Chapter 5: The Strange Dream

Prolonged hypothermia had robbed her of consciousness, finally plunging her into a deep, unknowing stupor.

Yet, for some unknown reason, even in her sleep, Jiang Hui was restless. She felt a sharp, needle-like pain in her head, accompanied by a swelling sensation, as if something inside was relentlessly grinding and churning. This foreign presence stirred her even in unconsciousness.

As Jiang Hui was placed on an electric stretcher, the accompanying medical personnel monitored her vital signs while hastening their pace toward the emergency room.

At present, the girl’s vital signs were faint. The nearby monitoring board emitted a prolonged, slow “beep-beep,” indicating her condition was weak but barely stable—stability only in its frailest form.

Suddenly, the monitor’s graph erupted into violent fluctuations, forming jagged lines that leapt up and down, with peaks nearly bursting off the screen.

“Ah?” The medical staff accompanying her were startled. Such erratic vital signs usually appeared only in those severely injured, their heart rates uncontrollably spiking near death. Moreover, she was still unconscious; her heart rate and organ functions should be relatively steady. Such fluctuations suggested a severe neurological disturbance.

Jiang Hui’s condition bore the marks of both—a grave sign, a clear harbinger of death.

The medical team escorting her grew alarmed.

“Quicken the pace! Don’t let anything happen!”

“Is the treatment pod ready? Wait, we might need to intervene manually—make sure the tools are sterilized…”

“We’ve cleared the entire path. She can be rushed through directly.”

“Bring me the ventilator! Notify the team to prepare the neuro-relaxant agent… No, just bring it over now, we’ll deal with it later. Yes, yes…”

“Hey, her eyes have been moving since a moment ago, and her eyelids are twitching violently... Could it be she’s about to awaken?” That was not something they wanted.

Unfortunately, their hopes were dashed. The eyelids and lashes on the stretcher trembled, and at last, amid the anxious gazes, she opened her eyes.

The girl’s eyes were clear and shimmering, long and alluring in shape, with slightly upturned corners and light-colored irises—a perfect pair of peach blossom eyes. Yet at this moment, her gaze was vacant, unfocused.

“Ms. Jiang, you’re awake? How do you feel?” a young nurse leaned in cautiously, probing. She did not expect a reply, only gauging Jiang Hui’s awareness through her reactions.

“Hm? Just reflexes… That’s good. There’s still some bodily function left. Hurry and send her…”

But Jiang Hui did not hear the questions. Though her eyes had opened, what she saw was unlike what others would see. Before her stretched a white backdrop—not pure nothingness, but a misty whiteness filled with strange, shadowy lines, twisting and turning erratically, sometimes stretching, sometimes retracting.

A strange unease welled in her heart, mingled with a primal fear toward these glowing, ever-shifting lines. She did not know what they were, but instinctively felt they must not be touched or disturbed, lest something terrible happen.

The flickering patterns multiplied, overlapping and forming vast, looming shadows that pressed toward her in three dimensions.

She was terrified—an inexplicable sensation of encountering some dreadful, unknown entity beyond her current understanding. Jiang Hui wished to flee, but the strange, overwhelming tide of force would not allow any escape.

Lost in this chaos, Jiang Hui again slipped into unconsciousness, truly descending into darkness and silence.

This time, she was genuinely dreaming.

In her dream, she seemed to return home: a modest, unpretentious apartment that nonetheless offered solace. The living room remained sparse and empty, the TV still flickering, and even the calendar on the wall was stuck on the day she had torn it.

Yet something had changed at the scene. The computer on the desk was gone, as was the empty instant noodle cup, its contents dried and crusted on the table. But one item was missing entirely.

Jiang Hui quickly realized what: the floor-to-ceiling window beside the desk was gone, replaced by something else.

A massive screen extended from ceiling to mid-wall, with a keyboard below. The edges and gaps were seamlessly connected, oddly so, yet this gigantic computer perfectly concealed where the window had been. Now, no view of the outside remained.

The screen still displayed long strings of red garbled text—bold, large characters glaring vividly in the otherwise muted room, stirring a faint awakening in her dulled thoughts.

Jiang Hui: …

Certainly a dream. Otherwise, how could such strange objects appear before her? Such a huge computer—was it a sign that deep inside, she still clung to her work? Even now, mysteriously bound and lost somewhere, this thing appeared, as if her heart mourned the possibly damaged machine.

She had just bought a new computer, and the steaming cup of noodles remained untouched.

Jiang Hui felt a pang of regret, yet her emotions seemed distant, as if separated by a veil. In this liminal place between dream and reality, her mind and heart felt hollow and disconnected.

As she lingered in this daze, the frozen screen suddenly flickered to life, scrolling down swiftly until the red characters filled the display.

Before she could react, a shrill alarm blared through the room—sharp, piercing, shaking her very soul.

Then the world spun wildly, scenes distorting and retreating in a whirl. As she was thrown outward, one thought flashed through Jiang Hui’s mind: was she somehow at odds with the computer?

“Ms. Jiang? Ms. Jiang, wake up! Are you alright…” a voice called urgently beside her ear, persistent and insistent.

She wanted to answer.

And then she woke.

Back in the tangible world, the girl opened her eyes, her gaze steady and focused, resting upon a large cylindrical apparatus enveloping her from above, causing a moment of bewilderment.

“She’s awake! Finally awake! This patient had remained unconscious for more than a day after exiting the treatment pod the first time. This is her second time inside, and it’s been two hours since coming out. She’s awake now… Go get help.”

So that she had just dreamed… but where was she now?