"Ring-ring-ring..."
Feili slapped down the alarm clock and yawned as she sat up. With her eyes still closed, she picked up the hair tie beside her pillow to bind her long hair, subconsciously touching her forehead to check whether she had sprouted ram horns.
She stepped out of her bedroom into the apartment's main washroom and began brushing her teeth. Just then, Liya came in to freshen up as well, and Feili asked casually, "Don't we have materials lab class this morning?"
Liya gave her backside a direct smack. "Did you sleep yourself stupid? The lab building is still undergoing emergency repairs. Lab classes won't resume until next week at the earliest."
Feili paused, her mind gradually clearing.
So... it really wasn't a dream.
Even though two days had passed, Feili still felt as though she were in a dream, unable to believe she had actually been swept into a supernatural, mysterious incident. Demons, angels, sorcerers, Yaxiu Heath... All of these felt far too distant from her.
Especially Yaxiu Heath—she wouldn't have dared dream of fighting side by side with Mr. Heath!
That was a plotline that only ever happened in TV dramas!
Yet the lab building had genuinely blown up. The official statement blamed a gas leak for triggering a fire, with further details pending investigation. Fortunately, aside from three people who suffered minor concussions from the blast, there were no other casualties.
So... when Mr. Heath said he'd come look for me in a few days, was that real too?
But I didn't even give him my phone number—how is he supposed to find me?
Maybe it was just polite pleasantry... Makes sense. He's so incredible, while I've never touched superpowers; I'm just slightly more athletic than average. How could he possibly need my help...?
"Besides, there's another event scheduled for this morning anyway, so we wouldn't have had class," Liya said, turning on a hair dryer to style her milk-tea-colored long wavy hair into an effortless 'woke-up-gorgeous' look. "An awards ceremony held in the grand auditorium."
"Not interested."
"It gives extra course credits."
"What time does it start?"
"Ten o'clock," Liya replied. "Didn't you enter the University Cup? The awards ceremony is today. Our university actually won seven awards this time! The school's ranking will definitely climb up a bit—too bad the lab building blew up, hehe."
Whenever the topic turned to their school's misfortunes, neither Feili nor Liya could help gloating. While the explosion of the lab building was truly pitiable, when they recalled how awful the cafeteria food was, the lack of air conditioning in classrooms, the delayed vacations, and all the administration's other absurd stunts—plus the fact that the only ones suffering were the school leaders—it was impossible not to take pleasure in it.
After washing up, Feili returned to her room to continue her pattern-making assignment. Liya trotted into her bedroom as well, lounging across the bed with a face mask on while watching videos, legs crossed with zero lady-like elegance. Sometimes she let out piglet-like giggles, and other times she squirmed across the bed like an earthworm, making Feili reflect that there was definitely a good reason her senior was still single in her senior year.
Liya was now a fourth-year student, two grades above Feili. However, during her third year, she had taken up a dual major in fashion design. Nebula University's dual-major system dictated that taking a new major meant starting over from scratch in that field; if a student wished, they could pursue dual major after dual major and study for over a decade. As a result, Liya was currently also considered a sophomore in fashion design.
Feili and Senior Liya had met through an unusual twist of fate: during her freshman year, Feili had cross-dressed in men's clothing while working part-time at a café, only for an infatuated Senior Liya to actively hit on her. When Feili confessed that she was a girl, the senior had actually declared, "Well, that works too."
After getting to know each other better, they discovered they lived on the same floor of the same student apartment building, and naturally became close friends. Senior Liya hadn't been entirely opposed to making a real move, and had even staged a nighttime raid on Feili in the apartment. But once the senior pulled open her pajama top and found that Feili was bustier than she was, any romantic or illicit desires vanished, leaving only an urge to give them a good squeeze.
"Did you finish your pattern-making assignment?"
"Still early, no rush." Liya waved the pastry in her hand. "Want some?"
The senior always stockpiled lots of snacks, so on mornings without classes, Feili would simply eat her snacks for breakfast. Taking the cake, Feili glanced at the giggling senior and asked, "What are you watching?"
"*100% Sorcerer*, Season One," Liya said, wriggling her body. "Damn it, the more I watch, the more I want to keep watching... That guy Heath is way too wicked! Leaving us with only the first half of the season is bad enough, but why did he have to invent this 'early video-on-demand' scheme? I can't resist paying for the next episode!"
"Isn't Mr. Heath only the screenwriter?"
"See, that's where you don't know the inside scoop. According to my uncle who's a director, Heath holds shares in several streaming platforms now. This whole early VOD system was pioneered by Heath during his very first work, *Blood Moon Trial*. After it became a massive hit, every platform copied it." Liya huffed. "Yaxiu the creator is a treasure, but Heath the businessman is a vile capitalist rotting to the core."
Feili's attention was hooked. "Does your uncle know Mr. Heath?"
"I wouldn't say they know each other, but since he's in the industry, he knows a bit about him. Why?"
"Could you tell me what kind of person Mr. Heath is?"
"Let me think about what my uncle complained about..." Senior Liya paused the video and pondered for a moment. "A reclusive genius, I'd say.
"You probably know he's written songs, scripts, and novels across all sorts of genres, directed game development, and worked as both a director and an actor. But you probably don't know that he's also proposed tons of internet business models, right?
"Putting early VOD aside, did you know that five years ago, free-to-play gacha mobile games didn't even exist? Competitive mobile games and idle games were all his doing. And then there are bullet comments, livestreaming, social networking platforms, short-form videos..."
Feili listened in stunned disbelief. "Isn't that way too incredible?"
"What's even crazier is that he never just proposes some rough concept; whenever he brings something out, it's a completely mature, finished blueprint," Liya said. "Aside from what I mentioned, there are countless products on the market with his fingerprints on them. He holds shares in numerous publicly traded companies, and many companies he favored and stepped into launched blockbuster products within a year or two and skyrocketed.
"My uncle once did a deep dive into Heath. To quote his words: 'That madman seems to possess the ideas of an entire world.'"
"A madman?"
"Yeah. Heath seems to have some mental issues. Every once in a while, he does a bunch of bizarre things, and he even once caused a huge scene at a banquet. That's why his businesses are all managed by his assistants while he keeps a low profile and stays secluded."
Yaxiu is a madman? And does bizarre things?
Feili blinked. Suddenly, she realized there might be another explanation for that night: everything was fake, just special effects, and everyone had simply been acting along with Yaxiu. The lab building really had been a gas explosion; the flames were stage magic created through chemical tricks; Yaxiu hadn't turned invisible either (Demon Feili could see Sorcery Spirit Yaxiu)—it was just that Vichy, the maid, had pretended not to see him.
How could there possibly be a chain capable of completely dominating another person?! It wasn't as if this were one of those erotic movies Senior Liya kept secretly hidden away!
Besides, after that night passed, Feili never grew horns again, nor did she gain any immense power. That proved no matter how strong she had seemed that night, it was all an illusion.
Compared to supernatural abilities truly existing in this world, Yaxiu being a madman was clearly far more believable.
"Why are you suddenly so curious about Heath?" Liya asked with a grin. "Did you fall for him too?"
Feili hurriedly denied it. "No, no, I don't like him at all!"
"Don't go saying that out in public, or you might offend someone. After all, Heath still has tons of rabid fans. Word has it there are even religious cults that worship him."
......
...
Passing by the lab building under construction, Feili and Liya entered Nebula University's grand auditorium.
Feili's expression suddenly changed, and she hid behind the senior. "Huh? Why is Senior here too?"
"He's a teaching assistant in your department—of course he'd show up at an occasion like this," Liya said with a laugh. "Not to mention, he seems to be one of the seven award winners. It'd be stranger if he weren't here. You go on over, and I need to—"
"Come with me, please?"
"I'm not in your department."
"You take classes with us!" Feili hugged her senior's arm coaxingly. "In my heart, you're already a student of our department!"
Liya didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "If you keep this up, when will you ever ask him out on a date?"
Feili said nothing, only clinging to Liya. Having no choice, the senior headed toward the fashion design department's seating section. Being a bit mischievous, however, she deliberately led Feili past the blond young man standing at the very front managing check-ins.
"Miss Feili, Miss Liya," the blond young man greeted them with a smile. "I'm glad to see you both in such high spirits."
Liya greeted him. "Hey, Dimi'er. I heard you were doing experiments there the night the lab building blew up. Are you all right?"
"My luck was good. I'd already finished my experiment and left by then, so I wasn't in any danger." The blond young man sighed. "But Kuchu'er happened to be holding sulfuric acid reagent at the time and accidentally hurt his hand..."
"I'm thrilled to hear that. I despise that guy Kuchu'er. The first time he asked me out, he asked where we should get a hotel room." Liya gave a cold huff. "Are you going on stage to receive an award later? Congratulations."
The blond young man lowered his eyelids and answered softly, "...Thank you."
Only after Liya pulled Feili into a seat in the back row did Feili let out a long sigh of relief, as if she had been holding her breath the entire time from sheer nerves.
The senior found it hilarious. "Was that really necessary? It's not like he's a ferocious beast. In fact, he's probably the easiest person to get along with in the whole school. Why do you get so flustered around him?"
"I don't know either." Feili's cheeks flushed red. "My heart just races in front of him, and I can hardly bear to look at him. I've stammered in front of him several times... It's so embarrassing."
"Still, your hair colors are pretty similar," Liya noted. "Could you two possibly be related?"
"Impossible." Feili shook her head. "I grew up in an orphanage, while Senior Dimi'er's father is a hospital director. How could we possibly be related?"
"Besides, I've never dreamed of being with him." Looking at the blond young man surrounded by countless girls up front, she sighed. "There are just way too many people who like him."
Indeed, the person Feili liked was none other than the teaching assistant of the fashion design department, a legendary figure at Nebula University, the campus idol who captured the hearts of countless female college students—
Dimi'er Vosloda.
Chapter 804