“Never heard of Keke Cat?”

“From… never heard of it…”

The salesperson scratched his head, looking bewildered.

“Sir, are you sure you’re not mistaken about the name? Our store has a wide variety of plush toys. Why don’t you describe the toy to me, and I’ll help you find it!”

“Hmm…”

Lin Xian thought for a moment.

“Well, the cat’s expression is like this.”

Lin Xian squinted and contorted his face, imitating Keke Cat’s expression.

“Oh~~ Oh!”

The salesperson’s face instantly lit up.

“Hahaha, I know what you’re talking about, sir! We have it! The plush toy you want is over here!”

He led Lin Xian towards the most central, most prominent, and largest shelf in the store.

“Look! They’re all here!”

The dazzlingly lit shelf in front of them was a dozen layers high, extravagantly decorated!

“Sir, are you talking about this cat?”

The salesperson said with a smile.

“This is our store’s best-selling product! This cat has been popular for hundreds of years and is still very well-received! But… you did get the name wrong. This cat is called…”

“Yes, I see it.”

At this moment, Lin Xian felt as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over his head, sending him into an ice cave.

On the shelf, hundreds of identical cats were staring straight at him…

The sign in the middle displayed large characters:

Century Bestseller! Hundred-Year Hit! —

[Rhine Cat]

…

…

The plaza at dawn was deserted.

All the surrounding shops had turned off their lights and closed for the night.

Only tireless flying insects buzzed against the streetlights, and the desolate chirping of cicadas added a touch of tranquility to the sweltering summer night.

Lin Xian sat on a bench, feeling like this world didn’t belong to him.

It was so unfamiliar.

So out of place.

He opened his palm…

Inside, he held a Rhine Cat keychain.

That was all he could afford.

Every line, every embellishment, every detail of this cat was exactly the same as the Keke Cat in his previous dream.

The only difference was…

Its name had changed from Keke Cat to Rhine Cat.

“Why did it change?”

Lin Xian felt uncomfortable all over, even a little nauseous.

He couldn’t describe the feeling in his heart.

Fear? Dread?

Not exactly.

But there was a inexplicable sense of loss, a sense of powerlessness from no longer being in control of the situation.

He had always thought of himself as a god in the dream, able to do whatever he wanted, the entire dream world revolving around him.

But now…

He recalled the plot of *The Truman Show*, feeling like a captive doll.

Boom!!!!!

Boom!!!!!

Boom!!!!!

At 00:42, the white light that engulfed the world arrived on time.

Burning everything away.

…

…

Whoosh…

The night wind blew.

Lin Xian opened his eyes.

He saw the translucent window纱 (shā - gauze) dancing wildly in the air.

“I forgot to close the window again…”

He wrapped the quilt tighter around himself, but couldn’t stop the chill that rose from his heart.

For a dream that never changed… change was the ultimate horror!

Lin Xian picked up his phone from the bedside table.

He dialed a number.

“Hello?”

“Gao Yang, something’s wrong.”

“What is it?” A lively voice came from the other end of the phone.

“My dream… it’s changed.”

“…”

“…”

“That’s great!!”

On the other end of the phone, Gao Yang sounded overjoyed.

“That means your condition is improving!!”

“I told you before, didn’t I? I said you should watch more sci-fi movies and read more sci-fi novels, and the world in your dream would definitely change! Did you dream about a spaceship 二向箔 (èr xiàng bó - two-dimensional foil)?”

“Ah, it’s not that kind of change…”

Lin Xian sat up, hearing a lot of noise and commotion on the other end of the phone.

“Where are you?”

“Watching the game at a bar! The Qatar World Cup, wanna come? It’s not far from your place.”

Lin Xian looked at the clock.

It was past one in the morning.

But recalling the chilling feeling in his dream… he no longer felt sleepy.

“Alright, wait for me a bit.”

…

Lin Xian got out of the taxi.

Before he even entered the bar, he could hear a deafening roar of cheers.

Looking at the bar’s signage… it should be a清吧 (qīng bā - quiet bar) for drinking and chatting, but with the Qatar World Cup going on, they probably had a special football event.

“Here, Lin Xian! Sit here!”

Gao Yang, his stomach protruding, squeezed through the crowd and pulled Lin Xian to a small table in the corner.

“Let’s watch here. I’ll go get some more beer.”

“No, I didn’t come here to watch the game.”

“We can chat while we watch!”

With that, Gao Yang’s hefty figure waddled back into the crowd…

Gao Yang.

Was Lin Xian’s best friend since childhood.

Their parents were colleagues in the same factory, and they were born in the same residential compound.

Later, perhaps due to some ill-fated connection.

They were either in neighboring classes or classmates in kindergarten, elementary school, middle school, and high school.

It was just that Lin Xian was much better at studying than Gao Yang.

Thanks to his excellent sketching skills during the art exam, Lin Xian, whose academics were decent, was admitted to Donghai University. Gao Yang went to a vocational college in the north.

After graduation, Gao Yang also came to Donghai City to work, and currently works as a car salesman at a 4S store.

Lin Xian still trusted Gao Yang a lot. Even with the dream that had been looping for over twenty years, Lin Xian had only told Gao Yang about it.

“Coming, coming!”

Gao Yang waddled over, carrying beer, and placed it on the table, opening a few bottles.

“Have a beer to calm your nerves! Tell me, brother! What’s going on?”

Clink!

After drinking the chilled beer, Lin Xian felt a little more grounded.

“It’s like this, it’s a bit of a long story.”

Lin Xian put down his glass, using both his hands and mouth, to tell Gao Yang…

From the chance encounter with the big-faced cat, seeing the Keke Cat mask, then all the things at the company, copying the Keke Cat from the dream, naming it Rhine Cat on a whim, and finally returning to the dream, only to find that overnight, everyone had forgotten the name Keke Cat, disappearing without a trace, and the cat’s name had become Rhine Cat without any warning.

“Mm-hmm.”

“Mm-hmm.”

Gao Yang nodded repeatedly, drinking his beer, looking thoughtfully at the air, his face tense.

“I understand.”

Gao Yang put down his glass, his eyes glazed over.

“So, in other words, you drew a cat in reality, and then it appeared in your dream.”

“You didn’t understand shit!”

Lin Xian slammed the table.

“I’ve been seriously telling you this for so long! And that’s all you understood!?”

“Aaaaah oooooh aaaaah!!!! Aaaaah waaaah aaaaah!!!!!!!!!”

Gao Yang suddenly jumped up, yelling!

Howling like a ghost!

Pounding the table like an ape!

“Holy crap, you’re showing your true form!”

Lin Xian took a step back in shock—

Only then did he realize.

Everyone in the entire bar was waving their arms and dancing like Gao Yang.

“It’s in!! Awesome!!! Messi is awesome!!”

“Steady, steady! Argentina is awesome!”

“King Messi! Aaaaaaah!!!!”

…

Lin Xian turned around.

On the large screen of the bar, they were replaying the goal from earlier.

“You didn’t even listen to me at all!”

“Hey, I listened, I listened! Hahahaha, I was listening.”

Gao Yang sat down again, smiling and filling Lin Xian’s glass.

“We’ve known each other for over twenty years, and you’ve told me about your dreams hundreds of times. It’s always the same old thing!”

“The point is, why hasn’t this dream changed in over twenty years, and why did it change today?” Lin Xian emphasized.

Thump!

Gao Yang drained his beer, placed the glass on the table, and pointed at Lin Xian.

“That’s actually very simple, let me tell you why!”