It was night.
The distant city lights flickered faintly.
A gentle evening breeze brushed past the young man as he quietly gazed at the distant moon.
The hazy moonlight fell softly, casting a faint silver glow on the street before him. The boy sighed and took out his phone. It was a recently purchased model, yet the screen now displayed two stark lines of text:
[Do you wish to understand the meaning of life? Do you truly want to live?]
[Yes/Yes]
The boy's name was Jiang Feng. He was 18, a senior who had just finished his college entrance exams. He was waiting for his acceptance letter at home—a middle-class household. Though his parents were often away for work, life was relatively comfortable.
All in all, Jiang Feng felt things were pretty good as they were. He had no burning desire to uncover the "meaning of life" or become some lackey for a so-called "Main God."
But now, these two options before him were so absurd he couldn't help but laugh.
As an avid net surfer, Jiang Feng had seen this kind of trope countless times in web novels. He had even imagined such scenarios himself. However, when faced with it in reality, he hesitated.
He briefly suspected it was some hacker's virus baiting a naive victim to click, so their bank accounts or WeChat would be drained clean.
After much hesitation, he decided not to press anything. Better safe than sorry.
Yet, since the previous night, this phone screen hadn't turned off. The relentless message had already rendered his phone unusable for a day.
He borrowed a friend's phone to check if his was the only one affected. But the moment his hand touched the other phone, its screen also lit up with the same two lines of text.
Jiang Feng was at a loss.
He thought it over.
Still no clues.
He returned to the question before him: Should he click it?
Something about it felt ominous—like signing some kind of Faustian pact. Especially since both options were essentially "Yes" and "Yes." (T/N: one yes in english, the other in chinese)
Deep in thought, he unknowingly wandered through the quiet streets under the night sky.
Until the next moment, his worries ceased altogether.
A speeding "portal to another world"—in the form of a car—hurtled straight toward him. The vehicle was impossibly fast, and Jiang Feng barely had time to react. The sheer force of impact was catastrophic. Metal screeched, the world blurred, and he was flung into the air like a kite with a broken string.
The searing pain overwhelmed him instantly, and his consciousness was swept away.
He didn't even see where the car had come from. It seemed to materialize out of nowhere. In such a silent night, a car traveling at such speed should've been deafening. Yet he hadn't heard a thing—it was as if it had simply appeared beside him.
When Jiang Feng opened his eyes again, he found himself in a world of white.
His surroundings were enveloped in a hazy grayish mist, obscuring everything beyond a certain distance.
Feeling his intact limbs, he noted the absence of injuries from the accident. Curious, he took a step forward. The ground rippled underfoot, like water disturbed by a pebble.
Jiang Feng frowned, deep in thought. He was likely dead.
This whole situation—from the ominous text to being hit by a mysterious car—was bizarre. Was the modern-day "isekai recruitment process" really this aggressive? Were there quotas to meet now?
Still, what now?
He tried to speak but found no sound escaping his lips. No matter how he moved his mouth, it was as if this realm was a vacuum, utterly devoid of sound.
Surveying the endless mist, he waited. Yet no "Main God" or self-proclaimed goddess like Aqua appeared to greet him. Growing impatient, Jiang Feng muttered internally: You forcibly dragged me here, and now there's not even a greeter?
With nothing else to do, he wandered aimlessly.
The boundless white world stretched endlessly, offering no direction, no boundaries.
No life. No sound. No color.
Only Jiang Feng walked through this lonely expanse.
He didn't know how far he had traveled or how long he had been walking.
When the creeping loneliness began to weigh on his heart, the silence gave way to unease, which slowly evolved into fear.
At first, he would glance around nervously. But now, he simply trudged forward in silence.
The road was long, barren, and lifeless. No sound. No vibrancy. Only an endless white void.
Was this his end?
A bitter smile curled at the corner of Jiang Feng's lips.
They brought him here, but there was no god, no explanation—just this empty, suffocating space.
Exhausted and drained, Jiang Feng decided to sit down and rest.
As he sat, the ground beneath him rippled once more, as if acknowledging his presence.
He looked up at the unchanging white expanse.
The void was like a blank canvas awaiting a painter's brush or an unwritten book waiting for its author.
A bold thought crossed his mind: If there were no "Main God" or "goddess," then perhaps he was meant to be the author of this world.
He recalled the moments before the car crash—the quiet streets of the night.
Under the darkened sky, the city's neon lights shimmered like fireflies in the gloom.
The streets were nearly deserted, save for a few tipsy pedestrians. The night breeze rustled the leaves, whispering softly.
Distant skyscrapers stood tall, their lights casting faint shadows.
Jiang Feng had walked alone through the serene yet lonely city streets.
Above, the stars sparkled like diamonds scattered across velvet, and the crescent moon glowed faintly.
The memories filled his mind, and suddenly, the blank world began to change.
The void was replaced by a dark sky. The once lifeless ground now mirrored bustling streets bathed in moonlight. Buildings rose, lights flickered, and even a stray black-and-white cat meandered across the road.
Scenes unfurled around Jiang Feng, stretching infinitely outward.
The suffocating loneliness faded, replaced by a thrilling sense of wonder and possibility.
Jiang Feng stood at the center of it all, silently observing.
Gone was the fear of the unknown. In its place was a deep curiosity for what lay ahead.