"Can't connect to the internet, can't check the balance, and can't pay the bill," Wen Cai said, frantically tapping her phone, unable to hide her anxiety. "Everyone, put on more layers. It's getting colder and colder."
Whether the electricity had been cut for unpaid bills or some unknown game had stripped away their freedom to use electricity was no longer the point.
It had only been twenty minutes, and the room was already as cold as an ice cellar. Their hands could only stay hidden in their sleeves, arms wrapped tightly around themselves—the moment they reached out, they'd freeze stiff.
"If we're going to be some sort of Safety Officer, wouldn't we freeze to death too?" When Xie Yue spoke, thick clouds of white mist billowed from her mouth.
This couldn't go on.
Xu Kewang thought it over carefully. If the fines kept coming every ten minutes, the longer they stayed in the dorm, the longer the power would stay out. By then, there wouldn't even be a point in trying to survive—they'd just freeze to death right in the dorm, and their bodies would stay perfectly preserved.
In her dreams…
The dreams hadn't mentioned any of this.
She'd dreamed for three days straight, and what useless things had she dreamed about? Only that this person died, that person died—never how others managed to survive.
"We need to go become Safety Officers," Xu Kewang said, refusing to sit idly by. The game had only just begun; she couldn't just freeze to death for nothing. "I'll go."
Xie Yue raised her hand, shivering. "You just got over being sick, with those skinny arms and legs of yours. I should go instead—I've got the most strength in this whole dorm."
"How about we roll dice?" Wen Cai suggested. "None of us want anyone to go, but someone has to step out. Might as well leave it to fate."
For now, that seemed like the fairest option. No one objected. Wen Cai pulled out the dice left over from last year's Monopoly game. "Same rules as always—lowest number goes on duty."
Everyone's heart was tight with nervousness. On one hand, they didn't know what this so-called Safety Officer would have to face—the unknown breeds fear. On the other hand, none of them wanted to send someone else out, nor did they want to go themselves. In short, they were deeply torn.
Xu Kewang breathed warm air into her palms and, without further hesitation, cast the dice. A few crisp clatters as it rolled across the table.
One.
Even she was stunned. How could someone have this incredibly unlucky streak for over twenty years straight?
"No suspense here—nobody's getting lower than that," she said, pulling out hand warmers and pressing them firmly against her stomach, her back, and her legs. She pulled on a knit beanie and a black cotton mask. "I'm going."
Pretending not to see the looks of protest on the other three's faces, she left in a hurry.
Before she stepped out, she mumbled from behind her mask: "Don't open the door for anyone."
"Kewang…"
She closed the door, shutting off Xie Yue's voice inside. Her pupils, a shade lighter than most people's, surveyed the long dormitory corridor. A thin layer of frost had already crept across the walls.
It was far colder here than in the room—so their dorm did have some insulation value after all.
Her phone buzzed again.
[Please proceed quickly to the Safety Officer duty room on the first floor.]
[Note: When darkness falls, do not look back in the corridor.]
[Do not look back.]
[Do not! Look back!]
It's human instinct, or perhaps a conditioned reflex—when someone tells you not to look back, you can't help but want to.
Xu Kewang forced herself to keep her neck rigid, not lingering a second longer, and hurried toward the stairwell.
The other dormitories seemed quiet. She scanned them as she passed—none had lights on, and two doors were half-open. Whether the occupants hadn't returned to school or had all gone out, she couldn't tell, because the light was too dim and she only caught a few glimpses without making out what was inside.
Actually, she didn't have time to look.
Because—
There was someone behind her.
Footsteps distinctly out of sync with her own, at a distance so close to the back of her head that Xu Kewang could even feel a cold, sour breath by her ear, more rapid than her own.
An indistinct, unfamiliar weight seemed to press against her back, clinging to her spine, sliding bit by bit.
She never turned around, but the thing behind her seemed to grow angry, blowing cold air relentlessly at the back of her head.
From the sixth floor where she was, she descended, and by the time she reached the fourth floor, she finally heard several sets of footsteps.
Xu Kewang encountered three girls, also heading downstairs, all with their backs to her. Two were already crying uncontrollably, clearly feeling the same discomfort behind them as she did.
But Xu Kewang looked at the space behind them—it was completely clean, no one there at all.
That meant, according to the rules, as long as she didn't turn around, those things couldn't cause any real harm. Xu Kewang felt much more at ease and quickened her pace.
It was simply too cold.
She passed the girls, keeping her mouth tightly shut without speaking. In this place, sound was too jarring and would lower her sense of security.
Just a few steps after she passed them, someone called out from behind.
"Hey, classmate."
"Can you wait for me and walk together?"
But Xu Kewang frowned. She didn't think that calling out to others randomly under these rules was an act of kindness, because many people had a reflex—when called, they'd instinctively turn their heads.
If the other person did it deliberately, that meant ill intent;
If they did it unintentionally, that meant stupidity.
Either way, Xu Kewang didn't want to engage with her, so she quickened her steps even more, leaping three stairs at a time to show she'd heard.
When she reached the first floor, the dormitory's main door had been chained shut from the inside by someone. By now, the torrential rain outside had turned into a blizzard, snow mixed with hail crashing down in a clatter, as if about to shatter the glass door.
Xu Kewang noticed that the room across from the dorm manager's office now had a sign that hadn't been there before: "Safety Officer Duty Room."
She lifted her foot and gently kicked the door open.
This room used to hold bottled water, it seemed. Now the water was nowhere to be found, and the room had been cleaned thoroughly—a small bed and a table, a yellow light glowing overhead, and the temperature was pleasant.
Xu Kewang kept her hands in her pockets, where she'd hidden a fruit knife she'd taken from the dorm, along with a small iron trowel, its edges sharpened to a fine edge against the windowsill.
She lifted the towel wrapping the trowel and cautiously stepped into the room.
The moment she walked in, the cold air at the back of her neck vanished instantly. She even heard a reluctant sigh, followed by footsteps slowly fading away.
She scanned the room, confirming there was no immediate danger, then examined a card on the table—
"Safety Management Officer Work Manual"
Every Safety Officer has their own exclusive break room. Please do not swap them arbitrarily, and do not be on duty together. If students come seeking help and discover the presence of non-designated personnel, they will feel uneasy.
Please resolve students' safety issues within ten minutes after every hour. The more you resolve, the more respected you will be.
Some students are very mischievous; they will lie. If possible, please expose their lies to their faces.
Xu Kewang looked at the densely packed sheet of paper and couldn't help but get a headache.
She hated reading comprehension the most.