Church

The sky was dim, dark clouds blanketing it.

Mist shrouded the desolate land, stretching as far as the eye could see.

A massive black stone stele, weathered by time, stood upright.

—"Beep, beep! Beep, beep!"—

The alarm vibrated beside his ear, its sound short and sharp. Lin Ye, lying in bed, gradually regained consciousness.

He pushed himself upright and rubbed his aching head.

"What was that just now? A dream?"

He sat on the edge of the bed, casually switched off the alarm displaying 20:00, and looked around the unfamiliar room.

The room was small, with a grid-patterned ceiling. The passage beside the bed was just wide enough for two people to stand side by side.

To his right, beneath the window beside the bed, stood a desk. An old, yellowed desktop computer sat there with its screen dark.

The door at the foot of the bed was shut tight. It had an old-fashioned round brass handle, worn shiny from use.

"Wasn't I attempting Ultimate Trust from the Ozaki Eight?"

Now a little more clear-headed, he recalled the moment he had sunk beneath the water.

The azure sky had filled his entire vision. It was a vastness and ease he had never felt before, as if everything were drifting away from him.

The thought had barely crossed his mind when it seemed to trigger a switch. A dull ache spread from the back of his head, and blurry fragments of memory flooded in.

After a while, he gently massaged his temples.

"So I really got lucky."

With a clatter, he pulled open the desk drawer and took out a student ID.

Coast University, Department of Pharmacy—Lin Ye. In the one-inch photo at the top right was a handsome young man with delicate features.

"A twenty-year-old body. It's full of energy."

"Though a little on the skinny side."

He put the student ID away, stood up, and walked over to the desk. Beside the desktop computer was a calendar.

Friday, June 30, 2028, Federation Calendar.

The last day before the summer break of his third year.

He looked at the desktop computer. Compared with searching things up on a computer, he still preferred... reading.

He reached for the simple bookshelf on the desk. His fingertips touched a black spine, cool and smooth.

A Brief History of the Liya Federation.

It had gilt lettering. His predecessor had bought it because the cover looked elegant and stylish.

He took out the book, sat sideways in the chair at the desk, crossed his legs, and flipped through it casually.

Before long, he set the book on the desk, open to an illustrated page.

A streamlined fuselage, a leaf-shaped tail cone, sharply swept winglets, and two enormous engines mounted beneath the wings.

"The Sky-Raider 747 passenger airliner."

His fingers tapped unconsciously on the desktop. Moonlight came in through the window, laying down a patch of light.

"The planet's surface area is more than three times larger, and its technology is already on par with the twenty-first century."

"But the provinces within the Federation seem to be carving out territories of their own."

As he pondered this, he suddenly looked up, his attention drawn to the area beyond the door. The faint voice of a young woman drifted in.

"Mom, so many people are watching for this chance to become an internal trainee at Tieqin Group. They're just waiting for me to fall!"

"I don't want to take Lin Ye's sixty thousand in tuition money either, but if I miss this chance, how am I supposed to turn things around?"

"I'm not confused! I'm perfectly clearheaded!"

"How many chances does an ordinary family like ours get in a lifetime?"

"Mom, it's Tieqin Group! So many people would kill for a chance like this!"

"If I don't give it a try, I'll never be at peace!"

"And there's Lin Ye, too. It'll take money for him to get into a big company after graduation, money to get married, money to buy a car and a house. Even if we scrape by this semester, what about next semester? What about after that?"

"Are we really supposed to wait until Lin Ye is thirty before he starts looking for a wife? Won't it be too late by then?"

"But if I get selected this time, we won't have to worry anymore. Even if Lin Ye never works, I can take care of everything for him."

"Mom, I'll be honest with you. I've already taken out a loan for a hundred thousand."

"I have no way out, and I don't want to back down anymore!"

After the rapid-fire speech ended, silence fell beyond the door.

Listening to his "older sister," Lin Yu, he realized this world was different from his previous one: going to university cost a great deal.

The compensation from their father's death at sea had long since run out, and their mother had been supporting two university students with the savings she'd built up in her younger years.

His older sister was also a top student at Tieqin University, and her expenses were even higher than his. It was only now, with her graduation this year, that they could finally catch their breath.

Even so, the tuition for his first semester of senior year had only been scraped together after their mother sold the jewelry from her wedding.

"Tieqin Group..."

He recalled what he knew about it. It seemed to be the leading corporation in Tieqin City, a major city nearby.

Its influence was immense. The fact that the city itself had been named after the group said it all.

If he really became an internal trainee at Tieqin Group, he'd most likely become a senior executive there in the future. Compared to his current circumstances, it would be a leap across social classes.

"Thud, thud, thud!"

The hurried footsteps receded, followed by the sound of the front door opening.

"Mom, don't worry. Even if I don't get in, I'll find another way to get some money before the semester starts!"

"This money will be enough for you and Lin Ye to live comfortably!"

"Bang!"

The door slammed shut. Even Lin Ye, sitting in his room, felt the whole house shudder.

After a moment of silence, he stood up and went to the door, wrapping his hand around the brass handle.

Its slightly sticky chill told him that everything happening before his eyes was real.

Suddenly, he felt lost and unsure what to do.

"Mom... Big sister..."

"Click—"

The handle turned, and the door opened.

The instant it swung open, the noise around him abruptly fell silent. The faint glow of candlelight spilled in from outside.

His heart jolted. The confusion in his eyes quickly faded, replaced by caution and a readiness to fight as he surveyed his surroundings.

Ahead of him, the dilapidated medieval church seemed vast and empty. He appeared to be on the second floor.

The church's vaulted ceiling was decorated with images made from agate.

They depicted angels falling to earth, with Hell's flames reaching up toward Heaven.

Though most of it had been damaged, and there were marks everywhere from weapons hacking at it,

the shattered gemstones still conveyed a sense of its former splendor.

"Thump."

He pushed with his arm, closing the dark brown wooden door.

"Click—"

The door opened again, and the surroundings remained unchanged.

A row of brass candle sconces hung along the hallway outside. At the far left end stood a large wooden spiral staircase leading down to the first floor.

He turned to look behind him. The room he'd come from had vanished, replaced by an old bedroom in the style of the West Continent. A musty, decaying smell hung in the air.

Its layout was much like his room, only considerably larger.

The furniture and floor were made of wood with golden-brown grain. It looked understated yet luxurious, with a chill to it.

The most striking feature was an oil painting above the head of the bed. It was about a meter long, its colors dazzlingly vivid and impossible to miss.

Before he could look closely, a faint sound came from outside the door.

He turned toward the staircase. The instant he saw what was there, a prickling chill shot from his tailbone to his scalp.

He whipped around. His throat bobbed, his eyelashes trembled, and his black pupils were fully exposed.

He lunged forward, slipping swiftly and silently beneath the bed. The rush of air lifted dust, and the pungent musty smell filled his nostrils.

"Tap." "Tap."

A dull sound, like a palm striking a wooden box, drew closer along the hallway.

"Creak~"

The door swayed gently, making a shrill noise. Amid a sandy scraping sound, something crawled inside.

Lin Ye pressed himself deep beneath the bed without moving, his eyes fixed on the gap beneath it.

"Tap!"

A shriveled-looking black arm dropped outside the gap beneath the bed, stirring a faint breeze and carrying a rotten stench.

Lin Ye's pupils contracted. That was definitely not a human hand!