Hourglass Project - Chapter 2

The last grain of sand in the inverted cone at the top of the hourglass bottle flowed down through the narrow mouth, settling into the pile representing “one hour.”

Afterward, above the locations of players worldwide, a mechanical system voice announced:

“The time for receiving powers has ended. The liberation time will be in five minutes. Players who have successfully advanced may prepare during this period. Additionally, according to system criteria based on age (too old, too young) and physical condition, 2.5 billion players on Earth have died due to inability to withstand the powers entering their bodies.”

The system repeated this announcement three times.

From this moment, they officially became true players, each possessing a unique identity beneath their player avatar’s skin.

Just as the players were trying to process what had happened to the 2.5 billion dead players, a sudden commotion occurred.

“Ahhh—!”

“The teacher is dead!!!”

“Quiet!”

The four of them simultaneously looked over and squeezed into the tightly packed crowd to see what was happening.

There, an approximately sixty-year-old female teacher lay on the ground, her face pale and limbs stiff. One teacher approached closely to check her breathing and pulse. Within moments, the teacher’s face visibly darkened before their eyes.

Seeing this, the other players panicked!

But soon they connected the dots, the 2.5 billion dead players and this teacher lying on the ground.

“Too old,” they thought.

Many players also thought about their family members, the elderly, the young, and those in poor health…

“Hey!!” A player ran over to the flagpole and shouted at the crow, “What exactly is going on?!”

What she really wanted to ask was: How old is too old? How young is too young? How poor must one’s health be to be unable to withstand the powers and die?

Once she shouted that, many players joined in, some even tried shaking the flagpole to try to bring the crow down.

They were so angry that reason was lost. From the crow’s perspective, they were just making a fuss without cause.

The scene became chaotic again. This time the crow did not intervene but looked down coldly at the players as they gradually went mad and then broke down.

It played the part of a cold and indifferent onlooker.

They cried, they shouted, some players even threatened the crow with their lives by standing at the edge of the designated area.

But the crow’s inaction seemed to imply that those lives were insignificant.

“Damn… Are they crazy…?” Lin Yi leaned towards them, looking fearfully at the few players who had lost their minds.

Huang Yuhan patted her and looked at the unmoved crow on the flagpole, unusually not making any sarcastic remarks.

“Watch out!”

Tao Luo suddenly shouted! 

Huang Jijun was violently pulled aside by her! 

A moment later, a white light shot past Huang Jijun and struck a tree behind her at incredible speed!

If Huang Jijun had not been pulled away, she would have become a “live target.”

The four were shocked. Before they could fully react, they heard ear-piercing screams:

“Ah!!!”

“No!”

“Save me!!”

They looked and saw chaos about ten meters away, the owner of the white light, a boy, was wildly losing control of the power flying from his hands, striking other players and injuring many.

The five-minute liberation time was up!

“Help!” The boy cried with tears streaming, running toward them hoping for help.

But other players mostly chose to avoid him.

“Calm down! Control it!!” Someone shouted from the crowd.

The boy seemed to want to approach the person shouting, crying even harder.

The four quickly found a place to hide, running without thinking.

Half a minute later, another player lost control of their power and attacked others. Within just five minutes, a small portion of players had powers uncontrollably attacking others.

Some players tried to leave the designated area but were blocked by an invisible barrier.

“Calm down, don’t let the powers control us,” Huang Jijun comforted them and herself.

The four stopped in a corner, alert to their surroundings.

Suddenly, the crow flew above them, circling. Many players shouted at it, but it did not respond at all.

The system intended for players to learn to control their powers themselves, so it had not issued commands, even though this approach was risky and could harm or even kill players.

As predicted, after another five-minute interval, those who had lost control gradually calmed down, at least they no longer harmed others.

Once completely calm, the crow landed on the platform, transforming back into the Messenger form. The voice resumed from above.

The Messenger explained that other accompanying conditions came with the powers, physical condition improved and overall enhancement occurred. These conditions help improve powers, but for players, these accompanying conditions only matched the standard of a normal human before.

The Messenger said these conditions were given for players to handle dangers.

Danger? What danger?

He didn’t say, perhaps because the system had not issued any commands.

“Look, the hourglass.”

A player mentioned it.

They all looked up and noticed the giant hourglass had changed. After the one-hour time ended, the sand ratio between the inverted cone and the upright cone was 1:2.

They also noticed something strange—the sand wasn’t flowing.

Probably because their bodies had all improved, they guessed the reason.

The hourglass likely represented the total number of players, those on top were dead players, those at the bottom were players who had successfully received powers.

How obvious…

After enduring such torment, the players fully realized the situation, becoming numb and speechless. Even the system’s words had little effect.

“At 7:00 AM tomorrow, the ‘Hourglass Project’ will initiate the first ‘Global Micro Space Degree’ event, lasting one week. Before then, players may only move within the designated area or face system punishment.”

The system repeated this three times.

Then the Messenger explained:

Global Micro Space Degree, fully called “Existence’s Tiny Spatial Degree,” is a tiny space within the game, tiny by system standards. This is the system’s way to provide players with training opportunities.

Players enter Micro Space Degree to complete tasks given by the boss or the forces of light and dark. Only after completing the tasks can players exit. Some Micro Degrees also have rewards.

What the rewards actually are, players do not know.

The boss is the owner of the Micro Space Degree, they can set tasks, task durations, and rules, but not rules that cause death, this is a benefit to players.

In short, it’s designed to make players stronger.

At this, some players cried.

It was the most genuine sound from deep within.

….

The Messenger finally defined the activity area, players could only move within the school. They were told to prepare for tomorrow’s first global micro space event.

Without experience, they prepared based on novels, dramas, and games.

But environmental limitations and restricted conditions meant they could only bring a school bag; not even scissors were allowed. No electricity or water made them despair, leaving them to rely solely on their powers.

A boy pushed away a player who stopped him, ran toward the back door, but was blocked by an invisible barrier. He angrily pounded the barrier with his fists, shouting, “Let me out! Damn!!”

The pushed player tried to reason with him but was insulted in return.

Seeing his friend go mad, he lowered his head in despair but caught sight of someone approaching. He quickly ran to pull the boy back, shouting, “You’ll be punished if you leave! Don’t try! The crow is coming!!”

The boy shook him off and yelled,

“Get lost!!”

Before the player could speak, the Messenger moved first. CG012 grabbed the boy’s arm, twisting and flipping him to the ground before emotionlessly stating:

“Detected player attempting to leave designated area. Per system orders, Messenger will apply corresponding punishment. The violator has been successfully subdued.”

The last sentence sounded like it was directed at the system, though the Messenger had no visible communication device.

“F*** you, let me go!!” The boy was furious beyond reason, insulting whoever was nearby.

“Detected player insulting CG012. Punishment will increase in severity.”

The boy wasn’t afraid, struggling harder.

The Messenger remained unmoved, holding him down until a blue mist appeared around the boy, then released him.

After the mist disappeared, the boy was gone.

The watching player was stunned, speechless as his friend vanished. When the Messenger turned to leave, he stopped him, asking, “Where did he go?!”

The Messenger looked at him and said, “To the punishment.”

The player froze, then pressed on, “What punishment? Will he come back?!”

“Punishment details are confidential. The system will return punished players upon completion.” The Messenger answered.

The player was stunned again. Seeing no further questions, the Messenger left.

Under the sky, Jiangyang No.1 High School staged all kinds of “performances.”

Huang Yuhan stopped walking ahead. The other three looked at her.

The boy stood not far ahead, eyes fixed greedily on the bulging backpack on Huang Yuhan’s back.

His thoughts, triggered by the game, were exposed.

Seeing this, they knew what he wanted to do. Judging by the last ten minutes of the entire school looting the convenience store and cafeteria, they all lacked food.

What the boy planned to do was nothing more than food robbery.

Huang Yuhan looked at him, tried to force a smile, but after several attempts realized she couldn’t and gave up, saying, “Don’t think about stealing from us.”

The boy noticed her twitching smile and laughed, saying, “What if I insist on stealing?”

She was shocked he could still laugh and hear such words. Her dark mood turned calm, and she finally smiled, “No need for such childish talk, just fight.”

She took off her backpack and tossed it onto Lin Yi behind her.

Lin Yi: “…”

The boy didn’t say more and walked over. Huang Yuhan also stepped forward without hesitation. When they were about two meters apart, he suddenly dashed forward and swung a punch!

Huang Yuhan raised her hand, catching his fist before it came. She saw his shocked expression, then struck his abdomen with her other fist!

thud

A dull thud, the boy staggered back a few steps before steadying himself.

She smiled unnaturally, eyes flashing with excitement.

She could feel the changes inside her body, the strength just displayed made her joy nearly uncontrollable!

The boy paused, seeing she did not attack again, raised both hands.

Slowly, when he saw the shiny blade Huang Yuhan held, his face changed instantly.

Huang Yuhan held up the blade and smiled at him, “Going or not?”

“…”

His Adam apple moved up and down. Under the four’s watchful eyes, he ran away reluctantly.

Huang Jijun came over, asking, “When did this happen?”

Huang Yuhan looked down at the blade 5×2 cm, the edge gleaming sharply.

“Just now. I found the feeling and tried it. Didn’t expect it to actually work.”

She had not only successfully awakened her power but also managed to show off.

Huang Jijun examined the blade, noticed she could levitate it, and a subtle change appeared. She asked, “Can it change size?”

“I think so, but…” Huang Yuhan rubbed her chin, “I don’t know how yet.”

Huang Jijun chuckled.

“Junjun—”

Lin Yi called out.

The two Huang sisters looked over. As they approached, Huang Yuhan couldn’t help but ask, “Why not come closer?”

“Because I’m afraid your powers will go wild and hurt Luo and me,” Lin Yi said.

Huang Yuhan was shocked, pointing at herself, “I can’t lose control?! Me?!”

“You don’t?” she questioned.

“Of course not!” Huang Yuhan laughed and looked at Tao Luo, who silently remained indifferent, and immediately whined, “No love anymore!”

Feeling unloved, Huang Yuhan clung to Huang Jijun for a few minutes, occasionally laughing.

She wasn’t crazy; she was just excited by her powers appearing.

It was strange, fantasy became reality, yet felt unreal.

“Sorry, I don’t recommend grouping up.”

Hearing Huang Jijun’s refusal, the two girls’ disappointment showed clearly.

“In situations like this, large groups attract attention,” Huang Jijun explained, “Especially since the game just started.”

At the start, players were unfamiliar with everything and powers were not mastered. Maybe later, capable players would form tribes, while less capable ones kept a low profile.

They considered themselves less capable.

“But belief is important. Hopefully, we’ll meet again,” Huang Jijun comforted and encouraged them.

Groups would inevitably split, and deaths would occur, but then that damned belief would take the heaviest role.

The two former close classmates no longer wanted to team up and only nodded in understanding.

Tao Luo stood by the wall, looking up at the huge hourglass in the sky. One-third of the sand had flowed down; about seven hours remained until the first global micro space event.

In the game, the hourglass represented time, literally.

Originally called a sand clock anyway.

Lin Yi watched a group of teams robbing other students’ food and frowned in anger, saying, “Really… Now it’s openly breaking school rules…”

“Talking about school bullying?” Huang Yuhan, also watching them, asked, arms crossed.

“Otherwise? Talking about love?” Lin Yi questioned back in confusion.

Huang Yuhan laughed and sighed.

“They’re coming for us. Let’s go.” Tao Luo bent to pick up her backpack.

Others said nothing, gathering their belongings and leaving.

Players who avoided trouble were good players.