The terrifying heavens inside the box

In the mist, a gigantic hand, seemingly obscuring the sky, slowly descended.

In front of Kurt and his two companions, they grabbed the giant object, which was encased in a transparent crystal, and lifted it into the sky...

"Is this the giant you were talking about?"

Kurt nodded with difficulty, and Glenn couldn't help but swallow hard. "This is...unbelievable."

Nancy held the mirror to her chest and silently thanked the enormous object that had disappeared into the mist.

She finally understood who had sent her these two treasures that had put her and Glenn in so many perilous situations when they first met Freddy.

……

Outside the box, Wang Hao smiled at the strange object in his hand that resembled an "armored heart".

These underground evil gods in the woods cabins thought they would never come out.

"Hmph! Look at you now, you've all fallen into my hands..."

Just as he was complaining, an indescribable feeling welled up in his heart.

Quiet, deathly still, empty, void...

In an instant, it felt as if everything around me was disappearing, including myself.

He sat back down in his chair, the smile gradually fading from his face, and he became as silent as a statue…

After a long while, Wang Hao seemed to come back to his senses. He moved his body, lowered his head, his face darkened, and he gritted his teeth, saying:

"Heh, it arrived really quickly. Looks like it used up a lot of energy! Perfect, let's see if this little thing is really useful."

His gaze shifted to a small plastic box on the worktable, containing a white substance about the size of a thumb.

Wang Hao opened the box, poured the contents into his hand, and put it into the trunk.

The next moment, the white substance slowly disintegrated in his hand, turning into wisps of white mist that merged into his palm.

Wang Hao was somewhat surprised. He already knew that what appeared in the box was not a real hand, but something similar to a projection of consciousness.

But now this thing...

"Phew! I have to say, it really makes me feel a lot more relaxed."

He let out a long breath, closed his eyes, and had a strange sense of enjoyment on his face.

"Go find...go find...your roots..."

Faintly, Wang Hao heard that familiar, faint voice again.

He suddenly opened his eyes and looked into the box again. The white substance on his palm had completely disappeared.

"Find the root cause?"

Wang Hao frowned. Although the white substance, which resembled an ancient Eastern god, helped him, the emptiness he felt—a gaping hole in his heart, as if his twenty-odd years of life had been meaningless—was only slightly alleviated.

When he realized that the interference box had costs and side effects, he subconsciously reduced his interference, precisely because he was afraid of the emptiness that led to this self-denial.

But now, this being, who is suspected to be an ancient god from the East, is revealing such information to me.

"Could it be that if I figure out or understand this root cause, I can alleviate the power drain I experience when using it inside the box? Or is this root cause also related to this side effect?"

"But what exactly is this root cause?"

Wang Hao analyzed for a long time, and a sense of unease crept in.

Just then, a phone rang; it was from downstairs.

"Okay, I'll come down right away."

Wang Hao changed his clothes, glanced back at the suitcase, then turned and went downstairs.

Upon arriving at the new studio downstairs, they learned that the employees had discovered that the current order book was nearing completion, but the number of new orders had dropped significantly recently.

He then remembered that he hadn't released any new works on the short video platform because he was busy working on the long novel "Sleepless Eternal Town".

Without the attraction of new content and the platform's lack of promotion, monetization will definitely be affected.

The traffic itself isn't valuable; what's valuable is the channel for monetizing it.

Wang Hao chose to monetize through his own miniature model studio, turning the clicks and views of his short videos into potential customer orders.

Although his current savings mean he doesn't need to worry about mortgage and car loan payments for the time being.

But since it's about making money, the more the better!

"Well, you don't need to worry about that. I'll consider uploading new works in a few days."

Hearing this assurance, the model makers and landscape designers in the studio, who had been worried about losing their jobs, secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Alright! But boss, I heard that 'Eternal Town of Sleepless Nights' is being exhibited overseas and seems to be quite popular!" Another model maker, in a good mood, brought this up.

"Really?" Wang Hao asked, somewhat surprised.

Lately, he's been busy observing the different worlds inside the box, so he hasn't paid much attention to this.

"Wait a minute, boss, let me look. I remember there was a video before..."

While the model maker was searching for videos on his phone, Wang Hao suddenly noticed something:

"Huh? Wait a minute! Isn't someone missing?"

His mention also made the other two people in the studio realize what he meant.

"Hey? Where's Xiao Shen?"

"Yes! Where did she go?"

The three of them searched the studio thoroughly before finally spotting the figure huddled under the desk.

Wang Hao walked over and patted her on the shoulder, only to feel her body tremble.

"Why are you hiding here?"

"I, I, I'm picking it up, I dropped something."

He looked at the employee who had burrowed under the table like an ostrich and wondered what was going on.

Could it be that this social anxiety has a relapse tendency?

"Hey! We've found the boss!"

Just then, the model maker walked over with his phone. Wang Hao took the phone and watched the video, which seemed to be from a foreign film festival, a mix of clips from "Sleepless Eternal Town" and interviews with media commentators. The corners of his mouth involuntarily turned up.

At this moment, Shen Jianwei's face was pale and her expression was frightened.

Why is that light... it's turned back to how it used to be!

I don't want to quit my job yet!

No, I have to overcome this!

Thinking of this, she turned her head slightly under the table and happened to see an even more astonishing scene.

On my colleague's phone, a faint, colorful halo appeared, constantly emerging, and was being... eaten up by the boss, by that light!

Eat it!

Eat it!

Eat it all!

"Hello!"

When Shen Jianwei came to her senses, she only saw her model maker colleague; Wang Hao had already disappeared.

"Where's the boss?"

"The boss? He just left! You're really lucky. If it were any other boss, they might have fired you. But our boss, seeing how you are, even told us not to ostracize you and to take extra care of you."

The model maker shook his head and was about to put his phone away when Shen Jianwei grabbed it. "Let me see that video!"

……

Wang Hao, who had already returned home, was in an even more cheerful mood.

After all, the high praise for "Sleepless Town" means that, based on the filming of a miniature feature film, this is a good opportunity.

He can make it through this path!

"Hey! That feeling seems... to have lessened a lot?"

In the living room, Wang Hao was taking off half of his coat when he suddenly realized this.

But this change... seems to have originated from a montage of clips and interviews from "Sleepless Eternal Town"?

"Hiss! My origins are these?"

He pondered for a moment, then, ignoring the fact that one hand was still inside his coat sleeve, he took out his phone from his pocket, unlocked the screen, and opened the short video section under his studio's account, and started watching.

I vaguely sensed that the emptiness inside me was being filled...

Was it joy? Happiness? Or satisfaction?

Wang Hao couldn't quite put his finger on what it was, but it was clear that the feeling of emptiness had vanished.

"Ha! That's really true!"

"So these works are my roots?"

He shook his head. "Now, we really have no choice but to film it!"

Wang Hao returned to his room, took off his coat and draped it over the back of a chair, then sat down and looked at the box on the worktable...