Brian Carter also stood up and said discontentedly, “Are you blind? I’m sitting right here—where could I possibly hide such a big monitor? I should be asking you—what’s going on in this internet café? How could the monitor just suddenly disappear? Ah! Don’t tell me... it’s haunted?” Brian Carter turned his head, a look of panic spreading across his face, arms crossed, and even shivered.

The previously noisy internet café suddenly fell silent in an instant. Brian Carter’s words made the dimly lit café feel eerily sinister. The sudden disappearance of the monitor simply couldn’t be explained by common sense, and when things can’t be explained, people tend to associate them with supernatural events.

At that moment, a guy happened to cooperate with the mood by pushing the door open and coming in. The breeze brought in by the opening door swept past everyone, giving them a chilly feeling. Everyone’s nerves were already taut, and that slight breeze was like the last straw on the camel’s back, causing everyone’s composure to collapse.

“Ghost!” The girl who had been sitting next to Brian Carter was the most affected by this supernatural event. She suddenly screamed, then dashed out of the internet café like a madwoman. The others seemed to catch the panic like an infection, and with strange cries, they all rushed out after her. The whole café descended into chaos, everyone swarming toward the exit.

In the blink of an eye, the internet café was completely empty—not a single person left. Even the cashier and the network administrator had fled, not caring at all where Brian Carter was.

By this time, Brian Carter had already slipped away unnoticed in the chaos. There really was a ghost, but it was on him. Now, he was desperate to figure out what this mysterious ring was for, and how it had made the monitor disappear.

“Dongzi, why are you home so early today?”

Hearing this gentle voice, Brian Carter was momentarily stunned. He’d been so preoccupied with the ring that he’d wandered home in a daze. Standing before him was a graceful, still-attractive woman in her early forties—his mother, Grace Bennett. Brian Carter touched his forehead and said, “Mom, I have a bit of a headache today, so I came home early.” Lying was Brian Carter’s specialty; he never needed to rehearse.

“Headache? What kind of headache? Is it serious?” Grace Bennett touched her son’s forehead with concern.

Brian Carter grinned and said, “It’s nothing. I felt much better after getting some fresh air on the way home. Mom, I want to go to bed early tonight. You should rest early too.”

“Alright, if you’re tired, just take a day off. Studying every day is exhausting.” Grace Bennett nodded, watching her son enter his room, then gently shook her head. She knew her son’s grades had dropped, and she knew it was entirely because of her divorce from his father. But nothing could change that now. She always felt a deep sense of guilt toward her son, so even if he made mistakes, she couldn’t bear to scold him—she could only gently advise him.

After Brian Carter slipped into his room, he immediately lay down on the bed, his heart still pounding wildly. The ring on his finger glowed with a soft yellow-orange light under the lamp, and his left ring finger felt an indescribable comfort. There was no discomfort at all from wearing something new, which helped him gradually relax.

“Where did that monitor go? Could it really have been stored in the ring? Is this really a storage ring?” This was the question Brian Carter had been pondering all the way home. It was definitely related to the ring, but exactly how, Brian Carter couldn’t figure out.

He raised his hand and examined the ring carefully. The lighting at home was much better than in the internet café, so the patterns on the ring were even clearer. They looked like ancient runes, exuding a strange and mysterious aura. His right hand’s two fingers unconsciously stroked the patterns on the ring—and suddenly, something strange happened.

Brian Carter felt himself being yanked forcefully, and the scene before his eyes changed abruptly. He was no longer in his small bedroom, but in a vast, empty space—like a completely sealed box, with no windows or doors.

The sudden change gave Brian Carter a huge fright, but in the next instant, the space vanished and he was back in his room.

“What’s going on? Was that an illusion just now? No! That was definitely not an illusion.” Brian Carter suddenly realized, because even though he’d only caught a glimpse of that space, he’d seen something in the corner... a black LCD monitor.

Chapter Three: The Storage Ring

Perhaps older people would be scared out of their wits by such a supernatural event, but as a post-90s child of the new era, a devoted fan of online literature, and someone with a particular fondness for urban supernatural powers, Brian Carter felt far more excitement and thrill than fear.