The dim morning light filtered through the half-drawn curtains, casting its glow on the sleeping Shao Zifeng.
His pale, gaunt cheeks bathed in the golden morning light, revealing even the fine hairs on his face.
But at this moment, he seemed to be having a nightmare, his brows tightly furrowed, his forehead covered in cold sweat, and his dark hair clung to his forehead, wet with moisture.
The muscles on his handsome face twitched continuously, and he grimaced with tightly clenched teeth.
"Let go... let go of me!"
Shao Zifeng's breathing grew heavier, gripping the bed sheet tightly with both hands, veins bulging, his whole body struggling as if trying to break free from something.
At this moment, a sudden ringtone shattered the silence of the room.
Shao Zifeng startled awake from his dream and sat up, one hand clutching his forehead, his chest heaving violently.
As his breathing gradually calmed, so did his emotions.
Although he kept reassuring himself to accept everything, for an ordinary student like him, this time travel still instilled a strong sense of insecurity.
This unease dredged up childhood memories he preferred to forget, tormenting him again and again in his dreams.
Shao Zifeng instinctively glanced at the snake cabinet, several familiar light points converging into a faint blue light screen. The profile reappeared before his eyes, and he confirmed once again that he had indeed traveled to a parallel world.
"What a strange world."
Shao Zifeng took a deep breath, choosing not to dwell on the issue, as there were many things he needed to verify today.
After reviewing the data on the round spot viper yesterday, Shao Zifeng, who was deeply concerned about his kidney, had no mood to check the remaining reptiles.
Hmm.
Thinking about it, maybe his sense of insecurity was truly due to his kidney?
Glancing at the time, the first class was about to start. He quickly changed his clothes, washed up briefly, and hurriedly left the rental apartment.
Click.
As the door closed, the room fell silent again, except for some faint hissing from the snake cabinet, with no other sound.
In the fish tank in the corner of the room, a pair of pitch-black eyes quietly stared at the door.
Su City University.
This university didn't have a long history, hadn't produced any notable figures, nor did it have outstanding majors. It was just an ordinary university located in an obscure city, so ordinary that hardly anyone outside the region had heard of it.
The distance from the rental apartment to the school was only about ten minutes.
Shao Zifeng would buy breakfast at the entrance of the community every day, then eat while walking to school, finishing just as he arrived.
Perhaps because he took a shortcut, he hardly met anyone along the way. Occasionally, cars whizzed by. The quiet road helped calm his slightly agitated emotions; after all, he was somewhat looking forward to a new beginning.
Throwing the breakfast wrapper into the roadside trash bin, Shao Zifeng looked up at the familiar school gate.
The golden characters of "Su City University" shimmered in the gentle morning light.
"Tch, still so tacky."
Shao Zifeng stared at it for a while, then curled his lip in disdain, but the familiarity of the scene made him feel much more at ease.
To be honest, aside from those slightly tacky golden characters, the overall scenery and greenery of Su City University were quite good. Upon entering, there was a spacious stone path lined with lush, evergreen trees on both sides.
At the end of the stone path was a picturesque artificial lake, about the size of two football fields, with a wooden pavilion in the center.
The lake water sparkled under the morning light, and occasionally fish would leap out of the water.
Shao Zifeng wanted to see if the fish in this dimension were any different from those in the other dimension, but unfortunately, the fish fell back too quickly before he could get a good look.
In the corner of his eye, a few small light points began to rotate but awkwardly stopped shortly after.
The delay was indeed high.
However, this dimension's university did have some differences.
Unlike the scattered and orderly distribution of buildings in the other dimension, this entire school had just one main teaching building.
The C-shaped building encircled the artificial lake, with large flat sports fields surrounding it.
From his memories, Shao Zifeng knew these fields were used by students from various departments for combat or training, and occasionally for mutant creature-like sports competitions.
"Good morning, Shao Zifeng."
While Shao Zifeng was seriously observing the school, a nondescript male voice sounded from behind him.
Shao Zifeng put on a friendly smile and turned to look at the person.
Hmm.
A very ordinary person, the kind you would soon forget after greeting.
Shao Zifeng racked his brain but couldn't remember the person's name, so he vaguely replied, "Good morning to you too."
The person nodded slightly, apparently not intending to stop and chat, and walked past Shao Zifeng.
Standing in the morning breeze, he pondered for a moment.
Hmm?
What did that person look like?
No, was there even someone just now?
Shao Zifeng frowned in contemplation for a moment before turning towards the teaching building.
Because it was a specialized course, today's lesson was in a small class.
Entering the classroom with a gentle smile on his face, Shao Zifeng responded to a few classmates who greeted him, then found a seat by the window.
After quickly scanning the faces of his classmates, Shao Zifeng sighed slightly.
Indeed, most of them were unfamiliar.
After all, there had been turmoil in this dimension twenty years ago.
Even though the country had tried its best to suppress the mutant creatures, many people perished in the initial chaos.
It was only because Shao Zifeng's mother had been pregnant during the unknown revival event and luckily survived that Shao Zifeng existed in this dimension.
Although he had no particularly close classmates or friends in the other dimension, because he was gentle and friendly, there were always a few familiar faces.
But thinking about how some people might never appear in this dimension, he felt a bit of regret.
As Shao Zifeng gazed out of the window in a daze, the teacher, who had already started the lesson, went unnoticed.
His major was in nurturing.
As the name implied, this major...
Hmm.
It was all about behind-the-scenes work.
From birthing pets to caring for infants, fur grooming, scale polishing, even massage and chiropractic, and matchmaking for different-species pets, it covered a wide range of tasks.
At that moment, the teacher on the stage was passionately lecturing, his hairstyle hinting at his prowess.
He occasionally brushed his sparse but stubborn hair, trying to hide his prowess proof.
Shao Zifeng was somewhat distracted, as he still hadn't decided what path to take next.
The reason his predecessor in this dimension chose this major was partly because he wanted to return home after graduation to help his mother take care of the animals she had rescued.
The second reason was related to his childhood experience.
Just after transmigrating to this dimension, Shao Zifeng was still in a daze. In this second chance at life, he didn't want to follow a predetermined path, but he didn't know what choices to make next.
Or perhaps, due to family reasons, he wasn't sure if he even had the right to choose.
Thinking about this made him feel somewhat irritable.
As time ticked by, Shao Zifeng snapped out of his thoughts.
Looking at his phone, he suddenly remembered that in the other dimension today, someone would come to buy the round spot viper from him.
To see if this would happen, Shao Zifeng waited silently.
Ding~dong~dong~
The class-ending bell rang outside the window, and after the teacher left, the classroom became chaotic, filled with the sound of moving desks and lively chatter.
Shao Zifeng instinctively held his breath, focusing on his phone.
Ding~
The pleasant notification sound chimed, displaying a message on the screen.
"Hi, do you have time to meet up?"