In Phoenix High, a young boy could be seen studying intensively at his desk. All around him were his fellow classmates and peers socializing and playing around as normal students do during lunch break. The average-looking young boy had a blank look on his face while he was scribbling in his notebook. His entire appearance could be boiled down to the two phrases: common and not interesting at all. He had messy brown hair, thick dorky swirly glasses, and a skinny frame that all pointed to him being nothing more than a nerd. The only thing that could bring attention to him was the green medallion hidden underneath his uniform, but no one noticed it because he wasn’t close to anyone that could notice it.

None of his classmates bothered to talk to him or even look at him during lunch break. The young man didn’t care at all. He would say that he’s fine with this situation and would avoid wasting time socializing when he could be doing something productive, like increasing the chances of making it into college with a full-ride scholarship. He knew that with his background there wasn’t a chance in hell of him being able to pay for college. His only hope was to gain a scholarship with grades alone and suck up to the highest bidder. He refused to be buried in student debt for the rest of his life like most of these other people.

“Hey Ming Li! I see you’re over here studying during lunch break again!” Zhen Xu slammed his palm on Ming Li’s desk, creating a loud bang that attracted the attention of all the other students.

“What else would I be doing in school besides studying?” Ming Li responded in a monotone voice. His hand was still writing notes while he continued to look at his literature book.

“Hey, listen, Ming,” Zhen Xu ignored Ming Li’s response. “Me and my friends are feeling a little thirsty, why don’t you go get us something to drink? You aren’t doing anything important right?” He dropped a fair amount of money for the beverages for him and his friends with a shitty grin on his face.

This made Li remember about his own body needs and seeing the money dropping right in front of him was enough to make him pause his studying for now. He swooped the money up in his hand so fast that no one in the class even saw him take it! After performing the miraculous magic trick, Li left the classroom and walked down the hall while caressing the coins.

But it wasn’t to get drinks for Zhen Xu and his pals. No, Li couldn’t care less about those punks. He wasn’t going to become their shuttle unless they paid him a fair amount of money for the physical labor. He wouldn’t sell himself for any less than 643 yuan weekly if they were negotiating about him becoming their shuttle.

Li arrived at the vending machine and bought a couple boxes of pockys and a soda before returning to his classroom. As soon as he slid the door open, everyone’s eyes were on him. He walked to his desk without a care in the world, ripping open the cookie and cream-flavored pockys to start snacking on to fill his belly. Zhen Xu came to his desk and slammed his palm on it for a second time looking way more furious than last time.

“I didn’t know you were hard of hearing too, little Ming. I could have sworn I said to buy some drinks but here you are with something else that I didn’t ask for.” Zhen Xu towered over the seated Ming Li.

“Please don’t bother me while I'm eating. If you want to talk, talk to me after class.” Ming Li told him in an emotionless voice. He was just stuffing his face full of pockys.

The veins in Zhen Xu’s forehead were jumping mad along with Zhen Xu himself. The class gasped at the giant balls Ming was presenting to them all. Doesn’t he know that Zhen Xu’s background isn’t simple at all? He’s a part of a scary gang that frequently gets in fights with other delinquents in the other districts! Zhen Xu was said to have hospitalized over 10 people in one fight!

“You know... for a guy who's ranked in the top 3 for grades, you sure are a bit fucking retarded! When I say do something, you just do it! Now because of your mental illness, I'm going to have to make an example out of you...” Zhen Xu cracked his knuckles menacingly.

“Students! Take your seats. It’s time for Math!” The teacher suddenly walked into the classroom.

“Meet me at the front gates after class.” Zhen Xu angrily whispered to Ming Li who was quickly stuffing more pockys in his mouth before downing it with a beverage.

Li had to finish his snack before class started! He didn’t even hear Zhen in his hurry to finish his food. Whatever he said couldn’t be important because it didn’t contain the word money or cash. If he said one of those two words, Li would’ve been able to recall the entire sentence perfectly and even speak it back to him backward. That made Li wonder just how much money delinquents got a week from doing nothing but fighting and causing trouble in their local neighborhood.

Li worked two jobs throughout the week and barely had enough money to spend on himself and his family. The bills took most of everything he earned so, he was always looking for ways of making more money. It was just him and his 3 siblings living inside a crappy little shack they called a home. Their parents passed away a long time ago in a train accident, leaving Li to take care of his family all on his own since middle school.

The school bell rang and it was time to go to work. Li was the first one out of the classroom. Zhen tried to hurry after him while yelling but Li’s mind was only focused on getting to work. Zhen was caught up in the crowd of students trying to leave, Li’s small skinny frame allowed him to easily slip through the sea of people. Zhen promised to show that freak a world of pain when he comes back to school on Monday. The other students who were looking forward to the beatdown between Zhen and Ming also cursed at Ming for not showing up at the gates. They wasted their time waiting on him to show only for him to not show up at all! Numerous group chats among the students were speaking about the upcoming fight between Ming and Zhen and how Ming ran away from the fight.

Li, on the other hand, knew nothing about any of that and quickly made his way to work on his bike. He was never invited to any of the group chats by his classmates. He wasn’t interested in talking to his classmates anyway. Except for Yun Mao, she was one of the richest students in Phoenix High. He hoped to get close enough to her one day that some of her riches would fall on him. Even if she asked him to kiss her bare feet, massage her shoulders, or act like her personal dog for a day, he would do it in a heartbeat to get closer to her money.

But that was just a fantasy Li hoped would happen one day. The type of fantasies where life turns from a 5/10 to a 20/10 in an instant. Like seeing the panties of a girl you have a crush on or sitting next to a beautiful girl instead of a guy on the train. He wasn’t looking forward to getting close to Mao Yun, just her money. She was quite attractive though. Many would consider Li Ming gay if they knew how little he cared for Mao Yun’s looks. She was the most beautiful girl in all of the school! All the girls looked up to her or envied her for being the epitome of perfection.

Li Ming made it to his delivery job on time and got to work. He locked his bike in the alleyway on the side of the pizza place and came in through the back.

“Li Ming! Ya made it just on time for some deliveries!” His boss, Gao Ying, said.

Gao Ying was a large-bellied man who always seemed to be in a jolly mood. His shirt didn’t make it past his belly button and he looked like the type of disgusting greasy cook that you would never want near your food. Li guessed that’s why he stayed in the back cooking the food and left the younger and more attractive workers in the front. He was a nice boss though. He treated Li and the other workers kindly and never took advantage of them.

“I’m on it.” Li put on his work uniform after putting his school outfit and bookbag inside his locker.

Li grabbed the deliveries on his way out to the company’s vehicle. It was a moped and had a neat little crate to hold the pizza boxes in while he was driving on the road. The rest of the workday went rather uneventful and Li finished up in a timely manner before heading toward his second job as a waiter/receptionist in a small ramen shop. The little restaurant didn’t get many customers so it was rather relaxing usually. Li just hung out behind the counter doing as much studying as he could or listening to the boss talk about how crappy her life is being 30 and single. Sometimes he helped the shop’s owner out in the kitchen when things got really busy but that rarely ever happened. She was a good cook.

It was night out and it was time for Li to head home. He said his goodbyes to his boss and started biking his way home. A rare smile was on Ming Li’s face as he biked home. He was thinking about seeing his siblings! Ming Shi, Ming Chi, and Ming Zhi! Ming Shi was a little devil, Ming Chi was a little spacey, and Ming Zhi was nothing more than just a brat. But Li loved them all the same. They were the only family he had.

A bright light suddenly flashed in Li’s face. He placed his hand in front of his face to try and see through his fingers and noticed a super expensive motorcycle driving down the road at speeds way too fast for this street. He steered his handlebars out of the road to try and get out of the way, but it was like the motorcycle had his number. It swerved right into his bicycle and sent him flying into the air.

Ming Li felt his senses explode with pain as he flipped through the air and slammed into the concrete ground. His mind couldn’t even process that he just got hit by someone on a motorcycle and the only thing he could feel was pure agony.

‘Shi, Chi, and Zhi need me home right now... The babysitter... I still need to pay her for watching them... I still need to play with them for a few hours before cooking for them and putting them to bed.’ Ming Li rose like a zombie and stood up in the middle of the street.

His school uniform was covered in blood and some of the bones in his arms and legs were sticking straight out of his skin. Ming Li couldn’t feel most of the pain he should be. His mind was focused solely on what he needed to do for the future. He still had things to do.

The driver who ran him over was staring at the stumbling zombie in disbelief. He was going to check and see if the dude was alright but seeing him coming back to life with injuries like those is enough to shock any man! It was a real-life fucking undead and he just ran it over with his motorcycle!

“I’m sorry man! I’m not getting bit for this shit! I’ve seen the movies man! I’m not becoming a zombie!” He quickly put his motorcycle helmet back on and dashed off on his motorcycle.

Leaving the half-dead student wobbling in the street, thinking about what he should cook tonight for his siblings. Thinking about which homework he should start first after putting the kids to sleep. Thinking about what he should make for himself to eat at school next Monday. And remember to take care of the vegetables in the backyard.

The boy failed to notice how the medallion around his neck was shattered and inside was a mysterious shining green gem. The gem was covered in blood but despite the red coating, it was still shining an exuberant green glow. That green glow seemed to resonate with the slow thumping heartbeat of Ming Li. The gem began flashing rapidly before suddenly cracking into emerald lights that rushed into the body of Ming Li.

Ming Li fell over face-first into the middle of the street. There wasn’t a soul in sight that witnessed the hit and run nor the event that happened afterward. This part of the city was quite poor and couldn’t afford to place cameras all over the city, just in the areas with more income. Li’s bones started to retract back into his body, the blood flowing onto the cracks of the road started to flood back towards his pores, and his internal organs started to repair themselves with the help of the verdant-colored lights.

“What... just happened...?” Ming Li slowly pushed himself off the ground.

He looked at his mangled bicycle and saw nothing else that could explain what had happened to him. He shrugged his shoulders and started to walk home. With no memory of the situation even happening but with a bit more energy in his body than usual. He may have just lost his bike somehow but the energy flowing through him was too great to think about something as depressing as that.