Rising in the east, the solar disc tinted the blue mantle of the sky with a golden dawn. Its rays threaded through the faint clouds along the horizon and spilled over the clean streets and low buildings of the city of Ganzhou. Inside a simple room in a school dormitory, the sound of an alarm rang close to Li Yunhao's ear. It didn't last long; still dulled by sleep, he reached out and silenced it with his hand.
With more effort than usual, Li Yunhao pried his eyelids open and was greeted by sunlight slipping through the half-open window. A sigh escaped his lips. He shrugged off the sheets and rose from the bed, grabbed a nearby towel, and stepped out of the room.
As he moved down the corridor, his legs seemed to grow heavier with each step, as though his body itself resisted motion. Since his roommates were still asleep, the space remained hushed; only the measured rhythm of his footsteps echoed. Li Yunhao cherished that silence. It soothed him. That was why he woke before everyone else, claiming those brief moments of stillness before the exhausting, crowded routine of study began.
Soon after, he entered the dormitory bathroom and, as usual, found it empty. He stopped before the sink and faced the figure in the mirror: a young man with dark eyes and unruly hair stared back at him. Deep shadows pooled beneath his trembling gaze, and his expression made the fatigue he carried unmistakable.
These dark circles are getting worse…
As the college entrance exam drew closer, his time for rest dwindled in equal measure—an unavoidable consequence. Sighing, Li Yunhao turned on the faucet. He cupped his hands, let the water collect, and brought it to his face, the cold shock stirring his still-drowsy mind. He dried himself with the towel and tried, futilely, to tame the disobedient strands of his hair.
Once he was done, Li Yunhao left the bathroom and returned to the room. With practiced ease, he made the bed and slipped into his school uniform. He paused for a moment to look at the booklets neatly lined up on the small shelf beside the bed, hesitated, then chose a few and tucked them into his backpack. Preparations complete, he slung it over his shoulder and stepped out again.
The dormitory corridors were still relatively quiet. The few students already awake moved with quick steps, light enough not to echo too loudly. Yunhao passed them, exchanging brief nods in greeting. As he exited the dormitory, he noticed the sky was fully bright now, flooded with exceptionally strong sunlight. Without needing a weather forecast, he assumed it would be a very hot day. He disliked that; on long days of study like this, he preferred the restrained cold to restless heat.
Professor Lin has class today, right?
Not only did he, but he would be covering most of the day's lessons. Just imagining hours spent listening to that teacher's long-winded explanations made a faint discomfort bloom in Yunhao's chest. He smiled bitterly but didn't slow his pace until he stopped before the classroom. He opened the door and peeked inside. Only three students sat there in silence: two girls and a boy, each with a book open before them.
The boy, Shen Yuqing, was impeccably put together. His short hair was combed neatly to the side, and he wore the characteristic black-and-blue uniform. His eyes, nearly hidden by the glare on his glasses, skimmed the pages at an impressive speed. The pace made Yunhao wonder whether he was truly reading or merely flipping through the book.
The two girls, Mei Hu and Lu Meng, sat side by side. Both had long, glossy black hair cascading down their backs and wore the female version of the same uniform, complete with skirts. Despite their similarities, they conveyed very different impressions: Mei Hu's features were gentle, almost innocent, while Lu Meng maintained a cold, distant expression, one capable of making anyone hesitate under her gaze.
Not wanting to interrupt their focus, Yunhao crossed the room in silence. He took his usual seat by the window, pulled a book from his backpack, and opened it before his face, quickly sinking into its pages.
The calm didn't last long. The growing sound of footsteps and chatter announced the arrival of the other students. The classroom filled little by little until the murmur became constant. Determined to ignore it all, Yunhao kept his attention on the book—at least until he felt it pulled away from in front of him.
"Good morning, Yunhao!"
Resisting the immediate urge to snap back, he lifted his gaze. Holding the book in one hand was Zhou Qing, smiling in a way that was especially irritating at that hour of the morning. He had an oval face, slightly chubby cheeks, and hair brown—like his eyes. Besides having been neighbors before the dormitory period, he was also his childhood friend.
"Good morning, Zhou Qing. May I ask what I owe the honor of always being the victim of your morning interruptions?"
"Oh, come on. Where did all that seriousness come from? I still remember when you used to show up late because you'd spent the entire night gaming."
"The entrance exam is getting close. Naturally, I need to take things more seriously if I want to get into a good university. In fact, maybe I should mention to Aunt Zhou that the real reason you moved into the dorm wasn't exactly to study more…"
"Hey, wait—"
The provocation made Zhou Qing swallow hard, something Yunhao noticed immediately, the corners of his lips curving into a smile. When Yunhao himself had decided to move into the dormitory to focus on his studies, Zhou Qing had seen it as the perfect chance to escape the watchful eyes of his strict parents. He'd convinced his mother that he, too, wanted to study harder. Believing in her son's sudden maturity, she'd agreed—never suspecting he would spend most of his free time gaming.
As far as Yunhao remembered, Zhou Qing's parents wouldn't react well if they ever found out.
Even so, he had no real intention of turning him in. They'd been friends for many years, and if not for the pressure of the entrance exam and his family's expectations, Yunhao would probably be joining him for a few gaming nights himself.
'Surely it's just because we're friends… and not because he knows some of my secrets…'
Relieved by Yunhao's implicit assurance that the threat wouldn't be carried out, Zhou Qing relaxed. The two continued talking for a few more minutes, until the classroom door opened again.
The sound of dragging footsteps crossed the room.
Conversations died almost instantly, and the students hurried back to their seats. A man walked to the center of the classroom. His appearance was sloppy, nearly negligent: he wore a wrinkled black suit, the tie hanging loose around his neck. His black hair was disheveled, like a poorly made nest, and his heavy eyelids left his eyes half-lidded.
Even so, when that dull gaze swept across the room, Yunhao felt an involuntary chill run down his spine.
"Looks like everyone's here…"
It was customary to check attendance. Absentees would inevitably deal with a loss of points in the next evaluation.
Despite his relaxed appearance, Professor Lin was one of the strictest teachers in the school. Rumor had it he'd had a distinguished academic career in Beijing before returning to Ganzhou, his hometown, to teach at this preparatory school. The exact reason remained a mystery.
He was an excellent teacher. His explanations were clear and thorough, making it difficult for any student to leave his class with unanswered questions. Still, there was a tense atmosphere that clung to him, one that made anyone sharing the room with him deeply uncomfortable.
'Maybe it's the contrast between his appearance and his demands…'
Yunhao didn't linger on the thought. Whenever that faded gaze settled on him, he felt the strange sensation that his thoughts were being read.
Professor Lin straightened and greeted the class.
"Good morning, students."
"Good morning, Professor Lin!" they replied in unison.
Professor Lin approached the desk and set his materials down: books, loose sheets, and a worn pencil case, all arranged in a strangely functional order. As he pulled a piece of chalk from his jacket pocket, he began to speak, his hoarse voice carrying naturally through the room.
"Today we'll continue the review," he announced, turning toward the board. "Composite functions. Open the material from last class."
Li Yunhao obeyed by reflex, but he didn't manage to focus on the text. Something had changed in the room, subtle yet unmistakable. The brightness that usually flooded his seat from the window beside him seemed weaker. For a moment, he thought it was just his imagination—accumulated fatigue, perhaps—but then he heard a low whisper from the desk next to him.
"Hey… Yunhao, what is that…?"
Yunhao followed Zhou Qing's incredulous gaze and turned toward the window. The light really had diminished. Not gradually, like when clouds drifted across the sky, but abruptly and uniformly. He leaned slightly forward and looked outside, his first instinct being that perhaps a plane was passing overhead, or some unusual aerial structure.
But as his eyes swept across the horizon, the strangeness became impossible to ignore.
There were no clouds.
The sky was clear, a deep and uninterrupted blue, and yet something covered everything his gaze could reach. It wasn't a shadow cast from a specific point, nor something that moved with the wind. It was as if a colossal object had
suddenly appearing, occupying the space above the entire city, blotting out the sun and swallowing the horizon without effort. The sheer vastness of it made it hard for Yunhao to even grasp what he was seeing; his eyes searched for limits, for contours, and failed miserably.
Whispers spread rapidly around him.
"What is that…?"
"A meteor…?"
"Look at the size of it…"
Some of the students near the windows half-stood, bracing their hands on their desks to see better. One or two let out louder exclamations, unable to contain their shock. A strange chill spread through Li Yunhao's chest—not quite fear, but a deep, unsettling sense of unease.
"Silence," Professor Lin's voice rang out, firm, cutting through the uproar. "Calm down."
He stopped what he was doing and followed the students' gaze, frowning as he noticed the change in the light. He set the chalk down on the desk and began walking toward the windows, his expression serious, alert. Yunhao noticed that even the professor seemed slightly unsettled, though he tried to maintain his composure.
Before he could reach them, however, the ceiling lights abruptly went out.
The classroom plunged into near-total darkness for a brief second—long enough for the silence to become deafening. Then a violent tremor shook the ground, making desks groan and several students lose their balance. The impact rippled through the room, climbing the walls like an invisible wave.
The ceiling cracked with an alarming sound.
Fissures began to spread, jagged lines opening as though the very structure were being forced beyond its limits. The floor beneath Li Yunhao's feet vibrated hard enough that he grabbed the desk instinctively, his heart racing as screams erupted on all sides.
"What's happening?!"
"It's going to collapse!"
"Professor!"
Chaos took hold in an instant. Students stood up without direction, some stumbling, others frozen in panic. The sound of something breaking rang out far too loudly, mixing with the screams and the dull roar of the continuing tremor.
Damn it…!
The ground beneath Li Yunhao shuddered with renewed violence, and even the desperate grip with which he clung to the desk wasn't enough to keep him steady. An upward force shattered what little balance he had left, hurling him backward. His body slammed into the floor in a brutal impact, the air driven from his lungs as a burning sensation spread across his back. Pain followed—sharp and crushing—making him grit his teeth to suppress a scream that felt pointless amid the surrounding chaos.
The shock was so intense that his eyes closed by reflex.
For a brief moment, all that existed was the throbbing pain and the distant ringing echoing in his head—and then, suddenly, even that vanished.
There was no sound.
There was no weight.
There wasn't even the sensation of his own body against the floor.
The absence came as abruptly as the impact before it, an absolute void that engulfed him completely. Yunhao tried to breathe, but felt no air enter his lungs; he tried to move, but sensed no muscles, no limbs.
…Am I dead?
The thought terrified him, and he opened his eyes to confirm what surrounded him. When he did, a shock even greater than the one he'd felt upon seeing the massive object covering the sky coursed through him. Darkness enveloped everything—and beyond that darkness, countless points of light stretched infinitely into the distance, some larger and brighter, others small and faint.
Far away, he could also make out beautiful spiral structures, confirming the suspicion that had first formed in his incredulous heart about where he was.
…Outer space… I'm in outer space…?
How…? Had he died, his spirit cast adrift into the cosmos? Maybe he was dreaming. Yes—if that were the case, all this absurdity piled upon absurdity could be explained. But if it really was a dream, shouldn't he have woken up after falling from the chair? And his classmates' reactions—they'd felt so real…
Just as Li Yunhao's newly calmed unease was about to surge again, he felt his body begin to melt away, and everything around him warped into a distorted blur. The distant stars and galaxies dissolved like ink diluted in water, and a landscape utterly unlike anything he had ever seen before began to form around him.