The sky looked particularly terrifying with its eerie and twisted appearance.
Gray was the main color of this world, with tall gray buildings, gray alloy ground, gray transport vehicles, gray skies, and three immense gray spheres hanging in the sky.
This was a metal world that was already dead.
This should be a ruin, right?
Walking in the silent steel jungle, I couldn't help but think that, but unlike the ruins in my impression, there were no signs of damage here. At least from the outside, these cold steel surfaces had no scars. It didn't seem like they were abandoned due to severe destruction but rather entered a state of hibernation, a sleeping giant beast—that was a more fitting name I came up with.
This sleeping world was so silent that the sound of footsteps became the only sound in my ears. After walking for an unknown period, I finally felt a bit tired, so I sat down in a place that looked like a platform for some kind of flying tool.
There was still some time before leaving here, so out of boredom, I began to look at the three enormous metal spheres in the sky again. They were so immense that they occupied almost one-third of the sky. On their surfaces, countless sharp protrusions and grid-like textures could be faintly seen, giving the impression of massive planetary fortresses from a sci-fi movie—to be honest, everything in this world was more sci-fi than any sci-fi movie.
I kept staring at those planet-like giant metal spheres in the sky until the oppressive feeling they gave me forced me to look away.
I felt that they seemed closer to the ground.
In fact, they were indeed continuously approaching the ground. When I first came here, they were just three small black dots hanging high in the sky. But each time I entered this world, they would get closer to the ground. Sometimes significantly, sometimes just a tiny bit, so subtle that if you didn't look carefully, you couldn't tell if they had moved, but I knew they were always descending. Maybe one day they would touch the ground, and I wondered if this world would change then. I was quite looking forward to it out of boredom.
"Still haven't found it..." A voice suddenly echoed throughout the sky, and then the entire world began to shake violently. I knew it was time to leave.
"Ring ring ring..." A harsh alarm clock sound woke me from my deep dream. I struggled to open my eyes, shaking my groggy head hard. It took a moment for my vision to stabilize, and after a long time, I finally woke up from that bizarre dream.
A bizarre dream...
I didn't know since when I had been having this bizarre dream, walking alone in a dead metal world in the dream. The surroundings looked like a future world, with an end-of-the-world-like desolate atmosphere. But despite the oppressive surroundings, I didn't feel any panic in the dream. It was as if everything was familiar to me. Every time the dream ended, a voice would always sound, saying, "Still haven't found it..." in a seemingly disappointed voice.
But till now, this voice wouldn't tell me what it was looking for...
What was this voice searching for? Or was it hoping I would find something?
Unfortunately, I never found the answer in the dream.
I never told anyone about this dream. Although I didn't know what it meant, my intuition always told me that this dream had an unusual significance, and rashly revealing this secret would bring me great trouble.
"Monday..." I muttered, reluctantly crawling out from the covers. The early winter weather made me shiver, but I finally managed to resist the warmth of the bed because if I didn't hurry, I would surely be late for class—I had to at least show up once before the dean forgot what I looked like.
I, Chen Jun, a senior high school student, an orphan, had no parents or siblings. I was adopted by a merchant couple when I was young. After my adoptive parents passed away, it was just my elder sister, five years older than me but not related by blood, and me relying on each other. Life was as bland as a cup of water. The only fortunate thing was that this cup of water wasn't cold: My sister and I inherited a substantial legacy from our adoptive parents, making our life not as difficult as other orphans. My sister, who managed the household on her own from a young age, treated me well. At least I could still feel the warmth of home.
While still pondering whether last night's dream was different from usual, my sister's voice called from outside the door, "Ah Jun, are you up? It's late!"
"Oh, I'm coming out!" I responded, quickly tidying the bed, putting on clothes, wearing socks, taking off the left sock and putting it on the right foot, then suddenly realizing socks had no difference—finally, I scrambled to open the door. You can see how lively my morning was.
Standing outside was a pretty girl with long hair, wearing a simple house dress, smiling, holding a spatula and a knife—this dangerous habit of hers still hadn't changed.
This was my adoptive sister, Chen Qian, five years older than me. Although she looked like a fragile girl, having managed the family and raised a brother like me from such a young age, you could imagine her strength. From various aspects, I felt my sister was probably the strongest creature in the world, no exception... This was learned from experience growing up.
"What is it, Ah Jun? Is there something on my face?" Maybe feeling a bit embarrassed from my stare, my sister's face turned red, and then she asked awkwardly.
"Oh, nothing. I was thinking... I'm going to school!"
"Wait—you haven't had breakfast..."
"No time, I gotta go!"
Canglan Private High School, a veritable noble school, with high expenses and excellent teaching quality far surpassing ordinary public schools. This made the renowned noble school a place ordinary civilian students couldn't even dream of. Students here were either descendants of billionaires or children of influential officials or super-geniuses famous nationwide—after all, a school's development couldn't rely solely on money; some brilliant students were also indispensable. In short, this school was like a perfect setting for an idol drama, complete with Cinderella and Prince Charming at every corner. If the school were in South Korea, they wouldn't need to recruit actors; it could directly be used as a movie base.
I'm explaining so much about this school because I'm studying... in the school opposite it...
K City Second High School, my alma mater, exuded an air of the countryside even from its name. In all aspects, it was as ordinary as it could be. Compared to the opposite Canglan Private High School, which looked like a royal garden, it was like comparing Paris to Changli. The students here were quite ordinary, too. Most of us didn't even know the names of the clothes the students on the opposite side wore daily, making these two contrasting schools separated by just a street one of the famous scenes here.
I was one of the students here. Although my sister and I were financially quite well-off, we were still far from Canglan's admission standards. My brain, which relied mostly on guessing for multiple-choice questions and scribbling for fill-in-the-blanks, didn't seem capable of being recruited as an elite student...
"Ah Jun!" A crisp voice called from behind. I turned my head and saw a petite girl with short hair running towards me. The hem of her skirt fluttered and her hair flew, like a little white flower spinning in the spring breeze, although the wind was a bit strong.
This running girl was Xu Qianqian, one of my best friends, a childhood neighbor. But after entering middle school, her family moved to another part of the city, and we had fewer chances to meet. However, this didn't affect the relationship between Qianqian and me. When we discovered we both chose this school, which combined both middle and high school departments, we were pleasantly surprised. Again, we shared the daily routine of going to school together, as we did before. According to general development, such a childhood friend had an eighty percent chance of becoming my lover, securing my future—the fact was, we both thought so too. But for some reason, we never progressed further, maintaining a relationship somewhere between best friends and lovers. The reason—maybe too familiar?
Indeed, it was partly this. When you know a girl so well that you even know how many times she wet the bed as a child, it's hard to see her as a romantic partner.
"Ah Jun, what are you thinking?" Qianqian quickly walked to me, waving her hand in front of my face, looking displeased.
"Oh, introducing the female lead to the readers..."
Qianqian: "…?"
Just then, a crowd gathering not far away caught our attention.