Across the street, at the Erwin residence.
"Nini, what did you say?"
Mr. Ervin stared at his precious daughter in astonishment.
"The soul you said could sing... was Li Wei?"
Erwin could hardly believe it.
His daughter, Seraphine, was a musical prodigy.
Who was Li Wei? Just a Zaunite Apprentice who soldered circuit boards.
Did he even understand music?
"It was him. It was definitely him."
Seraphine clenched her fists excitedly, biting her glossy, dewy lips until they turned pale.
"It sounded so beautiful—"
"It was simply heavenly!"
Her reaction told her father that Li Wei not only understood music, but that his music was so wonderful his precious daughter could not resist it at all.
Li Wei was tenaciously locked in a life-or-death struggle with Aubrey, while Seraphine watched with an entranced expression, cheering and praying for him.
She was completely immersed in the world of music Li Wei had created, intoxicated and moved, even overcome with emotion to the point of tears.
Two crystal-clear trails of tears, like strings of pearls, soon slid down her rosy, fair cheeks.
"Oh no." Erwin felt a headache coming on.
One look was enough for him to know that his daughter was having another artistic episode.
And this time, she was more deeply immersed and more dramatic than ever before.
Seraphine stared blankly at Li Wei's steadfast fighting figure while softly humming some melody along with it. Her tears would not stop flowing, and even the corners of her eyes had reddened.
Only when the battle ended, with Li Wei defeating Aubrey and preparing to stagger away from the scene,
did she finally come back to herself.
"Wait for me, Li Wei!"
Seraphine was so excited that she nearly jumped straight out the window.
"Where are you going?!" Her father grabbed her in panic.
"I'm going to find Li Wei!"
Seraphine said, her face flushed red.
"To talk music with him and sing together!"
Erwin: "..."
Talk music?
With that brat?
"No, I won't allow it!" Erwin stamped his foot in fury. "He's a Zaunite!"
"Dad, you came from Zaun too."
"That's precisely because I came from Zaun that I know how dangerous Zaunites are! You want to see him? Don't even think about it!"
Erwin and his daughter began an intense tug-of-war.
Seraphine desperately tried to run off, and even her own father's restraint could barely hold her back.
"Wait."
At that moment, Erwin suddenly realized that perhaps he did not need to stop her after all.
That Li Wei would no longer have a chance to pester his daughter.
Because just as he was about to leave in triumph, his enemy, the fat Aubrey, suddenly pulled out a bottle of purple liquid.
"Shimmer."
"That madman—he actually used that kind of contraband in Piltover!"
Erwin's expression turned utterly grim.
He yanked the curtains shut, then turned back and firmly held his daughter down with a serious look.
"Seraphine, what happens next..."
"You'd better not watch."
Shimmer was quite common in Zaun.
It was a highly addictive stimulant and physical enhancement drug. Just a little could multiply one's combat power.
This stuff was prohibited in Piltover.
And if someone physically weak or lacking in willpower drank it, especially in excessive amounts, it would not only damage their body but could also cause a mental breakdown, making them lose their reason and turn into a bloodthirsty beast that knew only destruction.
That was why the fat Aubrey did not dare drink too much either. Otherwise, if things got out of hand and attracted the Enforcers, he would not get away unscathed.
He merely took a careful sip. Though it was little, it was more than enough to deal with Li Wei.
"Li Wei—"
"Don't even think about leaving here alive!"
As soon as the Shimmer went down his throat, Aubrey's massive body abruptly swelled another size larger out of thin air.
Veins bulged and writhed like snakes, while blood rushed through them like an endless flood.
His eyes began to glow faintly purple.
In an instant, it felt as though limitless strength surged up from within him, making him forget pain, forget cowardice, and granting him courage and fighting spirit he had never possessed before.
"Run!" Janna urgently warned him through her thoughts.
She could tell that Li Wei could not defeat that fat man after he had taken Shimmer.
The gap between them was no longer something that sheer willpower could make up for.
"But running doesn't seem that easy either." Li Wei could not help sighing bitterly.
Because he could clearly see that mountain of flesh, now swollen a size larger, charging straight at him at a despair-inducing speed.
It was practically a humanoid tank.
Faced with an Aubrey who had suddenly become several times stronger, he could not escape even if he wanted to.
What was he supposed to do?
Whatever he did, he could not just stand there and wait to die.
And he could not be afraid. Fear was useless; it would only make his death more undignified.
"Then come on!" Resolve surged into Li Wei's eyes once more.
He would do what the original owner of this body had done countless times in Zaun: gamble with his life and fight with everything he had!
No matter how strong Aubrey was after taking Shimmer, he was still human.
Humans died when they were killed.
Perhaps he could risk his life for an opening and land a devastating blow on the other man's vital point, achieving a feat of the weak defeating the strong.
If he failed, then it was GG for him.
"Mr. Summoner..."
Janna sighed softly in his mind.
"Please, you must win!"
The goddess's blessing had never been so sincere, yet never so powerless.
The support could only helplessly AFK, with assists entirely reliant on typing.
Li Wei could only buff himself—
Once again, he began playing music in his head.
This was probably a habit he had developed from long-distance running and working out in his previous life. He liked listening to energetic songs while running; they made his blood boil and helped him forget fatigue.
Gradually, whenever Li Wei encountered trouble in life, he would instinctively hum a tune in his heart. It made him feel as though he had become the protagonist of a movie or anime, invincible within his own BGM.
After all, everyone knew that only those with their own sound system deserved to be called strong.
Without your own BGM, how could you possibly power up and erupt?
And so, the music began.
Melody and notes burned fiercely.
Aubrey, terrifying as a mountain of flesh, charged over with earth-shaking force.
He threw a heavy punch straight at Li Wei's face, the fist moving so fast it whipped up a gust of wind and a blurred afterimage.
Then—
Li Wei's figure flashed, and he casually sidestepped out of the way.
"Huh?!" Aubrey froze, and so did the surrounding onlookers.
Not just them—even Li Wei himself was stunned.
What was going on?
How had he done that?
Where had he gotten the strength and speed to evade that punch just now?
Not only had he dodged it, but he had done so with such... ease and grace.
"I..." Li Wei felt his body in disbelief. "Did I get stronger?"
Yes, he had grown stronger.
Without any warning, for no apparent reason, he had suddenly become stronger.
A warm force had appeared within him, invigorating his spirit, strengthening his body, and even slowly healing his injuries.
The effect was not great, but he had indeed become stronger.
"What happened?"
Did I have some kind of cheat too, one that gave me power as long as I turned on my 'sound system'?
Li Wei was utterly bewildered.
But Janna suddenly told him, "It was me, Mr. Summoner."
"It seems that the 'contract' between us has allowed you to share my divine power."
"Your divine power?" Li Wei asked in surprise.
Hadn't you become a useless little bird? How did you suddenly have divine power?
"Because just now, I suddenly gained a 'believer.'"
Janna flew out of Li Wei's pocket, flapped her wings, and landed on his shoulder.
She raised her head toward the distant sky. There was a "thin thread" there that only she could sense, stretching toward them from afar.
"Though I don't know why, Mr. Summoner..."
"It seems the first believer in New Thought has already been born."
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