Ding-dong.
The calming music in Victor Wang's headphones faded as a notification from a chat app overrode it. Startled awake in his seat, he reached for his phone.
Screen on: 08:23AM.
"So early?"
It wasn't a group chat gone wild with morning bug reports. It was a message from his boss.
["You really didn't get into anything bad, right? The schedule's been tight lately, but don't worry—I'll make sure your leave gets approved."]
["Don't worry, boss. I'm fine. Just suddenly felt like going home for a bit."] He typed and hit send.
Thinking for a moment, Victor Wang took a photo out the train window.
["Look, I'm almost home."]
…
["Sigh. Good to hear you're okay."]
["You messaged in the middle of the night about taking leave—it gave me a heart attack…"]
["I know tech's been under a lot of pressure lately. Health comes first. You should take time to recharge."]
["But maybe switch your leave to a sick day or give a stronger reason—otherwise HR might flag it… If they mark it as an unexcused absence, it could be bad."]
After a pause, several more messages followed.
"Tch." Victor clicked his tongue. He remembered submitting his leave with nothing but "going home to visit" at 2AM. Thank god Boss was his first approver.
["Okay, I'll switch the type… Boss, what kind of illness works for one-day leave?"]
["You idiot. Just put 'acute gastroenteritis.' Hurry up—it's almost 9AM and you haven't clocked in yet."]
["And don't forget to get a clinic to issue a certificate later."]
["OKOK."]
Victor changed the leave type, resubmitted it, and waited until it passed Boss's approval and moved to the next approver. He locked his phone and leaned back again.
Ding-dong.
Another message from Boss.
["That photo you sent? Stunning. Send me a few more, will you?"]
"Stunning, huh…"
He'd gotten up early, taken the first 6AM bullet train, cruising over 200km/h for two and a half hours to reach his hometown, where golden fields of wheat stretched endlessly.
Since it wasn't a holiday or weekend, the train car was nearly empty—just him in his row, seated by the window.
The scenery rushed past outside, but it felt static—an eternal sunrise over endless waves of wheat.
A view he'd been bored of since childhood.
Still, he snapped a few more shots for Boss, though a camera lens could never quite capture the vastness his eyes saw.
Half an hour of dozing and two buses later, he set foot in the "small hometown" within the "big hometown."
Rubbing his face—pale from too many late nights—he knocked on the door.
"Who's there? Coming!"
"Mom!"
"You're not working today? What brings you home?"
"Missed you. Took a day off to visit."
"Come in, come in. You should've told me! I didn't prepare anything."
"What's there to prepare? Just being home makes everything taste better."
The familiar trinkets and layout hit him like a wave. Though it had only been a month since his last holiday, it felt like months.
Well, that made sense—he only visited a few times a year, each stay too short to ever be enough.
"Coming home's nice and all, but you and your brother live far—it's tough. Don't worry about us. Focus on your own life. If you miss us, we can video chat. Silvia even calls me every day."
"Hey! I tried teaching you before and you didn't want to learn. How come Silvia teaches you once and you're a pro now? She's the golden child and we're the ones you picked out of the trash, huh?"
"Nonsense. I treat you boys equally. And stop saying I picked you out of the trash. That was just your dad and me being inexperienced. It wasn't right to say that."
Victor sensed danger.
"What did your aunt say during New Year's? Find a girlfriend. Don't know how to talk to girls? Ask your brother! We're waiting for a grandkid!"
"Uh… suddenly sleepy. Gotta nap."
"Trying to dodge your mom's nagging, huh?"
"Come on, just wait for my brother to bring you the good news."
She shook her head, disappointed. "Fine, fine. You've been on the road all morning—go rest. I'll grab groceries and cook all your favorites for lunch."
"Mmh!"
...
"Get up, dumb brother!"
Victor jolted upright to find his parents by the bed and his sister Silvia Wang grinning at him through a video call. His eyes were a little damp.
"Food's getting cold."
"R-right."
"Put me on the table too! I want to eat!"
"Eat, eat—see if anyone will marry you if you turn into a pig."
"Heh~ Guys line up from campus to our house, thank you very much."
"Then by all means, eat up." Victor held a shiny chunk of braised pork to the screen.
"Awoo! Looks delicious!" Silvia made biting noises at the camera, chewing air.
"It is delicious!" Victor stuffed one piece after another into his mouth. "Better than wild boar meat."
"Wild boar? What are you talking about?" Both parents paused.
"Dumb brother, wild boars are a protected species. You didn't do something dumb, did you?"
"I… I meant farm-raised ones…"
Victor's dad glanced at him thoughtfully. "Back when we had the boar plague in town, I was lucky enough to try wild boar meat. Honestly… it wasn't very good. Worse than domestic pork."
No—I was trying to praise Mom's cooking… The boar meat I had was really good, though…
Victor went silent. The mood cooled.
"How many days off did you take?" his father asked.
"One."
"Just one? Not that we mind… but you'll have to rush back overnight. Isn't that exhausting?"
"I was just acting on impulse… haha…"
"Dumb brother, I taught Mom to use video calls. I'm home often, so stop worrying about them."
"I'm still fit enough to work until retirement. My real fear is retirement with nothing to do. Better start working on that grandson soon—it'd beat everything."
"Dad, seriously—"
Is this some new tier of pressure-to-marry hell?
Eventually, Silvia was called off to dinner by her dormmates, and Dad returned to work. Left with nothing to do, Victor wandered the town. From his house to his old primary school on the other side, every neighbor and old teacher greeted him warmly.
Mid-afternoon, he finally remembered to get a medical certificate.
Before Dad came home, he ate dinner early and caught the return bus. His rare one-day leave had come and gone.
"Wait… I still haven't cleared the Abyss!"
He opened Genshin Impact out of habit, teleported to Musk Reef.
"Wait, it's already full stars? I swore I hadn't touched it in ages?"
"Whatever."
The next day.
I want to go home. I want to go home!
That impulse yanked Victor from sleep. Groggily, he rolled left, reached over his head for his phone—
12:00 AM.
"Better message Boss first. Don't want him saying I didn't warn him. Hope I don't give him another scare this late."
One of the scariest post-work experiences: getting a ping in the work chat at midnight.
"Hope I didn't wake him…"
5:20 AM.
"Might as well call a ride to the station. First train's at six. Hope the gates are open."
5:50 AM.
"So sleepy…"
8:22 AM.
Ding-dong.
Headphones faded. Notification cut through.
Victor bolted upright.
Screen on: 08:23 AM.
"So early…?"
12:20 PM.
"Get up, dumb brother!"
…
"Better than wild boar meat."
"Wild boar? What are you talking about?"
Victor suddenly dropped his chopsticks, clutching his head. "My head—it hurts! Hurts so much!"
"Brother?! What's wrong?!"
5:20 PM.
["Sorry, Boss. I'm really sick. Terrible headache. I need another day."]
["… Take care. Submit another request."]
["Will do. Uploading the doctor's note this time."]
Shortly after—
["Mental illness? You're serious?"]
No reply.
Victor opened Genshin to relax. Remembered the Abyss.
Opened the map.
"Why does it say full stars? Haven't touched it in forever—I… my head… hurts…!"
"AAARGH!"
The pain ripped through his skull—his world grew distant. He collapsed onto the bed.
A new day.
I want to go home. I want to go home!
The impulse hit again. Victor stirred, reached for his phone—then recoiled.
"Something's wrong."
Wide awake now. In the moonless night, the city's light pollution lit his room enough to dress without flipping the switch.
The rental apartment he'd lived in for two and a half years remained quiet. The building across the way, full of boxy units, glowed with scattered lights.
A man, perhaps losing games, opened his window and lit a cigarette. The red glow stood out among the windows. Cars rolled by the street below. Traffic lights blinked. Headlights flashed.
Down there: the AC unit platform piled with junk, the dented street corner puddle, the barber shop, the delivery kiosk, the ornamental tree knocked sideways by a car.
All of it… real.
After some hesitation, Victor grabbed his phone and called Silvia.
A few seconds later, she appeared in pajamas—clearly in the bathroom.
"Ugh… dumb brother… waking me up in the middle of the night…"
Even bleary-eyed, hair a mess, and no makeup, her features were still enough to dazzle any first-timer.
"Silvia. Did you teach Mom to use video calls?"
"Eh? I wanted to surprise you. Did she call you already?"
"…Do you remember my birthday?"
Now more awake, Silvia stretched—her figure betraying the thinness of her clothes.
"Dumb brother, are you brain-fried? We were born on the same day. Even if I forgot our older bro's birthday, how could I forget yours?"
She was four years younger. Not twins, but born on the same month and day.
"So, this illusion is based on my memories…"
"Ugh, are you still stuck in your chuunibyou phase?"
"Hey… show me what your dorm mates look like."
"Ew~ Since when did you become a perv who makes his sister sneak pics at night? Guess I'll have to sacrifice my charm for my roommate's safety!"
She lifted one leg, switched the camera to rear, and slowly moved it up—
Before it hit her knee, Victor cut her off, disgusted. "You'll always be a snot-eating brat to me. Find me a real roommate."
"Go to hell!"
Camera cut out. But her voice lingered faintly: "My brother's lost it—anyone wanna see?"
"Where, where?"
Shuffling. Then another girl—prettier than Silvia—popped into frame.
Victor's expression darkened. "Vixen."
"? Your brother just called me names?"
"Drop the act. My sister's a real school belle. Who the hell are you? A punchline?"
"Heehee! Jealous 'cause I'm prettier? Want me to be your girlfriend and show you a good time~?"
"Sorry. I'm into 2D girls."
Victor coldly ended the call.
Sure, some campus queens are overrated—but Silvia was legit.
"So… the illusion made up anything outside my memory. But it underestimated me. No random roommate's gonna beat my sister."
"Where… am I, really?"