Fourth Perspective

Xiao Jinyu lowered his head to look at his phone.

His entire screen was black. In the center of the screen was a row of text saying User ID and right under was a ‘Register User’ button. The bloody red button pierced his eyes, it stood out prominently against a black background.

Xiao Jinyu had downloaded a lot of APPs before, but he’s never seen an APP this weird.

Firstly, whenever an APP registers an user, there would also be a reject option. But this APP doesn’t. The moment you open it, the option to exit, cancel, or reject never appears. And there’s only one option: Register User.

Also, this User ID… is a bit weird.

Xiao Jinyu raised an eyebrow, staring at every word on the screen.

‘User ID: Fourth Perspective’

He raised his hand and tapped on both of the words, ‘User ID’ and ‘Fourth Perspective’.

The screen didn’t change.

He could not change any of the words on the screen.

This was the first time Xiao Jinyu has opened the APP, but he hadn’t even done anything before he was given an User ID, and he couldn’t even change it. He couldn’t help but think of the other two User IDs he knows: ‘White Garden’ and ‘Meat King’.

From the start, Xiao Jinyu was curious about the name ‘White Garden’.

After the ghost died, he even had the mood to name his ghost domain? And it was obviously a white house, why did he name it White Garden?

This question was answered at this moment—

White Garden and Meat King, these names were not chosen by them, but were given to them by this APP.

The young man lowered his eyes, looking at the two short pieces of information. The phone’s light reflected in the clear eyes, forming a cold halo on him.

Xiao Jinyu clicked on ‘Register’.

The screen changed. Unexpectedly, it was a user information panel that showed.

‘User ID: Fourth Perspective’

‘Real Name: Unknown (Manual Input)’

‘Gender: Unknown (Manual Input)’

‘Logic Number: D20018’

‘Logic Level: Level One’

‘Logic Skill: Seeing Logic Factors? (Manual Input)’

……

Most of the user information in the panel needed to be filled in manually and also, most of it was information Xiao Jinyu had already figured out. His eyes stayed on the ‘Logic Number’ and ‘Logic Level’ part.

When he was in Changjie Station, that short-haired woman said that in the whole world, there were 70,000 users.

The APP tracks everyone who has awakened in China, which means, people who have awakened but were not in China, were not in it’s range. Then that means this ‘D20018’ next to the ‘Logic Number’, what the ‘D’ means, he does not know, but this ‘20018’ might mean, he was the 20018th user? It could also mean, his logic skill ranks 20018th in all of China.

Not rushing to exit this panel, Xiao Jinyu carefully looked at every word on the screen.

After looking at the last row of information, he went back to the beginning.

User ID, he wasn’t able to change. His real name, he currently didn’t want to put in.

He wanted to explore how far this manual input allowed him to go. For example, if he says he is a woman, would this APP allow him?

But as soon as Xiao Jinyu was about to press the ‘Gender’ section, an error sound sounded.

“Hm?”

Xiao Jinyu looked down, looking at the message that had popped out.

‘System Error, Please Try Again Later!’

Xiao Jinyu: “......”

Not only did this thing run into an error while it was downloading, even when he tried to enter in information, it could run into an error?

……

The APP running into an error was mostly related to the black spear that pierced it.

Xiao Jinyu’s mind immediately conjured up a black and cold, bone-chilling spear. The light shone on it, but it didn’t reflect it, like the spear of death, it relentlessly struck the APP, nailing it back into the phone.

Don’t think about that black spear again.

Xiao Jinyu walked to the front of the mirror, reaching out a hand, he once again swiped on his eyelids.

The moment he opened his eyes, he leaned into the mirror, examining the flashing lights in his eyes. Then, he looked down, looking at his hand.

Those three lights still hadn’t disappeared.

So White Garden’s logic factors were still flying around Xiao Jinyu’s hands.

“So this means, my eyes… must be the Fourth Perspective.”

The reason why White Garden was called White Garden, was because after his logic skill was formed, it will create a space that holds a white house; Meat King’s User ID was easy to understand, he just needed to eat roasted pork to ensure the next day was sunny.

And what did Fourth Perspective mean, where did his logic skill start, where it will end, and how was it going to continue?

Xiao Jinyu stood in front of the mirror, looking at the pair of twinkling eyes in the mirror.

He closed his eyes.

These questions, no one could answer them, he could only think on them himself.

In the quiet, dark room, the young man walked to the side of the bed and opened the curtains.

The blinding sunlight immediately shone into the room. Xiao Jinyu walked to his closet and grabbed a jacket, a down coat, then he opened the cabinet underneath, taking a thick plush scarf from it.

After doing all this, he opened the door to his room.

The variety show’s laughter sounded from the living room

Holding the jacket, down coat, and that thick scarf, the thin young man walked to the sofa.

“Mom.”

The middle-aged woman on the sofa turned her head.

***

At dusk, the workers that had just come out of a day of work and the students who were just let out of school, pushed out of the subway station.

At night, the community was noisy.

From the windows of the lower level residents, there was a light rice smell. Seven or eight preschoolers formed a sand castle in the community sandpit. The children from the surrounding communities also played in the sandpit, Aunt Wang’s grandson also was in the sandpit. She held a coat by the sandpit, chatting with a few other aunties. 

Seeing Xiao Jinyu, Aunt Wang waved, “Xiao Xiao just got back?”

Not thinking he would see someone he knew, Xiao Jinyu froze and stopped walking, “Yes, just got back.”

Aunt Wang smiled, “The sky looks like it's about to rain, did you put out clothes to dry? If it's dry then take them back inside.”

Xiao Jinyu couldn’t help but look up at the sky.

The sky looked dark, the west looked like it was about to rain, the winter sky was filled with dark clouds. Just the work of one afternoon and the sky had already changed. 

“Alright, thank you Aunt Wang.”

Xiao Jinyu continued on.

The noise of the playground behind him slowly faded, he walked into the elevator, and pressed on his floor.

“Ding—”

The elevator door opened in front of him and Xiao Jinyu took out his key from his pocket as he walked down the corridor.

Every floor in the Kangren Community had about ten households and his house was the innermost one. Taking out the key from his pocket, Xiao Jinyu casually looked up and stopped at the sight in front of him.

After a few seconds.

The well-looking young man walked to the door of his house, asking, “Is there something?”

Not expecting the other side to actually be so calm, Zhao Hen who was standing in front of Xiao Jinyu’s house was at a loss and choked. He rubbed his tan face. Originally he wanted to pretend to stroll around in the corridor and while the young man walked past in the corridor to get home, he would look for an opportunity to use a logic factor detector to check whether the other side had awakened a logic skill.

But as soon as the young man walked up, he directly initiated a conversation with him, even asking if he needed anything.

Zhao Hen was a bit embarrassed, “Eh, No… just passing, I got on the wrong floor and was just about to leave.”

While saying this, Zhao Hen directed the logic factor detector at Xiao Jinyu’s head without batting an eyelash. His finger lightly rested on the start button.

“Are you a user?”

His finger hadn’t even pressed down, Zhao Hen, “Eh?!”

In the narrow, quiet corridor, Xiao Jinyu took out his key, ready to open the door.

“This morning at the entrance of Changjie Station, a short-haired woman and a boy in a baseball cap told me some stuff. Then they told me a rule: logic skills will attract each other.” Waiting for a bit, Xiao Jinyu continued, “I feel like you’re a user, aren’t you?”

Zhao Hen opened his mouth dumbfoundedly.

He’s thought of countless possibilities. In the worst case, the young man who had just escaped from the logic skill of White Garden this morning had been contaminated, and Qi Simin didn’t notice. But he never thought that the other side would actually say so frankly that he had awakened his logic skill of things, and also ask him if he was also a user.

Zhao Hen scratched his head, “Yes, I’m a user. Qi Simin and Li Xiaotong couldn’t have told you all about the APP and according to the report they handed in, you should only know about logic skills and polluters. Since you can say stuff about users, it seems you’ve already downloaded the APP and awakened your logic skill.”

Xiao Jinyu lightly nodded, ‘ka-cha’, he opened the door, moving inside.

“Do you want to come in and talk?”

The last ray of sunlight hadn’t even passed the horizon.

Zhao Hen looked at the dark doorway and said without thinking, “Ok.”

He strode in.

……

The new user’s house was pretty clean.

Entering the room, Zhao Hen’s brain thought of this.

Not wasting any time, Zhao Hen asked as soon as he entered, “Congrats on becoming a user, perhaps we will complete a mission together. Coming here today, I did have something that I needed your help with.”

Xiao Jinyu poured a cup of tea, “What is it?”

The new user seemed to be willing to help and didn’t like to talk nonsense? Zhao Hen thought for a bit then asked, “You seem to have adapted pretty well to the APP… that is the ‘Grow Some Brains, Everyone Has a Responsibility’ APP. Do you not have anything to ask me?”

Xiao Yu: "You think it’s weird that when I awakened my logic skill and was forced to download this APP, that I’m not surprised or confused?" 

“Yes.”

“Miss Qi already explained a lot to me, but she really didn’t tell me anything about the APP. But she did slip out the terms ‘User’ and ‘User ID’ multiple times. I did think it was strange when I was forced to download the APP, but when I tapped on the ‘Register User’ button, I linked the term ‘User’ that Miss Qi had mentioned and the APP together.”

Xiao Jinyu explained, “So I guessed, this APP might be forcibly downloaded on every person who has awakened their logic skill. It’s because you download this app and register, you guys are called ‘Users’.

Really smart. Zhao Hen thought, he nodded and said, “What you’ve said is correct. Since you’ve already understood it all, there isn’t anything I seem to have to explain to you.”

Xiao Jinyu: “Miss Qi explained very clearly.”

Zhao Hen: “I’m not the person who’s in charge of contacting users, so today I won’t speak of other matters. I’ll say it directly, Mr Xiao, it’s like this, after you downloaded the APP, did you notice it had a BUG?”
 

“Yes,” Xiao Jinyu looked serious and sat up straight, “I can only register my ID and can’t enter any information or do anything.”

Zhao Hen: “This wasn’t a problem only you experienced, but the entire nation experienced this BUG. Why this BUG appeared, we don’t know at the moment and saying it is a bit embarrassing, but the reason why I came today was to check if you were contaminated.”

Xiao Jinyu raised an eyebrow, “Miss Qi already checked me in the subway station.”

The two spoke for a bit more and after getting the current situation from Xiao Jinyu, Zhao Hen got up, getting ready to leave.

“All in all, not getting contaminated is the best.”

Xiao Yu thought for a moment: "You all think that the APP ran into a BUG because someone was contaminated?”

Zhao Hen froze.

He was too smart. He could say anything and he would be able to discover that the APP running into a BUG was related to polluters?

Zhao Hen: “You’re half right, we do think that the APP’s BUG was due to a strong polluter appearing. So the nation’s User Maintenance Staff are running around trying to contact everyone who has come into contact with logic skills today.” That’s why he was sent to check Xiao Jinyu’s situation.

Today, of the 600,000 regular people of Zhongdu, only Xiao Jinyu and Zhao Zhixin came into contact with a logic skill.

Xiao Jinyu: “Then the other half?”

Zhao Hen: “It could also be that a strong user leveled up? I’m not quite clear on this.” Drinking the water in the cup, Zhao Hen honestly smiled, “Thank you for the hospitality, Mr Xiao, I must go now. Don’t worry about the APP’s situation, it should be back to normal by tomorrow. I think that tomorrow the Association will take some time out to send someone here to guide you on the APP.”

Walking to the door, Zhao Hen looked around the house and casually asked, “This house is pretty big, you’re so young, do you live here alone?”

The air was silent for a moment.

Xiao Jinyu smiled, “Yes, I live alone.”

Opening the door, Zhao Hen nodded, “Thank you for cooperating, Mr Xiao, I’ll be leaving.”

The door closed behind him.

Only after Zhao Hen left the apartment, did he realize the temperature had dropped. Wrapping his coat tightly around him as he walked to the elevator, the tall figure disappeared in the dark.

The long corridor fell into silence once again.

After a long while.

“Ka-cha—”

The rusty wooden door squeaked open.

Wearing a cashmere jacket, Xiao Jinyu walked out of the apartment. He carefully closed the door, pulled on the door handle, making sure it was locked. He turned around and held a trash bag and went down.

The evening sky was covered in dark clouds and as it got deeper into the night, wind blew.

After throwing out the trash, Xiao Jinyu didn’t immediately go back. He went to the convenience store across the street to buy something.

“It’s a total of $32.30.” The cashier put the last item in the bag.

Xiao Jinyu looked at the sky outside and took an umbrella from the bucket next to the cash register, “Add this too.”

“A total of $64.”

After paying, holding the plastic bag, Xiao Jinyu walked out of the convenience store.

The temperature dropped too fast. The afternoon was warm enough to just wear a hoodie, yet the night wind entered through the collars, causing the pedestrians to walk quickly, wrapping their clothes around them.

His nose was suddenly iced.

Xiao Jinyu reached out, grabbing the snowflakes in the air.

It unexpectedly started snowing.

He took out the umbrella from the plastic bag, ‘whoosh’, the umbrella opened. The moment the umbrella was raised, Xiao Jinyu also raised his head.

In the midst of the slowly falling snow, on the other side of the street, a man holding an umbrella, having lowered it so it covered part of his body from view, walked towards him.

A pure black umbrella covered his face, only revealing two hands, one in the coat pocket, and the other holding the umbrella. A car just so happened to pass by, the bright light lighting up the man’s hand that was holding the umbrella. The hemp rope on his wrist swayed slightly, the black gem on the rope coldly flashed.

His steps were big, but he didn’t walk very fast. The snow fell in front of his feet and quickly melted.

Not knowing why, Xiao Jinyu looked at him, then walked forward then walked to the right before stopping.

On the other side of the street, that man crossed the crosswalk and also stopped at this junction.

The two stood at the same crosswalk, waiting for the red light.

Standing shoulder to shoulder, that black umbrella finally lifted up.

Suddenly, the wind and snow blew under the umbrella, aiming for the person underneath.

The man holding the umbrella opened his mouth and lightly blew. The snow that flew under was pushed away by some invisible hand, flying around the black umbrella.

Xiao Jinyu looked at the snowflakes that were pushed away.

His eyes suddenly started to burn.

Xiao Jinyu subconsciously turned his head and met a pair of deep, dark eyes.

The author has something to say:

Fortune Doll: Some people are called Xiu Jiumei on the surface, but are really called Xiu (Men) Chui Xue!

Ninth Sister: ^_^

—

I really am his mother. If I say he’s going to come out, even if I write a thousand more words, I will let Ninth Sister come out! Ai, this is a mother who loves her son~

And there were people who thought it didn’t sound nice……

Hahahaha, does it really not sound nice~