'Miracle'

"Hmph..."

With a faint whistle like a steam horn, the room's automatic door closed again, sending away the guest who had come to visit.

Luo Zhen stared blankly at the laptop screen in front of him, but he no longer operated the keyboard. His eyes were not even focused, and he simply let the character he had painstakingly developed get killed by the nearly-depleted Boss and sent back to town to revive. His nimble fingers no longer moved even once.

Only after a long while was the scene broken by a gloomy voice.

"You're so weak normally, so why are you especially persuasive whenever you start lecturing people?"

Luo Zhen could only complain like this.

And he wasn't wrong.

Just look at Roman's weak appearance in front of Olga Marie. It was obvious what sort of impression Luo Zhen's older brother usually gave people—someone easy to bully.

Yet whenever something like this happened, Roman would display a mature side that others could hardly imagine, as if he were a sage who had seen through all the confusion of the world, speaking highly convincing words to Luo Zhen.

"If you could act like this normally, the people at Chaldea wouldn't treat you like a spineless weakling. Useless older brother..."

Luo Zhen continued complaining to the only relative who was not present, then tossed the laptop from his knees aside in frustration and lay down on his bed.

Just then...

"Fou!"

Accompanied by a cute cry, a white creature crawled out of nowhere and jumped onto Luo Zhen, who was lying on the bed.

"Fou?" Luo Zhen's brows immediately rose. He spoke to Fou, who had jumped onto him, as if he were about to settle an account. "You were hiding nearby the whole time, watching me make a fool of myself?"

"Fou!" Fou completely ignored Luo Zhen's misplaced anger and scratched at the fur around his neck with his forepaws.

"Oh, really!" Luo Zhen cried out oddly, as if he had become even angrier. "Even you look down on me, huh?"

"Fou!" Fou raised his eyes and looked at Luo Zhen innocently.

"Don't look at me like that!" Luo Zhen scolded Fou. "Don't think that acting cute will stop me from teaching you a lesson. Mashu isn't here either, so no one can help you. Even if I stew you right here, you can only accept your fate. If you know what's good for you, expose your belly and surrender!"

"Fou!" As if he no longer wanted to bother with Luo Zhen's unreasonable behavior, Fou simply lay down where he was and rested on Luo Zhen's abdomen, seemingly intending to go to sleep.

"You..." Luo Zhen angrily extended a hand toward Fou, as if he intended to punish him.

However, just as that hand reached out, Luo Zhen stopped. Instead, he stared at the hand extended before him.

Upon closer inspection, he found that his right hand was wearing a dark golden glove.

A complicated emotion flashed through Luo Zhen's eyes as he looked at the glove. He then reached out and removed it.

Under the glove was a hand with relatively fair skin.

And on that hand was a ring.

A ring that was brilliantly golden all over, both simple and antique-looking, yet mysterious.

Luo Zhen reached out and touched the ring.

Feeling the ring's cool touch, Luo Zhen murmured,

"Has it already been fourteen years since then?"

As he said this, Luo Zhen's memories returned to fourteen years ago.

That was the year when Luo Zhen encountered despair and hope at the same time.

That year, Luo Zhen was only two years old.

Lying in a hospital bed, he should have eventually died in infancy because of his extremely frail body.

But that outcome was ultimately reversed.

By an unknown miracle.

"If this is what you lack, then if God won't give it to you, I will."

Remembering that voice, Luo Zhen closed his eyes.

Back then, with the help of the owner of that voice, Luo Zhen obtained a miracle and actually survived. His body recovered at an astonishing speed, as if it had been reborn. He no longer had to lie in a hospital bed and wait for death, but could live as a "person."

Even now, Luo Zhen still had not figured out the reason behind any of this.

Whose voice had that been back then?

What exactly was the miracle that had saved him?

By what means had he been saved?

Luo Zhen knew none of these things.

It was as if he had merely dreamed it all. After waking up, he had naturally recovered and naturally walked out of the isolation ward. Although his constitution had been weak since childhood, the Luo Zhen of today truly possessed a body strong enough to support his continued life.

After that, two changes occurred.

One of them was Roman's appearance.

Luo Zhen still remembered what the man who had appeared before him said when he came out of the isolation ward.

"I'm Romani Archaman. Although this may sound abrupt, I have to tell you that I'm your blood relative. You could say I'm someone like your 'older brother.' That much is certain. I hope you can accept me."

When Roman had said those words, his expression had been filled with a gentleness and joy Luo Zhen had never seen before.

It was precisely because of that expression that Luo Zhen accepted this man who had suddenly appeared before him and claimed to be like his older brother.

At the time, Roman had also produced a DNA test report, which clearly stated that the two of them were biological brothers with a blood relationship.

If Luo Zhen and Roman had not never met before Luo Zhen turned two, perhaps their surnames would have been exactly the same as well.

That was the first change Luo Zhen encountered after leaving the isolation ward.

The second change was the ring in Luo Zhen's hand.

After Luo Zhen miraculously recovered, the ring suddenly appeared on his finger as if it were part of his flesh. No matter what method he used, he could not remove it.

Luo Zhen even had the feeling that even if he cut off his finger—or even his entire arm—the ring would return to him and would never leave his side.

This made Luo Zhen realize one thing.

"This ring absolutely has something to do with that miracle back then."

Thus, Luo Zhen gave the ring this name.

----"Miracle."

The ring, bearing the name of the thing most important to Luo Zhen, accompanied him for a full fourteen years.

Over those fourteen years, the ring called "Miracle" gradually began to release inexplicable information, allowing Luo Zhen to acquire a great deal of knowledge.

This knowledge was mainly divided into two parts.

One: knowledge related to Summoning Arts.

Two: the ring's own mysterious power.

The former gave Luo Zhen knowledge of various kinds of "Summoning Arts," which, combined with his astonishing talent, allowed him to master impressive Summoning Arts in just three years.

The latter told Luo Zhen that the ring possessed a certain function.

It could open a door leading to another "world."

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