"Feng, your moves are trash! I can't even watch this anymore!"Wang Hao cracked sunflower seeds as he jabbed a finger at the computer screen, his round face full of disdain. Normally quiet, the fat guy turned into a chatterbox the moment a game was involved.
"Get lost!" Lin Feng shot back, fingers clattering against the keyboard. "I just slipped, okay? You think everyone wastes their life in the dorm gaming like you?"
"Tch, slipped? Admit it, Feng—you're just bad," Li Ming snickered, leaning in with a sly grin. "I saw you yesterday. You couldn't even dodge properly. They chased you down three blocks!"
That scrawny monkey lived for watching drama, the kind who never tired of stirring the pot.
"Can you guys keep it down?"From the corner, Zhao Long pushed his glasses up, eyes still fixed on the screen, ten fingers flying over his keyboard. A born techie, he only cared about coding—classic nerd."I've got an assignment due tomorrow. How am I supposed to focus with you lot screaming?"
"Ohhh, the class genius is mad now," Li Ming teased. "Hey, Zhao, you're not writing something shady, are you? Let the brothers take a peek?"
"Shut up!" Zhao Long's face flushed as he angled his monitor away. "It's a legit program. You illiterates wouldn't get it."
From the top bunk, Zhang Wei chuckled, book in hand. "Calm down, all of you. We're brothers here, not enemies."The gentle one of the dorm, Zhang Wei always played the peacemaker.
Lin Feng finally shut off the game and stretched. "Forget it. I'm done. Can't get into it today—especially with you guys screaming in my ear."He walked over to the window and gazed out at the campus of Huazhong University of Science and Technology.
A junior in computer science, Lin Feng wasn't a top student, but he wasn't bad either. Grades above average, good looks, 1.8 meters tall—he passed for a campus heartthrob. Yet lately, life felt unbearably dull: class, games, sleep. The monotony was suffocating.
"Feng, what's up with you lately?" Wang Hao asked, uncharacteristically serious. "You've been zoning out."
"Nothing… just feels like life's too flat." Lin Feng sighed. "Think about it. We graduate, get jobs, marry, have kids. A life you can see to the end of. What's the point?"
"Damn, Feng, you're having a midlife crisis at twenty-one?" Li Ming cackled. "Chill. Enjoy the moment."
"Yeah," Wang Hao chimed in. "We've got games, we've got brothers—what more do you need?"
Zhang Wei lowered his book. "Feng, you're overthinking. Ordinary life is its own kind of happiness. Not everyone needs fireworks."
"You don't get it," Lin Feng shook his head. "I just feel like… I'm meant to do something bigger. Not waste my life in mediocrity."
"Bigger?" Zhao Long muttered for once, still typing. "Like saving the world? Becoming a superhero?"
That set Li Ming off. "Pffft! Don't tell me you really want to be a superhero, Feng. You'd need superpowers first!"
"Superpowers, huh?" Lin Feng paused, then laughed. "If I had them, the first person I'd smack is you, you jackass!"
He lunged at Li Ming, and the dorm erupted in chaos.
Then—suddenly—the television blared with a breaking news bulletin.
"Attention, viewers. We interrupt this program for urgent news…"
The five of them froze, eyes snapping to the screen.
The anchor's expression was grim. "Reports are coming in from multiple global cities: unidentified flying objects have been sighted overhead. Governments are closely monitoring the situation. Citizens are advised to remain calm and stay indoors—"
"No way. UFOs?" Wang Hao's eyes bulged. "This isn't some April Fool's prank, is it?"
"It's not April…" Zhang Wei frowned.
Zhao Long's fingers flew over his keyboard. "No… this is real. Every news site's on it. Twitter, Weibo—they're exploding."
A chill prickled Lin Feng's spine. He rushed back to the window.
Far off in the sky, massive shadows were gliding across the clouds. Even from a distance, they radiated crushing pressure.
"Holy shit…" Lin Feng gasped. "They're real."
The others crowded to the window. The moment they saw, the dorm fell silent as a tomb.
"F-Feng…" Wang Hao stammered. "Didn't you just say you wanted some excitement? Well—this exciting enough?"
Lin Feng gave a bitter smile. "I take it back. Normal life sounds just fine."
But fate's gears were already grinding. The "big event" he had wished for was coming—just not in any way he could have imagined.
"Oh my god—it's getting bigger!" Li Ming leaned so far out the window his neck stretched like a giraffe. His eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
Lin Feng stared too, breath catching. What had been a speck was now unmistakable: a colossal starship. Sleek, gleaming with eerie blue light, like something ripped straight from a sci-fi film.
"Damn… how huge is that thing?" Wang Hao swallowed hard. "Feels bigger than the whole campus."
"Way bigger," Zhao Long muttered, voice trembling. "Just eyeballing it—that ship's at least ten kilometers long. Ten. Do you realize what that means?"
"Stop calculating!" Zhang Wei snapped, pale-faced. "I just want to know—are they here to invade?"
Right on cue, the anchor's voice sharpened:
"Update: the unidentified objects have been confirmed as alien warships. Over one hundred cities worldwide now report similar sightings. The UN Security Council is holding an emergency session. Military forces are on highest alert…"
"One hundred cities?!" Wang Hao's voice cracked. "That's a full-scale invasion!"
Lin Feng stared at the looming titan in the sky, emotions swirling. Just moments ago, he had cursed the dullness of life. Now—aliens at his doorstep. The speed of fate's reversal was staggering.
"You think Earth's armies stand a chance?" Zhang Wei asked quietly.
"Doubtful," Zhao Long said flatly. "Any civilization that can build ships like that… their tech is centuries ahead of ours. Nukes would barely scratch them."
"Don't be so grim!" Li Ming protested. "What if they come in peace? Maybe they're friendly—"
Before he could finish, a massive hatch yawned open beneath the ship.
"See? I told you—they're just—"
His words choked off. From the hatch poured a storm of glowing blue spheres, raining down like a deadly monsoon.
"What the hell are those?" Wang Hao whispered, shaking.
Zhao Long's face drained of color. "If I'm right… those are drop pods."
"Drop pods? For what?"
"…Biological weapons."
The words cracked like thunder. The five froze.
Outside, the glowing pods fell closer and closer, until one smashed into the courtyard below their dorm.
It burst with a grotesque pop, spilling a surge of blue fluid that quickly twisted and solidified—into a nightmare.
"Holy shit!" Li Ming shrieked. "What is that?!"
Two meters tall, jet-black skin, elongated limbs, a swollen head, jaws full of needle-like teeth—it was a demon made flesh. The moment it formed, it bolted with lightning speed, tearing into screaming students.
"An… an abomination?" Zhao Long's voice shook. "They're releasing beasts!"
Shrieks filled the air. Students fled half-dressed, some in slippers, some in boxers. Panic devoured the campus.
"Let's run too!" Zhang Wei begged. "If we don't leave now, we're dead!"
"Run where?" Lin Feng snapped. "Look outside—it's raining monsters. Even if we ran, you think we can outrun alien warships?"
"Then what?!" Wang Hao was trembling outright. "Sit here and wait to die?"
As if in answer, another pod landed outside with a hiss.
The fluid burst forth, reshaping into another predator.
Lin Feng's fists clenched. His blood burned with something new—fear, yes, but also exhilaration. The "big event" he'd longed for had arrived. And he wasn't afraid.
"Brothers." He turned to his roommates, eyes blazing. "Do we wait to die—or fight?"
"Fight? Are you insane?!" Li Ming yelped. "With what? Our bare hands?"
"Better than nothing." Lin Feng scanned the dorm. "Chairs for weapons. Sheets for ropes. We've still got brains. Humanity didn't survive this long without fighting back."
Then—the sound of pounding footsteps echoed from the stairwell. Screams followed.
"They're coming up!" Zhang Wei's voice broke.
Lin Feng drew a deep breath. "It's here."