Chapter 1: The Sun is Shining

"Gawain...Gawain?"

A warm chaos surrounded Gawain. His floating and sinking wandering made his consciousness gradually become blurred. His sight was focused in a halo. He could not see the outline clearly, but he could vaguely catch a hint of blue, a clear blue that made him want to reach out and touch it.

Closer, closer.

"Gawain!"

A call came from my ear, exploding like thunder. The rolling air waves burst out with fierce power, breaking the balance of my body. The pull of gravity made the feeling of weightlessness clamp down on my heart in an instant. I swung my limbs reflexively, trying to regain my balance and grab a life-saving straw.

Plunge headfirst into the blue, and then... your feet are firmly on the ground, and you feel a sense of solidity from the soles of your feet, which contrasts with the panic of your pounding heart hitting your chest. There is a roar above your eardrums, and your vision refocuses, the blue gradually turns into gold, and the brilliant and dazzling gold hits deep into your pupils.

In front of me is a square baby face with black hair and black eyes. The deep facial features with thick eyebrows and big eyes reveal a hint of handsomeness. Although the corners of his mouth are slightly pursed, one can still feel the faint smile between his brows, revealing a hint of joy and overflowing with youthful exuberance.

This...is this McDonald?

Gao Wen was a little confused.

Mackenzie-McDonald was his college classmate and tennis teammate at UCLA. They had spent countless days of sweating training and competition together, but after graduating from college, they took completely different paths.

He gave up tennis because of a knee injury, returned to China and became an ordinary office worker; McDonald became a professional tennis player and performed well.

The last time I saw news about McDonald was on TV.

At the Australian Open earlier this year, McDonald defeated three top players in a row and entered the round of 16, tying his personal best record in the Grand Slam. His performance was outstanding.

Gao Wen was sincerely happy for his friend who once fought side by side with him, and sent his blessings from afar, but because of their different life trajectories, the two had not been in touch for a long time, let alone a face-to-face conversation.

So, what is going on at this time?

With a head full of questions, Gao Wen finally noticed that the environment they were in was not a company or an apartment, but... a tennis court.

The hard tennis court is a mixture of dark blue and light blue. The tennis net is piled up in a mess like a fishing net. The stepped seats extend upwards on all four sides to form a deep well space. The tall trees planted neatly along the court rustle in the breeze.

So strange, yet so familiar.

The sunlight that had just risen in the early morning penetrated the trees and sprinkled on the court in patches. Gawain couldn't help but stretch out his right hand, feeling the warmth of the golden sunlight falling on his palm. Then he could see the supermarket shopping cart full of tennis balls at hand. Those tennis balls began to frizz up due to excessive use, just like Angry Birds, recording the memories of their youth.

Whoosh.

A gust of wind blew, the treetops rustled, the light and shadows moved, and then Gao Wen noticed the familiar sign on the side of the court: UCLA Bruins.

Wait, this is his alma mater? But how did he get from Shanghai to Los Angeles? Why did he appear on the school tennis court?

Could it be that all this was just a dream? But if it was a dream, it was all too real, so real that it was...perfect.

"...Gawain, what's wrong? Are you still asleep?"

MacDonald bumped into Gawain's shoulder and made a joke with a wink.

"Or do you want to be lazy and push the preparation work to me?"

Looking at McDonald's wheat-colored skin, one can almost feel the traces of the sun left on it, and the collagen from his youth is still as full of vitality.

Gao Wen's thoughts were pulled back a little, he spread his hands in a helpless gesture, and replied.

"Oops, the trick has been exposed."

McDonald was just joking. Seeing Gawain "admit" it like that, he felt a little embarrassed. He touched his nose and said, "Okay, okay, I was not feeling well the day before yesterday. You were the only one who did the cleanup after training. Let me do the preparations for today."

Sure enough, MacDonald was an honest man, just as he remembered. Before Gawain said anything more, he had already taken the initiative to think things through.

Gawain deliberately raised an eyebrow at his friend and made a victory "V" sign to celebrate his successful escape from the "preparations".

McDonald had a depressed look on his face and protested with his eyes. He took a step forward and was ready to catch Gawain, but he didn't expect Gawain's reaction speed to be even faster. He stepped back and dodged in advance.

“You bastard!”

MacDonald shouted with gritted teeth, raised his hand and threw the tennis ball over. Seeing that Gawain was still running away, he chased after him while throwing the tennis ball and cursing. The two of them chased each other around the court in circles, just like children who had never grown up. Pure and bright laughter surged in their chests, and it seemed that even the sunlight was dancing with their footsteps.

Once upon a time, they were so carefree, believing in the sunshine, believing in the future, believing in hope, and that the simplest running and chasing could bring them happiness; but gradually, they all grew up, the happiness disappeared, happiness became more and more difficult, and finally they were trapped in an endless gray chaos.

Like a walking corpse.

Only when watching tennis matches can I feel a faint passion deep in my soul again. However, when I look down at the ugly surgical scar above my knee, the pain is so unbearable every time it rains that I can't sleep all night. I can only turn off the TV in despair.

knee?

It was much later that Gao Wen realized that his knee was not swollen or painful as usual. Not only that, but it was also able to move freely and lightly, as if... he had never been injured.

An emergency brake, from the toes to the calves, through the knees, and extending to the thighs, Gao Wen can clearly feel the tension and control of the muscles. The light and elastic tension perfectly controls the body. Even if it is an emergency brake while running at high speed, the knees can perfectly withstand the impact.

With a smile on his face, Gawain looked down at his knees in disbelief.

A smooth, flat, healthy knee.

All the hideous scars from the multiple surgeries in his memory had disappeared, and he could hardly remember what his scar-free knees looked like before the surgery.

But now? No scars, no pain, no swelling, nothing. Just as good as new.

"Bang!"

Gawain's emergency brake was so sudden that MacDonald was totally caught off guard. Just like a high-speed train, a collision occurred due to a lack of control. He was about to fall to the ground, but Gawain was able to withstand the impact and adjust his steps several times. He not only controlled his own center of gravity, but also successfully prevented MacDonald from falling.

"Sorry, sorry sorry sorry."

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McDonald's first reaction was to apologize, even though he had no idea what was going on, he still blurted out the apology.

Gawain looked down at his knees, carefully feeling the flexibility of his healthy knees. He could even clearly feel every detail of the movement of the muscles and bones, just like a brand new machine with plenty of lubrication oil. Everything was original and the performance was excellent.

Naturally, joy and happiness surged in my chest.

He raised his head and saw MacDonald's nervous appearance. He hadn't even adjusted his breathing yet, but he was already apologically confused. A smile bloomed on the corner of Gawain's mouth, "Hehe...haha...hahaha!" He laughed blankly, and the more he laughed, the happier he became.

Like a fool.

MacDonald was slightly stunned, looking at the silly Gawain in bewilderment, and looked around to make sure that no outsiders saw them being silly. He hesitated for a moment between "keeping a distance to avoid being infected by stupidity" and "joining friends in being silly together", and finally chose the latter.

Puff.

MacDonald couldn't help himself after all. He looked at Gawain and shook his head. Then he started laughing too. As he laughed, his laughter blossomed completely. His powerful laughter echoed in the tennis court, bringing up a ray of sunshine.

Gao Wen smiled even more brightly.

He is back.

A second chance? In the darkest, most exhausting and most helpless years of his life, he had thought more than once how great it would be if he could start over again.

Unexpectedly, what happened now actually happened. He really won a second chance to reload the game and start over. The happiness he felt was indescribable.

However, when exactly is it now? He will never forget that his first knee injury was on February 15, 2014; now his knee is still intact, so it should be before that time.

Looking at MacDonald, whose face was still young and tender, and then looking at the tennis court waiting to be set up in the morning light, the memories that were deeply buried in the dust slowly awakened.

At this time, it should be December 2013.

The specific date still needs to be further confirmed. If nothing unexpected happens, this should be the time when the school tennis team is in winter training, preparing for the spring season which will kick off in two months.

Gao Wen and McDonald, both guys are freshmen who have just joined the team for less than half a year. Every day they are the first to arrive at the stadium to set up and the last to leave the stadium to pack up their equipment.

In November of that year, he had just turned eighteen years old. A vast world spread out before his eyes, and even his breathing was full of vigor and vitality.

Buzz...

There was a slight vibration in my mind, and the next second, a set of light blue fonts appeared on my retina.

"System activated."

What... is this? Just when Gao Wen thought he was dazzled, another set of light blue fonts appeared.

"Growth potential +0.01%."

Hmm? Is this some kind of rebirth benefit?

(End of this chapter)