Li Wei woke up in a nearly dark room, only illuminated by the faint crimson moonlight filtering through the large vertical window, accompanied by a cool breeze that made the entire space feel cold and chilly.
Li Wei blinked his eyes open after a few seconds. He realised he was lying on a cold, wooden floor, which made him feel uncomfortable, and at the same time, he experienced intense pain in his temple as if someone had hit him with a blunt object. Along with that, he also felt pain throughout his entire body. However, it was not as severe as the pain in his temple; still, it was quite painful.
"Where am I?" Li Wei thought instinctively. After waking, he observed that his surroundings were entirely different from those before he went to sleep — such as a table and chair with books stacked vertically on the surface, and a fountain pen placed at the edge of the table, shimmering in the crimson moon's light. To his left, there was a row of enormous bookshelves, lined up one after another; each shelf had six to eight tiers, with each compartment filled with a variety of books. Most striking was the crimson hue hanging above the sky, exuding a menacing charm and allure.
Li Wei, although he didn't understand what was happening, slowly forced himself upright while gripping the chair with his left hand. He stood up and gazed at the crimson hue through the window, which captivated his mind the moment he saw the moon.
"Where am I exactly?" Li Wei asked the same question once more, staring into the moon and gripping the top of the chair.
"Maybe, maybe I am still dreaming? Yeah! That's it. I once heard someone talk about vivid or lucid dreams that feel too real. Maybe I am also dreaming one. So I will wake up soon." Li Wei closed his eyes for a few moments, then opened his eyes, but he saw the same crimson moon, which made him curious. " No, maybe I am still dreaming. I will wake up soon." Li Wei closed his eyes once again, then opened them after a few minutes. He saw crimson again. Then he closed his eyes one more time and opened them after five minutes, but still he saw crimson once again.
" Wh- what is this? Why am I not waking up?" As the same thing repeats again and again, Li Wei starts to panic, and his eyes slowly narrow. And his heart slowly started to fill with fear, and his heartbeat also started to increase each second.
" Slap!" Li Wei, in panic, without thinking too much, slapped himself. Thinking maybe he will wake up. "Slap!" He slapped once again.
" Slap! Slap! Slap!" No matter how many times Li Wei slapped himself, nothing seemed to change, and the crimson didn't disappear.
" Wha- what is happening? Why am I not waking up?" Li Wei's hands slowly begin to shake, and his voice trembles. And he felt his clothes getting wet because of sweat.
As he wondered why he couldn't wake up, his gaze, captivated by the moon and the twinkling stars, shifted slightly towards the table. Then he saw the fountain pen with the shining nib and beautiful art curved onto its metallic barrel, making it seem like the main character on the table. Li Wei, seeing that pen for a moment, forgot his worries about waking up and fixated his gaze on the pen. First, he hesitated to pick that pen up, but it was only for a moment because his desire to pick up the pen overrode his cautious instinct and became victorious. Li Wei was unable hold his desire, he took the pen on the edge of the table and started to examine it. Carefully observing the structure, the art and the smell of ink which leaked from the tip of the pen.
" WOW! Amazing. Does this pen really exist?" Li Wei instinctively praised the pen, and his cautious expression began to relax. Making his ordinary but good-looking pale face shine along with the pen.
As he was mesmerised by the beauty of the pen, a thought suddenly came to his mind.
"Is this place really a dream? Or real?" He thought. " Why does everything seem so real, even the smell of ink. Not just that even the air that caressing my face and the smell of books Mingled with the air everything feels too real as if... As if I transmigrated to another world like in those fiction novels I read before."
"Transmigration?" Li Wei's grey eyes widened at the thought of transmigration. " Don't... Don't tell me I got transmigrated like in those fictions." Li Wei thought, and without knowing, he held the pen tightly. " No... No way it is possible? Those are just a fiction. How can it possibly be true?" Li Wei started denying his wild thought of being transmigrated, then turned back to look around, but as he examined his surroundings, the thought of transmigration resurfaced in his mind once again. " Maybe... Maybe I truly got transmigrated?" The doubt starts stirring inside Li Wei's mind and slowly takes over.
Li Wei, who had lost his cautious mind for a moment, started to regain it once again. His cautious face returns, and his mind starts playing with him as his gaze tries to penetrate the area covered in darkness. No matter how much he tried, he wasn't able to see anything apart from bookshelves, a large oval-shaped mirror covered in dust on his right, hanging on the wall, and a gas lamp on the opposite wall above the shelves. However, though Li Wei wanted to see even more, his legs weren't strong enough to move forward, and his body wouldn't move from the space occupied by the moonlight.