Li Wei quickly returned to the apartment building he rented, hurried up its shabby stairs, walked along the creaking old wooden corridor, and returned to his pigeonhole-sized home.
He pushed open the door. No one was inside. After looking around, he found Lina's schoolbag was nowhere to be seen—not on the bed or the chair, either.
"Looks like she already went to class."
"With Piltover University's walls protecting her, she should be fine."
Li Wei relaxed slightly, then hurriedly began packing the things he would need to flee.
At the same time, he thoroughly washed his face and changed out of his blood-soaked work clothes. He did not want to run through the streets covered in blood again and get mistaken for some deranged murderer fresh from the scene of a crime.
Once everything was packed, Li Wei searched for his notebook.
"The notebook really is gone."
"Looks like Lina took it to school."
Though he did not know the exact details, thinking of that believer who had appeared out of nowhere, Li Wei could vaguely guess that it had something to do with the article he had left behind.
So Li Wei moved even faster, preparing to go to Piltover University and take a look.
First, he needed to find his sister there and warn her about the danger.
Second, he needed to see what exactly had happened over there. Was that mysterious believer really there?
However, just as Li Wei had finished preparing, considered everything carefully, and was about to set off—
A hurried set of footsteps sounded outside the door.
Someone had come.
Someone was heading his way.
"Someone from the Iron Fist Gang? They caught up already?" Li Wei instinctively became wary.
But he quickly realized, "No, probably not."
He had only been back for a short while. No matter how fast the Iron Fist Gang was, they could not have moved that quickly.
Besides, he now had a trace of divine power protecting him, allowing him to sense disturbances in the airflow nearby.
Li Wei could sense only one person breathing outside the door. That person's breathing was rapid, chaotic, and completely out of rhythm. They sounded physically weak and unaccustomed to exercise.
Sure enough, he heard the next moment:
"E-Excuse me, is Mr. Li Wei home?"
A soft, lark-like female voice sounded outside. She had probably run all the way here, and her unsteady breathing lent her voice a delicate, pleasant tremble.
Li Wei cautiously did not answer at once.
"Eh, did I get the wrong place? Did that uncle who gave me directions get the apartment number wrong?"
"Mr. Li Wei, are you there?"
"Who is it?" Li Wei did not recognize the voice. But it sounded far too delicate to belong to a bad person. If a criminal sounded like that, they would probably be too embarrassed to show their face in public.
So he opened the door and saw, standing outside—
Little leather boots, white stockings, a princess dress, long pink hair, silk gloves, jeweled hair ornaments, red lips, white teeth, bright eyes, and a lovely smile—a rich young beauty?
The moment he saw her, Li Wei felt as though time and space had gone haywire.
Because this girl was so beautiful that she seemed to belong to an entirely different art style.
She ought to have appeared at an upper-class banquet in London, a fashion show in Paris, a luxury hotel in Dubai, or an idol stage in Tokyo. Of all places, she should not have been in this rundown apartment building in the Zaunite Community.
The clash was simply too jarring, too out of place.
What made Li Wei feel even stranger was that although he had clearly never met this girl before, she somehow looked familiar.
But she was not in the original owner's memories.
"Wait." Li Wei suddenly realized.
It was not the original owner who found her familiar. It was Li Wei himself!
"Hey, isn't this that—"
"Hello, my name is Seraphine!" Before he could ask, Seraphine excitedly introduced herself.
It really was her!
A League of Legends champion, SP Sona!
Ahem, no—
The Starry-Eyed Songstress, Seraphine.
Right. She seemed to be from Piltover too.
But why had Seraphine come looking for him? When had he ever had any dealings with her?
Just as Li Wei was thoroughly confused, Seraphine acted as if she had been possessed. The instant she saw him, her eyes lit up and she pounced on him.
She grabbed Li Wei's hand, pressed it excitedly against her chest, and said:
"Li Wei, the song you composed is so, so beautiful! It's practically heavenly music!"
"Let's sing together, okay? Sing together! Let's become music idols together!"
Li Wei: "..."
What was going on?
When he had played the game before, he had not realized Seraphine was a lunatic.
"Um." Uneasily, he pulled his hand free from Seraphine's grasp. "Excuse me, do we know each other?"
"Mm..." Seraphine finally calmed down a little. Remembering the ladylike education she had received over the past decade or so, she blushed with embarrassment. "Mr. Li Wei, please allow me to introduce myself."
"My name is Seraphine. Seraphine Erwin."
"My father is your employer, Mr. Ervin, who runs the audio workshop."
"This..." Li Wei had truly not expected that.
So the employer's daughter who had always stayed hidden at home in the original owner's memories was actually Seraphine!
"But even so, we have never met, have we?"
"That's right. We had not had the good fortune to meet before now."
"You may not know much about me, but Mr. Li Wei..." After only a few words, that infatuated look returned. "In truth, our souls have already become tightly intertwined!"
Li Wei: "..."
He was even more convinced that something was wrong with this girl's head.
"May I come in? I want to have a proper talk with you."
Although Seraphine asked with her mouth, she had already familiarly poked her head in past the doorframe.
She curiously examined Li Wei's little home.
This shabby rental was not even five square meters. With only a narrow bed and a simple washstand inside, there was barely anywhere left to stand.
Though the room had been cleaned very neatly, the contradiction between the ever-growing pile of daily necessities and the permanently tiny living space still made it look cluttered and cramped.
"Mr. Li Wei."
Seraphine asked instinctively:
"Is this your family's storage room?"
"This..." Li Wei's mouth twitched violently. "This is my home."
"Huh?" Seraphine still did not believe him. "Really?"
"How can anyone live in somewhere this small?"
Li Wei: "..."
"It's livable. Two people can even live here." He gave this young lady an annoyed look. "My sister and I have lived here for over two years."
"You and your sister? The two of you?"
"There's only one bed. How do you live here?"
"I only work night shifts, so I sleep during the day. She goes to school during the day and sleeps at night. One bed is enough."
"Mm..." Seraphine seemed completely unable to imagine what kind of life that was.
So she could not help asking, "Then what about weekends and holidays? Do brother and sister sleep together?"
"You are worrying too much. I do not have weekends or holidays."
"Not even one day?"
"Not even one day."
"How can there be no days at all? Don't Piltover workers all get two days off every week?"
Li Wei: "..."
How could I possibly have no days off?
Go home and ask your father, you fool!
"Mr. Li Wei." Seraphine suddenly pursed her lips in grievance. "Did I say something wrong?"
"Do you... think I'm stupid?"
Heh, you figured that out?
How had her intelligence suddenly improved?
"No, no." Li Wei smiled politely. "Miss Seraphine, how could I think you're stupid?"
After all, she was the daughter of Mr. Ervin, who had kindly helped him before. He would give her some face and refrain from insulting her.
She was already stupid enough. There was no need to bully her.
"Mr. Li Wei." At some point, Seraphine's hand touched him again.
As their skin met, their souls seemed to connect as well. "Are you refraining from insulting me because you want to give my father face?"
"Huh?" Li Wei was suddenly startled.
You can read minds too?
"Yes, I can."
Holy shit, you really can?
"Yes. I normally cannot control it at all, but if there is physical contact, I can hear it clearly."
Holy shit, she really can!
Li Wei hurriedly stepped back, freeing himself from Seraphine's little hand.
"And, Mr. Li Wei?"
"What is it?"
"Could you stop mentioning my mother all the time? She isn't here."
Li Wei: "..."
Before you continue