At first, it was truly earth-shattering and soul-stirring. Later, Ethan Brooks learned a trick—putting on headphones and turning up the CD music to drown out his father's snoring, finally allowing him to sleep peacefully.

His snoring father was sleeping soundly, a matter in his heart finally resolved, the weight lifted from his mind.

Just ten minutes earlier, the conversation between father and son had ended.

This conversation established the core idea, which was—to accept Ruslan Panchenko’s invitation and try his luck at Zenit St. Petersburg. Ethan Brooks had previously worried that he was running out of money and might not be able to hold on, but his father patted his chest and said to his son, “Let me tell you, Hero. You can be short of any money, but you must have the money to go to St. Petersburg!” He spoke with absolute certainty.

Ethan Brooks actually knew nothing about Zenit St. Petersburg. Although he had been a semi-professional player, let alone professional players—even among fans, few people knew about this team. In China, reports about the Russian Premier League were pitifully scarce. Everyone’s attention was focused on the top five European leagues, and they could name all the big clubs by heart. Leagues like Russia’s, considered second-rate, were almost completely ignored, except by those who gambled on football or played the lottery, who might take an interest in these minor leagues.

Ethan Brooks didn’t know that Zenit St. Petersburg had finished third in the league in the 2004 season, and had even reached the quarterfinals of the UEFA Cup in the 05/06 season—a team on the rise.

Lying in bed, he wondered what he would encounter tomorrow... Would it be like at CSKA Moscow, where he was humiliated and looked down upon? If it was the same, what would he do?

Ever since being released from his previous club, he had felt like a stray dog. Today, he had finally regained a bit of dignity at CSKA Moscow.

Honestly, slapping someone in the face felt great... He turned over.

If that Zenit St. Petersburg is anything like CSKA, then no matter what, he would do the same as today—give them a hard slap, even if it cost him everything!

He was not someone who could swallow his anger...

Thinking back, it all started because he couldn’t stand being wronged.

At his domestic club, when someone tackled him maliciously, he would stop at nothing to get revenge.

It was the same when he was humiliated in Moscow.

If you make me uncomfortable, I’ll make you even more uncomfortable!

That seemed to be his life motto.

After the incident at the domestic club, his father told him to calm down, to be more steady... Ethan Brooks thought about it—wouldn’t that make him an old man?

No way!

He was only eighteen; he wanted to live the way he liked. If he did everything timidly, always holding back, how could that be right?

Forget it, no point thinking about it. No matter what happens tomorrow, he’d just do things his own way.

Who am I? I am Ethan Brooks!

If you want to make things hard for me, I’ll make things hard for you!

Hey!

Ethan Brooks put on his headphones and turned on the music.

In the stormy chorus of Bon Jovi’s “It’s My Life,” the eighteen-year-old Ethan Brooks fell asleep, carrying the unique confidence and a bit of arrogance of youth.

※※※

The music drifted out from the headphones, floating through the quiet room.

“...This is my life—seize the moment, opportunities are fleeting! I don’t wish for immortality, I just want to live seriously while I’m alive! This! Is! My! Life! ...This is my life! When others give you trouble, stand tall! Don’t give in, don’t give up, baby, don’t shrink back...”

Every note, every lyric, from faint to clear.

The music seemed to take shape, the notes dancing in the night sky.

Even the sky outside the window seemed to change with the music.

Suddenly, the distant night sky twisted, the stars spinning and transforming rapidly. Then, it abruptly froze, as if someone had slammed on the brakes. This transformation was extremely brief—even if someone happened to look up at the sky at that moment, they would only see the scene after it had frozen—

A beautiful, multicolored aurora stretched across the night sky of Moscow, its shimmering lights dazzling everyone who saw it.

This aurora covered almost half the sky over Moscow, so vast and striking that almost no one could ignore it.

Someone noticed it first and cried out in surprise. Then more and more people looked up at the sky, mouths agape. Some looked incredulous, some were inexplicably excited, and others pulled out their phones and cameras, snapping pictures of the sky.

Auroras aren’t considered a particularly rare natural phenomenon on this planet. Even if this aurora had more colors and looked prettier, it wasn’t anything too astonishing.

But for it to appear in Moscow—that was not normal.

Moscow’s latitude makes it impossible to see auroras, as it’s not far enough north. In St. Petersburg, seeing an aurora isn’t unusual...

The aurora shifted shapes in Moscow’s night sky, like a flowing abstract painting.