Oh, Washing Machine

At a university, five students had gone missing on campus in rapid succession. This was no small matter.

So after the school called the police, less than fifteen minutes later, two police cars came screaming in one after the other.

However, unlike the sharp-looking officers in uniform who got out of the first car, the three young men who emerged from the second were dressed casually. The leader even had a faint tattoo visible on his left arm.

"Official Personnel specially assigned to handle incidents like this... Ability Users, or something else?"

Leaning casually against the railing as he watched the scene from afar, Bai Zhi chewed the gum he had bought on the way over that morning and pondered to himself.

The students' strange disappearances had left everyone unsettled. Since such bizarre events had happened right around them, most people had no mind to study and had left the Teaching Building early. Only a small number, carrying an inexplicable feeling like his own, had stayed behind.

No one was a Fool. Although the state had tried to control the endless Urban Legends spreading online over the past few months, countless bits of gossip still circulated nervously through various QQ groups.

As the saying went, people loved talking about Anomalies, yet feared them like tigers.

"This isn't something I can get involved in right now. I'll leave it to the professionals..."

After committing the three young men's faces and distinguishing features to memory, Bai Zhi stuffed his hands into his coat pockets and turned toward the Stairwell Entrance.

But just as he rounded the corner, a Small Figure ran out from behind it right after him. Before he could react, it slammed into him.

"!!!"

Looking at the little boy who had crashed into him and fallen onto the floor, Bai Zhi's pupils suddenly contracted, and his expression changed.

"Big Brother who escaped from me twice, I caught you now, didn't I?"

The little boy looked up with an exceptionally bright smile and raised his left hand. A shadow was struggling in his grasp.

"That's my shad—"

Before he could finish speaking, Bai Zhi felt the world before him abruptly go dark. When the darkness receded, he discovered in astonishment that he was standing in a dim corridor with classrooms on both sides.

Before he could properly assess his situation, a piercing burst of Screams reached his ears.

"No way, we're starting at full intensity right away?"

The corner of Bai Zhi's mouth twitched involuntarily as he turned to look behind him.

The place he was in seemed to be an abandoned Teaching Building. Fragments of Exam Papers and wood chips lay scattered across the floor, classrooms lined both sides, and he stood right in the middle of the corridor.

The dim Lights overhead flickered on and off. A little farther ahead, everything was swallowed by deep blackness. Every few dozen meters, there was a section illuminated by Lights, with a corner beyond it.

The sharp Screams from before had come from around the corner behind him.

"Ever since I transmigrated, it feels like my luck has gotten especially bad. Two Anomalies came knocking within two days..."

After voicing that complaint with some resignation, Bai Zhi looked around beneath the yellowish light overhead, hoping to find something like a table leg or chair to defend himself with.

Human fear came from the unknown, but his attitude toward the unknown was curiosity mixed with excitement. No matter what the screaming thing behind him was, he just needed to grab a stick and beat it.

Unfortunately, all he could see were shredded Exam Papers and scattered wood chips. After failing to piece the torn papers back together, Bai Zhi decisively gave up on the idea.

By now, two minutes had passed since the seemingly little boy but actually Anomaly had attacked him and sent him here. Other than checking his surroundings, Bai Zhi had done nothing.

The initial Screams seemed to have vanished afterward. The area was extremely quiet, but as time passed, the Lights overhead flickered faster and faster, while their brightness steadily diminished.

Once the Unique source of light disappeared completely, the outcome in such utter darkness would be obvious.

"Looks like an abandoned Teaching Building..."

After pondering briefly, Bai Zhi stepped into the darkness and approached the classroom door hidden within it.

The rotten Iron Gate was not locked. He gave it a light push, and with a harsh, grating creak, the half-closed Iron Gate slowly opened.

"Hmm... as expected, I can't see a thing..."

Staring into the pitch-black room before him, Bai Zhi muttered helplessly.

Exploring an abandoned classroom in the dark in such an eerie environment would make even the bravest person feel a chill crawling up their spine.

After all, the unknown was the greatest fear. No one knew what might be lurking inside that dark classroom, and the environment would magnify the fear in one's heart without limit.

—But that had nothing to do with Bai Zhi.

"From what I can tell, this seems like a Battle Royale-style setting. That Anomaly appears to have caught my shadow and sent me here. Standing beneath a light source may seem bright and safe, but who knows whether anything related to shadows might be a dead end in this scenario? Still, every Game has its most basic rules, even one run by an Anomaly. Therefore, there should be some key elements for escaping this place inside these dark classrooms that can be opened nearby... Those five missing people were probably unlucky enough to step on its shadow and get sent here as well. If they're still alive, perhaps I can find a way to meet up with them and wait safely for rescue..."

Muttering these words under his breath, Bai Zhi felt his way from desk to desk in the back row toward the front. His main target was the drawers, though he did not rule out searching the desks themselves.

But after feeling around three desks, his hand touched something rather cold in the darkness.

"Hmm... it feels about the same size as my hand. Cold, really cold, and it has five fin— uh..."