Ch 1 Sleepwalking at 3 AM

A chair creaks as a figure leans back, boots propped on the table, a small screen before him showing multiple CCTV feeds at once.

Not far away, a small blue crystal hovers above its base, gently spinning in the air under magnetic levitation.

In the chair sits a handsome young man with black hair and striking blue eyes, lazily munching on potato chips.

“How carefree… Who’d guess I have my own ‘cheat,’ huh?” he mutters, shaking his head as his gaze drifts around the room.

He’s in a cramped security room inside an orphanage, with a small bed squeezed in behind him.

On the screen, ten CCTV feeds display in crystal clarity, courtesy of the latest 10 megapixel camera model.

“So, what do you think of this CCTV, NOVA?” the young man asks.

A cold, female voice answers from his Android phone.

“Administrator, this CCTV… old, sure it is the newest commercial product here, but there is no thermal mode, and the night vision is… lacking.” After a slight pause, the cold voice continued.

“Are you certain we don’t need to install the VSS-X Sentinel Node? It offers 950MP HyperClarity, capable of detecting individual skin pores, microexpressions, and…”

“I want to, but I don’t have the materials… Devices from this era can only yield common crafting components. Tsk…” The young man shook his head. “For now, this will do. It’s not that important anyway.”

He then stared into empty air... or rather, from his perspective, a glowing blue game panel hovered before him.

It was simple, displaying only three menus with a sleek, sci-fi aesthetic.

At the moment, it showed the first menu - Status.

[Name: Leon Leander]

[Job: Happy Orphanage Security Guard]

[Status: Normal

Then, with a simple thought, Leon willed the display to change, and the panel shifted smoothly to the next menu - Inventory.

[Common Crafting Material] × 1,025

[Gasoline Container (5L Jerry Can)] × 1,025

[10,000 mAh Power Bank] × 1,025

Next the last menu - Crafting

[NOVA - Neural Operations and Visual Analysis Core System] — Max: 1

→ A high-tech AI core capable of managing all operations and data processing.

[Basic Recon Drone] — Cost: 10 Common Crafting Materials

→ A spherical drone designed for low altitude scouting and surveillance.

[Basic Auto Sentry] — Cost: 15 Common Crafting Materials

→ An automated sentry turret equipped with basic combat AI.

[Surveillance Node] — Cost: 9 Common Crafting Materials

→ A stationary CCTV unit with 100MP resolution, thermal imaging, and night vision.

[Shock Baton] — Cost: 8 Common Crafting Materials

→ A reinforced riot baton capable of delivering a non-lethal electric shock.

[Mediject] — Cost: 10 Common Crafting Materials

→ A compact injector that administers a healing serum, closing minor wounds in under a minute.

[Basic Pistol] — Cost: 20 Common Crafting Materials

→ A sleek, black sidearm designed for standard military operations.

[Basic …….

There were many items listed, all of them seemingly normal for a game, but Leon knew better. This wasn’t just a game it was his cheat, a game system he had brought with him into this world.

"Right... I guess I played games so much, it’s not that weird I died while exploiting a glitch. Damn..." His gaze grew distant, lost in the hazy memory of that final moment.

This wasn’t the world he knew. Or rather, he wasn’t even from this world at all.

In his old world, Leon was just like any other unemployed guy, spending his days playing games. He wasn’t good at them, so he cheated.. without shame... that was his life, pathetic.

The last thing he remembered before waking up here was sitting in front of his computer, deeply immersed in a sci-fi game.

He’d found a duplication glitch and decided to push it to the limit, forty straight hours of nonstop item duping, then… There was some kind of explosion? A blinding flash?

When he realized it, he wasn’t sitting in front of his gaming monitor anymore. Instead, he found himself wearing a worn out security uniform.

standing in the dusty courtyard of a rundown orphanage, apparently became a night shift security guard, and it is his first day of work.

He didn’t mind, though.. Not only did his game system come with him, but the duplication glitch still worked, which made him excited!

Now, as long as an item is considered “stackable” by the system and can be placed in his game inventory… He can duplicate it endlessly!

That’s why he had piles of gasoline and power banks… You know he is just a broke security guard, so he can't have gold bars or fancy jewelry.

He doesn’t even have a home of his own, that's why he placed a bed in this cramped security room….

The moment he realized he could duplicate items and that real world items could be stored in his game panel, he spent all his money on two brand new, mid tier power banks priced at twenty dollars each.

Thankfully, they were stackable, so he duplicated them and sold them to his neighbors to make money.

Then slowly buy gasoline…. And lastly, ten new CCTV…. Why CCTV, you ask?

“She’s at it again...” Leon glanced at one of the CCTV feeds, then checked his watch. “3 A.M., perfect.” He sighed as he watched a young girl, about six years old, slowly walking down the corridor.

She walks wobbly, hair down, still half asleep…. “Amilie’s sleepwalking again, huh?.. Nova, please monitor these CCTVs and report to me if something else happens. I will fetch her first.”

With that, Leon put on an earpiece connected to his phone and stepped out of his room, not even bothering to take a flashlight from his desk.

The security room is located on the first floor, and Amilie, or rather the girls' dorm, is upstairs on the second floor.

So Leon slowly walks through the dark corridor with minimum light as..

“This orphanage… sigh. They really cut corners on everything, huh? Everything’s so old, and the director won’t even let me turn on many lights at night… tsk…”

“d*mn they don't even provide new clothes, even food.. Haa..” Leon grumbled while walking, looking at this poor orphanage…

And the director’s something else,” Leon said, glancing at the CCTV mounted in the corner.

“I offered to donate this CCTV system and everything, but at first, he refused, saying they didn’t have money for the electricity bill and Blah, blah, blah... I had to firmly tell him that I’m the one paying the electricity bill, to make him agree.”

Anyway, by the time Leon reached the second floor, he could see Emilie in the distance, slowly making her way step by step. Without much thought, Leon closed the gap and patted her head

The girl stopped moving forward, her eyes still closed. She felt unusually cold, and the air around her seemed to chill as well.

“Alright, girl, I know you’re still asleep, so let’s get you back to bed. It’s so cold here, you might catch a cold walking around like this.”

“And tomorrow, you’ve got to sell more power banks and make me rich... uh, I mean, earn some pocket money for candy. Yeah, let’s go.” Leon gently pulled Emilie toward the girls’ bedroom.

Right, why did Leon insist on installing the CCTV system and even paying the electricity bill himself?

Because it was these kids who were selling his power banks! Without them, he wouldn’t be making nearly as much money.

And seeing these kids have some problem like sleepwalking, Leon ‘willingly’ installs CCTV so he can fetch them when they sleepwalk.

“Right, these kids are really impressive, huh? In just three days, they managed to sell 349 power banks. Tsk, tsk… that’s like two months’ salary for me in only a few days.”

This is another reason Leon treats these kids with care…

As Leon guided Emilie to her bedroom, he heard something faint coming from the girls’ bathroom… “... ???”

Frowning, Leon paused, catching the sound of someone singing softly. He gently pulled Emilie closer to the bathroom door.

The corridor was dark and gloomy. Leon could hear nothing but his own footsteps… and the singing. As he approached, the voice grew clearer.

“...... crown, and silver light, Shiny dreams that burn so bright..,” The voice was cold and hoarse… yet carried a faint, haunting beauty.

“Pretty rings… and silken thread…, Tell me lies… and paint them red….”

It’s like a poem with unnatural rhythms… looks like singing but every word has meaning…

“.....” Leon slowly opens the door, which makes cracking sounds….. *squueeaaak…*

It was dark… pitch dark….. but somehow Leon could make out a figure standing there. Yes… something.

She wore white clothes, her hair cascading like a waterfall, her face hidden beneath the strands. Leon can see the pale white skin.. The air feels so cold that it makes Leon shudder…

Flich. Suddenly, the bathroom lights flickered on as Leon switched them on. Now he could see clearly… in front of the mirror, a little girl with her hair hanging down like a ghost’s veil, singing softly in front of the mirror...

Leon walked forward, step by step, toward the little girl. She didn’t seem to notice him approaching… she just kept singing softly, over and over, until Leon gently tapped her on the shoulder.

“Sigh… Jane, you did it again... I don’t even know what to say, the first time I saw you like this, you almost made me faint, okay?” Leon gently pulled Jane along, who had stopped singing right after he touched her.

“Come on, let’s get you to bed. The weather’s bad tonight, it’s cold everywhere, brr…” Leon shuddered a bit, then turned off the light.

Just like that, Leon pulls two little ghosts away…

“D*mn… what’s wrong with these kids? In the day they’re sweet as angels, but at night they turn into lil ghosts… such a headache.” Leon shakes his head and continues to pull the lil girl away…. He can see that Jane's eyes closed too, which means she is sleepwalking like Emilie.

He shudders once again as he feels the weather too cold today, even the girl's hands feel so cold and chilling.

“good god…. I need to tell director that these kids need new thick blankets later…” sighing, Leon then thinks about this orphanage director.

“What is director doing? Going out early, then coming back late every single day… Don’t tell me he’s using donation money for himself?…. d*mn! my head…. tsk..”

While thinking about the irresponsible director, Leon pulled the two girls toward the girls’ dorm. When he opened the door, all the other kids were sound asleep. He then took a moment to look around the room and made a headcount, after making sure no one missing he come inside.

This dorm room was basically a long space lined with ten bunk beds. There was no air conditioner, not even a fan. The blankets the kids used had holes in them, and no one had bothered to sew them up.

As Leon gently helped the two girls inside, he did a quick headcount. Once he confirmed that no one else was missing, he noticed that only one bunk bed remained empty.

Leon didn’t think much and led the girls to the empty bunk bed, gently placing Jane on the top bunk and Emilie below.

After making sure both were covered with their thin, worn blankets, Leon quietly walked away and slowly closed the door behind him.

As he continued walking, Leon suddenly heard a cold female voice through his earpiece: “Sir, I detect movement in the boys’ hallway.”

Leon glanced at his watch. “Great, right on time… sigh, now it’s the boys’ turn.” He walked down the dim corridor toward the boys’ dormitory.

The boys’ dorm was upstairs in a different building, so Leon had to walk across the playground to reach it.

The night was dark tonight, aside from a few scattered lights that illuminated important locations, most of the grounds were swallowed in shadow.

Leon walked calmly in the darkness and dim light until he reached the boys’ building. The first floor of this building served as a common room, where the children ate, studied, and sometimes played.

A few books and toys still lay scattered across the floor, but Leon didn’t glance at them much as cleaning up wasn’t his job, so without slowing down, he headed straight for the stairs to the second floor,

Over there, he could see something…