Mingxue: Dust to Light, My Chronicle of the Courtyard Folk

A Qi, 20, a clinical medicine intern with an INFJ personality.

(Not paired with any of the senior students.)

She is one of the most devoted online scholars of Detective Alliance and Great Escape: God Edition, but also the most deeply “imprisoned by regret.” Poverty, appearance anxiety, and the shadow of depression chain her to the other side of the screen, repeatedly crushing her hopes of attending in person. She knows every shining moment and embarrassing mishap of the senior students, and aches whenever they get hurt, yet can only collect fragments of “Number One” from afar in the virtual world.

An invitation email from the production team crashes into her stagnant life like a meteor: she can finally attend the recording as a “health and safety observer”! Her joy is instantly swallowed by panic. How can an ordinary person fit in with a team of top students? What if she messes everything up? But the glimmer of “What if it really happens?” burns through the ice of regret. Even if the path ahead is a precipice, she is willing to risk everything.

When the cold barrier of the screen shatters, Wen Tao, Pu Yixing, Qi Sijun, Zhou Junwei, Tang Jiuzhou, Shi Kai, Shao Mingming, Huo Shu… come surging into her life, real and vivid, with their physical presence, their breathing, and their overwhelming aura. Their awkward, clumsy first meeting sets off all of the INFJ’s senses. Torn between insecurity and longing, the first-aid kit clutched in her hands is her only bridge to safety.

This is a long-overdue journey into being there in person. Can A Qi use her still-immature professional skills to find a small but genuine place for herself in the dazzling universe of “Number One,” and personally mend the deeply etched regret in her heart? When “walking among the light” is no longer just a distant gaze, the soul in the dust will finally feel the warmth of a fulfillment all its own.