In dreams, one forgets they're merely a guest; last night, I suddenly found myself back home—haven’t written this line in ages. I wonder if, reading it now, you all feel that sense of "long-lost" or "like a lifetime ago."
When Jack Young snapped out of the strange, time-warping sensation, the first thing he heard was voices. Lots and lots of voices, near and far, all kinds of people speaking all kinds of languages. A million bits of information poured into his ears, letting him know he was back in Hong Kong. He opened his eyes and saw the midday sun blazing overhead, and himself standing on a balcony. This was the top floor of a high-rise, with cars and crowds bustling below.
Fragments of memory flashed by—he remembered, he’d set off to fight monsters in the Pacific World from this very balcony. That was back in early August, peak summer. His skin, ever sensitive, detected today’s temperature was a bit cooler than then. Who knows how much time had passed?
One trip there and back—hundreds of thousands of words, over two hundred chapters. Even the author has to go reread the old stuff to catch up at this point.
Back when he left, Hong Kong was his home turf, thanks to his cousin Jonathan Black, who ran things like a boss here. Before leaving, Jack had a long talk with Jonathan, sharing info about the Chosen Ones and other secret stuff, so Jonathan could brace himself for future world changes—just in case things went sideways.
When he set off, Hong Kong’s night sky was showing a white-night phenomenon—bound to cause a huge stir. Plus, a team of Chosen Ones with military backing was heading to the Pacific World for a dungeon run. Whether they won or lost, you could bet there’d be major fallout. The Pacific World ended in a swirl of void turbulence. Who knows what happened to Swallow, but that special ops captain, Xu Peng, definitely made it back to Earth in one piece. And that stash of Pacific World tech—who knows what kind of shockwaves it’s already caused, or will cause.
Speaking of which, that Xu Peng totally screwed Jack over at the last minute. If Jack hadn’t been sharp, he might’ve been toast. Jack’s a pretty chill guy, but if you really cross him, don’t expect him to just laugh it off. Long story short, Xu Peng’s officially on Jack’s hit list now. If the chance comes up, he’s not letting him off easy.
And Xu Peng’s definitely going to report everything about the Chosen Ones to his higher-ups. Once the government gets hold of Jack’s info, tracing his family tree back eighteen generations will be a piece of cake.
What’ll happen then? Will he get a phone call with his parents’ voices telling him to come home, only to be greeted by dozens of guns as soon as he shows up? Or maybe some mysterious voice will order him to surrender, then drug him and ship him off to some secret facility?
The more he thought about it, the more it all seemed like a big mystery—just questions on top of questions. Hong Kong below was still as bustling and peaceful as ever, looking pretty much the same as when he left, but Jack couldn’t shake a sense of caution. That caution came from not knowing if the world was still the same old world, or if something dangerous was lurking beneath that familiar surface.