He truly had many regrets in this life, and many things he never dared to do.

But tonight, he needed neither cowardice nor fear—only courage.

He first went to the Peony Grand Hotel, then to the Luocheng Grand Hotel, and even to the Luoyin Family Compound, but none of those places had the person he was looking for.

Brian Brooks rode his bicycle through narrow alleys, across the Qili River Bridge in the night, under the dim glow of streetlights, and arrived at the foot of a residential building.

When he saw that battered second-hand motorcycle downstairs, and heard the sound of mahjong tiles being shuffled on the second floor...

He immediately picked up his phone and dialed 110: “Hello, officer, I’d like to report a gathering for gambling at Longteng Community, Building 17, Unit 2, Room 201, in the Luojian District.”

The dispatcher on the other end seemed stunned for two seconds before responding, “Alright, we’ll send officers right away.”

Only then did Brian Brooks feel at ease. He turned and rode his bicycle home.

His mind was clear.

Once home, Brian Brooks glanced at the white markings on his arm.

Countdown 00:31:49.

In the final half hour, Brian Brooks turned on the desk lamp and quietly wrote a will, leaving it on the desk.

If he died today, perhaps one day in the future, his family and friends would still be able to see his final words.

If he didn’t die, then perhaps his life would be completely different.

Countdown 00:00:12.

After finishing the will, Brian Brooks sat upright, gripping the boning knife tightly in his right hand. In his clear eyes, his pupils suddenly contracted.

The closer it got to the final moment, the calmer his emotions became.

It was as if, in the instant before a tsunami swallowed a lonely island, the world stood still.

Beneath the surface of the sea, there were no undercurrents—only deep contemplation and blazing courage!

10...

9...

8...

7...

6...

5...

4...

3...

2...

1.

No ghosts, no zombies, no disaster.

Brian Brooks quietly watched as the world fell into stillness, the time on his phone seemingly frozen at midnight.

The clock on the wall, its second hand suddenly stopped moving, and the light outside the window no longer flickered.

He moved slightly, and it was as if his movement shattered the frozen time—the world in his eyes cracked like a mirror.

Brian Brooks gripped the boning knife and looked around. The desk was gone, the room was gone, and only darkness remained.

...

He didn’t know how much time had passed, or perhaps it was just an instant. In that moment, Brian Brooks suddenly lost all sense of time.

In the darkness, fragments of the world began to reassemble. Those pieces, from who knows where, instantly formed a brand new world.

Brian Brooks was lying on a narrow, hard cot, in a completely unfamiliar environment—he had never been here before.

He first looked at his palm—empty, the boning knife he had been holding was long gone.

He then looked at his arm, and was startled to find that the white markings on his arm had changed.

“Return countdown 47:59:59.”

The next moment, the countdown ticked down by one second: Return countdown 47:59:58.

Chapter 4: Not the Only One

Return countdown 47:59:57.

Return countdown 47:59:56.

Had he traveled through time?

So the end of the countdown was to cross into another world, and the return countdown meant the time left before going back.

Thinking of this, Brian Brooks let out a sigh of relief. Being able to return was a good thing.

Although, over there, there might not be anyone who missed him. His mother had a new life and didn’t have time to think about him. His father... was probably still in the detention center.

So, likely, no one had time to think about him.

But even so, he still wanted to go back and take a look.

Brian Brooks began to reassess this “new world” before him.

The moment the world reassembled, Brian Brooks saw the prison uniform on his body and instantly understood his situation.

He was in a gray, dim prison cell. Except for a high-tech alloy gate, the rest of the walls were completely sealed.

The cell was a single room, with only one bed covered by a thin sheet.

There was also a storage rack beside it, which, apart from a quilt, toothbrush, and towel, was completely empty.

The cell walls were gray, but what Brian Brooks couldn’t understand was that, illuminated by the faint light outside, the gray walls clearly gave off a metallic sheen.

Metal walls?

Brian Brooks sat up and touched the wall in a daze. What kind of place would use such cost-no-object building materials?

Clearly, this was not the world he once knew.

He quickly looked down at his palm. The boning knife was gone, but the fingerprints on his hand were exactly the same as before, even the pores were in the same places.

This was his own body.

Brian Brooks sat on the bed hugging his knees, staring at the heavy alloy door, lost in thought.

Gradually, noise began to rise outside the door, and someone in the next cell started banging hard on their alloy cell door.

Brian Brooks slowly walked to the door, trying to listen to what was being shouted outside. Before he could make it out, the alloy door made a clear pneumatic sound and opened.

He looked outside. Beyond the door was a rectangular corridor.