Era of Mist

After dinner, it was already late. Shi Tiexin walked to the seventeenth floor.

In the Orphanage, the younger children lived on the lower floors and the older ones lived on the upper floors. The eighteenth floor was temporarily unoccupied, making the seventeenth the highest inhabited level.

Each floor of this building had a massive footprint. Only the outermost ring of rooms had windows; for the rooms arrayed on the interior, a window was an impossible luxury. As for who got to live in the outer ring, that was naturally decided by one’s clout.

Big Brother Tie’s room was, of course, in a prime location.

On his way, fifteen-year-old youths milled about in groups. They all acted submissively upon seeing the Iron Tyrant, but Shi Tiexin’s heart was heavy, and he was in no mood to acknowledge them.

Soon, he reached his own door. Shi Tiexin paused, turning his head to look aside. Not far away, a few doors were ajar, and from time to time, a young girl would enter a room and close the door behind her.

The walls here were well soundproofed, but Shi Tiexin didn’t need to listen to know what was happening inside those rooms.

These young men and women—some did it out of impulse, some out of pressure, some out of ignorance, but others did it as a transaction. Even worse, some were practicing—practicing to be "useful" during future work trials.

Unbelievable?

You have to understand, the process of selecting people for work trials had a nickname here—a nasty one, though not the nastiest—called "cunt-picking." The moniker was disgusting, but it was widespread. Even many girls had tacitly accepted this as a viable path. And every path has competition. Those with exceptional Innate advantages were worry-free, but those who lacked the fundamental assets had to practice more to succeed.

It was tragic, but there was nothing to be done.

After all, the prospects for leaving the Orphanage were few. For these young people with no particular skills, there really weren’t many paths available. This society didn’t lack for population; every single job had to be competed for and was therefore precious. The youngest children might not think about such things, but fifteen-year-olds faced the pressure of survival.

Out of desperation, some began to consider less savory methods.

Heh, dignity?

Shi Tiexin let out a bitter laugh. ’What did dignity matter? Just staying alive was the greatest dignity of all.’ The kids here didn’t bother with such pointless notions. Without even the chance for an education, what ability did they have to pursue dignity, a future, or dreams?

Cunt-picking was still better than burning your life away at the Waste Dust Factory.

And he had to break free from this environment, to fight for a new world for himself. The first hurdle in such a fish-to-dragon transformation was the small township exam.

’But how exactly am I supposed to pass the small township exam?’

Shi Tiexin opened the door and walked into his quarters. It had one bathroom, one bedroom, and a balcony. The accommodations were much better than at Fengming First Middle School—though, of course, compared to the wider world, they were still quite poor.

Outside the large window, the Night was deep and heavy.

Lights twinkled everywhere in the urban center of Mu Yuan District, but looking up, there were no stars. There never were. Shi Tiexin suddenly found himself missing the sight of a crystal-clear, mysterious, star-filled night sky.

Shi Tiexin didn’t turn on the light. He stood thinking quietly in the darkness for a moment, then stripped and took a shower. The lukewarm water ran over his skin. Large, bluish-purple bruises were still visible on his broad back. It was a little painful, a little cold, but Shi Tiexin had no desire to complain.

Having a personal bathroom, having water for a shower—this was already treatment fit for an overlord.

’I have to go to work early tomorrow. Big Baldy was right; I need to make a big splash.

In a few days, I have to repay my debt. The busty Nurse Sister was also right; if I can’t pay up, she’ll bash my head in.

And in a few more days, the qualification review for the small township exam will start. I’m the one who’s most right: whether I eat like a king or eat shit in the future all comes down to this one gamble.

So... I’d better get some sleep.

I need to rest up and prepare for the challenge.’

Lying in bed, Shi Tiexin calmed the surging tide in his heart and soon fell into a deep sleep. And in his hazy slumber, that image seemed to appear once again in the depths of his consciousness.

Two parallel world lines, two points of light, one in front of the other. A faint, almost invisible thread of light connected the point representing the Champion Scholar Stone to the point representing Shi Tiexin himself. The thread pulsed, expanding and contracting like a breath, as if transmitting some unknown message.

And as he slept, Shi Tiexin began to dream.

He rarely dreamed, usually sleeping soundly through the night until dawn. It was precisely because of his high-quality sleep and thorough rest that he always started each new day full of energy and stamina.

But tonight, he dreamed.

He dreamed he had become a middle school student, constantly studying various subjects. He dreamed of poring over textbook after textbook, completing problem set after problem set, acing test after test, and listening attentively in class after class. He dreamed of discussing problems and tackling difficult concepts with other, equally brilliant classmates. He dreamed of consulting with his teachers, deepening his understanding of certain subjects.

Dreams are usually chaotic and hazy; no matter what one dreams about, it’s always hard to perceive the fine details.

But this dream was different. Very different.

In this dream, every detail was perfectly clear, every moment vivid. The dream was so real, it was as if he had truly lived through all that hard work. In the dream, Shi Tiexin could even see every word in the books, recall every problem he had solved, and remember the thought process for each solution.

It felt less like a dream and more like his past-life memories were being released through it, unsealing knowledge he had long since stored away but had been sealed off from.

In his sleep, a muddled realization dawned on Shi Tiexin. He rolled over in bed and mumbled some dream-talk: "Champion Scholar Stone... carry... the score..."

The next day, Shi Tiexin woke up bright and early. Looking at his watch, he was surprised to see it wasn’t even six o’clock.

On one hand, it seemed he had brought the routine from Fengming First Middle School back with him. On the other, he felt he simply couldn’t sleep any longer. It wasn’t the exhaustion that keeps you from sleeping, but the feeling of being completely recharged, of having slept until he woke up naturally. His "natural" wake-up time was just a bit early, but that didn’t stop him from bouncing with energy.

With a single, fluid kip-up, he sprang from the bed to his feet. Shi Tiexin himself was surprised by his own condition.

’Why do I have so much energy today? My injuries aren’t even healed yet, so I shouldn’t be feeling this vigorous.’ But speaking of injuries... Shi Tiexin did some torso twists and suddenly felt that his wounds had lightened considerably.

His waist didn’t hurt, his back didn’t hurt, and even the back of his neck felt much better. Yesterday, just turning his head had sent a sharp, cracking pain through him, but today, it was almost gone.

’What’s going on?’

’Why do I get the feeling that my energy regeneration and my body’s healing rate have both suddenly jumped up a notch?!’