04:00 a.m.
The sound of the old alarm clock on the nightstand shattered the dawn silence in Buldam City. Its sharp ring pierced through the remnants of Yan Shuo's dream about the Laskas battle. He groaned, his hand fumbling across the table to silence the source of the noise. His body still felt heavy; the mental exhaustion from witnessing reality turn upside down yesterday had not fully faded.
He sat on the edge of the bed, staring at his slightly trembling hands. The image of Haoran manipulating buildings like Lego blocks was still vivid in his mind.
"Noxward," he whispered softly. The name felt heavy on his tongue.
Yan Shuo stood up and prepared his black backpack. He put in several thick notebooks, a pencil case, and most importantly: the dark blue metallic card given by Haoran. He showered with bone-chilling cold water—the most effective way to kill drowsiness.
In the dining room, the aroma of warm rice and omelet greeted him. His father and mother were already seated there. They didn't say much, but their gazes were filled with a mixture of pride and deep worry. His mother placed an extra-large plate of rice in front of him.
"Eat a lot, Shuo. The journey to Seroin is far," his mother said gently.
"Thanks, Mom." Yan Shuo ate heartily. He knew that once he stepped past this door, his life would never be the same again.
At 05:00, he said his goodbye. His father simply patted his shoulder firmly, a man's gesture that meant 'take good care of yourself.' Yan Shuo stepped out, cutting through the morning fog of Buldam toward the nearest bus stop.
First journey: Buldam Economy Bus.
The old bus arrived roaring, releasing black smoke that blended with the fog. Yan Shuo boarded and chose the very back seat. Inside the bus, he took out his phone, trying to search for information about 'Noxward' on secret forums. The signal in Buldam often fluctuated, frustrating him. To kill time, he opened a strategy game on his phone, but his thoughts kept drifting to the card in his pocket.
After two hours of bumping through pothole-filled roads, he got off at the provincial central station. Here, the scenery began to change. The station was magnificent, with massive concrete pillars and holographic screens displaying high-speed train schedules.
Second journey: Trans-Seroin High-Speed Train.
Yan Shuo sat in a comfortable second-class seat. Beside him, a middle-aged man was busy with his transparent tablet. Yan Shuo pressed his face against the thick glass window. The train sped at 400 km/h, making the rice fields and forests outside look like blurred green streaks.
He tried to sleep, but his heart was beating too fast. He decided to open a short-video app, watching clips of low-level Stellar users showing off their abilities online—some lit a lighter with their fingers, others made spoons float. 'Turns out this world is full of people trying to be special,' he thought. Yet he knew the truly special ones were on top of the Laskas building yesterday.
Three hours later, the train slowed down. An automated announcement echoed with a melodious female voice: "Welcome to Seroin District, the National Stellar Education Center. Please check your belongings."
Yan Shuo stepped out of the station and was immediately greeted by wind carrying the scent of the sea and a strange energy—sharp and slightly electric. Seroin was not just a city; it was a fusion of medieval fortress grandeur and futuristic technology. The buildings had pointed towers like Gothic castles, yet were covered with anti-radiation glass and neon cables creeping along their walls.
He had to take another bus. A special academic bus. Here, he began to see other students. Only a few were already wearing the official uniform—dark blue robes with a constellation emblem on the chest. Most of them, like Yan Shuo, were still wearing casual or formal clothes. Yan Shuo himself wore a neat white shirt and black slacks. He felt slightly awkward, like a stranger trying to enter a noble's party.
The bus stopped in front of a massive gate made of pitch-black iron. Above it, golden letters gleamed: NOXWARD UNIVERSITY.
"Damn… this is bigger than an entire subdistrict in Buldam," Yan Shuo muttered.
He walked past the gate. The atmosphere inside the campus was completely different. The trees here had leaves that glowed faintly underneath. In the middle of a vast field, there was a fountain whose water floated in intricate geometric patterns without touching the ground. Students walked arrogantly; some were surrounded by thin auras that made the air around them vibrate.
Yan Shuo's footsteps echoed along the wide marble corridor. He looked at his watch. Exactly 11:00. "It's time for my class to start," he thought.
He began to panic upon realizing how vast this place was.
"Class 1H… where is that?"
He hurriedly ran, entering one building only to find it was an advanced chemistry laboratory. He went out again, entered another building only to find it was a physical training arena. He got lost again and again, until sweat began soaking his shirt. This university felt like a labyrinth designed to test one's patience.
Finally, at the end of a somewhat hidden fourth-floor corridor, he found an old wooden door. Its name was carved on a small plaque: 1H. The door was covered in graffiti—strange formulas, drawings of eyes, and dimensional symbols.
Yan Shuo took a deep breath, calming his racing heart, then pushed the door.
Creeeeak...
His gaze immediately locked forward. There, sitting casually on the teacher's desk, was Haoran. The man was still wearing his sunglasses, glancing toward the door.
"Welcome, Absent-Minded Kid. You're two minutes late," Haoran said with an annoying grin.
Yan Shuo stood stiffly at the front of the class. He looked at his new classmates. The classroom was chaotic. Absolutely no manners. In the left corner, two people were arm-wrestling with small flames covering their hands. In the middle row, someone was playing a game on their phone with loud volume. One person was sleeping and snoring on the desk, and there was also a pale-faced man staring at Yan Shuo coldly as if wanting to dissect him.
Haoran clapped once. The sound wasn't loud, but its vibration made the entire class instantly quiet down.
"Everyone, quiet. Let me introduce our new student, Yan Shuo," Haoran said briefly.
A delinquent-looking student with spiky hair and ear piercings leaned back in his chair. "This is the one Teacher talked about? Doesn't seem special at all. Looks like some commoner who wandered in," he mocked.
A girl in the front row wearing a mini skirt and rather bold clothing—one could say sexy—rested her chin on her hand. "Exactly. I can't even sense Orienzu energy from his body. Is he even human?"
The spiky-haired boy laughed. "Then why can someone like him enter this elite class? Did Noxward lower its admission standards?"
Haoran did not get angry. Instead, he stepped forward and casually wrapped an arm around Yan Shuo's shoulder. "Because this kid possesses Orienzu," he said shortly.
The mini-skirt girl was stunned.
What? He has Orienzu energy? Then why can't I see it? she thought in disbelief.
The entire class fell silent. The spiky-haired boy's laughter stopped. The student who had been playing on his phone immediately stared at Yan Shuo seriously. They seemed to understand something Yan Shuo himself did not.
Orienzu? What is that? Yan Shuo thought in confusion. He had never read the term anywhere.
Haoran patted his back. "Go sit. At the back, near the window. That's the only seat left."
Yan Shuo walked down the aisle between desks. He passed the sexy girl who gave him a seductive yet dangerous look, until he reached the very back seat. Beside him, a girl was sleeping with her head facing the desk, her long silver hair covering her face. Even though her face was hidden, the aura around her felt extremely calm, almost like frozen water.
Yan Shuo sat down, taking out his thick notebook and pen from his bag. He wanted to be a good student.
Suddenly, the man in front of him turned around. The man had dark skin and wore a bright yellow jacket that contrasted sharply with his skin. He smiled widely, showing neat white teeth.
"Hey… you want to study science?" the man asked playfully. "No need to take out books, Friend."
Yan Shuo frowned. "What? Why not?"
"In this class, books are useless," the man whispered. "You'll see later. Just put those papers away."
Haoran cleared his throat at the front, tapping the blackboard. "Everyone quiet."
Instantly, the atmosphere in the classroom changed. The people who had been rude and reckless suddenly sat upright, staring forward obediently. The man in front of Yan Shuo also turned back and fell silent.
When the room became quiet, Yan Shuo glanced to his side again. The sleeping girl slightly shifted her head. For a moment, her face was visible—long eyelashes, a sharp nose, and porcelain-white skin. Yan Shuo froze briefly. 'She's so beautiful…' he thought. But he quickly shook his head and faced forward.
Haoran began speaking. "Today we will review the basic material about Orienzu. Because our new guest here is truly clueless about our world."
Haoran took a piece of chalk and wrote one large word on the board: ORIENZU.
"Orienzu is pure energy from the universe. In this world, Orienzu functions as a 'switch.' It is what activates the power we call Stellar," Haoran explained while looking at Yan Shuo. "You may have great Stellar potential, but without Orienzu, that Stellar will remain locked inside your body's cells forever."
He continued in a more serious tone. "If someone has Orienzu energy but no Stellar, that's still decent. That person can use the energy to enhance physical strength or extend lifespan. But… if someone has Stellar but no Orienzu energy to support it, that person will be crippled for life. Their body will be destroyed by the pressure of power without fuel. Like a race car without gasoline, the engine will simply rot."
Yan Shuo engraved every word into his mind. He began to understand. The reason he could enter this place.
"Then where does it come from?" Yan Shuo asked unconsciously, his voice breaking the classroom silence.
Haoran looked at him sharply. "Orienzu is obtained naturally. It can be genetic, or sometimes carried by the wind—microscopic particles that enter the respiratory system since birth. Research shows this energy has existed for hundreds of thousands of years, long before modern civilization. No one knows exactly why this energy reached Earth, but one thing is clear: it is the remnants of energy from the formation of the universe trapped in our atmosphere."
The dark-skinned man in front of Yan Shuo glanced back slightly, whispering boredly. "Hear that? This is the fourth time I've heard this. It's so boring. Every few months, Teacher brings a new 'special' student and we have to listen to this history lecture again."
Yan Shuo did not respond to the mockery. Instead, he stared at his hands. He remembered at the station, the air in Seroin had felt 'electric.' Was that the Orienzu he sensed?
"Shuo," Haoran called, snapping him out of his thoughts. "You may feel lucky to have Orienzu. But in Noxward, Orienzu is only an entrance ticket. Your talent, your Stellar, and how you use that 'switch' will determine whether you live to see graduation, or end up as fertilizer in the front garden."
Haoran walked toward the window, looking outside at the magnificent university complex. "Today's class is not about theory. It's about proof."
Suddenly, the temperature inside the classroom dropped drastically. Yan Shuo could see his breath turning into vapor.
"Release your Orienzu energy. Now," Haoran ordered without turning around.
Suddenly, the entire class exploded with tremendous air pressure. The student in front of Yan Shuo had yellow light filling his palm. The spiky-haired boy emitted hot smoke from his shoulders. The sexy girl in the front row released crystal-like particles dancing around her.
Only Yan Shuo remained still, not knowing what to do. He glanced to his side. The beautiful girl was still sleeping, yet beneath her desk, the floor began to crack from the invisible pressure she released without even waking up.
"I… I don't know how," Yan Shuo muttered in panic.
Haoran turned around and approached Yan Shuo's desk. "Close your eyes. Feel your bloodstream. Orienzu is not in the muscles, it's between the atoms of your body. Pull it out like you pull your first breath at birth."
Yan Shuo closed his eyes. But all he found was pitch-black darkness. No light. No energy particles.
He opened his eyes with trembling breath.
"I… I can't. I don't see anything, Teacher."
Haoran smiled faintly.
"Of course. Not everyone succeeds on the first attempt."
He stepped closer.
"Try again. This time, feel deeper. Don't search with your eyes… search with your instincts."
Yan Shuo closed his eyes again. Within the darkness, he began to see tiny white specks of light floating. Not outside, but inside himself. The specks moved in rhythm with his heartbeat.
Slowly, he tried to grasp one of the specks.
Suddenly, his spine felt as if struck by lightning.
His right eye opened first—white light burst out, forming a flare streaming backward like thin wings.
Then his left eye followed—pitch-black, a dark aura slowly spreading like the shadow of the moon swallowing light.
White and black. Separate. Yet spinning in one rhythm.
The man in front of him widened his eyes, looking back. "So… this is what Teacher meant…"
"That… is the awakening of Moon Chess," murmured a black-haired man wearing a black shirt and black pants, seated in the front row.
Haoran smiled in satisfaction behind his sunglasses. "Welcome to the real world, Yan Shuo. Here, the science you learned from books is nothing more than a bedtime story."
The tension in that classroom escalated even further. No longer just a lesson, this was the introduction to a power that would change Yan Shuo's fate forever.