After washing himself thoroughly and scrubbing his clothes while he was at it, Zhang Zhaomu flopped straight onto his bed.
Monday was finally over...
Although it seemed like he hadn't done much, he felt mentally exhausted.
He had to keep himself in check at all times, terrified that one slip would leave him socially dead or even cost him his right to be human. Even so, he'd made a fool of himself plenty of times and even given Chen Zhenzhen the wrong idea.
How could he possibly be someone who coveted his bro's good looks? It was all the [Cat] persona's fault!
"Six more days..."
Zhang Zhaomu wailed inwardly. Should I just take a long leave of absence?
The thought was just a thought. Forget a long leave-even if he skipped half a day of class, Chen Yongchao would be calling his parents.
Besides, Zhang Zhaomu had a feeling that since he would get a new persona every week, situations like this might not be uncommon in the future.
If he got a positive persona like [Refined], then of course he'd be lucky, but positive personas weren't the only kind in the world. With hardly any effort, Zhang Zhaomu could think of plenty of negative ones.
For example, [Evil], [Hooligan], [Exhibitionist]...
Those might actually be among the better ones. Since even [Cat] could be classified as a persona, could something more outrageous appear, like [Cockroach] or [Fly]?
The thought sent a chill through Zhang Zhaomu.
Being a cat was at least somewhat bearable. Even if he let loose and had fun, the most he'd do was catch some mice. If he really got a [Fly] persona, wouldn't he want to crawl into the toilet all day?
"It won't come to that, it won't. I still have the [Refined] persona, and I'm sure I'll get other positive personas in the future."
"Even though it feels like the persona I just got has the greatest influence on me, and I can't deactivate it, I can still use other personas to counterbalance it."
A few combinations of personas sprang to Zhang Zhaomu's mind, such as [Refined Fly] or [Cautious Exhibitionist].
Damn it, now he felt even worse.
Tossing and turning in bed, Zhang Zhaomu realized something even more despair-inducing.
He couldn't sleep.
The drowsiness that had followed him around like a shadow during the day had vanished without a trace. He felt more awake than ever.
So awake that he even wanted to jump straight out of the third-floor window.
Of course, he could only think about it. With [Cat] active, he probably wouldn't be badly hurt if he jumped from the third floor, but with surveillance cameras everywhere these days, who knew if he'd be caught on camera?
Zhang Zhaomu had no choice but to pick up his phone again.
He played a game out of sheer boredom, but it did nothing to dispel the restlessness inside him.
"Playing games in this state is an insult to the joy of gaming itself!"
Zhang Zhaomu sighed.
"Forget it. I'll go out for a walk. If I stay cooped up in my room all night, tomorrow will be even harder to get through in class."
With that thought, Zhang Zhaomu got up, pulled on some clothes, and went out.
Then a familiar scene unfolded: the door opposite his happened to swing open too.
Duan Chan'er looked at Zhang Zhaomu in surprise and spoke first. "Class monitor, are you...?"
"Can't sleep, so I'm going out for a stroll." Zhang Zhaomu shrugged and asked, "What about you?"
"I'm craving something." Duan Chan'er sounded a little embarrassed. "I really want some barbecue right now..."
Normally, she would have brushed off the question with a few casual words, but as if prompted by some unseen hand, she remembered what the person she'd been chatting with online had said to her earlier.
She really ought to make a friend, and the class monitor seemed like a pretty good person. At least talking to him felt pleasant, and she was at ease around him.
After hesitating for a moment, she invited him, "Want to come along?"
"Sure." Zhang Zhaomu hadn't had a destination in mind anyway, so he nodded. "Where to? Crossroads Barbecue?"
"That place has the best food around here." Duan Chan'er listed its merits as if she knew every one by heart. "Especially their grilled chicken wings. They're among the best in the whole county-crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. They're absolutely amazing!"
Zhang Zhaomu thought Duan Chan'er's expression made her look just like a little cat craving a treat, a stark contrast to her usual literary-girl image.
He couldn't help laughing. "You really know your food, huh?"
"I wouldn't say that." Duan Chan'er looked earnest. "I just love eating. I think being able to eat delicious food is a wonderful thing!"
"True." Zhang Zhaomu nodded in agreement.
Though if he had to choose between good food and games, he would definitely choose the latter.
The two walked down the stairs side by side. It was already past ten at night, and there were few pedestrians on the street. Most of the shops had closed, leaving only the dim yellow streetlights to divide the old street into one connected pool of yellow light after another.
Duan Chan'er lowered her head, watching her shadow and Zhang Zhaomu's stretch and shrink as they passed through each pool of light.
For a moment, she couldn't think of a topic to break the silence.
This was unusual for her. She considered herself good at interacting with people, and she was skilled at starting conversations, keeping the atmosphere pleasant, and maintaining an appropriate social distance without making it obvious or offending anyone.
But how to talk to someone about her own thoughts and interests, how to make friends sincerely... that was unfamiliar territory.
She couldn't bring herself to speak.
What should she talk about? How she'd gotten stuck on her writing that evening and grown more frustrated the more she wrote, which was why she wanted something tasty?
How she'd made herself a farmhouse-style stir-fried chicken dish at noon, and it went so well with rice that she couldn't resist eating an extra bowl, leaving her secretly rubbing her belly throughout her afternoon classes?
She even wanted to talk about that galgame she'd played before. It had clearly been tagged as pure love, yet a whole bunch of NTR scenes had suddenly popped up, making her so angry she'd gone to the game's official website and written a long rant.
There was so much she wanted to talk about, but she couldn't say most of it out loud, or she'd definitely scare the class monitor.
Fortunately, Zhang Zhaomu didn't let the silence last too long.
Staring into an alley by the street, he suddenly said, "There's a sound."
"Huh?"
Duan Chan'er was completely caught off guard. She stared blankly in the direction Zhang Zhaomu was looking. "What sound?"
"I'm not sure yet." Zhang Zhaomu stopped walking. "I'll go take a look."
Duan Chan'er tilted her ear to listen but couldn't hear a thing.
The alley was also very dark, and she could barely make anything out with the naked eye.
"Class monitor... don't mess around." She couldn't help feeling a little creeped out.
She was completely hopeless with horror movies! She was the type who didn't even dare read novels with horror elements!
But Zhang Zhaomu had already started walking toward the alley, and half his figure soon disappeared into the darkness.