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"The power's out?"
Chen Xu was somewhat surprised. In the two years since he'd moved here, there hadn't been a power outage.
It seemed to have started the year they checked for environmental compliance. Many high-pollution and high-energy-consuming factories were shut down. Since then, there had been no power restrictions.
As he thought about this, he went downstairs, intending to buy some bread and milk at the cake shop on the street corner.
If he had a choice, he preferred eating something hot for breakfast. Unfortunately, a bun shop down the street had moved away a few months ago because the rent went up too steeply.
As soon as he stepped onto the street, he felt something was off.
Where was everyone?
The entire street was deserted.
It was the peak hour for commuting, and with over a dozen buildings on this street, there must be at least a few hundred, if not a thousand people living here. Normally, at this time, many would be rushing to work—
Something was wrong!
Chen Xu's mind exploded with the realization of a possibility.
Could this be inside a dream?
Thinking of this, the briefcase in his hand dropped to the ground with a thud.
He stared at the empty street before him, too shocked to speak.
After a while, he murmured, "I should have thought of this sooner."
It was indeed a hundred percent virtual reality.
There were no dazzling light effects or breathtaking grand scenes. Yet everything, in every way, was indistinguishable from reality. Upon waking, he had no idea he was already inside a dream.
He pinched the back of his hand lightly, feeling the slight pain clearly.
"Even pain was fully simulated. Was this truly inside a dream?"
His conviction wavered a little.
His mind in turmoil, he grabbed his briefcase off the ground and ran forward.
On the empty street, he occasionally saw phones, wallets, and keys on the ground. Ignoring them, he kept running to the end of the street, turning at the corner to reach the main road.
He stopped, standing at the street entrance, staring at the road ahead.
Various cars were parked along the road. Most of the shops on either side had their doors open, seemingly no different from usual.
The only difference was the absence of people, not a single one.
He walked step by step to the bus stop. At this time of day, it would be crowded with people waiting to take the bus. Now, only a pile of phones, wallets, keys, and various bags remained on the ground.
"The people had vanished, but the things remained?"
Seeing the items littering the ground made his scalp tingle as he guessed the dream's setup. At some specific moment, perhaps right when he woke up, everyone here vanished simultaneously, leaving their belongings in place.
It was as if someone had pressed a pause button and then erased the people.
No, that wasn't right.
Eyeing the parked vehicles on the road, he thought it should have been more like a freeze button.
Otherwise, these vehicles, in motion when the drivers disappeared, would have crashed into each other due to their inertia long ago.
"No matter what, I should get to the company first."
After standing there for a while, he felt it would be more reassuring to head to the company.
But how to get there?
Glancing at the bus parked a dozen meters away, he felt perplexed. Would he have to walk the whole way? Seven or eight stops, and it would take him over an hour.
Suddenly, a thought struck him. If people disappeared and things remained, then the car keys should still be there.
Approaching a nearby car, he peered inside through the window and, sure enough, the keys were still in the ignition.
…
Chen Xu was driving a black Volkswagen, slowly heading in the direction of his company.
There were too many vehicles on the road, especially before intersections with traffic lights, where cars often clogged the way entirely. In such cases, he could only drive onto the sidewalk.
He had obtained his driver's license during his senior year of college but rarely drove, leaving his skills very rusty. As he drove on the sidewalk, the car scraped several times, and the back door got scratched out of shape.
However, at that moment, he was too preoccupied with observing the surroundings to worry about that.
When the car stopped in front of the company building, he was certain this was indeed a dream.
Though not in the CBD, there were several office buildings nearby, a commercial street next door, and a few large shopping malls with massive foot traffic daily, especially during the morning rush hour.
Now, the entire road was silent, not a single person in sight. Besides the engine noise from the car he was driving, there wasn't a hint of any other sound.
The silence was unsettling.
Chen Xu released the steering wheel, rubbed his face vigorously, and sighed, "This isn't what I imagined."
Entering a dream should at least involve some sort of ritualistic process.
At the very least, there should have been some mental preparation.
Who would have thought this system wouldn't play by the rules, throwing him right into the dream as soon as he opened his eyes?
It was so realistic, so real that he couldn't discern whether he was in a dream or the real world.
To be honest, driving over here and seeing the empty cars on the road, the empty streets, and the empty shops on either side, truly made his hair stand on end. It was completely unlike what he had imagined.
"Never mind, since I'm here, I might as well think about how to get through the next 180 days." Chen Xu patted his face, dismissing these chaotic thoughts. He opened his briefcase, taking out paper and pen, and began writing while leaning on the steering wheel.
If he didn't find something to do at this moment, he wouldn't be able to hold up.
He focused his mind, organizing his thoughts.
First was water and food. The most pressing issues were eating and drinking.
He wrote these two words on the first line.
The water problem was nothing to worry about. Every supermarket had loads of bottled mineral water, and he wouldn't use up all the water in this city in a lifetime.
Besides, bottled mineral water usually had a shelf life of about a year, so there was no concern about it going bad.
The hassle was with food. Staple foods like rice and flour, which had a long shelf life, were manageable. Meat and vegetables couldn't be preserved for long, especially meat, which spoiled in a day or two in this weather.
"Right, I need to gather enough meat to preserve first, otherwise I'll be stuck eating canned food every day."
As a carnivore, Chen Xu couldn't tolerate days with no meat to eat. He wrote down 'meat' and 'vegetables' on the second line and began taking action.
To find a large quantity of fresh meat, one might generally consider a meat market or a supermarket. However, Chen Xu went to the finest restaurant near his company.
In his view, the best place for a base of operations wasn't a high-priced villa or a supermarket but a restaurant. Ideally, it should be a higher-end restaurant, as it would have ready-made ingredients and a complete variety, saving him the trouble of seeking them out at a market.
More importantly, larger restaurants had cold storage rooms, perfect for preserving meat.
Additionally, the surrounding facilities were complete, with several large supermarkets nearby where all daily necessities could be found.
Such a place was simply perfect for a base of operations.
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