The sound of wind howled by his ears. Yu Sen tried hard to open his eyes, but his eyelids felt like they had a rock weighing them down, as heavy as a thousand pounds.

After struggling for a bit with no success, he gave up on the effort, allowing his consciousness to gradually sink, his whole being submerged in darkness.

---

It was unclear how much time had passed, so long that Yu Sen felt as if a century had gone by. Only after such a long slumber did his numb body slowly start to regain sensation.

A cool breeze brushed against his skin, leaving a hollow chill. He tried to curl up to retain some warmth, but as soon as he moved, a sharp pain swept through his entire body.

The pain jolted his nerves awake, and his consciousness suddenly sharpened. He slowly opened his eyes. Harsh light streamed in through the unblocked linen curtains. The blanket had been kicked to the foot of the bed, and the cold wind from the central air conditioning spread evenly across him. He felt a bit chilly, and pale goosebumps stood up on his arms.

Outside the window, the leaves cast dense, dark shadows on the ceiling, like haunting ghost figures in a dream that never go away.

He took half a minute to digest the fact that he had woken up once again in Si Nan’s bed. As his eyes adjusted to the familiar sight of the “real world” around him, Yu Sen tried moving his neck.

Good, not broken.

He moved his limbs next.

Damn! So sore!

Had he fought a battle or something?

He reached out and struggled to find his phone under the pillow. When he turned it on, it indeed showed that only one night had passed.

How did those two days condense into a single night?

After moving his joints a bit to loosen up, Yu Sen propped himself up and glanced at the floor.

On the mattress laid out on the floor, Si Nan was staring blankly at the ceiling, lying stiffly with an expression of an out-of-body soul.

“Restless spirit?” Yu Sen mumbled.

“…” Si Nan suddenly spoke, his eyes rolling over to Yu Sen. “I had a dream last night.”

“Did you?” Yu Sen dropped his head back into the pillow. “What kind of dream?”

“I dreamt that the two of us, plus my younger brother, were in a city full of zombies. We had to complete a mission to return, and you two were both scared. So I gave you psychological counseling while bravely killing zombies. In the end, I dragged the two of you deadweights to the final mission location and managed to save you both…”

“Wait, wait…” Yu Sen quickly interrupted him, “You’re telling me you had a dream within a dream? So you’re saying we only made it to the top of the Eternal Life Tech building because you carried us?”

“Holy crap! How did you know… It wasn’t just a dream!” Si Nan’s face instantly turned pale.

Yu Sen pressed his fingers against his temple, recalling the weak appearance of Si Xuanyang in the lab, as well as the injuries on his hands. He temporarily forgot his muscle soreness, got out of bed, and kicked Si Nan.

“Let’s go, let’s check on your brother first.”

Si Nan immediately thought of Si Xuanyang’s injuries, his expression turning serious as he stiffly got up to follow behind Yu Sen, his bones cracking twice.

After a few steps to the next room, Yu Sen raised his index finger and knocked on the door. “Si Xuanyang? Are you okay? I’m coming in.”

He pressed down on the handle. Fortunately, it wasn’t locked. Yu Sen pushed the door open and saw Si Xuanyang sitting on the edge of the bed, holding a blanket in a daze. He only slowly focused on them when they entered.

Tsk! Such clear eyes, Yu Sen couldn’t help but sigh. “Too bad he looks like an idiot.”

Si Xuanyang replied, “…”…Why do you even have a mouth?”

“Oh, you still know how to retort; you’re not an idiot yet. How are you feeling?” Yu Sen sat down on the edge of his bed.

Si Xuanyang, feeling a bit uncomfortable, moved his hips away slightly and patted his face with the back of his hand. “I feel very tired and a bit feverish.”

“Is that so.” Yu Sen noticed a mark on the back of his hand and grabbed it.

“What is this?”

Again with his inappropriate, heavy-handed actions! Si Xuanyang was just about to lose his temper when he followed Yu Sen’s gaze to the back of his hand and paused.

“Eh? I remember it wasn’t there before I went to sleep.”

On the back of his hand, there was a bluish-purple mark, as if something sharp had hit it, leaving a coin-sized bruise.

And this location, coincidentally, was where he had been scratched by a zombie when he was trying to save Yu Sen.

Yu Sen was silent for a moment before turning his hand over and touching Si Xuanyang’s forearm.

“What are you doing…?” Si Xuanyang glanced awkwardly at his brother. Fortunately, Si Nan’s expression didn’t look strange, but his gaze was a bit heavy as he stared at the arm.

Yu Sen stopped his actions, his fingers lightly grazing a spot on Si Xuanyang’s forearm. The skin beneath his touch trembled slightly.

That spot was where he had drawn blood with the tip of an arrow on Si Xuanyang’s forearm when they were on the rooftop.

The wound there had already healed by now, but it had left a scar of the same length, proving that the wound had once existed.

It seemed that injuries sustained in the other world would not manifest so severely in the real world but would leave some traces behind.

Si Xuanyang, seeing the scar, apparently recalled how it had come about, muttering quietly, “You’re really a madman.”

Yu Sen looked up and smiled at him, “Thanks for the compliment.”

“…”

“So, everything we’ve been through wasn’t just a dream,” Si Nan slumped down next to Yu Sen, saying weakly, “I never expected to actually be the protagonist of a sci-fi movie.”

Yu Sen raised an eyebrow. “At most, you’re the third male lead. Know your place.”

Si Nan bounced up and angrily pointed at him. “You’ve only known my brother for such a short time, and now you’re putting me after him? You jerk!”

When he playfully scolded, Yu Sen hadn’t reacted yet, but Si Xuanyang was the first to tremble three times, “No! I didn’t! Don’t drag me into this!”

Si Nan, frustrated, asked, “Why are you so anxious…?”

Yu Sen coughed a couple of times in a pretend manner, needing to quickly stop this topic before the truth came out. He hadn’t had enough fun teasing yet! After coughing, he gave Si Nan a push, “Stop babbling nonsense here. Go check the wall clock.”

“Oh right! I almost forgot about the murder weapon!”

---

In the living room, the wall clock was still lying quietly in the box, just as Yu Sen had last seen it the previous night, with nothing amiss.

Si Nan walked to a spot three meters away from the clock but came to a sudden halt, then slipped behind Yu Sen, clutching his clothes. “Yu Ge, you go check it. I’m too scared.”

Si Xuanyang’s face stiffened, and he turned his head, sighing in despair.

“What’s the use of you…” Yu Sen shook his head and sighed as he slowly walked over to the clock.

From the outside, it looked no different from the way it did last night, except…

“The hour hand is pointing to two,” Yu Sen added. “Exactly two o’clock.”

And as if frozen, neither the minute hand nor the second hand moved.

Si Xuanyang thought for a moment and said, “It looks like we’ve completed a game task, and the clock advanced two steps.”

“Does that mean there will be more to come? Don’t scare me!” Si Nan gritted his teeth and finally made up his mind, looking pained. “Then I’ll just smash it and see what it can do!”

“Please, go ahead with your performance.” Yu Sen stepped back.

Si Nan, on the verge of tears, looked reluctantly at the exquisitely crafted clock, glanced around, then pulled out a small hammer from the hallway drawer, looked up sadly, and then, without hesitation, struck the clock hard with the hammer.

“Bang—!”

Yu Sen squinted his eyes. The expected indestructibility didn’t happen; instead, cracks rapidly spread from the point where the hammer hit, even shattering the glass on the clock face.

“What a heartless man,” Yu Sen remarked.

Si Xuanyang shot him a strange look.

No magical scene appeared. Si Nan let out a huge sigh of relief, “It’s fine now, it’s fine…”

“Let’s hope so,” Yu Sen lowered his gaze. He recalled the words of the strange man in the factory. Could it really be this simple?

Three minutes later, he got his answer.

As he and Si Xuanyang helped Si Nan throw the broken clock into the trash bin outside the house and re-entered the house, Si Nan let out a wail.

—There, lying perfectly intact on the living room floor, was the clock.

It was as if the destruction had only been a figment of their imagination.

Even Yu Sen felt a chill run down his spine: Had the soul of the clock targeted them? Was it haunting them?

“This is a ghost that won’t go away! Right? Right?! We’re doomed!” Si Nan looked at the clock on the floor, spreading his hands, “I can’t handle this anymore. I need to numb myself, give me a bottle of alcohol and a cigarette.”

Yu Sen tilted his head and was silent for a while, then said, “You want to tell this clock you can leave whenever you want, you have all the time in the world? Do you want a direct ride somewhere?”

“Yu Sen, you’re asking for it!”

Si Nan pounced on him, knocking Yu Sen off balance and causing him to fall against Si Xuanyang, “Ouch!”

“Hey, Yang Yang, you smell so nice. What body wash do you use?” Yu Sen helped Si Xuanyang up, and while doing so, he rubbed his wrist against Si Xuanyang’s neck as if applying perfume.

Si Xuanyang: “!!!”

This was blatant flirting! And his own brother was right there! What kind of bizarre relationship did they have!? Could he not have a little decency?! So shameless!

Yu Sen gave a sly smile, ignoring the murderous glare from Si Xuanyang, and ruffled Si Nan’s hair. “Alright, stop pouting. Since we can’t avoid this, we should start investigating the others who entered with us. Let’s see what their fate is so we can prepare ourselves.”

“Boo… You’re awful. I’m going to find Luo Yu’s contact info so he can comfort me.” Si Nan ran off in his slippers, making a “da-da-da” sound as he disappeared.

Si Xuanyang was dumbfounded: Another man comforting him? Is this some kind of romantic role-playing!?