r18novel Chapter 33 Saving the World
Chapter 33 Saving the World
Lu Mingfei stood up.
His movements were slow, but steady. He pushed back his chair and, to everyone's surprise, walked towards the door.
I walked towards the red-haired girl.
He walked toward the girl who called him "Ricardo" in his dreams.
He walked toward the girl who said she would take him to save the world.
"Lu Mingfei!" The homeroom teacher finally reacted and shouted sternly, "Where are you going? get out of class isn't over yet!"
Lu Mingfei stopped and looked back at his homeroom teacher, the familiar classroom, and the faces that were either surprised or mocking.
Then, he turned back and looked at the girl.
"My name is Lu Mingfei," he said, his voice soft but clear. "And you?"
The girl smiled.
It was a bright smile, with eyes curving into crescents and two sharp little tiger teeth showing at the corners of her mouth.
"Chen Motong," she said, "just call me Nuonuo."
Nono.
Lu Mingfei repeated the name in his mind.
very familiar.
It's like hearing it a thousand times in a dream.
"Okay." He nodded. "I'll go with you."
Without hesitation, without doubt, without asking "Where to go?" "What to do?" "Why me?"
Just like in a dream, on that battlefield of a day of freedom, he heard her say "lie down," and instinctively obeyed.
It was as if it were destined.
Nono raised an eyebrow, seemingly surprised by his straightforwardness, but immediately smiled: "Not bad, you get it."
She holstered her gun—the movement so fast it left only a blur—and turned around: "Let's go, the car's outside."
Lu Mingfei followed her.
The two walked out of the classroom one after the other, leaving the teachers and students speechless.
"Lu Mingfei!" The homeroom teacher chased after him to the door, but Nuonuo had already taken out something—a black card with intricate patterns and English words printed on it.
She casually tossed the card to the homeroom teacher: "This is a leave slip. From now on, Lu Mingfei will be under the care of Kassel College."
The homeroom teacher caught the card, glanced at it, and his expression changed instantly.
The card features a half-dead World Tree emblem, with the words "Cassell College" in gold lettering below.
Kassel College.
That legendary secret academy that only admits exceptional talents.
The place where Lu Mingfei's parents worked.
The homeroom teacher looked up at Lu Mingfei and Nuonuo's departing figures, opened her mouth, but ultimately said nothing.
He knew that some people's fate was predetermined from the moment they were born.
Lu Mingfei is clearly one of them.
---
The corridor was quiet, with only the echo of their footsteps.
Nono walked ahead, her red ponytail swaying gently with each step. Lu Mingfei followed behind her, watching her slender back, her long legs, and the crisp sound of her over-the-knee leather boots on the marble floor.
Everything felt familiar.
It's like walking through a dream a thousand times.
"Um..." Lu Mingfei finally couldn't help but speak up, "Senior Nuonuo, where...are we going?"
Nono stopped and turned to look at him, tilting her head slightly: "Senior? You call me that so naturally."
Lu Mingfei blushed: "I...I was dreaming..."
"In a dream?" Nono raised an eyebrow. "You dreamed about me?"
Lu Mingfei nodded, then shook his head: "It wasn't entirely a dream... it was just some fragmented images. You were sitting on the lectern, calling me 'Hello, Rabbit.' There was also an elderly man with silver hair, patting my shoulder and saying, 'You look more like me when I was young.' And... I was standing under the shade of a tree, feeling very cold, even though the sun was shining brightly."
Nono's expression changed.
She looked at Lu Mingfei, and his eyes, which always held a sly smile, were now filled with shock and...some indescribable complex emotions.
"What else did you dream about?" she asked, her voice a little hoarse.
Lu Mingfei thought for a moment: "I also dreamed that I took an exam and drew eight pictures. The pictures were... Nidhogg eating the World Tree, Ragnarok, the death of Fafnir... and some other dragons."
Nono's breathing paused for a second.
"Anything else?" she pressed.
"I also dreamt that I participated in a game, I think it was called... A Day of Freedom?" Lu Mingfei tried hard to recall, "I was holding a gun, walking through a battlefield, and taking down two people. One was blond, and the other was black. Then... then I was holding a red-haired girl, and she 'died,' and I felt very sad, so..."
He didn't continue.
Because Nono's face had turned pale.
She stared at Lu Mingfei for a very long time, so long that Lu Mingfei began to feel uneasy.
"Senior, I..."
"Don't call me senior," Nono interrupted him softly. "I haven't officially enrolled yet. Just call me Nono."
She paused, then added, "And what you dreamed about... wasn't a dream."
Lu Mingfei was stunned: "Not a dream? Then what is it?"
"It's the future," Nono said. "Or rather, it's something happening in another time and space."
She took out her phone, opened a page, and handed it to Lu Mingfei.
The screen displayed the forum of Kassel College, and the homepage was full of posts about a freshman named "Lu Mingfei":
"S-Class Freshman Lu Mingfei Creates Eight Epic Paintings for His 3E Exam!"
"The biggest dark horse of the day! Lu Mingfei single-handedly takes down Caesar and Chu Zihang!"
Principal Angers personally invites Lu Mingfei to accept the SS-level mission "Project Kuimen"!
Lu Mingfei stared blankly at the posts, at the familiar scenes and names, at the photos—though blurry, they were indeed his own faces.
"This..." His voice trembled, "This is..."
"This is you." Nono put her phone away. "In another timeline, the future you is studying at Kassel College. And everything we did was broadcast live to the teachers and students of Kassel in that timeline via a golden screen."
She looked at Lu Mingfei, her gaze complex.
"I saw you in that light screen. I saw your loneliness, your sorrow, your courage, and... everything you did for me."
Lu Mingfei was speechless.
His mind was in complete chaos.
Parallel universe? Future? Live broadcast on a light screen? S-class freshmen? SS-class mission?
What is all this about?
"I know this is hard to accept," Nono said, "but time is running out. In that timeline, you're leaving tomorrow for an SS-class mission to the Bronze City in the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River. And that mission... is very dangerous. Historically, the survival rate for SS-class missions is less than 30%."
She grabbed Lu Mingfei's arm with astonishing force:
"That's why I've come to you. I'm going to take you to Kassel, I'm going to train you, I'm going to make you strong, I'm going to make you... survive that mission in the future."
Lu Mingfei looked at her, at her black eyes burning with determination, at the fine beads of sweat on her forehead, and at her fingers that were slightly white from exertion.
Then he smiled.
It was a very faint, almost invisible smile.
But Nono saw it.
"Okay," Lu Mingfei said, his voice calm yet firm. "I'll go with you. To save the world, or... to save myself in another timeline."
Nono smiled too.
She released her grip and patted Lu Mingfei on the shoulder: "Not bad, that's more like it."
The two continued walking, leaving the teaching building, leaving the campus, and heading towards a red sports car parked by the roadside.
That was the most beautiful car Lu Mingfei had ever seen in his life—a streamlined body, a flamboyant red color, and a deep roar coming from under the hood, like a sleeping beast.
Nono opened the car door: "Get in."
Lu Mingfei got into the passenger seat. The car was clean, with a faint fragrance—a blend of genuine leather and some kind of herbal scent. The seats were comfortable and offered excellent support.
Nono got into the driver's seat, fastened her seatbelt, and glanced at him: "Seatbelt."
Lu Mingfei hurriedly pulled over and buckled his seatbelt.
The engine roared to life, and the sports car shot forward like an arrow. The powerful acceleration pressed Lu Mingfei firmly into his seat, the scenery outside the window rushed past, and the wind rushed in through the open window, ruffling his hair.
He turned his head and looked at Nono.
She was focused on driving, her profile silhouetted perfectly in the sunlight, her long red hair dancing in the wind like a burning flame.
Very beautiful.
It's unrealistically beautiful.
It's like stepping out of a dream.
"Nono," Lu Mingfei suddenly spoke.
"Um?"
"Thank you," he said softly. "Thank you for saving me."
Nono paused for a moment, then laughed: "Don't thank me yet. You'll be in for it when you get to Kassel. The training there can kill you."
Lu Mingfei laughed too: "It's better than doing math problems here."
The sports car sped along the highway, heading into the distance, towards that mysterious academy, towards that future filled with danger and miracles.
Behind them, the clock tower of Shilan Middle School rang the three o'clock bell in the afternoon.
Melodious, solemn.
It's as if it's simultaneously tolling the death knell and the dawn bell for the end of one era and the beginning of another.
---
Beyond the Golden Screen: The Real World - Kassel College Square
The light screen had dimmed, but no one left.
Everyone was waiting, waiting for the next scene to begin, waiting for that loser's performance in the SS-level mission, waiting... for fate to decide.
Chu Zihang remained leaning against the oak tree, his golden eyes gleaming faintly in the night.
Caesar stood among the student council members, his face terribly grim.
Principal Angers stood in front of the office building, his silver hair fluttering in the night breeze.
Meanwhile, in a corner of the square, a blond, disheveled man was staring at his phone screen with a sly smile on his face.
Fingel.
He just received an encrypted message from China:
"The person has been picked up and is en route to the airport. Expected arrival in Chicago tomorrow morning. —RedWitch"
"Well done, junior sister Nuonuo," Fingel muttered to himself, putting away his phone and looking up at the sky. "Junior, welcome to the real world. I hope you... survive."
He turned around and swayed towards the dormitory, humming a tune that was completely out of tune:
"Everyone has a devil inside them, and happiness is its prison..."
The song drifted away on the night wind, like some kind of ominous prophecy.
Meanwhile, in faraway Siberia, Lu Lincheng stood in front of the monitoring screen in the laboratory, watching satellite images of Binhai City, China, watching the red sports car drive towards the airport, and watching his son leave with the red-haired girl.
In his hand, he was still holding the container that contained the Leviathan bone vial.
"Mingfei," he said softly, "Dad will be coming to find you soon. This time, I won't let anyone hurt you again."
"And Winnie..." He looked at another screen, which displayed the body of a woman lying in an ice coffin. "Wait for me. I will definitely bring you back."
The laboratory lights shone on his face, creating a dim, half-lit effect.
It's like the boundary between light and darkness.
It's like the dividing line between reason and madness.
It's like... the last tranquility before the dawn of a new era.