Rain tapped steadily against the metal roof of the bus stop.
Li Wei stood beneath the shelter, hands in the pockets of his black jacket, watching the traffic crawl through the wet streets of Linhai City.
The intersection ahead was always chaotic at night. Taxi drivers rushed through yellow lights, scooters zigzagged between lanes, and pedestrians crossed whenever they felt brave enough.
Tonight was no different.
A sharp screech cut through the rain.
Two cars collided in the middle of the intersection with a loud metallic crash.
People nearby immediately reacted.
"Whoa!"
"Call someone!"
A delivery rider parked his scooter and ran toward the cars.
Li Wei stayed where he was for a moment, watching the situation. Both drivers stepped out of their vehicles, already arguing loudly.
"Are you blind?!" one of them shouted.
"The light was green!"
"It turned red!"
A small crowd began gathering.
Someone pulled out a phone to record.
After confirming no one seemed seriously injured, Li Wei looked away and checked the time on his phone.
12:01 AM
His screen vibrated.
A message from the delivery platform appeared.
Order cancelled.
Li Wei exhaled quietly.
"That's the third one tonight…"
Standing beside him, an older man waiting for the bus glanced over.
"Delivery job?"
"Part-time," Li Wei replied.
The man nodded sympathetically.
"These apps cancel orders whenever they want."
Li Wei gave a small shrug.
"Nothing to do about it."
The bus arrived shortly afterward, splashing water along the curb.
The man boarded.
Li Wei stayed behind.
His apartment was only ten minutes away on foot.
The rain softened as he walked through the streets.
Most shops were closing, metal shutters rolling down with loud rattling sounds. A convenience store near the corner was still open, its bright lights glowing warmly against the dark road.
Li Wei stepped inside.
The clerk behind the counter was half-watching a drama on his phone.
Li Wei grabbed a cup of instant noodles from the shelf.
Behind him, two university students were talking while choosing drinks.
"Did you read that forum post last night?" one of them asked.
"What post?"
"The one about strange things happening around the city."
The other student laughed.
"You mean conspiracy stuff again?"
"I'm serious. Someone wrote that there are… hidden systems controlling certain events."
"Yeah right," the first student said, grabbing a bottle of soda. "Like a game system in real life?"
"Maybe."
"Then where's my level-up reward?"
They both laughed.
Li Wei placed the noodles on the counter.
"Seven yuan," the clerk said without looking up.
Li Wei paid and left the store.
His apartment building stood in the older part of the district.
The elevator had been broken for weeks.
He climbed the stairs to the fourth floor and unlocked Room 407.
The room was small but organized.
A bed near the wall.
A desk covered with textbooks and notes.
A laptop that had clearly been used for several years.
Li Wei dropped his bag on the chair and poured hot water into the noodle cup.
Steam rose slowly.
He sat at the desk and opened one of his engineering books while waiting.
A few minutes passed quietly.
Then—
Something strange happened.
A voice appeared inside his mind.
[SYSTEM INITIALIZING]
Li Wei froze for a moment.
The voice was clear.
Mechanical.
It did not sound like imagination.
He looked around the room instinctively.
Nothing had changed.
[SIGN-IN SYSTEM ACTIVATED]
[HOST IDENTIFIED: LI WEI]
Li Wei frowned slightly.
"…What?"
The voice continued calmly.
[SYSTEM LINK ESTABLISHED]
He rubbed his forehead.
"Okay… either I'm extremely tired or something weird is happening."
No response.
He tried again.
"Who are you?"
[SYSTEM: OMNISCIENT SIGN-IN INTERFACE]
Li Wei stared at the wall in silence.
Then he asked another question.
"What does that even mean?"
[HOST MAY PERFORM DAILY SIGN-IN AT INFORMATION NODES]
[SIGN-IN PRODUCES REWARDS BASED ON HOST DEVELOPMENT]
Li Wei leaned back in his chair.
For several seconds he didn't speak.
Then he picked up his phone and checked the time again.
Still 12:08 AM.
He tapped the desk lightly.
"Alright… let's assume this isn't a dream."
He spoke slowly.
"What exactly is a sign-in?"
[HOST MUST VISIT DESIGNATED INFORMATION NODE]
"And where is that?"
A new message appeared.
[FIRST SIGN-IN LOCATION AVAILABLE]
LOCATION: LINHAI CITY PUBLIC LIBRARY
Li Wei looked toward the window.
The library was several kilometers away.
Closed at this hour.
He stayed silent for a moment.
Then he stood up and grabbed his jacket again.
"If this is some kind of hallucination," he muttered, "walking around will probably fix it."
The rain outside had almost stopped.
Streetlights reflected on the wet pavement as he stepped back into the quiet night.
Far beneath the city—
In a place no one in Linhai knew existed—
An ancient system awakened.
Data streams moved through forgotten circuits.
For the first time in decades, a dormant network began running again.
A message appeared in a hidden archive.
HOST DETECTED
And somewhere deep within that system—
Something began observing the young man walking through the rain.