Zhou Yan felt like he was floating in water. He sat up and looked around the endless bck space.

  It was the first time he dreamt after binding with the system. He got up and wandered around the endless space--spshes of water echoed as he continued walking through the void.

  After an unknown amount of time, Zhou Yan felt like he heard a voice, but it was too quiet to make out what it was saying.

  Zhou Yan felt an unknown emotion bubbling inside him as the voice kept calling out.

  Was it anxiety?

  Zhou Yan didn’t know what it was, but he felt the need to get closer.

  Every time the voice called out, Zhou Yan would run in a direction in which he thought the voice came from. But no matter how much he ran, the voice neither grew nor weakened.

  Zhou Yan finally heard a faint desperate whisper.

  He was able to faintly make out one word that the voice said before sounds began to distort, making it almost impossible to hear anything anymore.

  “Brother.”

  Zhou Yan wanted to hear more, but the noises gradually became more and more distorted. The noises began to sound like metals scratching each other, causing Zhou Yan to bend over and hold his head in pain.

  Before Zhou Yan could do anymore, he jolted awake.

  Zhou Yan was covered in cold sweat and his head was pounding. He looked out the window and saw that it was still dark.

  Sitting up, Zhou Yan held his head.

  “System.” Zhou Yan called out.

  [Yes, Host?]

  “How do I get back my memories?”

  [Th- the Host has to gain the favorability point of the male lead. I’ve already said this.]

  Zhou Yan said with certainty, “That shouldn’t be all, right?”

  [Ahem! I- I don’t know what the Host is talking about!]

  “The fact that you, a system, is stuttering means that I’m right.” Zhou Yan said in a cold voice. “Tell me. Tell me how to get my memories back.”

  [Okay! Okay! Besides gaining points from the male lead, the Host can take the chance to… kill the female lead.] The system quietly said the st part.

  But before Zhou Yan could say anything more, the system interrupted him. [But Host, you still need to gain the male lead’s favor.]

  The system gave out suggestions to Zhou Yan as he got up from the bed. [Once the Host completes the main mission, the Host can kill the female lead to regain memories faster.]

  Zhou Yan’s emotions calmed down and his voice went back to being apathetic. “Why is the main mission to gain the male lead’s favor?”

  The system timidly spoke. [While the Host wants to recover his memories, we still need energy to travel through worlds and that energy is from the male lead. Killing the female lead is just a way to recover Host’s memories faster.]

  Zhou Yan simply said, “I see.”

  Seeing that Zhou Yan didn’t ask anymore questions, the system became quiet.

  Zhou Yan was lost in thought as he recalled his dream. He pced his hand over his heart that returned to normal, but an unknown feeling settled into his heart.

  “Knock, knock” A knock on the door pulled Zhou Yan out of his thoughts.

  Mother Zhou spoke through the door. “Xiao Yan, are you awake?”

  Zhou Yan stared at the door--there wasn’t any footsteps. “Yes, Mother.”

  It took a while, but Mother Zhou replied happily, “Breakfast is ready. Make sure to come down and eat some before going to school.”

  “Okay, Mother.” Zhou Yan heard nothing after.

  Zhou Yan grabbed his school uniform and took a quick wash. He clipped a part of his bangs up, as it was getting in the way of his eyes and came down the stairs with his bag.

  Seeing two people already in the dining room, Zhou Yan greeted them.

  Father Zhou hummed as he was reading a newspaper while Mother Zhou took Zhou Yan to sit down as the cooking aunt was setting down a pte of steam buns.

  Zhou Yan sat down and grabbed a single steam bun. He ate the steam bun quickly but elegantly.

  As he took the st bite of the steam bun, Zhou Yan heard Father Zhou speak. “Get in the car. I’ll take you to school in a little while.”

  “Yes, father.” Zhou Yan replied as he got up. Walking past the stairs, he heard hurried steps coming from above.

  “Oh no! I overslept!” Zhou An cried as she came down the steps.

  Mother Zhou ughed softly. “Be careful, Xiao An.” She then handed Zhou Yan a medicine bottle. “Xiao Yan, don’t forget to take one before eating lunch.”

  Zhou Yan hummed. He looked at the indiscernible white bottle before putting it in his bag.

  Zhou Yan got into the car and sat in the back together with Zhou An. Father Zhou came out soon after and started driving.

  While Father Zhou was driving, Zhou Yan looked at the rear view mirror and saw Mother Zhou waving. He then looked out the window and saw some people jogging and some walking their pets.

  It was a lively yet quiet neighborhood, Zhou Yan thought.

  Once they passed the neighborhood gate and drove further away, the people in the neighborhood stopped moving--like performers losing their audience.

  The drive all the way to school was quiet.

  Once Father Zhou stopped the car, Zhou Yan and Zhou An got out of the car.

  Father Zhou lowered his window and stuck his head out. “Don’t get in trouble.”

  “Yes, Father.” Zhou Yan said.

  “Okay.” Zhou An replied.

  Father Zhou closed the window and drove off.

  Zhou Yan watched for a bit and turned to walk towards his cssroom.

  Zhou An turned towards where Zhou Yan was standing but found that he was already gone. She sulked and ran to catch up with Zhou Yan.

  As he was walking, Zhou Yan checked the time and found that there was still 5 minutes before school officially started.

  He entered the cssroom but didn’t know where he sat. Zhou Yan tapped on a person’s shoulder to ask for his seat but didn’t get a response as the person kept talking to his seatmate.

  Zhou Yan looked around the cssroom and found that almost all the seats had their partners already sitting in their seats. He walked towards the two empty desks and sat in the inner seat that was next to the window. As he sat down he observed the cssroom to see if anyone would correct his seat but there was nothing.

  Zhou An soon entered shortly after Zhou Yan and was swarmed with snacks and letters from cssmates.

  Zhou Yan looked over for a bit and turned to look out the window while holding his chin.

  Soon, the teacher came in and was greeted by the students. After telling her students to sit she said, “Even though you guys are seniors, I hope you guys can still take the time to welcome the new student.”

  The transfer student came in and introduced himself. “Hello everyone. My name is Luo Jin. Let’s get along!”

  The students all cpped in unison after Luo Jin’s introduction.

  The teacher looked around the room while the students were still cpping. “There’s a free seat in the back. However, if there’s a problem, we can always rearrange another seat for you.”

  Luo Jin shook his head. “It’s fine, teacher, he and I already know each other.” He walked up to Zhou Yan and extended his hand. “I’m back, Xiao Yan!”

  The cssroom was filled with gasps and whispers.

  “How do they know each other?”

  “Wow, this is like the start of a cliche romance plot!”

  Zhou Yan looked up and saw a boy smiling with his tiger tooth sticking out. He nodded and shook his hand.

  After the teacher left the room, Luo Jin sat down next to Zhou Yan and was bombarded with questions from his new cssmates. He patiently answered all the questions while occasionally gncing at the uninterested Zhou Yan.

  Seeing that the teacher came back and that all the students went back to their seats, Luo Jin whispered in Zhou Yan’s ear. “Let’s talk after css, okay?”

  Zhou Yan looked at Luo Jin and said nothing.

  Css started shortly after and Zhou Yan absentmindedly listened to the teacher while looking out the window.

  Soon, it was time for lunch. Everyone got up and quickly ran out the door as if they were a pack of starving animals.

  Zhou Yan slowly got up and walked past Luo Jin after he took the medicine bottle out of his bag.

  Seeing that Zhou Yan was about to leave, Zhou An and Luo Jin quickly got up and followed behind.

  “Wait for me, Brother!”

  “Let’s go together, Xiao Yan.”

  Zhou Yan only paused for a bit before he continued walking behind the other students who were heading towards the canteen.

  Zhou An quickly caught up to Zhou Yan and walked beside him.

  Zhou Yan and Zhou An didn’t see the fsh of contempt in Luo Jin’s eyes as they walked in front of him. But Luo Jin quickly caught up to them and walked on the other side of Zhou Yan.

  After the three of them had all gotten their lunch, they found an empty table and sat together.

  Zhou Yan casually swallowed a pill before he began eating.

  As he got halfway through eating his food, he heard the system’s thrilled voice. [Now’s the perfect chance to gain some favorability, Host!]

  Zhou Yan swallowed his food and calmly asked, “Why did you move back here?”

  Luo Jin let out a soft ugh. “You didn’t hear me earlier in the cssroom?”

  Zhou Yan looked up and shook his head. He took one st spoonful of food before setting it aside.

  With a smile, Luo Jin spoke as he looked at Zhou Yan. “I said that I came back because of my promise.”

  “Oh.” Zhou Yan said emotionlessly. He saw that Zhou An was looking at his unfinished pte of food and gave it to her.

  “Wow! Thank you, Brother.” Zhou An took Zhou Yan’s food and started eating it.

  Luo Jin narrowed his eyes as he looked at the siblings in front of him. One was busy eating while the other simply was observing the former. He pretended to be hurt. “How come you’re so cold towards me now, Xiao Yan?”

  Zhou An spoke at this time--quickly changing the subject. “Brother Luo, why did you come back so te!” She then hesitantly asked, “Won’t it affect your studies?”

  Luo Jin narrowed his eyes but simply chuckled. “Of course it won’t. I was at the top of the grade in my previous school.”

  Before the conversation could continue, Zhou Yan interrupted them. “It’s almost time to go back.”

  The underlying tension between the two people dispersed after Zhou Yan spoke.

  The three finished their lunch and soon returned to css.

  Just as Zhou Yan sat down, the teacher came back and css soon started again. Zhou Yan once again listened to the lesson absentmindedly until he became uncontrolbly drowsy. His head bobbed as he tried to keep himself awake. But as time went on, and under the teacher’s gradually hushed voice, he still fell asleep

  Once Luo Jin saw that Zhou Yan was fast asleep, he turned towards Zhou Yan and wantonly looked at the pale boy. He whispered with a hint of morbid fascination in his voice. “Sleep tight, Xiao Yan.”

  Zhou Yan jolted awake. He looked around and saw the cssroom was covered in an orange glow.

  Everyone was gone.

  Just as Zhou Yan stood up, the door to the cssroom opened.

  Luo Jin entered and greeted Zhou Yan with a smile. “Hey sleepy head!”

  Zhou Yan said nothing and tried walking past Luo Jin, but Luo jin quickly stopped him.

  “Hey, can we go to your house?” Luo Jin asked with a cheerful voice.

  Although Luo Jin spoke cheerfully, there wasn’t any room for rejection as he had already walked out with Zhou Yan’s bag in his hands.

  Zhou Yan quietly looked at Luo Jin with no emotion.

  Luo Jin didn’t care what Zhou Yan thought and quietly waited for him to lead the way to his home.

  Zhou Yan had to let Luo Jin follow him all the way to his home.

  As they both entered the quiet neighborhood, Zhou Yan saw that his home was the only vil that was illuminated in the entire neighborhood again.