He showed no expression, not even a crease in his brow, and didn't show anything at all. He just casually reached up to scratch his ear while his other hand pulled out his phone and glanced down at it.
There was no new information, but the time on the glowing screen was the real point of interest.
——07:00
Exactly seven o'clock in the morning, truly a time belonging to dawn. It's almost as if before the sky even lightens, Gu Mo had already caught a cab to register and queue up.
Time is running out...
Today's time is running out...
Despite it being early, Gu Mo couldn't help but feel a surge of urgency. He quickly calculated the time remaining for himself today, then raised his head and couldn't resist tapping the back of the driver's seat in front of him.
"Sir, could you drive a bit faster, please? I'm in a hurry, thank you."
"Alright."
The driver agreed readily. However, after nearly thirty seconds passed, the car kept driving smoothly, maintaining a steady speed on the road without any apparent intention to accelerate.
"..."
"..."
Alright? Alright for nothing.
Gu Mo curled his lips but said nothing more.
Forget it, anyway, there's almost an hour left, which should be more than enough to get home, no need to worry about falling asleep directly in the car. As long as there isn't a traffic jam, there shouldn't be any problem...
He turned his head to continue watching the scenery outside the window, comforting himself this way, but the anxiety and depression inside him continued to grow.
It probably started about a week ago when I began experiencing some serious problems.
Gu Mo remembered that night. He was still playing online games with friends. It was exactly midnight, just as the new day arrived, he suddenly heard a piercing static noise in his earphones, like an electric current passing through or poor signal, interfering with the voice channel.
His first reaction was thinking the earphones were short-circuiting, shocked him into snatching them off immediately.
And after the sound vanished, he dared not use those earphones again.
Following that, the situation became strangely bizarre, as almost every hour, he would hear a peculiar static noise, precisely on a cycle, every sixty minutes, with the whole turning point as the interval, very punctual.
He realized he had a problem, but before he could do anything about it, he lost consciousness directly at eight in the morning.
Then, until midnight hit, he woke up again.
For the next week, he kept repeating this process, with Gu Mo needing sixteen hours of sleep each day, only spending eight hours awake, and waking up precisely at midnight, losing consciousness again at eight in the morning.
Furthermore, between midnight to eight in the morning, every hour, Gu Mo would hear that buzzing electrical noise. It's a sound only he can hear, as if it resonated directly in the depths of his mind, bumping and darting around the different parts of his cerebral cortex like a neural reflex.
Understandably, anyone facing this sort of situation wouldn't accept it calmly.
Gu Mo felt the same way; he also suspected something went wrong with his body, perhaps even a central nervous system disorder, leading him to shuttle back and forth between hospitals for a while. But unfortunately, no hospital offered him any reassurance.
Recalling the consistent conclusions given by each hospital, he had no words left.
The air in the taxi felt heavy; the driver tried telling a few jokes at first, but without any response from the passenger, he quickly quieted down, letting the time tick by minute by minute.
Finally, the car stopped in front of a residential area.
"No need for change."
"Alright, thank you."
Feeling frustrated, Gu Mo waved his hand, uninterested in haggle over loose change, and was about to turn and leave. But at that moment, he saw a splash of red appear atop the driver's head, as if a few strange...
Things?
Or what?
Gu Mo couldn't be sure if he was seeing things.
"Sir..."
Not having time to voice his warning, he instinctively reached out his hand and could only watch as the driver stomped on the gas pedal, and the car sped a considerable distance, vanishing quickly around the corner of the street.
Perhaps having gotten used to the taxi's slow rate earlier, upon witnessing this sudden swift departure, Gu Mo couldn't quite wrap his head around it, standing there in a bit of a trance.
Just asked for some speed, his response was sluggish, and now it's fast like this? Is the nerve reflex arc too long that it took so long to react?
He pondered for a moment, glanced around, finding the time still early with hardly anyone in the community, and the area below quiet and empty. Gu Mo hesitated briefly, then raised his phone to check the current time.
——07:49
Shit! There's no time!
Face darkening slightly, he decisively threw all thoughts aside, turned around, and walked briskly into the community.
He quickly headed upstairs, unlocked his door, ate something at the fastest pace, then checked the electrical appliances and windows around the house. The remaining time had entered the countdown phase...as he made his way to his bedroom, lying down in the most comfortable position on his bed.
After a week, he had already familiarized himself with the pattern, and naturally knew what should be done next.
Time ticked by second by second, and at the precise moment when the last second on his mobile display jumped, marking eight o'clock sharp, Gu Mo unsurprisingly heard the punctual occurrence of that strange static noise.
In the next second, an unreasonable wave of drowsiness surged forth, causing him to lose all external perception, as if the whole world was moving further away from him.
Meanwhile, in his unconscious mind, the absurdly meaningless simple static noise still reverberated within his nerves, mingled with what seemed an electric interference, the buzzing sound unbearably sharp. But as the static rolled over, fragmented segments slowly started clarifying.
Like an antiquated radio being gradually tuned, though still heavily disrupted, bits of useful information could faintly be discerned.
"Buzz...for protecting...buzz...physical and mental health, users under 18 are subject to the anti-addiction system restrictions, your...online hours have reached eight, forced offline...login restriction...please complete quickly...buzz...official certification..."
...
...
(PS: A debut novel from a newcomer, much appreciated guidance)