This text does not reflect any real events; it is a fictional world, and any similarities are purely coincidental.
I am the domineering CEO! I beg you to read five chapters (┳◇┳) I really know how to write!! I really know how to write ahhhhh please!! Give me a chance.
Wishing the Zhu family a pleasant viewing („• ֊ •„)੭.
The end of Volume 2 has a summary of introduced abilities. Those who don't mind moderate spoilers can read it.
At 2 AM, a male student was woken up by an urge to relieve himself.
"....What time is it?"
The school dormitory at Night was quiet. The other five people in the same dorm were sound asleep. The second year of high school had begun to intensify, and students, exhausted by a day of studies, were softly snoring in the quiet Night.
Seeing no one respond, he stopped talking and slowly fumbled his way out of bed, pushed open the door, came to the corridor, and walked towards the bathroom in the building.
The entire corridor, apart from his footsteps, was completely silent. His slippers slapped against the hard floor, producing a harsh echo in the empty corridor.
His dorm was near the stairs, while the toilet was at the very end of the floor. With sleepy eyes, he stumbled into the toilet, squatted down in a stall, and relieved himself with a clattering sound. He had been woken from a deep sleep and wished he could finish quickly and fly back to bed to sleep.
"Zzz-----Zzz----"
The toilet light suddenly began to emit an unstable electrical buzzing sound, and the pale light flickered with the sound.
The male student's heart tightened abruptly. He wasn't very brave, and the sudden anomaly scared him into becoming a little more awake.
But fortunately, the flickering of the light did not last too long, returning to normal after about a few seconds.
"Is the current unstable? This broken light in the bathroom needs to be fixed."
The male student comforted himself as he saw the light stabilize again, thinking:
"I must have read too many horror novels lately. I should ask Shi Yu if he has any other books later."
After finishing, the male student casually threw the paper into the bin, stood up, and turned to press the flush button.
But just as he turned around, he suddenly glimpsed something.
"Glimpsed... what?"
That thought inexplicably flashed through the male student's mind, and then he slowly pressed the flush button.
"Did I see... something...?"
The male student suddenly felt a bit strange; he seemed to have forgotten something. He vaguely remembered seeing something, but he couldn't identify it.
It was like leaving home and then being unable to remember whether he had turned off the bedroom light.
He frowned, stood up, looked around, but still found nothing. Then he pressed the flush button.
".....? Didn't I just stand up? Didn't I just flush...."
The male student's confusion deepened. He looked at the squatting toilet, which was clean.
"Why did my stomach stop hurting when I got to the toilet? I'm so annoyed, waking me up from a good sleep for this."
The male student irritably pulled up his pants and stepped forward.
A cold sensation suddenly engulfed his feet, and the sound of water gushed out.
"Ah! Holy crap!"
The male student quickly pulled his feet out of the toilet. The water in the toilet was bone-chillingly cold in autumn, and most importantly, besides being cold, it was disgusting.
"Damn it, I was half-asleep! That's disgusting."
The male student cursed and shook his foot, wanting to go back to the washroom outside to wash his feet.
He hopped and tried to turn around, but suddenly plunged his face into a pool of icy liquid.
"?! ! Cough!! Oh, cough cough!!"
The sudden feeling of suffocation panicked the male student. He didn't know what was happening; he had actually fallen face-first into the toilet! Was he too sleepy and slipped just now??
The male student quickly struggled, trying to prop himself up with his hands on the ground. As soon as he exerted force, his elbow hit something hard and cold.
"What's going on?!"
The male student panicked. He felt that not only his elbow, but also his legs and waist were pressed against something, as if—he was being pressed down by a floorboard.
He frantically tried to lift his head, and the back of his head suddenly felt cold, followed by the sound of an object rapidly immersing in water.
He suddenly had a terrible thought.
Behind him... could it be another toilet?
But now he seemed to have no extra time to think. He couldn't lift his head, his limbs were firmly pressed down, and the back of his head couldn't be lifted enough, so he couldn't get his mouth and nose out of the toilet. The cold ground behind him clamped his body tightly, and the toilet was like a helmet that fit the back of his head, clamped onto him. The poor male student was now like a living sacrifice trapped in a life-sized coffin!
Foul smell, cold, suffocation.
He began to struggle frantically, his fingernails cracking, and his bloody tender flesh and blood drew distorted images on the ground. But soon, the intensity of his struggles diminished, leaving only slight twitching of his limbs.
"Is anyone... going to save me...?"
This was the male student's last thought before he died.
He died.
"Did I see..... something...?"
Before he died, the male student seemed to remember what he saw.
"Whoosh la la la--"
The sound of flushing rang out, and the male student's corpse, as if it had no bones or solid form, was sucked clean along with the bloodstains and injuries, like noodles.
"Ding-a-ling-a-ling-a-ling---"
Along with the 6:20 AM alarm, Hu Zihao opened his eyes.
"Oh, how annoying, I was sleeping so soundly."
The other occupants of Dorm 225 also woke up one after another, but soon the others noticed something was amiss.
"Where's Liu Zunfu?"
Hu Zihao was the male student who got up at Night. He looked up at the empty bed. Liu Zunfu's quilt lay messily on the bed, and his clothes were piled by the bed rail.
"Did he go to the toilet?"
The other roommates also noticed someone was missing from the dorm and voiced their guesses.
Hu Zihao also didn't know what was going on, but thinking that Liu Zunfu had never woken up early, he said:
"He's up this early? I did hear Old Sun get up and go to the toilet just now, and in such cold weather, he went to the toilet without clothes?"
Another roommate checked the time, putting on socks under his quilt, and said:
"Didn't he say yesterday he was going to grab the beef pancakes from the cafeteria? Maybe he woke up early on purpose today and is in the toilet now. We'll wait a bit, and he'll probably be back."
Hu Zihao also thought it made some sense and began to get dressed, thinking that he definitely had to eat the first batch of pancakes.
Twenty minutes quickly passed. Even the latest-rising roommate was awake.
"What the heck is this guy doing? Does it take this long to go to the toilet?"
Hu Zihao was getting a little anxious. He felt the warm pancakes were gradually moving away from him.
"You guys haven't left yet? Didn't you say you wanted to eat beef pancakes today? In five more minutes, even the pancake crusts will be sold out."
The dorm door was pushed open, and the roommate who had just gone out to wash up walked in, carrying a basin, and said.
"Old Sun, you're back. Where's Liu Zunfu? Is he not in the toilet?"
Hu Zihao saw his roommate enter the room and quickly asked.
The roommate was stunned after hearing this, then said:
"Huh? Liu Zunfu isn't in the toilet. When I went to the toilet just now, it was packed, so I specifically went to the innermost squatting stall, and he wasn't there."
"Not in the toilet?"
Hu Zihao was also stunned.
One of the roommates looked at the clothes on Liu Zunfu's bed and asked doubtfully:
"He didn't even put on clothes, where could he go? Neither of the two sets of clothes in his closet are missing."
But another roommate wasn't too concerned. He yawned and said:
"Maybe he ran off to another dorm to play. I don't care, I'll see you in class later."
With that, the other person left the dorm. Hu Zihao and the others, seeing this, had no other choice and also left the dorm, thinking that perhaps they would meet Liu Zunfu when they got to class.
But Liu Zunfu was not in the classroom either.
It was 7:20 AM, and the classmates in the classroom had gradually arrived, but there was still no sign of Liu Zunfu.
The five people in Dorm 225 looked at each other. They all asked around, and all the classmates said they hadn't seen Liu Zunfu.
Hu Zihao was the first to become restless.
"No, I'm going to tell the class teacher. This is definitely not right. A living person not wearing clothes and not going to class? Where could he run off to in our school?"
The others thought about it and also felt it made sense. There was no other way now. A roommate from the same dorm suddenly disappearing, no matter what, required a response.
"Liu Zunfu is missing?"
The class teacher frowned, looking at the male student in front of him, and asked:
"He's been gone since early this morning? Did he go to eat breakfast before you woke up?"
Teacher Liu asked while closing the lesson plan in his hand. He didn't believe that a student could disappear without reason in this school. No. 12 High School of Yi City is a boarding school, and students can only leave during the bi-weekly release time. Although there have been cases of truancy, those were when students didn't return after release and secretly ran away. The school's security measures are very comprehensive, and no student has been able to sneak out during the closed period.
Hu Zihao, seeing that the teacher didn't believe him, quickly added:
"No, Liu Zunfu usually gets up very late, and we even agreed last Night to go to the cafeteria together this morning. When we woke up this morning and didn't see him, we waited for him for a while, but he never returned to the dorm, and he didn't come to the classroom either... And... his usual clothes are still on his bed... He didn't even put on clothes, where could he go?"
"He didn't even put on clothes?"
Teacher Liu also started to panic a little. Even if he wanted to hide and skip class, he would at least wear clothes. High school students attending a boarding school only have a few sets of clothes, so it's easy to tell if any are missing at a glance. Hu Zihao shouldn't be lying about this.
"...Alright, Hu Zihao, you go to class first. I'll contact the monitoring room immediately. You don't need to worry too much. Our school's surveillance has no blind spots. He might just have something urgent or... it's a prank. I'll find him very quickly."
Hu Zihao nodded upon hearing this. There was no better solution. At present, it was uncertain what exactly happened to Liu Zunfu. After bidding farewell to Teacher Liu, he returned to class.
The last class of the morning was Physics. Second-year Physics was starting to become obscure and difficult, but the students who had just been assigned to their classes still had a three-minute burst of enthusiasm, dreaming that they could keep working hard and achieve good grades to enter a good school. So, very few people were dozing off; everyone was trying hard to listen.
Forty minutes passed quickly. The moment the bell rang for class dismissal, the Physics teacher closed his book. This experienced old teacher was widely praised for never extending class. After telling the students class was dismissed, he quickly left the classroom.
The other students also swarmed out of the classroom, heading straight for the cafeteria, determined to snatch the freshest meals.
Hu Zihao, however, was not as lighthearted as his other classmates; he hadn't even really listened to the content of this class. Since entering high school, Liu Zunfu had been his best friend. Now that Liu Zunfu had inexplicably disappeared, Hu Zihao was still very worried about his situation. It had been an entire morning, yet there was still no news. He planned to wait for the other classmates to leave before going to ask Teacher Liu.
After a while, most of the people in the classroom had left.
"Hu Zihao."
As Hu Zihao was getting up, he heard someone call his name from behind.
He turned around and saw Shi Yu, who was sitting diagonally behind him, waving at him.
"Shi Yu? What's up?"
Hu Zihao was a bit puzzled. Shi Yu was a classmate he had been assigned with after the arts and science division in the second year of high school. He only knew that Shi Yu usually brought many novel-type books back to school during holidays and then shared them with others. Hu Zihao was not usually interested in novels, so he didn't communicate much with Shi Yu, only hearing some things from Liu Zunfu. He didn't know why Shi Yu was suddenly looking for him.
But since he had been called, he should at least listen to what it was about.
Hu Zihao got up and walked to Shi Yu's side, asking again:
"What's up? I have something to do. If it's not urgent, shall we chat later?"
Shi Yu didn't speak immediately. Instead, he stared blankly at him before finally saying:
"I heard... Liu Zunfu... is missing?"
Hu Zihao felt a bit uncomfortable being stared at, but he still replied:
"Yeah, I didn't see him when I woke up this morning. He wasn't even wearing clothes. I don't know where he ran off to."
Hu Zihao looked at the fair-skinned boy in front of him and asked with a hint of confusion:
"Why are you suddenly asking about this? Did you see him?"
Shi Yu paused slightly, seemingly hesitating, but he quickly spoke.
"Hu Zihao, what I'm about to say might be a bit strange... You might not be happy to hear it... but I have a feeling..."
Shi Yu's complexion wasn't good. He subconsciously tugged at his cuff and said hesitantly:
"I've had a strange feeling these past two days, especially when Liu Zunfu got close to me, that feeling was most obvious... I feel like there's something very... terrifying? Or very dangerous about him. I unconsciously want to stay away from him... But when I came to the classroom this morning and heard that Liu Zunfu was missing, when you guys were talking about Liu Zunfu... I... felt..."
Shi Yu looked at Hu Zihao's somewhat grim expression, gritted his teeth, and still spoke the rest of his thoughts.
"I feel like he might already... be gone."
Hu Zihao wasn't a fool. Although he said "be gone," there was no difference from saying he was dead.
Shi Yu's statement was abrupt. A classmate with whom you had little interaction suddenly saying your friend was dead when he was missing would instinctively make one angry. But besides anger, Hu Zihao couldn't rule out this terrifying conjecture. In autumn, in a closed-off school, where could a person hide without clothes? The school was covered by surveillance. If he was found, the head teacher would definitely respond. An entire morning had passed, and the head teacher hadn't even come once. What exactly happened?
Hu Zihao frowned. He was a bit agitated, took a step forward, and looked at Shi Yu, saying:
"Alright! Your statement has no basis, does it? Maybe Liu Zunfu is just playing a prank and will come back later."
Hu Zihao himself didn't believe this statement, but he still spoke it stiffly at this moment.
But Shi Yu didn't stop the conversation. He retreated slightly, the sound of the chair scraping against the classroom floor short and sharp.
Shi Yu swallowed, extended his hand towards Hu Zihao, motioning him not to come closer, and said somewhat flustered:
"Don't come any closer!"
Hu Zihao was bewildered by Shi Yu's attitude. Although he might have seemed a bit agitated just now, it shouldn't have scared Shi Yu like this. He had never heard that Shi Yu was a timid person. On the contrary, Liu Zunfu often said that some of the horror novels Shi Yu read were very scary, so he should be a very brave person. Hu Zihao was about to apologize when he heard something that made his hair stand on end.
Shi Yu's face had turned pale with fright. His words were almost squeezed through his teeth.
"The feeling you're giving me now is even more terrifying than Liu Zunfu. I have a feeling you might also be targeted by something. You'd best leave school."
Shi Yu spoke while backing away. He said:
"I know you might not believe it when I say it, but I've had this kind of experience three times since I was little. Liu Zunfu is the fourth."
Hu Zihao was startled by Shi Yu's words. Although they were inexplicable, he strangely cared. Listening to Shi Yu's narration, he felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar.
"The previous three times, as far as I know, everyone who gave me this feeling, without exception, died."
"Trust me... you will trust me."
Shi Yu's voice was like a cold ice pick piercing into Hu Zihao's spine. He inexplicably felt dizzy.
But he didn't know why, he felt that Shi Yu's words were very, very, very reasonable.
It was as if they had known each other all along. Hu Zihao looked at Shi Yu, and some of the doubts in his heart strangely faded away.
Shi Yu watched Hu Zihao gradually lower his guard. He knew his goal had been achieved.
Hu Zihao had already believed his words.
So Shi Yu continued:
"And Liu Zunfu, he's missing. Next is you... I feel it won't stop. My feelings... are always accurate!"
Shi Yu retreated to the back door of the classroom. The other classmates had already rushed to the cafeteria for lunch when class ended. The other roommates were not particularly close to Liu Zunfu, so now only Shi Yu and Hu Zihao were left in the classroom.
Shi Yu opened the back door. Perhaps the current distance and the open door gave him some sense of security. He let out a sigh, calmed himself, and said:
"That's all I have to say. In any case, I also hope Liu Zunfu is fine. That way, perhaps it can prove that my past feelings were all illusions, and I won't have to occasionally worry because of this feeling. But now, you'd best protect yourself too. Don't be alone. I won't leave immediately. I saw that the class next door had a student on duty. You can go to the cafeteria with someone accompanying you."
Hu Zihao nodded after hearing this. His mood was in a mess right now. He didn't know why, but he had a strange conviction in what Shi Yu, someone he had little interaction with, said. He calmed himself down, and after adjusting, he nodded to Shi Yu and said:
"I... am willing to believe you..."
Shi Yu waved his hand and said:
"It's nothing, I just said what I felt needed to be said. I still stand by what I said, I'd best be wrong, so everyone can be safe and sound... The reason I didn't say it when there were many people is because... if I said it when there were many people, I'd probably be considered crazy... Anyway, let's go first. There are still people leaving from other classes. From now on, it's best to have someone with you. Don't stay somewhere alone. Liu Zunfu's disappearance is very strange, but at least the fact that there are no eyewitnesses confirms that he disappeared when he was alone... Now we just wait for the teacher's reply. Hopefully... he's just playing a prank."
Shi Yu spoke as he walked out of the classroom. He didn't take his eyes off Hu Zihao, gripping the doorknob, eliminating all possibilities. He looked suspicious.
"If anyone else were here, they'd really think he's crazy..."
Hu Zihao thought this as he walked towards the front door. Fortunately, nothing strange happened. In the corridor, a few classmates from the neighboring class who were cleaning just happened to come out, chatting and laughing as they walked downstairs. Hu Zihao gestured to Shi Yu and followed those classmates downstairs.
"....Sigh.....Why am I meddling in such things....."
Shi Yu, watching Hu Zihao leave safely, sighed, his hanging heart finally relieved. He gently closed the back door of the classroom. Just as he turned around, he suddenly bumped into something solid.
"! Damn!"
Shi Yu was startled, recoiled sharply, and looked up at what he had just bumped into.
Shi Yu's heart was pounding. When he was alone facing Hu Zihao in the classroom, that terrifying feeling hadn't diminished. Now, after just relaxing, another scare came, and he felt like his heart was about to burst.
Only after seeing what he had just bumped into did Shi Yu slightly recover.
"What the... Han He, when were you there?"
The "thing" he had just bumped into was Han He, Shi Yu's deskmate.
Classmates' evaluation of Han He:
"A handsome guy who's incredibly quiet and surprisingly strong."
Although they were deskmates, Shi Yu and Han He's communication was only slightly more than with ordinary classmates. Han He was too silent, and they had only been seated together after the arts and science division, so they had only been together for less than a month. Fortunately, neither of them had bad personalities, so there were no frictions, and their relationship could be considered decent.
Just as Shi Yu thought Han He would still respond with only a few words to dismiss him, Han He spoke:
"I heard everything. From when you told Hu Zihao to come over."
Shi Yu was a little surprised but suppressed it and asked:
".....So?"
Han He's dark eyes looked at him, his tone very calm:
"You're not crazy, you're just very special."
"Huh?"
Shi Yu didn't expect such a reply. To be honest, if these words hadn't come from Han He's mouth, he would definitely have thought he was being sarcastic.
"Aren't you going to the cafeteria?"
Han He didn't answer Shi Yu's question but, for the first time, extended an invitation.
Shi Yu really felt that he had experienced too many shocks today and didn't react immediately, only to see Han He still staring at him.
Han He was very tall and incredibly well-built. Being stared at by him gave a sense of oppression. Shi Yu quickly nodded and walked towards Han He. Han He also turned and walked downstairs, the two going to the cafeteria one after the other.
And all the way, to the cafeteria, after eating, until they parted ways to return to their dorms, besides the farewell "See you this afternoon," Han He didn't say another word to Shi Yu. Yet, Shi Yu could feel Han He's gaze; he seemed to be observing him.
Han He, who had spoken those two sentences in the morning, seemed like an illusion. In any case, what Shi Yu considered a "bloody storm" of a morning had passed.
But what he didn't know was that today was the last "ordinary" day of his life.
The world was about to reveal its more hidden side to Shi Yu.