Steam curled like gauze in the dorm bathroom as Tang Coco rinsed herself clean, the water beading off her skin like glass pearls.

She knew the water conjured by that Anomaly Power should’ve been pure, but a prickle under the skin told her she needed a real wash.

“Didn’t expect to hit the shower right after moving into a new dorm,” she murmured, a wry smile flicking through her eyes like a shadow.

She shut off the rain-shower with a sharp click, then drifted toward her folded clothes like a crane moving through mist.

The dorm door swung open with a breeze like a gust through bamboo.

“Ta-da~ Beibei, we’re back! Brought your favorite braised pork~” sang a bright voice, sweet as candy on a festival night.

Two girls stepped in, one tall, one petite, their figures like a willow and a budding plum.

The petite one matched the prankster’s height, but her hair was a simple ink-black, long and cute like a doll’s ribbon.

The tall one wore black-on-black, plain as midnight—short sleeves and jeans—yet her looks settled like quiet moonlight, the kind that grows on you.

“You’re back…” The blonde petite girl, Beibei, sat strung out on the bed like a wilted chrysanthemum.

“Eh? What’s up? Why so out of steam?” chirped the petite one, called Yuanyuan, perching beside her like a sparrow.

“What happened?” the tall girl asked, when a shiver of water whispered from the bathroom like rain on leaves.

“Eh? Why’s the bathroom making noise? Beibei, you didn’t break a pipe, did you?” the black-haired petite girl frowned, eyes flicking like minnows.

“No, someone’s in there,” the tall girl said, shaking her head slowly like a pine in wind.

“What? Beibei! You brought a guy to the dorm?”

“Wow! What are you saying!? How could I bring a guy here!” Beibei’s cheeks flushed red, bright as pomegranate seeds.

“Then who is it…” the petite one mused, tapping her lip like a cat thinking.

“The exchange student the principal mentioned a while back,” Beibei muttered, voice small as a mouse.

“Oh, right. It’s activity week already. But why is she showering the moment she gets here? Don’t tell me she’s a country bumpkin, all dusty from the road?” the black-haired petite girl teased, grinning like a fox.

“No! It’s… it’s because I… I got her clothes wet. I thought it was you two coming in and tried to prank you, and then…” Her voice shrank like a raindrop sinking into sand.

The other two traded looks; they’d been the target of this gremlin plenty of times.

“Pfft—hahaha, rough luck for the newbie,” the petite girl laughed, light as chimes.

“You’re so careless sometimes,” the tall girl sighed, helpless as a leaf on the stream.

Click— The bathroom door opened like a paper fan flipping.

Tang Coco stepped out in a white dress, simple as cloudlight; her white hair at her nape was still damp, coiled up like a silvery shell.

“Uh…”

She’d barely crossed the threshold when three pairs of eyes pinned her, sharp as arrows; the hum in her head was a headache like cicadas, and she hadn’t noticed anyone return.

“An… angel…” the black-haired petite girl whispered, eyes gone glassy like stars at dawn.

“Hi, I’m Chen Ying, the dorm head,” the tall girl said, voice calm as a steady drum. “Welcome. Sorry about earlier—Beibei gets mischievous sometimes.”

“It’s okay. I’m Tang Coco, from Ninghai University,” Coco replied, a smile rising like sunlight on a pond.

The petite black-haired girl darted to Coco’s side, bright as a swallow.

“Hi~ pretty big sister, I’m Wang Yuanyuan—just call me Yuanyuan~ Heehee~ Do you have a boyfriend?”

“Uh… hi, Yuanyuan. I don’t,” Coco said, puzzled, her brows lifting like two gentle strokes.

“Wow! That’s great! Then I can make a move!”

“...”

Everyone stared at her, speechless, like fish under clear water.

Coco caught the blonde girl off to the side, head bowed like a shy lily, and walked over with a smile soft as silk.

“And you? No introduction?”

“Jin… Jin Beibei…”

“Whoa, you really are a Jin.”

“...”

“It’s fine. Let’s call it a special welcome ceremony,” Coco said, her tone warm as tea.

“Have you eaten? We brought food,” Chen Ying asked, voice steady as a lamp. “Beibei doesn’t like the cafeteria, so we usually bring meals back.”

“No need, I’m not hungry yet,” Coco said, though her stomach felt hollow like an empty gourd.

“Come on, eat with us. Ninghai’s far from Yanjing, right? You must be starving. Don’t stand on ceremony,” Yuanyuan chirped, tugging Coco’s arm toward the tea table like a playful breeze.

“Alright…”

The four girls sat cross-legged on a pink rug, bright as cherry petals, and ate lunch off the low tea table.

As the meal went on, talk flowed like a gentle stream; maybe it was Coco’s face, clear as moonlight, but the three took to her quickly, and she slipped into their circle like a note into a song.

“Let’s take Coco out for a walk this afternoon,” Beibei said, eyes lifting like kites.

“Beibei, it’s blazing hot today,” Yuanyuan replied, waving her hand like a fan. “Let’s go tomorrow. The forecast says it’ll cool down.”

“Is that so… Then Coco? You want to go?”

“Me?” Coco raised her head, the sun outside a brazier hung in the sky, blazing hard.

“Let’s wait. Tomorrow.”

“Alright…” Beibei’s shoulders drooped like wilting leaves.

“Eh? Since when does our homebody want to go out?” Yuanyuan laughed, eyes shining like mischievous fireflies.

“Mm… I want to take Coco to that place…” Beibei murmured, gaze drifting like fog.

“That place?” Coco asked, curiosity flicking like a spark.

“Figures,” Chen Ying cut in gently, offering Coco a calm smile. “We’ll go tomorrow. It’s really too hot today. Every time a newcomer arrives, Beibei takes her there. When we first met, we went three times.”

“Uh…” Coco blinked, questions pooling like cool water.

“Fine, tomorrow,” Beibei decided, after a beat like a drum tap.

“Tonight, let’s go out for something good. It’ll be our welcome feast. My treat!” Chen Ying said, the corners of her lips lifting like crescent moons.

“Yay, yay!”

After lunch, Coco began to tidy her bunk, hands moving like folding cranes.

She took the lower bunk, a laddered setup with Beibei’s bed to her upper side, like a neighbor star.

She pieced together a few things like threads in a weave: the dorm used to hold four, someone left for unknown reasons, and now there was an open spot.

Bedding done, Coco glanced at the three girls napping, their breathing soft as cats in sunlight, and she felt a ripple of wonder.

It was her first time living in a girls’ dorm; the feeling was new, like stepping into spring.

Not bad at all.

Meanwhile, in an office tower on Yanjing University’s main campus, the 26th-floor principal’s office sat hushed, the city spread outside like a carpet of stars.

Murong Ling studied the files in her hand—investigations on Tang Coco, Mo Zitong, and Ouyang Lingxue—her gaze cool as frost.

“Sigh…” She set the papers aside, then spoke into an empty room, voice like a bell in mist.

“Xiu.”

The shadow by the storage room rippled like water under moonlight.

A girl in a black tracksuit stepped out, face masked, features hidden like a sealed scroll.

“How did it go?” Murong Ling asked, tone steady as stone.

“Mo Zitong and Ouyang Lingxue have been probed. They match the data, like print to plate. As for Tang Coco… I couldn’t get close.”

“Why?” Murong Ling’s eyes narrowed, sharp as a blade’s edge.

“When I got too near, my instinct screamed she’d notice me. My instinct’s always right, like a compass that never fails. To avoid exposure, I didn’t push it.”

“...” The room hung quiet, heavy as rain.

“I see. Then my guess stands. Tang Coco is the SS-class Abnormal,” Murong Ling said, a glint like winter stars in her gaze.

“But why… is all her paperwork fake?” the black-clad girl asked, brows knotting like tangled vines.

“Files can be forged; life can’t,” Murong Ling replied, voice smooth as lacquer. “Go to Ninghai. With that face, someone there will know something.”

“Yes,” the shadow operative said, then paused, words hovering like sparrows.

“Should I send someone to test her ability?”

“No need. She’ll show her hand soon enough,” Murong Ling smiled, her lips curving like a crescent. “I picked that dorm for her with care.”

She looked at Tang Coco’s photo, and her smile deepened like ink.

“Wait—there’s a dorm strength assessment?”

That night, in a mid-range restaurant near campus, the four took a private room. Coco stared at the three, surprise flaring like a struck match.

“Yeah,” Yuanyuan nodded, her ponytail bobbing like a little bell. “No clue why they scheduled exchange activities now. We’ve been training hard to handle that assessment.”

“...” The thought sank in Coco’s chest like a stone into a well.

“Do I need to join?” she asked, voice calm as a shaded path.

“Yep. It’s dorm-based. If you don’t join, the three of us can’t beat other dorms with four. And we…” Yuanyuan’s cheeks went pink, blooming like peach flowers.

“What?” Coco asked, curiosity bright as a lantern.

“This…” Yuanyuan stammered, words tangling like yarn, so Chen Ying stepped in, steady as a pillar.

“Don’t laugh at us, Coco. Our dorm always places dead last.”

“Uh…” The admission dropped like a pebble.

“So you’re down to three because…” Coco ventured, voice gentle as rain.

“Mm… We used to be four,” Chen Ying said, hands opening helplessly like empty sleeves. “After the last assessment, one left. Maybe we held them back.”

“...” Coco hadn’t expected this knot in the weave.

“If you don’t want to join, we won’t push,” Beibei said, grinning like a sunshine slice. “Even last place isn’t the end of the world. We’ll get our chance.”

“...” Coco’s gaze lowered like a leaf drifting down.

“Alright, enough heavy talk,” Chen Ying said, raising her glass, clear as a moon cup. “Coco’s with us now—cheers.”

“Cheers!”

Coco smiled, the curve soft as silk, but her mind kept circling the assessment like swallows around a pagoda.

“Can it really be that coincidental…”

Two hours later, Coco and Chen Ying each had a petite girl slung on an arm, wobbling toward the dorm like lanterns in wind.

“Beibei, come on~ If you can’t hold your liquor, don’t act tough,” Chen Ying said, voice half-scold, half-laugh, like thunder behind clouds.

“I’m not drunk! You are! Ying-jie’s still hauling you!” Beibei pouted, cheeks puffed like steamed buns.

“You need Sister Coco to hold you too! I see you trying to take advantage. No way! I want Sister Coco to carry me!” Yuanyuan protested, eyes sparking like flint.

“No! Sister Coco’s mine!”

“No!”

“No!”

The two tipsy girls bickered, their voices rolling like sparrows fighting over crumbs.

“Alright, alright—behave,” Chen Ying warned, tone low as a temple bell. “Or we’ll leave you here for someone else to pick up.”

“Uuu… Ying-jie’s scary…” Beibei whimpered, shrinking like a startled rabbit.

“Yeah… so scary…” Yuanyuan echoed, clutching Coco’s arm like a life buoy.

“...”

With effort like pushing a boat upstream, they finally got the two onto their beds.

Coco watched Chen Ying tuck Yuanyuan in, hands gentle as drifting feathers, then wandered toward the balcony like a moth to moonlight.

She slipped the sliding door open; Chen Ying leaned an arm on the railing, eyes on the night spread wide as a river.

From this height, the city stretched far, lights scattered like fireflies across velvet.

Coco came to her side, the night wind lifting her hair like a silk ribbon.

She hadn’t felt this kind of breeze in a long time; lately, life had been a rush like rapids.

“Sorry. When Beibei and Yuanyuan like someone, they say everything,” Chen Ying murmured, voice mellow as warm wine.

“It’s fine. I like girls like them,” Coco said, smiling, the warmth settling like a hearth. “They’re cute.”

“You might not know,” Chen Ying said, gaze steady as a fixed star. “Dorms in the top three for the strength assessment get a separate class with the academy’s best teacher team. That team has one person who’s Beibei’s sister.”

“Her sister?” Coco asked, the word hanging in the air like a bell tone.

Yes. That’s the goal Beibei’s been grinding toward, like climbing a frosty stairway.

She adores her sister, but her sister’s strict as winter.

She said only if Beibei’s dorm ranks top three, she’ll teach her some tricks.

Beibei acts carefree, like a summer breeze, but she’s relentless beneath it.

Sadly, someone left our dorm—our tripod lost a leg—so her goal climbs higher.

I see... like fog thinning over a quiet lake.

I’m not asking you to sit for this exam; that’s not it.

If you can, please help Beibei—lend a hand in the dark.

Your strength’s likely a cut above ours, like a blade catching light.

Unease settled, then passed; Chen Ying turned to face Tang Coco.

...

Alright, I’ll think about it—let the pond ripple.

Mm. Thanks—like a soft drumbeat.

No need to be polite.

I’ll be counting on you these days, like travelers sharing a fire.

Tang Coco smiled.

In the moonlight, her smile turned angelic, like silver wings unfurling, and it drew you in.

That smile stunned Chen Ying, like a deer caught in lantern glow.

She gave an awkward chuckle and said,

Okay.