The news anchor's voice crackled through the small TV in the convenience store, her tone sober and urgent.
"Another group of people has gone missing," she reported, her brows furrowed in concern. "Authorities are investigating the cause of these mysterious disappearances. Witnesses claim to have seen strange devices at the sites of the vanishings, but the police have not confirmed the details."
Lu Nan stood at the entrance, hands deep in the pockets of his worn jacket, fingering the loose threads inside. The screen flickered with images of distraught families, empty homes, and faceless police officers. This was the third disappearance reported that week, and the city felt charged with anxiety.
He glanced around the store, the fluorescent lights buzzing above him. Customers whispered nervously to each other, casting furtive glances toward the TV as if it were an omen. Lu Nan felt a growing sense of unease; he couldn't shake the feeling that something was terribly wrong in the world around him.
In the stillness of the store, time seemed to stretch. He recalled the faces of his friends, their laughter echoing in his mind, and he couldn't help but feel a gnawing fear. What if one of them was next? The thought chilled him to the bone, and he resolved to find out more about these disappearances.
As Lu Nan turned the corner of the narrow street leading to his neighborhood, a glint of metal caught his eye. Curious, he approached the alleyway, and there lay a strange watch—simple and unremarkable at first glance. It gleamed ominously in the dim light, and something about it pulled at him.
He picked it up, feeling its weight in his hand, almost alive. The watch was unlike anything he had seen before—its design was intricate, with patterns etched into the metal that seemed to shift and change as he moved it. When he slipped the watch onto his wrist, he hoped for something—anything—to happen, but nothing changed. Disappointed, he shoved his hands back into his pockets and continued home, unaware that he had just set off a chain of events that would change his life forever.