Chapter 3.2: Both My Past And Present Selves Are Me (Part Two)

On his way back, Chen Chuan remembered that Martial Valor University provided free food and lodgings to its students. This would settle his basic necessities once he moved out of Nian Fuli’s house.

If he got outstanding results, part of his tuition fees might also be waived. He might even get a scholarship. He could not guarantee being good enough for the latter, but he was confident that he could achieve the former, because...

He looked at the street corner ahead of him, and the shadow copy met his gaze silently. When he arrived at the next junction after covering dozens of meters, the shadow showed up nearby again, as if it was a ghost Chen Chuan could not shake off.

If Chen Chuan had to explain it, then aside from not having a mind of its own, the shadow seemed to be an illusory version of him, so he called it his “second self.”

This second self showed up when Chen Chuan took over the body. Interestingly enough, he shared the same name as the original owner of the body. Their age and experiences might have been different, but even their faces were practically the same, so he had a theory: his second self might have appeared because some sort of connection had formed between his world and this parallel world.

Based on Chen Chuan’s needs, his second self could actively or passively take over part or all of the injuries he suffered. Shan Xiong’s kicks

had

been actually effective, but his second self had absorbed the damage.

The other was usually separated from him, but once they overlapped, Chen Chuan’s strength, reaction speed, endurance, and other abilities increased exponentially, as if they were actually stacked together with his second self’s.

Chen Chuan believed that his second self was actually him too. Due to that, everything that happened was fair and reasonable. After all, Chen Chuan was still the one who got hit and the one who attacked, no?

In any case, it was precisely because of this second self that Chen Chuan had the confidence to take the entrance examination for Martial Valor University despite not having received any martial arts training before.

Of course, his second self had some glaring weaknesses too. One of them was that Chen Chuan could not use him without limit.

As of right then, he could only overlap with his second self for no more than thirty seconds per day. Of course, he could split up that time, but if he went over the total time limit, Chen Chuan would have a hard time trying to borrow his second self’s strength again.

Another one was that while the second self could take damage on Chen Chuan’s behalf, there was also an upper limit to the amount of damage he could take. Once the damage he withstood went over the limit, he needed time to recover. This threshold was easy to see by his body blurring out. If he was damaged beyond what his body could withstand, he would disappear like the fog and only reappear some three days later.

Based on Chen Chuan’s experience, after taking those two solid kicks for him, his second self might need...

Huh?

Suddenly, he noticed that his second self was not blurry. He seemed to have recovered from the damage he took and even gotten closer to Chen Chuan.

Surprised, Chen Chuan recalled what had happened, and a theory formed in his mind. Was this because he had defeated Shan Xiong?

No, that could not be right. It was probably due to the joy and elation of having defeated the upperclassman. His satisfaction was echoed by his second self’s satisfaction. This was a mental resonance that increased the bond between them and allowed them to get closer.

𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

The more Chen Chuan thought about it, the more convinced of it he became.

By the looks of it, the time they could overlap with each other per day had increased, too. He should try it out after he returned home. The thought excited him, and he pedalled even faster.

He did not run into any traffic on his way back and got home in less than half an hour. No one was around, so Yu Wan had probably brought his cousins to the kindergarten in the Constabulary.

Chen Chuan washed his face in the shared bathroom and cleaned himself up a little before going back to his room. Then, he hung up his bag, changed out of his jacket, and sat down on the edge of his bed before grabbing his alarm clock. After taking a look at the time, he shut his eyes and overlapped with his second self while counting down the seconds.

Soon, he opened his eyes and looked at the clock. Delight and excitement flashed in his eyes.

It was just as he had predicted. The time he could overlap with his second self had increased by twelve whole seconds, which was a huge improvement.

Could he increase the time by just defeating opponents? After some thinking, he decided that it was likely because Shan Xiong was so much stronger than he was. If he defeated someone of the same level, he might not experience as much joy, so he would not get that much of an increase.

He could take his time to test out whether this was correct later.

Chen Chuan composed himself and went out to get a glass of water. He only took a few sips before putting the glass down and coming back. Then, he rolled his sleeves up, bent down, and dragged out a brown leather box from under his bed.

He brought the box to the table, keyed in the password, and pressed down on the lock before opening it slowly. A few notebooks were inside along with various agreements, a bound stack of photos, and a black, metallic invitation card.

Chen Chuan picked up the metal card. His parents had left the items in the box for him before they passed. He had not known what the card was for at first, but after going to Martial Valor University, he realized that it looked similar to the recommendation letters the children from rich families used to get enrolled, though the color was different.

He pondered whether he should take it out and use it. After all, he had a follow-up entrance examination, and it was just as important as the first one. The recommendation letter might also be able to give him other benefits aside from letting him skip the exam.

But after some thinking, he decided to wait.

Yu Wan and Nian Fuli kept the details of his parents’ passing a secret, so it was possible that the card would bring him trouble along with benefits. Besides, his recommendation card was black, not silver like the ones he saw, so it might have other uses. If he really wanted to use it, he should first figure out exactly what it was.

He had to be careful, because the world was not as safe as it seemed.

Chen Chuan put down the metal card and grabbed a smooth, round stone from the bottom of the box. As he focused on the stone, his gaze grew distant.

His parents had an old house in the suburbs. The original Chen Chuan had gone back to grab some things one day when, on his way back, a luxurious blue car passed by, and he lost consciousness.

Later on, Chen Chuan became certain that this small stone had struck the original Chen Chuan in the heart and killed him on the spot. When his eyes opened again, the new Chen Chuan was occupying the body, and his second self was watching him from a nearby corner.

But who was the murderer, and why did they attack the old Chen Chuan?

Ring ring ring...

While he was thinking about it, the phone started ringing in the living room.