C7 Choice 1

Lee Xia looked on with a sense of longing, prompting Lin Yuan to shake his head and pass the rapier back to Liu Sanli.

"Your turn. Make it swift."

Liu Sanli took the rapier without a moment's hesitation, delivering two swift strikes. He then stared at his body in amazement, savoring the unusual sensation of power coursing through him.

The others followed suit, their experiences with life and death guiding their actions.

Hu Guangcheng was the last to act. He grasped the rapier firmly and struck decisively at the goblin's neck. Yet, even as the goblin's body grew rigid, he felt no change within himself.

"Finish this one off."

Lin Yuan's brow furrowed as he nudged the final goblin towards Hu Guangcheng's feet.

With a growing sense of speculation and hands shaking, Hu Guangcheng hacked at the goblin four or five times before it lay dead.

Even after a silent wait of several minutes, he felt nothing.

Lin Yuan exhaled softly, retrieved the rapier, cleaned it with a tablecloth, and sheathed it with care.

"Lin Yuan, why don't I feel the same as everyone else?"

With a hint of pallor, Hu Guangcheng looked to Lin Yuan, who shook his head and gestured to a nearby chair.

"Take a seat. I'll share what I know, though much of it is conjecture and may not reflect reality."

The group settled into their seats. Young Master Soong, previously quite injured, showed signs of improvement after dispatching two goblins; he could now stand unaided.

"Lin Yuan, is this still our world?"

Liu Sanli couldn't contain his impatience as he took his seat.

Lin Yuan nodded, then shook his head.

"It is, and yet, it isn't."

"What does that mean?"

Liu Sanli's confusion was evident following Lin Yuan's response.

"Our world has merged with others."

Frowning, Lin Yuan kicked a goblin corpse away from him and elaborated.

"We're in a new, merged world. The fragments of our original world still exist, but the distances between them have grown, and their appearances have altered."

"What about my family? Are they in danger?"

Liu Sanli's voice quivered with the fear that his loved ones might be facing peril.

"In this merged world, no one can escape the initial rite of passage. All we can do is pray for the safety of our loved ones; everything else is in the hands of destiny."

Lin Yuan shook his head. Four years after the cataclysmic fusion, a legendary coalition had tallied the survivors, finding scarcely one in a hundred remained unscathed. Those whose families were intact were truly fortunate.

"Why has it come to this? Why has the world turned out this way?"

Liu Sanli's face was ashen as he murmured incessantly.

He was a family man, with kind parents and an adorable sister. The thought of living without them was unimaginable.

"Indeed, why has the world turned out this way?"

The others, equally pallid, had no time to ponder such questions amidst danger. But now, in relative safety, the thought of their families weighed heavily on their hearts.

"I don't know, and I doubt anyone else does either."

Lin Yuan shook his head and let out a sardonic laugh.

"You're all thinking too far ahead. Focus on how to survive first."

A heavy silence fell over the group until Yang Yang suddenly began to sob uncontrollably.

"Wuwuwu, I miss my dad, my mom, Xiaoxiao, and Nao Nao. I don't want to be here anymore!"

Yang Yang's crying touched a nerve, and everyone felt a lump in their throat.

"Wuwuwuwu, I miss my dad, my mom, and my sister too. I have no idea how they're doing now."

Liu Sanli, too, covered his face and wept. Lin Yuan rolled his eyes in disbelief—grown men crying without a hint of shame!

Lee Xia, puzzled, gently rubbed her nose and turned to Young Master Soong, who was consoling Yang Yang.

"Who are Xiaoxiao and Nao Nao? Are they Yang Yang's younger siblings?"

Young Master Soong continued to pat Yang Yang's back and replied with a wry smile,

"No, they're Yang Yang's two dachshunds."

"…"

Lee Xia vigorously rubbed her nose, at a loss for words.

"Lin Yuan, can you tell me why I can't become as strong as everyone else?"

Hu Guangcheng's voice shook as he posed the question to Lin Yuan. They were all adults, and in this fearsome new world, the implications of not being strong were clear to everyone.

Lin Yuan accepted the rapier from Li You Mang and calmly wiped it with a tablecloth as he responded,

"Because you're a servant, unable to seize the powerful opportunities this new world offers. You're a relic of the old world, doomed to be left behind."

Hu Guangcheng's complexion turned an even paler shade, his lips quivered for an eternity, yet not a single word escaped them.

Zhang Shicheng gave his shoulder a reassuring pat, struggling to find the right words of comfort.

"Stay on campus tomorrow. Hang in there. A year from now, things will look up."

As classmates, Lin Yuan couldn't bear to watch him succumb to despair.

"Lin Yuan, how come you know so much?"

Young Master Soong's question was laced with skepticism. Indeed, everyone harbored doubts; Lin Yuan had undergone a drastic transformation.

They had all been through the same event, at the same time and place. So why was it that only Lin Yuan had changed so significantly and seemed to know so much?

"Just think of me as someone with the ability to foresee the future," Lin Yuan said with a carefree smile.

In this new world, many claimed the power to glimpse into the future, but Lin Yuan had only encountered frauds.

Rumor had it, a Gold-tier Divination Master could truly peer into the future's veil, but Lin Yuan, at the bottom rung of the Superpowered, was unlikely to ever cross paths with such a figure.

"You're planning to leave campus?"

Lee Xia picked up on something in Lin Yuan's tone.

He nodded in confirmation.

"Is it because of the goblins on the sports field?"

"No, all the goblins will vacate the campus before 10 a.m. tomorrow. Afterward, this place will be a relatively safe haven, akin to a beginner's village in a game."

"Then why leave? Isn't it better to stay somewhere safe?"

Puzzlement permeated Lee Xia's words.

"Safe? That's not necessarily better," Lin Yuan replied, shaking his head gently.

"True strength comes from pushing the boundaries of life. What's there to fear in death?"

"Sure, staying here is safe, but it would mean missing out on countless chances to grow stronger. That's not the path I choose."

The group observed Lin Yuan in silence, taken aback by the strength of will in someone they had perceived as solitary and frail.

"Lin Yuan, why did those goblins show up on campus? Why did they launch an attack on us?"

The memory of fleeing to the exhibition hall sent a shiver down Lee Youjun's spine.

Originally, three or four hundred had fled, but only about thirty made it to the exhibition hall. Now, only seven remained.

"I'm not sure of the specifics," Lin Yuan said, shaking his head as he gazed through the window at the expansive blue sky. "Perhaps it's the will of the new world, giving the weak a chance to grow stronger, to boost their odds of survival and prevent the total extinction of humanity."

"But with so many people dead, how does that improve humanity's chances of survival?" Zhang Shicheng interjected, unable to contain his skepticism.

Lin Yuan turned to him with a gentle shake of his head. "Once you leave this place, you'll see the reason for yourself."

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