Qian Cangyi let out a sigh of relief, mocking himself:
"Good thing it's just a hallucination..."
Given the current situation, he would rather his mind was playing tricks on him.
If there were really words, it would mean he might encounter a ghost.
Although Qian Cangyi is not a die-hard atheist, a ghost... he had never considered encountering one.
"Could it be due to a lack of sleep? I do need to rest more."
Qian Cangyi was uncertain, the words appearing in his sclera still made him somewhat worried.
"3 PM, if no particular day is specified, it's probably today."
"What will happen at 3 PM today?"
He sincerely hoped that nothing would happen.
...
As the second hand of the wall clock jumped past 12, 3 PM arrived, ended his prolonged pending period.
Qian Cangyi held his breath, his heart involuntarily started accelerating.
Everything in the room was normal. There were no bloody words on the walls, nor any other odd incidents.
A smile began to take shape on Qian Cangyi's tense face:
"I should take a good rest for a few days. Being an insomnia patient is indeed a bad habit."
Just as he was getting ready to stand up, he abruptly froze on the spot, his body uncontrollable.
Wha... what's happening?
Qian Cangyi wanted to call for help, but right now he couldn't even manage to speak.
In that moment, Qian Cangyi's heart leapt into his throat. He recalled the words on his sclera, suddenly realizing that everything prior was an illusion.
His body walked towards the door without any control.
Although Qian Cangyi indeed wanted to go outside, the whole process had nothing to do with his willing. His body was controlled by a mysterious force.
His body moved down the stairs as usual and didn't attract any attention. After leaving the apartment front gate, his body turned left and continued forward.
Can you hear me? Can you hear me?
Qian Cangyi tried to call for help from passersby, but he still couldn't utter a sound. Despair enveloped him like a thick fog.
He felt like a marionette, completely controlled by another's whims.
He only finally stopped when he arrived at the nearby bus stop.
Can someone...help me?
Qian Cangyi silently pleaded for help in his heart, yet it still had no effect.
The sky was clouded over, and only Qian Cangyi was alone at the bus stop.
Half a minute later, a pitch-black bus slowly drove from a not-too-distant corner.
The bus looked very unusual. There was only one door and the body of the bus was painted black, without windows or windshield, it looked like a moving coffin.
Whichever way you looked at it, this bus couldn't possibly be driven by a person.
Intense fear made Qian Cangyi find it hard to breathe. He wanted to run away, to shout out loud. But it was useless; his body was still out of his control.
The black bus stopped accurately in front of Qian Cangyi and the door opened.
Looking from the bus's entrance, the inside was filled with a dark fog, nothing was visible.
Qian Cangyi walked towards the front door of the black bus and a few seconds later, he stepped onto the bus.
During this process, no matter what commands he gave to his body, they all sunk into the sea without a trace.
The moment the door gently closed, his body control returned to Qian Cangyi.
Qian Cangyi took a deep breath, inhaling and exhaling heavily. He looked at the driver's seat.
The driver on the driver's seat was wearing a black hood, the whole figure was wrapped in a black fog, unable to distinguish any features.
Just as Qian Cangyi was about to speak up, wanting the driver to stop, he was interrupted by a steady male voice.
"Stop shouting, it's pointless."
Qian Cangyi turns his head towards the source of the sound—a bus compartment.
The ceiling's round fluorescent light illuminated the compartment. The area that should have been seats was replaced with two black couches and a black rectangular coffee table in the middle.
On the left side of the coffee table sat a short-haired man in a black windbreaker. The voice just now had come from him.
"What did you just say?" Qian Cangyi had heard clearly, but he wanted to confirm once more.
The man sitting on the couch turned his head, showing a rugged face and hawk-like eyes.
Seeing Qian Cangyi's disbelief, he continued his previous statement:
"From the moment you were selected, you lost the right to refuse."
"I'm not your commentator, I don't know why something like this would happen. Whether you choose to believe it or not, is up to you."
Qian Cangyi didn't reply immediately, instead of sticking on the matter of belief, why not try it out for himself.
Better to depend on oneself than others.
Qian Cangyi turned to look at the mysterious driver, his right hand reaching out. When his hand neared the black fog, the flesh on his fingertips dispersed, leaving only bone behind.
This!
Such a horrible sight scared Qian Cangyi into withdrawing his hand. Once he pulled it back, it returned to normal.
Now, even if he didn't believe, he had no choice.
Qian Cangyi stepped onto the steps, entering the compartment and sitting on the couch to the right. His gaze swept over the black coffee table, trying to find some clues.
The edge of the coffee table featured a delicate bright red rhomboid pattern. Apart from this, there was no other significant marking which could identify its manufacturer or place of origin.
Afterwards, his gaze moved onto the couch, but the results remained the same. The only difference was that there was not even a pattern on the couch.
Even now, Qian Cangyi still harbored a glimmer of hope.
All of this might just be a prank.
Qian Cangyi sighed lightly, looked at the man in the windbreaker, and asked:
"May I know how to address you?"
While inquiring, he also scrutinized the man in the windbreaker from top to bottom.
The man in the windbreaker had short hair, his black windbreaker was clean but the cuffs were slightly worn, he was wearing black trousers, and black boots on his feet. His aloof aura coupled with his black clothing, gave a hard-to-approach impression.
Similarly, the man was also observing Qian Cangyi.
Looking into Qian Cangyi's eyes, the man in the windbreaker answered:
"You can call me 'Hawkeye', it's an alias I chose for myself."
"I suggest you also choose an alias for yourself, it makes communication easier."
Qian Cangyi looked at the coffee table, although he didn't understand the exact reasoning, using an alias seemed better than using their real names.
Several usernames flashed through his mind, then he decided on his alias and replied:
"You can call me 'Cangyi'."
Hawkeye nodded, leaning slightly forward, and said:
"Cangyi, I'm sure you're wondering why we're using aliases."
"I learned this from other players, I'm not sure of the specific reason."
"Anyway, we just follow what the people before us did, it's an unspoken rule."
Qian Cangyi nods, without adding anything. He was waiting for Hawkeye to speak.
Just now, Hawkeye had answered his doubts, maybe he would tell him more.
If one kept talking non-stop during the first meeting, anyone would be annoyed.
In other words, there was a limit to the number of questions.
The current situation didn't seem dangerous, so instead of asking random questions, he would wait for the other person to address the key points and ask afterward when he had a preliminary understanding.