Chapter 060: Summoned by the Principal

"Legend of Blood and Glory" was a game Zhang Tan knew inside out. There was a time when this very game tormented him so much that he could barely eat or sleep; his meager monthly allowance in high school was devoured by buying game cards and paying for internet fees. At the start of each month, he'd pay back debts, and by the end, borrow more, constantly concocting excuses—extra classes, buying study materials, signing up for competitions—to coax money from home.

Almost every afternoon after school, he and Li Dong would ride their bikes in tandem to the internet café to hunt monsters. Often, after the nightly dorm inspections at school, a gang of seasoned troublemakers would climb over the wall and sneak out to play online. Not even the bitter cold of winter, heavy snow swirling outside, could quell their urge to stay out all night gaming. After a sleepless night of battling, exhausted and spent, they'd return to school before dawn, braving the freezing air. The walk from Shuangdun Secondary School to Shuangdun Town took at least half an hour. After such nights, their strength drained, they could barely generate enough warmth to withstand the cold; by the time they reached the dorms, they were half dead.

Yet even such harsh trials couldn't overpower the allure of the internet, nor the pull of "Legend of Blood and Glory."

Now, watching the clumsy, half-naked character on the computer screen slaughtering chickens, Zhang Tan felt a sudden sense of absurdity. So this was how childish and ridiculous he had been over a decade ago—childish almost beyond belief.

"How did I ever risk my health and freeze through winter nights just for such a simple, monotonous game?" he wondered, watching his warrior character kill a chicken and gain a handful of experience points. Unconsciously, he turned to look at Li Dong next to him, eyes red from killing monsters.

Back then, Li Dong was even more obsessed—his parents both worked at the bank and gave him plenty of pocket money, all of which went into the game. He was caught multiple times during home visits, cornered in internet cafés by his parents, nearly had his legs broken, but still kept playing, his passion undiminished.

What was the game’s charm, really?

Perhaps sensing Zhang Tan’s gaze, Li Dong turned to him, excitement in his voice: "How is it, Chief Detective? This game is awesome, right?"

"Awesome my foot!" Zhang Tan pushed the keyboard away and stood up. "Come on, this game is pointless."

"Don't rush! Play a bit longer, you'll get the hang of it," Li Dong pleaded, busy slaying monsters.

Zhang Tan got up and pulled Li Dong away from the computer. "Playing games all day—what's the point? Stop it." He was stronger than Li Dong and managed to drag him off.

Unable to resist, Li Dong muttered as he followed Zhang Tan to log off. "Just got started and now we're leaving. What’s the deal?"

"Let's go, quit grumbling. I'll buy you lunch," Zhang Tan said, patting Li Dong's shoulder with a smile. In his previous life, he and Li Dong had conspired together and fallen into the same traps. If possible, he wanted to pull Li Dong back this time—while his addiction wasn’t yet too deep, maybe he could help him. If Li Dong truly was hooked, though, Zhang Tan could only offer his regrets. His own parents had tried everything and still couldn’t save Li Dong; what more could Zhang Tan do?

"Li Dong, I'll teach you to play football."

"I don't know how, and I don’t want to."

"Then I'll teach you basketball."

"I don't know how, and I don’t want to."

"So what do you want to do?"

"Go online."

Zhang Tan glared at him. "For goodness’ sake, useless! When I tell you to play ball, you play ball. Stop giving me nonsense. From now on, if you don’t go home for lunch, stay at school and behave. Dare to sneak out to the internet café and I'll break your legs!"

The aborted trip to the internet café made Zhang Tan realize it was impossible to recapture his old life. If he lost one form of amusement, he'd just devote more time to writing. "The Four Famous Detectives Shake Up the East" should come to an end soon.

The next day, as usual, Zhang Tan attended classes he enjoyed and wrote novels during those he didn’t. He had the ability to self-study now, and he didn’t really plan on taking the university entrance exam. Even if he did, it would be via the arts track, and a passing grade would suffice. The bar was set low.

Unexpectedly, after class, he was called in by the principal.

The principal of Shuangdun Secondary School was Zhang Guanghe, a chubby man with fair skin and a high-pitched voice, his face betraying a life of good food.

He was fairly gentle. "Zhang Tan, right?"

Zhang Tan replied, puzzled, "Yes, Principal. Is there something you need?"

"Sit down. If you want water, help yourself, there’s a cup on the table."

"No need, thank you."

"Alright." Zhang Guanghe sat down. "You still have classes, so I’ll be brief. I heard you had a novel published in a magazine?"

"You even heard about it, Principal?"

"This is a rare piece of big news for Shuangdun Secondary. I heard about it from several teachers. Oh, and I also heard you had some conflict with Teacher Luo Jinsong?"

Zhang Tan’s brow twitched—who was the tattler this time? Meddling for no reason, how irritating. "Actually, it wasn’t much of a conflict. I was a bit stubborn at the time, but I’ve realized my mistake and wrote Teacher Luo a letter of apology. It’s all been resolved smoothly."

"I know. After I heard about it, I looked into it. Your homeroom teacher Yu Na told me a lot. I understand some of your thoughts. You have talent for writing—I read 'The Four Famous Detectives Shake Up the East' in 'Legend of Past and Present,' and it was excellent."

"Heh." Zhang Tan was unsure what the principal meant—was he praising or criticizing him? Better to say less and observe.

Uncertain of the situation, Zhang Tan waited. In fact, Zhang Guanghe wasn’t sure either.

Zhang Guanghe scrutinized Zhang Tan for a moment, and found him much as Yu Na had described. Zhang Tan was unusually mature for a student, calm from the moment he entered—as if he was stepping into a convenience store, not the principal’s office.

Though he didn’t think his office was intimidating, any student entering would be anxious—it was their nature. Even the troublemakers would behave here. Some young teachers, too, would be nervous.

But none of this showed in Zhang Tan.

"Seems Zhang Shanming was right—Zhang Tan doesn’t care about school anymore?" Zhang Guanghe mused. The reason he’d called Zhang Tan was at Zhang Shanming’s urging.

He’d warned that Zhang Tan was the next Han Jingming, afraid he’d drop out and set a bad example, and urged him to persuade Zhang Tan to stay. At first, Zhang Guanghe thought it was laughable—a student published in a magazine could influence the school? Han Jingming wasn’t made in a day. But when Zhang Shanming handed him the martial arts edition of "Legend of Past and Present," and he read Zhang Tan’s story, he couldn’t dismiss it. The writing was mature, the plot gripping—there was real potential.

He began to take Zhang Tan and his conflict with Luo Jinsong seriously, and saw the issues exposed. Hence today’s meeting.

What needed saying, must be said.

Zhang Guanghe spoke, "Zhang Tan, what are your plans for your studies?"