Hello. My name is Zhao Tianxia. I'm currently a senior in high school.
There's nothing special about my family—if anything, our life has been rather difficult. My father passed away when I was still learning how to walk, leaving my mother to raise me alone. She worked tirelessly to bring me up. But then that cruel heart disease struck. By the time we found out, it had already progressed to stage three.
Whenever my grandparents came to visit, I could see the worry on their faces. It made my chest tighten every time.
As an only child, I naturally became the small pillar of the family. I went to school in the morning, did heavy part-time work in the afternoon and evening to help with expenses, and at night I buried myself in books for the upcoming graduation exams. No matter how exhausted I felt, I never complained. I just hoped my mother could feel at ease.
My grandparents often urged me to get a girlfriend and bring her home someday. But deep down, I knew I needed to focus on studying first. I needed a stable job before thinking about anything else.
That was my life.
Simple. Ordinary. Almost too ordinary.
Right now, I was sitting in my small room. The paint on the walls had already peeled in several places. Moonlight slipped in through the narrow window, casting a faint silver glow across my desk.
I looked at the clock.
11:35 PM.
The pile of books in front of me was still ridiculously high. Tomorrow was an important exam, yet I hadn't finished reviewing everything.
I had been sitting on this wooden chair since noon. My entire body felt sore. Sleepiness washed over me like a rising tide.
I wanted to collapse right there.
But my mind kept telling me I couldn't afford to slack off.
In the end, I wound up the alarm clock and told myself I would only sleep for thirty minutes.
Yeah.
Just a little. It should be fine.
The moment my fingers left the dial, my vision started to sway. My eyelids grew heavy, and darkness slowly swallowed everything.
A strange lightness spread through my body, as if the weight I had been carrying all these years suddenly disappeared.
In that hazy state, my consciousness felt blurred. It was like floating in the vast emptiness of space.
Beautiful.
But unsettling.
Suddenly, my body began to shake violently.
An invisible force tugged at my limbs, moving them as if someone were pulling strings.
Weird… Was I sleepwalking?
Or… sleep paralysis?
Panic surged through me. I tried to break free, but my body wouldn't respond. My mind and limbs felt disconnected.
After struggling desperately in that strange void, control suddenly returned.
I gathered all my strength and forced my eyes open—
"So bright!"
A sharp light stabbed into my eyes, making them ache. My vision blurred. I instinctively raised my hand to block it, squinting as I tried to adjust.
It felt suffocating.
But when the images in front of me slowly became clear—
My heart almost jumped out of my chest.
This wasn't my old room.
There was no alarm clock.
Instead, I was surrounded by a crowd of strangers.
Different expressions—shock, worry, suspicion. Every single pair of eyes was fixed on me, staring.
I froze:
-"Where… is this?"