Do Top-Rank Sentinels Dream of Their Childhood Guide?

Chen Ling's parents are both dead, and he has little education. In this dangerous slum with no safety net, he can barely get by with odd jobs.

Everything changed when he met Si Lian, a young master from the central city whose brash behavior couldn't be more different from what his name suggests.

The young master is generous. Just running errands and looking after him earns Chen Ling more than he could make in years.

The young master also likes to teach and offers to help him learn to read.

And the young master is kindhearted, chasing away the punks who have always bullied him.

So when the young master was about to leave, Chen Ling was deeply sad and spent a while feeling dejected. He'd wanted to say a proper goodbye.

But before he could get more than a few words out, the young master packed him up and took him along.

Chen Ling: ?

Si Lian, whose only true quality is being generous with his money: I went to so much trouble to find a cat willing to come home with me. Am I an idiot? Why would I just stand by and watch him slip away right in front of me?

--

Shocking news! The top-ranked new student at First Military Academy is a Guide from the slums!

The academy's elite heirs wouldn't stand for it. They'd been outdone by someone from the slums. Where was their pride?

So the elite heirs challenged that Guide to settle things in the woods.

They were determined to find out who was the strongest at First Military Academy this year.

Then Chen Ling, who took on eight opponents and barely got his clothes dirty, looked at the fallen elite heirs and scoffed: "That's it?"

From then on, Chen Ling became famous overnight. Every student at the academy knew that this year's freshmen included a Guide who fought more viciously than a Sentinel.

Sentinel A, still bitter about getting beaten by Chen Ling, posted a vow: "He fights dirty. I swear that vicious Guide will never find a Sentinel. If someone like him can find one, I'll stand on my head and eat shit!"

One day, a high-resolution candid photo shot to the top of First Military Academy's forum.

In it, the school's vicious new Guide was asleep, resting his head on the shoulder of an outstanding S-rank senior Sentinel. A huge white tiger spirit form lay beside them, with a black cat curled up on its head. The two were sitting close together, and the whole photo was practically bursting with pink hearts.

Military academy students: ?!

@Sentinel A, you liar! You said that just to get free food and drinks!

Character setup: A resilient, outwardly cold but warm-hearted Guide uke VS an idealistic, older-brother-type Sentinel seme

I'm not sure if "older-brother-type" is the right description, but in short, this is an age-gap coming-of-age story. The two main characters won't get together until they're both adults.

Theme: No matter how cruel life gets, never give up hope