Jiang Nuan stared at the familiar university campus before her, breathing a little faster than usual.
An A-grade restricted zone could distort reality and establish rules, but it was unlikely to conjure an entire collection of buildings out of thin air.
The pavement beneath her feet and the teaching building in front of her felt far too real.
But why had the university from her memories appeared in this world?
Before she could think it through, the sound of suitcase wheels rolling over the ground suddenly came from behind her.
Rumble, rumble.
At first, the sound seemed far away, separated from her by the teaching building and the main road.
But within the space of a few breaths, the same sound began ringing out from every direction.
Jiang Nuan turned around.
The main road, which had been empty moments ago, was now filled with people.
They walked ahead in groups of two or three. Some looked around the campus, while others complained about how hot the weather was.
Everything seemed unnaturally normal.
Yet the sound of suitcase wheels rolling over the ground was almost perfectly synchronized.
Rumble.
Rumble.
Jiang Nuan stood at the edge of the crowd, her gaze falling to her empty hands.
Among all these people dragging suitcases as they entered the school on their first day, she was the one who looked out of place.
Not far away, a bright red banner hung in front of an administration building.
【Freshman Registration: First Floor of the Administration Building.】
Jiang Nuan’s thoughts shifted.
She had no idea where Qinian and Qi Sui had been transported, and Bai Siyuan and the two investigators who had entered ahead of them were still missing as well.
Until the rules became completely clear, it was best not to alert anything.
For now, she would follow the announcement’s instructions.
Jiang Nuan moved with the crowd toward the administration building.
The exterior of the building was no different from the one in her memories. But the moment she stepped inside, she stopped.
Something was wrong.
On the first floor of the administration building in her memory, turning right after entering would lead to the academic affairs hall. On the left were the conference room and the archives.
When new students registered, the corridor had also been lined with clear signs pointing the way.
Here, there was nothing.
At the end of the entrance hall was only a long, narrow corridor.
The students who had entered before her had already disappeared into its depths.
Jiang Nuan stood there for two seconds before following the direction from her memories and turning right.
But where the academic affairs hall should have been, she found another identical corridor.
At the next corner, where the stairwell should have been, there was only a white wall.
Jiang Nuan stopped in front of it and slowly turned around.
The corridor behind her was empty.
The freshmen who had been dragging their suitcases moments ago were nowhere to be seen, but faint voices could still be heard from deeper in the corridor, mixed with the soft rumble of suitcase wheels rolling across the floor.
The sounds passed through layer after layer of walls, making it impossible to tell where they were coming from.
…What kind of place was this?
Jiang Nuan turned back to look at the white wall again. A thin layer of cold sweat prickled across her back.
Just then, someone lightly tapped her on the shoulder from behind.
Jiang Nuan inhaled sharply in fright. The Moonblade was already beginning to take shape in her hand.
She spun around.
“Jiang Nuan?”
A girl stood before her, her hair tied in a high ponytail and her cheeks still carrying a hint of baby fat.
The Moonblade in Jiang Nuan’s hand nearly dissipated.
Ji Chuying.
Her best friend from university.
They had first met in their dormitory.
That day, Ji Chuying had been holding a large bag of snacks. She had watched Jiang Nuan carry in bag after bag before asking, “Do you like spicy strips?”
Jiang Nuan had said yes.
From then on, the two of them had been inseparable.
For one brief moment, Jiang Nuan almost reached out to hug her.
But the instant that impulse arose, she forced it back down.
It was impossible for this to be her. This was the world of a restricted zone.
Ji Chuying could not possibly have appeared here.
“Jiang Nuan, what are you doing here?” The girl tilted her head. “Did you get lost? The freshman registration office is this way.”
“Freshmen aren’t supposed to wander around. It’ll be troublesome if he finds out.”
As she spoke, she turned and walked toward another corridor.
After taking two steps, she noticed that Jiang Nuan had not followed and stopped.
Ji Chuying looked back at her. “You haven’t forgotten me, have you?”
She was still smiling, but as soon as those words fell, the entire corridor suddenly sank into silence.
The faint conversations of the students in the distance and the sound of suitcase wheels both vanished.
Jiang Nuan could hear nothing but her own breathing.
It sounded particularly obvious in the unnaturally quiet corridor.
Ji Chuying stood a short distance away, staring at her without blinking.
A chill spread across Jiang Nuan’s back.
Based on her experience watching horror movies, things that opened with “You haven’t forgotten me, have you?” usually weren’t looking to reminisce.
It wasn’t that she was afraid to fight a monster.
But finding and rescuing the others was her priority right now. Tearing off the mask immediately would be too costly.
The thing in front of her was most likely one of the creatures belonging to this restricted zone. As for the “him” it had mentioned, she had no way of determining his identity yet.
But since this school had been recreated in every detail from her memories—even knowing her name—the face before her probably corresponded to someone from her past as well.
The restricted zone could not truly have brought Ji Chuying here.
But at the very least, right now, it wanted Jiang Nuan to believe that the person standing before her was—
“You’re Ji Chuying.” Jiang Nuan slowly relaxed her fingers, and the Moonblade silently dispersed. “How could I forget you?”
As soon as she said this, the indistinct laughter and footsteps of students once again drifted in from the distance.
Someone dragged a suitcase past the stairwell nearby.
Rumble.
Rumble.
Ji Chuying finally blinked.
“I knew it.” She smiled. “We just saw each other in the dormitory. How could you forget me so quickly?”
“Come on.” Ji Chuying waved to her. “If we don’t go register soon, the teacher will be getting off work.”
Jiang Nuan followed her.
She did not lower her guard. Her eyes remained fixed on Ji Chuying’s back.
A-grade restricted zones had rules. As long as one acted according to those rules, the monsters would not attack.
Although that greatly reduced the danger, restricted zones rarely placed their rules directly in plain sight.
In the tunnel restricted zone where Jiang Nuan had first awakened, the rule was that no sound could be made with one’s mouth.
No one had known that at first. Only after people who screamed or spoke were dragged into the darkness did the survivors gradually piece the rule together.
So what were the rules of this restricted zone?
She recalled the words from the broadcast:
【All students, please complete identity verification before midnight tonight.】
【Anyone without student registration will be treated as an outsider and removed.】
So was that the rule of this instance?
But it didn’t seem like the only one. There had been something strange about Ji Chuying just now.
It had felt as though something would happen if Jiang Nuan failed to answer her question.
Would every “person” who approached her of their own accord on this campus ask her questions?
And would she have to answer them correctly?
But as she looked at the familiar figure ahead of her, her nose began to sting.
Jiang Nuan truly missed her.
That alone made the “person” before her seem several shades more agreeable.
Ji Chuying led her through two corridors.
This time, Jiang Nuan did not get lost.
At the end of the corridor, a half-open office door came into view.
A sign on the door read:
Freshman Registration Office.
Inside sat a middle-aged female teacher.
Her hair was pinned up behind her head, and stacks of documents covered her desk.
The stack of documents was absurdly tall, almost covering half her face. Only her bowed head could be seen as she methodically sorted through the materials in her hands.
A boy was standing in front of the desk.
He had just completed the necessary procedures and taken a document from the teacher.
Dragging his suitcase, the boy passed by her.
The suitcase wheels rolled across the floor with a soft rumble, rumble, gradually fading into the depths of the corridor.
Jiang Nuan was the only one left in the office.
Ji Chuying stood by the door. “Go on in. The teacher’s waiting for you.”
Jiang Nuan suddenly realized something.
She didn’t have any documents with her at all.
The broadcast had said that identity verification had to be completed before midnight, but what could she use to prove that she was a student?
The clock on the wall showed four-thirty in the afternoon, its second hand steadily ticking forward.
Jiang Nuan remembered that offices like this at school usually didn’t stay open very late. Once the teacher got off work, today’s registration would be over for good.
If her student status verification failed, would she immediately be classified as someone from outside the school?
The thought had barely surfaced when the female teacher behind the desk raised her head.
Her gaze first fell on Jiang Nuan’s empty hands, then slowly swept toward the spot beside her where her suitcase should have been.
The corners of the teacher’s mouth gradually lifted.
“Student.”
“How can a freshman register without bringing any luggage?”
