Picric acid is a genuinely high-risk substance. Unlike homemade explosives and detonators, whose instructions you can find with a quick search online and whose basic versions even a chemistry-illiterate brute could put together, this stuff is toxic in its own right. Making it by hand is an extremely dangerous chemical experiment.

“Picric acid’s chemical name is trinitrophenol. It’s highly dangerous, and no teacher would ever teach you how to make it. But that’s the nice thing about chemistry: once you know the molecular formula, you can usually figure out a way to make it if you think it through.”

As Jiang Cha spoke, she got the materials out and carefully used various instruments to prepare the compound.

Her focus and seriousness were enough to make even Xia Yuan, a medical student, feel a little ashamed.

She wasn’t even this focused when she performed surgery.

Xia Yuan didn’t dare interrupt her. She could only watch the girl work in silence as the midday sun streamed through the bright window, lighting up her profile and eyes.

The room was utterly quiet. Even the sound of a drop of sweat hitting the floor was clear.

It felt like she hadn’t experienced such a peaceful, reassuring afternoon in a long time. It was almost laughable: they were in a strange pocket dimension, with monsters that had appeared from who knew where searching for them outside, yet Xia Yuan found this moment more peaceful than any afternoon she’d ever spent in the real world.

In her life, there were few things as precious as a moment when she could empty her mind and not have to think about anything.

She’d been pushed to work hard ever since she was little—piano, dance, grades.

She’d thought college would be the end of all that effort. Instead, it was just the start of another round.

The nagging from her parents. The pressure of being ostracized by her classmates.

She had absolutely no interest in that rich playboy who flirted with every girl he met, but thanks to some people’s jealousy, rumors painted her as a boyfriend-stealing **.

No matter how desperately she tried to explain, she couldn’t escape the suspicious looks. Her friends left one by one, and in the end she was all alone.

She was worn down by a life that never gave her a moment’s rest. At last, she began to look for a way to find true peace—only for Fate to play a cruel joke on her at that very moment.

When she was in danger, she met the first girl in her life who’d ever said, ‘I’m going to save you.’

She thought for a long time, but couldn’t find the right words to describe how she felt. She gave a soft laugh, unable to tell whether it came from relief or despair.

It was just… complicated.

“What are you laughing at?”

Jiang Cha looked up and asked softly.

“Nothing.”

Xia Yuan shook her head. She didn’t want to share all those upsetting things with this girl, who had a bad reputation but was unexpectedly so pure. She blinked, then simply changed the subject.

“Did you finish making the explosives?”

“Nope. I failed.”

Jiang Cha shrugged. She didn’t sound especially disappointed. Then she patted the homemade bombs and Molotov cocktails packed in her large bag, smiling as she spoke.

“I knew the general method, but since it was my first time making them, I don’t know which part went wrong in practice. And I don’t have any materials left to try again… Well, these reliable ones should be enough.”

“I thought you could really do anything.”

Xia Yuan smiled more freely, teasing her. Then one sentence made her attention wander again.

“You look really beautiful like this.”

“I-I’m not even wearing makeup.”

The girl’s gaze and tone were so serious that Xia Yuan couldn’t help feeling a little shy.

“What a shame.”

Jiang Cha sighed with even more regret than she’d shown when the explosives failed. Xia Yuan couldn’t help asking, “What’s a shame?”

“It’s a shame I might never get to see the stunning beauty of our gorgeous Yuan Yuan after she puts on makeup.”

“Are you trying to flirt with me?”

This time, Xia Yuan wasn’t embarrassed at all. She tipped up her chin and curled her lips into a smile. Her slender, pale neck gleamed in the sunlight, and she looked as proud as a little duck.

“Who knows?”

Jiang Cha’s voice was vague, but she came over and put an arm around the girl’s slim shoulder through her pajamas, leaning against her back as if she were completely exhausted.

Even her bra was squashed out of shape.

But the meaning behind her words and actions couldn’t have been clearer.

“I’m one of the top five beauties in the medical school. I’ve got more than enough people chasing after me.”

“As for you…”

Xia Yuan turned to face Jiang Cha. Her loose pajama collar gaped at her pale neck, revealing a glimpse of cleavage brighter than the sun.

Pale, smooth, and ample.

It was enough to make anyone’s gaze stick.

Then she turned away again and leaned her shoulder back, pressing herself firmly against the black-haired girl. Her voice held a shy, excited lilt.

“You’re a pretty strong contender, I guess~”

She might have looked like a girl, with Xia Yuan’s youthful face, but her figure was anything but girlish. Her D-cup chest stood in stark contrast to her narrow shoulders and slender arms. Years of dance training had also given her a remarkably balanced, graceful figure.

She had a figure to die for, and her high-schooler looks only made her more attractive. She’d never been famous at Haida University before, simply because she rarely took part in social events.

“Then I’d better work hard.”

Jiang Cha’s voice brimmed with amusement, pushing that hard-to-define flirtation to its limit.

For a moment, even the danger around them seemed unimportant. The two leaned against each other, basking in the warm sunlight and enjoying the moment.

A seed struggled to sprout beneath the sun, then surged toward the light. It was as if a glacier had met the midday sun, and the barriers between them were quietly melting away.

But peaceful moments never lasted long. The danger kept closing in on them.

A heavy impact sounded again, like a trumpet calling them back to the fight. It was irritating, but they had no choice but to pull themselves together and brace for what came next.

“When the time comes, you jump out the window first. I’ll set this pile of wood on fire. We won’t have much time to rest after this. The mindscape spawns more and more terrifying Thought Beasts once night falls, so we have to deal with these monsters before sunset.”

“After that, we’ll keep running while thinning out their numbers. Got it?”

Jiang Cha stood up at once. She moved so quickly that Xia Yuan lost her support and nearly fell. Then she rapidly gave her instructions.

“Got it.”

A faint sense of loss welled up inside her, but she knew this wasn’t the time to cling to Jiang Cha. She straightened her pajamas, stood, and slowly walked to the window.

“All right, then… one… two…”

Jiang Cha picked up her greatsword, then pulled a Molotov cocktail from her backpack and held it ready to light. She listened carefully to the monsters pounding on the iron door, her expression taut with tension as she called out the count.

“Run!!”

Xia Yuan vaulted through the window. The instant the monsters burst in, Jiang Cha hurled the Molotov cocktail in her hand, smashing it hard against the large pile of wood she’d prepared.

The white phosphorus and other flammable materials blazed fiercely, releasing tremendous heat. In an instant, the whole classroom became a sea of fire. Jiang Cha drew her blade and cut down a Thought Beast as it leaped through the flames toward her, its body covered in burn marks.

She turned and vaulted through the window in one smooth motion, then shut it from the outside as she went.

The flames roared. Two girls ran beneath the sunlight as a monster cried out in pain.

Glass shattered. The Thought Beasts, fearless of death, devoid of feeling, and forever hungry for blood, clambered over the bodies of their fallen companions and chased after the two fleeing girls once more!