“Beep! Beep! Beep! ………………”
What is this…………what’s going on?
“Alarm! Alarm!! Patient body 3601 is showing abnormal signs!”
So tired……………didn’t I already die? This place…………where is it……………
“Alarm! Alarm!!! Patient body 3601 heartbeat is stopping! Body temperature dropping!”
The piercing alarm mixed with chaotic footsteps rang out. An Guang forced his eyes open with difficulty, barely cracking a slit, staring hazily at a pale white ceiling. A group of people in white coats surrounded him, touching his body. His ears were filled with a hollow buzzing sound that drowned out everything else, making it impossible to hear clearly. He tried to move, but his entire body felt as if all strength had been drained away—his empty body drifting helplessly like it was weightless in space.
What… is happening to me……………
“How are you? Do you feel any discomfort??” A magnified face suddenly appeared before An Guang’s eyes, urgent and anxious.
He looked blankly at the blurred figure before him. It twisted, reformed, swayed left and right, lips opening and closing without any sound reaching him.
Where is this…………who is this person…………
“Alarm! Alarm! Patient 3601 heartbeat stopped! Patient 3601 heartbeat stopped!”
So tired………………
I just want…………to sleep………………
His mind went blank. The buzzing in his ears and the distorted, shaking surroundings made him dizzy. His unfocused eyes slowly scattered. The person desperately calling to him faded away.
He lost consciousness once again.
—
Scene Divider
An Guang drifted helplessly within an empty space. Everything around him was pitch black, with not a single sound to be heard.
Silence—the kind of silence that could drive someone to madness.
He stared blankly into the darkness. His entire body felt as if it had been hollowed out and filled with cotton—no strength, no sensation. His mind was completely blank as he drifted without control.
He didn’t know how long he had been floating here. With no light and no sound, he could not even tell time.
Until a faint glimmer appeared in the darkness ahead.
He stared blankly as the point of light slowly approached, slowly grew larger, until it swallowed him whole.
……………………………………
……………………………………
“Beep! Beep! Beep! Patient 3601 has awakened! Patient 3601 has awakened……”
A cold metallic voice rang in his ears. An Guang slowly forced his eyes open. The sudden brightness stabbed into his long-sleeping vision like fire, causing sharp pain.
Where… is this?
He weakly turned his head, looking around in confusion. The vast room was completely white. He was lying inside something like a glass box, his body covered in dense tubes and metal wires. These were connected to a strange machine beside the box—the voice was coming from it.
Where is this place? Didn’t he already die?
Even with his confidence in his own strength, he couldn’t guarantee surviving a battle beyond his limits. He clearly remembered that in his fight against the Zombie King, he had been at a disadvantage. At the critical moment, he self-destructed his core crystal and died together with the Zombie King.
While he was thinking, the door opened from outside. Two men in strange white clothing walked in. An Guang’s eyes sharpened; instinctively he tried to gather his energy.
But the emptiness inside his body made him greatly alarmed.
Where is his ability?
The two men examined him briefly and spoke in low voices. An Guang lay on the bed, coldly watching them. His powerless state meant he couldn’t resist their “handling,” which irritated the once-dominant An Guang greatly.
“How are you feeling now?” one of them asked after finishing the checkup.
An Guang said nothing.
Seeing his silence, the man leaned closer. “If anything feels wrong, just say it.”
“…Where is this place?” An Guang finally spoke after a long pause, his voice hoarse from long sleep.
“You don’t need to be afraid. This is a hospital. You’re safe now,” the man smiled slightly.
Hospital?
An Guang’s heart sank.
He was still alive? Impossible.
His level-50 core crystal detonating together with a level-53 Zombie King should have left nothing behind—not even ashes. And more importantly… An Guang glanced around the room. These things were not something the apocalypse could ever produce.
“What’s wrong?” the man asked worriedly.
“…Now…” An Guang pressed his lips together, a bad premonition rising in his heart. “What year is it?”
“It’s already noon.”
“No.” He closed his eyes. “I’m asking the year.”
The two men exchanged glances, both seeing surprise in each other’s eyes.
“New Era Year 3000.”
BOOM.
A thunderclap exploded in An Guang’s mind.
His breathing quickened.
“Beep! Beep! Beep! Patient 3601 emotional instability, rapid breathing!”
The machines around him sounded again. The two men quickly moved closer.
“I’m fine.” He forced his breathing to steady and slowly opened his eyes, coldly looking at them.
“…May I ask, do you know the year 2115?”
“2115? Isn’t that the year the Dark Age ended?” one of them said in shock.
As expected.
An Guang twitched his lips into something resembling a smile.
He had really hit the jackpot.
In the past forty-five years, he had always preferred solitude. Whether on missions or in daily life, he rarely interacted with others. His greatest pastime had been reading books collected from cleared cities. So he more or less understood his current situation.
“You… are you alright?” one of them asked carefully.
“I’m fine.” An Guang paused, then forced out what he believed was a gentle smile—though it looked extremely stiff.
“One last question. Who am I?”
The two men froze.
Then chaos erupted around them.
An Guang stared blankly at the white ceiling, ignoring the confusion unfolding around him. His thoughts drifted somewhere far away.