Could I Be a God?

"Doctor, for the past ten days, whenever I'm asleep, I keep hazily hearing someone call my name." "Mr. Huang Tian, that is an auditory hallucination." "I'm certain I heard it." "Then it's somatization of anxiety." "Somatization of anxiety?" "In short, there's nothing wrong with you. Don't worry. Just avoid smoking and drinking, sleep early and rise early, and relax your mind. You'll recover." ... ... [September 5: I went to see a doctor. The doctor said there was nothing wrong with me. I relaxed a little, but that very afternoon, I was laid off by my company. September 6: Before going to sleep, I tried my best not to think about anything, and I actually slept straight through until dawn. Yet, the moment I opened my eyes, I was horrified to hear someone calling me. That was the first time I heard those voices while completely awake. September 7: I didn't sleep all day, my face haggard, because day and night, ghostly voices kept whispering in my ears. September 8: I was ecstatic, because I discovered that not only could I shut off the voices calling me, but I could also follow the sound to see the scene where the people discussing me were speaking—could I be a god?] After jotting these lines down on a scrap of paper, Huang Tian sat lost in thought for a moment. He stood up and retrieved a lighter meant for mosquito coils from a cabinet drawer. *Click~* *Fwip~* Twisting tongues of flame swallowed the scrap paper, and ashes drifted onto the floor. Huang Tian swept them up with a broom, then returned to his chair, quietly recalling the changes of the past half month. The shock of waking from dreams to voices calling his name, the exhaustion and lack of energy, the doctor's visit, taking time off only to get laid off, the terror of hearing voices in broad daylight, and the ecstasy of realizing he seemed to have gained a supernatural ability... In just half a month, his life had turned upside down. "Still, it's turning for the better—or rather, toward the extraordinary..." With a shift of Huang Tian's thoughts, as if flipping a switch, a surge of voices calling his name instantly flooded his ears. He took a soft breath. Tracing one of the thread-like voices, his mind traversed the dazzling, crystalline river of time and space to look through, and a scene materialized before him. In a clean, brightly lit office, a young man with a worried expression murmured, "Huang Tian got fired a few days ago. I reckon our turn isn't far off." Across from him, a slightly plump man in his early thirties sighed helplessly. "Relax. Even if the company's performance is down, they still need people to do the work. You might not get cut, but an old guy in his thirties like me is definitely finished." The young man asked, "But wasn't Huang Tian only twenty-four?" "That's because he obviously looked terrible these past few days. Sure, he didn't mess up his work, but... tsk, you know how it is. On top of that, he had the nerve to ask for leave. Getting laid off was only natural." Right then, a cough sounded, and the boss walked in. Both men immediately turned their heads back toward their computer screens. With another thought, Huang Tian let the scene burst like a bubble, pulling his vision back. "As long as someone mentions me, I can view the scene of them talking from a third-person perspective. I just haven't figured out how long it lasts..." He clasped his fingers together, shifted his focus slightly, and traced another vocal thread. Time and space shifted before his eyes. East Campus of Jingcheng Foreign Studies University, basement cafeteria. "Wenjun, your boyfriend's name is Huang Tian, right?" A round-faced girl scarfed down several bites of shacha beef noodles in front of her. Thoroughly satisfied, she looked up at the quiet girl sitting opposite her. Zong Wenjun nodded. "How come he didn't come see you off for the start of the semester? I was hoping to see what he looks like in person," the round-faced girl lamented. Zong Wenjun looked puzzled. "Why would he need to come see me off?" "Aren't you two boyfriend and girlfriend?" "Yeah." "Then he should have come!" "No, he shouldn't. He has a job now. He's very busy." The round-faced girl blinked, then threw up her hands in defeat. "Fine, fine. You really are so understanding!" With that, she buried her head and slurped down several more mouthfuls of noodles. Patting her belly contentedly, her eyes darted around. "Little Zong, do you have more photos of him on your phone?" "Didn't I post one on Moments?" "Oh, come on, you only have one couple photo there. I want to see more." Unable to resist her nagging, Zong Wenjun took out her phone and opened her photo album. Dozens of pictures of the two of them popped up. The round-faced girl's eyes lit up. Grinning, she scrolled through them one by one and clicked her tongue in admiration. "He really is handsome. No wonder you like him, Little Zong. By the way, did he pursue you, or did you pursue him?" "I pursued him. Well, not quite. Back during undergrad, he was in the math department and I was in English. Even though we were in different schools, we ran into each other a lot during general education classes, and then..." "And then mutual sparks flew?" "More or less." "What happened after that? After graduation, didn't he take the grad school entrance exams?" "No, he stayed in his hometown to work. He's in Chang City, Gan Province right now." "What's his family background like?" "Good grief, Yang Ning, are you running a background check on him?" "Hehe~ Aren't I just showing that I care?" "I think you have ulterior motives." Zong Wenjun looked at her suspiciously. "Actually... Senior Zhou Du, the third-year master's student, wants to pursue you... He bought a bunch of snacks for the three of us in our dorm and begged us to dig up some intel for him," Yang Ning admitted somewhat sheepishly. "He knows perfectly well that I have a boyfriend and is still pursuing me. He's no good." Zong Wenjun shook her head. Yang Ning was at a loss for words. Rather than pushing and souring their friendship, she kept her head down and shoveled noodles into her mouth. Zong Wenjun picked up a piece of crispy fried pork and chewed it slowly. "Zhou Du?" On the other end, Huang Tian's brows furrowed slightly, though they smoothed out an instant later. He knew Zong Wenjun well. They had met at Changda and dated for more than three years. After graduating, he had stayed in Chang City to work in data operations for a company, while Zong Wenjun had been admitted to Jingwai for a master's in translation. Although the distance between them had grown, their relationship remained rock-solid. Both of them had rather aloof, independent personalities. Even as a couple, they could go a month or two without seeing each other or talking, yet simply holding each other for a while when they did meet brought warmth and deep contentment. Huang Tian focused his attention and continued watching from the third-person perspective. After finishing lunch, Zong Wenjun and Yang Ning didn't return to their dorm; they headed straight to the study room. Sitting in a shaded spot, Zong Wenjun put on a pair of silver-rimmed glasses and opened a copy of *The Translator's Guide to Chinglish*. Her ink-black hair was loosely tied behind her neck, a few stray strands draping beside her cheeks. Her focused, earnest gaze gave off a distant, intellectual beauty. Huang Tian watched her quietly until the scene shattered like a bubble. "I started watching at 11:30, and it's 12:30 now—a full hour. "In other words, as long as someone mentions me, I can see the scene where they're talking, and it lasts for an hour." Huang Tian pondered the utility of his superpower. "My power doesn't seem to have any offensive capability. What can I use it for—gathering intelligence?"