Lin Chuan didn’t consider himself one of those brain-nerfed protagonists commonly found in web novels.
He and his roommates had spent four years together, living like conjugate father-and-sons, and they were all living, flesh-and-blood people.
No one suddenly disappeared one day to reincarnate into another world.
Xiaomeng’s ID in the group chat didn’t suddenly change to Primordial Lord of Heaven either, and then send him an All-Heavens Omniscience Talisman—though speaking of which, it would be great if that were actually true.
Furthermore, the protagonist of *Throne of Magical Arcana* wasn’t even called Lucien before his transmigration; his original name was Xia Feng.
Various signs led Lin Chuan to a conclusion very early on:
This parallel Earth was most likely a comedic anomaly belt stitched together with some cliché web novel tropes, which was a false alarm.
Tropes like bumping into the counterparts of famous protagonists in transmigrated worlds were practically dime-a-dozen in web novels.
But what if?
The Earths of his other roommates were all normal worlds, but only in Zhou Mingrui’s case, what hung behind him was none other than Lord of the Mysteries!
Therefore, during his four years in university, he tried every possible means to get close to Zhou Mingrui, inquire about his hobbies and family, and closely monitor his employment intentions…
Until after graduation everyone went their separate ways, and Zhou Mingrui also successfully passed the civil service examination in his hometown last year, becoming a glorious staff member of the local annals office.
“We saved the Earth.”
Lin Chuan recorded so in his diary.
On the day he wrote these words, he had a rare, sound sleep, and a few days later, he rolled up his bedding and moved to Zhou Mingrui’s hometown.
After all, he wasn’t really fond of the hustle and bustle of big cities; he still preferred second- or third-tier small cities, where it was cozy and the pace of life was slow, resembling his hometown before transmigration more.
Of course, those past events didn’t matter anymore; let’s focus on the present.
Zhou Mingrui was the only person in this world he could call a close friend.
During those four years, he tried to get close to the other party; his initial purpose indeed wasn’t pure, but having gone through so much after all, human hearts were made of flesh, and true feelings naturally developed between good brothers.
It wasn’t to say that the others had a poor impression of Lin Chuan and were unwilling to associate with him deeply.
It was just that a person’s world was actually very small; once a group of people moved in, there was no space left for another group.
And sometimes, he really would be scared.
He was afraid that he would make too many new friends in this world, even more than before his transmigration; he was afraid that one day he would also get married and have children here, regaining a happy family.
Then, would he completely forget the past and forget where he actually came from?
Lin Chuan asked himself in his heart:
If even I forget myself, when I truly find the way home in the future, Mom and Dad…
will they still be able to recognize me?
He didn’t dare to gamble, and even more so, he didn’t dare to forget.
Therefore, after graduating from university, Lin Chuan holed up at home without interacting with the outside world.
Even if it was just copying some books and teasing readers in a corner of this world, occasionally pulling out memories to air them out, he could still be considered…
finding joy in it.
Strange, why does it feel like someone is pulling me?
“Hey, A-chuan?”
A hand waved twice in front of his eyes.
“Ah, what’s wrong?”
The faint sensation of being pulled vanished.
Lin Chuan snapped out of his trance and saw the anxious expression on Zhou Mingrui’s face right in front of him
.
“You’ve been zoning out ever since you got to the back seat.
No matter how much I called you, you didn’t respond, looking like you’d lost your soul.”
Hearing this clearly, Lin Chuan suppressed his thoughts and took the glass of water handed over by Zhou Mingrui.
The chilly wall of the cup made him much more sober.
“It’s nothing.
I’ve been dozing off a lot lately, or else recalling some things from the past.
It’s been going on for a month.”
He took a sip of water and added:
“I went to the hospital to check it out, but the doctor didn’t find anything either.
It might be some psychological issues.”
Zhou Mingrui looked like he wanted to say something more, but was interrupted by Lin Chuan:
“It really isn’t a big deal; maybe it’ll get better after a while?
Let’s drop this for now.
What do you think of the synopsis I sent you?”
Realizing that Lin Chuan truly didn’t want to continue talking about his condition, Zhou Mingrui didn’t persist.
He rolled his eyes irritably at his best friend:
“I wanted to ask you instead.
It doesn’t matter if you use my name to write a book, since after all I’m the only one in the dorm who hasn’t made a cameo yet.
But what does Shaolin Temple mean?”
“You arranged a musician starting setup for Old Lu, how come when it’s my turn it starts from Shaolin Temple?”
Lin Chuan smiled slightly, put his hands together with a cheeky look, and said:
“Beneficiary, you are attached to illusions.
This mortal world is like a sea of bitterness.
Shedding the three thousand strands of worldly troubles, entering beneath my Buddha’s gate to become a handyman disciple, and sincerely worshipping the Buddha morning and night—wouldn’t that be a joy?”
“Damn!” Feigning anger, Zhou Mingrui pounced forward, scuffling with Lin Chuan and grabbing hold of the other’s flank:
“I thought Shaolin Temple was a dungeon to visit in the early stage, but after all this time, you actually want me to be a monk?”
“Stop, stop, stop, it hurts,”
Lin Chuan surrendered repeatedly: “It’s just a transition, a transition.
The protagonist will look cool, trust me.
You understand Primordial Lord of Heaven, right?
Would a brother harm you?”
“Really?”
Zhou Mingrui was somewhat skeptical.
He always felt that Lin Chuan hadn’t told the whole story and there was bound to be some big pitfall waiting for him.
Lin Chuan vigorously rubbed his waist, drew a cold breath, and complained: “Hiss…
totally for real.
Speaking of which, how come someone like you who sits in an office every day has so much strength?”
“What do you know?
Back when I first started working, I had to run errands and move materials for the older comrades every day.”
“Besides, you’re the one who’s too weak,” Zhou Mingrui retorted.
“You hole up at home all day and refuse to go out for a walk unless someone calls you.
I really don’t understand how you haven’t put on weight yet.”
“Good constitution, it’s natural.
Unlike someone, this is something you can’t envy away.”
Lin Chuan glanced around Zhou Mingrui’s chin and stomach, his meaning self-evident.
Zhou Mingrui sneered on the spot, making a motion to hit him, when the tempered glass Door of the kitchen suddenly slid open with a swish.
“What are you guys talking about that’s so lively?”
It was Mother Zhou cooking dishes in the kitchen.
At this moment, she had just finished a plate of steamed sea bass and was about to bring it over to the living room.
Meanwhile, his dad followed closely behind, carrying the chiffon cake that Lin Chuan had helped make.
“Hello, Uncle and Auntie.
Sorry to intrude today, let me carry the dishes.” Lin Chuan activated his “history rewriting” technique, wiping the previous fight clean as if he had just been sitting there doing nothing all along.
“What intrusion?
Mingrui’s older brother is working away and can’t come back.
You being willing to come keep him company for his birthday makes us the happiest.” Father Zhou’s voice had a very distinctive characteristic, though it sounded like words spoken only after someone had pinched him.
Because Lin Chuan saw it, but he felt that appropriately forgetting some things might not necessarily be a bad thing.
After a while, once everyone was finally seated, Lin Chuan took the initiative to insert candles onto the cake one by one, arranging an array shaped like the character “Ming”.
Not paying attention to who got up to turn off the living room lights, the room instantly darkened.
Only more than twenty flickering, warm-yellow candle flames remained, reflecting on everyone’s face and swaying with ordinary yet warm shadows.
“Come on, make a wish?
Remember not to say it out loud, oh.” Lin Chuan smiled and started singing the birthday song.
Zhou Mingrui looked at the firelight before him, at his parents applauding on both sides of the table, and at Lin Chuan humming nearby.
For some reason, his eyes actually felt somewhat sore and stinging, as if he hadn’t seen all this for a very long time.
But that was only natural, after all he hadn’t returned home during his birthday last year, and the last time he celebrated his birthday at home dated back to his third year of high school.
He closed his eyes and silently made a wish amidst the faint, swaying candlelight:
“I hope Mom and Dad are in good health and everything goes as they wish.”
“I hope that guy Lin Chuan stops losing his soul every day.
Speaking of which, wouldn’t this be a precursor to Alzheimer’s?
But doesn’t that usually only happen to the elderly?”
“I hope…
days can keep passing by safely and peacefully just like this.” 1
Zhou Mingrui didn’t have any extravagant hopes, or rather, the scene before him was the greatest wish of his life.
“Hoo——”
He opened his eyes and blew out half of the candles, while Lin Chuan simultaneously blew out the remaining half.
In the Darkness, Lin Chuan said softly:
“So finally…”
“Happy birthday, Zhou Mingrui.”
When im in a jinxing competition and my opppnent is Zhou Mingrui-Klein moretti