8: This isn't about hope, it's about despair!

Lin Que began to write.

His movements could not be said to be fast, and were even somewhat slow, stroke by stroke, clear and powerful.

He did not write any outline, and at this moment, it simply flowed out from the tip of his pen.

["This is a world without a sun."]

The beginning of the article had only a short sentence.

Li Yuanchao on the judges' podium walked down and paced back and forth in the exam room.

This was originally his old habit.

He liked to observe the students' states while they were writing and occasionally glance at their openings.

He walked past Zhang Ya and saw that her composition title was "Hope Shines in a Struggling Youth".

The opening was written in a long, sprawling paragraph of parallel sentences, singing praises of hard work and dreams.

Li Yuanchao nodded lightly.

Standard student composition, with good writing, but ultimately lacking a bit of novelty.

He looked at a few more students, and they were all much of a muchness.

Then, he walked over to Lin Que's seat.

His gaze inadvertently swept across Lin Que's composition notebook.

"firefly".

This title made him pause for a moment.

Using a firefly to metaphor hope was quite apt, but it couldn't be considered very novel.

But when he saw that first sentence, his footsteps suddenly stopped.

["This is a world without a sun."]

[A mere eleven characters, right from the start, constructed such a hopeless worldview.]

Such a bold tone!

Li Yuanchao instantly became interested.

He did not leave, but instead stood diagonally behind Lin Que and secretly read on.

["The sky is always gray, like a dirty rag."]

["Everything on the earth is shrouded in this gray, without color, only black and white of varying shades."]

["People survive in underground caves, living by gnawing on a kind of glowing moss. From birth, they do not know what light is, nor what warmth is. The elders say the world has always been like this."]

["But my grandpa doesn't think so. He told me that a very, very long time ago, there was a huge fireball in the sky called the sun. The light of the sun could illuminate the entire world, making flowers bloom and river water sparkle."]

["Everyone laughs at Grandpa as a madman. Because in this world, light and warmth are words that exist only in fantasy."]

Seeing this, Li Yuanchao's breathing grew lighter.

He was captivated by this story.

This youth did not write directly about what hope was like others.

Instead, he first used ultimate strokes to depict a world without hope.

This technique of contrast was simply brilliant!

["Before Grandpa passed away, he gave me something. It was a very, very small thing, like a grain of sand. Grandpa said this is the fire seed. It is the last piece left when the sun fell."]

["He said that as long as one nourishes it with heart's blood, one day it will burn again and become a new sun."]

["I sewed the fire seed into my chest, using my heartbeat to warm it and my blood to nourish it."]

["I became the new madman. Everyone avoided me, mocked me, and said I was infected by Grandpa's madness."]

["I don't care. Because in countless cold nights, I can feel the fire seed in my chest transmitting a faint, almost imperceptible beating."]

["That is my hope."]

Writing up to here, Lin Que paused for a moment.

Li Yuanchao also subconsciously held his breath.

What a brilliant move of destruction followed by reconstruction!

First constructing ultimate despair, then igniting the faint fire seed of hope.

This youth named Lin Que's grasp of the narrative rhythm had already far surpassed his peers.

Even more seasoned than many so-called writers present!

He couldn't help glancing at the judges' podium.

Wang Shouyi was still resting his eyes with them closed, completely unaware of what kind of precious jade he was about to miss.

Li Yuanchao shook his head inwardly, his gaze falling back onto the manuscript.

He couldn't wait to see the moment when hope would start a prairie fire.

["Carrying the fire seed, I left my underground home. I wanted to go find the legendary end of the world, that highest, highest peak."]

["Grandpa said only there could the fire seed receive enough power to burn again."]

["Along the way, I encountered many dangers. The silent swamp that devoured everything, the gray forest covered in sharp bone spurs, and those eye-less monsters spying in the darkness."]

["Many times I wanted to give up. But whenever that happened, the fire seed in my chest would transmit a wave of warmth. It was telling me not to stop."]

["I walked for a very, very long time, so long that I forgot time itself. My body grew old, my footsteps grew faltering. Finally, I climbed up that highest peak."]

["At the top of the mountain, the violent wind howled like countless resentful spirits crying out. Using the last ounce of my strength, I dug the fire seed out from my chest."]

["It was no longer a grain of sand. It had grown, becoming like a heart, blood-red all over, and still slightly pulsating."]

["I raised it high, facing the gray sky, and let out the last cry of my life: 'Burn! My sun!'"]

Seeing this, Li Yuanchao clenched his fists.

It's coming! The climax is coming!

The emotion of the entire article had already been paved to the peak; next must be an earth-shattering blooming of light!

He could almost imagine that the next moment, the fire seed would erupt with boundless light, tearing open the sky and illuminating the entire world.

What a magnificent and glorious sight that would be!

However...

["The fire seed did not burn."]

["It only cracked open gently in the palm of my hand."]

["From the cracks crawled countless tiny, black tentacles. Like hungry bugs, they instantly crawled all over my arm and burrowed into my body."]

["I felt my flesh, my bones, my everything being frantically devoured by it."]

["At the very last moment when my consciousness dissipated, I heard a voice ring out in my mind. That voice was ancient, evil, and filled with mockery."]

["It said: 'Thank you, my nourishment.'"]

["Then, I saw the fire seed that I had spent my life nourishing turn into a huge, ugly... bug covered in black tentacles."]

["It opened its wings, let out a sharp hiss, and spat out a thick, fishy-smelling... darkness toward this sunless world."]

["Turns out Grandpa didn't lie to me. This world has truly welcomed a new sun."]

["A black sun."]

["And I am the fire-lighter who personally released despair."]

["Turns out I am not an envoy bringing light. Myself, and the hope I represent, are merely that... firefly that hurtled toward the darkness and ultimately bred an even greater darkness."]

Full text, end.

Li Yuanchao stood blankly in place.

His brain was already blank, his hands and feet cold.

An unspeakable chill surged all the way from his tailbone to the crown of his head.

Th... what is this?!

Where is this hope?!

This is clearly despair even more bone-chilling than having no hope!

He spent his life's belief pursuing light, but ultimately personally released the darkness.

He thought he was Prometheus creating a new world, but in the end he was merely nourishment that was used and devoured.

This instantaneous reversal from heaven to hell.

This most vicious and thorough deconstruction of the word hope made even Li Yuanchao, a literature professor over fifty years old, feel palpitated.

He suddenly raised his head and looked at Lin Que.

That youth had already put down his pen and was sitting quietly there.

A faint smile hung on his face, just like the smile after a prank succeeded.

"He is not writing about hope... He is killing hope."

Li Yuanchao muttered to himself.

Just at this moment, the bell for the end of the match rang.

"Time is up! All examinees stop answering!"

The staff began to collect the composition notebooks one by one.

When collecting Lin Que's copy, Li Yuanchao subconsciously reached out and said to the staff:

"This one, let me look at it first."

Holding the composition notebook that still carried the youth's body temperature, he walked quickly back to the judges' podium.

Wang Shouyi opened his eyes, and seeing Li Yuanchao's solemn expression, felt somewhat strange:

"Yuanchao, what's wrong? Did you see some good seedling?"

"Old Wang, you... come take a look at this."

Li Yuanchao's voice was a bit dry as he handed over the composition notebook.

Wang Shouyi took it dismissively.

His gaze first fell on the cover of the composition notebook.

But when he saw Lin Que's name clearly, the dismissiveness on his face instantly turned into obvious disgust, and the corners of his mouth drooped.

"Lin Que? It's his composition?"

Wang Shouyi snorted, almost throwing the composition notebook back onto the table.

"What worth-watching thing could his article have."

"Old Wang!"

Li Yuanchao quickly pressed his hand down, his tone close to pleading.

"Don't look at people with colored glasses! Trust me, read on, you must finish reading it!"

Wang Shouyi suspiciously looked over his old friend.

He had never seen Li Yuanchao be so solemn for a student's composition, even somewhat losing composure.

He was silent for a moment, and ultimately pulled the notebook back, casting his gaze toward the title with full of suspicion.

""firefly"? The title is okay. Let me see..."

He only took one look at the opening, and his brows furrowed.

But he still forced his tone to say:

"What world without a sun, it's just pandering to the public!"

When he saw the middle section, where the protagonist meticulously cultivated the "fire seed", he sneered:

"These are all clichés!"

But when he saw the ending, seeing that earth-shattering reversal, he instantly froze.

The fingers pinching the composition notebook unconsciously began to exert force.

The office was silent, with only the sound of the composition notebook being pinched into slight wrinkles.

Several other judges looked at him curiously.

After a full minute, Wang Shouyi slammed the table and stood up!

"Bastard thing!"

He was trembling all over with anger, his face flushed red.

"What is this written?! This is a toxic weed! A complete and utter toxic weed!"

Pointing at the composition notebook, he roared at the other judges:

"He is desecrating the word hope!

He is spreading negative energy, he is propagating nihilism!

This kind of composition, let alone winning an award, zero points! It must be zero points!"