Dragon Raja 5; Chapter 383: For Your Majesty (198)

Dragon Raja 5

“I first met him while waiting for my train at the Chicago train station. He was invisible in reality; only I could see him.”

The committee members exchanged glances. Giovanni was clutching a pen, seemingly about to take notes, but she was gripping it so tightly that it betrayed her feelings.

“Dear Winnie, you look more nervous than your son,” one of the committee members laughed. “How about I get you a drink?”

Immediately, a glass of strong liquor was placed in front of Giovanni, and two committee members raised their hands to indicate that they wanted one too. Lu Mingfei was somewhat surprised; the atmosphere of this evaluation meeting was much more relaxed than he had expected. Even after he revealed a huge secret, the committee members were still in the mood to stop, have a drink, and chat leisurely.

“Would you like a cup too, kid?” a committee member actually asked Lu Mingfei.

“Thank you.” Lu Mingfei shook his head, “so I won’t talk nonsense after drinking it.”

The committee members all laughed, and the atmosphere became increasingly relaxed.

The evaluation proceeded smoothly, with the committee members asking questions one after another. It was nothing like the evaluation Chu Zihang had faced at the academy; they only asked questions based on facts, without any questioning. Lu Mingfei answered truthfully in all of them.

Giovanni and Lu Lincheng encouraged their son with their eyes. Early in the morning, Lu Lincheng brushed his teeth with him and said in a relaxed tone, “It’s okay, just say what you think. If they really think you have a problem, then Dad will stall for time while your mom takes you away.”

Seeing his father’s worried expression yet his attempt to appear fully in control, Lu Mingfei was both amused and exasperated. In the end, he reassured his father that there was no need to worry, as he would answer all his questions.

He has powerful connections now, so there’s really nothing to worry about. If there’s any place in the world that can save him, it’s this place.

“Those incantations or spells he taught you, are they cheat codes for the game?”

“All these cheat codes can only be used once, meaning you can’t use them at will in real life, is that right?”

“You mentioned something for nothing, sorry, everyone here is too old to play games anymore, what effect does it have in StarCraft?”

“You mean that demon can summon virtual powers, like fictional things from comics, such as the Gold Cloth or the Absolute Territory?”

The committee members asked a variety of questions, and time flew by. Lu Mingfei answered with ease, as the questions were completely straightforward. Occasionally, the committee members would whisper among themselves, and a few would exchange opinions on small slips of paper, which they would then pass around and nod slightly in agreement.

Initially, all the committee members asked questions very seriously, but later fewer people asked questions. The most active one was an expert in the field of cognitive science. He introduced himself as Duden, a German gentleman with graying temples who had worked at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences before coming to the haven.

The evaluation meeting lasted two hours. Finally, no one raised their hand to ask questions, and everyone’s attention turned to Duden. The expert received a note from each committee member, and after reading it, his expression became slightly grave.

“My dear child,” he said gently, “I’m afraid something very bad has indeed happened to you. You yourself may not be danger; the danger is something that is following you.”

Lu Mingfei shuddered slightly, feeling as if he were being followed by a ghost—Lu Mingze?

Giovanni’s expression changed, as if she might pull out a large-caliber weapon from her bag and point it at Duden at any moment, but the German gentleman gestured for her to calm down.

“The lie detector has proven that what you said is true. You must firmly believe that you experienced all of this, that you made a deal with the devil, exchanging your soul for power, and that this power has indeed proven effective. But the lie detector cannot prove these are facts; it can only show that what you said does not contradict your own understanding, and there is a vast gap between human understanding and reality. Bruno was burned at the stake for his heliocentric theory, and until his death, he believed he was defending the truth, but now we all know that the sun is not the center of the universe. Bruno was also limited by his own understanding,” Duden said slowly. “Allow me to point out some flaws in your story.”

He held up the first finger. “You’re a seasoned gamer, and the cheat codes you’ve received all come from the game you know best, *StarCraft*. Interestingly, Blizzard released its sequel in 2010, but *StarCraft II* cheat codes never appeared. I guess you haven’t even played that game, right?”

Lu Mingfei nodded.

Duden held up a second finger. “You really love anime, especially Japanese anime. You even wished it were real when you were little, right?”

Lu Mingfei nodded again. He had indeed been a chuunibyou (a person with delusions of grandeur), and was a top-notch one at that.

Duden smiled and held up his third finger. “Please tell me what ‘something for nothing’ means.”

“What precious thing was exchanged for emptiness?”

“Wrong, you probably haven’t learned this phrase; you’re just guessing from the literal meaning. The real meaning is ‘to gain without effort,’ which is exactly the opposite of what you’re saying.”

Lu Mingfei was stunned. This meant that the little devil had told him this, and he had indeed not looked it up in the dictionary.

“You mean, all of this is something I imagined? A fictional illness?” Lu Mingfei’s voice trembled slightly, as if he had returned to the illness in his dream, but the life he had fabricated was not his own, but Lu Mingze’s.

“No, if that were all, it would be good news for you. You’ve developed some kind of split personality; you’ve created a demon in your mind named Lu Mingze, the same name as your cousin. That way, we could just spend some time giving you psychological counseling and solve the problem. But the problem is that you have indeed gained power, and that power is strong enough to kill the Dragon King. Humans can’t have such strong self-suggestion. If you suggest to yourself that you’re Superman, wouldn’t you be able to push planets around?” Duden said. “You’ve been parasitized by something, maybe a physical entity, but more likely a purely mental one. Limited by your own cognitive abilities, that parasite takes on a familiar appearance, gradually eroding you.”

“You mean the parasite is manipulating the host?” Giovanni’s voice trembled slightly.

“Have you ever heard of zombie ants?” Duden looked around at everyone.

Giovanni shook her head, as did most of the erudite committee members.

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