8mi Chapter 1 The Church
Chapter 1 The Church
The sky was dim, covered by dark clouds.
A misty fog blanketed the desolate land, stretching as far as the eye could see.
A massive, ancient, and weathered black stone monument stands.
—"Beep beep! Beep beep!"—
The alarm clock vibrated in his ear with short, sharp sounds, and Lin Ye, lying in bed, gradually became conscious.
He propped himself up and rubbed his head, which was feeling a bit throbbing.
"Was that just a dream?"
I sat down on the edge of the bed, casually pressed the alarm switch that showed 20:00, and looked around the unfamiliar room in front of me.
The room was small, with a grid-like ceiling, and the aisle beside the bed was only wide enough for two people to stand in at the same time.
To the right, next to the bed, under the window, there is a desk with an old, yellowed CRT computer screen that is black.
The door at the foot of the bed was tightly closed, with the old-fashioned round brass handle worn smooth and shiny.
"Am I not challenging Ozaki's ultimate trust in the Eight Principles?"
As he regained some clarity, he recalled the moment he sank to the bottom of the water.
The azure sky filled his eyes, a sense of vastness and relaxation he had never experienced before, as if everything was drifting away from him.
The thought had barely crossed my mind when, as if a switch had been flipped, a dull ache shot through the back of my head, and blurry fragments of memory flooded my mind.
After a while, he gently massaged his temples.
"Turns out, it was just pure luck."
With a "whoosh," the desk drawer was pulled open, and a student ID was taken out.
Lin Ye, Department of Pharmacy, Coastal University, is a handsome young man in the one-inch photo in the upper right corner.
"A twenty-year-old's body is so full of energy."
"You've just lost a bit of weight."
I put my student ID back, stood up and stood in front of the desk. Next to the large computer was a calendar.
Friday, June 30, 2028 (Federal Calendar).
The last day before the summer vacation of my junior year.
Looking at the large computer, he still preferred reading to searching on the computer.
Reaching out to touch the simple bookshelf on the desk, my fingertips brushed against the black spines of the books, feeling their cool, warm texture.
A Brief History of the Federation of Lebanon
I bought it because the gilded lettering and the cover looked nice and stylish.
He took out a book, sat sideways on the chair in front of the desk, crossed his legs, and casually flipped through it.
Not long after, he put the book on the table and opened it to reveal an illustration.
The fuselage is streamlined, with a blade-shaped tail cone, sloping winglets, and two super-large diameter engines mounted on the wings.
The Skywing 747 civilian airliner.
My fingers tapped the table unconsciously, and moonlight streamed in through the window, casting a layer of light spots.
"The planet's surface area is more than three times larger, and its technological level is equivalent to that of the 21st century."
"However, the various provinces within the Federation tend to act as independent entities, each vying for power."
Just then, he suddenly looked up and focused his attention on the door, where he could faintly hear a young woman's voice.
"Mom, so many people are eyeing this trainee opportunity at the Tieqin Group, just waiting for me to fail!"
"I don't want to take Ono's 60,000 yen tuition fee, but how can I turn things around if I miss this opportunity?"
"I'm not unaware! I'm perfectly clear-headed!"
"How many opportunities like this do ordinary families like ours have in a lifetime?"
"Mom, that's the Tieqin Group! So many people would kill for that!"
"I won't be satisfied until I try!"
"And then there's Ono. Graduating and getting a job at a big company requires money, getting married requires money, buying a car and a house requires money. Even if she gets through this semester, what about next semester? And what about after that?"
"Do we really have to wait until Ono is thirty to talk about marriage? Is that too late?"
"But if I'm selected this time, then I won't have to worry. Even if Ono doesn't work in the future, I can make arrangements for her."
"Mom, to tell you the truth, I've already taken out a loan of 100,000."
"I have no way out, and I don't want to retreat any further!"
After he finished speaking, silence fell outside the door.
As Lin Ye listened to what his "older sister" Lin Yu said, he realized that this world was different from his previous life, and university expenses were extremely high.
The family was supporting two college students. The compensation money from the death of the father at sea had long been used up, and the family relied entirely on the mother's savings from her early years.
Moreover, his older sister was a top student at Tieqin University, and her expenses were even greater than his. He only managed to catch his breath after graduating this year.
However, his tuition for the first semester of his senior year was raised by his mother selling her wedding jewelry.
"Iron Piano Group..."
He recalled the relevant information; it seemed to be a leading enterprise group in Tieqin City, a nearby first-tier city.
Its power is immense; the fact that even the city is named after the group speaks volumes.
If I can become an internal trainee at the Tieqin Group, I will most likely become a senior executive in the group in the future, which would definitely be considered a leap in social class compared to my current situation.
"Knock knock knock!"
The sound of hurried footsteps faded into the distance, followed by the sound of the door opening.
"Mom, don't worry, even if it doesn't work out, I'll get some more money before school starts!"
"This money is enough for you and Ono to live comfortably!"
"Bang!"
The loud slam of the door slammed so hard that even Lin Ye, sitting in the room, felt the room shake.
After a moment of silence, he stood up, went to the door, and grasped the brass handle.
The slightly cool and sticky sensation told him that everything happening before his eyes was real.
Suddenly, he felt somewhat lost and at a loss.
"Mother...Sister..."
"Click—"
With a click of the handle turning, the door opened.
The moment the door opened, the surrounding noise suddenly fell silent, and the faint candlelight shone in from outside.
A jolt of surprise shot through me, and the confusion in my eyes quickly faded, replaced by caution and aggression as I became aware of my surroundings.
In front of him, the dilapidated medieval church appeared extremely empty, and he seemed to be on the second floor.
The church dome features paintings made of agate.
It depicts angels falling to earth and the fires of hell burning towards heaven.
Although it was mostly damaged, there were marks everywhere from being chopped by sharp weapons.
But one can still sense the former luxury from those broken gemstone materials.
"Bang."
With a push of his arm, he closed the dark brown wooden door.
"Click—"
The door opened again, but the surrounding environment remained unchanged.
A row of brass candlesticks hangs along the corridor outside the door, and at the far left end of the corridor is a large wooden spiral staircase leading down to the first floor.
Looking back, the original room had disappeared, replaced by an old-fashioned Western-style bedroom with a musty smell.
The layout was similar to his room, only much larger.
The furniture, along with the flooring, is made of a golden-brown wood with a subtle, luxurious, yet somewhat cold appearance.
The most eye-catching thing is an oil painting above the headboard, about a meter long, with extremely vibrant colors.
Before he could take a closer look, he heard a faint noise coming from outside the door.
Looking back at the staircase, the moment I saw it clearly, a tingling, cool sensation ran from the top of my tailbone to my scalp.
He turned his head, his throat bobbed, his eyelashes trembled slightly, and his black pupils were fully exposed.
With a sudden lunge, it swiftly and gently crawled under the bed, stirring up dust and filling its nostrils with a strong musty smell.
"Pat-pat," "Pat-pat."
A dull thud, like a hand slapping against a wooden crate, gradually approached from the corridor.
"Squeak~"
The door rattled slightly, making a grating sound, accompanied by a rustling noise, as something crawled inside.
Lin Ye remained motionless, pressed close to the bottom of the bed, his eyes fixed on the seam outside.
"Clatter!"
A withered, black arm lay outside the crack in the bed, stirring up a thin stream of air, carrying with it the smell of decay.
Lin Ye's pupils contracted slightly; this was definitely not a human hand!