In early May, in the dormitory of the State University of New York—
Looking at the cheerleader lying beside him, snoring with a bit of drool hanging from the corner of her mouth, Linen carefully lifted the quilt and walked to the bathroom.
There had been a party last night, so Linen naturally didn't return to his apartment.
Entering the bathroom, he smiled at himself in the mirror and began to wash up.
Although the beautiful cheerleader had been wild last night, he was still one step closer to completing his "Cheerleader Song" mission.
Unfortunately, he had heard that two Black girls had joined the cheerleading team.
That made it difficult for Linen to complete the "Cheerleader Song."
It wasn't that those two girls were hard to hook up with—
Linen just didn't want to "taste chocolate."
After washing up, and glancing at the cheerleader still sleeping like a baby, Linen got dressed and headed out.
Leaving the room, he looked at the socks hanging on the doorknob and didn't take them down.
Walking to the end of the dorm corridor, he stopped in front of a door without socks hanging. He knocked twice and pushed it open.
"Mark, go get breakfast…"
As soon as he opened the door, he saw Mark curled up under the blanket.
The Black girl lying on the pillow with a satisfied expression looked up after hearing Linen's voice—
and even threw him a wink.
Hearing Linen, Mark stuck his head out of the quilt and grinned.
"Join us?"
"Fxxx."
Flipping him off, Linen laughed and scolded, "You're not a freshman. Don't you know you're supposed to hang socks on the door if you don't want people barging in?"
"Heh, I did it on purpose!"
With a proud little smirk, Mark said nastily, "Quintina doesn't mind one more! You sure you don't want in?"
"Heh… forget it. I like drinking water!"
Seeing that Mark was already busy, Linen knew he didn't need breakfast and said, "You two continue."
Closing the door behind him, Linen walked off.
"Good morning, Linen!"
"Morning, Lina."
"Good morning, Linen."
"Morning…"
Walking across the youthful campus, feeling the early-summer heat on his skin, Linen felt incredibly relaxed—
as if he truly were only twenty years old.
That feeling made him a little intoxicated. It was one of the reasons he chose to stay on campus even though he could have graduated early.
After breakfast, he headed to the classroom and looked over the course schedule.
Sure enough—Tony Stark had made himself Linen's course professor just to get close to him.
Now that they were already friends, Tony was too lazy to even put his name on the attendance list, let alone show up to teach!
After a long class, Linen returned to the club he founded.
Sitting at his familiar desk, he glanced around.
Jessica and Barbara had already graduated, so he was the only one left in the club.
Although the number of new applicants this semester had increased several times compared to last semester…
Linen didn't feel like hanging out with them.
After all, not everyone could get along with him like Barbara and Jessica.
He checked the system— his Creation Points had reached 35.
Linen began thinking about the next video.
"System, are there any new members in this video?"
[New member: Groot!]
"Groot? From the tree people?"
Considering the current timeline, the present Groot should be the one traveling with Rocket Raccoon—
not Baby Groot or Teen Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy.
Just as Linen was thinking, his phone suddenly rang.
He took it out and saw that it was Tony Stark.
As soon as the call connected, Tony said, "Hey, Linen, didn't see me in class— miss having the greatest professor teach you?"
On the other end of the phone, Tony looked at the completed rocket hologram model. Jarvis had just calculated that the lunar landing success rate was 100%.
Tony asked Linen proudly, "I think it'd be great for the students if I never show up to teach again!"
Linen leaned back in his chair and closed the system. "After all, not every professor is like you— spending class talking about romance instead of the subject."
"Not to mention ignoring your students' progress, going from mechanics to theology, and ending in philosophy!"
Hearing Linen tease him, Tony shrugged. "Can't help it. Not everyone is a genius like me."
"They can't keep up with my thinking. I can only say their knowledge is too shallow."
"Anyway, the rocket's done, man. Want to go to the moon with me? I promise it'll blow your mind!"
Tony glanced at the pendant with mysterious symbols on the table—the one Happy bought from the East Coast Studio.
Then Tony added temptingly, "And Linen, don't you want to see what's on the back of the moon?"
"We all know the moon is basically dead, but I think the core must contain something mysterious."
"Maybe even a dimension inside the core— like a passage to the Hell Dimension!"
Hearing Tony's temptation, Linen picked up an orange from the fruit plate.
"Sounds like you've made up your mind to go to the moon?"
"That's right!"
Dropping the temptations, Tony spoke in a serious tone.
"Linen, you know why I want to go."
"If I don't go… I feel like my heart will never settle."
"I really… really want to see my mom again. Even just once."
Hearing Tony speak solemnly, Linen paused to think.
Just as he was about to answer, Tony suddenly switched back to his cynical voice:
"Although I am the greatest genius of the century… Linen, you know the moon trip is dangerous."
"My friend— as my friend— you don't want to watch my rocket explode halfway up, leaving me unable to return… blown to pieces!"
"Or lose power after landing, leaving me to die alone on the moon!"
"You know… when facing danger like this, only you can bring me back safely."
"So man, you don't want to hear news of my death, do you? The world can't afford to lose the greatest genius— Tony Stark!"
Listening to Tony's dramatics, Linen shook his head. "You're morally blackmailing me, Tony."
"No choice! You were hesitating!"
Tony shrugged, shut off the hologram, and continued with a grin.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You can visit my Patreon page:
Patreon.com/PhoeniXcel
There are 20+ advanced chapters available for you to read.
Your support would be greatly appreciated.
Check out my new Naruto fanfic!
[Naruto: I Don't Want Recognition]