3:00 a.m.An unexpected spiritual distortion alert flared across the South Sector of the Bureau of Strange Affairs.
Lu Feng stood alone on an unfamiliar street in casual clothes, staring ahead at a road that wasn't supposed to exist—a "nonexistent path."
This place wasn't on any map.Even his soul chain's sensors distorted and flickered. He tried activating his spirit detection terminal, but it only returned corrupted data and two words:
"Gray Domain."
"This isn't just a spiritual rift," he muttered.
The communicator had gone silent.The light in this space was tinted yellow like a faded photograph, and a red traffic light at the street's end kept blinking—never turning green. Far ahead stood a faint building labeled "Fifth Psychiatric Hospital" that was never recorded in any Bureau database.
"Kaelin, can you hear me?" he tried to reconnect the soul-bond link, but only silence replied.
He stepped forward, every footfall landing between illusion and reality. Even his own shadow lagged half a beat behind.
Suddenly, a figure appeared in the distance—black-clothed, long-haired, eerily familiar.
"Kaelin?" he called cautiously.
The figure didn't respond, only slowly raised its head.
Its face was a blank sheet.
Lu Feng's breath caught.
This was a "Gray Domain Projection"—an echo remnant that mimics human emotion but lacks a true soul.
The faceless "Kaelin" opened its mouth. A hollow, echoing voice emerged:
"You are not you.She is not her.You are all shadows behind the mirror."
As the words faded, the entire street fractured like broken glass.Lu Feng was sucked into a hallucination.
Illusions. Fragments. Pain.
He saw himself lying in a pool of blood, Kaelin weeping beside him.He saw himself lighting a spirit flame in a wasteland, burning a sealed letter.He saw himself push Kaelin away—and vanish into darkness.
"No... this isn't real."He bit down on his thumb. Blood dripped onto his soul chain.
"Soul breath return—recognize myself as myself—break!"
With a cry, the illusion shattered.Lu Feng landed hard back onto the real street, cold sweat drenching his back.
The world was quiet again.But in the sky above—a narrow gray crack spread across the clouds.
And in that tear,something vast and formless loomed—watching.
"The Gray Domain... has arrived," Lu Feng whispered, eyes sharp.
He knew, from this day forward,the Bureau was no longer facing cases.
It was facing the undefined edge of the world.