Li Wei didn't stay in the basement long after the warning appeared.
He looked around the storage room one more time.
Dusty shelves.
Old archive boxes.
Nothing unusual.
Still, the system message lingered in his mind.
[EXTERNAL MONITORING DETECTED]
He didn't rush.
Panicking would only attract attention if someone actually was watching.
So he simply turned around and walked up the stairs.
The archivist was still at the desk upstairs.
She looked up when he returned.
"Finished already?"
Li Wei nodded.
"Yeah. I just wanted to check a few records."
"Find what you needed?"
"More or less."
She smiled slightly.
"Most students don't come here unless a professor forces them."
Li Wei laughed lightly.
"Old reports are more interesting than they look."
He thanked her and left the building.
Outside, the campus felt lively again.
Students walked past carrying lunch trays and coffee cups. Someone played music from their phone near the fountain.
Nothing about the scene suggested anything unusual.
Li Wei checked the time.
Just past noon.
He took out his phone and sent a message.
Li Wei:Still at robotics club?
A few seconds later, Chen Ming replied.
Chen Ming:No. Cafeteria. Hurry before the noodles are gone.
Li Wei turned toward the cafeteria.
The place was crowded.
Students filled nearly every table.
Chen Ming waved from the corner while holding two bowls.
"You're late," he said as Li Wei sat down.
"You said noodles would disappear."
"They almost did."
Li Wei picked up the chopsticks.
"Then I arrived at the right time."
Chen Ming looked curious.
"So what were you doing in that archive building?"
"Reading old reports."
"…Seriously?"
"Yeah."
Chen Ming shook his head.
"You're the only person I know who reads engineering history for fun."
Li Wei smiled slightly.
"It's useful sometimes."
Chen Ming pointed at him dramatically.
"You say that now. Wait until finals week."
They continued eating while chatting about classes, club activities, and an upcoming midterm exam.
For a while, Li Wei forgot about the system entirely.
Later that evening, he returned to his apartment.
The small room felt quiet after the busy campus.
He dropped his backpack on the chair and opened his laptop.
Homework first.
He spent about an hour finishing a problem set.
The answers came together a little easier than usual.
The system's upgrades were subtle, but noticeable.
After saving the file, Li Wei leaned back and stretched.
"System."
[ONLINE]
"That warning earlier," he said. "What exactly was monitoring me?"
[DATA SOURCE UNKNOWN]
"Can it identify my location?"
[NO CONFIRMATION]
"So it only detected activity."
[CORRECT]
Li Wei nodded slowly.
That was at least somewhat reassuring.
If someone had actually tracked him directly, the system would probably have said so.
Still, the message meant something else existed out there.
Another system.
Another organization.
Or someone paying attention to these archive nodes.
He closed the laptop.
"Next sign-in?"
[AVAILABLE IN 16 HOURS]
Li Wei glanced toward the window.
The city lights stretched across the night sky.
Somewhere out there were probably dozens—maybe hundreds—of information nodes.
Libraries.
Museums.
Universities.
Places filled with knowledge.
Each one could provide a new reward.
He grabbed a notebook and started writing down possible locations around the city.
Meanwhile, several kilometers away—
Inside a quiet underground facility—
A technician stared at a monitor.
"Sir," he said.
The man standing behind him looked up.
"What is it?"
"We detected another Archive node activation today."
The man stepped closer to the screen.
"Where?"
"Linhai Technical University."
He narrowed his eyes slightly.
"That makes the fourth activation this decade."
The technician nodded.
"Yes, sir."
The man folded his arms.
"Can we identify who triggered it?"
"Not yet."
The man stared at the data for several seconds.
Then he said quietly,
"Start passive observation."
"Yes, sir."
Back in his apartment, Li Wei finished writing a short list of possible locations.
Then he closed the notebook.
Tomorrow would be another normal day of classes.
But somewhere between lectures and assignments—
He would probably visit another place.
Another sign-in point.
And see what happened next