Movie

Although Luo Di lived in this residential area, he basically never greeted anyone except the community workers.

He had no memory of the resident on the third floor at all. At least, during the times he went to and from school or went for his nightly runs, the door on the third floor was always shut tight.

"Class monitor, what kind of person lives on the third floor?"

"I remember it was a middle-aged person, right? Mainly because they only opened the door a crack, and I couldn't even see half of their face. After confirming it wasn't you, I turned and left. I didn't observe them closely at all."

Luo Di didn't continue the conversation. "Let's just get back to our homework and wait for the lockdown to be lifted."

The class monitor suddenly blinked. "That's a lurking Imposter. They're not easy to catch. From what the investigator said earlier, they might have already hidden themselves in advance. The area lockdown could last for the entire day or even longer. I might have to stay at your place tonight."

"Okay, you can sleep on the sofa then. I'll get you a blanket."

The class monitor didn't say anything more and quickly got back to studying.

The cultural studies and logic thinking classes didn't assign a lot of homework. The students mainly focused on physical training, with their daily exercise progress recorded on their bracelets.

So, after every hour of paper-based homework, the two would engage in a period of indoor training.

Luo Di was doing push-ups on the balcony, while the class monitor focused on high knees and weighted squats in place.

Time quickly approached noon.

"I'm so hungry..." Wu Wen slumped onto the sofa. "I only ate a bread on the way here this morning. Do you have anything to eat at your place?"

"I'll cook," Luo Di quickly switched from his push-up stance and headed straight for the kitchen.

Hearing this, the class monitor's fatigue vanished, and she immediately sprang up from the sofa, following him into the small but very tidy kitchen area.

She leaned against the doorframe, poking her head out to watch Luo Di prepare the ingredients.

"What are we having for lunch?"

Luo Di pulled out a block of frozen pork belly from below the refrigerator. "Stir-fried pork with green peppers, and winter melon and pork soup. That should be enough, right?"

Wu Wen scraped the doorframe with her finger. "Can we make a bit more~"

"Then I'll stir-fry some shredded potatoes too."

"Yay! Do you want me to help?"

"Have you ever cut vegetables?"

"No... but I've practiced swordsmanship! It's really good."

"Then give it a try. I'll go take a shower first, my clothes are all sweaty."

Luo Di quickly rinsed off the sweat. When he returned to the kitchen, all the vegetables and meat were already cut, uniform in size and perfectly portioned.

"Is it okay? It's my first time cutting vegetables."

"It's fine."

"Hehe~ I knew it, practicing swordsmanship is quite useful. But I don't know how to cook, so the rest is up to you!"

Wu Wen tiptoed to make space, standing to the side with a posture of learning, almost as if she were about to pull out a notebook.

In less than twenty minutes, the two dishes and one soup were ready.

The two carried the food to the dining table.

"I'm going to dig in!"

The class monitor served herself a heaping bowl of rice and immediately started shoveling food into her mouth.

"Delicious! So delicious!"

She praised it while chewing, so much so that several grains of rice fell onto the table, but she quickly picked them up and put them back into her bowl, one by one.

Although Luo Di's expression didn't change, something deep within him was stirred. Eating at home with someone occasionally like this seemed to be much better than he had imagined.

"By the way, what are we having for dinner tonight? I'm so excited!" the class monitor asked, still not having finished her rice.

"Whatever's in the fridge... Maybe the lockdown will be lifted this afternoon."

After hearing this answer, the class monitor immediately clasped her fingers together in front of her, as if praying for something.

Time passed quickly.

The map app could now show the lockdown status of the current area, with no estimated unlock time.

In the afternoon, The two had finished all their paper-based homework. The word "bored" began to ferment within the confined space. Both the class monitor and Luo Di were growing restless.

Due to the lockdown, Luo Di's nightly run had to be canceled. His daily movie schedule might also need to be canceled with the class monitor's arrival.

The class monitor's legs were crossed on the sofa, and her hand switched through boring TV channels at a rate of one per second with the remote.

"I'm so bored~ Luo Di, what do you usually do at night? Don't tell me you're still exercising at home?"

"Night runs or watching... movies."

The class monitor's body and head immediately turned. "Movies? Oh right, you seem to have that old-fashioned disc player at your place. Are there any movies worth recommending? We could watch them together. I'm strictly disciplined at home, so I haven't seen most movies."

Seeing Luo Di hesitate, the class monitor seemed to pick up on his meaning.

"You don't happen to have any weird movies hidden away, do you?"

"Hmm?"

"Cough, cough~" The class monitor cleared her throat a couple of times. "It's the adult-only kind..."

Facing the class monitor's suspicion, Luo Di nodded.

Luo Di made another big decision, intending to reveal his "secret."

In his opinion, since they had experienced dangerous events like practical training together, watching a movie together wouldn't be a problem. This way, their nightly movie-watching plan wouldn't be interrupted.

Strangely, the class monitor curled up at the edge of the sofa, looking at him as if he were a pervert.

Luo Di didn't realize the issue and continued the conversation, "Do you want to watch?"

The class monitor was stunned. She never expected this quiet boy to have such a preference and to state it so directly.

Her instincts urged her to shake her head and refuse, but something deep inside, fueled by boredom, suppressed her instincts.

She gently bit her lip and slowly nodded.

"By the way, I've basically seen most of these movies. I have a lot of discs in my room. Do you want to come in and pick one together?"

This time, the class monitor was genuinely scared and shook her head frantically.

"Then I'll just grab one at random."

This was Luo Di's first time sharing movies with someone else, and it was his favorite genre: slasher films. He needed to carefully select one that was most suitable for beginners.

The class monitor remained in the corner of the sofa, tucking herself in as much as possible.

But soon, her eyes widened as she stared at Luo Di emerging from the bedroom, staring at the two unrelated items he held in his hands:

"Mysterious Disc" and "Dumbbell."

In that instant, a bold and exaggerated image formed in her mind, and her voice even trembled slightly.

"Lu... Luo Di~ Could this be your workout method?"

"I like to exercise while watching movies. Sitting all the time isn't good for the body.

Class monitor, do you mind if I turn off the lights? We can just use the streetlights coming through the window. Lowering the indoor lighting will improve the viewing experience."

"Ah~ Oh~ Okay."

The disc was inserted, and the TV screen switched.

The class monitor quickly covered her face with her hands.

There was a noticeable gulping motion in her throat.

An inexplicable heat spread through her body, forcing her to peek at the screen through her fingers.

As the logo of the lesser-known movie company faded, the screen showed a gloomy night. A young couple arrived at a lake to swim. Seeking thrills, they stripped off all their clothes.

This was the first time the class monitor had seen such a scene, and her heart rate began to climb rapidly. In contrast, Luo Di watched with intense focus, not even blinking.

As the young man and woman in the movie grew more intimate in the water, about to take things further, Swish!

A machete pierced through the young man's body, lifting him high out of the water.

The blonde woman, covered in her boyfriend's blood, screamed frantically and swam quickly towards the shore.

Just as she was about to reach the bank, a vertically descending blade pierced her heel. A giant hand grabbed her calf, dragging her back into the lake.

Red bloomed on the lake's surface as the camera slowly panned up.

The movie title, with its 70s or 80s aesthetic, appeared.

"Ah... This is a horror movie?"

Luo Di was already engrossed and didn't respond to the class monitor's question. One of his hands was automatically doing dumbbell curls.

Looking at the killer on the screen, the class monitor suddenly remembered the practical training in the mountains half a year ago, remembering the moment Luo Di single-handedly decapitated a zombie.

The feeling then was quite similar to the scene in the movie, even the machete was of a similar type.

The misunderstanding cleared, the class monitor slowly shifted her body, moving back from the edge of the sofa to her original position.

She had undergone countless courage-testing training sessions, so she wasn't afraid of this type of horror movie. However, the killer depicted in it did bear some resemblance to Luo Di.

At this moment, she finally understood the so-called "workout secret," or rather, the workout goal.

Whether it was a coincidence or not, as the movie reached its halfway point, Boom! A clap of thunder flashed outside the window. Pea-sized raindrops violently struck the windowpane. Water splashed through the slightly open window, dripping inside.

Luo Di decisively hit the pause button and went to the balcony to close the window.

The moment he closed the window, another flash of lightning illuminated the sky.

The momentary brightness from the lightning allowed Luo Di's peripheral vision to catch a silhouette. It seemed like something was clinging to the building's wall.

He immediately turned around, pressing his entire face against the window to observe closely.

However, all he saw was an air conditioning unit's outdoor casing.