In the pitch-black room, only a sliver of light filtering through the tape seams shone in from the window, allowing one to vaguely make out the chaos strewn across the floor.
There were bowls that seemed to have shattered on the ground after a fierce argument, water stains not yet wiped clean as if trying to conceal something, and pitch-black plastic bags bulging high with a little bit of red liquid still dripping from them...
Suddenly, a figure whose height was shorter than a man's (meaning one meter eighty) and taller than a woman's (meaning one meter five) seemed to melt into the night. She slowly raised her head, her face concealed by the hoodie of her outfit and an N985 mask. The young girl held a utility knife in her hand, dangerous red light flashing in her eyes.
The clock ticked and ticked, as if counting down the final moments of someone's life.
With a click, she pushed the blade out, its sharp tip glinting with a cold, piercing light. A cruel smile spread across the young girl's face beneath the mask, the red light in her crazed, chaotic eyes growing even deeper, as if three tomoe were about to appear.
Her semi-crouched body stopped about a meter away from "it," and with a ferocious expression, she raised the weapon in her hand, trembling as she moved toward...
Toward...
Toward the front door, which was sealed with countless layers of cardboard and packing tape, and burst out crying with a loud waah.
The utility knife in her hand snapped back with a swish, and the young girl collapsed onto the floor, crying and rolling around in absolute agony:
"I don't want to go outside!"
"I don't want to go outside (sniffling)..."
"There are no good silver outside, there are only devils, there are only old ladies, there is no Hao Jian! I want to stay home..."
"Ahem ahem ahem (choking)... wuuah aawuuah...?"
Hua Xin took off the mask on her face, blew her nose fiercely, and the watery gaze hidden beneath her oversized hoodie looked exceptionally pitiful.
Hua Xin's little tip: (Bowl = clumsy hands dropping the rice bowl and shattering it, red liquid = Fangfang's spicy chili oil soup, extremely cruel = extremely cute, ferocious expression = adorable and bewildered, red light in eyes = mutated)
A few minutes later, the weeping gradually subsided.
The young girl pulled out her phone to check the time on the screen, then wiped away her tears and silently climbed to her feet.
11:30.
Today was Thursday, the first of the two days a week she was required to attend classes. The previous three days had all been spent in her "special training," and today was the day to test the results.
Speaking of yesterday... Hua Xin turned red temperature in silence.
She had indeed been happy for quite a long time after successfully manipulating the other party into getting fifty Q Coins.
But then an obvious problem presented itself before her.
How were Q Coins supposed to be turned into money to pay for expenses other than gaming?
The answer was that the young girl heartbrokenly bought a monthly card for Wuthering Waves.
Next time, she definitely had to brutally milk the gold coins of that scummy man nicknamed "Water Husband" (hard to endure) to make up for today's losses!!
Of course, Hua Xin's nickname remained Number One Son Online.
Then the young girl's gaze shifted to her own mountain peaks.
Too big...
Impossible.
Yet there was a more important matter right before her eyes.
There were less than two hours left until Accounting at one o'clock in the afternoon.
You can do this... Hua Xin... you can do it.
Haha, it's just going outside (sweating profusely).
Surely nobody wouldn't dare to go outside, right? (Self-hypnosis.)
She took another N985 mask from her side and put it on, looking at the sealed front door with a resolute expression. The utility knife in her hand flashed with a cold point once more.
Then the spear thrust...
Incorrect.
Then Hua Xin looked at the front door and remembered a story.
The term "going outside" was an interesting anecdote born during the mythical era.
That year, Zeus had been shut-in on the mountain for a full five hundred years. Coincidentally, after just finishing Black Myth: Wukong on his nuclear brain, while marveling at the exquisite production, he discovered that one plus one actually equaled two. Thus, he summoned Prometheus to discuss how Samadhi True Fire should be cultivated from six herbs: Rehmannia Root, Asiatic Cornelian Cherry Fruit, Chinese Yam, Alisma Rhizome, Tree Peony Bark, and Poria Cocos.
Then the question arose, who was stronger, the Victorious Fighting Buddha or Apollo the Sun God?
Prometheus refused to accept this. He picked up the Ruyi Jingu Bang, stole a spark from the sun chariot, and flew to the distant East, determined to fight a decisive battle to the death with this Destined One to defend the glory of the northern gods.
Halfway there, he realized he had no money to process his visa, so he traded his dry rations with Wang Xiaoming who was passing by for 268 yuan, and then continued on his journey.
As a result, when he arrived at the destination, he was dumbfounded. He had a Morning Eight O'Clock Class—was this still abroad?
How had he come to the ends of the earth?
He took a look at the date: July sixteenth, not yet August twentieth.
Turns out the Black Monkey hadn't even been born yet, haha.
"Haha..." While letting her mind wander, the young girl couldn't help but let out a couple of dry laughs.
What on earth was she thinking about?
Haha?
Hua Xin instantly fell silent as she looked at the time.
12:00.
No way, had half an hour passed just like that?
What to do, what to do, what to do, what to do, what to do, what to do?
This was no different from going outside during times like the college entrance examination or updating case files during the Chinese New Year.
Back then, she had gone out while embracing the brainwashing thought of "as long as I go out this time, I'll never have to go out again," hypnotizing herself to walk out through this sacred door that had protected her for so very, very long (grateful).
Yet this time...
No matter how she brainwashed and hypnotized herself, it was completely useless!
Having to go outside two days every week into a place filled with strangers, unknown terrors, gazes carrying malicious disdain, and that suffocating classroom...
Hua Xin shivered all over, and that long-lost feeling of chill once more surged to the heart.
Images long buried in the dust of her memories seemed ready to play in her mind again.
The young girl's eye sockets involuntarily grew a bit wet, tears swirling as the panic in her heart grew even more intense.
"Bzz, bzz."
Her phone suddenly vibrated, signaling that she had received a message.
Hua Xin shook her head frantically (with ultra-high sensitivity), flinging all those bad thoughts away.
"Hoo...", the young girl took a deep breath, and picked up her phone.
Yunzi (Class Monitor Xiaofen): "Classmate Hua, are you at Jindi Xiangshan?"
"Apologies, you didn't reply to my message earlier, so I took the liberty of looking at the address you filled in on your enrollment info, though the specific apartment number wasn't written at the end. I'm at the front gate right now; if you don't mind, you can head to school together with me."
Afterwards, she even sent a very cute Hachimi sticker.
(Hachimi is a cat.)
Is... is this a good person (vigilant)?
Hua Xin immediately checked whether the other party was a friend she had added through the instructor's recommendation.
Nothing wrong with it (confused)...
Are there really people this good in the world?
Coming in person to pick her up...
Could it be...
The young girl picked up her pitch-black backpack, unzipped it, and inside lay a hammer quite prominently.
If she encountered misfortune.
She would save herself.
Taking a deep breath.
The young girl sobbed and cried tears while using the utility knife to slice open the sealed packing tape.
"I'll stab you, stab you, stab you... forcing me to go outside, forcing me to go outside..."
"Are you an idiot?!"
Before you continue