The next morning arrived faster than Li Wei expected.
Sunlight slipped through the curtains and landed directly on his face.
He squinted and rolled over.
His phone alarm was still ten minutes away from ringing.
"…Great," he muttered.
After lying there for a moment, he finally sat up and stretched. The room was quiet except for the occasional sound of traffic outside.
Last night's events quickly returned to his mind.
The voice.
The system.
The sign-in at the library.
Li Wei rubbed his face and stood up.
"Well… at least it wasn't a dream."
The cup of noodles from last night still sat on his desk. He tossed it in the trash and grabbed a clean shirt from the chair.
Classes started in forty minutes.
The engineering building at Linhai Technical University was already busy when he arrived.
Students moved in and out of classrooms carrying notebooks and laptops. The smell of coffee from the vending machines drifted through the hallway.
Chen Ming was leaning against the wall outside their classroom.
When he saw Li Wei, he waved.
"You're late."
"I'm five minutes early," Li Wei replied.
"That's late for you."
Li Wei dropped his bag onto a desk.
Chen Ming sat down beside him and lowered his voice.
"Did you finish the assignment?"
"Most of it."
"Let me see," Chen Ming said immediately.
Li Wei slid his notebook across the desk.
Chen Ming flipped through the pages.
After a few seconds his eyebrows lifted.
"Wait… you solved the third question already?"
"Yeah."
"How?" Chen Ming asked. "I stared at that thing for an hour."
Li Wei pointed to one of the formulas.
"You just have to separate the load distribution first. After that it's straightforward."
Chen Ming looked at the page again.
"Oh… I didn't think of that."
He scribbled something quickly into his own notebook.
"Thanks," he said.
The professor walked into the classroom a minute later, and the conversation ended.
The lecture passed quietly.
Li Wei listened while occasionally writing notes. With the system's cognitive expansion, following the explanations felt slightly easier than before.
Not dramatically different.
Just smoother.
By the time class ended, the room filled with the usual noise of students packing their bags.
Chen Ming stretched.
"I'm starving."
"You're always starving," Li Wei said.
"Because I'm always studying," Chen Ming replied confidently.
"That's not true."
"Don't ruin my image."
They walked out of the building together.
Outside, the campus courtyard was full of students heading toward lunch.
Halfway across the courtyard, Chen Ming suddenly stopped.
"Oh right," he said. "The club meeting today."
"What club?"
"Robotics."
Li Wei raised an eyebrow.
"You joined the robotics club?"
Chen Ming nodded proudly.
"They have free snacks."
"…Of course they do."
Chen Ming pointed toward the cafeteria.
"You coming?"
"I'll go later."
Chen Ming shrugged.
"Suit yourself."
He waved and disappeared into the crowd.
Li Wei remained in the courtyard for a moment.
The university campus was one of the largest in the city. Several libraries, research centers, and archive buildings were scattered across the grounds.
Without thinking much about it, he spoke quietly in his mind.
"System."
[ONLINE]
"Are there any sign-in locations nearby?"
For a moment there was no response.
Then a notification appeared.
[INFORMATION NODE DETECTED]
LOCATION: LINHAI TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY ARCHIVE HALL
DISTANCE: 140 METERS
Li Wei looked across the courtyard.
Beyond a row of tall gingko trees stood a gray stone building he had seen many times before.
Archive Hall.
Most students ignored the place.
It stored old research papers, historical records, and documents from the university's early years.
Li Wei adjusted his backpack and started walking in that direction.
The building was quiet inside.
Tall shelves filled with boxes lined the walls.
A woman sat behind the front desk organizing files.
She looked up when Li Wei entered.
"Student access?" she asked.
Li Wei nodded and handed her his ID card.
She scanned it and returned it.
"Please keep the documents in order."
"Sure."
He wandered slowly between the shelves.
Dusty folders.
Old engineering drawings.
Stacks of research journals.
It felt less like a library and more like a storage room for forgotten knowledge.
After a few minutes, he spoke internally.
"System."
[ONLINE]
"This is the place?"
[CONFIRMED]
Li Wei glanced around the room.
"Do I need to go somewhere specific?"
[CORE INFORMATION NODE LOCATED IN BASEMENT STORAGE]
He looked toward the hallway at the back of the building.
A small sign pointed down a staircase.
Staff Only — Storage Basement
Li Wei walked in that direction.
Before he could reach the stairs, the archivist called out.
"Excuse me."
He turned around.
"That area is restricted," she said.
Li Wei nodded.
"Sorry. I thought research documents might be stored there."
"Most of them are digital now," she replied.
Li Wei hesitated for a moment.
"Are older infrastructure records kept downstairs?"
The woman considered the question.
"Some of them, yes."
"I'm working on a structural history report," Li Wei said.
That wasn't entirely false.
She looked at him for a moment, then sighed.
"Five minutes."
"Thanks."
The basement stairs were narrow and slightly dim.
Cool air greeted him as he stepped down.
The lower archive room was smaller but packed with older storage boxes.
As soon as Li Wei reached the center of the room—
A message appeared.
[CORE INFORMATION NODE CONFIRMED]
[SIGN-IN AVAILABLE]
Li Wei glanced around.
No one else was there.
"Sign in."
The familiar pause returned.
Then the system responded.
[SIGN-IN COMPLETE]
LOCATION: LINHAI TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY ARCHIVE HALL
A new message followed.
[REWARD GENERATED]
ANALYTICAL THINKING MODULE — LEVEL 1
A brief sensation passed through his mind.
Sharper than before.
Like his thoughts suddenly lined up in clearer order.
Li Wei blinked slowly.
"…Interesting."
He looked at one of the storage boxes nearby.
His mind immediately began forming connections about the project mentioned on the label—possible reasons it failed, engineering challenges, and financial factors.
He rubbed his temple lightly.
"Okay… that's definitely different."
Just as he turned toward the stairs—
Another notification suddenly appeared.
[WARNING]
EXTERNAL MONITORING DETECTED
Li Wei stopped.
"Monitoring?"
[UNKNOWN SOURCE]
He looked around the basement room.
Nothing seemed out of place.
Still…
The message lingered in his mind.
Someone—or something—might have noticed the sign-in.
Far away, deep beneath another part of the city, a dormant system quietly registered the activation.
On a dark screen, a single line of text appeared.
ARCHIVE NODE ACTIVITY DETECTED