Chapter 1
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Chapter 1: Strange Dream
The dim sky slowly darkened under the setting sun.
Ding Yu swung an old hoe with a black metal piece tied to the end, digging into the yellow soil again and again, feeling like he was going crazy!
He was just a fourth-year university student in Beijing about to graduate, but when he opened his eyes, he found himself trapped in a dirty young body dressed in rags and using primitive tools.
Ding Yu could clearly feel the extreme tiredness and hunger of this frail body, but he felt like a spectator trapped in a cage, only able to watch the body’s owner work tirelessly. Each swing of the hoe made the body weaker, but he could not interfere at all.
“Tiezhu, hold on a little longer. We only rented this set of oxen for seven days, and we have to return it tomorrow. As long as we can till most of this wasteland before dark, the rental money won’t be wasted. Tonight, I’ll give you and your brother an extra half bowl of bean porridge,” a hoarse voice from a man called out from nearby. The language was quite strange, yet he understood it easily.
Just as Ding Yu was feeling surprised, the body’s owner looked up and responded in the same language:
“Dad, don’t worry, I can keep going.”
Ding Yu then saw that on the other side of the wasteland, there was a middle-aged man with deep wrinkles on his forehead and a tall, thin young man in his twenties, driving an old yellow cow back and forth. The older man held the cow’s reins while the younger man struggled to push a simple wooden sled behind the cow.
The two of them were equally in tattered clothes, panting and looking like they could collapse at any moment, yet they still urged the yellow ox forward to walk slowly, leaving behind deep and uneven furrows in the wasteland.
The frail boy endured his discomfort and continued to swing the hoe in his hand.
Ding Yu could even clearly feel the boy’s heart racing fast, with a strong smell of wet earth in his breath, and the air gradually became damp.
Suddenly, there was a thunderclap in the sky, the wind howled fiercely, dark clouds gathered, and it poured down rain like soybeans.
“Oh no! Tiezhu, quickly bring the oilcloth and cover the ox and tools!” The middle-aged man was alarmed and immediately let go of the sled, rushing through the heavy rain to help the tall, thin young man control the startled yellow ox.
The small boy responded and ran toward a gray bundle by the roadside in the rain.
“Splash!”
The boy slipped and accidentally stepped into the mud, falling hard in the heavy rain and got stuck, unable to get back up.
“Tiezhu!”
“Little brother”
The cries of the middle-aged man and the tall, thin young man sounded extremely scared and weak in the heavy rain.
……
“Ah”
Ding Yu sat up from the wooden bed in his university dormitory, staring intently at the poster of the red and white mech game on the opposite wall, still feeling a bit shaken.
This dream was so real!
Even though he was awake, the cries of the middle-aged man and the tall, thin young man seemed to still echo in his ears!
“Slap, slap”
Ding Yu slapped his face twice with his hands, finally managing to bring himself back to his senses.
A dream is just a dream. No matter how real or strange it feels, now that he is awake, he won’t think about it anymore.
Ding Yu rubbed his slightly red cheeks, looked at the pictures on the wall again, and suddenly jumped out of bed.
I almost forgot! In a few days, the first worldwide virtual game ‘Galaxy’ will have its public testing day, and today he needs to pick up his pre-ordered game helmet.
He had participated in the closed beta test of this game and even made his character in advance when the test ended, ready to have a great time during the public test.
Thinking of this, Ding Yu pushed away last night’s strange dream from his mind, opened the dormitory door, and was ready to find his friend next door to get the helmet together.
But as soon as he opened the door, he stopped in surprise, looking at three tall men in black suits. One of them, standing a bit behind, was holding a square silver metal box with a mini round disk on top that looked like a radar, pointing at the door of his dorm.
“Are you Ding Yu?” the lead man, a forty-something man with a square face, asked after holding up a photo next to Ding Yu’s face.
“I am… who are you…” Ding Yu looked at the metal box in the other man’s hands, his face filled with doubt.
“Ding Yu, we need you to go somewhere to answer some questions. Don’t worry, you haven’t broken any laws; the relevant department just wants to ask you some questions. Here is my ID.” The square-faced man smiled as he put away the photo and handed over a green ID with a national emblem on it.
“They want to take me?” Ding Yu was confused. He took the document and glanced at it quickly, only remembering that it had a big red stamp on it that said “Special Affairs Office” in smaller letters.
“Can I call my family first to let them know I’m safe?” Ding Yu returned the document and, after thinking for a moment, asked.
“Once we reach our destination, you will be allowed to make a call, but before that, for security reasons, we need to temporarily take Ding’s phone and all other electronic devices. Also, we have already informed your school leaders, so you can relax and not worry too much,” the man with a square face explained briefly. Then he waved his hand, and the other two people stood behind Ding Yu, urging him to get moving right away.
“But I need to change my clothes; I can’t just leave like this,” Ding Yu said, feeling a bit anxious.
“Then you can change quickly; we are in a bit of a hurry,” the man with a square face glanced at Ding Yu’s short-sleeve pajamas and nodded helplessly.
…
Half an hour later, Ding Yu was wearing a blue casual outfit, sitting in a long black car, turning his head to stare blankly out the window at the distant sky.
Next to the bright red sun in the clear blue sky, there was suddenly a huge, glowing star.
The huge star looked to be twice the size of the sun, covered in a soft yellow light that made it impossible to see what was underneath, as if a twin brother of the sun had appeared, just not as bright and much bigger.
“What is this? This thing wasn’t here yesterday,” Ding Yu murmured.
“This thing actually appeared only last night,” the square-faced man calmly replied. Then, after pressing some switch, a black metal plate rose up over all the car windows, completely blocking everything outside.
Ding Yu swallowed and did not dare to ask more questions.
He wasn’t sure if it was just his imagination, but he felt that the square-faced man was looking at him strangely. Could it be that being taken away had something to do with this big thing in the sky?
He felt a bit concerned inside.
The car drove for over three hours before finally stopping and opening the door by itself.
After Ding Yu got out of the car, he glanced around and was very shocked.