The Secret Radio Station

"Zzz!"

After returning to his dorm and washing up briefly, Lu Zhan fell fast asleep.

Perhaps he had exhausted himself too much that day. The moment his head touched the pillow, he sank into deep sleep.

Deep in sleep, Lu Zhan's breathing was exceedingly faint, yet long and steady.

Had Lu Zhan described his own condition, he would have said he was like a hibernating frog.

But Lu Zhan would have preferred to be like a silkworm, his breath stretching like silk in one unbroken thread until he woke.

"Huh? Has the source of interference disappeared?"

"The signal seems especially good today!"

"Great, Vikem! You don't have to drip blood on it anymore."

While Lu Zhan slept soundly, Ajak and the other two secretly brought out the Ore Radio again in nearby Room 309.

Under the dim light, the formerly dull gray radio actually gave off a faint red sheen.

After their last "argument," Zhou Qi and Ajak had originally decided not to get involved again.

After all, watching Vikem drip his blood onto it made them feel terribly guilty.

Tonight, however, Vikem had insisted on inviting them to listen to a concert by his idol, Avril.

Under the "threat" that they would no longer be friends if they refused to listen, Zhou Qi and Ajak could only keep their friend company once more.

Whether their luck had finally turned or the source of interference really had disappeared, they had no idea.

They had only just switched on the radio when Avril's familiar singing came through.

Vikem had not even had time to drip any blood onto it!

"Don't talk. Listen to the song first!"

"It's just a drop of blood. You two are making far too much of it."

"Actually, letting out a little extra blood now and then is good for people like us."

"After blood loss, the body's compensatory mechanisms kick in, allowing it to absorb energy from food more efficiently than before."

"To some extent, that can alleviate or even neutralize the side effects of [Deceiving Hunger]."

"Unfortunately, I only use one drop a day, so the effect isn't very noticeable."

Vikem remained quite calm about the signal's sudden return to normal.

After getting used to losing blood every day, he had even developed a few "insights" of his own.

Had he not been reluctant to waste his blood, Vikem really would have liked to test his theory.

Perhaps because he had grown accustomed to dripping blood onto it every day, Vikem actually felt a little bereft when he did not feed the Ore Radio any blood that day.

In particular, as he gazed at the red glow emanating from the radio, he fell into a brief daze.

For a diehard Avril fan, that was nothing short of sacrilege against his idol.

"La-la-la!"

Avril's voice was as enchanting as ever over the radio.

Even those two "fake fans," Zhou Qi and Ajak, listened with rapt attention.

For some reason, however, Vikem kept feeling that his idol's voice sounded somewhat "distorted."

It was not that Avril's singing had gotten worse that day. Rather, the sound coming from the Ore Radio itself was somehow off.

"Vitality!"

"The sound coming from the Ore Radio tonight lacks its usual vibrancy and emotional power."

"Compared with before, it's nothing but sound produced by a cold machine."

The longer Vikem listened, the more uncomfortable he felt, as though a thorn had lodged in his heart.

He compared the sounds over and over until he finally identified that thorn.

Yet when Vikem told Zhou Qi and Ajak what he had discovered, both looked astonished.

Not only did Zhou Qi and Ajak find no "distortion" in the sound, they thought Vikem was getting a little obsessed.

The Ore Radio was a cold machine to begin with. How could the sound it produced have vitality?

Could I really have heard it wrong?

Impossible. That's my idol's voice. There's no way I could mistake it.

Zhou Qi and Ajak can't tell the difference because they're fake fans in the first place.

Despite Zhou Qi and Ajak repeatedly dismissing his claim, Vikem stuck to his opinion.

With that "bias" in mind, the voice of "Avril" coming from the radio lost its appeal to him.

As the singing continued, Vikem's thoughts began to wander.

My experiments with dripping blood onto it these past few days have proven that blood really does improve the Ore Radio's signal reception.

With the outside interference suddenly gone tonight, what would happen if I kept adding blood?

Could it pick up signals from even more secretive radio stations?

All along, Vikem had been hiding a little secret.

He had not originally joined the Ore Radio hobbyist community to listen to his idol sing.

Back then, he had not even known who Avril was, let alone been her fan.

Vikem had built his own Ore Radio because of a rumor he had once heard.

In the "deepest reaches" of Underground Radio broadcasts-or rather, in their more hidden reaches-there were some rather mysterious radio signals.

Those signals broadcast certain "deep-level information" about Yero City.

It was classified information inaccessible to ordinary people, or even ordinary public employees.

What was more, rumor had it that someone had once picked up signal fluctuations from the inner city using an Ore Radio.

Although it might have been nothing more than a lie spread by someone casually boasting, the Ore Radio community had always treated it as an "article of faith," or their ultimate goal.

Vikem certainly had no grand ambition to pry into the "inner city."

He merely wanted to obtain some "deep-level information" about Yero City and use that informational advantage for his own benefit.

Unfortunately, rumors were only rumors. Even after three years in the community, Vikem had never managed to receive signals from those secret stations.

Instead, he had happened upon Avril's singing and become her diehard fan.

Before tonight, Vikem had been lulled by Avril's "seductive melodies" into forgetting his original purpose.

But now, as his thoughts wandered, he remembered that purpose again.

And so, once Avril's singing program ended, Vikem shared his little secret with Zhou Qi and Ajak.

After spending so much time with them, Vikem felt that both were entirely trustworthy.

"What? There are even more secretive stations among the Underground Radio broadcasts?"

"I've heard that rumor too, but those stations are connected to rebel forces. It's hard to tell whether the inside information they reveal about Yero City is true or false."

Faced with Vikem's sudden revelation, Zhou Qi and Ajak reacted in entirely different ways.

The former looked shocked, clearly having never heard the rumor.

The latter showed no surprise at all and even knew more than Vikem did.

"Ajak, you've really been keeping your knowledge under wraps."

"Before this, I wasn't entirely convinced those stations existed."

"After all, who would publicly broadcast inside information about Yero City for no reason?"

"But if rebel forces are behind it, that makes sense!"

"Now I want to give it a try even more!"

Vikem looked at Ajak and Zhou Qi excitedly. A moment later, without waiting for either to decide, he dripped his blood straight onto the Ore Radio.

This time, perhaps because he was a little worked up, Vikem cut himself more deeply, and far more blood flowed out.