The engine of the Rezvani roared with a deep, predatory growl as it threaded through the increasingly congested streets.
Aiden Cross gripped the steering wheel, his eyes as sharp as a hawk’s. He slipped through gaps in traffic with practiced precision, overtaking slower vehicles and changing lanes in one smooth motion. Every movement carried a sense of urgency, as though he were racing against an invisible clock.
On the navigation display, the destination was set to an aging neighborhood on the western edge of the city, Sycamore Lane.
Hidden there was the true purpose of his journey: a secret known, before the official launch of Eclipse Online, only to a handful of elite players who had participated in the game’s closed beta; The Hidden Shop.
It did not exist inside the game itself. It existed in reality, concealed within an ordinary, run-down newsstand.
Only during the brief period before Eclipse Online merged with reality could its entrance be opened. By purchasing five seemingly unrelated items in an exact sequence, the hidden mechanism would activate, revealing what veteran players later dubbed the Newbie Cheat Channel.
In his previous life, the method for accessing this secret had remained undiscovered until several months after the apocalypse began. When it was finally exposed by a fortunate survivor, it shook the entire world.
That lucky individual had obtained a powerful early-game artifact from the Hidden Shop and used it to rise rapidly, becoming a well-known powerhouse.
This time, Aiden had no intention of letting that opportunity slip away.
The scenery outside gradually shifted.
Towering skyscrapers gave way to aging apartment blocks. Wide avenues narrowed into weathered streets lined with old storefronts. Pedestrian traffic thinned, replaced by the quiet rhythm of ordinary neighborhood life, a world completely removed from the luxury of the Cloud Crest Restaurant.
Aiden pulled the Rezvani into an inconspicuous parking spot near the entrance of an alley.
The imposing off-road vehicle looked absurdly out of place among the faded buildings and cracked pavement, drawing curious glances from a few elderly residents passing by.
He stepped out and closed the door and his gaze immediately settled on a small green newsstand tucked against the alley wall.
Its faded paint had long since begun to peel away. Dust-covered newspapers and outdated magazines were stacked haphazardly behind the grimy display window, while weathered advertisements for cigarettes and soft drinks fluttered lazily from the sides.
An elderly man with graying hair sat in a worn recliner beside it. Reading glasses rested low on his nose as an old opera crackled softly from a portable radio. He appeared to be half asleep.
Everything about the place was utterly ordinary and completely forgettable.
Who would have imagined that within a few short hours, this humble newsstand would vanish along with the world’s transformation, its hidden entrance disappearing forever?
Aiden steadied the excitement rising within him and walked forward with measured steps.
His approach stirred the old man from his nap.
The man lazily opened his eyes, gave Aiden a brief, cloudy glance, and asked in a bored tone,
"What are you buying?"
Aiden didn’t answer immediately. Instead, his gaze swept calmly across the cluttered shelves.
Newspapers. Magazines. Mineral water. Cheap plastic lighters. Several common cigarette brands. Chewing gum. Lollipops.
The assortment was small and completely disorganized.
Yet his memory, honed by a lifetime of experience, instantly picked out the five specific items hidden among the clutter.
"A red lighter."
The old man stared at him for a moment before silently producing the requested lighter.
"A bottle of orange soda. The glass bottle."
The old man handed him one without a word. Aiden handed over the money and accepted it.
"A copy of last Tuesday’s Ashford City Evening News."
This time, the old man’s eyebrows rose. Still, he bent down, rummaged through a stack of old newspapers, and eventually pulled one free.
Aiden paid for it and took the newspaper.
"A pack of Camel cigarettes," Aiden said calmly. "The soft pack."
He paused before adding, "Smoking Causes Premature Death’ printed on the side."
The old man looked at him with mild surprise. The young man’s appearance hardly matched that of someone who smoked such an old, inexpensive brand, but he said nothing.
He slowly reached toward the back of the shelf, retrieved the requested pack, and handed it over.
Aiden paid without hesitation, slipped the cigarettes into his pocket without even looking at them, and continued.
"One Truesucker strawberry lollipop."
The old man fell completely silent. He stared at Aiden as though he were looking at someone who had escaped from a psychiatric hospital.
Without a word, he reached into a candy jar tucked in the corner and produced a pink strawberry lollipop.
Aiden settled the final payment and accepted it.
All five items were finally in his possession. The orange soda and newspaper rested in his left hand, while the pack of cigarettes, lighter, and strawberry lollipop were held in his right.
The instant the final item entered his hand...
Hum!
A faint tremor rippled through the air.
Aiden’s expression changed.
No, it wasn’t the air. But the strange vibration seemed to bypass the physical world entirely, resonating directly with his soul.
The five seemingly ordinary objects in his hands suddenly became the medium through which an ancient and mysterious energy began to spread.
Aiden’s eyes flashed. ’Success!’
The interior of the newsstand began to ripple like the surface of a disturbed lake.
The cluttered shelves, faded walls, and scattered merchandise gradually blurred before dissolving into streams of light. In their place emerged a phantom doorway bathed in a dim azure glow, its frame woven from countless flowing strands of data.
The elderly shopkeeper, his worn recliner, and even the old radio crackling beside him all froze in place, as though time itself had been suspended.
Then, little by little, they faded into transparency before vanishing entirely.
The entire process unfolded in absolute silence.
Pedestrians continued walking past the alley without sparing the slightest glance. They seemed completely oblivious to the impossible scene unfolding only a few meters away.
It was as if the newsstand now existed in an entirely different dimension.
Without the slightest hesitation, Aiden stepped through the azure gateway.
Light and shadow swirled around him. Passing through the portal felt like walking through a curtain of cool water.
The next instant, the world changed. He found himself standing inside a strange chamber.
It wasn’t particularly large, resembling the study of an ancient scholar.
The surrounding walls shimmered with flowing streams of binary code, endless strings of 0s and 1s cascading across their surfaces like glowing waterfalls.
Directly ahead stood a towering wooden cabinet reminiscent of a traditional apothecary’s medicine chest. Countless small drawers covered its face, each meticulously labeled with elegant ancient seal script.
Behind a wooden counter stood a humanoid figure.
It wore robes resembling those of an old-world shopkeeper, but its face was featureless, a shifting mass of light and shadow that never settled into a fixed form.
The figure silently regarded him. "Welcome, Reaper."
Its voice was neither male nor female, carrying the cold, synthetic resonance of an artificial intelligence.
"You have three minutes to browse and purchase from the Hidden Shop."
"A single customer may purchase only one item during each visit."
Aiden’s pupils contracted. Three minutes to browse and I can only get one item.
He had only one chance to make the right choice.
In his previous life, he had only heard rumors that the Hidden Shop contained extraordinary treasures. No one had ever mentioned such severe restrictions.
And now, with five million Universal Points at his disposal, wasting even a single second could cost him an opportunity that might never come again.
Aiden immediately opened the game’s interface and transferred the five million Universal Points that had just arrived in his account.
[Ding!]
[5,000,000 Universal Points have been converted into 5,000,000 gold coins.]
[5,000,000 gold coins have been credited to your Eclipse Online profile!]
Aiden’s gaze swept across the countless drawers before him.
The timer had already begun.