On a busy street, a young man stood inside a phone booth...
"I'm going to Japan. You haven't been back in the last few months, and I don't think you'll be coming back anytime soon, so I thought I'd go to Japan for a visit. I've always wanted to see the place..."
A very gentle, sweet female voice came through the phone. Anyone else who heard it would have been captivated, but the young man in the booth didn't react at all.
"Mm, go if you want to. We really haven't seen much of each other lately, but things will get better. Think of it as a break and have a good time over there."
The young man had known she would say that. In truth, it made little difference whether he called or not; he'd simply felt it was his duty—or perhaps his own wish—to let her know. An international call was very expensive, and this was his first time making one.
"Got it. I don't have much money on my card, so if anything comes up, we'll talk when I get back. Ten days—I'll only spend ten days there. I'll contact you again after that."
"Okay, then. Talk to you next time."
The young man hung up and stepped out of the phone booth, disappearing into the crowd before long.
Three days later, at Hong Kong International Airport, the young man sat alone in the departure lounge. All he had to do now was follow the usual procedure and board his flight. So far, everything had gone smoothly. He was the only Chinese passenger on the flight he was taking, which was perhaps what surprised him most. He was boarding in Hong Kong, yet there wasn't another person from his country.
The departure lounge was fairly quiet. His flight would take him directly from Hong Kong to Tokyo, Japan. There were 367 passengers in all, not counting the crew. The young man was a little nervous, but the flight to Japan would only take a few hours. He could just sleep for a while on the plane.
Forty-five minutes later...
The plane had taken off from Hong Kong, but the young man hadn't slept at all. He kept staring out the window. He had looked several times already, but he just couldn't help himself.
Sitting beside him was an American girl. Not long after boarding, she had briefly spoken with him in Chinese. They had only exchanged a few basic questions: where he was from, why he was going to Japan, and whether he was traveling alone.
Half an hour later...
The plane began to shake violently...
An hour later...
The plane made an emergency landing on Lonely Island...
Something completely impossible had happened, and it had happened so suddenly. Then the passengers noticed something else strange: every single member of the crew had vanished. It was as if they had never existed; there wasn't even any evidence that they had been there.
If there was one word to describe what had happened, it was hallucination.
At first, everyone thought it was a hallucination. It was impossible. If there had been no pilot, how had the plane landed safely on the island?
Let's go back to the few dozen seconds before the plane landed...
No, they couldn't. Everyone had noticed the problem by then: nobody remembered what had happened before the plane landed. In fact, they had all suffered a brief bout of amnesia, forgetting everything that had happened in the preceding few dozen minutes.
Everyone started taking their luggage off the plane and looking for their checked bags. Although the young man couldn't understand what the others were saying in detail, he understood one thing: from now on, he would have to rely on himself to survive. He couldn't trust anyone else. In a situation like this, only those who accepted reality and could change it would survive.
The young man quickly began assessing the situation.
"We're on an island. We don't know yet whether there are other people here, but if the crew didn't parachute out before the plane landed, then they must be on the island somewhere. We just don't know where. Also, there were 367 passengers on the plane, but twenty-seven died in the emergency landing: six children, one baby, seven elderly people, and thirteen adults. Their bodies have been buried not far from the landing site. That leaves 340 people on the island, including me."
"We don't know how big the island is yet, but if we eat only fruit, it might be possible to live here indefinitely. Someone also spotted an animal that looked like a deer. If we can find out how many deer there are, we'll be able to estimate the island's size and determine whether there are any carnivores here."
"Next, let's assess the situation. Given that the entire crew vanished and the plane landed intact, it's very likely that all this was planned—perhaps even some kind of conspiracy. We can't be sure yet. Maybe someone wanted to murder an important person. It could also have been an alien attack, or perhaps some laboratory ran out of research materials. Anything's possible."
"Damn it! If only I had more information!" the young man shouted by the sea. There was nobody else nearby, so he could yell as loudly as he wanted.
Looking at his luggage, the young man suddenly remembered the things he'd checked in. A smile spread across his face.
Standing where he was, the young man shouted, "Whoever's behind this, your plan is doomed to fail, because I—I'll tear through your shadow!!!!!"
Five minutes later, the young man had hidden his luggage and returned to the beach where the plane had landed. The others were checking the passenger list and handing out food and water. All the checked luggage had also been brought outside the plane. Anyone could reclaim their bags by showing their ID. That was one of the reasons the young man had returned to the plane.
After finding his large bag, the young man looked around.
"Excuse me, could I bother you for a moment?" A foreign woman approached while the young man was lost in thought. He realized she was checking the passenger list. Although he couldn't communicate with her, he quickly took out his boarding pass and handed it to her. She glanced at it and gave it back. As she left, she said politely, "Thank you. Sorry to bother you."
The young man watched her walk away. Now he had to make sure he left the beach unnoticed and went to the spot he'd marked. Until he understood the situation, he couldn't trust anyone, and he couldn't let anyone suspect him, either. He had to make others think of him as weak; that would make it easier to carry out his plans.
Everyone on the beach was talking loudly about all sorts of things, but the young man knew that most of them were wondering when they'd be rescued. People were like that: even when they were on the brink of death, they still clung to hope. If they didn't rely on themselves, how many of these people would survive?
The young man had found the perfect opportunity. Taking his time, he carried his luggage away from the beach. Now he had to hide some of his more important belongings. There was no need to hide everyday items such as clothes and toiletries from the luggage bag; only the essentials needed to be concealed.
Thirty minutes later, the young man returned to the beach. The horizon was burning red, and night was almost upon them. Some people on the beach had cut down a few coconut trees and arranged them in the shape of an SOS. Perhaps a passing plane would see them.
Others were praying by the sea, asking God to help them through the disaster. But in a situation like this, God was probably the least reliable person to turn to. Those people were only trying to comfort themselves, even though they knew God couldn't hear them.
Holding his luggage, the young man now had to become what a boy his age should be: a weakling. Only then could he survive this game. Only then could he tear through the shadow hanging over Lonely Island!
(This is a prequel about Guangcheng Mingjian. At this point, he doesn't have any special abilities. He's just an ordinary person with a sharp mind. I'd originally planned to include this in the main story, but a reader asked for it, so I've made it a prequel instead. It may be fairly long—around eight chapters. I'll do my best to write it well!)