After finishing the restocking run and carrying several bags of videotapes, I turned into the milk tea shop Rin had specifically told me to visit. While waiting in line, bored out of my mind, I casually looked across the street.
A little girl standing quietly by the roadside immediately caught my eye. She was holding the leash of a snow-white puppy. As if sensing my gaze, she looked up and gave me a shy, innocent smile.
I was just about to smile back when everything changed in an instant.
The leash in her hand suddenly jerked tight. The little dog, apparently drawn by something, broke free and shot into the middle of the road like a white bolt of lightning.
"Pochi!" the girl cried out, rushing after it without a second thought.
At that moment, the glaring red traffic light was still shining mercilessly above the intersection.
Worse yet, a yellow car was speeding straight toward her.
It didn't slow down in the slightest.
It was barreling directly at the girl's tiny figure.
"Look out!"
My brain didn't even have time to think. My body moved first.
I threw down the shopping bags and sprinted forward faster than I ever had in my life. In my ears came the shriek of brakes, the screams of bystanders, and the teeth-grating screech of tires scraping violently across the road.
I shoved the frozen girl away with all my strength—
and at the same time, a tremendous force slammed hard into my side.
The world spun.
My vision blurred almost instantly.
The last thing I saw was the girl falling safely onto the roadside, unharmed, while the little dog ran back to her and anxiously licked her palm.
…Good. I made it in time.
Then the pain hit.
And I lost consciousness completely.
The scene shifted.
The sharp smell of disinfectant filled the hospital room.
Bang—!
The door to the ward flew open and crashed violently against the wall.
Rin stood in the doorway. The color had drained completely from her usually lively face, and her lips were trembling uncontrollably. The moment her blue eyes landed on the bandage-wrapped figure lying in the hospital bed, her pupils contracted sharply.
"B-Bro…?!"
The cry that left her throat was ragged and broken beyond recognition.
She practically stumbled forward and threw herself to the bedside, banging her knees hard against the frame without even seeming to notice. Both hands clutched the metal railing so tightly that her knuckles turned white, her whole body shaking uncontrollably.
"Bro… bro…"
Her tears did not fall so much as burst forth like a flood breaking through a dam, soaking the pale bedsheets in an instant. Her mouth opened, but she sounded like someone suffocating, unable to force out a complete sentence—only broken gasps filled with unbearable fear.
I wanted to comfort her.
But seeing her like that, so heartbroken, I found that I couldn't say anything at all.
In the end, all the things I wanted to tell her became only one sentence.
"Sorry… for making you worry, Rin."
"You… you idiot!"
At last she cried the words out, her voice hoarse, full of overwhelming grievance and lingering terror.
"What were you playing hero for?! What if you… what if you…"
She couldn't even bring herself to say the worst possibility aloud. More tears came pouring out instead.
She suddenly raised her hand as if she meant to hit this hopeless brother of hers with all her strength—but when her fist landed on me, it was so light it was barely more than a trembling touch.
Like a little child, she collapsed against the bedside and sobbed with heartbreaking force, as though she wanted to cry out every bit of fear and hurt inside her.
"You're not allowed… not allowed to do this again! I won't allow it! Do you hear me?!"
She kept repeating herself, incoherent with emotion, clutching tightly at the corner of my hospital gown as if the moment she let go, I would disappear.
Seeing her like this, my heart felt as if it were being twisted in a fist. It hurt even more than my injuries.
I struggled to lift my uninjured right hand and gently placed it on her trembling head, making my voice as soft as I could despite the hoarseness.
"Silly girl… don't cry… I promised… I'd always take care of you… how could I ever break that promise…"
I later learned that the little girl had escaped without a scratch.
As for me, I was lucky to have survived. Multiple soft-tissue contusions, a fracture in my left arm, and for the time being I would need to remain in the hospital for observation.
Looking at Rin beside me—so exhausted from crying that she was almost spent, now leaning against the bed and still hiccuping softly—I let out a helpless, aching sigh.
The dream of becoming a secret agent was far away.
But this little sister beside me, the one who needed my protection, was the reality within reach.
At the same time—
At the scene of Zhe's traffic accident—
A crowd had gathered outside the police cordon, whispering among themselves, while red and blue lights silently sliced through the damp night.
"Excuse me. Thank you."
A tall female officer moved cleanly past the cordon and presented her credentials. Another officer quickly led her into the center of the scene.
"Senior Qingyi?" she asked, stopping before a petite girl with twin green ponytails and snapping a salute. "My name is Zhu Yuan. As of today, I've officially been transferred into the Special Cases Division and am reporting for duty."
"Running into a tough one on your first day. Rough luck," Qingyi said with a slight nod, her gaze never leaving the car whose driver's seat sat strangely empty, despite the fact that no one had exited it.
"It's my duty." Zhu Yuan followed her line of sight, her brows knitting slightly. "Initial assessment: a traffic accident?"
"On the surface, yes." Qingyi finally turned toward her, speaking evenly, but every word carried weight. "The key issue is this: there was no driver at the scene. Not a single one."
Zhu Yuan's eyes sharpened. "An unmanned vehicle? Or…"
"You've just arrived, so it's normal not to know the full situation." Qingyi pulled a thick file from her coat and handed it over. The moment Zhu Yuan's fingers touched the cover, she felt an inexplicable chill. Inside was a mountain of case records—bizarre deaths, unexplained disappearances, scenes that defied all common sense, cases whose internal logic simply did not hold together. "There are a great many unsolved cases in this world that cannot be cracked by any existing criminal investigation techniques. We refer to all such incidents collectively as 'dark boxes.'"
Zhu Yuan flipped through the files quickly, her expression growing grimmer with every page. "Since these cases fall under the Public Security Bureau—and are specifically assigned to our Special Cases Division—am I correct in understanding that these 'dark box' incidents are now considered major threats to national security?"
"Completely correct." Qingyi handed her another, much thinner document, stamped with an extremely high-level seal. "And I have already preliminarily identified the source behind the growing frequency of these 'dark box' incidents."
Zhu Yuan's eyes swept over the key conclusion in the document. Even with her strong composure, her breathing hitched.
"They… come from… the dreams of sleeping people?"
"That's right." Qingyi calmly lifted her teacup and took a sip, her voice low and steady. "Invaders born from humanity's deepest nightmares, seeping out into reality—we have given them a name."
She paused.
Then spoke the term that was enough to make anyone shiver.
"Nightmares."
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 172)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League (Chapter 116)
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter105)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter100)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter69)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter119)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 70
From Junkman to Wasteland 60
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 40
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 66
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 50
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 52
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 55
The Way the Umamusume Look at 42
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 40
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 36
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 30
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 26
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