Prologue: The Problem Might Be Complicated

"Mr. Gu, your problem might be rather complicated."

The faint scent of disinfectant hung in the air. Sitting behind his desk, the doctor in a white coat, his temples slightly gray, held up the scan in his hand and examined it as he spoke.

Though his mask obscured his expression, the furrow in his brow was clearly visible.

"Based on our examinations, there truly seems to be nothing wrong with your body. You could even be described as extremely healthy. You don't show any of the suboptimal health conditions common among modern people. To be honest, that's very rare."

The doctor sized up the young man seated across from his desk, who wore a thoughtful expression. He had refined features and a tall, slender build, and the doctor could not help nodding to himself.

His complexion was truly excellent. One look was enough to tell that he maintained a regular schedule, ate healthily, and was highly disciplined.

What a shame. He was clearly such a healthy young man, yet he seemed to suffer from some strange illness... But nothing could be found through examination. The doctor did not even know whether such a condition truly existed, or whether it was merely the man's imagination—perhaps caused by some mental or psychological issue.

"However, although we haven't been able to find any problems, Mr. Gu, you have indeed been experiencing these symptoms. So we can't be entirely certain, since we can't rule out the possibility that our facilities are limited..."

The doctor withdrew his gaze and gathered his thoughts. Still studying the scans in his hand, he considered the matter seriously before offering a somewhat ambiguous answer, one made so by excessive caution.

"If you're still concerned, we recommend getting checked again elsewhere."

The doctor did not want to pass the buck either. The main issue was that he truly could not make a definite diagnosis. This sort of thing was difficult to judge. According to the test results, that was simply how it was—the other man's body was in excellent condition, without a single problem. Yet he did seem to be experiencing some trouble... Under such circumstances, what doctor would dare guarantee anything?

Should he insist that there was absolutely nothing wrong? Or should he be more prudent, give the test results, and add that nothing could be determined with complete certainty—perhaps this hospital simply lacked the means to detect the issue?

Honestly, that was an easy choice.

"I understand. Thank you, Doctor."

The young man across from him seemed to have expected this. He nodded lightly, then rose to his feet.

Ten minutes later.

As Gu Mo walked out of the city hospital's entrance, he glanced up at the sun overhead, which still carried little warmth, then habitually shifted two steps into the shade beside him.

It was midsummer. Although he had arrived early, and the morning sun had only just risen, its light so gentle it seemed to contain no heat at all, the summer heat and waves of hot air had not yet become so unreasonable as to start baking the earth at dawn and turn the city into a sweltering furnace.

But that would not last long. He knew that from experience.

Gu Mo glanced back at the hospital's first-floor lobby, which was already filling with people, then let out a long sigh. He had listened carefully to the doctor's explanation. It was indeed mature and prudent advice, giving him the distinct feeling of having heard a lot without learning anything.

Simply put, if that kind of stock answer were even slightly useful, it would not be completely useless.

—Otherwise, he would not have come here again.

This was already the third hospital to tell him the same thing. The process had been astonishingly identical every time, to the point that Gu Mo suspected they had coordinated beforehand. They always put him through a full examination, then told him, "The results show that you are in excellent health. In theory, there is no problem..."

Yet they never dared guarantee anything. All they could do was tactfully suggest that "if he was still concerned," he "could" go somewhere else for another examination.

After discovering the problem, he had gone to a regular hospital for tests and diagnosis. The hospital could not determine what was wrong, so he went to a larger hospital. The result was still the same—they could not determine the problem and could only tactfully advise him to seek another opinion elsewhere.

That was why Gu Mo had appeared here this morning.

The city where he lived was also a major one, and the municipal hospital's standards were naturally beyond question. Even if it was not among the absolute best, it was certainly not second- or third-rate. Yet it had proved equally useless.

It could not even determine the most basic thing: what was wrong with him, or whether anything was truly wrong at all.

Though he had already sensed what was coming, and despite having learned from his previous two experiences not to hold much hope this time either, it was impossible for him to have no expectations whatsoever. Gu Mo was somewhat disappointed... or rather, even more anxious.

Looking at the receipt in his hand, Gu Mo sighed again. He casually tore it to pieces and tossed them into the trash can beside him. Once he had done that, he strode out to the roadside and flagged down a taxi.

Sitting in the taxi and watching the scenery outside slowly slide backward, he suddenly heard a buzzing sound in his ears again.

"Bzzz... %￥#@&... bzzz... $#%&@..."

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

His face remained expressionless. He did not even frown or show any reaction. He merely reached up and casually picked at his ear while taking out his phone with his other hand and glancing down at it.

There were no new messages, but the time displayed on the lit screen was what truly mattered.

—07:00

It was exactly seven in the morning, truly an early hour. It could be said that before dawn had even broken, Gu Mo had already taken a taxi here to register and wait in line.

There was not much time left...

There was not much time left today...

Though it was still early, a sense of urgency welled up uncontrollably inside Gu Mo. He quickly calculated how much time remained for him today, then looked up and could not help patting the back of the driver's seat in front of him.

"Driver, please go a little faster. I'm in a hurry. Thank you."

"Sure thing."

The driver readily agreed. Yet after nearly half a minute had passed, the moving taxi still traveled along as steadily as ever, advancing down the road at a consistent speed without the slightest sign of accelerating.

"..."

"..."

Sure thing? Sure thing, my ass.

Gu Mo twitched the corner of his mouth but said nothing more.

Forget it. There was still nearly an hour left, which should be more than enough for him to get home. He did not need to worry about falling asleep in the taxi. As long as there was no traffic jam...

He turned his head and continued watching the scenery outside, comforting himself like this, though the anxiety and frustration in his heart only grew stronger.

It had probably started a week ago. He had begun experiencing some fairly serious problems.

Gu Mo remembered that night. He had been gaming online with friends, and it had been exactly midnight. Around the instant the new day began, he suddenly heard a burst of piercing static through his headset. It sounded like electrical current passing through it, or like the signal was poor and the voice channel had been disrupted.

His first reaction had been to think that the headset was suddenly leaking electricity. He had been startled and immediately ripped it off.

Even after the sound disappeared, he had not dared use that headset again.

After that, things became exceptionally bizarre. Basically, every hour, he would hear that strange static noise. The cycle was exact—once every sixty minutes, at every hour on the dot, never early and never late.

He realized that something was wrong with him, but before he could do anything, he directly lost consciousness at eight in the morning.

Then, he did not wake up again until midnight arrived.

For the following week, the process had repeated itself. Gu Mo slept for a full sixteen hours every day and was awake for only eight. He always woke at midnight and lost consciousness precisely at eight in the morning.

And between midnight and eight in the morning, Gu Mo heard that static-like buzzing every hour. It was a sound only he could hear, as if it rang directly in the depths of his mind, crashing and racing through every part of his cerebral cortex like a neural reflex.

Naturally, no one faced with such a situation could calmly accept it.

Gu Mo was no different. He also thought there might be something wrong with his body, perhaps even some kind of central nervous system disorder. That was why he had spent this period running back and forth between hospitals. Unfortunately, no hospital had been able to put his mind at ease.

Thinking of the identical conclusions every hospital had given him, he did not even know what to say.

The air in the taxi was somewhat stifling. At first, the driver had tried telling a few jokes, but since his passenger was not in the mood to respond, he soon fell silent as well. Time passed second by second.

At last, the car stopped in front of a residential complex.

"Keep the change."

"Sure thing. Thanks."

Gu Mo, in a foul mood, waved a hand. He had no interest in quibbling over a little change and was about to turn away when, in that instant, he saw a flash of red suddenly appear above the taxi driver's head, along with several strange...

Things?

Or something else?

Gu Mo could not tell whether he had seen it wrong.

"Driv—"

Before he could call out to stop him, he instinctively reached out his hand and watched helplessly as the driver slammed on the accelerator. The taxi shot forward a considerable distance and vanished around the corner of the street ahead in the blink of an eye.

Perhaps because he had just grown accustomed to the taxi's slow pace, seeing it leave so abruptly and quickly left Gu Mo unable to react for a moment. He stood there blankly.

When I told him to go faster, he dragged his feet. Why was he suddenly in such a hurry now? Did his reflex arc take that long to kick in?

He pondered it for a moment and looked around. Perhaps because it was still fairly early, there were not many people in the complex. The area beneath the buildings was quiet and empty. Gu Mo hesitated briefly, then raised his phone and checked the time again.

—07:49

Damn it! There's no time left!

His face darkened. He decisively threw the incident from his mind, turned around, and hurried into the residential complex.

He quickly went upstairs, unlocked his door, entered his home, ate something as fast as possible, then checked the appliances, doors, and windows. By then, the remaining time had practically entered its final countdown... and he had returned to his bedroom, lying on his bed in the most comfortable position possible.

After a week, he had already figured out the pattern. Naturally, he knew what he should do now.

Time ticked away second by second. At the instant the last second on his phone passed and the time reached exactly eight o'clock, Gu Mo heard that strange static sound start up right on schedule, just as expected.

In the next second, an overwhelming drowsiness surged over him without warning. He immediately lost all perception of the outside world, and the entire world receded from him.

Even after he lost consciousness, the seemingly meaningless noise continued echoing through the nerves in his mind. Mixed with the piercing hiss of electrical interference, it was unbearable to hear. Yet as the rustling static swept past, fragmented pieces gradually began to become clear.

It was like an old radio slowly tuning its frequency. Though the interference remained severe, he could gradually make out a little useful information.

"Bzzz... In order to protect... bzzz... the physical and mental health of users, users under the age of eighteen will be subject to restrictions imposed by the Anti-Addiction System. Your online time today... has reached eight hours. Forced logout... login restricted... Please complete... bzzz... Real-Name Verification as soon as possible..."

(PS: New author, new book. Please go easy on me.)