The 'panel'

Old Chen, as he was affectionately addressed by his friends was a 42-year-old taxi driver, who lives alone by himself. He had been doing this job for more than a decade now and can be said to have met all sorts of people from different walks of life while driving his old Volkswagen. But today, he encountered something entirely different and out of his depths.

It was evening and old Chen was thinking of going to his rented room after waiting an hour or more to see if he can secure another hire or two when someone booked his car for a trip to the capital. It would be a slightly longer journey and probably would even take three hours or more with the evening traffic, but he had agreed after some thinking.

After all, the fare would be ample and it had been some months since he last went to the capital. Driving inside the same city all the time can get pretty boring too, ok?

But then, seeing his passengers, he had been even more pleasantly surprised. Well-dressed, stylish beauties, and not just one but two. Old Chen had felt ecstatic; it was not every day he gets such beautiful customers, and even if it was his policy to treat the customer as he would a god, a little staring wouldn't hurt, right? But…

The middle-aged taxi driver covertly glanced at the back seat through the rearview mirror as the car sped along the highway, and seeing the strangely bright yet vacant eyes of the younger girl as she stared straight ahead, turned his eyes away acting as if he didn't peek. Even so, his hands still tightened on the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white and he increased the speed of the car, eager to reach the destination.

He had heard all sorts of strange tales during his years as a taxi driver and had learned one valuable lesson from all of his experiences.

'The lesser you know, the longer you live.' And the world is a place full of so many strange things. Encountering one or two in your life can still be considered normal, right?

When Yang Jingshen woke up in a hospital bed, his first thought had been that 'did I get into another accident?'. His body had felt tired and heavy like he had run a hundred-kilometer marathon and his head– Well, how to say this, imagine having to write the university entrance examination every single day of the year for maybe a… dozen or so years? That was how jumbled up and confused he had felt.

Feng Xue had informed him that he fainted after leaving the Rainbow production house and according to the doctors, it was probably due to fatigue and stress. Though disbelieving, Yang Jingshen had grudgingly accepted this explanation– after all, he was someone who experienced a phenomenon like transmigration. Not going crazy was already evidence of his mettle.

'But, why do I have this feeling that I saw this crazy-long, endless dream?' Was he imagining stuff, or did he really dreamt of systems and demons and gods and a harem of beauties? Or that he became a… demon lord!? Or that he was killed by a senior expert who attained dao of enlightenment?

And, most of all, he seemed to remember a voice telling him to say the word 'panel' once he returned to reality and that he'd know whether it was real or not!? Pure gibberish, but then, why does this voice seem to echo in his ears? Or did he dream up that too?

'What a load of bull!' Yang Jingshen had smiled to himself while lying on the hospital bed, feeling that he had to applaud his rich imagination. Maybe after he leaves acting in the future, he would be able to make a good living out of scriptwriting or maybe even by being a novelist.

But, the most important question here was whether people can even dream while they were unconscious.

Finally not able to make heads or tails out of this peculiar experience -let's not forget that he thought he saw the world shatter in front of his eyes before fainting, which was also downright weird- Yang Jingshen had almost given up on thinking any further on it when a sudden impulse hit him.

Didn't the voice in the dream tell him to say the word 'panel'? Pretty childish, but then again, no one would know if he does that, right? And before he could stop himself, Yang Jingshen had found his unruly mouth doing just that.

Two or maybe three seconds passed without any change and just when he was preparing to exhale in a relief that even he couldn't explain, all hell broke loose.

Yang Jingshen now sat in the back seat of the taxicab, staring vacantly in front of him, while his cousin dozed off by his side. All the while, he had been aware of the driver's quizzical glances in his direction, but, he was too tired -both physically and mentally- to care anymore.

Because in front of his eyes was the 'panel' that he called into existence. How he knew it was the said panel– well, he didn't know exactly, but he assumed it was. After all, it appeared after he called out the word 'panel' ah! What more explanation would he need?

This 'panel' itself didn't look like anything special– at least it wouldn't have in a video game. But in real life though…

It was similar to a dialogue box or a simpler version of a gaming panel sporting a luster of pale blue with a tinge of purple. And in the middle of this dialogue box, a row of words was displayed.

'Would you like to enter your heart lake?' The letters themselves were bold and dark reddish-purple in hue. And beneath it were displayed two options; a 'Yes' in unthreatening and nourishing, pale green hue and a glaring 'No' in a menacing dark red that suspiciously looked like blood.

If it was under any normal circumstance, Yang Jingshen would have taken his time to admire the magnificent color scheme. But now…

'And, what's with this color? Red– as in blood? Oh come on… that's too cliche!' But he couldn't say that it didn't work either. ◐_◐

Yang Jingshen tiredly closed his eyes, finally deciding to give the poor driver a break, and laid his head on the headrest of the seat. But, sleep for him was not an option. Whether he had his eyes closed or opened, the damned thing would keep flashing in front of him.

It felt like it was threatening him with an 'either do or die' scenario, and Yang Jingshen knew that he really didn't have any choice either.

'Fuck, at least wait until daddy gets home. It's not like I can do this in a bloody taxi, right?' # `⦀′

***

Yang Jingshen sat on his bed after a warm shower, feeling slightly relaxed, yet his face was expressionless. The question on the 'panel' still blinked threateningly in his direction, but by now, he didn't feel as terrified of it as earlier.

When this thing appeared at the hospital for the first time, he had punched at it in shock, nearly smashing Feng Xue's face in the process. The only result he got was his cousin having the living daylight scared out of her due to his strange behavior, while the damned thing remained unscathed, floating in the air in front of him as cool as you please.

But by now, Yang Jingshen realized one thing. Other than annoying the life out of him, this thing didn't seem to pose any active danger, not yet anyway.

And even if he feared that darkness that was so black that it appeared as if it was dyed in ink and that silence that was so quiet that it weighed down on you like how a mountain would -yep, once he calmed down he remembered them-, he still had to face this, whatever it was.

And, even if his memories were quite jumbled after he started hearing that voice, he had a hunch that that voice itself actually didn't mean him any harm.

Yang Jingshen hesitantly raised his hands towards the floating screen/panel in front of him, when his mouth tightened and his eyes became more determined.

'Fuck this! When had I, Yang Jingshen, ever been scared of anything and acted like a coward? At most, I'd just die once again!'

And, then, he forcefully punched the option displaying 'yes', and this time, to his surprise, it didn't feel like air anymore. But, he didn't have enough time to puzzle over this as he felt himself falling into the familiar darkness.