"Cough…"
"Cough, cough…"
In the dim, cramped room, a frail cough sounded from time to time.
A computer monitor by the wall cast a cold white glow, lighting up the worn black keyboard and mouse on the desk.
In the corner of the room, a thin figure lay quietly on a black wooden bed.
Then the phone screen on the nightstand suddenly lit up, and a crisp alarm shattered the silence.
The youth slowly opened his eyes, revealing deep-set pupils, rolled over, then reached out and silenced the phone's alarm, wearily sitting up in bed to collect himself for a moment.
After a long while, he rose and walked to the window, drawing open the gray curtain.
Bright sunlight poured in at once, lighting up the whole dim room.
Looking inward from outside the window, one could see a youth with a side-parted seven-to-three haircut, a slender frame, a clear-featured face, and pale, bloodless lips.
Cough, cough~
The youth coughed uncontrollably, then went over to the old desk and sat down, looking at the computer screen.
On the screen, the hottest game of the moment was running: Black Interstellar.
Long Ming opened the auction mall and quickly scanned the rows of data.
Today's in-game prices had not only failed to drop, but had risen a little, just as expected.
He then opened his backpack, ready to sell off the equipment, items, and game coins he had been stockpiling these past days.
Cough, cough~
The coughing took hold of him again, worse and worse.
His face twisted with pain, as though his lungs might be coughed right out.
Hurrying to his feet, Long Ming stepped aside, picked up the cough medicine on the table and took a swallow, then reached for the bottle of immunity medicine.
But when he unscrewed the cap, he found the bottle empty. He yanked open the drawer to get a new one, only to find after a moment of rummaging that this type was gone.
Alarm shot through him. He hurried to the bed and picked up the phone with trembling hands.
Ding~
One message after another popped up.
"Dear Mr. Long Ming, your hospital registration at Shanchengshan First Central Hospital is confirmed. Please proceed as soon as possible."
"Dear Mr. Long Ming, your application for a temporary Upper City pass has been approved. It is valid for 24 hours. Please proceed to the Upper City as soon as possible, and leave before midnight on March 14, Year 120 of the Epoch."
Seeing that the application had been approved, Long Ming let out a breath of relief.
At once he went to the simple clothes rack, put on a gray coat, tied a beige scarf around his neck, changed into a pair of white cloth shoes, then opened the door and stepped out into the long, narrow corridor.
Large patches of plaster had peeled from the corridor walls, leaving stretches of rough cement exposed.
Both sides were piled with clutter, and one iron door after another filled the view. Twenty households lived on this seventh floor alone — one could only call it cramped.
Head lowered, coughing softly, Long Ming made his way toward the stairs.
Several minutes later, he came out of the old building.
Pigeon-cage towers with blackened exteriors soared up into the clouds, blotting out the entire sky.
The buildings were packed densely and haphazardly, giving off a deeply oppressive feeling.
Anyone unfamiliar with the place might easily lose their way.
Long Ming drew a deep breath, suppressed the urge to cough, and slowly walked forward.
After a long while, Long Ming left Cloud Sea, the famous concentration district of the East District.
Elegant as the name sounded, this so-called Cloud Sea was where the lowest class of people gathered.
"Phew~"
Long Ming let out a soft breath, stretched, lifted his head, and looked into the distance, where he could faintly make out a heaven-piercing giant peak thrusting into the clouds.
That was where he was headed.
Then he reached up, pulled his scarf higher, and walked toward the nearby subway station.
Along the way, electronic screens on the walls of the buildings played all kinds of commercial ads and news.
Two men in gray trench coats, briefcases in hand, weariness showing on their faces, talked as they passed Long Ming.
"The company's profits hit a new low again this year."
"Yeah, I hear there are going to be layoffs."
"Sigh. When is this ever going to end?"
Long Ming slowed his steps a little, then walked on.
This world was called Blue Star, and its original civilization could be called highly developed. But the asteroid impact event fifty years ago had turned everything upside down.
That impact had not only killed a great many people; the pollutants carried within the asteroid had spread over a wide area, severely damaging Blue Star's ecosystem.
Blue Star's water was badly contaminated too — even the sea had turned gray. Long-term consumption of polluted water eroded the body, bringing on all kinds of diseases and the decay of bodily functions.
On top of that, the air had grown thick and murky, and a great many surface species had gone extinct.
Humanity faced its greatest crisis ever. To survive, the remaining people migrated in droves to less polluted regions and gathered there, building one shelter city after another.
Of those, the three great shelter cities were Shanchengshan, Star Tower City, and Sin City.
And the city Long Ming lived in was one of those three: Shanchengshan.
A moment later, Long Ming reached the subway entrance. All ten escalators carried passengers coming and going, the flow of people extremely dense.
Shanchengshan's population was enormous, an astonishing 230 million.
Long Ming rode the escalator down with the crowd and soon passed through security to reach the platform.
Whoosh!
A train over a hundred meters long came racing in and stopped precisely in front of Long Ming and the others.
Then the carriage doors opened one after another.
Crowds of passengers got off, and Long Ming and the many waiting passengers boarded the train.
The carriage was very crowded; the seats on both sides were all taken.
For a moment Long Ming was pinned in place, unable to move.
Cough, cough~
Long Ming couldn't help raising a hand to cover his mouth and gave a few soft coughs.
The passengers nearby heard, and the looks they turned on Long Ming changed; they all made room to the side.
Used to it long ago, Long Ming silently lowered his head.
A little over two hours later, a pleasant announcement came over the speaker.
"Dear passengers, the train will now arrive at the terminus, Upper City Station. Passengers getting off, please make ready."
Hearing it, Long Ming slowly raised his head, and with a slight sway the train pulled into the terminus.
A moment later, Long Ming came out of the subway exit and reached the foot of the mountain at the center of the city.
He looked up, and a giant peak filled his eyes. Elegant buildings stood across its surface, and steel platforms rose and fell around the whole mountain, going up and down without pause. At the summit stood a giant mechanical pillar that ran through the mountain and up to the sky, its surface giving off a faint halo.
All of Shanchengshan was divided into three rings. The First Ring was the mountain top, the City Lord's office area, which only public officials could enter or leave.
The Second Ring lay in the middle of the mountain. The whole middle section extended outward from the mountainside into a huge platform, on which a bustling sky city had been built. This was collectively called the Upper City, home to elites, financial magnates, and the rich.
The Third Ring was the plain at the foot of the mountain, where all the commoners lived, and it was also called the Lower City.
A high wall separated the Upper and Lower City, with only a few specific entrances and exits, all fitted with checkpoints.
Even so, Lower City residents could still enter the Upper City. They only had to apply in advance; once the application was approved, they could go in. One thing to keep in mind, though, was that they had to leave before the valid time ran out — otherwise it would be a fine at best, and at worst a complimentary detention package.