Having answered the entrance exam questions, the dream hadn't ended, Xu Shang-Chi found it pretty surprising for his dreams were seldom this long and coherent. But since he hadn't been awakened, it meant that it wasn't daytime yet. Continuing with the flow of the dream seemed pretty entertaining.
Very quickly, Xu felt the large boat stop. The Hippo Goddess handed him a school uniform. Once he put it on, he soon realized it wasn't exactly like the magic robes in "Harry Potter". They were not as cumbersome, especially around the cuffs. Simpler, they were more conducive to movements.
He walked out from beneath the cabin and found that this dream indeed was nothing else but a product of "Harry Potter" associations. Otherwise, why would the castle in front of him look like Hogwarts?
However, as he kept walking, he thought perhaps his memory of the movie's fine details wasn't very solid. His brain couldn't accurately replicate the Hogwarts scenery. Although the castle had a gothic pinnacle like Hogwarts, its structure was different. It even seemed a lot larger than Hogwarts.
The students all walked skillfully into the castle. As Xu blended into the crowd, staring at the large gate of the castle wall slowly descending, he suddenly felt a pat on his shoulder.
"You're a newbie too, right? What's your name?"
Upon turning his head, Xu saw a face with black-framed glasses. He blinked and said, "My name is Xu Shang-Chi, and you?"
"Ah, you can call me Peter Parker," the guy said adjusting his glasses. "But my real name is Ben Reilly. I want to share an account with Peter, so I've changed my name to his."
"Peter Parker??!!" Xu exclaimed.
Reilly waved his hand and said, "Don't make a big fuss. That brilliant researcher isn't me. I am just...well, you can think of me as an imitator. I didn't make any of those inventions, so, seriously, don't compliment me for them. I've had enough."
"You're Spider-Man?!" Xu asked surprised and delighted. "My goodness! I've seen a living Spider-Man! I've admired you since I was a kid!!"
"What?? Oh...no, how could you know that Peter Parker is Spider-Man?" Reilly instinctively asked, but then he reasoned, "Well, it seems normal for someone who can attend Dreamland School to know this."
"Quick! Tell me again how a spider bit you and you became a superhero!" Xu eagerly said.
"Well... I've never been bitten by a spider. I guess you can't ask me about that." Reilly shook his head, looking at the gradually fading light in Xu's eyes. He couldn't bear to say, "Alright, alright. I am a clone. I can't narrate Peter Parker's life story. You'll have to find the real Peter for that."
Xu didn't quite understand what he meant, but Reilly grabbed his arm and pointed at the castle in the distance, saying, "Is this your first time attending school here? What courses did you enroll in?"
Xu was taken aback, "What courses? Do you choose the courses yourself? No one told me anything about this?"
"There are over 200 courses here. We can only choose three to four courses that we find the most beneficial. Otherwise, how could you possibly finish all of these courses in just a night?"
Upon saying this, Reilly directly grabbed Xu's arm, took the stack of papers away from him, and said, "Look, isn't your course selection form right here? Let me see what courses you've picked. Maybe we can take some together."
"Oh my God!" Reilly cried out in alarm. He put the paper down, stared wide-eyed at Xu, and said, "You picked 12 courses! How can you possibly finish them?"
Xu looked down at the documents in his hand. Actually, he was a bit impatient with the dense English text, but when he concentrated, the words suddenly turned into Chinese. It made sense, since this was a dream, and the language he was most familiar with was Chinese.
Xu glanced at his timetable and said with a smirk, "This isn't a lot at all. It's perfectly scheduled with no conflicts."
Reilly stared at Xu stock-eyed and said, "Are you sure? But you have to attend classes for six and a half days straight each week, completely packed, and there's also homework to do!"
Xu looked at the timetable again carefully and said, "Yeah, there are classes for only six and a half days. I can use Sunday afternoon to do the homework."
Reilly slowly distanced himself a bit, swallowing hard, and said, "I used to hear people say Asians have 48 hours in a day, and I didn't believe it. Now I do... Good luck."
"Hey, are you new students too?" A somewhat delicate female voice came from behind the two guys. Reilly and Xu turned around together and saw a girl with a big squirrel tail.
She had red hair, freckles all over her face, and two large incisor-like teeth, which made her look lively and cute. The most important thing was her fluffy big tail behind her, it was way too comforting to see.
"Hello, Miss, who are you?"
"Oh, you can call me Squirrel Girl, or Green. I am a member of the New Warriors Team, and also the team's first student," the squirrel girl put her hands on her waist, bouncing along as she walked.