A Cold Sweat

Gao Jing turned on his computer, connected the data cable, and copied out the footage recorded by the GoPro.

He had gotten his GoPro from Uncle Fang as well. Though it was second-hand, it was this year's newest model, in excellent condition and more than a third cheaper than a brand-new one.

It had even come with two spare batteries and accessories.

Earlier, Gao Jing had hung the GoPro from his shoulder, recording his entire first exploration of the Great World.

His laptop, which had accompanied him for six years, creaked and groaned as it played the footage once.

The fourteen-inch screen was too small to truly display the breathtaking sights of the Great World, yet frame after frame still set Gao Jing's heart surging.

Especially the brief dozen-odd seconds when he fought the black giant spider—watching it now still left him with lingering fear!

Although his first trip had yielded nothing and exposed him to quite a few dangers, Gao Jing's determination had not wavered in the slightest.

His current exploration of the Great World did not even amount to a drop in the ocean.

After watching the footage, Gao Jing pondered for a moment, then got up and left his rented room.

Riding his beloved battered motorcycle, he returned to the Wilderness Hunter outdoor equipment store on Pude Road.

It was already noon, and when he arrived, he happened to see Uncle Fang locking the shop door.

Gao Jing quickly called out, "Uncle Fang."

Uncle Fang turned at the sound. The moment he saw him, he smiled. "Xiao Gao, you're back?"

Gao Jing chuckled without explaining that he had not gone back to his hometown at all.

After parking his motorcycle, he said, "Uncle Fang, I need to buy a few more things."

"You haven't had lunch yet, right?"

Uncle Fang waved his hand. "Let's grab a bite first. We'll talk after we eat."

Gao Jing did not stand on ceremony with him. The two had lunch together at a small restaurant nearby.

Once they returned to the store, Gao Jing explained why he had come. "Uncle Fang, is that drone still here? I'll take it."

Uncle Fang was momentarily stunned. "You mean that Mavic 2?"

Gao Jing nodded firmly. "Yes."

The Great World was simply too vast.

He had no idea whether he could even make it out of the forest. While he could use a compass inside, he had no clue which direction was truly the right one.

Or, rather, which direction was safer.

Under such circumstances, having a drone would be far more convenient.

Uncle Fang hesitated before gently trying to dissuade him. "Xiao Gao, the drone I took in isn't cheap. If you just want to play around with one, you'd be better off buying an entry-level model."

His outdoor shop also dealt in second-hand goods. Not long ago, he had taken in a batch of items, including a professional Mavic 2.

The seller had been a rich second-generation kid who had bought a full set of outdoor gear on a whim. After joining a group outing twice, he had lost interest and bundled everything together for Uncle Fang.

The GoPro 8 Gao Jing used had been part of that batch.

"Name your price."

Gao Jing said without hesitation, "I need a good one."

When he had come to Uncle Fang's shop to buy gear last time, he had seen this drone and asked about it.

So he knew the details.

This Mavic 2 had only flown a few times and was practically brand-new. Most importantly, it had been unlocked. An expert had flashed its firmware, removing its internal GPS positioning and altitude restrictions.

That was extremely important. Otherwise, if he bought a brand-new drone with a height limit of only a few hundred meters, it would not even be able to fly above the treetops in the Great World. It would have no place to show its abilities.

Besides, there was no GPS signal in the Great World.

And expensive things had their reasons for being expensive. Its performance would certainly be much stronger. This concerned life, death, success, and failure—he could not bear to spend money at a time like this.

"All right, then..."

Uncle Fang said, "This Mavic 2 comes with a remote controller that has a screen. With the Fly More Combo, JD.com sells it for more than fifteen thousand. Give me ten thousand and take it."

Gao Jing knew that was already an incredibly fair price. Uncle Fang was not making much from it, so he readily scanned the code and paid.

Only a few thousand remained in his account, so he used Huabei for the payment.

Exploring the Great World alone meant keeping his head tucked into his belt. What did it matter if he spent a little money on credit?

The greatest tragedy in life was when the money remained, but the person was gone!

After packing up the full Mavic 2 set, Uncle Fang was still a little worried as Gao Jing was leaving. He reminded him, "Be careful. Don't mess around with it in the city."

In recent years, quite a few people had been caught for illegal drone flights.

"Don't worry."

Gao Jing rode off on his motorcycle after bidding Uncle Fang farewell, heading to the far outskirts dozens of kilometers away to practice.

He had flown drones before, so he was not a complete beginner.

Although the flashed Mavic 2 was somewhat harder to control, after draining three flight batteries, Gao Jing had more or less grasped the fundamentals.

He wrapped up and went home.

He ordered takeout for dinner. While charging the flight batteries, Gao Jing once again browsed through the footage on his computer.

This time, he did not rewatch the entire video from beginning to end. Instead, he fast-forwarded from time to time, picking out the parts that interested him.

As he watched, an idea suddenly came to Gao Jing.

A rather thrilling idea.

The Copper Anchor hanging against his chest silently lit up at the same time, its glow flashing out and vanishing in an instant.

Gao Jing did not notice.

He rubbed his chin, unable to suppress the impulse in his heart, and opened a simple video-editing program installed on his computer.

Using the software, he clipped out a section of the footage, exactly sixty seconds long.

Then he logged onto Bilibili.

Gao Jing had been a longtime Bilibili user. He had once been a freeloader, but before this year's Spring Festival, Bilibili had run a promotion—buy one, get one free—and he had topped up for a premium membership.

He had lived frugally in the past. Apart from entertaining clients with food, drink, and fun for work, he had little entertainment in his ordinary life. He often went online to watch livestreams and novels, scrolling through QuickSound Video for amusement.

In Bilibili's creator center, Gao Jing uploaded the footage he had just clipped.

He set it under the animation category, selected original production as the type, casually added a tag, and then came the final—and most important—title...

Three-Year Animation Graduation Project!

He added no text or BGM. It was as simple as that.

Bilibili's review queue showed congestion, with the estimated approval time exceeding two hours.

Gao Jing did not care.

Nor did he realize that his thinking was being influenced by some kind of force.

If it had been just one day earlier, Gao Jing would never have bought the Mavic 2 at such a high price on Huabei credit just to save a little time and trouble.

And he certainly would never have uploaded a video that might plant a mine beneath his own feet.

Having completed his first exploration of the Great World and gone through a thrilling battle, another side buried deep within Gao Jing's personality was being awakened by that force.

It caused the track of his life to turn!

Setting his laptop aside, Gao Jing removed the necklace from around his neck and held the Copper Anchor up to the light for inspection.

The longer he wore it, the more mysterious his feelings toward this strange object became.

It was like a part of his own body, connected by flesh and blood, impossible to separate—yet its endless mysteries remained beyond his grasp.

Suddenly, Gao Jing frowned.

He noticed that several of the Silver Scales around the dragon-serpent head and neck on the anchor's shaft were gone.

No!

To be precise, several Silver Scales had turned bronze, becoming exactly the same color and texture as most of the scales.

Gao Jing remembered carefully counting them yesterday. There had been thirteen Silver Scales in total.

Now, only nine remained.

Four were missing!

As for the Copper Scales, there were at least two or three hundred of them, so he had never counted them carefully.

He had counted the Silver Scales before he had accidentally crossed into the Great World for the first time. Now, he had traveled back and forth exactly four times.

Four scales?

Four trips!

Gao Jing's expression immediately turned grave.

Did that mean one Silver Scale represented one chance to teleport, with one scale disappearing each time it was used?

If he described it as battery power, then each teleportation consumed one bar.

What would happen once all the "battery power" was used up?

The more he thought about it, the more terrifying it became!

Gao Jing broke out in a cold sweat.

If his guess was correct, then if he unknowingly used up all his teleportation chances...

He would be trapped in the Great World, unable to return!

Because the number of Silver Scales was odd!!!

Gao Jing could not help drawing a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.

Discovering this now was actually a good thing. At least he could prepare for it.

The greatest blessing was that he had not teleported around carelessly before. If his speculation was right, he could still make four round trips at the very least.

A new question arose.

Could the Copper Anchor be "charged," restoring the "battery power" it had consumed?

If so, how was it supposed to be charged?

And what was its energy source?

Electrical energy? Thermal energy? Solar energy? Nuclear energy?

Just thinking about it gave Gao Jing a headache.

He simply stopped thinking about it for the moment and put the Copper Anchor necklace back on.

Gao Jing went to bed very early that night. Before eight o'clock, he was already lying down, and he soon fell asleep.

The room was pitch-black after the lights were switched off.

No one knew how much time had passed when the Copper Anchor against Gao Jing's chest suddenly lit up again with a faint glow.

It flashed out and vanished just as before.

A moment later, it flashed again. Then, several minutes afterward, it flashed a third time, a fourth time...

Sometimes fast, sometimes slow, with no pattern to follow, yet the flashes came more and more frequently!

But Gao Jing, deep in sleep, was utterly unaware of it.

PS: A friendly reminder—uploading a short video will not get you surrounded and arrested by an army of millions, nor will mad scientists in white robes tie you to an operating table and dissect you. Professionals who cannot tell what it is will only suspect that some new technology or software was used. There are countless bizarre and mysterious videos on the internet, so do not imagine the consequences to be so severe.

Also, this is a very important piece of foreshadowing. No spoilers.