Kisaragi's Long-Strange Collection Notes

When Chen Meimei woke up again, the sun was already high in the sky.

I glanced at the clock; it was 12:30.

Golden sunlight streamed in through the eyebrow-shaped window.

"Golden" is not an adjective; it truly is the color of gold. If you cut off a ray of golden sunlight from the sky, you can feel its distinct warmth.

"This temperature must be over 30 degrees Celsius, right? It must be unbearably hot outside!"

Chen Meimei is acting a little strange.

Last night the temperature was pleasant, but as soon as it came to daytime, it felt like the hottest days of summer.

After rummaging through the kitchen cabinets, I managed to find some bread.

Chen Meimei tried the stove, and thankfully it could be lit. The flame was bluish-white, and the gas it was burning was not one he recognized.

After swallowing two pieces of bread to fill her stomach, Chen Meimei sat down at her desk in her bedroom.

The most urgent task is to figure out my own identity and the basic information about this world.

"Ding~"

A soft thud came from under the bed not far away.

The sound wasn't loud, but it was quite noticeable in the quiet room.

Following the sound, Chen Meimei lay down on the ground and peered under the bed.

Not far from the bed, there was a small thing that was glowing.

"Could it be a cell phone?"

Chen Meimei quickly reached out and grabbed the little thing.

To his disappointment, it wasn't a cell phone; it looked more like a watch.

On the watch face, the small ink-wash screen displays two unread messages.

Chen Meimei tried tapping the screen lightly.

I clicked around but nothing happened.

"Huh? How do you play this thing? There's only a screen, no other buttons, and the touchscreen doesn't work?"

Chen Meimei did not give up and continued her research.

After all, this was the only thing in the entire house that resembled an electronic product, and it was even under his bed.

It is very likely that this was one of his personal belongings, and it fell off the bed.

Soon, progress was made.

When he put the watch on his left wrist, it seemed to be activated, and the screen lit up with a soft, ink-like glow again.

The watch's main page is very simple.

There are only three sections: Send Message, Received Message, and Payment.

"Payment? Is it the kind I imagined? No, in a world without a single appliance, how can there be mobile payment?" Chen Meimei was a little surprised.

He first clicked on the unread messages.

The screen redirects.

Continue by clicking on the most recent unread message.

Message time: 9:57 AM

Sender: Liu Bo

Content: Chen Meimei, where are you? How dare you skip your teacher's class? I got caught taking your attendance. Good luck to you.

"Liu Bo, class, roll call? This must be my friend or classmate, so does that mean I'm a student?"

Chen Meimei took a step back and opened another unread message.

Message time: 7:13 AM

From: Chen Miaomiao

Content: Hehe, did you receive the gift? Do you like it? Come find me when you arrive! (Four-leaf clover pattern)

"Who is Chen Miaomiao? A gift? Where did this gift come from? I don't think I received one."

Of the two messages, the first one is more useful at the moment.

With limited information available inside, Chen Meimei will soon head out.

If he had student status, he would have a direction and could go to the school to obtain more useful information.

Before deciding to go out, he discovered something not so good:

The mysterious ability to make his words come true last night has disappeared; now he's just an ordinary person.

He was quite certain of this conclusion, the evidence being his still-bleeding left arm—he believed he had the ability to heal himself, having made a small cut with a kitchen knife, but unfortunately, he no longer did.

"This world is dangerous; it has superpowers, and it also has home-breaking killers."

Thinking this, he found a fruit knife sheath in the kitchen, inserted the dagger that had fallen from the ashes last night into it, and put it in his pocket.

The keys were hanging on the shelf by the main entrance.

The key is a small, bronze-colored, metal plate with an animal relief.

The relief carving resembled some kind of feline, but Chen Meimei didn't recognize it. She tried it twice on the keyhole of the door to make sure she could open the lock before going out.

It seems that all the windows in this world look the same.

The bedrooms, living rooms, toilets, and kitchens in Chen Meimei's home, and now even the public corridors, are all decorated with long, narrow, eyebrow-shaped rainbow structures hanging high above people's heads.

The daytime light was bright, but the feeling of being enclosed and unable to see the outside world was a bit oppressive, and Chen Meimei was not used to it.

Chen Meimei looked around. The building seemed to have five rooms per floor.

1803 is in the center, with two households on each side; 1801 and 1802 face each other; 1804 and 1805 face each other.

Chen Meimei had no time to care about her neighbors' situation; she was feeling quite distraught.

After exiting room 1803, there are staircases on both the left and right sides for going up and down the stairs.

After confirming several times, Chen Meimei felt her head buzzing:

I live on the 18th floor. There are two passages to go downstairs: one is a staircase and the other is also a staircase.

Chen Meimei's problem isn't simply that her legs are afraid of getting tired.

In this strange world, he was killed three times last night. This unfamiliar environment, the dark and narrow stairwell space, every floor is unknown, and every turn is a challenge.

He went inside, afraid of not finding anyone, but even more afraid of finding someone.

"How about I go back to my room first and then plan my trip properly?" Chen Meimei said that she missed her little blanket on her bed and wanted to hide inside and bury her head.

"Ding~"

My watch notified me of a new message.

Message time: 14:02 AM

Sender: Liu Bo

Content: Hey kid, where have you been? Not replying to my messages? Aren't you coming to class this afternoon? Call me bro, you're truly my idol.

It wasn't that Chen Meimei didn't want to reply to the message; if he could get information through text messages, he would have chatted with Liu Bo long ago. The problem was that he didn't know how.

He got stuck at the last step.

Finally, it always displays "Please grant permission before confirming sending the message".

He didn't understand what permissions were needed or where to enable them.

"Fine, I'll have to take this step sooner or later. I love learning, I'm going to class."

Chen Meimei gritted her teeth, gripped the dagger tightly in her pocket with her right hand, and walked into the stairwell.

Seven minutes later.

Chen Meimei rushed out from the first-floor stairwell.

He only breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the entrance to the building.

At this moment, his heart rate had reached unprecedented levels.

He didn't encounter anyone else on those 18 floors of stairwell.

He went down faster and faster as he made dozens of turns.

In the end, he was no longer afraid of what might happen ahead, but he always felt that some unknown shadow was chasing him from behind.

For him, those ten minutes felt incredibly long; it was as if nothing had happened, yet everything had.

"That's terrifying, even worse than an assassin coming to your door. And this is in broad daylight, the light isn't too dim, imagine what it would be like at night." Chen Meimei shook her head, stopping herself from imagining the scene.

I exited the building through the unit door.

The world is bright.

The buildings are built very densely, with very little spacing between them. There is little regard for greenery, little consideration for blocking sunlight, and no distinction between different residential areas.

Outside the building is the main road, where rows of "matchbox" cars drive by.

"Seriously?! Even the vehicle is sealed off this tightly, with only a tiny vent like an eyebrow?"

Chen Meimei felt overwhelmed.

This world is so unscientific. It's one thing that you can't see outwards from the sides and rear of a vehicle, but... but the driver's seat in front is also blocked off?

Is this self-driving, or are all the drivers incredibly skilled, able to pinpoint locations by sound?

The ground floor of the building not far from the roadside is all storefronts.

Most of them are open for business at this time.

Chen Meimei chose the nearest fruit shop.

The shop has a very down-to-earth name, "Old Li's Fruit Stall," and all the fruits are neatly arranged inside the shop, with none facing outwards.

"Welcome! Hey, young man, you're quite handsome. Pick whatever you'd like to eat."

The middle-aged shop owner didn't introduce himself, so Chen Meimei assumed he was "Old Li" himself.

The various fruits are brightly colored, visibly fresh, and look very juicy, which easily whets the appetite.

"Young man, try this. These are imported from Demont City. They're sweet and sour, and bursting with juice in your mouth with every bite."

Old Li handed over a small fruit plate containing seven or eight fist-sized red berries, which should be the loquats he was referring to.

Chen Meimei quickly declined, "No need, uncle."

Old Li simply shoved a fruit into his hand: "It's free to try."

Just then, a new customer entered the store, and Lao Li turned around and went up to greet him.

The new guest was a middle-aged woman who wore an elegant dress made of exquisite materials and confidently showed off her slightly plump figure.

She moved quickly and purposefully, picking out several fruits directly from a pile of purple ones.

"Old Li, these few hook fruits will do." She spoke with a slightly affected tone, her voice high-pitched.

"Mrs. Jin, it has to be you. You have both ability and taste. Many people have never even seen these imported hook fruits before."

Old Li quickly bagged the food and put it on the scale.

"Three jin and one liang, let's say three jin, you give me 30 hours."

Mrs. Jin's lips curled up and her eyes narrowed into slits as she was flattered by Old Li's praise.

"Old Li, you're so good with words, no wonder you're rich. Here, take it."

Right under Chen Meimei's nose.

Old Li raised his left hand and said to his watch, "Charge for 30 hours."

Mrs. Jin also showed her watch, touched it with Old Li's, and then tapped on her watch, seemingly to confirm the payment.

"Okay, received. Mrs. Jin, please take care and come again after you've enjoyed your meal."

Before leaving, Madam Jin tossed her hair at Chen Meimei and gave her a "smile over her shoulder".

Taking advantage of Old Li's obviously good mood, Chen Meimei came closer:

"Uncle Li, what's this? Is this a big deal?"

Old Li rolled his eyes at him.

"Of course it's huge. This is 30 hours. Normally, my entire day's revenue is only about this much."

Chen Meimei mentally gathered information: 30 hours, that seems to be the unit of measurement for the transaction... Could it be...?

His pupils contracted, and he deduced a terrifying conclusion:

Is time the currency of this world?