The Earth was destroyed.
November 7, 2045, 10:00 a.m. local time, Jiangcheng City, Northern Hemisphere.
Without any warning, an energy burst erupted 10,000 meters above the city—like a bomb with the destructive force of an asteroid impact detonating in the sky. A perfect sphere of blinding blue light exploded outward.
In less than half a second, that blue sphere expanded from Jiangcheng and engulfed the entire planet.
For the people living in Jiangcheng, the first thing they felt was the shockwave.
It came from above, sweeping downward like the hand of God smashing everything in its path—buildings, cars, people… In half a second, the city directly beneath the blast was flattened into rubble.
Then came the fire. The air was compressed and released in an instant, generating heat so intense that everything flammable turned to ash in the blink of an eye. Within one second, the entire city became an ocean of flame.
If God had passed by Earth at that moment, He would have witnessed a spectacular and terrifying sight: the sky, the land, the buildings—everything the eye could see turned a pure, unnatural blue.
And if God zoomed in, He would see that it wasn't just Jiangcheng. The entire Earth was bathed in that same eerie blue glow.
The spherical blue light began at Earth and expanded at nearly the speed of light. About nine minutes later, it reached the Sun and enveloped it completely. At that exact moment, the expansion stopped dead.
Then, something impossible happened.
As soon as the Sun, Mercury, Venus, and Earth were all wrapped in blue light, the sphere began to contract. The four celestial bodies were pulled by an invisible force, collapsing inward toward Earth as the center—shrinking at the same unimaginable speed.
After exactly 24 hours, the blue light, carrying the Sun, Mercury, Venus, and Earth with it, collapsed into a single ultra-dense object: roughly the mass of the Sun, but only one-millionth its original volume.
And just like that—the Earth was gone.
…
Jiangcheng University, boys' dormitory.
Zhu Shijiu woke up.
He had just had a dream about the end of the world.
Except… it didn't feel like a dream. The entire thing lasted only one second—maybe less.
Yet every detail was crystal clear.
In the dream, he saw a blue light suddenly explode 10,000 meters above Jiangcheng. Then came the shockwave that erased everything in half a second… or one second. And then the dream ended.
He jolted upright in bed, clutching his forehead. His hand came away soaked in sweat. His whole body was drenched, his limbs stiff and numb, heart pounding like he'd just escaped death.
"What the hell…?"
He exhaled shakily, trying to calm down. His body felt like it was in shock—like he'd actually lived through it.
His roommate Li Hua's voice came from the desk nearby, fingers flying across a mechanical keyboard.
"Yo, Shijiu, you're up? Bad dream or something?"
On his screen, a "Triple Kill" announcement blared through the speakers.
Zhu Shijiu wiped the sweat from his face, breathing hard. "Not really a nightmare… What time is it?"
Li Hua glanced at his phone. "Ten o'clock."
"Ten?!" Zhu Shijiu's heart skipped a beat.
In his dream, the apocalypse had begun at exactly 10:00 a.m.
Li Hua didn't look away from his game. "What? Why're you freaking out?"
"Nothing…"
But something was wrong. Very wrong.
This scene… it felt familiar. Too familiar. Like he'd already lived through it once.
"Isn't Professor Zhang's class this afternoon?" he asked suddenly.
Li Hua snorted as a "Quadra Kill" echoed from his computer.Yeah, but I'm skipping. Old Zhang never takes attendance."
Zhu Shijiu stared blankly at the wall.I have a feeling he will today."
"Whatever, I'm not going."
"Okay…"
Zhu Shijiu climbed down from the top bunk. His eyes were glued to Li Hua's screen—even more focused than Li Hua himself.
"Holy shit—PENTAKILL! I'm a god today!"
Li Hua nearly jumped out of his chair in excitement.
But Zhu Shijiu wasn't excited.
He was pale.
"Pentakill…" he whispered. "It actually happened…"
Goosebumps exploded across his skin. Cold sweat poured down his back again.
Li Hua spun around, grinning.Aren't I insane? Tell me I'm cracked!"
Zhu Shijiu didn't answer. His face was ashen.
Li Hua finally noticed."Bro… you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost. Was the nightmare that bad?"
"I… don't feel great."
He felt like he was going to throw up.
Because now he was seriously wondering: was that really just a dream?
He woke up at 10 a.m. Li Hua got a pentakill right after. Everything was exactly the same as in the "dream."
It felt like he'd already lived this day once.
"You sure you're good? Want me to walk you to the clinic?"
"No, no… I just need a minute."
He checked his phone:
November 6, 2045 – 10:03 a.m.
Less than 24 hours until the blue light comes.
The dream had felt too real. And the déjà vu was crushing him.
He vaguely remembered attending Professor Zhang's Civil Law class once already — like déjà vu on steroids.
In that "memory," Old Zhang, the guy who never ever takes attendance, would suddenly pull out the roll sheet today. Ten students, including Li Hua, would get caught skipping. He'd wipe out every single participation point they had. With Li Hua's grades, that basically guaranteed failing Civil Law at the end of the semester.
Zhu Shijiu watched his roommate spin back to the computer and queue up another game. He opened his mouth, hesitated, then shut it again. In the end he said nothing.
He took a few deep breaths, grabbed a towel and some clean clothes, and disappeared into the bathroom for a long shower.
When he came out, hair still dripping, he rubbed it with a towel and asked casually,
"I'm heading out for a bit. Want me to grab anything?"
Li Hua was already locked into a new match. Without looking up he answered,
"Just get me a cup of instant noodles, any flavor's fine. I'm not leaving the dorm today. Thanks, bro."
"Got it."
After blow-drying his hair, Zhu Shijiu was about to walk out the door when something made him stop. He turned back.
"Oh, by the way… I think I heard the dorm power's getting cut around 11."
"What the hell? For real? I'd better charge my phone then!"
Zhu Shijiu stared into space for a second. "Yeah… not sure where I heard it."
He'd actually pulled that straight from the dream. Whether reality would follow the script or not, he had no idea. But the unease gnawing at him wouldn't let him keep quiet.
He left the dorm in a daze, went to the campus supermarket, bought random snacks and drinks, and didn't forget Li Hua's noodles. November wind was already biting, so he sat on a bench by the lake for a while. The cold air cleared his head a little.
He checked his phone: 10:50 a.m.
"Right about now…"
If the dream really was tomorrow's future, then heading back to the dorm this second would put him walking through the door exactly when the power died.
"Am I actually losing my mind?"
He laughed at himself. Getting this paranoid over one hyper-realistic nightmare was ridiculous.
But his legs were already moving.
By the time he reached the dorm building it was 11:00 on the dot. He took him up — still working, so either the outage hadn't hit yet, or the elevators were on a separate grid.
He stopped in front of their room, took one deep breath, and pushed the door open.
"Bro!! The power actually went out!!"
An anguished howl greeted him the moment he stepped inside.
Li Hua was standing there shirtless, towel wrapped around his waist, hair dripping wet, face the picture of tragedy.
"I figured I'd take a quick shower before it happened — bam, lights out halfway through! I just took the coldest shower of my entire life, man!"
Zhu Shijiu froze in the doorway.
Every cell in his body locked up.
It's real.
The dream is real.
That single thought hammered through his skull.
"Bro?" Li Hua saw his face drain of color and faltered. "You good?"
Zhu Shijiu's lips trembled. "Li Hua… if I told you the world ends tomorrow morning… would you believe me?"
Li Hua gave him the most perfect are-you-stupid look in human history.
"…What kind of new prank is this?"
Of course he didn't believe it.
Zhu Shijiu knew that if the roles were reversed, he wouldn't believe it either.
Telling someone "I had a one-second nightmare and a blue flash is going to erase Jiangcheng" sounds even crazier than saying a rogue nuke is coming. Honestly, a nuke would be more believable.
"Don't tell me," Li Hua said with a nervous laugh, "you dreamed the apocalypse is tomorrow."
Zhu Shijiu didn't laugh. His expression only grew heavier.
"Li Hua. Just… go to class this afternoon. Trust me. Old Zhang is taking roll today."
Li Hua: "…"
He was now 100 % convinced Zhu Shijiu was trying to trick him into attending a boring lecture.
Zhu Shijiu gritted his teeth. Even if it made him sound insane, he couldn't stay quiet anymore.
He spilled everything.
…
Thirty minutes later.
Li Hua sat on his bed, mouth hanging open, staring at Zhu Shijiu like he'd grown a second head.
"So you're telling me… everything that happened today, you already saw in a dream?
My pentakill this morning…
The power going out at 11…
Old Zhang suddenly taking attendance for the first time in history…
If I skip, exactly ten people get screwed, me included…
And tomorrow at 10 a.m. sharp, the entire city of Jiangcheng gets turned into rubble by some giant blue explosion from the sky?"
Li Hua felt like he was the one dreaming.
"Bro…" He rubbed his face, looking pained. "You didn't… eat something weird, right?"
Zhu Shijiu knew words alone would never convince anyone. He cut him off.
"If you don't believe me — go to class this afternoon. You'll see whether I'm right or wrong with your own eyes."
"Bro Zhu, stop it, stop it! I'll go to class, alright?!"
Li Hua felt it was kinda absurd, but at least he wasn't dead-set on skipping class anyway.
"Exactly! Just go to class and you'll see I'm right!"
Zhu Shijiu let out a sigh of relief, then immediately pulled out his phone.
"I'm booking the afternoon train tickets right now. If what I said actually turns out to be true, we'll bounce from Jiang City instantly!"
Watching Zhu Shijiu actually finish booking the tickets right in front of him, a ripple of doubt rose in Li Hua's heart.
Holy shit… could Bro Zhu actually be onto something here?
Li Hua's rational brain screamed that this was nonsense.
But the look on Zhu Shijiu's face was dead serious.