Hiss~ Bubble bubble bubble~~
On the wooden table, freshly boiled water tumbled inside an electric kettle, white steam puffing from its spout. Next to the kettle sat a cup of instant noodles. In this exquisitely decorated house, a young man named Li Xuan was dozing on the living room sofa, his eyes closed.
A paper strip on the air conditioner's vent fluttered in the cold breeze. Outside the living room's floor-to-ceiling windows, the streets were empty; after all, the summer heat of nearly forty degrees Celsius was more than people could bear. The TV was playing a reality show featuring a team of celebrity runners. In the kitchen, a microwave was heating a frozen pizza. On the balcony, the washing machine rumbled as it washed clothes, and the bedroom computer was on in standby mode.
Bubble bubble~~~ Bubble bubble~~
The fully boiled water in the kettle let out a loud whistle. Lying on the sofa, Li Xuan was startled awake by the sound and opened his eyes.
Li Xuan, male, likes women. He was seventeen this year. He was currently living the degenerate life of a high school graduate on summer vacation. Coming from a well-off family and with excellent grades, he was too lazy to get a summer job. Instead, he stayed home like a mushroom-headed shut-in, waiting for a university acceptance letter. Though he was a shut-in, he had a sunny and handsome face that contradicted the stereotype, for which he silently thanked his mother. As for why he didn't thank his father, it was naturally because his father wasn't handsome at all.
"Haaah~~" Li Xuan yawned, rubbing his slightly long, soft black hair. He walked over to the wooden table in the living room and reached out to turn off the power, ready to enjoy a deluxe bowl of pickled cabbage and beef flavored instant noodles. Just then, his phone suddenly vibrated with a 'didi~' sound—the notification for a WeChat message. Li Xuan pulled the new iPhone 6S his parents had bought him after graduation from the pocket of his black casual pants. He saw a message from his WeChat friend, [Tianshen]. [cite:
1]
He had added his friend [Tianshen] once while using the "Shake" feature on the toilet, and they would often chat to kill time. Li Xuan had laughed at his friend's username several times, but the other person never seemed to mind.
[Tianshen]: Mu Xuan, you playing at home?
[Mu Xuan]: Yeah! So bored!
[Tianshen]: I recently found a pretty fun ACG game! Wanna try it?
[Mu Xuan]: Sure, I'll give it a try!
[Tianshen]: Okay. I'll send it to you.
His friend [Tianshen] immediately sent Li Xuan a URL. Curious, Li Xuan opened the link and entered a game download site called Honkai Gakuen. He figured since his phone had plenty of storage, it wouldn't hurt to download a game to try. As he thought this, he reached out and tapped the download button. A progress bar immediately popped up on his phone and filled up rapidly. Just as Li Xuan was about to put his phone down, he happened to notice the battery was down to twenty percent. He fumbled for a charger from the messy bed in his bedroom, plugged one end into his phone, and the other into the power outlet. The phone began to charge.
With everything settled, Li Xuan was about to unplug the kettle next to his phone and pour the boiling water for his noodles. At that exact moment, the Honkai Gakuen game finished downloading. Simultaneously, all the appliances in the house began to make strange noises. Black smoke billowed from the air conditioner, the TV screen went black, and the washing machine sparked.
Li Xuan stared at the scene in astonishment. What's going on? Did the appliances malfunction? At that moment, the phone under his right hand suddenly emitted a blinding white light. All the electronics in the house stopped running, and the room fell silent.
Then, "BOOM~ KABOOM~~~" The appliances exploded as if they were bombs. Glass shards from the windows flew everywhere, and thick black smoke poured out of Li Xuan's apartment. The explosion even shattered the windows of the floors above and below his. Panicked screams echoed throughout the residential complex.
Ten minutes later, the wail of fire truck sirens could be heard outside the complex. A large crowd of passersby and residents gathered downstairs, looking up at Li Xuan's apartment and murmuring amongst themselves.
This was the cause of it all, and the prelude.