A fourteen-year-old prodigy transfers from the University of Science and Technology of China Youth Class to Nanjing University's Department of Archaeology. Because he arrives three days late to register, he unexpectedly ends up living in Room 508 of the graduate dormitory.
When he pushes open the door, the steam from instant noodles comes rushing toward him, mixed with the incessant clatter of keyboards.
His three roommates have wildly different personalities: a top-tier gaming addict deeply immersed in virtual worlds, a bookworm who buries himself in old bound books on history and literature all day, and Gao Fei, a carefree local young master. Even the yellow dog he raises is named Gao Fei.
During military training, he bluntly says that the outdated Type 56 rifle is obsolete, yet he scores an impressive nine bull's-eyes out of ten shots in the live-fire assessment.
His youthful appearance attracts a crowd of senior female students eager to gawk and tease him, and “Capturing Fourteen” quickly becomes a popular campus joke.
He originally intends only to laze around in Room 508 and peacefully get through his university years, but a sudden dormitory fire completely shatters the calm.
Only after this incident does he keenly realize that every one of the roommates he sees day and night has a hidden trump card and bears a secret past unknown to others.
After the fire dies down, he follows the gaming addict into the ancient-civilization simulation sandbox online game Shanhai Ruins, becoming deeply embroiled in the ten-thousand-player war between the Qitian Alliance and the Fengming Alliance.
Behind the seemingly relaxed and lively dormitory life, layers of foreshadowing and hidden clues are gradually surfacing.
