The shrill alarm tore through the nighttime quiet of the apartment like an ice pick.
Lin Che’s heart nearly stopped. On the screen, a red warning box flashed frantically: [Active probing signal detected! Source: Verhi Technology – Cybersecurity Center. Connection forcibly terminated.]
He had been discovered.
Although he had immediately severed the connection and cleared the temporary logs and scripts, that probing signal from the Verhi Cybersecurity Center was a cold, unequivocal warning—his little investigation had been detected by some monitoring system. Perhaps the very first time he accessed that debug interface, he had triggered some hidden alarm.
Cold sweat instantly soaked through his shirt. He stood up abruptly and yanked the curtAIns shut, as if that could block the invisible gaze from Verhi Tower. The room suddenly felt small and unsafe.
His mind flashed back to the man he’d seen during the day at Verhi Tower—Qin Yue, head of the Security Advisory department. The man with the military-grade cybernetic eye and the suspected mechanical prosthetic. Those cold, non-human eyes now seemed to be staring right through the walls at him.
The mechanical prosthetic…
The image lingered in his mind. It represented not only Verhi’s cutting-edge prowess in biomechanics but also a kind of ruthless, absolutely obedient force. Qin Yue himself was a living emblem of Verhi’s security power, the skeletal framework of steel hidden beneath the sleek exterior, maintaining order for that perfect tower.
Lin Che realized he wasn’t just facing a “ghost” hidden within data, but a behemoth with tangible, armed force. Verhi Technology would not tolerate anyone peeking at its core secrets, and Qin Yue and the department he represented were the iron fist enforcing that will.
He sat in the darkness, holding his breath, listening intently for any unusual sound from outside—the approach of an aircraft engine? Footsteps? Nothing. The city continued its usual rhythm. But this silence was even more unnerving. He didn’t know what the consequences of triggering the alarm would be. Tighter surveillance? Disqualification from the next interview? Or… more direct “handling”?
A few minutes later, just as his nerves were stretched to the breaking point, his personal terminal vibrated softly. Not an alarm. A new email.
The sender was still “Verhi Technology Human Resources Department.”
Lin Che’s fingers were slightly stiff as he opened the email.
The content was unexpectedly normal, even enthusiastic. It notified him of his successful passage through the initial assessment and invited him to participate in an “Immersive Group Collaboration Test” in three days, located at the Verhi Tower’s “Deep Experience Center.” The email thoughtfully included test precautions and travel directions.
Business as usual. As if the heart-stopping alarm had never happened.
But this normality felt profoundly eerie. Verhi’s security center had clearly noticed his probing, yet the official channel was still extending an olive branch. Was it a case of letting the prey run loose? A test? Or did they want to place this “unstable element” closer, where he’d be easier to control?
Chen Yuan’s friendly smile, Hongmeng’s inscrutable questions, and now this invitation arriving right after the alarm… Verhi’s attitude was a fog.
Lin Che closed the email, his gaze falling once more on the unsolvable encrypted data. This “Data Ghost” had led him to glimpse the abyss, and in doing so, he had attracted the abyss’s gaze.
He had two choices now: First, withdraw immediately, distance himself completely from the Verhi vortex, and pretend nothing ever happened. Second, continue forward, step into this “Immersive Test” that was clearly aimed at him, and search for the truth under their close watch.
He remembered the whispered “see the truth,” and Hongmeng’s question about “errors and paradigms.” Withdrawing meant remaining in the dark forever; perhaps one day, he would disappear silently, like those potentially imprisoned consciousnesses. Moving forward was dangerous, but it offered at least a sliver of a chance to uncover the truth.
He looked out the window at the brilliantly lit pinnacle of Verhi Tower, like a beacon, and a glint of resolve flashed in his eyes.
He had to go. He would have to face not only Hongmeng and Chen Yuan, but potentially also the embodiment of Verhi’s armed power—Qin Yue, and his cold, mechanical prosthetic.
