Yuna's text buzzed late Friday: *Thorne's extra credit problem. Stuck on the boundary condition. Virtual whiteboard? 9pm? -YK*
Li felt that same electric jolt. Yes. -L
They logged onto a collaborative coding platform. Boxes of takeout sat beside their laptops – Li with lo mein, Yuna with a kale salad. For an hour, it was pure symbiosis. Yuna laid out the complex partial differential equation governing heat transfer in a rod. Li visualized the heat flow as Qi currents, identifying where the 'energy' would stagnate or surge at the boundaries. He articulated it in mathematical terms, his [Analytical Flow] synergy with Yuna making the complex feel intuitive. They iterated, argued tersely, refined. When the elegant solution emerged, Yuna leaned back in her chair, a rare, full smile lighting up her face on the video call. "Flow. Again. It works. Annoyingly well."
"You doubted?" Li teased, surprising himself.
"Constantly," she shot back, but her eyes sparkled. "You free tomorrow? Bellevue Square. Need a second opinion on a new logic board. My treat. Bubble tea."
It wasn't a study session. It was... a date? Li's [Calm Mind] flickered under a sudden surge of unfamiliar nervous energy. "Yeah. Sounds good." [Charisma Check: Barely Passed!]
[SOCIAL LINK LEVEL UP: Yuna Kim (Developing Friendship -> Trusted Collaborator / Potential Romantic Interest)]
New Perk: Shared Focus Aura (Minor) - Slight boost to concentration (INT/PER) when working in proximity to Yuna Kim.
Saturday at Bellevue Square was a sensory overload after the mountain's silence. Yuna, out of her school uniform, wore dark jeans and a band t-shirt (Muse), looking more approachable but no less intense. She dissected tech specs at an electronics store with ruthless efficiency, but Li noticed the way her eyes darted nervously at crowds, the slight tension in her shoulders. Over bubble tea (matcha for her, taro for him), the conversation drifted.
"My parents," Yuna said abruptly, swirling her tea, avoiding his gaze. "Surgeons. Both. Expectations are... stratospheric. Perfect grades. Pre-med. Stanford. Anything less is failure." Her voice was flat, but Li felt the pressure radiating off her, a dense cloud of anxious Qi through his [Qi Sense Lv.2]. "This," she gestured vaguely at her logic board notes, "is my rebellion. My 'illogical hobby'." A bitter smile.
Li understood pressure. Different source, same weight. "Master Chen says a bowstring always taut will snap," he offered quietly. "Sometimes, the 'illogical' path strengthens the core for the main journey." He didn't mention cultivation, but the wisdom felt universal.
Yuna looked at him, really looked at him, her sharp eyes softening with surprise and something like relief. "Your mysterious master sounds smarter than my parents." A genuine, warm smile this time. "Thanks, Li." The moment hung, charged with unspoken understanding. Their fingers brushed reaching for a napkin. Both pulled back slightly, a flush rising on Yuna's cheeks, a rare flicker of uncertainty in Li's calm.
[MINOR QUEST: BELIEVING IN BELIEVUE - COMPLETE!]
Reward: +250 XP, +1 CHA (New CHA: 11!), Deepened Bond with Yuna Kim, Insight: Yuna's Burden (Family Pressure).
The idyll shattered Monday. Walking home past a construction site near the park, Li heard muffled sobs. A smaller freshman, Ethan Cho, was backed against a chain-link fence, his glasses cracked, lip bleeding. Three seniors – not jocks, but wiry, mean-looking guys Li recognized as known troublemakers from the auto shop track – surrounded him. "Cough up the cash, pipsqueak! We know your mommy gives you lunch money!"
Ethan trembled, clutching his backpack. "P-please, I need it for the bus..."
"Tough!" the leader, a greasy-haired kid named Dex, sneered, shoving Ethan hard.
Rage, cold and sharp, surged through Li. This wasn't Tank testing dominance; this was cruelty. He stepped out of the shadows. "Leave him alone."
Dex turned, smirking. "Well, look who it is! The Unmovable Object. You gonna stand there looking constipated, or you gonna do something?"
Li walked forward, his Qi flaring internally but his exterior radiating icy calm. [Stubborn Resolve] merged with [Fighting Spirit Lv.1], priming him. "Walk away. Now."
Dex laughed, nodding to his buddies. They fanned out. "Make us, Buddha boy."
Dex lunged first, a wild haymaker. Li didn't block. He slid. His [AGI 17], enhanced by months of grueling forest training and Qi refinement, let him move like water. He flowed inside Dex's swing, his palm striking not with brute force, but with focused Qi [Exploding Fist Lv.1 - Minimal Charge] directed into Dex's solar plexus.
THUMP.
It wasn't a knockout blow. It was a nerve strike amplified by internal disruption. Dex's eyes bulged. All air left his lungs in a pained whoosh. He crumpled to his knees, gasping like a fish, unable to breathe or speak.
The other two froze, stunned. Li turned his calm gaze on them. "Your turn?" His voice was quiet, deadly. They looked at Dex, writhing silently, then back at Li. Fear, raw and primal, replaced their bravado. They grabbed Dex's arms and hauled him away, stumbling, casting terrified glances back.
Li knelt beside Ethan, radiating calm. "You okay?"
Ethan stared at Li with awe. "Y-yeah. Th-thanks... How... how did you...?"
"Lucky shot," Li said gently, helping him up. He activated a trickle of Qi through his [Qi Sense], not to heal, but to soothe Ethan's panic, projecting calm. "Go straight home, Ethan. Don't stop." He watched the freshman hurry away, then scanned the area with [Qi Sense]. No observers. Dex would recover in minutes, humiliated and terrified, likely too scared to explain what happened. Li walked home, the jade pendant cool. He hadn't revealed true cultivation, just refined skill and minimal Qi application. But the shadow boxing in the Cascades had prepared him for real shadows. The dragons weren't just the alphas. They lurked in the alleys too.