The afternoon light filtered through the wide windows of the university café, warm and golden, casting lazy shadows across the floor. Lin Feng sat tucked in a quiet corner with his usual cheap coffee, the kind that tasted more like survival than luxury. His phone buzzed in his pocket, but he almost didn't check it—until he saw the sender's name.
Xue Lian.
He paused.
The Crimson Circle didn't usually reach out unless they had something to gain. And definitely not without warning.
The message was short.
"You've caught our attention. Let's talk."
No greeting. No explanation. Just a simple line with enough weight behind it to crack glass.
Almost as if on cue, the café's bell chimed.
She didn't walk in—she arrived. That was the only way to describe it. Dressed in layers of pale crimson and black, Xue Lian had the quiet poise of someone who never had to raise her voice to be heard. The moment her eyes met his, the room faded into a blur of background noise.
She sat down across from him without asking.
"You've made quite a mess," she said, not bothering with small talk. "First the Skybridge Lounge, now Golden Chamber Hall. You move quickly."
Lin Feng leaned back in his chair. "I don't see a reason to slow down."
Her gaze lingered, analytical and cool. "Most people hesitate before knocking on doors that don't belong to them."
"I don't knock," he said simply. "I go where I need to."
There was a flicker of something—amusement, perhaps—in her expression, but it vanished quickly. "That attitude? It's going to earn you enemies. Fast."
"I'm used to it," Lin Feng replied, calm as ever. "And I'm not here to win a popularity contest."
"No," she said quietly, "you're here to upset the balance. And that makes you dangerous."
Silence stretched between them. Not awkward, but tight—like a thread pulled taut, one wrong word from snapping.
Xue Lian stood, her hands resting briefly on the back of her chair. "Consider this your courtesy call. Next time, it might not come with coffee."
She turned and walked out as smoothly as she had entered, her presence still heavy in the air long after she disappeared into the light outside.
Lin Feng watched the door close behind her, then turned back to his cold coffee.
[System: Host, either you just got scouted… or you just made your next rival. Exciting, isn't it?]
He didn't answer. But in his mind, the game board was already shifting.