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Gritting his teeth, Lu Zhaobei decided to go down after all.

"It's been so long already. There probably won't be another collapse... right?" Though he was worried, opportunities like this were rare, and Lu Zhaobei didn't want to give up, even if it was dangerous. After muttering to himself, he carefully pushed aside stone slabs, rotting wood, steel, and other debris, clearing the path he was about to take down.

Qi Yue: "..."

Did Lu Zhaobei not know what it meant to "raise a flag"? And he'd gone and raised one while he was the "manga protagonist." That was a double buff stacked to the max.

Still, since Lu Zhaobei had decided to go down and take a look, Qi Yue would wait until he descended and vanished from sight before leaving the area for the time being. Qi Yue remained determined to stay "away" from the protagonist group and waited quietly.

Clatter, clang—

Lu Zhaobei made quite a racket clearing the obstacles.

The noise stopped after about eight minutes, and Lu Zhaobei let out a relieved breath. "Done."

In the eerily quiet ruins, Lu Zhaobei's voice was so distinct that Qi Yue couldn't have missed it if he'd tried.

Clang—

Crunch, crunch...

The unmistakable sound of someone jumping down from a height and landing was followed by footsteps on broken concrete, gravel, and fallen leaves that had made their way inside.

Lu Zhaobei had jumped down. Beneath his cloak, Qi Yue lowered his eyes to the ground toward which his feet were pointed, looking for a place to step without making a sound when he left.

Wait another minute. Once Lu Zhaobei's a little farther away, it'll be my turn to leave...

Rumble!

Lu Zhaobei had just jumped down and found the entrance when, before he even had time to celebrate, he heard a second collapse behind him. He turned to see the way he'd come blocked off.

"Damn it..."

Lu Zhaobei was annoyed by his bad luck. But ever since he was born, misfortune had followed him almost one incident after another. Whether it was the disaster his birth had brought upon his parents or his later abduction and sale to the YR Research Institute... in short, while Lu Zhaobei wasn't happy about this latest stroke of bad luck, he was used to it. He remained steadfast in his belief that his bad luck would eventually pass, and that no matter how terrible his surroundings or circumstances, as long as he always held on to hope, good things would surely come.

Before escaping Katebis Island, Lu Zhaobei had never been anywhere but this branch. After all, he was a test subject and wasn't allowed to move around freely.

But from everything he had seen during his many trips in and out of the laboratory, he was certain that a tangled network lay underground, and that there had to be connections between the branch and the main research center that he didn't know about. This was the truth behind how the various Aberrants spread outward, with those of the highest to lowest ranks distributed around the main research center, where Number 8792 was located.

And during the daylight hours, the Aberrants vanished without a trace from the surface. Others might not know, but how could he, a test subject who had once escaped from here, not know?

The tangled underground passages were not only channels through which Aberrants were constantly sent outward from Number 8792 at the center; they were also where the Aberrants that vanished from the surface during the day hid.

That meant that, at this very moment, a number of Aberrants beyond anything he could imagine might be hiding in the passages below. And if he was trapped inside and had to leave through another exit, that would mean unknown dangers as well.

Because he had no idea whether the passages inside would lead him to one of the five recorded openings where Aberrants of different danger levels were spread out, or... to Number 8792's location.

After all, ever since Number 8792 went berserk and the researchers and test subjects who hadn't managed to escape were contaminated by Number 8792 and became Aberrants, the underground checkpoints once used to prevent test subjects from escaping and communicating to stage uprisings had disappeared.

He absolutely couldn't let himself be trapped inside.

Leaving the same way he entered was the best guarantee of his safety. Coming back to look for what he hadn't managed to take with him was important, but if he was in danger himself, getting those things back would be useless.

Under the circumstances, Lu Zhaobei decided to clear the collapsed opening first, then go inside and retrieve what belonged to him.

"..."

At the sound of the collapse underground not far away and the noise Lu Zhaobei made in fright, Qi Yue's body stiffened beneath his cloak.

Qi Yue had to admit that Murphy's Law really never disappointed. Besides, he'd said it already: protagonists shouldn't casually raise flags!

Look what happened now. Lu Zhaobei's words came true, and he brought it down on himself. Beneath his cloak, Qi Yue sighed deeply inwardly.

Fortunately, after Lu Zhaobei's "damn it," he could still be heard clearing things away. It seemed the collapse hadn't buried him, and he was doing pretty well.

Judging by the sounds Lu Zhaobei made, Qi Yue quickly reached a decision.

He did indeed want to stay away from everything to do with the protagonist group, but standing by and letting someone die went against what he had been taught in his original world.

Not knowing the state of the collapse or having fully familiarized himself with the surroundings, Qi Yue decisively decided to summon the Panel and use it to bug out the manga's view.

Even if he was rescuing someone, for the sake of his persona, even if he wasn't strong, he still had to maintain the image of someone calm and composed, with a complete grasp of everything.

That way, when he actually rescued Lu Zhaobei, his level wouldn't drop, whether in front of Lu Zhaobei or the manga's audience.

"Panel, what's the temperature on Katebis Island today?"

[...]

[The current temperature on Katebis Island is 27 degrees Celsius.]

The Panel, emitting the green glow familiar to Qi Yue, appeared before him after a two-second pause following his question.

Beneath that line were the familiar words waiting for him to "confirm."

Qi Yue noticed that this time, the Panel had appeared two seconds slower than before.

Can a Panel that exists beyond this world lag too? Having used the Panel to exploit bugs so often, no one knew better than Qi Yue how quickly it appeared each time.

But Lu Zhaobei was here with him now, so it wasn't convenient to ask the Panel.

I'll ask next time. And the temperature here is way too high. It's only morning.

With that thought, Qi Yue made the most of his time. He pulled back the hood he deliberately wore to maintain his "unfathomable" image, swept his gaze over his surroundings as quickly as possible, and committed everything he could see to memory.

Once he understood the surroundings, Qi Yue pulled his hood back up and clicked "confirm" on the Panel.

Whoosh—

The Panel vanished in an instant.

Qi Yue: "?"

Why did the Panel disappear one second faster than every previous time? Did it notice me complaining about its lag earlier, and now it's showing me how "fast" it can be?

Clearly, this wasn't the time to think about that. Qi Yue quickly cast the jumble of thoughts from his mind. The moment the Panel disappeared, Qi Yue, who might now appear in the manga's panels, walked toward Lu Zhaobei's location with confident, steady steps.

It was time for his performance to begin.

Crunch—

Since Qi Yue had deliberately made no effort to muffle the sound of his combat boots against the ground, Lu Zhaobei, on the other side of the underground collapse, naturally heard the noise outside.

Unsure who was out there, Lu Zhaobei stopped clearing the debris blocking the collapsed opening for the moment. Flames ignited at his fingertips as he stared fixedly outside, holding his breath.

Whoever it was, if they dared to harm him, he would never sit and wait for death. He could die anywhere, but absolutely not here.

Qi Yue wasn't surprised that he could no longer hear Lu Zhaobei moving.

If he were inside and didn't know what was happening outside, he wouldn't act rashly either.

Qi Yue had no intention of frightening Lu Zhaobei. Not long ago, his trap had nearly hurt Zhou Ziyao, one of the protagonist group, and he already felt guilty enough about that, let alone when the person before him was Lu Zhaobei, the manga's protagonist.

Standing at the opening Lu Zhaobei had cleared earlier, Qi Yue quickly imagined what pose to land in, then jumped down.

Tap.

Qi Yue had not only imagined his landing pose, but also controlled the force of his landing.

Qi Yue often used strong tricks like this when fighting Beixing in full view of everyone.

Using it now came naturally, and he achieved the effect of an "expert" without the slightest effort.

Who... is that outside? Hearing the other person land lightly, Lu Zhaobei's heart rose into his throat.

There's light here, so it definitely can't be an Aberrant. Then it can only be a student from the academy...

Before Lu Zhaobei could finish the thought, a familiar, low, cold voice came from outside, through the broken slabs of the collapse.

"Lu Zhaobei." Once the words were out, Qi Yue felt that simply calling the protagonist's name like that seemed a little too curt.

He's the manga protagonist in there, after all. To polish his words, Qi Yue quickly added, "What a coincidence."

He really was such a considerate and friendly person, even if he was... a little strong.

But he'd been forced into it.

Lu Zhaobei: "!"

Qi Yue. It's Qi Yue! How did he get here? When did he... No, that's not the point. The point is, how did Qi Yue appear here so silently that I didn't notice him at all?!

He hadn't even asked a question before calling out his name, despite him being completely blocked from view inside.

Amid his astonishment, Lu Zhaobei felt that Qi Yue was being sarcastic and "mocking" him for being weak, but he had no proof.

Hearing Qi Yue's unhurried, lilting tone and casual greeting after his silent appearance, Lu Zhaobei's first feeling, beyond his brief shock, was puzzlement.

But after the puzzlement came a succession of anxious, uneasy guesses.

"...What a coincidence," Lu Zhaobei replied in a stiff tone.

Although the flames at his fingertips had gone out, Lu Zhaobei's body remained tense, since he didn't know why Qi Yue had appeared here. Even among students at the same academy, Esper Ability hunter trainees killing one another during a Weekly Assessment was rare at Seventh Hunter Academy, but it wasn't unheard of. He had kept his return here during the Weekly Assessment a secret from all the students and teachers, telling no one, because he had only wanted to retrieve what belonged to him while also bringing their families a tiny measure of comfort. That was what he, the sole survivor, could do. Until Qi Yue appeared here, he had thought no second person would know what he had done.