Lincheng.
First Senior High School.
Class Nine.
It was morning break time.
Wu Jin lifted his head from his desk, sat up straight, and shook his somewhat muddled head.
“Sigh, failed again!”
He sighed deeply.
Wu Jin recalled the “dream” he had just had!
Everything began three years ago.
At that time, Wu Jin was 15 years old, from a poor family. To lessen his parents' burden, he lied about his age and went to a construction site to move bricks.
Carelessly, a falling stone from high above made a hole in his head.
He was in a coma in the hospital for a full month because of it.
When he opened his eyes again, he noticed some changes in himself.
That was, every time he fell asleep, he would have the same dream.
Each time the dream began, he would lead a mercenary squad to attack a place called Xin Si Biotechnology Co., Ltd.
However, because it was just a dream at first, the dreamer couldn't control himself.
So Wu Jin merely acted as an observer, watching the dream version of himself attack again and again, failing each time.
Then, an hour later, he would inexplicably die in agony.
Strangely, even though it was a dream,
the pain of near-death was so real that Wu Jin would wake up in pain every night.
This continued for three years, until two months ago.
Wu Jin accidentally saw a short video about lucid dreaming.
He followed that video and began to train himself in lucid dreaming.
Then he discovered that he gradually gained control over the body of that Wu Jin in the dream, eventually gaining complete control.
So, he began to replace the former Wu Jin, attacking the biotechnology company again and again.
Unlike the previous Wu Jin, he possessed continuous memories and could learn from each failure.
Thus, after two months of unremitting effort,
he finally reached the end of his three-year dream journey in the dream he just had.
He had thought that by entering that isolation room, he would be able to escape death.
But he didn't expect to still fail in the end!
“Could it be that the goal isn't to hide in the isolation room? Then what is it for?”
Wu Jin was completely puzzled.
“Oh! Isn't this the Sleep God! Being sick is great! You can sleep openly and honestly!”
A sarcastic voice interrupted Wu Jin's thoughts.
He ignored the speaker.
The person's name was Liu Bing, the troublemaker in the class.
People like Wu Jin, who didn't study well and came from a poor family, were exactly their targets.
If it weren't for the homeroom teacher having previously informed them that Wu Jin had narcolepsy and told the classmates not to bully him, Liu Bing and his group would have been even worse.
Liu Bing's words also attracted the attention of others in the class.
Students who were studying inadvertently looked back, and although they said nothing, their eyes were full of amusement.
At this moment, a girl in the front row, dressed in white, with skin like congealed fat and a face like a fairy, also turned her head.
After confirming that Wu Jin was indeed awake, she stood up, holding a notebook, and walked towards the back row.
She came before Wu Jin.
“Wu Jin, these are the notes for the two classes you missed. Remember to return them to me after you're done copying!”
The girl's voice was as soft as a spring breeze, very pleasant to hear.
Her name was Lan Youyou, the Class Monitor of Class Nine!
Wu Jin nodded slightly, took the notebook, and placed it on his desk.
Liu Bing, standing nearby, mocked again:
“I say, Class Monitor, is it useful for a good-for-nothing like him to have notes or not? Is he going to sleep during the college entrance exam?”
Hahaha…
A burst of laughter erupted in the class.
Lan Youyou glared at Liu Bing and said:
“Liu Bing, the college entrance exam is coming soon. Why aren't you hurrying to review, and still have time to mock your classmate here!”
Liu Bing raised his hands in surrender:
“I'll study! I'll study right away! That, Class Monitor, I forgot to take notes. Do you want to lend me yours to copy?”
Lan Youyou: “I lent mine to Wu Jin! I'll go find Zhou Zhou, she also took notes, you can copy hers!”
Liu Bing quickly waved his hand, a look of disdain on his face:
“Forget it then, I only copy the Class Monitor's notes, I don't care for others!”
“You…!”
Lan Youyou pointed fiercely at Liu Bing, then turned angrily and returned to the front row.
At an age when first love blossoms, coupled with the impending college entrance exam graduation,
facing Lan Youyou, a girl with excellent academic performance, beauty, and a good family background, the recognized school beauty and the moon goddess in the hearts of countless people at Lincheng No. 1 High School,
the hearts of many admirers began to stir.
Not to mention the love letters piled on Lan Youyou's desk every morning. Just Lan Youyou's WeChat ID had been speculated to hundreds of yuan by interested people.
Liu Bing swallowed hard as he watched Lan Youyou's retreating figure.
He turned his head to look at the notebook on Wu Jin's desk, took a few steps forward, and tried to snatch it.
Wu Jin had anticipated this. Without even looking at Liu Bing, he quickly shoved the notebook into his desk.
“Sleep God! Hand over the notes!”
Wu Jin was too lazy to bother, said nothing, and didn't even glance at him.
“Are you f*cking giving me a hard time?!”
Ding-a-ling-ling…
The class bell rang.
Liu Bing retracted his fist and sullenly returned to his seat.
Wu Jin took out a notebook from his desk, but it wasn't Lan Youyou's notes, it was his own.
He opened the notebook and flipped to the end.
On this page, lines of clues about the “dream” were meticulously recorded in neat handwriting.
【1. Post-apocalyptic symptoms: Body covered in black lines resembling tree roots, accompanied by severe systemic pain. Death occurs in approximately ten seconds!】
【1.1. Symptom speculation: Ancient virus or ancient bacteria, invading the human body under unknown circumstances (method of escape: enter the isolation room that the original Wu Jin wanted to enter, attempt to hide!)】
Wu Jin marked {Doubtful} in red pen after 1.1!
In the dream just now, the scan results from that high-tech human body scanner clearly showed a perfectly healthy body. And he had also entered the Concept Isolation Room.
Yet he still died.
So this point was 80% likely to be ruled out.
The reason it wasn't 100% was that it was possible this new type of virus and bacteria couldn't be detected by the human body scanner.
【2. Scope of this symptom: All people encountered in the dream so far cannot escape! (Speculation: possibly a global disaster!)】
Regarding this point,
Wu Jin had verified it with two dreams.
At least within an hour's journey after the dream began, all humans would die after the countdown ended.
No exceptions had been found so far.
【3. Dream world speculation: Future world? Parallel world!】
Wu Jin had once tried to ask Helmet Man in the dream about the era of the dream.
Helmet Man's answer was!
2055!
At first, Wu Jin was surprised, thinking this dream was the future.
However, after careful discernment, he found it unlikely.
First, his age.
In 2055, he would already be 48 years old.
But through the mirror, Wu Jin found that his appearance in the dream was not much different from his current self.
He didn't look like someone nearing 50 at all.
Secondly, the city he was in was not named Lincheng, nor was it a familiar Chinese city name to him.
Instead, it was called Southern City No. 8.
Such a peculiar naming convention further confirmed for Wu Jin that the city in the dream did not seem like the future.
Instead, it seemed more like a parallel world where the direction of development had completely deviated due to different choices at a certain historical node.
Seeing this,
Wu Jin wrote down new clues in the blank space at the bottom of the notebook.
【Latest progress: Going to the Concept Isolation Room cannot escape death!】
【The original Wu Jin's plan might not have been to enter the Concept Isolation Room to hide (it's possible he really wanted to hide, but the plan failed)】
【True purpose: To be verified】
He closed the notebook.
This was a chemistry class.
Wu Jin listened attentively to the entire class.
Due to his narcolepsy, his grades were very poor throughout his three years of high school, putting him at the bottom of the class.
As for narcolepsy, he found that ever since he could control his dreams, his previously spontaneous narcolepsy could now be controlled independently.
Or rather, it had gotten better.
Now, he only slept when he wanted to, unlike before when he would passively fall into a coma at any time.
And today, the reason he slept in class was also because he was about to enter the final stage in his dream, and he was eager to see the truth of that world.
But he didn't expect the outcome to be the same as always.
After one class.
After class was lunch break.
Students scrambled to leave the classroom and go to the cafeteria for lunch.
Arriving at the cafeteria entrance,
Wu Jin immediately saw a young man standing by the door, wearing a sleeveless undershirt, with dark skin and sweating profusely.
The young man's name was Gao Jian, and he was Wu Jin's deskmate.
Gao Jian was a sports specialist student and had already been admitted to the provincial sports university. Because he had to prepare for the entrance exam, he hadn't been attending classes these past two days and had been training.
The two had previously agreed to meet at the cafeteria entrance at noon.
“Oh my… it's too hot today!”
As soon as they met, Gao Jian loudly complained to Wu Jin.
“Then why didn't you go inside and wait for me!”
Gao Jian froze: “Oh my god, I forgot!”
Wu Jin was speechless.
The two entered the cafeteria and separated to get their food.
As a key high school in Lincheng, the cafeteria environment at No. 1 High School was quite good.
It was spacious and clean, divided into several areas, capable of accommodating thousands of students dining simultaneously.
Each area was equipped with a hundred-inch LCD television, hung from the ceiling, with the remote control placed below, for students to relax during lunchtime.
Generally, due to the noise in the cafeteria, few students were in the mood to watch TV. Only when there were basketball games would the boys switch to the sports channel to watch.
There was no game today, and the college entrance exam was approaching.
So, the television was only broadcasting the midday news.
After getting his food, Wu Jin found a spot with Gao Jian and sat down.
“Ah Jin! Have you thought about what you want to do after the college entrance exam?” Gao Jian mumbled, chewing on a chicken leg.
Wu Jin shook his head: “Haven't thought about it yet!”
Gao Jian hesitated:
“Regarding the college entrance exam! Ah Jin, we're buddies, so I'll be direct, don't take it the wrong way! Your grades aren't good, and your family's situation is like this, you really need to make plans early!”
Wu Jin took a bite of rice and nodded: “I know! Let's talk about it after the college entrance exam! What if I perform exceptionally well!”
Gao Jian looked at Wu Jin seriously:
“Hmm, I believe you. If it weren't for that damned narcolepsy, with your brain, not going to Tsinghua would be Tsinghua's loss!”
Wu Jin chuckled.
Suddenly, the news headline on the television in front caught his attention.
“Blue Sky Technology Co., Ltd. led the construction of 【Micro-State No. 1】, which was recently completed and will officially launch tomorrow!”
Wu Jin put down his chopsticks, his gaze fixed on the television screen.
The scene shifted, and a very familiar red fire door appeared on the screen.
The announcer's voice began.
“As global warming becomes increasingly severe, the journey to seek the future path for humanity has never stopped. Recently, the 【Micro-State No. 1】 Concept Isolation Room, designed by Blue Sky Technology Co., Ltd. and primarily built by China Railway No. 3 Bureau, has been completed and will officially launch tomorrow! This isolation room aims to…”
Wu Jin's expression was shocked as he watched the image on the television screen.
The space carved out of the mountain and then poured with concrete was so familiar.
It was precisely the Concept Isolation Room he had visited in his last dream.
Blue Sky Technology Co., Ltd.! The company name is wrong! But the name and style of the isolation room are correct!
Could it be…
Thinking of this, Wu Jin extended his hand to Gao Jian:
“Lend me your phone for a bit!”
Gao Jian, being a sports student, was allowed to carry a phone.
He took out his phone and handed it to Wu Jin.
Wu Jin opened the browser and typed in Blue Sky Technology Co., Ltd.
In the encyclopedia, the first line of the basic introduction was:
Blue Sky Technology Co., Ltd., also known as Lan Tian Biotechnology Co., Ltd., was established in 2022…
Wu Jin's heart trembled.
Although the names were different, both were biotechnology companies.
This was definitely not a coincidence.
Could it be that the world in the dream was not a parallel world, but a future world?
But…
Wu Jin's heart pounded like thunder, filled with confusion. He had no appetite for food and wished he could immediately return to the classroom to sleep and then enter his dream to verify it.
He quickly finished his meal, said goodbye to Gao Jian, and ran back to the classroom.
However, his excited heart, coupled with having just woken up, made it difficult for him to fall asleep as he lay on his desk.
Especially with something on his mind, the more he wanted to sleep, the less he could.
Helplessly, Wu Jin could only sit idly for the entire afternoon, not even listening to the lessons.
All the way until school was dismissed, Wu Jin kept thinking, if the world in the dream was truly the future, how could he utilize it?
Buy lottery tickets?
That's possible!
Besides buying lottery tickets?
Wu Jin suddenly thought of something he was about to face—the college entrance exam!
Definitely the college entrance exam!
If the world in the dream was truly the future, then could he check this year's college entrance exam questions in the future?
In that case, wouldn't he be able to turn his fortunes around!
Wu Jin grew more and more excited the more he thought about it.
9 PM.
After school, Wu Jin jogged all the way home.
After greeting his parents, he went straight to his room and lay down.
Perhaps it was because he had been in an excited state all afternoon, his mind was already exhausted.
Soon, sleepiness overtook him.