The baseball bat hung frozen in mid-air, suspended.
Li Chengyi stared in shock at the scene before him, unsure of how to react.
In front of him was a vast, dimly lit parking lot.
The expansive, square area was devoid of any cars, resembling a closed-off long box. Only the dim lighting illuminated the ground.
There were two kinds of pale white lights.
One, on the right side, was a long strip, fixed to the black ceiling, extending into the darkness in the distance.
The other, on the left, was a series of one-meter-long light segments, each hanging every few meters along the ceiling, extending into the distant gloom.
The black, slightly reflective floor was faintly illuminated by the lights, and blurry white lines for parking spaces could still be seen.
What the hell? Am I dreaming? Li Chengyi gently lowered the bat and pinched his thigh hard.
The sharp pain spread through his body, snapping him back to his senses.
Looks like it's not a dream. He quickly realized.
Given that he had already crossed over into another world, anything else seemed normal.
Taking a deep breath, he inhaled and exhaled, his face calming a little.
Standing at the door, he paused.
First, let's confirm if this is a dream.
He picked up the bat and brought it close, almost pressing it to his face. He carefully examined its texture.
The surface of the bat had faint smooth rust spots, and its silver paint reflected the distant lights.
In the middle, there was an intricate pattern resembling a scroll, with small text engraved: "Life is in the strike."
Below the text was the brand name: "Bijia Sports." Beneath it were two neat letters representing the company.
Dreams don't have such clear details!
Li Chengyi shuddered. He gripped the bat's anti-slip handle, the dense texture providing a rough tactile sensation, confirming once again that this wasn't a dream.
In his experience, judging whether he was dreaming could usually be done by observing the details.
In dreams, the details were often blurry.
But now...
He stood at the door, took a deep breath, and looked at the parking lot outside, not wanting to step out.
Instinctively, he stepped back, wanting to retreat into the room and close the door.
Maybe if I close the door and open it again, things will return to normal.
He thought to himself, but his back pressed against a cold wall.
!!!
Li Chengyi froze, quickly turning his head to look.
The bedroom behind him had somehow turned into a gray-white wall!
The room... was gone!?
His bedroom... was gone!?
Holding the bat, dressed in the gray pajamas he wore to bed, he stood there, stunned, unable to process what was happening.
The room was gone.
The doorframe was gone.
All that remained behind him was a stone wall identical to the others.
If it weren't for the bat still in his hand, he might have believed he had been dreaming the whole time.
He reached out and gently touched the wall in front of him.
The hard, cold touch and the rough texture told him that the wall was real.
There were even tiny, subtle damages on the wall, as if something sharp had scraped it, revealing a layer of dark gray material underneath.
What... the hell is going on!?
Li Chengyi was stunned, his mind racing.
He turned again to face the parking lot, took a deep breath.
Hesitating for a moment, his expression gradually calmed, his eyes flickering rapidly.
Soon, he exhaled deeply and stepped forward.
Whoosh!
In an instant, everything spun. Li Chengyi's vision blurred, and his consciousness faded for a moment.
It felt as if he was floating, spinning in the air.
Beep... beep... beep...
The sharp sound of an alarm pierced his ears.
Li Chengyi's vision slowly returned.
The parking lot he had just seen transformed into the white ceiling of his room.
Square metal panels were arranged in a pattern on the white ceiling, with black lines forming a simple, neat design.
He sat on the bed, the phone on the bedside table vibrating slightly.
It was the alarm he had set.
The light blue screen displayed the word "Exercise."
The time was 7:32 AM.
Li Chengyi took a deep breath, feeling his heart still racing.
The previous scene had been so vivid that he still hadn't fully processed what had just happened.
Sitting on the bed, waiting for his blood pressure to normalize, he finally reached for his phone.
The background was a deep blue ocean, with three young people in red life jackets lying on an inflatable circle, smiling happily.
Golden sunlight, the gray inflatable circle, red life jackets, and their brilliant smiles formed a warm picture in the deep blue water.
Li Chengyi stared at the screen, his hand holding the phone suspended in mid-air. After a while, vague memories surfaced.
Lin Sang, Chen Xudong.
He remembered the names of the other two people besides himself.
The girl was named Lin Sang, and the sturdy guy was named Chen Xudong.
The three of them had taken this picture two years ago when they traveled to the Bisha Islands in the Blue Ocean.
He put down his phone and checked its appearance.
It was a simple rectangular silver box, not much different from the phone from his previous life.
It was all screen, with no buttons.
Click.
He set the phone down, pulled off the blanket, stood up, walked to the window, moved aside the clothes hanging on the window, and opened the window.
A cool breeze blew onto his face, and the smell of fried eggs wafted into his nose.
The light outside was pure white, and the window was on the fourth floor. Below, rows of cars in different colors were parked.
Across the street was another grayish-white high-rise building, where he could see windows on several floors slowly coming to life as the residents started their day.
Li Chengyi turned his head and looked farther at the sky.
The blue sky was dotted with hazy white clouds, like cotton, sometimes blocking the sun, sometimes revealing a little golden light.
He focused and walked to the desk, took out a clean mirror from the drawer.
He looked at himself in the mirror.
The reflection showed a plain face with yellowish skin and black eyes.
His eyebrows were slightly thin, and his eyes slightly upturned, as if always smiling. Other than that, there was nothing remarkable about his features.
His nose wasn't too high or too low, his mouth wasn't too wide or too narrow, not too thick or too thin.
He appeared to be in his twenties, with a curious expression and a hint of surprise in his eyes.
Seems like there's no difference from my last life?
Li Chengyi thought fleetingly.
According to the previous owner's habits, he should be getting dressed and heading out for exercise.
Though his memory was hazy, many things were still clear.
He opened the wardrobe, quickly picked out a gray workout outfit, changed, and then went out into the living room.
The living room was empty. The previous owner's parents and sister were no longer there. A few pairs of shoes were missing from the shoe rack.
On the gray-white rectangular stone table was a box of something gray and jelly-like.
Li Chengyi walked over and glanced at it.
The box had a line of text printed on it: "Silver Ear and Mung Bean Porridge – Guding Brand."
After hesitating for a moment, he opened the box and drank the contents.
It tasted sweet, just like what he had eaten in his previous life.
He quickly finished the breakfast, changed shoes, and put on his waist pouch for exercise.
Li Chengyi carefully reviewed his blurry memories, grabbed his phone and keys, and opened the door to leave.
The cold, empty stairwell was quicker than he had imagined.
He pressed the elevator button, counted to four in his mind, and reached the first floor.
Leaving the stairwell and walking out the door, his feet touched the cold, solid ground for the first time, and Li Chengyi felt suddenly more at ease.
He stood at the entrance, feeling the mild breeze blowing on him, carrying the scent of flowers and breakfast, a feeling of vitality rising in his chest.
Ding-ling-ling.
Suddenly, a bell rang from the opposite building.
An elderly man with graying hair was helping his granddaughter sit on the back seat of a bicycle. He took a few steps, swung his leg over, and rode off calmly, sending his granddaughter to school.
The girl, not yet ten, was carrying a schoolbag, yawning, with traces of tears still on her cheeks.
Li Chengyi stretched his ankle while watching the old man and the girl slowly disappear.
He lightly skipped two steps and jogged after them, following the direction toward the entrance of the neighborhood.
What do you think is going on? Is it just a strange dream, or is something more sinister happening?Comment your theories below!