This was a classroom covered in all kinds of messy writing.

[Die, die, die!]

[Why are you still alive!]

[Bitch!]

[You seductive vixen, always trying to lure people in!]

All kinds of things had been scrawled across the pristine white walls in black and blood-red spray paint, the strokes so frantic they seemed almost mad.

The desks and chairs had been deliberately overturned and kicked aside, leaving everything in disarray.

But the blackboard was spotless, as pristine as if it had never been used.

A tousle-haired girl in a pale pink nightdress sat hugging her knees on the only chair set upright in the very center of the classroom. She gazed blankly up at the ceiling.

People... Why did we have to endure so much malice?

Other people's insults and sneers. Her parents' nagging and anger.

Being shunned by society.

All of it was why she had appeared here.

Simply staying alive took tremendous courage, yet she couldn't even hold on to the tiny hope of living in peace.

The girl hadn't lost consciousness. Her ear twitched slightly as she heard light footsteps and a faint, rustling sound that sent a chill down her spine.

Something was coming.

Someone was coming, too.

She tilted her head against her knees and peered around curiously. She waited quietly for two minutes before a pretty girl with long black hair and a distinctly androgynous style finally flung the door open and barged into the classroom.

She was panting hard, and stared at the girl in pajamas in surprise.

“Oh, my goodness! How can you still be taking it easy?!”

“The monsters are catching up! Come with me!!”

The black-haired girl took the pajama-clad girl's hand as if they were old friends. Her palm was warm, slightly damp with sweat, and a little slick.

She was strong, too. The girl in pajamas stumbled as she was pulled along, then found herself running after her despite herself.

“Who are you?”

she asked, puzzled.

Ever since she started mysteriously appearing here every night, she hadn't met a single person for three days straight. That was why she'd been sitting there, bored out of her mind.

But... it seemed like something had changed today?

“Miss, honestly! At a time like this, that's what you're worried about?!”

The long-haired girl spoke with exaggerated expressions, her brows and eyes dancing with every word. She had a clumsy Jing accent. It was clearly not authentic, but it was hard to tell where she was actually from.

As if she didn't want anyone to recognize who she was.

“Who cares who I am? I'm a person, at least! Look at those creepy things behind us! Do they look like they're rushing over to ask you for head pats?!”

As she spoke, the long-haired girl pointed behind them. The other girl looked in the direction she indicated and saw the 'pursuers' making a rapid scraping sound.

A crowd of bizarre, pitch-black monsters, each about half a meter tall. Their exact shapes were impossible to make out; only the eerie red lights that looked like eyes gave off a deeply unsettling sense of danger.

The monsters weren't very fast, moving at about the same speed as the girls. They seemed to be enjoying the hunt, trailing just far enough behind.

They crowded together in dense swarms, filling the narrow corridor. A rough estimate put their number in the hundreds.

Even rats could gnaw livestock to death and become a plague if there were enough of them. These monsters were bigger and far more dangerous.

But even with the threat to her life closing in, the girl in pajamas felt little.

She hadn't wanted to live much in the first place. If she had a reason to die, that would be all the better. She'd only gone along because she was curious about the girl in front of her.

“Jiang Cha, School of Journalism.”

This black-haired beauty was far too famous at their university. She was hailed as the Media School's campus flower, and even the girl in pajamas, who rarely paid attention to campus gossip, often heard bits and pieces about her from other people.

Unfortunately...

None of it was good.

The last time the girl in pajamas had heard about her was when three rich second-generation guys from outside the university got into a huge fight over her.

She was also rumored to be kept by a rich woman—one student had seen her getting into the luxury car of a glamorous woman in her thirties.

In short... she was a girl with a terrible reputation.

“You know me?”

Jiang Cha asked in return, a little surprised, though not all that surprised.

But the look in her eyes said, [I knew it] and [This is a problem].

“You're famous.”

“Now's not the time to talk. Introduce yourself once we find somewhere safe!”

The girl in pajamas nodded and was about to say more, but Jiang Cha cut her off. She kept moving, dodging the strange monsters behind them.

How much stamina did the average college student have, anyway? She wasn't some athlete. After running this far, she was already panting. If she kept talking, she'd strain her lungs, and then running would be even harder.

Jiang Cha dragged the girl in pajamas along at a full sprint, weaving past one classroom after another. The elevator was out of service, so they went down two more floors before finding somewhere relatively safe.

It was an operating room used for student demonstrations, and a sturdy security door had been installed to prevent theft.

There was another door at the back they could escape through, so they didn't have to worry about getting trapped inside.

“Phew—”

The girl in pajamas had terrible stamina. During the escape, she'd only just managed to keep up because Jiang Cha had been pulling her along. Now that she could finally relax, she collapsed onto the floor.

Jiang Cha let out a long breath, too. She was drenched in sweat, but didn't sit down to rest.

Her eyes darted around the room before settling on the operating table in the center, where a body lay half-dissected.

“Sorry, dear donor! Mind if I borrow your big bed for a bit?”

Jiang Cha clasped her hands and observed a three-second moment of silence. Her tone held little apology, though. As soon as she opened her eyes, she carelessly shoved the middle-aged man's body aside. Scalpels, forceps, and other metal instruments clattered to the floor.

The long-haired girl undid the operating table's locks and laboriously pushed it in front of the door, then secured it in place again.

Still not satisfied, she pushed a cabinet full of specimen jars over there, too, and finally nodded.

“This should hold them off for a while.”

“You seem pretty familiar with this place.”

The girl in pajamas watched silently while she worked. Once she'd recovered a little strength, she asked curiously.

“It's the medical school! I had all kinds of mishaps here last year. I know the place like the back of my hand.”

Jiang Cha explained with a swagger.

“Mishaps?”

At the pajama-clad girl's puzzled question, Jiang Cha wiped her face. Her proud expression suddenly turned miserable. She pouted and muttered, “If several women chasing me with scalpels doesn't count as an incident, what does?”

“You were the one who led them on first, weren't you?”

The girl in pajamas laughed softly. She had a pretty good idea what kind of person Jiang Cha was. After all, she was Hai University’s notorious heartbreaker, rumored to be into women. They said she'd flirted with more girls than the girl in pajamas had friends. It was hardly surprising that she had a few 'exes' at the medical school.

“Hey! If it's consensual, how is that leading anyone on? Anyway, what's your name, miss? And how'd you end up here? This is no place to be. One careless move and you could die, I'm telling you!”

“Xia Yuan.”

Watching her chatter on and on, the girl in pajamas gave her name with a rather complicated feeling.

It was reassuring to meet someone who could lead her to safety in the middle of a life-or-death crisis. But meeting this notorious womanizer, who supposedly had no boundaries when it came to girls, made it hard to say whether she was lucky or unlucky.

“All right, then. I'll call you Yuan-yuan!”

“Don't worry! Now that we've met, I'll make sure I get you out of this godforsaken place alive!”

Jiang Cha thumped her chest and made her promise. Her manner was completely at odds with her petite, adorable five-foot-one frame, more like a hearty big sister from the Northeast.

.....