Strange things were happening.
Everyone felt that lately, time itself had gradually become different from before.
The turbulent stock market, increasingly frequent police patrols in the streets, repeated safety advisories on radio and television programs, and the frequent anomalies occurring everywhere.
Following last year's unending rains and droughts, bizarre spells of heat and cold came one after another, while strange rumors circulating among long-haul drivers grew more numerous.
Most of them involved encountering heavy rain, blizzards, gales, or dense fog while driving along the highway, only to come upon new cities in places that had never been marked on any map.
Some would excitedly pull out their phones to take pictures, but before long, people in strange uniforms would politely—or not particularly politely—send them back where they had come from.
Rumors and discussions about nonexistent cities, convoys headed for unknown regions, and bizarre mirages sprang up one after another. For a time, even absurd topics like "Spiritual Resurgence" began circulating again.
Most other people might only listen in passing and remark on how bizarre it all was, but after saying so, they paid it no mind. Even when they occasionally encountered something strange, their exhausted souls, worn down by busy and grueling adult lives, could no longer summon any curiosity or desire to investigate.
Even if they truly witnessed something unbelievable, they would only mention it to others after drinking now and then, say a few words like "That's insane," and leave it at that.
Until one night.
In the bustling city, on a crowded pedestrian street, a photographer carrying a brand-new camera scanned the crowd, searching for fashionable, striking figures amid the nightlife.
Men and women alike.
Those chatting and laughing with their companions often did not refuse a street portrait from a photographer. Instead, they cooperated, leaving their