Currency

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

He glanced at the clock: 12:30 PM.

Golden, dazzling sunlight streamed in through the eyebrow-shaped window.

Blocking the golden rays in the air with his hand, he could feel a distinct warmth.

"With this temperature, it must be nearly 40 degrees, right? Wouldn't it be hot enough to explode outside?"

Chen Miemie found it a bit strange.

Last night the temperature had been pleasant. How did it suddenly feel like the dog days of summer the moment daylight hit?

Chen Miemie tested the stove. Fortunately, it could ignite, but the flame was a pale blue-white; it wasn't burning any gas he recognized.

Chen Miemie sat down at the desk in his bedroom.

The most urgent task was to figure out his identity and gather basic information about this world.

"Ding~"

A soft sound came from under the bed nearby.

The sound wasn't loud, but it was very distinct in the quiet room right now.

Following the sound, Chen Miemie got down on the floor and peeked under the bed.

Not far from the edge of the bed, a small object was glowing.

"What is that?"

Chen Miemie quickly reached out and grabbed the small object.

"Is this... a watch?"

On the watch dial, a small e-ink screen displayed two unread messages.

He tried tapping the screen, tapping all around it, but there was no response.

Chen Miemie didn't give up and continued to study it.

After all, this was the only thing resembling an electronic device in the entire house, and it had appeared under his bed.

It was highly likely that this was his personal belonging, having fallen off the bed and rolled underneath.

Soon, he made progress.

When he put the watch on his left wrist, it seemed to activate, and the screen lit up again with a faint e-ink glow.

"Looks like it needs to be worn on the wrist to be operated."

The main page of the watch was very simple.

It only had three options: Send Message, Inbox, and Payment.

He first tapped on the unread messages.

The screen transitioned.

He went on to open the most recent unread message.

Message Time: 9:57 AM

Sender: Liu Bo

Content: Chen Miemie, where are you? You've got some nerve skipping the homeroom teacher's class. I got caught trying to answer the roll call for you, so you're on your own now.

"Liu Bo, class, roll call? This should be my friend or classmate. Does this mean I am a student?"

Chen Miemie went back a step and opened the other unread message.

Message Time: 7:13 AM

Sender: Chen Miaomiao

Content: Hehe, you received the gift, right? Do you like it? Waiting for you to come find me~ (Four-leaf clover icon)

"Who is Chen Miaomiao? Gift? What gift, I don't think I received anything."

Between the two messages, the first one was more useful for now.

Information inside the house was limited, so Chen Miemie's next step was to go outside.

If he had the identity of a student, he would have a direction and could go to school to gather more useful information.

Before deciding to leave, he discovered something not so great:

The powerful, mysterious ability from last night had disappeared. Now, he seemed to have reverted to being an ordinary person.

He was very sure of this conclusion, evidenced by his still-bleeding left arm—he thought he had healing abilities and had made a small cut on himself with a kitchen knife, but unfortunately, he didn't have them anymore, and the sunlight hadn't healed him.

On the rack by the front door hung a key.

The key was a small, bronze-colored metal piece with an animal relief.

The relief looked like some kind of animal. After trying it on the door's keyhole twice and confirming it could turn the lock cylinder, Chen Miemie finally stepped out.

Chen Miemie looked left and right. Structurally, this building seemed to have five apartments per floor.

Room 1803 was in the center, with two units on each side: 1801 and 1802 facing each other, and 1804 and 1805 facing each other.

Chen Miemie had no time to worry about his neighbors' situations right now; he was internally breaking down a bit.

Coming out of Room 1803, there was a stairwell on both the left and right sides for going up and down.

After confirming multiple times, Chen Miemie just felt his head buzzing:

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

Chen Miemie wasn't just afraid of getting tired.

In this alternate world, he had just encountered an assassination attempt last night. In this unfamiliar environment, the dark and narrow stairwell space meant every floor was an unknown, and every turn was a challenge.

Walking in, he was afraid of not running into anyone, but he was even more afraid of running into strange people.

"Ding~"

The watch chimed with a new message notification.

Message Time: 2:02 PM

Sender: Liu Bo

Content: Good boy, where did you run off to, not even replying to messages? Still not coming to afternoon classes? I should call you bro, you really are my idol.

It wasn't that Chen Miemie didn't want to reply. If he could gather information through "texting," he would have chatted up this Liu Bo long ago. The problem was, he didn't know how.

He was stuck on the last step.

It always displayed, "Please enable permissions before confirming to send a message."

What permissions, and where to enable them—he hadn't figured that out.

"Forget it, I have to take this step sooner or later. I love learning, I need to go to class."

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

Five minutes later.

Chen Miemie dashed out of the first-floor stairwell.

He didn't let out a huge breath until he saw the building's main entrance.

At this moment, his heart rate had skyrocketed.

He hadn't encountered anyone else in the 18-floor stairwell.

Through dozens of corners, he descended faster and faster.

By the end, he was no longer afraid of something appearing in front of him; he just constantly felt like some unknown shadow was chasing him from behind.

To him, the short ten minutes just now felt incredibly long, as if nothing had happened, yet as if everything had happened.

Stepping out of the building's main doors.

The world was bright and clear.

The buildings were constructed quite densely with very little space between them. There was no care for landscaping, no consideration for blocking the light, and no distinction between different residential complexes.

Right outside the building was the main road, where windowless vehicles resembling "matchboxes" drove by.

"No way! Even the vehicles are sealed up so tightly, leaving only a tiny eyebrow-shaped ventilation hole?"

Chen Miemie felt it was too much to take in.

This world was too unscientific. It was one thing for the sides and rear of the vehicles to have no outward visibility, but... but the front driver's seat was sealed off too?

Were all the drivers racing gods who could navigate by sound?

The ground floors of the buildings not far down the road were all storefronts.

Right now, the shops were open for business.

Chen Miemie chose the nearest fruit shop.

The shop's name was very down-to-earth, called Old Li's Fruit Stand. All the fruits were neatly arranged inside the store, with none displayed outside.

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

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

Various kinds of fruits were brightly colored and visibly fresh, looking juicy and easily appetizing.

"Young man, come try this. These are imported berry-fruits. They're sweet and sour, bite-sized, and burst with juice in your mouth."

Old Li handed over a small fruit platter containing seven or eight fist-sized red fruits, which should be the berry-fruits he mentioned.

Chen Miemie quickly declined, "No need, Uncle."

Old Li directly shoved a fruit into his hand. "It's a free sample."

Just then, a new customer entered the store, and Old Li turned to greet them.

The new customer was a middle-aged woman. She wore a gorgeous dress made of exquisite fabric, confidently showing off her slightly plump figure.

She moved quickly and with clear purpose, immediately picking out a few from a pile of purple fruits.

"Old Li, I'll just take these Phantom Fruits," she said, putting on a somewhat pretentious, high-pitched tone.

"Madam Jin, you truly are something else. You have both the wealth and the taste. A lot of people haven't even laid eyes on these imported Phantom Fruits before."

Old Li swiftly bagged the fruits and placed them on the scale.

"Three pounds and one ounce, let's just call it three pounds. That will be 30 hours."

Madam Jin's lips curled upward at Old Li's flattery, her eyes narrowing into joyful slits.

"Old Li, you really have a way with words. No wonder you're making good money. Here, take it."

Right under Chen Miemie's nose.

Old Li raised his left hand and spoke into his own watch, "Collect 30 hours."

Madam Jin also revealed her watch and bumped it against Old Li's. Then she tapped her watch screen, seemingly completing a confirm payment step.

"Alright, received. Take care, Madam Jin. Come back if you like them!"

Madam Jin left. Before stepping out the door, she tossed her hair at Chen Miemie, flashing him a parting smile over her shoulder.

Seeing that Old Li was clearly in a good mood, Chen Miemie stepped closer.

"Uncle Li, what's up? Was that a big transaction?"

Old Li rolled his eyes at him.

"Of course it was big. That was 30 hours. My total sales for an entire day usually only amount to that much."

Chen Miemie continuously processed the information in his mind: 30 hours seemed to be the unit of trade. Could it be...

His pupils contracted slightly as he arrived at a terrifying conclusion:

The currency of this world is [Time]?