The Gentleman at the End

[Black Mountain Orphanage]

Dormitory Area 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

After lunchtime comes a rare moment of rest.

Students of different ages take a break on their respective dormitory floors, generally spending this time relaxing along the corridors.

Currently on the "four to five years old" floor,

Orphans of this age have not yet begun the ’cruel’ courses, or rather, the real selection process hasn’t started—focused more on physical punishment, with fewer eliminations.

Thus, the number of orphans on the floors is relatively large, primarily consisting of [fourteen-person dorms].

The four-year-old Yi Chen is walking alone back to the dorm, and the previously laughter-filled passageway immediately falls silent.

"The genius is back, everyone quickly move aside~ (whispering)"

"Don’t speak recklessly, be careful not to get hit~ I don’t want to get beaten."

Yi Chen has long grown accustomed to the group’s rejection.

Although at certain times a killing intent arises inexplicably, Yi Chen’s self doesn’t want to act on it; he doesn’t want to become a monster of the orphanage.

The main reason everyone doesn’t want to befriend someone like Yi Chen is because he’s too outstanding, never punished, even when called to Director Cao’s office for violations, he returns unharmed.

A gifted student with privileges.

This leads to some of the resentment from the oppressed children of the orphanage being transferred onto the privileged Yi Chen.

Of course.

Yi Chen has his bottom line too. If anyone dares to attack him privately or do things that affect his life, he will definitely retaliate doubly. His personality also makes it hard for him to make friends.

Back in the dorm,

The roommates are sitting at the furthest corner from him, chatting.

Though it seems they are whispering, talking about him is unmistakable.

Yi Chen takes off his shoes and sits on his bed.

He retrieves from under his pillow a book, received as a reward for winning a recent orphanage competition - [Mirror].

This is Yi Chen’s first time reading a foreign novel; with Director Cao’s private tutoring and his natural aptitude, he is effectively literate at four, facing no obstacles in reading.

He likes a character named "William" in the book,

In the book, William doesn’t actually exist; he’s another self seen by the protagonist with a mental disease in the mirror. William’s personality starkly contrasts with the solitary protagonist; he always appears at crucial moments to aid the protagonist, gradually becoming the closest friend.

Being a child, Yi Chen also wants to have such a friend, but there are few mirror-like objects in the orphanage, so he paints on the walls beside his bed the image matching the book’s description, of a brown-haired [William], attempting to treat it as his imaginary friend.

Since Yi Chen has almost no opportunity to speak with peers, his heart thirsting for connection drives him to start conversing with the ’William’ on the wall.

It’s all one-sided conversation,

talking about his name and interests,

talking about his hatred for the orphanage and fantasies about the outside world, even every day post-returning to the dorm trying to share with ’William’ today’s fun stories or grievances.

Although merely unilateral complaints, it gives Yi Chen psychological stability.

It lasted for more than two months.

One day, a roommate on a neighboring bed, emotionally unstable from unfair punishment, lies in bed wanting to sleep but continually hears whisperings from Yi Chen’s side, making him more irritable.

Unable to hold back momentarily, he directly comes to Yi Chen’s bed, hurling curses:

"Why do you chat daily with imagined things, can you quiet down a bit! Living with a freak like you is freaking unbearable."

His words make the person more agitated, and he moves to scratch the engraving of ’William’ with his nails to destroy it outright.

Just as he’s about to act,

Bang!

The man’s neck is already grabbed and slightly lifted off the ground, faced by Yi Chen’s cold eyes.

Remarkably, though only over four years, Yi Chen possesses such monstrous strength, the man’s face has begun turning purple.

The other roommates merely watch, no one steps in to help—they don’t want to provoke a freak like Yi Chen.

At the critical moment,

A hand suddenly presses onto Yi Chen’s wrist, stopping this dangerous act of murder.

Yi Chen follows the arm upwards and freezes instantly.

That brown hair, equal height, and rather similar visage make Yi Chen involuntarily utter a name.

"William."

The tightly clenched hand slowly releases, the roommate escapes in panic, rolling off hurriedly.

When Yi Chen comes to his senses to look again, William has already vanished.

Yet Yi Chen can feel the residual warmth on his wrist, convinced ’William’ truly exists.

From then on, Yi Chen occasionally sees the seemingly existent ’William’ at the corridor corner, amidst the crowd, or in some dark corner.

As the conversations continue, William’s appearances increase daily.

Whenever Yi Chen is about to make extreme decisions,

Whenever he experiences intense emotional fluctuations,

Or encounters some extreme danger, William always appears closely, sometimes even with physical contact,

Even when being called by Director Cao to the office for verbal brainwashing, William would always stand beside, covering his ears, or say some interesting things to distract him.

In one highly challenging final test,

Yi Chen’s opening mistake lands him in a very dangerous situation, even Director Cao sweats on his behalf.