“My place is pretty far from here…” Dong Zi said.
Unable to withstand that look in his eyes, Fu Changxun ultimately brought this big dog home with him.
Outside, everything was chaotic. Inside his apartment, it was quiet.
The moment they stepped through the door, the black cat couldn’t wait any longer. It darted out from Fu Changxun’s collar, landed lightly on the floor, then began patrolling its new home as if marking territory.
“Ah—right, I forgot to buy cat food.” Only then did Fu Changxun remember.
“Meow-ao.”
Fu Changxun guessed it probably meant “never mind,” so he asked, “Then… should I make you some cat food?”
The black cat immediately ran over and rubbed against him.
“Mii—”
Cat food? Yes, yes, absolutely!
“You sit on the couch for a bit. I’ll make the cat food first, then cook something for people too.”
As he tied on an apron, Fu Changxun said to Dong Zi, “There’s a box of snacks under the coat rack. Help yourself if you want.”
Dong Zi answered and looked around. Fu Changxun’s place felt very lived-in. The decor wasn’t fancy, but it was comfortable. The small balcony held many potted plants, and even the coffee table in the living room had a few cracked walnuts lying on it.
In this hurried reunion filled with danger, he hadn’t had the chance to ask about Fu Changxun’s life over the years.
Now that he’d stepped into his home, he finally had some sense of who Ah-Xun was now.
“Need help?” Dong Zi stood up and went to the kitchen doorway. “I can cook a bit too. Let me help.”
Fu Changxun didn’t stand on ceremony and tossed him a handful of garlic cloves.
“Then peel these.”
The two of them stood together in the cramped kitchen in silence.
After peeling for a while, Dong Zi asked as if casually, “How did you end up becoming a psychologist? Back in high school, didn’t you say you were planning to go into finance?”
Fu Changxun chopped scallions. “Didn’t get in. I was reassigned to psychology, found it pretty interesting, and just kept studying. What about you—what do you do now?”
“I did go into finance,” Dong Zi said dully. “Investment consultant.”
Fu Changxun fell silent for a moment, then laughed and shook his head.
“That really is… fate playing tricks on people.”
Dong Zi let out a quiet sigh.
“I feel like you’ve… become much more distant from me. I don’t really know what to do.”
Fu Changxun raised his voice with a laugh.
“Hey, I just remember you being especially skinny and short back then. Now you’re suddenly this tall and built—of course it takes some getting used to.”
After chatting for a while, they finally regained some of the familiarity they’d had in high school. The food was nearly done.
Before long, the black cat padded silently up to the dining table.
“Meow…”
It sniffed the fragrant cat food, then plunged straight into the bowl, eating in big mouthfuls.
The two at the table also picked up their chopsticks.
“It’s really good,” Dong Zi praised. “Ah-Xun, do you cook for yourself often?”
Fu Changxun didn’t mind the way he addressed him.
“More or less. Not long after graduating high school, my grandpa passed away, so I’ve been living here alone ever since.”
His parents had died when he was young, and he’d depended on his grandfather for everything. Thankfully, his grandfather’s family circumstances were decent, and he’d never let Fu Changxun suffer.
Back in high school, he’d also heard that Dong Zi was an orphan like him. That shared experience was why he’d gone out of his way to look after him back then. After graduation, though, they’d lost contact—until now.
“Your grandpa… met me before,” Dong Zi recalled. “He was a very kind old man.”
“Yes. He liked you a lot too,” Fu Changxun said with a smile. “He even insisted on taking you as his god-grandson.”
Memories he’d long buried slipped out so easily that he felt a faint sense of melancholy.
After the meal, Fu Changxun habitually turned on the TV.
The news had already begun reporting on the “Low-Dimensional Selection.” The two of them listened carefully.
In just a single day, millions of people had already participated in the game—and the number who returned…
Was less than half.
It had become common knowledge worldwide, and most of the public had already fallen into a state of panic.
“Maybe one day… everyone will be dragged into the game,” Fu Changxun murmured.
Dong Zi tried to comfort him.
“Either way, we’ve already been pulled in. We’re way more unlucky than they are.”
Fu Changxun: “……”
That was not comforting at all.
Late at night, thankfully, his place had two bedrooms. Dong Zi naturally slept in the guest room.
“Good night,” Fu Changxun said.
“…Good night. Get some rest,” Dong Zi replied softly.
They said good night, yet neither of them slept. That very night, tens of thousands more people triggered the game.
From time to time, new points of light appeared in the sky—those were players who had opened livestreams.
The next morning, the two panda-eyed men stared at each other and couldn’t help laughing.
“Over the next couple of days we should prepare—learn some fighting… gurgle gurgle… get some survival gear, see if the game lets us bring stuff in… gurgle,” Fu Changxun said indistinctly while brushing his teeth. “If we can find a loophole in the game, that’d be great.”
Dong Zi splashed water on his face.
“Then let’s try.”
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of Fu Changxun lifting his arm, accidentally revealing a stretch of pale, bare waist. Suddenly, something felt itchy.
He covered his mouth and coughed lightly.
“Cough, cough. I’ll use the bathroom first.”
With that, he hurried into the bathroom and even locked the door behind him.
Fu Changxun laughed.
“We used to live in the same dorm in high school. How did you end up…”
So thinner-skinned now?
A few minutes later, Dong Zi emerged from the bathroom looking perfectly normal.
At that moment, a knock suddenly sounded from outside the apartment.
Fu Changxun looked up sharply but didn’t answer. He only exchanged a glance with Dong Zi and shook his head.
There was no one who would come looking for him. As for Lu Qi, he certainly wouldn’t knock this quietly.
Peering through the peephole, he saw several men standing outside with grave expressions. Their clothes were ordinary, but their posture and bearing looked distinctly military.
“What is it?” Fu Changxun asked.
“May I ask—did you enter the ‘Low-Dimensional Selection Game’ yesterday at Xinhe Café?”
The man at the front asked politely.
Related to the game? Fu Changxun still didn’t open the door. He asked through it, “Do you have identification?”
“Don’t be nervous.” Meeting their wary gazes, the man took out a thick stack of credentials. “I’m Qiu Yi, Director of the Huaxia Special Affairs Office. Please don’t be alarmed.”
Dong Zi stepped in front of Fu Changxun.
“I’ve never heard of this department.”
Qiu Yi smiled helplessly.
“It was just established. Of course you haven’t.”
Only then did the two of them open the door and check the credentials. The black cat squatted atop the shoe cabinet by the entrance, its feline eyes fixed tightly on the visitors.
Fu Changxun leaned out slightly and asked, “Then, Director Qiu, what brings you here today?”
Qiu Yi let out a long sigh.
“As of now, over seven million people worldwide have vanished. In Huaxia alone, more than two million. This isn’t missing persons—it’s disappearance in plain sight. We suspect this is a threat from extraterrestrials or so-called ‘higher-dimensional beings.’”
His expression was grave. “You two are among them. So… we’d like your cooperation.”
Fu Changxun turned his head to exchange a look with Dong Zi. After a moment, he relented.
“What kind of cooperation do you want?”
Asking questions was fine. Arresting them, drawing blood, human experimentation—absolutely not.
