[Timeline: Blue Star – Pre-Transmigration]
[Location: Apartment Block 404 – The Grey District]
[Date: December 24th, 2023]
The radiator had died three hours ago.
Lin Ye didn't bother fixing it.
He simply pulled his threadbare blanket tighter around his shoulders and stared at the steam rising from his cup of instant noodles.
Beef flavor. The same flavor he had eaten yesterday. And the day before.
The apartment was small, a single room that smelled of dust and old paper.
The only light came from the streetlamp outside, casting long, prison-bar shadows across the floor.
Outside, the city was alive.
Through the thin glass of his window, Lin Ye could see the world moving.
Snow was falling, coating the grey concrete in a layer of pristine white.
Red and green lights blinked from the windows of the building across the street.
He saw silhouettes.
A father lifting a child to place a star on a tree.
