I Have a System

Wuling had a dream.

In the dream, they all called him the Rover.

A whole series of things whose meanings he didn't know appeared in his dream, including Sentinels, Tacet Discords, and Resonators.

Who were Chixia, Baizhi, and Yangyang?

Wait, Yangyang?

I think I remember that name. Who was she again?

No, I can't remember. My head is spinning.

Is that... a dragon?

In the final seconds before his consciousness faded, the Rover looked at the stone sculpture before him. Dimly, he seemed to see it come to life and look at him.

Wuling's eyes snapped open. He gasped for breath, a thin layer of sweat covering his forehead.

He pushed himself upright, his fingertips unconsciously rubbing the back of his hand. It was perfectly ordinary, without the strange black mark from his dream.

He frowned and shook his head, trying to dispel the bizarre dream.

That's strange. Why do I keep having such weird dreams lately?

"What on earth... is going on?"

"So what the hell is going on?"

Calcharo squeezed Wuling's muscular arm. Yep, it was firm, ruling out the possibility that it was fake.

"Seriously, Rover, did you take something? How'd you get so big?"

Calcharo placed a hand on Wuling's head and felt around a little. It wasn't pointy, either.

"That's enough, Calcharo!"

Wuling's face darkened as he slapped Calcharo's meddling hand away and took a few steps back.

"All right, I'm done pretending. I'll come clean. I actually have a system. These muscles are what I got after it improved my physique. Congratulations, you've passed my test. I'll have your backs from now on."

"Oh, give me a break. If you don't want to tell us, just say so. A system? Why not just say you're the savior? If you really have a system, then I'm the strongest in Solaris."

"Sigh, what a cold world. Why does no one believe you when you tell the truth these days?"

"Fine, I believe you. Send me 50 on WeChat and let's see what you can do."

"Screw you. Why the hell are you asking for money on a Wednesday? Believe me or don't."

Calcharo curled his lip and casually grabbed the backpack hanging over the edge of the bed, slinging it over his shoulder. He still wasn't about to let the subject go.

"Fine, fine, I'll believe your story for now. If you really do awaken some superpower later, don't forget your bro here. And make sure you bump my greatsword straight up to T0."

"All right, all right, whatever it is, talk about it tonight. Class starts in twenty minutes. If we don't want to be late, we need to hurry."

Lingyang interrupted their conversation at just the right moment and pointed to the time on his watch.

"All right, I'm out of here. We can talk after I get back from work tonight."

Wuling was the first to leave the dorm, but not before reaching over and giving Lingyang's butt a smack.

"You!"

Lingyang was just about to lose his temper, but Wuling was nowhere in sight. He had already run off, so Lingyang could only let it go.

"Abu, do you have any idea about that dream I had?"

Wuling walked briskly along the tree-lined path, quietly speaking to Abu in his mind.

"That? Sorry, I don't know either. I don't even know what you dreamed about. I don't have a habit of prying into other people's privacy."

"I see."

A faint trace of disappointment flashed through Wuling's eyes. The tangled doubts in his heart had not faded; instead, they grew even heavier.

"Let me tell you, just this noon I... That's strange, what did I dream about again?"

Wuling's mind suddenly went blank halfway through his sentence.

The dream that had been so clear in his mind a moment ago was now completely beyond his recollection. He could only vaguely remember having had a dream at noon.

"That's strange."

Wuling stopped in his tracks without thinking, his brows knitting tightly together.

The feeling was too strange.

Emmmm, forget it. I won't think about it anymore. It was a dream, anyway. It's normal not to remember it.

Let's get going. If I dawdle a few more minutes, I really will be late.

Wuling forced down the awkward, sluggish feeling in his heart and shook his head, casting aside all his jumbled thoughts.

It was only a dream, after all.

It was normal not to remember it. There was no need to dwell on it and cause himself needless worry.

He composed himself and set off again, walking briskly along the tree-lined avenue bathed in warm sunlight.

When he reached the classroom, there were still seven or eight minutes before class.

Wuling didn't care much about this class. It was an easy course, after all, and if it weren't the first session, he would probably have slept through it.

Just kidding. I'll sleep through the first one too.

And that was indeed what happened. After listening for only about a minute, Wuling's eyelids were fighting more fiercely than the Warring States. He adjusted his sitting position slightly, then laid his head on the desk and fell fast asleep.

Cartethyia watched Wuling sleeping at his desk and thought it over, but ultimately decided not to wake him.

Sleeping all the way until classes were over felt amazing.

Only when the noise broke out did Wuling slowly open his eyes.

His eyelashes trembled slightly, and his eyes were hazy and unfocused from sleep. He stared blankly for several seconds before the scene before him slowly came into focus.

Wuling raised a hand to rub his sleepy eyes, then sat up straight and gave a small stretch.

"You're awake?"

A soft, gentle female voice came from beside him. Cartethyia had already packed up her books and turned her head to look at him quietly. Her ice-blue eyes were full of tenderness, and there was a hint of concern in her voice.

"You looked tired earlier, so I didn't wake you."

Wuling paused, then felt a touch of warmth in his heart. He gave her an embarrassed smile.

"Thanks. I was so sleepy I couldn't help sleeping through several classes."

He raised a hand and rubbed his forearm. The tingling numbness from sleeping on it had yet to fade.

"All right, it's about time I went to my part-time job. Bye, see you tomorrow."

"Mm, see you tomorrow."

Cartethyia nodded gently, her expression tender. As she watched Wuling get up, a faint trace of concern flashed through her ice-blue eyes.

The hallway was busy after school, with groups of students chatting and laughing as they headed for the cafeteria or their dorms. Wuling alone turned away from the main stream of people and headed toward the shopping street by the school gate.

When he entered the shop, Chisaki had yet to arrive, so Wuling went to the changing room and put on his work uniform first.

As he came out of the changing room, Wuling suddenly felt as though something soft had brushed against his foot.

He looked down and saw a brown, four-legged creature sitting quietly beside him, as though what had just happened had nothing to do with it.

"Is that... a capybara?"

Wuling looked at it several times in disbelief to make sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him.

It was definitely a capybara, but why was there one in the café? Was it being kept by someone?

"Is that a capybara?"

Wuling looked up and saw Chisaki standing in front of the steps, apparently about to come over.

Once Chisaki had drawn a little closer, Wuling spoke up to explain.

"I don't know what's going on either. It was right here when I opened the door, even though it definitely wasn't here when I came in. It's really strange. I don't know whose it is, either."

As he spoke, the capybara suddenly stood up and walked over to Wuling. It stopped on his shoe and lay down again.

...Am I really that popular with animals?

Wuling picked the capybara up off his foot and held it in his hands, looking it over from side to side.

It looked to be only about two months old and probably hadn't even been weaned yet. He didn't know how it had gotten here, either. He would carry it out to the front and ask in a moment. Leaving it here really was a little dangerous.

Its fur was close in color to the floor, so someone might not notice it at first glance. They had been lucky just now, but if someone failed to see it and stepped on it later, it would be done for.