In the morning, Professor Chen gave everyone a map and brochure of the campus. Compared to the universities that Li Yun had been to, WIT was smaller, but the international reputation and prestige of the university were incomparable.

The professor led the group to a large boulevard next to the river that divided the campus from the downtown. As the weather was warming up, students were out and about on their morning jog. The diversity of the student body made the atmosphere less foreign.

The researchers from the top universities were more or less used to seeing foreigners. It was mainly the professors from the lesser-known universities who were culturally shocked as their university didn’t have a large population of international students. 

Li Yun, dressed in casual clothing, blended in more with the campus than the researchers. Even as he took some of the plants and nibbled on them, he didn’t look out of place. The other researchers, however,  all had their phones out and took pictures every step of the way. The students mostly ignored the tourists as it wasn’t an unusual sight. The group continued walking toward the campus quad that was lined with trees that bordered the lush budding green lawn. A neoclassical building with a large dome to the north boldly acted as the centerpiece of the square. 

A large wave of students appeared as the morning scheduled classes were ending. Some stragglers sat on the lawn and enjoyed the long breaks in between classes in the 20-celsius weather. Some, however,  looked burned out. Being a student at one of the most prestigious universities, it was common to see burnouts and extreme levels of anxiety. 

“Dr. Li, is something the matter?” Professor Chen asked when he noticed Li Yun trailing behind.

“I suddenly saw someone I know, I’ll meet everyone at the institute in 15 minutes?” asked Li Yun.

Professor Chen shrugged, he didn’t care. They were making detours to see different buildings, but it wasn’t like they were forced to attend the tour. As the group continued onto the next court, Li Yun walked toward the square courtyard by a small chapel. There was a student sitting on the grass area, looking a bit tired. The guy looked sixteen, but everyone appeared younger the older Li Yun got.

“Hi, how are you?” Li Yun gave his best attempt at English.

“Uh, yeah, hi,” the guy replied. “Do you need something?”

Li Yun had seen the student talking to himself. Talking to oneself was normal, but the way he was talking seemed as though he was speaking to someone else. As someone who could feel the presence of something or someone giving him missions, he couldn’t say it was completely beyond the realm of possibility. However, in most cases, there were likely other more plausible explanations.

“I’m wondering if you’re free, I’m a bit lost,” Li Yun replied.

The student patted his butt to remove some debris as he stood up to meet Li Yun at eye level. “I guess, where are you heading to?” he asked.

“The Blackhead Institute,” Li Yun said.

“You don’t have a cell?”

“I just arrived here, so I don’t have cellular data. My name is Li… I mean Yun Li,” Li Yun said awkwardly as he reached out his hand to greet him.

Some students didn’t normally greet people so formally, but seeing that Li Yun had offered, the student shook his hand to avoid making Li Yun feel more awkward.

“Chris,” he responded. He grabbed his bookbag and tilted his head toward the main road, implying that he would guide Li Yun. 

As they moved toward the main road, Li Yun started the small talk. “Are you a freshman?” 

“Yeah,” Chris replied.

“Computer science?” asked Li Yun.

Chris nodded but he was a bit embarrassed. He barely knew how to use the basics, but it seemed like everyone in his class was a genius.

“That’s tough, I can’t sit down and stare at numbers all day. Can you imagine doing that for forty-plus years?”

Chris shook his head, “Are you a graduate student?”

“No, I’m a visiting researcher.”

“Oh,” Chris was slightly shocked, but then it died out. Geniuses at WIT weren't unusual. If he had that 1% of genius that the other students had, maybe his life wouldn’t be so miserable.

“I can’t imagine going to a school like this,” Li Yun said. “I went to a local college, and it was already painful enough. I’m quite envious of everyone who could get into these types of schools.” 

“But you graduated.”

“Yes, but from a school that no one had heard of. You see, I got this special exchange program through connections.”

“Oh…” Chris didn’t know how to respond. He was still young, and didn’t know the importance of making connections.

“I hated school. If there wasn’t a requirement to be a doctor, I would rather drop out than deal with it.” There was something about the student mentality that didn’t serve him well.

Chris sighed, “The teachers will always tell you it’s better to have a higher education.” 

“It depends, what are you going to do with a computer science degree?” 

“Work as a programmer for a company,” said Chris.

From Li Yun’s perspective, Chris was like a lot of freshmen who didn’t know what they wanted. But unlike the undeclared students, Chris wasn’t looking to explore the possibilities; he had given up on it. Everything he did was to pass time and life seemed to have no meaning. His parents were likely well-off and he didn’t have to work in order to survive. There was no purpose to working, no purpose to studying, and no purpose to living. 

What was the point of living? That was the question Chris had been asking himself, and it was also the question people with depression often asked. Li Yun had come across many depressed patients, but it was difficult to refer them to a therapist for cultural reason. It was easier in Beauty Country, but the person in front of him was a stranger. Li Yun was always hesitant to offer advice when he didn’t have an answer, but as long as there was trouble in front of him, he couldn’t ignore it.

“Why programming?” Asked Li Yun, ‘It doesn’t sound like you’re enthusiastic about it.”

“It’s common, and easy to get a job,” said Chris.

It was a typical response, but before Li Yun could ask another question, something in Chris’s eyes changed.

“Who are you? What do you want?” Chris asked in a stern voice. 

“I am Dr. Li, I am here to help Chris, are you Alan?” Li Yun asked. 

When he had passed by the court, Chris had mouthed some concerning words, but as he wasn’t proficient in reading lips based on the English language, there were some details missing. One detail he picked up was a person named ‘Alan.’

“Don’t do it Chris, jumping is too bloody… Alan, what do you suggest?” A moment of silence. “Let me help you get some ecstasy.” The words were pieced together by Li Yun, but the accuracy wasn’t high.

He didn’t have much contact during residency with patients who had Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), and other mental illnesses, but he had researched it a lot during high school. It was primarily to rule out the possibility that he was suffering from it himself. There was a high probability that Chris had DID.

“How do you know about Ellen?” Chris asked.

Li Yun quickly picked up on his mispronunciation. “As I have stated before, I am simply here to help,” Li Yun responded, relieved that although his accent inadvertently helped Chris to self-correct his mistake. “Are you aware how dangerous of a situation Chris is in? What has happened recently?”

Chris narrowed his eyes, and inspected Li Yun closely. “We are already dealing with the situation. We don’t need others to help…. That isn’t what you said before. We need to find someone to help Chris. He’s completely apathetic now compared to before…. Let’s not pretend everything is alright. Chris has already decided to shut us down, and only talks to Ellen because promotes any ideas that Chris comes up with.”

Li Yun had a difficult time understanding Chris, but there seems to be multiple alters speaking all at once. As confusing as his system was, he never felt that there was another person inhabiting his body.

“Does Ellen help Chris to acquire drugs?” asked Li Yun.

“Ellen is usually the one that asks for drugs… Chris is too timid to ask people directly… Dammit Jack, you’re supposed to convince Chris not to go through with this…”

Chris appeared to be smiling, but deep in his soul, there was darkness eating him from the inside. He simply wanted it to stop. All the voices in his head weren't helping. 

“Is he seeing a therapist?” Li Yun asked.

“No one else knows about this except for Lou, a former friend,” Chris replied. “If you hadn't interfered, Chris would still have a friend… Why are you blaming me when it was clearly your fault?”

“No one is at fault,” Li Yun got a headache listening to them. “If Chris talks to someone, do you think he will open up?”

“Not likely, he has already shut out most of us.”

Chris needed some sort of intervention, but without the willingness to seek help, it would make the process difficult. He needed a reason to continue living.

“Tell me, what are Chris's interests?”

There were four different alters speaking, but they all suggested that Chris was happier when creating alternate storylines and gaming. With a general idea of what Chris was like, he asked the alters to pull Chris back.

 

Chris returned to his body. The moment he saw Li Yun, he recalled telling the stranger about the job prospect as a programmer. He wasn’t aware that fifteen minutes had lapsed since that moment.

“Since you're a programmer, do you know anything about video game development?” Li Yun asked, pretending to continue with their earlier conversation.

“Uh, it’s a very selective program to get into,” said Chris. It wasn't choice of program as the first choice program was full and he was placed in his third choice of degree program.

“Are you still interested in programming for a game? It’s not as fun and easy as it sounds.”

“You have done programming before?” asked Chris.

“No, but I see my friend doing it, it looks a bit boring,” Li Yun didn’t understand how Bufu could sit in front of the computer and not say a word when he was in the zone. He wondered how bored his girlfriends were when they were with him. Before his mind strayed off, he handed Chris a business card.

“You’re a researcher at a pharmaceutical company?” Chris asked. He wondered why a stranger would pass him a business card.

“Shennong has a branch that is developing a game,” said Li Yun. “They are planning to hire more people if the game is successful and maybe expand overseas.”

Chris wondered how the stranger knew he was more interested in gaming, but then again, most young men were interested in gaming.

“The company doesn’t care much about education,” said Li Yun, as the boss, he could hire someone off the street and no one could complain. “If there are results, the company will hire. You’re a freshman? You can get a degree if you want, but if you can create a game in three years on your own, I’ll hire you.”

“Really? You can do that?” asked Chris. 

Li Yun nodded. 

Chris scratched his head and wondered if this was some sort of scam.

“I bet you think this is a scam,” said Li Yun.

Chris twitched, wondering if Li Yun was a psychic. 

“What do you have to lose?” Li Yun asked. He didn’t have to prove anything. If Chris wanted to believe that the future had a purpose, he would make himself believe it. 

“All right, what type of game should I make?” Chris asked. He really had nothing to lose. If he failed his exams, he could focus on making the game. If he passed his exams, he could continue going to school.

“What type of games do you think are missing?” asked Li Yun.

As they discussed the details, Chris was more vibrant in narrating his ideas. Although he lacked imagination, he liked the idea of seeing stories come alive with programming.

Eventually, they walked past an ugly building and arrived at the sidewalk before a blocky granite building with a sign indicating it as the Blackhead Institute.

“Thanks for your help!” Li Yun said.

“Ah, thank you,” said Chris.

Chris walked away into the distance. Li Yun wasn’t sure if Chris would encounter roadblocks, but at least he was in a better place than before. It was up to him to deal with his own demons.