Prologue: The Problem Might Be More Complex

"Mr. Gu, your issue is perhaps a bit complex."

The air was permeated with the faint scent of disinfectant. Sitting behind his desk, the doctor—a man with graying temples wearing a white coat—spoke while holding up an X-ray to examine it.

Although he wore a mask, making his expression difficult to read, his brows were clearly furrowed.

"Based on our examinations, there is truly nothing wrong with your body. In fact, one could say you are exceptionally healthy. The sub-health conditions common in most modern people are completely absent in you; to be honest, that is truly rare."

The doctor glanced at the young man sitting before his desk. The youth had a refined, handsome face and a tall, slender build, and was currently lost in deep thought. The doctor couldn't help but nod to himself.

His complexion and skin were truly excellent; one look told you he was the type of person with a regular schedule, a healthy diet, and great self-discipline.

It was just a pity that such a healthy, strapping young man seemed to be suffering from a strange illness... yet nothing could be detected. He wondered if this was truly the case, or if it was just the patient's imagination—perhaps caused by mental or psychological factors?

"However, even though we cannot find any issues, you are indeed experiencing these symptoms, Mr. Gu. Therefore, we cannot be entirely certain. After all, we cannot rule out the possibility that our facility's conditions are limited..."

The doctor withdrew his gaze and collected his thoughts. He continued to look at the film in his hand, pondering earnestly, yet he could only offer a statement that sounded somewhat ambiguous due to its excessive caution.

"If you are still uneasy, we suggest you go elsewhere for a few follow-up examinations."

In truth, the doctor didn't want to pass the buck; it was simply that he had no way to reach a definitive conclusion. Such matters were hard to say. Even though the test results showed the patient was in perfect health with no ailments, the man appeared to be in real trouble. Under such circumstances, what doctor would dare to guarantee anything?

Should he insist there was absolutely nothing wrong? Or should he be safer, providing the test results while mentioning that he couldn't be certain, perhaps because his facility lacked the necessary equipment?

Honestly, this was an easy choice to make.

"I understand. Thank you, Doctor."

The young man opposite him seemed to have anticipated this, nodding gently before standing up.

Ten minutes later.

Stepping out of the main entrance of the city hospital, Gu Mo looked up at the sun, which still lacked any real heat, and habitually moved two steps into the shade nearby.

It was midsummer. Although he had arrived very early and the morning sun had just risen, its light was so gentle it felt devoid of heat. The summer swelter and heatwaves hadn't yet reached the point of defying logic—like baking the earth from the crack of dawn and turning the city into a high-temperature steamer.

But this wouldn't last long; he had plenty of experience with that.

Gu Mo glanced back at the hospital lobby, which was already bustling with people, and let out a long sigh. He had listened carefully to the doctor's advice—it was indeed a mature and steady suggestion, though it left him with the distinct feeling of "having heard a lot of words that meant absolutely nothing."

In short, if this kind of boilerplate talk were of any use, it wouldn't be completely useless.

—He wouldn't have ended up coming here again, either.

Because this was already the third hospital to say the same thing. The process was shockingly identical; Gu Mo even suspected they had colluded beforehand. It was always the full battery of tests, followed by being told, "The results show you are very healthy; theoretically, there are no problems..."

Yet, they never dared to guarantee anything, only offering the polite suggestion that "if you are worried," you "could" go check elsewhere.

From the moment he first discovered the problem, he had gone to a standard hospital for a check-up. When they couldn't determine what was wrong, he switched to a larger hospital, only for them to be equally uncertain and suggest he look elsewhere.

And so, here he was, at this time on this morning.

The city he lived in was a major one, and the standard of the municipal hospital was naturally beyond reproach. Even if it wasn't the absolute top tier, it certainly wasn't second or third-rate, yet it still proved useless.

They couldn't even determine what his problem was, or if a problem even existed—the most basic requirement of all.

Although he had a vague premonition and, given his last two experiences, hadn't held much hope, it was impossible to have no thoughts at all. Gu Mo was still somewhat disappointed... or perhaps, his anxiety had only deepened.

Looking at the paperwork in his hand, Gu Mo sighed again, tore it into shreds, and dropped it into a nearby trash can. Having done this, he stepped out and hailed a taxi by the roadside.

Sitting in the taxi, watching the scenery outside the window slowly recede, a buzzing sound suddenly rang in his ears.

"Zzz... %￥#@&... Zzz... $#%&@..."

It sounded like electrical interference, mixed with the harsh, grating noise of an old-fashioned radio.

He remained expressionless, not even twitching a brow. He didn't show a thing, merely reaching up to pick at his ear as if it were a casual gesture, while using his other hand to pull out his phone and glance down.

There were no new messages, but the time displayed on the illuminated screen was the real point.

--07:00

Exactly seven in the morning. It was truly an early hour; he had taken a taxi to register and wait in line before the sky had even fully brightened.

Time was running out...

There wasn't much time left today...

Although it was still early, a sense of urgency surged in Gu Mo's heart. He quickly calculated the time he had left for the day, then looked up and couldn't help but tap the back of the driver's seat.

"Driver, could you please drive a bit faster? I'm in a hurry, thank you."

"You got it."

The driver replied obligingly, but for the next half-minute, the vehicle maintained its steady, unhurried pace, moving along the road at a constant speed with no apparent intention of accelerating.

"..."

"..."

"You got it?" You got nothing.

Gu Mo twitched the corner of his mouth but didn't say anything more.

Forget it. In any case, there was still nearly an hour left, which should be plenty of time to get home. He didn't need to worry about falling asleep in the car. As long as there wasn't a traffic jam, there shouldn't be any problems...

He turned his head to continue watching the scenery outside the window, trying to comfort himself, yet his heart grew increasingly anxious and depressed.

It had been about a week since he started experiencing some rather serious problems.

Gu Mo remembered that night; he was playing games with friends, and the time was exactly midnight. At the very moment the new day arrived, he suddenly heard a harsh, jarring noise in his headset, like electricity surging through it or a poor signal interfering with the voice channel.

His first reaction was that the headset had short-circuited, which gave him such a fright that he ripped it off immediately.

Furthermore, after the sound vanished, he didn't dare use that headset again.

After that, the situation became bizarre; he would hear that strange, noisy static exactly once every hour. It was a precise cycle, repeating every sixty minutes on the hour, not a second more or less.

He realized something was wrong with him, but before he could do anything about it, he lost consciousness at exactly eight o'clock in the morning.

Then, he didn't wake up again until midnight arrived.

For the week that followed, this process repeated itself. Gu Mo had to sleep for sixteen hours every day, leaving him with only eight hours of wakefulness. He would always wake up at midnight and lose consciousness promptly at eight in the morning.

Moreover, between midnight and eight in the morning, every hour, Gu Mo would hear that buzzing, static-like noise. It was a sound only he could hear, as if it were resonating deep within his mind, striking and darting across his cerebral cortex like a series of nerve impulses.

Naturally, no one could accept such a situation with a calm heart.

Gu Mo was no exception. He also felt that something might be wrong with his body, perhaps a central nervous system disorder, so he had been rushing between hospitals during this time. Unfortunately, none of the hospitals could give him any peace of mind.

Recalling the identical conclusions given by every hospital, he didn't even know what to say.

The air inside the taxi was stifling. The driver had tried telling a few jokes at first, but since the passenger was in no mood to respond, he soon fell silent, and time ticked away second by second.

Finally, the car stopped in front of a residential complex.

"Keep the change, driver."

"Alright, thank you."

A frustrated Gu Mo waved his hand, having no interest in haggling over small change, and was about to turn away. However, at that very moment, he saw a flash of red suddenly appear above the taxi driver's head, and a few strange things seemed to float past...

Objects?

Or something else?

Gu Mo wasn't sure if he had seen it wrong.

"Dri—"

Before he could call out to stop him, he had subconsciously reached out his hand, only to watch the driver slam on the gas. The vehicle sped away a considerable distance, and in the blink of an eye, it disappeared around the corner of the street ahead.

Perhaps he had grown accustomed to the slow speed of the taxi, but seeing it depart so rapidly left him unable to react, and he stood there in a daze.

When he asked him to drive faster earlier, he had been dawdling; why was he so fast now? Was his nerve reflex arc too long, taking this long to register?

He pondered for a moment and looked around. Since it was still quite early, there were few people in the complex, and the area downstairs was quiet and empty. Gu Mo hesitated slightly, then raised his phone to check the time.

--07:49

Damn! There's no time left!

His face darkened. He decisively cast the previous incident to the back of his mind, turned around, and walked quickly into the complex.

He hurried upstairs, opened the door, entered the apartment, ate something as quickly as possible, and checked the electrical appliances, doors, and windows. By then, the remaining time had already entered the countdown phase... He went into his bedroom and lay on the bed in his most comfortable position.

After all, having spent a week figuring out the pattern, he naturally knew what he should do now.

Time ticked away, and the moment the time on his phone hit exactly eight o'clock, Gu Mo heard that strange, jarring noise right on schedule.

In the next second, an unreasonable, overwhelming wave of sleepiness surged over him. He lost all perception of the outside world, and the entire world drifted away from him.

Yet, in his unconscious mind, that seemingly meaningless, pure static noise continued to echo through his nerves. It was mixed with a harsh, buzzing sound like electrical interference. However, as the rustling static rolled by, fragmented, broken pieces gradually became clearer.

It was like an old radio being tuned, and although the interference was still severe, he could gradually distinguish a bit of useful information.

"Bzz... To protect... bzz... physical and mental health, users under 18 years of age will be restricted by the Anti-Addiction System. Your online time today... has reached 8 hours. Forced logout... login restricted... please complete... bzz... Real-Name Verification as soon as possible..."

(PS: New author, new book, please be kind.)