"What kind of plot is this today? It's all so messy..."
Leon String rubbed his arms, which were chilled by the night wind, and recalled the dream he just had.
A Chubby Cat, an Ultraman mask, a Glamorous Agent—it was truly a mix that left one both amused and crying.
"It's like filming a movie with a bunch of fools... cough, cough."
Leon coughed a couple of times, feeling a bit under the weather. It was then he realized he had forgotten to close the window before going to bed last night. The early winter night wind was not to be trifled with.
With a whoosh, he closed the old sliding window, and the sound of dice rolling from the night market stall below quieted considerably. Without the intrusion of the wind, the room felt much warmer.
Leon poured himself a cup of hot water, took a couple of sips, and gazed at the bright full moon outside.
"What could be hidden in that lockbox with my name on it...?"
...
Ever since he was born, Leon had repeated the same dream every night.
Day after day, year after year.
No matter his age, where he slept, or what he did during the day, once he fell asleep, he would inevitably find himself in that strange yet familiar square.
Strange, because Leon was certain he had never been to this square in reality.
Familiar, because over the past twenty years, he had come to understand every inch of this square. He knew every child here, every tree, and even every blade of grass.
As a child, Leon was terrified of this dream.
Every day featured the same people, the same city, and the same events.
To Leon, the dream felt like an inescapable cage.
Friends he played with yesterday transformed into strangers today.
Those who died right before his eyes yesterday would greet him with smiles today.
Even if a great commotion happened, the dream remained as tranquil as ever the next day.
He felt like a prisoner trapped in time.
Sentenced to an eternal repetition of the same day.
...
He discovered early on that the world of dreams would inevitably destroy itself at 12:42 AM, and he would wake up right at that time.
So he learned to exploit this glitch—
"As long as I stay up until after 12:42 AM, I definitely won’t have dreams!"
And indeed, this proved true.
For a long time in his childhood, Leon would stay up until after 12:42 AM, enjoying a night of dreams that never came.
However, as he grew older, starting in middle school, his thoughts began to change.
He not only accepted this daily repeating “nightmare,” but he also learned how to enjoy this “beautiful dream”:
In reality, he was constantly being monitored, but in his dream, he could do anything he wanted—it was a lawless land.
No rules to follow, no consequences to worry about!
He could madly race cars, taking on anyone who dared oppose him!
This daily repeating dream had, in turn, become an outlet for Leon's adolescence.
Once he accepted this setup, Leon found the dream—free from any responsibility and fear of death—so enticing!
While his classmates were still playing childish games like Bomberman and MapleStory, Leon was already enjoying Riders Republic, Sleeping Dogs, and Stalker 3 in his dreams.
From then on...
Leon stopped pulling all-nighters.
His first task upon returning home from school each day was to do his homework.
As soon as he finished, he would proceed to wash up and go to bed without a second thought, making his parents exclaim in astonishment that their son had turned a new leaf!
It was also around this time that Leon discovered that the dream wouldn’t necessarily always have him wake up at 12:42 AM—
"If I die in the dream, I will immediately awaken in reality."
During those years in high school, the most common way he met his end in dreams was by being shot by the police.
Head shot by a sniper, executed by SWAT on the spot, shot to death while fleeing... he had experienced it all, even becoming accustomed to it.
It was precisely because of the high-intensity escape training he had undergone in his dreams that Leon won the City Youth Parkour Championship three years in a row, prompting his teachers to praise him as both academically and athletically gifted!
To this day...
This dream remains Leon's amusement park every day.
However, now at the age of 23, both physically and mentally matured, he hadn’t engaged in any criminal activities for a long time. He preferred wandering aimlessly in his dreams, joining others' stories, experiencing different lives.
Although the dream constantly repeated the same day, the world within it was vast enough that even after over twenty years of play, Leon still discovered something new every day.
Just like the dream he had earlier.
He had robbed banks many times as a teenager, but this was the first time he had entered a warehouse full of lockboxes.
He wasn’t surprised to find his name on the lockbox.
After all, this was his dream, and he was the main character. Having his name on it felt completely normal.
What he found curious was...
"Why is the password incorrect?"
Leon finished his cup of hot water.
He felt much warmer.
He placed the cup on his desk, pondering left and right...
According to his usual practice, most of his passwords were his birthday—simple and easy to remember.
Almost all his online account passwords were 19990320. So in the dream earlier, he had felt quite confident.
But why was the password wrong?
An eight-digit password... he couldn't think of another possibility.
Ding dong.
His phone on the bedside table lit up with a new message.
He opened it to find a work group chat on WeChat—
Li Juan, the design team leader: @everyone, there will be a meeting in the third-floor conference room tomorrow morning at 9 AM. Mr. John wants to personally review everyone’s proposals! No one is allowed to be late! Respond when you receive this!
Then came a series of notifications: Ding dong! Ding dong! Ding dong!
Several "Received!" messages appeared below.
"These people are too intense."
Leon couldn't help but sigh. It was already 1 AM; were these people all Super Saiyans? Don’t they need to sleep at night?
But complaining aside...
In dreams, he could rob banks, blow up buildings, making faces at gun barrels.
Yet in reality, he still had to humbly reply at midnight:
Received!
"Time to sleep; got to wake up early tomorrow."
Leon climbed back into bed, set his alarm, and tossed his phone onto the bedside table—
Thud!
...
Li Juan angrily slammed a folder onto the table!
"I told you all last night! Today Mr. John is personally reviewing your proposals! And look! What in the world is this you’ve put together!?"
The entire third-floor conference room fell silent...
Everyone kept their heads down.
Li Juan was seething! She pulled out a piece of artwork and slammed it onto the table:
"What is our new brand marketing? It’s youth! It’s girly! You were supposed to design a brand image, and this is what you give me? A concept dressed in sheer stockings and a fox? What does that even mean? Waving its tail around?"
"And you!"
Li Juan pointed at a girl sitting next to Leon, her eyes blazing like a lion:
"Do you have a misunderstanding about our new brand? Your little rabbit is somewhat acceptable, but are you serious with that floral scarf and big puffy coat? My grandmother dresses cooler than that rabbit!"
"Our Mr. John has already said this countless times! Very clearly! Have you heard of Kitty Cat? Hello Kitty? We want a brand image just like Kitty Cat!"
"Hmph..."
The chubby boy on Leon's left muttered softly:
"With this measly salary, they expect us to get Kitty Cat..."
"Fatty, what are you mumbling about?!"
"I-I-I wasn’t saying anything, Sister Juan! I said Hello Kitty is the best! Perfast!" Fatty stammered, startled.
...
Li Juan's furious shouts filled the entire conference room.
Leon closed his eyes, twirling a pen, still pondering the lockbox from yesterday's dream.
An eight-digit password...
What could it be?
What else could be hidden in that lockbox?
Kitty Cat?
A cat?
Listening to Li Juan's rant, Leon recalled the cat mask on the Chubby Cat's face.
That was also a cartoon cat image.
A few simple strokes captured the cat's cuteness and vitality vividly.
Especially with the mask covering the Chubby Cat's big face, creating a contrast that was strikingly beautiful.
It had to be said, that cat image was indeed designed to be adorable.
Simple yet exquisite, refreshing and straightforward.
Zoning out, Leon sketched the cartoon cat on the draft paper with just a few strokes...
"Hey?"
A female colleague leaned over:
"Leon, what are you drawing?"
