Many employees had to line up outside the public restrooms in their “block” to wash up, and during the night and early morning, when energy supply was insufficient, many floors in the residential area were extremely cold.

Being able to wash up without going outside, wrapped in a quilt, was a dream for many employees.

On the other side of the door, beneath the four-pane window, stood a fairly sturdy red-lacquered wooden desk, piled with many books, holding a black fountain pen and a bottle of matching ink.

At this moment, the “streetlight” on the ceiling outside shone through the window, casting its glow onto the desk, making the words on the book covers barely visible.

If it weren’t for being right between two fluorescent lights, resulting in poor illumination, Brian Carter wouldn’t have to waste his energy quota and could read by the streetlight.

The wooden desk came with a cabinet, and behind it was a chair painted reddish-brown, marked with many mottled traces. Behind the chair were two stools that looked like they were about to fall apart, as if they were propping up the so-called “living room.”

Beyond this “living room” was the horizontally placed wooden bed.

Brian Carter didn’t turn on the light in the room, because his energy allocation was limited and he had to save it.

After pulling out the key and closing the door, Brian Carter walked through the area illuminated by the streetlight and reached the dim bedside.

He picked up the pillow stuffed with grain husks, placed it upright against the wall, and leaned back, half lying, half sitting.

In this position, Brian Carter could immediately see the electric frying pan and rice cooker placed on the stove.

Their surfaces were covered in rust, as if they had been used for many, many years.

Ever since Brian Carter could remember, they had been in his home: one was brought back by his father from the ruins of a city in the old world during an “Security Department” operation. To get this item, his father gave up other spoils allocated by the company. The other was exchanged by Brian Carter’s mother after saving up contribution points for a long time after marriage, bought from a small market—new items at the “Material Supply Market” were much more expensive and always in short supply.

This room was not the home Brian Carter remembered. He recalled that his original home was at No. 28, Area A on this floor, with one large and one small room, and a very narrow bathroom.

That allowed Brian Carter as a child to avoid lining up at the public restroom and having to smell the strong stench.

However, after his father disappeared and his mother died, that apartment was reclaimed by the company and reassigned to eligible employees. The current one was newly assigned to him when he was admitted to university and left the orphanage.

These later partitioned rooms, to save energy, were no longer equipped with electronic locks, but instead used various ordinary locks salvaged from old world city ruins. Additionally, the internal factory produced some as well.

As Brian Carter’s gaze wandered, he looked toward the wooden desk by the window.

He had heard from his mother that when she and his father had just gotten married, his father scrimped and saved to buy wood from the “Material Supply Market” and made it himself.

This wooden desk, along with the clothes his mother had sewn herself in the cabinet below, and those two appliances, were returned to him after being kept by the orphanage for three years.

However, Brian Carter could no longer fit into the clothes in the cabinet.

Brian Carter closed his eyes, raised his right hand, and pinched his temples.

He then lowered his hand, maintaining his current posture, making no further movement.

The whole room became exceptionally quiet, and the sense of gloom seemed to deepen.

Brian Carter lay there, as if he had fallen into a deep sleep.

……

Brian Carter opened his eyes and, as expected, saw a vast and empty hall.

It was even larger than the entire “Material Supply Market.”

Around the hall were black walls shimmering with a metallic sheen, giving off a cold feeling. Above was a dim expanse, the ceiling invisible, its height unknown.

Within this darkness, countless brilliant points of light were densely scattered, slowly rotating, as if forming dreamlike rivers of diamonds.

Once again, Brian Carter was stunned by this scene, unable to describe it in words.

He could only recall the starry sky images his teacher had shown on the display screen when he first entered university.

That was the first time he had ever seen the starry sky.

And now, he seemed to be among the stars.

In the center of the hall, “starlight” fell and condensed into a blurry human figure.

This figure spread both arms outward, maintaining strict symmetry, as if imitating a balance scale.

“His” voice echoed hollowly, reverberating throughout the hall, as if conveying the revelation granted by the “stars”:

“One price, three gifts.”

“One price, three gifts……”

Chapter 6 Night Encounter

“One price, three gifts……”

Brian Carter glanced at the humanoid figure of light, then walked straight past “him” toward the depths of the hall.

The “figure” did not change at all, still letting the voice of “one price, three gifts” echo endlessly.

Several minutes later, Brian Carter reached the very end of the hall and saw a heavy grayish-white stone door.

It was set into the black metal wall, bathed in the brilliance of the “stars,” highlighting the three grooves on its surface.