Chapter 1: Thank You for the Invitation—I've Just Arrived in This World, but I Was Arrested the Moment I Got Off the Car…

Clang—

The blinding white glare of the incandescent lamp snapped on with a harsh click.

So dazzling… It hurt his eyes.

Fang Jing squinted painfully, turned his head, and under that piercing light, slowly forced his eyes open.

What greeted him was a strange room: two walls were mirrors, the other two were bare concrete. Directly across from him, eight large, upright characters were neatly inscribed: "Leniency to those who confess, severity to those who resist."

And there, right opposite him, sat two soldiers in deep green uniforms, backs ramrod straight.

So… this was an interrogation room?

“What the hell… was that a bicycle or a runaway freight truck that hit me, to knock me out like this…” Fang Jing muttered under his breath, glancing around the room.

He was just trying to figure out how to explain—convincingly—that he’d been knocked out by a bicycle, when the blinding lights suddenly snapped off.

“You’re awake?” The voice was gentle, warm—like a trustworthy uncle next door. It immediately put Fang Jing a little at ease.

“Awake, awake. Say, comrade, I just got hit by a bicycle—was it really necessary to get the military involved?” Fang Jing scratched his head, lowering it in embarrassment.

How humiliating. He’d just finished his medical exam, about to enlist as a university recruit in the fall, and he’d actually been knocked unconscious by a bicycle. Now the military had to mediate? The shame was unbearable.

Worse, he’d surely be the laughingstock of the entire company at boot camp.

He was still reeling from this humiliating prospect, when—

“Oh? A bicycle knocked you right into a military restricted zone?” The officer’s tone changed.

“Let’s get to the point. Who are you, and why did you approach Institute 710?”

Fang Jing was speechless.

“What?” He blinked. “What’s Institute 710?”

Did he wake up wrong? He couldn’t make sense of anything the officer was saying.

The officer regarded Fang Jing with a strange look.

At that moment—

Bang!

The interrogation room door burst open. A soldier in camouflage combat gear strode in, encased in a pitch-black exoskeleton, clutching a tablet, urgency in every step.

“Captain, you have to see this!” The soldier handed the tablet to the officer, then gave Fang Jing an even stranger look.

“An exoskeleton… full-body coverage… since when did we have this kind of equipment?” Fang Jing was stunned, excitement and confusion mingling in his gaze.

He distinctly remembered the country had only just equipped the logistics division with passive exoskeletons…

Sensing Fang Jing’s confusion, the officer glanced at the tablet. His pupils contracted sharply, but he quickly masked his reaction, offering Fang Jing a kindly smile.

“Let’s not worry about anything else for now. Let’s go through the procedures,” he said warmly. “No need to be nervous.”

“Oh, okay.” Fang Jing nodded, thinking it was just routine registration… wasn’t it?

The officer pointed to the eight large characters behind him and chuckled, “Name?”

“Fang Jing.”

“Gender?”

“Male.”

“…”

“Occupation?”

“Still a student. I’m enlisting in the fall—two years of conscription, then I’ll continue my studies.”

“Oh? Which year, which university?”

“Adding in the enlistment, I’d graduate class of 2027. Huazhong University of Science and Technology, applied physics.”

Crack!

The soldier recording next to the officer gripped his pen so tightly it snapped in his hand. He glanced at his watch, disbelief written all over his face. After checking, his expression turned even grimmer.

“What’s wrong?” Fang Jing asked, confused. Ever since he’d woken up, everyone had been acting strange. Could they be scammers?

“…Fang Jing, right?”

“Mm-hmm, that’s me.” Fang Jing eyed the officer suspiciously, feeling something was off.

The officer closed his eyes, pinched the bridge of his nose, took a deep breath, then looked at Fang Jing with a grave intensity. Quietly, he said, “This is the year 2036.”

“What?!” Fang Jing shot to his feet, stunned. This was 2036? Impossible!

“You’re kidding, right? Isn’t it 2023?”

“Calm down, comrade, I’m not lying.” The officer’s tone was oddly gentle as he turned the tablet toward Fang Jing. “See for yourself.”

“Zhou Weirong, that’s my name.” On the tablet screen, the date read clearly: “2036.”

“And we weren’t lying—you did suddenly appear in a military restricted zone.” Zhou Weirong tapped the tablet, and a video began to play.

Fang Jing swallowed, all his attention riveted to the screen.

The video showed a dense forest. In the upper left corner, the time stamp read “September 23, 2036, 16:23.” The image was calm for about five seconds.

Then, right in the middle of the frame, Fang Jing appeared out of thin air, sprawled on the ground.

Yes, out of thin air.

Fang Jing gasped, rubbing his eyes in disbelief.

This was trouble. Who would have thought that simply submitting his enlistment papers at the military office and getting hit by a bicycle on his way to the station would actually send him through time?

Even the legendary truck drivers were being outdone these days. Where was the justice in this?

“So… what’s my situation then? Did I really time travel to the future?” Fang Jing asked, doing his best to cooperate, though inwardly he was fuming. Who only time-travels a dozen years into the future?

“That’s just it—we’re not sure what your situation is, or rather… what exactly you are…” Zhou Weirong rubbed his eyes in frustration, looking troubled.

How to handle this “unexpected visitor” was a real problem.

“We’ve searched the entire country based on the information you gave us. Unfortunately, there’s no trace of your existence here. You may not have traveled to the future, but…”

“But not traveled to the future?!” Fang Jing caught on.

In the modern world, everyone leaves traces online—registration, census, something. But Zhou Weirong said there was no sign of him at all.

That meant—not only had he traveled through time, but he’d crossed into a parallel universe!

This wasn’t even his own universe anymore!

As he pieced it together, Fang Jing’s composure crumbled.

He had both parents, attended a top university, and while life wasn’t perfect, it was good. How had he suddenly ended up here?

Time Travel Bureau, do your job! You people made a mistake! You sent the wrong person!

I want to go back! Take me back!

Maybe the Time Travel Bureau really did hear him, because the instant he had that thought—

Whoosh!

Right before Zhou Weirong and his companion’s eyes, just as suddenly as he’d appeared, Fang Jing vanished into thin air.

“What… what just happened!” Zhou Weirong leapt to his feet, face filled with horror and disbelief.