What kind of girl would travel to another world?

He was a modern man. Though as simple as an ordinary person, his life and work were anything but ordinary. Perhaps in the eyes of others, he had once been so glamorous and dazzling under the spotlight. Yet, at this moment, he sat in the reception room, anxious and restless, waiting for the person who had come to see him.

I don't know how long I waited, but the door suddenly opened and a middle-aged man in formal clothes came in. The middle-aged man didn't say hello or speak, but sat down on the sofa.

He quickly asked the middle-aged man, "Why did you call me here today? Is there another group activity? Where are the other members?" Not only had he not received any work notifications for a long time, he had also not been able to contact other members for a long time.

The middle-aged man answered him bluntly, saying: "The group is going to disband. What activities are there? There are no activities at all." After saying that, he took out a cigarette and lit it.

He was shocked by the bad news. After a moment's pause, he asked the middle-aged man, "Why? They're so popular, they can still get work even if they disband. So what should I do? Who proposed the disbandment?" This was a formal death sentence for him. In fact, for a long time, he had been seeing reports in various media about other members' solo activities, so he had always had a premonition that his idol group might disband at any time.

The middle-aged man exhaled a puff of cigarette and said to him, "Who proposed it? Does it matter? It's not something you can decide. Where do you get the right to decide?" After saying that, he put out the half-smoked cigarette.

He quickly asked the middle-aged man, "What about me in the future? Are all these years of group activities going to be in vain? Do I have to start all over again?" He had been busy with the idol group for years, participating in various activities, but in the end, he only helped to make things easier for other more popular members. As long as he could continue to perform under the name of the group, even if it was just as a supporting role, he had no complaints. But now, not only was the group he had worked so hard to support suddenly gone, but he was also back to not knowing when he would get his next job. The thought of all his hard work going to waste, not getting the results he wanted, and having to start all over again, naturally made him feel unwilling.

The middle-aged man shook his head impatiently and said to him, "How can you say you're starting over? Disbandment means termination of the contract! It must not be renewed! You're not as popular as the others, so how could the company renew your contract?" After saying that, he looked at his watch and said, "Oh, what a waste of time. You should have understood it when I gave you the notice. Look how much you've delayed me! That's it!" After saying that, he got up and left the meeting room.

This final announcement was a bolt from the blue for him. He'd assumed starting over was the worst possible scenario, but he'd been kicked out of the group, like he'd been forced to get off the train. He sat frozen on the sofa, motionless, long after the middle-aged man had left. It took him a while to come to his senses, and after a moment's thought, he thought, "I can't stay here until everyone else gets off work. Wouldn't it be embarrassing if someone saw me? I'd better leave while no one's looking." With that thought in mind, he sighed deeply and finally stood up and left the reception room.

Coming out of the reception room, we entered an open-plan office. Employees in their cubicles were busy answering and making phone calls, typing expertly at their computers, and sorting and binding documents.

A female employee who was typing first saw someone walk out of the meeting room. Her face was full of questions. She turned to a female employee next to her who was waiting for the phone to be connected and said, "Who is that tall guy? Is he from our company?" After that, she pointed with her finger.

At this time, the female employee who was holding the telephone receiver on the side of her cheek answered, "I don't remember, is this person new?" As soon as she finished speaking, the phone in her hand was connected, and she hurried back to work.

Another female employee who was organizing documents also saw it and said, "Although he is quite tall, his appearance is ordinary. He should not be the idol we are going to launch." After that, she continued to organize the documents.

The female employee who was typing put down her hands, turned around and asked the female employee who was organizing documents, "Is our company going to launch a new idol group soon?" It was obvious that her question was to inquire about the other party.

The female employee who was still organizing documents replied to the female employee who had stopped typing, saying, "Of course. Otherwise, what do you think I'm busy with lately?" After that, she quickly put all the bound documents into the drawer.

The female employee who stopped typing set her eyes on the document that the other female employee put in the drawer, left her seat and said, "What's the good news? Let me see!" After that, she ran over to see if there was any news about the new group in the document.

The female employee who was sorting the documents widened her eyes and said to the female employee who ran over to grab the documents: "So you are very brave! You even dare to peek at the 'confidential documents'!" Her tone sounded like she was joking.

The female employee who came over to see the new group news said, "You're kidding! I'm super brave, okay?" Then she quickly checked the contents of the document. After reading it, she angrily said, "You lied to me! These documents are not real!"

The female employee who stopped organizing the documents said to the female employee who came over to check the documents: "I didn't say that! Hahahaha."

The female employee who hadn't seen the new group message angrily said to the female employee who had teased her, "How dare you tease me!"

The cheerful chatter in the office remained within the office, not reaching him as he entered the elevator and headed downstairs. He was completely dazed at the moment, and had no idea when he had returned to his rental apartment. He was in a state of negativity and needed some time to calm down.

A few days later, unable to stay at home any longer, he went to the gym to use up his last few sessions.

After checking his membership card, the front desk clerk at the gym immediately said to him, "You only have one fitness session left. Do you want to recharge immediately? There is a recharge promotion recently." After she said that, she looked at him with a smile.

He smiled and replied, "I'm going on a long journey. I'll definitely do it next time." He told a lie inadvertently.

After working up a sweat on the treadmill, he swam for a long time in the pool. Then, while showering, he finally cleared away the melancholy of the past few days. Refreshed, he left the gym, intending to continue his run home.

A month later, after paying yet another month's rent, he was practically broke. Just as he was going downstairs for breakfast, he saw a job posting for a newly opened milk tea shop across the street. He immediately ran over to take a look at the job posting. He calculated the salary and benefits, which was enough to cover his monthly rent and food. He thought to himself, "Oh, I might as well try this out for a while." With that thought in mind, he walked into the milk tea shop.

For the next several months, he worked at the milk tea shop every day. Although he could choose four days off each month, he didn't dare take any. After all, if he worked on those days, he would be paid overtime. Every customer who came to order was surprised by his height, but after seeing his appearance, they found him ordinary. Facing this situation every time became his normal working day.

Over the past few months, he had looked for other jobs. However, whether it was print advertising or other similar work, the other parties thought he looked unremarkable and ultimately refused to offer him a job. He could only continue working at the milk tea shop. These past few months weren't completely fruitless; he was later promoted to store manager by his boss, and his salary also increased slightly.

But as the saying goes, "Good times don't last" and "When it rains, it pours." Just when I had been working in this milk tea shop for almost half a year, it suddenly went bankrupt and closed down.

He quickly picked up his phone and called his boss, saying, "Boss, what's going on? Why is it closing down so suddenly?"

The boss's voice came from the phone, saying, "We had a trial lease of that store for half a year, but now the landlord is suddenly raising the rent dramatically. I'm not going to rent it anymore, so I'm going to close it. Don't worry, the last month's salary will be transferred to your card later. That's it for now, I'm still busy." After that, he hung up the phone.

He put down his phone, feeling incredibly lost. He thought to himself, "First, I was kicked out of that scene, and then even my part-time job forced me to lose my job, over and over again. Every time I think I'm stable, I have to start all over again somewhere else?" He sighed deeply, thinking, "During the six months I've been working at the milk tea shop, I was once a member of an idol group, but no one has ever recognized me. Sigh, what have I been doing all these years?"

Lost, frustrated, sad—all the negative emotions washed over him, leaving a frown on his face. He brooded for an indeterminate amount of time before remembering that his razor blade was dull and needed a new one. Having already experienced unemployment once before, he didn't want to be so lost this time. Then he got up and headed to the convenience store.

This familiar street, the buildings lining it, the pedestrians passing beneath them, the cars they dodged. After buying a replacement blade for his razor blade, he decided to cross the street and look at the entrance of the milk tea shop. Just across the street, from afar, he saw the old milk tea shop had changed its facade and was now a roast duck restaurant. He muttered to himself self-deprecatingly, "Or maybe I should just learn to be a chef. Do I have the talent for that?" And so, he crossed the street, his mind wandering.

At this moment, a speeding car rushed towards him! Then the street was filled with exclamations and screams.

Suddenly waking up, he found himself in a desolate desert. He quickly looked around and realized everything was gone. Buildings, streets, pedestrians, cars—all gone. Even his personal belongings were gone. He suddenly exclaimed, "Ah! My bank card!" Just as he was about to shout, he thought, "Oh, forget it. It's not like there's millions in it."

He began to stand up and look around, wondering if this place was the rumored hell or paradise. Then he looked into the distance. He saw a cloud of dust, as if something was rushing towards him.

He blurted out, "No way! Again! It's not over yet, is it?"

After a while, he saw a carriage that was raising a cloud of dust. He was shocked and thought, "Where is this? Why is there such a carriage?" Thinking this, he quickly left the main road. He was really afraid of being hit again.

After a while, the carriage arrived in front of him. It must have stopped after seeing him. After the carriage completely stopped, a man got out. The man asked him, "You are dressed strangely. Where are you from?"

The other person thought his attire was odd, but he, too, thought it was odd. He replied, "I'm from the Tang Dynasty in the East." He was completely joking. After all, they were strangers, and he wanted to liven things up a bit to facilitate conversation. He also knew this was a desert, and he didn't know how far he'd have to go before he could meet someone else. The person who had gotten off the carriage was the one who would let him get to know the situation quickly. If they had a good chat, he might even be able to offer him a ride.

The other party smiled and said to him, "Where is 'Eastern Tang Dynasty'?"

He was very surprised that the other party didn't know the lines from Journey to the West, and suddenly had a bad feeling in his heart. He thought, "This place is probably not hell, nor is it heaven. Could it be..."

He then answered the other party, saying, "It came from the east." After that, he smiled awkwardly.