When extraordinary things appeared in ordinary life, it should have been something romantic.
Like a fairy tale for adults.
The Hogwarts acceptance letter you never received as a child suddenly seemed within reach.
Yet this vicious news story was like a basin of cold water, extinguishing the enthusiasm in countless hearts.
Only at times like this did everyone realize that the world was far from as beautiful as they had imagined.
Perhaps the world would change, but human nature would not.
Future technology was far too valuable. Never mind the materials and construction of bionic mechanical limbs; the technology to connect those limbs to neurons alone was enough to drive countless people mad.
This was genuine future technology. Rather than hoping for alien technology, it was better to seize what was right in front of them.
And most crucially, when those ordinary people who had crossed over and returned faced armed organizations, even mechanical limbs would not save them from being utterly helpless.
The victim had died suddenly in his home. The murderer had stabbed a dagger beneath his ribs and into his heart.
Compared with mechanical limbs, this dagger had no technical sophistication whatsoever.
This was not a fairy tale. It was more like a satirical fable for adults.
For a time, many travelers who had impulsively exposed their identities because of the hype began to feel afraid.
Some had returned with mechanical limbs and worried that they, too, would be targeted.
Other travelers, like Qing Chen, who had no mechanical limbs were somewhat better off. But who knew whether others might covet something else they possessed?
Now, someone in the Japanese media had even speculated that perhaps killing a traveler would allow someone to replace them and obtain their qualification to cross over.
That speculation was simply insane!
Before it was proven possible or impossible, trust between people would likely vanish completely.
Nan Gengchen, who had been so excited before, finally stopped thinking about where he should treat Qing Chen to a meal.
Nan Gengchen muttered softly, "Finally got a chance to change our fate, and how did it suddenly turn into some horror survival game?"
Nan Gengchen and Qing Chen could be considered kindred spirits. Both had fathers addicted to gambling, leaving their homes in chaos.
Nan Gengchen had it somewhat better. At least his parents had not divorced yet, and their home had not been sold off. His daily needs were covered, though he had no spending money.
Qing Chen had it worse. He had lost everything.
When classmates gathered, no one invited the two of them. After all, they could not even afford the table fee for a game of pool.
Nan Gengchen liked a girl, but having no spending money made him feel inferior, and he did not dare say much to that female classmate.
So both of them desperately wanted to make money. Nan Gengchen had even written novels and submitted them to magazines, hoping to earn some manuscript fees, but nothing had come of it.
Seeing Nan Gengchen so dejected, Qing Chen instead thought it was a good thing. "You saw that news too. I mean, if—if you ever cross over, you have to be careful. And when you come back, don't talk carelessly."
"Yeah, I know," Nan Gengchen said with a nod. He sighed. "Why do you think we're so poor?"
Qing Chen thought for a moment. "When other people's fathers were working their lives away, your dad was playing cards."
Nan Gengchen might resent his biological father a little, but Qing Chen's words still made him uncomfortable. He protested, "What about your dad?"
Qing Chen said, "Oh, my dad was risking his life playing cards."
Nan Gengchen said, "..."
Silence fell between them. After a while, Nan Gengchen asked, "By the way, how did your dad end up in prison?"
"I reported him. I hoped he could reflect on himself properly in there," Qing Chen replied calmly.
Nan Gengchen froze. "How about... you report my dad too?"
Qing Chen said, "???"
Just then, the bell rang.
The second class that morning was supposed to be English, but the teacher who entered was their geography teacher.
The name Luocheng Foreign Languages School included the words "foreign languages," so naturally it placed great importance on language studies.
English teachers held high status. Nearly every class had an excellent English teacher, and the school had even hired foreign teachers who began teaching students weekly from middle school onward.
Several classes at the school were even specifically set up to teach less common languages such as Japanese and German instead of English.
The middle-aged geography teacher, Chen Yandong, said from the podium, "Your homeroom teacher, Teacher Du, has taken leave for something. The second period will be geography instead. English has been moved to the third period tomorrow morning."
Qing Chen was taken aback upon hearing that. Perhaps too many things had happened today, but he could not shake the feeling that his homeroom teacher's leave was not so simple.
Could Teacher Du Yihong also be a traveler?
But if so many travelers were concentrated in Luocheng, how many would there be across the entire country?
No, no!
Qing Chen lowered his head so no one would see his pupils. In an instant, his pupils abruptly constricted.
Everything that had happened today flashed through his mind like a movie. All the information was gathered, categorized, and sorted in an instant.
The second batch of travelers whose arms had just developed countdowns.
The frightened little girl who, after learning she was about to cross over, had accepted an interview accompanied by her parents.
The traveler streamer who had come out to sell products on livestream.
Each piece of information was like fallen leaves drifting down from the sky, while Qing Chen casually plucked one "useful" leaf after another from the air.
The next moment, Qing Chen looked up in astonishment. The travelers discovered today seemed to be distributed like scattered points, concentrated in more than a dozen cities.
Some residents of certain cities had even posted online, wondering why they had not seen a single traveler in their city.
In other words, the distribution of travelers might be extremely concentrated!
Concentrated in more than a dozen cities!
The amount of analysis was too overwhelming, and Qing Chen could not help feeling dizzy.
The final class ended at 5:40 in the afternoon, and Qing Chen skipped class again.
Before leaving, the class study representative shouted, "Qing Chen, the textbook fee is due tomorrow. Don't forget!"
"Got it," Qing Chen said, waving a hand.
Then, under Nan Gengchen's envious gaze, he quickly left the classroom.
In the twilight dusk, students who had just finished class rushed toward the cafeteria for dinner as they waited for evening self-study to begin.
Qing Chen, meanwhile, swiftly wove through the crowd and climbed over the school wall at a corner of the campus.
He went home, took off his school uniform, changed into clothes he rarely wore, then put on a baseball cap and headed out.
He searched for the address of Yinrun Central Garden on his phone. It was about six kilometers from the school, and it was the residential complex where Huang Jixian lived.
For some reason, an impulse kept urging him to go take a look. Though he did not know which building or unit Huang Jixian lived in, he still wanted to see it for himself. He wanted to know what had happened after Huang Jixian returned, and what he had experienced in the Inner World.
Qing Chen had no extra money for a taxi. He only had fifty cents left in his pocket. Until the next time he played chess with Old Zhang at Fulai Supermarket, that was all the savings he had.
Run, then.
In the past, Qing Chen had not placed much importance on exercising. At school, he only joined the group runs during drills.
But now, he suddenly realized that would not do. He had to build a strong body if he wanted to face a world dangerous enough.
After all.
Among Chinese characters, the word for life had never had a homophone. Perhaps that itself was a hint that one only had one life.
It had to be cherished.
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