A Blind Spot in Plain Sight

At some point, an urban-legend-like rumor began circulating online. It claimed that people would occasionally encounter a strange virus pop-up containing phrases like "the true meaning of life," "Infinite Worlds," and "yes or no"—

And once they selected yes, their souls would be taken away by the entity behind this urban legend.

Of course, it sounded like one of those old internet-era prank rumors on the same level as "Santa Claus puts presents in good children's stockings," "summoning the pen fairy," or "the extra thirteenth stair." No one had paid much attention to it in the first place.

A well-known joke was usually nothing more than a joke.

But as more and more scattered fragments of evidence were pieced together, and people gradually became certain that this "joke" was not merely an urban legend collectively created in relay, but something more like "the real thing disguised as a fake"—

Even if invisible hands on online platforms were exerting pressure, there were always ways to get around certain dissemination restrictions.

After all, no one was actually stupid.

However, after noticing that truth and realizing that everything online still appeared perfectly calm, more and more people in the know quietly covered their tracks, like hedgehogs curling up and hiding in their burrows.

Even though beneath that seemingly unchanged "calm," peace had long since become impossible.

Anyone with eyes could see it. It was merely a furnace that looked mostly normal on the outside while boiling endlessly within, waiting for the pressure to rise bit by bit, waiting for the moment it could no longer bear the load and burst into "popcorn."

In the end, those frog-boiling changes were almost all gathered beneath some invisible "gaze," converging before the decision-makers like rivers flowing into the sea—

It was enough to make one sigh.