Familiar

As soon as Luo Di pushed open the rooftop door, he bumped into a blonde girl.

"Mia, didn't I tell you to stay in the dorm?"

To everyone's surprise, the latter looked annoyed and poked Luo Di's forehead with his index finger. "You're asking me first? You said you'd be back soon, but I've been waiting for ten minutes and you still haven't shown up."

I came to you because I was worried. What's so fun about this?

Mia quickly peeked out from the rooftop and looked around, but she didn't find the female college student she had expected.

At the same time, she also smelled a slight stench of decay on Luo Di, as if he had been to an ancient, dilapidated area.

Luo Di's simple explanation:

"We encountered some trouble, but also gained an important piece of information."

Try to avoid thinking about information related to the 'fog' while on campus, as it's easy to fall into a 'brain fog' state and lose your perception of reality.

Problems are more likely to occur when someone is alone.

"I knew something must have happened to you all alone~ As long as you're not dead, let's go back, la la la~"

Mia seemed very happy as soon as she entered the campus, and even showed less hostility towards Wu Wen, who had just joined. She seemed to yearn for this kind of youthful life, the kind of life that she should have experienced at her age.

The dormitory door opened.

Wu Wen was still wrapped in the blankets, sleeping on her side, her damp hair had mostly dried.

The metal bucket was placed in the corner, and everything seemed normal. It appeared that the only problem was with Luo Di.

Four hours have passed.

Hmm~

A soft sound escaped Wu Wen's throat as she slowly sat up and stretched, finally catching up on her sleep.

Suddenly, her body sensed something and she abruptly turned her head.

Luo Di, who should have been sleeping in the opposite bed, was now kneeling on the bed behind her, his face almost touching hers.

This sudden close contact made Wu Wen instinctively back away and cover her body with the blankets, even though she was already sleeping in her clothes.

"What you do!?"

Luo Di pointed towards the bathroom, where the sound of flushing water could be heard.

"Mia is taking a shower. We'll go to the cafeteria to grab something to eat later and then take a stroll around campus. After all the staff have gone home for the evening, we'll go to the School Hospital."

Now that it's just the two of us, I have a question I'd like to ask you.

"What?"

Seeing that the other party meant no harm, Wu Wen slowly loosened the blankets in front of her, straightened her body, and was no longer in a passive state.

Luo Di quickly summarized his bizarre experiences over the past few days using words he had already prepared, including:

Suicide, faceless, television, fog, etc.

Wu Wen, however, didn't show much change in expression. "Oh, is that so? As long as you survive, that's good."

Suddenly, Luo Di, who was half-squatting on the adjacent bed, leaned forward, almost invading Wu Wen's side, his face gloomy and even carrying murderous intent.

"I am not describing what happened."

What I mean is, you seem to have said that there was no danger during the period when we first entered the campus, and you seem to have encountered a similar situation at the Newspaper Office.

Why didn't you tell us beforehand? What were you holding back? Since we're cooperating, why not be more open?

Luo Di's words were tinged with gray, as if multiple tentacles were caressing the other person's brain.

Wu Wen remained calm and leaned forward, even though her face was almost touching Luo Di's, she didn't lose out in words at all:

"Is there something wrong with your ears?"

I never said the words 'no danger'. I said that the initial entry into the [location] will be relatively normal, but the danger will gradually increase as time goes on.

Furthermore, if I need to explain every detail and offer various reminders so that you can avoid risks, then our cooperation is meaningless if you cannot recognize the danger on your own or survive.

Their faces were almost touching.

Luo Di knew that the other party had not said the words "there is no danger." He was just a little annoyed by this concealment and the lack of complete information sharing.

Their eyes met.

They could even feel each other's breathing.

Sudden,

Wu Wen sighed softly, breaking free from her assertive state, leaning back and supporting herself with her hands behind her back. "I didn't have a similar experience at the Newspaper Office."

There was no suicide there, and no television.

The main danger lies in the 'portraits' in various newspapers. For example, when I pass by those printers late at night, they automatically start working, emitting fog and printing out very dangerous newspapers.

Just like the television you encountered.

The characters in the newspapers will also come to life in reality due to the fog.

However, I didn't experience any "fog of thought" that would limit my thinking. Furthermore, I encountered no danger on my First Day at the Newspaper Office.

Seeing Wu Wen offer an explanation, Luo Di took the initiative to back down and realized something.

"You entered the Newspaper Office alone. Now, the four of us are entering the university together."

With an increase in the number of participants, the difficulty also increases accordingly.

That explains why I encountered danger on the First Day, and why simply thinking about things related to the fog could have an impact on me.

"Um."

Wu Wen stared at the man in front of her. She had initially thought he was a simple-minded killer, since he had been guarding the Girl inside the iron barrel from the beginning.

It now seems that the other person is smarter and more interesting than she had expected.

The moment she woke up, she even had a real feeling that she was about to be killed... Moreover, the close face-to-face contact gave her a strange feeling; her body did not reject the young man at all.

"Hey! Of the eight people in the car, only I, you, and the Girl in the metal bucket are of Yellow race, and we're all about the same age."

Do you think we might meet in real life?

Luo Di shook his head. "I don't know. The relevant memories have been erased."

Wu Wen suddenly stepped forward again, gently sniffing his scent with the tip of her nose, and touched his cheek.

"Aside from the novelist named Li Beite, I've met all the other participants once. You're the only one who feels different to me, which is another reason why I'm willing to cooperate."

It may be related to your 'human' identity.

However, you must have a very close relationship with the Girl in the Barrel to risk bringing her along. In reality, we're just ordinary friends at best.

"Do you remember 'Fourth Middle School'?" Luo Di suddenly asked, wanting to verify this memory with the reporter in front of him.

"Fourth Middle School... Yes! I studied there when I was still human, but my specific memories are not very clear. I think I was the class monitor during my time there."

"Squad leader?"

Buzz!

Luo Di suddenly experienced a strong ringing in his ears, and even his nose started bleeding. The Thick Fog in his brain seemed to intensify, forcibly burying the relevant memories.

If I were to continue trying to recall, it would probably blow my entire brain up.

Just a moment ago, Luo Di seemed to have almost broken "a certain rule" of this event.

Wu Wen quickly grabbed some tissues to wipe it off, and the two locked eyes at close range, their gazes meeting in a strange and unfamiliar way.

Just then,

The bathroom door suddenly opened.

Mia came out wrapped in Bath Towel, her hands still fiddling with her damp blonde hair, and was surprised to find Luo Di doing push-ups on the floor.

She looked at the female reporter who had woken up and was sitting on the bed, and felt that something was off.

It seems like this wasn't the scene just a second ago; she seems to have missed something.

Just as Mia was beginning to have doubts, she sensed a subtle danger, not from the mist, but from the iron barrel.

I don't know when,

The Girl in the iron bucket seemed to move slightly; her hands, which were originally hugging her knees, moved upwards, and her middle finger curled up slightly.

[Nighttime, Wenslam University - School Hospital]

The number and density of streetlights that are ubiquitous on campus decrease significantly when you get close to the School Hospital, and there are almost no mosquitoes swarming around the lampshades.

The building, covered in cold white tiles, stands alone on the edge of the campus.

Four freshmen, hiding in a spot out of the streetlights, stealthily approached...