Could I Be a God?

"Doctor, for the past ten days, whenever I'm half-asleep, I keep hearing someone call my name."

"Mr. Huang Tian, you're experiencing auditory hallucinations."

"I'm sure I heard them."

"That means your anxiety is manifesting physically."

"Anxiety manifesting physically?"

"In short, there's nothing wrong with you, so don't worry. Avoid smoking and drinking, go to bed early and get up early, and relax. You'll be fine."

[September 5: I went to see a doctor. He said there was nothing wrong with me, and I felt a little more at ease. But that afternoon, I was laid off.

September 6: Before bed, I tried my best not to think about anything, and I actually slept through the night. But when I opened my eyes, I was terrified to hear someone calling me. It was the first time I'd heard those voices while completely awake.

September 7: I didn't sleep all day. My face was haggard, because whether day or night, ghostly calls kept ringing in my ears.

September 8: I was ecstatic. I'd discovered that I could not only shut off the voices calling me, but also follow them and see the scene where the people talking about me were speaking. Could I be a god?]

After writing those few lines on a scrap of paper, Huang Tian sat deep in thought for a moment. Then he got up and took the lighter he used to light mosquito coils from the cabinet drawer.

Click~

Whoosh~

The twisting tongue of flame swallowed the scrap of paper. Ash drifted to the floor. Huang Tian swept it up, returned to his chair, and quietly recalled the changes of the past half month.

The shock of waking from a dream after hearing someone call him, the exhaustion that left him mentally drained, the doctor's visit, taking time off and getting laid off, the fear of hearing the calls during the day, the ecstasy of discovering he seemed to have gained a supernatural ability...

In just half a month, his life had been turned upside down.

"But it's been turning for the better—or, rather, toward the extraordinary..."

At a thought, Huang Tian seemed to flip a switch, and countless voices calling his name flooded his ears.

He drew a gentle breath. Following one of the voices, fine as a strand of silk, his thoughts traveled through the dazzling, glassy river of Spacetime. He "looked" toward its source, and a scene appeared before him.

In a clean, brightly lit office, a worried-looking young man spoke in a low voice. "Huang Tian got fired a few days ago. I figure it won't be long before they come for us, too."

The chubby man in his early thirties across from him said helplessly, "Don't worry. Even if the company's doing badly, they'll still need a few people to keep things running. You might not get laid off. But a guy in his thirties like me is definitely done for."

The young man said, "But Huang Tian's only twenty-four, isn't he?"

"That's because he'd obviously been in poor spirits these past few days. His work was fine, but... tsk, you know how it is. And then he even dared to take time off. Getting laid off was only natural."

Just then, someone coughed. The boss walked in, and both men immediately turned to their computer screens.

At that moment, Huang Tian's thoughts shifted, and the scene burst like a bubble. His view pulled back.

"As long as someone mentions me, I can watch the scene from a third-person perspective as they talk. I'm just not sure how long it lasts yet..."

He interlaced his fingers, then let his thoughts stir and followed another thread of sound to "look."

Spacetime shifted and crossed before his eyes.

The east campus of Beijing Foreign Studies University, basement-level cafeteria.

"Wenjun, your boyfriend's name is Huang Tian, right?"

A round-faced girl wolfed down a few mouthfuls of the satay beef noodles in front of her, thoroughly satisfying her craving. Then she looked up at the quiet girl across from her.

Zong Wenjun nodded.

"Why didn't he come see you off when you returned to school this time? I was hoping to get a look at what he's like in person," the round-faced girl sighed.

Zong Wenjun looked puzzled. "Why would he come see me off?"

"Aren't you two dating?"

"Mhm."

"Then he should come see you off."

"He shouldn't. He has a job and he's busy."

The round-faced girl stared, then raised her hands in surrender. "All right, all right. You really are so understanding!"

As she spoke, she bent over her bowl and slurped down several more mouthfuls, then patted her stomach in satisfaction. Her eyes darted about. "Little Zong, do you have more pictures of him on your phone?"

"Didn't I post one on Moments?"

"Oh, come on. You only have one picture of the two of you together there. I want to see a few more."

Zong Wenjun couldn't withstand her pestering, so she took out her phone and opened her album. Dozens of photos of the two of them appeared.

The round-faced girl's eyes lit up. Grinning, she looked through them one by one and clicked her tongue. "He really is pretty handsome. No wonder you like him, Little Zong. By the way, did he pursue you, or did you pursue him?"

"I pursued him. Well, not exactly. When we were undergrads, he was in the math department and I was in the English department. We were in different schools, but we kept running into each other in general-education classes, and then..."

"And then you fell for each other?"

"Something like that."

"What happened after that? When you graduated, did he not go to grad school?"

"No. He stayed in his hometown to work. He's in Chang City, Gan Province now."

"What's his family background like?"

"Oh, Yang Ning, are you taking down my household registration?"

"Hehe~ I'm only asking because I care about you."

"I think you have an ulterior motive," Zong Wenjun said, eyeing her suspiciously.

"Actually... Zhou Du, a third-year grad student, wants to pursue you. He bought all kinds of snacks for the three of us and asked us to find out a little about you." Yang Ning looked a little embarrassed.

"He knows I have a boyfriend and he's still pursuing me. He's not a good person." Zong Wenjun shook her head.

Yang Ning was speechless. She said no more, not wanting to sour their friendship, and simply tipped the rest of her noodles into her mouth.

Zong Wenjun picked up a piece of crispy pork and ate it slowly, chewing carefully.

"Zhou Du?"

Elsewhere, Huang Tian furrowed his brow, but soon relaxed.

He knew Zong Wenjun well. They'd met at Chang University and had been together for more than three years. After graduation, he'd stayed in Chang City and found a job in data operations at a company, while Zong Wenjun had gotten into Beijing Foreign Studies University for a master's in translation.

Though the distance between them had grown, their relationship was still steady.

They were both rather reserved and independent. Even though they were a couple, they could go a month or two without meeting or speaking. When they did see each other, a brief embrace was enough to make them feel warm and content.

Huang Tian focused and continued watching from a third-person perspective.

After lunch, Zong Wenjun and Yang Ning didn't return to their dormitory. They went straight to the study room.

Sitting in a cool, shady spot, Zong Wenjun put on a pair of silver-rimmed glasses and opened a copy of Mirror of Chinese English. Her ink-black hair was loosely tied at the nape of her neck, with a few strands falling beside her cheek. Her eyes were serious and focused, giving her an aloof, intellectual beauty.

Huang Tian watched her quietly until the scene shattered like a bubble.

"I started watching at 11:30. It's 12:30 now. A whole hour.

"That means that whenever someone mentions me, I can see the scene as they talk—and it lasts for an hour."

Huang Tian pondered what his superpower could do. "My superpower doesn't seem to have any way to hurt people. What can I use it for? Gathering information?"