The facts are indeed just as described.

So, for a long time during his childhood, Henry Clark would always stay up past 00:42 before going to sleep, spending the night dreamless.

But after growing up, starting from middle school, Henry Clark's perspective changed.

He not only accepted this endlessly repeating "nightmare" day after day, but even learned how to enjoy this "sweet dream":

In reality, whatever he did would be disciplined, but in his dreams, he could do whatever he wanted, with no rules and no consequences.

No need to follow any rules, no need to worry about any consequences!

He could go wild, racing cars and defeating anyone in his way!

This daily recurring dream thus became Henry Clark's outlet during adolescence.

Once he accepted this setup, Henry Clark felt that this dream world—where he bore no responsibility and didn't have to fear death—was simply irresistible!

While his classmates were still playing childish games like "Bubbles" and "MapleStory," Henry Clark was already enjoying "Riders Republic," "Sleeping Dogs," and "Artificial Girl 3" in his dreams.

From then on...

Henry Clark never stayed up late again.

The first thing he did after coming home from school every day was his homework.

As soon as he finished, he would immediately wash up and go to bed, making his parents exclaim that the prodigal son had returned!

It was also from this time that Henry Clark discovered that the dream didn't always end with him waking up at 00:42—

[If you die in the dream, you immediately wake up in reality.]

During those years in middle school, the way Henry Clark died most often was being shot by the police.

A sniper's headshot, being executed on the spot by SWAT, gunned down in a hail of bullets while fleeing... he had experienced it all, and had even grown used to it.

It was precisely because of this long-term, high-intensity escape training in his dreams that Henry Clark won the "City Youth Urban Parkour League Championship" three years in a row in high school, making his teachers marvel at his all-around excellence!

To this day...

This dream world is still Henry Clark's playground every day.

It's just that now, at 23 years old, with a more mature mind and outlook, he hasn't done anything criminal in a long time. These days, he prefers to wander aimlessly in his dreams, joining other people's stories and experiencing all kinds of lives.

Although the dream always repeats the same day, fortunately the world inside the dream is big enough that even after more than twenty years of playing around in it, Henry Clark still discovers something new every day.

Just like the dream he had just now.

Robbing banks was something Henry Clark did many times as a teenager, but that vault full of safes... it was his first time entering it.

He wasn't surprised to see his own name on the safe.

After all, it's his own dream, he's the protagonist, so having his own name there is normal.

He was just puzzled...

"Why was the password wrong?"

Henry Clark finished a cup of hot water.

His body felt much warmer.

He put the cup on his desk, still unable to figure it out...

According to his usual habit, almost all his passwords were his own birthday—easy to remember and simple.

Nearly all his online account passwords were 19990320. That's why he was so confident in his dream just now.

But why was the password wrong?

An eight-digit password... he really couldn't think of any other possibility.

Ding-dong.

His phone on the nightstand lit up with a new message.

He opened it—it was the WeChat work group—

Design team leader Emily Thompson: @everyone, there will be a meeting at 9 a.m. tomorrow in the third-floor conference room. President Harris will personally review everyone's proposals! No one is allowed to be late! Reply when received!

Immediately after, ding-dong! Ding-dong! Ding-dong! Several more notifications.

Below, several "Received!" messages appeared.

"This group is way too intense."

Henry Clark couldn't help but sigh. It's already 1 a.m.—are these people all Super Saiyans? Don't they need to sleep at night?

But complaints aside...

In his dreams, he could rob banks, blow up buildings, and joke around at gunpoint.

But in reality, at one in the morning, he still had to humbly reply:

Received!

"Time to sleep, gotta get up early tomorrow."

Henry Clark climbed back into bed, set his alarm, and tossed his phone onto the nightstand—

Bang!

……

Emily Thompson stormed in, slamming the folder hard onto the table!

"I told you all last night! Today President Harris is going to personally review your proposals! And look at what you've done! What on earth is all this!?"

The entire third-floor conference room was dead silent...

Everyone had their heads down.

Emily Thompson was fuming! She pulled out a sketch and slapped it onto the table:

"What is our new brand's main focus!? It's youth! It's girls! I asked you to design a brand image, and you give me a fox in black stockings? And wagging its tail?"

"And you!"

Emily Thompson slapped down another sketch, glaring at the girl next to Henry Clark, her eyes fierce as a lion:

"Do you have some misunderstanding about our new brand? The little bunny you drew is okay, but are you serious about that floral scarf and big cotton-padded jacket? Even my grandma dresses trendier than this bunny!"

"President Harris has already said it countless times! Explained it in detail, everyone! Kitty cat! You've all heard of Hello Kitty, right? You've all seen it, right? What we want is a brand image just like Kitty cat!"