Yubei District, Chongqing;

Li Xuan’s heart sank as he stared into his computer screen. His AP calculus grade had dropped down to a C-, just as he was bringing all his other grades back up. Shoot, mom isn’t going to be happy today, he thought.

 His parents weren’t all that strict, however. In fact, compared to the other hyper-competitive, extreme tiger parents, his were more lenient, but nonetheless, unrelenting when it came to academics. Li was grateful that he had such parents, but sometimes, he naturally grew envious of his peers, all of which had such impressive academic records.

He wondered how it was physically possible for someone to maintain such perfect grades while juggling 4 to 5 intensive extracurriculars.

It didn’t help more that his parents were in online circles filled to the brim with tiger moms and that subconsciously, they wished their son was a bit more competent even though they told themselves to let him relax during his childhood.

Sighing, he switched off the computer and sat on his bed, picking up the slice-of-life novel he had just borrowed from the library. 

The main character had just asked his crush out. Li sighed again. There was a gaping hole in his heart, waiting for just the right someone. Everyday, his heart throbbed more for love. Focus from someone special, only for him.  It didn’t help that this crush was one level higher than him in academics. How could he, like a stupid loser, ever even have the grounds to ask her out.

Li laid back, letting the book drop onto the floor. It isn’t even that hard. All he had to do was study and his parents would be happy, there wouldn’t be such worries anymore. He would be happy too.

The sun shone through the apartment window, warming his legs slowly. It will get better, he told himself, I’ll just study harder for the next test. He slowly drifted into a light nap. 

Li awoke to the feeling of someone standing in front of him. He had fallen asleep in an awkward position, his feet still on the floor.

In front of him, a man in a black business suit and a strange silver mask had extended his hand out in front of him. Li jumped up, but it seemed that the man only desired for him to shake his hand. Li, still struggling to understand, reached out a shaking hand.

From the carved out “mouth” of the mask, the man whispered, “Don’t be late for the occasion, someone’s waiting for you on the other end.”

Li could somehow sense that the man had winked behind the mask before he was harshly jerked through the air. A brief moment of motion sickness and Li emerged into the new world, his hand still grasping that of the mysterious man.

A wave of senses overwhelmed Li. First, there was the noticeable heating difference. It was as if Li had left his air conditioned apartment to walk to the subway station on a hot summer day. Bright colors blurred in his vision.

“Well?”

Li stared at the man in front of him. He realized that he felt much heavier, and to his surprise, he was dressed in, what was surprisingly, decorated armor. 

“w-what?” 

Li couldn’t muster up anything better to say. The man wasted no time informing him of what was happening. 

“Your proposal to the village chief’s daughter has been accepted! Come on!”

Then, the memories started rolling. At first, it was faint scenes of Li with a girl he never knew. The love they had for each other was immense.

He had remembered that they had spent countless nights together, perched up in the highest baobab, watching the young sun set into the distance, bringing warm nights and faint memories. They had secretly married, a while ago, but their relationship was never approved of by the chief, until now. Li almost choked on his own breath, his heart started pounding.

These were all parts of distant dreams he once had. Subconsciously, he even knew where he was and why. Past dreams disregarded as bullshit happened to be life in another world. Thus began the immense unraveling of old dreams and a new life.

They say that in your dreams, all the faces you see are those of people you have once met. Your mind cannot create faces on its own.