The white rhomboid geometric shape gave Bai Youwei an inexplicable sense of familiarity.

And yet she was certain she had never seen this thing before.

“You’re all here.” Professor Song’s voice rose from somewhere in the room.

Everyone looked toward the sound and found him hunched over his work behind one of the computers.

He had aged even more than before. His voice was hoarse and thin, his eyes shot through with red from overwork, his health a matter of concern.

“All these instruments and equipment were brought in at the first opportunity once power was restored. They haven’t been of much use, though. After discovering this object, every form of measurement we’ve attempted has yielded no results.” Professor Song looked at the rhomboid on the screen and said slowly. “What we can do… is only this much…”

Shen Mo studied it for a moment, then said: “Power has only been restored for less than two days. Isn’t it too early to draw conclusions? If the investigation continues, perhaps new discoveries will emerge.”

Professor Song shook his head. “There is no point. This rhomboid geometric shape can be seen with the naked eye, but by every other means of detection, it registers nothing. No gravity, no mass, no sound… magnetic fields, electromagnetic waves, thermal energy, radiation — nothing at all. It is as though it doesn’t exist.”

He spoke with some urgency, his breathing growing labored, his trembling fingers pressing against the screen: “It is not a product of human civilization. If we could determine what it is, we might unlock the key to understanding the world’s transformation. I’ve asked you here because I wanted to ask you directly — in the game, did any of you see anything similar?”

Everyone fell silent.

No one had seen anything like this.

Bai Youwei looked at the screen. “Can you zoom in?”

“Yes.” Professor Song worked at his computer, his voice rough. “When zoomed in, you can see the geometric body is composed of countless individual cubes. Its internal structure is unknown. The exterior is white and reflects all wavelengths of light, yet no physical substance can be detected.”

Bai Youwei considered this, then looked at Shen Mo. “The place we were in — the rest hall — was also square. White.”

As soon as she said it, the others caught the same thread.

“Not just square and white — the walls and floor tiles in the rest hall were square as well,” Yan Qingwen said.

He paused, then added: “And the glowing passage we go through when leaving the game — that’s also square.”

Everyone looked at one another.

After a long moment, Tan Xiao asked in a dazed voice: “…Are you saying… that we’re… inside this rhombus?”

No one spoke.

It was entirely plausible — and yet so utterly absurd.

If the rest hall was a cube, then every game they had lived through — were those cubes too?

Countless cubes, countless games, an unidentified rhomboid geometric shape of unknown origin, selecting players from across the globe…

What was its purpose?

Professor Song lowered his head with a hoarse, quiet laugh.

The game had taken his family from him, and it was taking his life — he was running out of time. So he had poured every last ounce of his energy and strength into finding the truth before death came for him. And still, in the end, there was nothing he could do.

Many things could not be achieved through effort alone.

With his current abilities and resources, unraveling the secret of the doll game was beyond him. Far beyond.

“Perhaps only by becoming the final king can one enter the core of the rhombus,” Professor Song said, with a bitter smile. He lifted his eyes to the young people gathered before him.

Among them there was a soldier, a pampered heiress, a young delinquent, a middle school teacher, a young child, a street performer… Who could have imagined that the future of the world would be placed in the hands of people like these?

“From here on, I leave it to you.” Professor Song looked at them. “Whatever you need, contact Chu Huaijin. This old man… I’m afraid I’m not of much help to anyone anymore…”

……