Xu Kewang silently recited in her mind, "Open Personal Information Panel."
Sure enough, a flowing data panel appeared before her eyes, floating in midair in front of her, densely covered with text and numbers.
【Name: Xu Kewang
Gender: Female
Class: None
Skills: None
HP: 20
Attack: 10 (7+3)
Defense: 5
Agility: 12 (10+2)
Mental Power: 17 (15+2)】
What a pitiful HP. She had no idea how much HP she'd lose if Aixi, that kind of monster, attacked her once, or how much she'd lose if the Behind-the-Back Spirit in the corridor attacked her.
She raised her hand and tapped on the [Unread Messages] section of the panel.
The flashing red text "Rewards Pending" opened automatically.
【Congratulations, you have completed the First Kill reward. Materials are now being issued to you:
Electricity Card*2 (days),
Water Card (non-consumable)*2 (days),
Bottled Water (consumable)*4
Exchange Credits*2
Achievements obtained:
Zero-Frame Start: What a ruthless woman. Next time, could you let people finish speaking? Agility +2
Ruthless and Vicious: Killing is just a matter of a nod. Hopefully next time you can let people die with a bit more dignity. Attack +3
Dog-Eat-Dog: True hunters often appear in the form of prey. When you struck, could it be that you hesitated even a little? Mental Power +2.】
【Resolved student request*1, Student Prestige +1.】
【Your weapon seems to have grown.】
After reading through all of this, Xu Kewang looked down at the iron shovel in her hand and found that it had indeed quietly grown a size larger. The material seemed thicker too, the edges sharper than before, and the handle had lengthened by over ten centimeters.
She gave it a swing. It really did feel more like a weapon than before.
This game could level up. She had obtained some things she needed, yet she didn't feel happy. When a player levels up, it means the monsters are evolving too.
Aixi, whom she'd encountered tonight, looked terrifying, but was actually slow-moving, unintelligent, and had virtually no defense, which was why she'd dealt with it so easily.
But that thing on its back clearly had some brains. If it really triggered, the danger would escalate.
While Xu Kewang was working hard on missions in the break room, her dormitory, 608, was far from calm.
Ever since she'd left, the other three had been on pins and needles. Not to mention sleeping—they felt guilty even blinking.
Half an hour after Xu Kewang left, the dormitory's air conditioning suddenly started working normally, a steady stream of warm air gradually filling the small room—yet it only made them feel more guilty.
"I wonder if the mission is hard or not," Xie Yue said, hugging her knees and curled up on a stool. "How about I go out and look for her?"
Ning Yiwei held her down.
"Don't make trouble for Kewang," she said, stroking the other's head. "I understand. Everyone is worried about her. But right now, the most rational thing to do is protect ourselves well. We can't let her trip be for nothing, only to come back and find we've been wiped out."
Her expression was grim. "Besides, even in the dormitory, we're not necessarily absolutely safe."
As the hour struck, the quiet corridor began to emit all kinds of sounds.
There was an endless stream of doors opening and closing, and the sound of people walking—except these footsteps sounded very strange. Very heavy, very slow, and carrying a kind of "squelch-squelch" sticky noise.
"Come quick." Xie Yue pressed her ear against the door, whispering to her two roommates.
Wen Cai and Ning Yiwei skillfully found other positions and pressed their ears to the door as well, hearing screams coming from the other dorms, and… the sound of someone eating potato chips?
At this hour, who would be eating chips in the hallway, crunching so loudly?
Then came a series of pattering footsteps running through the corridor, followed by the loud crash of things hitting the floor. It sounded like a chase was underway, with several female voices shouting—
"We can't just wait to die! Find weapons and fight them!"
"Wuwuwu what the hell are these things—hurry and hide in the dorms!"
"These things will trick you into opening the door—don't anyone open your doors!"
That last voice was clearly meant for everyone to hear. Soon after, there was a terrified human scream and a harsh, guttural roar like a wild beast gone mad.
The girl who had given that warning—no one knew if she was still alive. At the moment of life and death, she had chosen to share the lesson she'd learned with her life for everyone else.
608 fell into a wave of grief and silence.
But the negative emotions didn't have long to linger. The three pressed against the door nearly had their hearts stop from the sudden knock that came.
Without the slightest warning, all three jumped back several feet in silence.
"I'm back, open the door quick," Xu Kewang's cool, clear voice came through. "That thing outside is coming over."
Hearing this, Xie Yue immediately perked up and moved to unlock the door.
But she was stopped by the two people on either side of her.
Wen Cai shot her a look and cleared her throat. "Kewang, do you remember the code phrase we came up with before we left? 'Heavenly King Covers the Earth Tiger'?"
The person outside seemed to freeze.
After thinking for a few seconds, they stumbled back: "Kitten catches the mouse?"
"Fake, get lost." Xie Yue quickly withdrew her hand—she'd almost let her concern get the better of her. "Wrong code phrase. Go study it again."
The fake "Xu Kewang" outside seemed not to have expected to be thwarted by such a trivial question. Furious, it slammed a heavy fist against the dorm door before slinking away with a wet, sticky sound.
Xie Yue clutched her chest. "That was close, so close."
Her sluggish brain churned for a moment, then suddenly something felt off. "So… what exactly is the second half of the code phrase? I have no memory of it at all."
Wen Cai knocked on her head twice, as was customary.
"There never was one. It'd be weird if they'd actually answered correctly."
Huh?
"That's right… we never actually set up a code phrase, did we?" Xie Yue sat down in her chair, still muddled, and swallowed hard. Then she suddenly threw her arms around both of them. "Thank heavens. I'm your roommate, not your enemy."
Otherwise, with her intelligence, she'd probably be played to death by these two dark-hearted schemers in no time.
After that, the door of 608 was knocked on several more times, but every attempt was seen through. The fake "Xu Kewangs" would curse and grumble as they left, going off to find new targets.
But the sounds from the hallway grew fewer and fewer. It seemed everyone was gradually gaining experience, no longer so easily fooled.
Daylight pierced through the clouds, and a sliver of light streamed in through the entrance of the dormitory building.
Xu Kewang's shovel cleaved through the tenth head of the night, and cheerful music rang out by her ear.
[Congratulations! You're off duty now!]
[Your wages have been issued:
Spatial Backpack (6 slots) ×1
Electricity Card ×2 (days)
Water Card (non-drinking) ×2 (days)
Exchange Credits +5]
[Resolved 6 student requests for help, eliminated 6 disobedient students. Current prestige: 6. Intimidation level upgraded. Students will now have a 10% chance of feeling fear toward you.]
Xu Kewang looked down at her disheveled self, the foul-smelling black blood soaking through her down jacket.
She needed to hurry back to the dormitory to wash up and change.
Besides, she was far too sleepy and exhausted—she needed a good rest.
After dawn broke, she stood in the corridor. The eerie thing on her back did not appear again. Xu Kewang briefly tried turning her head back for half a second—nothing happened.
She finally felt reassured enough to turn normally, to walk normally.
As she hurried along, she passed the original dorm matron's rest room. A small glass window set into the wall beside it finally allowed her to see clearly what was inside.
The dorm matron was not there. The room was quiet and tidy.
Xu Kewang, carrying the backpack the system had just issued her, couldn't resist. She carefully pushed the door open.
She pulled the small night lamp off the desk and tossed it into her bag, then glanced around. Nothing bad happened, which proved that the things inside really could be taken.
Her eyes lit up at once. She stretched hugely, loosening her limbs. Rubbing her hands together in anticipation.
"I'm already here."
Might as well not leave empty-handed.