On both sides were grayish-white lime walls, with a red fire cabinet and a small gray maintenance door clearly visible.

But there was no one.

Not a single person.

William Thompson quickly glanced back.

Behind him was a solid white wall; the bus stop billboard from earlier had already disappeared.

Dim lighting, a black floor with blurry parking lines drawn on it.

No wind, no sound, only himself.

Click.

At that moment.

A faint sound suddenly came from the maintenance door on the right.

It seemed to be the sound of the lock turning and the door opening.

From a distance, William Thompson could see it clearly—he was about twenty meters from the small door, and the doorknob was slowly turning.

Rust on the handle flaked off slightly as it turned.

Gulp.

William Thompson unconsciously swallowed a bit of saliva.

Even though he had lived two lifetimes, when facing danger, he was still just an ordinary person with no strength to fight back.

And now...

Click.

Suddenly, that maintenance door slowly opened.

The door gradually swung wider, revealing a narrow, dark gap.

The gap was illuminated by the light; inside, it was empty, nothing at all.

It seemed to be just a maintenance room used as a storage closet.

William Thompson still didn’t dare relax. He stared fixedly at the crack in the door, not daring to look away for even a second.

Click.

Suddenly, a faint sound came from behind him!

‘!!?’ William Thompson was startled. He hadn’t expected the wall behind him to make a sound, and he quickly turned his head to look back.

There was nothing behind him, just the same white wall.

Suddenly, he realized and whipped his head back again, looking toward the maintenance door.

A face!!!

He saw a huge human face!

In the gap of the door, a gigantic human face as tall as the door itself was quietly watching him through the crack.

The face was entirely black and white, as if crudely cut out from an old video recording, with no color at all.

The expression was blank, with a few sparse black hairs on the forehead.

There was no body; the whole head was like a balloon, and with a gentle squeeze, it squeezed out through the door crack.

William Thompson stood frozen in place, his whole body numb, unable to move.

He stared at the face, wanting to move, but it was as if all the skin on his body had lost sensation—he simply couldn’t move.

Cold sweat slowly seeped from his forehead, temples, and back.

Tiny red dots, little spots of blood, began to appear on the skin of his legs and gradually spread upward.

The nearly two-meter-tall face slowly floated closer, moving toward him.

Closer and closer...

Closer and closer....

------------

007 Hope One (Thanks to Yi Xi for becoming the Alliance Leader)

Beep!!!

A sharp car horn pierced his eardrums.

William Thompson suddenly snapped out of his stiffness. He was standing at the bus stop, in exactly the same spot as before.

A white, old bus was honking repeatedly, urging a pedestrian in front of the bus to hurry and get out of the way.

The pedestrian was an older woman carrying a burlap sack, dashing across the street and quickly stepping onto the platform.

The horn was warning her.

William Thompson's eyes were dazed, as if the scene he had just witnessed still lingered in his vision.

That huge face, relentlessly approaching.

Even now, his whole body was numb, his scalp felt as if it had lost all sensation, as if all his hair had fallen out.

“Huff... huff...” Another dream?

He looked around. He hadn’t entered the underground parking lot again, but was still standing at the bus stop.

On the metal sign next to him, the location was marked.

Andu Road and Tongfeng Road.

The slightly warm air turned into a breeze, carrying the scent of leaves and flowers.

The faint fragrance of flowers helped William Thompson regain a bit of clarity.

Ding-dong, ding-dong.

His phone vibrated twice in his pocket.

The slight vibration was like a lifeline, instantly pulling William Thompson's mind back from the haze.

He quickly took out his phone and unlocked the screen.

It was a message from his parents.

‘Remember not to come home early, your sister reminded you. Do you still have money? I’ll transfer you some more.’ — Dad.

‘Stay at school a bit longer, eat before you come back. Your sister’s matter is a big deal. Maybe your future job will depend on her.’ — Mom.

James Thompson and Grace Foster were still the same as always, all their attention focused on his sister.

William Thompson could actually understand. After all, for an ordinary family like theirs, the only chance to turn things around was to raise a strong elite.

And now, his sister Henry Thompson fit that expectation perfectly.

‘Got it.’ He calmed himself and replied simply.

Putting away his phone, he still stood in place, his chest rising and falling rapidly, recalling everything that had just happened.

He also remembered a sentence he’d seen on the forum before.

‘If you encounter a dead end, please do not contact us. Try to enjoy the last beautiful moments of your life. The dead end will usually approach slowly, and on the third omen, it will completely pull you in. Go and do all the things you want to do but never dared to.’

‘The third time...’

If last night was the first time, then just now at school probably didn’t count, since it wasn’t the same place, and I didn’t fully go in.

But just now...

Did that count as the third time?