The So-Called "Dormitory"...

Just as Yin Kuang stood there, staring blankly at the white wolf senior's huge rump swaying farther and farther away, he had no idea that a pair of eyes was watching him from not far behind. They gazed gloomily at him, and at the giant wolf steadily disappearing into the distance.

Behind a pair of glasses gleaming with a deep, dark sheen, two eyes as black as the night blinked.

"Should I... take this chance to get rid of him?"

Hidden in a clump of low, black shrubs, Wang Ning moved his lips ever so slightly. His voice was so faint that even he could barely hear it. "If what that bear, Xiong Ba, said is true, and killing someone in this university gets you killed, then I might as well eliminate him now... It's true I don't consider him a threat, but he's still a potential source of trouble. If you don't pull out the roots, the weeds will grow back, and the consequences will be endless. Should I do it or not?"

As he pondered, Wang Ning slowly lowered his hand and lightly touched his right ankle. His fingertips shifted, and a streak of black light slipped from between them.

Black Fang!

With this dagger, all it had taken was a light swipe to cut Yin Kuang's throat.

But before even a quarter of the black dagger had been drawn, Wang Ning's entire body suddenly froze.

It was as if time had stopped. Wang Ning remained crouched on one knee, one hand braced on the ground and the other touching his right ankle. He was bent forward, his head stretched out, utterly motionless. Anyone who didn't know better would have thought he was a statue.

Then a large bead of sweat appeared on his forehead. It slowly slid along his brow, down his cheek, and hung from his pointed chin before finally dropping onto the back of the hand supporting him.

Far away, the giant wolf senior suddenly blinked, then shook his enormous head. "Interesting. A freshly graduated high schooler can actually give off a hint of killing intent... Gah, I wonder what kind of freaks the Headmaster recruited this year. Looks like there'll be plenty of fun to come. Heh. Kid with 7 Intelligence, I've paid back the favor you did me."

He gave a faint, indistinct snort, then disappeared around the corner of a distant building.

Gulp.

Only after the giant wolf looked away did Wang Ning manage to swallow. His body went limp, and he collapsed onto the ground, drenched in cold sweat, as if he'd just been pulled out of the water.

"What... what kind of look... was that?!"

What kind of look?

Wang Ning couldn't describe it. He didn't even want to remember that feeling... that sensation of his very soul being ripped from his body! That was right—he'd felt it. It had been his soul!

The instant the giant wolf looked at him, it was as if an icy hand had clamped around his crown and yanked hard. Then Wang Ning lost control of his body. He even felt his soul lift away, farther and farther from him...

And it hadn't been only torment to his soul. His body had suffered, too.

The pain of thousands of sharp little knives tearing out his sinews, scraping his bones, and slicing away his flesh had nearly made even Wang Ning, who'd undergone strict endurance training, scream out loud on the spot!

Wang Ning lay sprawled on the ground. He never, ever wanted to face that look again. Never! He would rather take a knife to himself than go through that inhuman torment again.

"Is... is this the senior's... strength? Just... just one look... one look..."

Wang Ning bit down hard on his lower lip, unaware that he'd drawn blood. "Just wait... just wait. One day, I, Wang Ning—no, Ning Wang—will make a name for myself here, just as I made it into the top three of the Assassin Alliance's 'Rookie Rankings' through my own strength in only three years after my debut! One day, I'll step on all of you!"

Whether he was trying to fight off the lingering fear in his heart, declare his ambition, or etch today's humiliation into his memory, Wang Ning drew Black Fang and slashed a deep cut into the center of his forehead.

Hot blood immediately ran down the bridge of his nose and into his eyes...

After the giant wolf senior disappeared, Yin Kuang stopped paying him any mind.

He preferred to believe it had been a chance encounter, a coincidence. He really didn't want to run into that giant wolf senior again!

Honestly, the feeling of having to grovel was awful. The senior hadn't deliberately demanded that Yin Kuang show him the utmost respect, but the oppressive force he radiated with every gesture was like wave after wave crashing over Yin Kuang, forcing him to retreat and bow his head.

"So this... is a senior's strength!! Even facing Xiong Ba, I only felt that he was extremely dangerous. But in front of that senior... I didn't sense any danger at all, and yet the indescribable fear and trembling... was even more terrifying than the threat of death..."

Thinking of that, Yin Kuang couldn't help taking a deep breath. He shook his head fiercely. "Yin Kuang, stay alive. As long as you survive... one day, in this amazing university, you'll become as strong as he is! Next year... the freshmen in the next class will be just like me, respectfully calling me 'senior'! And more importantly... I'll go home!"

By some incredible coincidence, or perhaps some unseen design, two freshmen had set their sights on the same person at the same moment, making their own grand vows. And so began their struggle to make their way through "university"!

When Yin Kuang saw the so-called "Dormitory Building 33" and stood beneath it, his expression suddenly turned extremely strange.

He wasn't the only one. The freshmen who had arrived one after another and gradually gathered beneath "Dormitory Building 33" looked just as odd.

"Damn! This is where I'm supposed to live from now on? Are you kidding me? Is this even fit for people?"

"...I—I don't know either. I just followed the memories in my head to get here."

"Damn it! Where's the Teaching Assistant? I'm going to find them and ask what this is supposed to mean. They might as well be cursing us to die! What kind of living person stays in a place like this..."

"Shh! Keep your voice down. Do you want to die? Be careful, or senior Earl will suck your blood dry. Let's see if you're still so bold then."

"Uh, I... I was just saying it, just saying it... B-but this really isn't fit to live in. Why don't you try it?"

"..."

"..."

More and more students gathered beneath "Dormitory Building 33," and the crowd grew livelier by the minute. Everyone was talking about the "magnificent" structure before them—their "Dormitory Building 33." Well, however you looked at it, it was made of one huge coffin after another, stacked on top of each other.

That's right. Coffins!

Row upon row of upright coffins had been assembled into a bizarre structure more than ten meters tall and two or three meters wide—if it could even be called a building.

It was over ten meters high, with four floors in all. As for its width, two coffins stood back to back, making it about three meters across. It was over ten meters long, with nine coffins standing side by side. A knotted rope hung beside each column of coffins. Clearly, the only way up was to climb the ropes.

It was hard to imagine what kind of force had stacked so many coffins and kept them steady. If not for their strange shape, they really could have passed for an apartment building.

And it wasn't just "Building 33." Less than ten meters away on either side stood two more "coffin buildings," "Building 34" and "Building 32." Apart from the different numbers on their enormous signs, they were exactly alike, as if they'd been copied and pasted.

Each coffin lid also had a number on it. That was the coffin's number—or perhaps it would be more appropriate to call it the room number.

No wonder everyone was so dissatisfied and outraged. It was simply too hard to accept.

Making a living person lie down in a coffin... Any remotely normal person would find that impossible to accept. Wasn't that cursing them to die?

Being brought to this university out of nowhere was bad enough. They'd already been through a heart-stopping Entrance Exam, and had thought they could return to their dormitories for a good rest. But seeing the so-called "dormitory" before them was like a bolt from the blue.

Amid the crowd, Yin Kuang looked around and spotted the last arrivals: Zeng Fei, Wei Ming, Li Shuangmu, and Wang Ning. Zeng Fei, Wei Ming, and Wang Ning came over to greet him and ask what was going on.

Yin Kuang said, "You can see for yourselves. These coffin lids are our 'dormitories' from now on. Heh, and we each get a private room." Then he asked Wang Ning, "Wang Ning, what number did you get?"

He'd asked casually, but in his heart, Yin Kuang was cursing Wang Ning, wishing he'd get into a "coffin" as soon as possible.

Wang Ning was taken aback. He didn't catch the double meaning in Yin Kuang's words and said, "I'm number 44. Let me see—it's on the top floor, the fourth coffin..." Only then did Wang Ning's expression change slightly. He forced a laugh and said, "Forty-four. That really is unlucky... What was the Headmaster thinking, making us live in a place like this?!"

Yin Kuang shook his head. "Maybe the Headmaster wants to constantly remind us that death is always by our side. If we don't work hard, we might not even have a coffin when we die."

Wei Ming suddenly said, "Enough! Don't say such unlucky things. I don't care whether it's a coffin or not. I just want to get some good sleep. But with these coffins standing upright... am I supposed to sleep standing up?!"

As he spoke, Wei Ming walked over to coffin number 11 and pulled it open.

It seemed that number 11 was his.

"Huh? That's not right!"

After opening the coffin, Wei Ming suddenly cried out in surprise. He looked around, then stuck his head inside and shouted, "Hey, Wang Ning, come take a look! There's more to this coffin than meets the eye. It's got a huge space inside! This is amazing!"

At that moment, delighted shouts came from somewhere else. It turned out that plenty of people were willing to try things out—or simply weren't thinking things through. One after another, those who tried opening the coffins cried out in surprise.

"Wow! It's so big inside. And the Headmaster said we can change the scenery and size however we want, just by thinking about it. I just tried, and it actually turned into an imperial palace!"

"This one's the same. It's got such a beautiful, huge beach view. Haha, is this where I'm going to live from now on? This is so cool!"

"..."

"..."

There were plenty more cries of surprise like that, and they grew more frequent. Gradually, everyone climbed into their own "coffin" and shut the lids with a bang. The hubbub slowly died down.

After seeing how amazing Wei Ming's room was, Zeng Fei couldn't resist either. He gave them a quick greeting, then climbed into the coffin beside it, number 13. All right, no more calling them coffins. From now on, they were dorm rooms.

Wang Ning chuckled. "Just as I thought. I should've known the Headmaster wouldn't make us live in coffins. Heh. Yin Kuang, what number are you?"

"Number 29. Second floor, ninth coffin. Over there."

"Ah, I've still got four floors to climb. Anyway, I can't wait to see what my... dorm room looks like." With that, Wang Ning grabbed a rope and easily climbed up.

"See you in a bit."

After saying that, Yin Kuang went to the last row and looked up. He happened to see number 29. "Number 29, heh. What a coincidence. My birthday's on the twenty-ninth day of the second lunar month. I hope it's my lucky number."

"Unfortunately, I was born on the twenty-eighth, so I'll be right next door."

Li Shuangmu suddenly appeared beside Yin Kuang, speaking with a faint, amused smile.

Yin Kuang glanced discreetly toward number 44. Wang Ning was nowhere to be seen, so he must have gone inside. Yin Kuang held out his hand. "Thanks. Looking forward to working with you."

"Don't mention it. But that punch of yours was pretty strong. I didn't expect you to have that kind of power."

"Your kick wasn't weak either."

Li Shuangmu smiled faintly. "A word of advice: don't provoke Wang Ning unless you're absolutely sure you can handle him."

"I know. What about you? Don't you want to deal with him?"

"Me?" Li Shuangmu chuckled. "If he doesn't provoke me, I won't provoke him... Remember, you owe me a favor."

"The hardest thing to repay is a favor."