross around her neck. "Why did you fight so hard?"
No one answered.
Only as the setting sun slowly sank behind the mountains did it dye the sky a blood-red hue.
It's as if they're mourning in advance for the impending sacrifice.
Beyond the Golden Screen: The Real World, Binhai City, China, Shilan Middle School
Two o'clock in the afternoon is the hottest time of summer.
The campus of Shilan Middle School was quiet. The students were either studying in the classroom or taking a nap under the shade of the trees. Only the cicadas chirped tirelessly, their voices sharp and long, like some kind of ancient incantation.
In the classroom of Senior Three (2), Lu Mingfei was lying on his desk, staring blankly at the math test paper.
Sunlight streamed in through the window, casting bright spots of light on the desk, with dust motes floating slowly within the beams of light. The classroom was quiet, save for the soft scratching of pens on paper and the occasional rustling of pages turning.
Lu Mingfei stared at the function question on the test paper for ten minutes, but still couldn't understand it.
His mind went blank.
No, it wasn't blank; it was filled with too many inexplicable things. Last night, he had a very strange dream. In the dream, there was a golden light screen, an ancient academy, a red-haired girl, and a fire-breathing dragon... The dream was fragmented and chaotic, but when he woke up, the feeling of sadness and loneliness was incredibly real, so real that he couldn't muster any energy for the entire day.
"Lu Mingfei".
His deskmate nudged him with his elbow and whispered, "The teacher's watching you."
Lu Mingfei looked up and, sure enough, saw his homeroom teacher standing on the podium, looking at him with a disappointed expression. He quickly sat up straight and pretended to be working on his problems.
But my mind still wandered away.
He remembered that dream again.
In my dream, a red-haired girl sat on the teacher's desk, swinging her long legs, and called him "Hello, Rabbit." In my dream, a silver-haired old man patted him on the shoulder and said, "You're more like me when I was young." In my dream, I stood under the shade of a tree, feeling bone-chillingly cold even though the sun was blazing.
And then there's that inexplicable statement: "I have lived in a world of solitude and experienced the most terrifying cold in the world, so even in the most intense sunlight, there is a slight chill."
Why would I have such a dream?
Lu Mingfei didn't know.
All he knew was that since last night, he felt... the world seemed different. The air felt heavier, the sunlight more glaring, the sounds clearer, and even his own heartbeat seemed unusually loud.
It's like... like something is waking up from a deep sleep.
"Bang!"
The sound of the classroom door being kicked open violently interrupted his thoughts.
Everyone was startled and looked up at the doorway.
Then, everyone was stunned.
A girl was standing at the door.
Her long red hair was tied into a neat ponytail at the back of her head, with a few stray strands clinging to her sweaty forehead. She wore a simple white shirt and denim shorts, the shirt hem casually tied in a knot, revealing her slender waist. On her legs were a pair of over-the-knee black leather boots, dusty as if she had just returned from an adventure.
But what's most eye-catching is what she's holding in her hand—
A silver pistol.
The gun gleamed coldly in the sunlight, its muzzle pointing at the ceiling, the stance as precise as that of a well-trained soldier.
The classroom was completely silent.
Everyone stared at her, at her breathtakingly beautiful face, at her deep black eyes, and at the gun in her hand.
Lu Mingfei stared blankly at her.
Then, his heart skipped a beat.
This face... he'd seen it before.
In my dream.
That red-haired girl, the girl who called him "Hello, Rabbit," the girl who made his heart race in his dreams and left him feeling lost upon waking—
It's her.
The girl's gaze swept around the classroom before finally settling on Lu Mingfei.
Eyes facing each other.
Time seemed to stand still.
Lu Mingfei could hear his own heartbeat, one after another, heavy like a drumbeat. He could feel the blood surging in his veins, feel the slight tingling in his fingertips, and feel... a kind of resonance from the depths of his soul.
It felt like a dream.
"Lu Mingfei".
The girl spoke, her voice clear and melodious, with a languid magnetism, yet her tone was firm, as if issuing a command:
"Are we still wasting time here? Come with me to save the world!"
The silence in the classroom was broken.
Whispers spread like a tide:
"Who is this?"
"So beautiful..."
"Is she holding a real gun?"
"Saving the world? A case of chuunibyou (middle school syndrome)?"
"Does she know Lu Mingfei?"
"How could a loser like Lu Mingfei know such a beautiful woman?"
Lu Mingfei was also stunned.
save the world?
With him?
A loser who fails math, fails physical education, and even stutters when talking to girls?
This joke has gone too far!
But as he looked into the girl's eyes, into the undeniable light that shone in those dark pupils, he suddenly felt... perhaps this was no joke.
Perhaps in some parallel universe, he really is going to save the world.
Perhaps in some future timeline, he really did fight alongside this girl.
Perhaps... this is his fate.