"What kind of messed-up plot was that today, seriously..."

Linden rubbed his arms, chilled by the night breeze, recalling the dream he'd just had. Big Face Cat. Ultraman mask. Hot secret agent chick. It was truly laughably absurd.

"Like filming a movie with a bunch of idiots... cough, cough."

Linden coughed a couple of times, feeling a bit of a chill. Only then did he realize he'd forgotten to close the window before going to sleep last night. Early winter night winds were no joke.

Whoosh—

After the old sliding window was shut, the boisterous shouts and drinking games from the night market downstairs quieted considerably. Without the invasion of the night breeze, the room also seemed to warm up.

Linden poured himself a cup of hot water, took a couple of sips, and looked out at the full moon hanging in the sky. "What exactly is hidden in that safe deposit box with my name on it...?"

...

From birth, Linden had repeated the exact same dream every single night. Day after day, year after year. No matter Linden's age, no matter where he slept, no matter what he did during the day, once he drifted off to sleep, he would inevitably appear in that strange yet familiar plaza.

Strange, because Linden was certain he'd never been to this plaza in reality.

Familiar, because over these twenty-plus years, Linden had thoroughly explored every inch of it. He knew every child, every tree, even every blade of grass there.

When he was little, Linden was terrified of this dream. Every day brought the same unchanging people, the same unchanging city, the same unchanging events. For Linden, the dream felt like a cage he could never escape. A best friend he played with yesterday would be a stranger again today. Someone who died before his eyes yesterday would greet him with a smile today. No matter how much chaos he caused, the dream world would be calm and pristine the next day. He was like a prisoner trapped in time, sentenced to repeat the same day for life.

...

He had discovered early on that the dream world would always be destroyed at precisely 00:42 AM, and he himself would wake up at precisely 00:42 AM. So he learned to exploit a glitch—

As long as he stayed awake past 00:42 AM every day before going to sleep, he definitely wouldn't dream!

And it was true. For a long time during his childhood, Linden would stay up past 00:42 AM before sleeping, enjoying a dreamless night. But as he grew older, starting in middle school, Linden's perspective changed. He not only accepted this "nightmare" that repeated day after day, but even learned how to enjoy this "beautiful dream": In reality, he'd be disciplined for everything he did, but in the dream, he could do whatever he wanted, completely lawless. No rules to follow, no consequences to worry about! He could tear through the streets in insane car chases, stopping at nothing!

This daily repeating dream became Linden's outlet during adolescence. Once he accepted this premise, Linden realized how amazing this consequence-free, death-defying dream was! When his classmates were still playing childish games like "Boom Online" or "MapleStory," Linden was already enjoying "Riders Republic," "Sleeping Dogs," and "Discipline" in his dreams.

From then on... Linden stopped staying up late. The first thing he did after school every day was homework. After finishing his homework, he'd immediately wash up and go to sleep, making his parents exclaim that their prodigal son had turned over a new leaf!

It was also around this time that Linden discovered the dream wasn't absolutely bound to wake him at 00:42 AM—

If he died in the dream, he would instantly wake up in reality.

During those middle school years, Linden's most common cause of death was being shot by the police. Sniper headshots, SWAT executions, dying in a hail of bullets while on the run... he'd experienced it all and had grown accustomed to it. And it was precisely because of his long-term, high-intensity escape training in the dream that high schooler Linden won the "City Youth Parkour League Championship" for three consecutive years, making his teachers praise him as both intelligent and athletic!

To this day... this dream remains Linden's daily playground. It's just that at 23, his thoughts and maturity have developed quite a bit, and he hasn't committed any serious crimes in a long time. Now, he prefers to wander aimlessly in his dreams, participating in other people's stories, experiencing a hundred different lives.

Although the dream always repeats the same day, thankfully the dream world is vast enough that even after twenty-plus years of playing in it, Linden still makes new discoveries every day. Just like the dream he just had. Linden had robbed banks many times in his teens, but that vault full of safe deposit boxes... that was his first time inside.

He wasn't surprised to see his name on a safe deposit box. After all, it was his dream, he was the protagonist, so having his name there was perfectly normal. He was just curious...

"Why was the code wrong?"

Linden finished his hot water. His body felt much warmer. He placed the cup on his desk, thinking back and forth but finding no answer... According to his long-standing habit, almost all his passwords were his birthday, easy to remember and simple. Almost all his online accounts used 19990320 as the password. That's why he was so confident in the dream. But why was the code wrong? An eight-digit password... he truly couldn't think of a second possibility.

Ding-dong.

His phone on the bedside table lit up, with a new message. He tapped it open to see his WeChat work group—

Design Team Lead Li Juan: @everyone, meeting tomorrow morning at 9 AM in the third-floor conference room. CEO Zhao wants to personally review everyone's proposals! No one is allowed to be late! Reply if you received it!

Followed by ding-dong! ding-dong! ding-dong! a few more times. Several "Got it!" messages appeared below.

"These people are way too competitive," Linden sighed genuinely. It was past 1 AM. Were these people all Super Saiyans? Didn't they need to sleep at night? But complaints aside... In his dream, he could rob banks, blow up buildings, and act like a clown at gunpoint. But in reality, at one in the morning, he still had to humbly reply:

Got it!

"Time to sleep. Gotta wake up early tomorrow." Linden got back into bed, set his alarm, and tossed his phone onto the bedside table—

Thud!

...

Li Juan was furious, slamming her folder onto the table! "I told you all last night! CEO Zhao is personally reviewing your proposals today! And look at this! What kind of garbage have you all come up with?!"

The entire third-floor conference room was dead silent... Everyone hung their heads. Li Juan was fuming! She pulled out a design sketch and slapped it onto the table. "What is our new brand's main selling point?! It's youth! It's girlish charm! I told you to design a brand image, and you give me a fox in black stockings? Wagging its tail, no less?"

"And you!"

Li Juan slapped another sketch down, glaring at the girl next to Linden, her eyes like a lion's. "Do you have some misunderstanding about our new brand? Your little rabbit drawing is alright, but this floral scarf and padded coat—are you serious? My grandma dresses trendier than your rabbit!"

"Our CEO Zhao has said it countless times! He's been very detailed, everyone! Kitty cat! Hello Kitty, have you all heard of it? Seen it? We want a brand image just like Hello Kitty!"

"Hmph..."

The chubby guy to Linden's left muttered softly, "They pay us peanuts and want a damn Hello Kitty..."

"Fatty, what are you mumbling about?!"

"N-n-nothing, Sister Juan! I said Hello Kitty is the best! Perfect!" Fatty jumped in fright.

...

Li Juan's shouts filled the entire conference room. Linden closed his eyes, twirling his pen, still thinking about the safe deposit box from yesterday's dream. An eight-digit password... What could it be? And what was hidden in the safe?

Kitty cat?

Cat?

Listening to Li Juan's roar, Linden recalled the cat mask on Big Face Cat's face. That was also a cartoon cat image. A few simple strokes, yet it vividly captured the cuteness and vitality of a cat. Especially with the mask covering Big Face Cat's enormous face, there was a contrasting beauty, like a lotus rising from the mud. It had to be said, that cat design was indeed very cute. Simple yet refined, refreshing yet straightforward.

Lost in thought, Linden quickly sketched the cartoon cat onto his draft paper with a few strokes...

"Huh?"

His female colleague next to him leaned in. "Linden, what are you drawing?"