Chapter 48: A College Student’s Half-Day

The next morning, Xia Jiuwei woke up early.

Rolling onto her side, she looked at Lu Nian'an, who was still fast asleep, and gently shook her.

"Wake up. Didn't you say you'd come to class with me today?"

"Just... let me sleep a little longer..."

Lu Nian'an mumbled drowsily, burrowing even deeper beneath the blanket.

"No. Get up now."

As she spoke, Xia Jiuwei slowly reached over before pinching her lightly at the waist.

"Ah!"

With a startled cry, Lu Nian'an shot upright, instantly awake. Rubbing the spot she'd been attacked, she looked at Xia Jiuwei with a helpless smile.

"Morning."

The corners of Xia Jiuwei's lips lifted.

"Mm. Morning."

Seeing Lu Nian'an's sleepy, half-awake expression somehow made her want to laugh.

Rubbing her eyes, Lu Nian'an glanced at the clock.

"It's only 6:50. Class doesn't start until 8:10. Why are we getting up this early?"

"We have to account for commuting."

Xia Jiuwei answered as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"And we still need breakfast."

Lu Nian'an blinked.

"Why commute? We could just teleport."

Tilting her head, she looked genuinely puzzled.

Xia Jiuwei fell silent for a few seconds.

"...Using it all the time doesn't feel right. I'd rather live a little more like a normal person."

"I guess."

Although she didn't really understand, Lu Nian'an couldn't help finding Xia Jiuwei adorable whenever she became serious about things like this.

Their lives had long since become anything but normal, yet she still stubbornly held onto ordinary human habits.

At the dining table.

"Breakfast."

Xia Jiuwei placed a steamed bun and a cup of soy milk in front of Lu Nian'an.

"Stop spacing out and eat."

She casually checked the time.

7:10.

Without another word, she picked up her own soy milk and gulped down more than half of it before stuffing the steamed bun into her mouth. Within seconds, both cheeks had puffed out.

Watching her, Lu Nian'an couldn't hold back her laughter and nearly sprayed soy milk across the table.

"Mmph! Mmph!"

Xia Jiuwei immediately glared at her, trying to urge her to hurry up, but with her mouth completely full, all that came out was a series of unintelligible muffled sounds.

That only made Lu Nian'an smile even wider.

"Alright, alright. I know."

She didn't even have to guess. One look at Xia Jiuwei's expression was enough to understand exactly what she meant.

So she picked up the pace as well.

By the time they finished breakfast and cleaned up, it was exactly 7:20.

After changing into fresh clothes, they headed downstairs together.

The elevator descended floor by floor.

Ding.

The doors slid open.

Hand in hand, Xia Jiuwei and Lu Nian'an stepped outside.

"Mia, aren't we driving?"

Lu Nian'an suddenly asked.

Xia Jiuwei turned toward her.

"I was thinking we'd take the bus and the MRT."

"But driving's faster."

"It doesn't really matter."

She had barely finished speaking before Lu Nian'an tugged her back into the elevator.

"Come on. Basement."

"Huh?"

The doors closed again, carrying them down to B1.

As they exited the parking garage, both of them instinctively glanced in several directions.

Then, almost in perfect sync, looked away as if they hadn't noticed anything.

"So annoying. Those things again."

Hidden pinhole cameras scattered throughout the garage—placed there to monitor Xia Jiuwei—made her mutter under her breath.

"If you don't like them, we can just get rid of them."

Lu Nian'an said it as casually as if she were suggesting moving a chair.

Xia Jiuwei hesitated before shaking her head.

"...Forget it."

With a sigh, she walked toward their parking space and instinctively headed for the passenger seat.

Just as she reached for the door handle, however, Lu Nian'an slipped into the passenger seat first, settling herself comfortably before even adjusting her posture.

"Hey!"

Xia Jiuwei froze.

"That's my seat."

"You can drive too, can't you?"

Lu Nian'an blinked innocently.

"I don't have a driver's license."

Without saying a word, Lu Nian'an pulled her license from her pocket and held it up.

A ribbon of black shadow flowed over the card, and the photograph instantly transformed into Xia Jiuwei's face.

"You're just wearing my identity."

Xia Jiuwei couldn't help complaining.

Leaning back against the seat, Lu Nian'an replied calmly,

"But this world's laws don't really apply to us anymore, do they?"

Xia Jiuwei paused before letting out a helpless laugh.

"I really can't win against you."

She climbed into the driver's seat, accepted the keys Lu Nian'an handed over, and started the car with practiced ease.

A few moments later, the vehicle rolled out of the underground parking garage.

They arrived much earlier than Xia Jiuwei had originally expected.

By 7:45, they were already walking out of the parking lot beside the department building.

Still holding hands, they entered the lecture hall for their first class.

Looking around at the nearly empty room, Lu Nian'an raised an eyebrow.

"Did we get here a little too early?"

"...Yeah."

The two took seats in the very last row.

In the spacious lecture hall, they were the only people there.

It wasn't until shortly before 8:10 that students gradually began filing in.

Many of Xia Jiuwei's classmates greeted her as they passed, yet strangely, none of them seemed to notice Lu Nian'an sitting right beside her.

Not long afterward, the professor entered, and class officially began.

Barely fifteen minutes later, however, Xia Jiuwei was already getting restless.

She quietly leaned closer.

"I'm so bored."

Lu Nian'an turned toward her with amusement dancing in her eyes.

"So?"

"Keep me company."

She said it as though it were the most reasonable request imaginable.

Lu Nian'an almost burst out laughing.

"You're the one who insisted on coming to class, and now you're complaining that it's boring?... You're unbelievable."

Xia Jiuwei shot her a glare.

"Mind your own business."

"If you're that bored, why don't we just go home?"

Lu Nian'an rested her chin on one hand as she spoke lazily.

"Honestly, even if you never graduate from college, I'd be more than happy to support you."

Xia Jiuwei considered the idea very seriously for about two seconds.

"...I'd better finish my degree. Then I'll officially be one of the top students."

Lu Nian'an stared at her in silence before rubbing her forehead.

"You're literally the master of the Under-Reality. The kind of person capable of destroying the world... and you're here trying to earn a college diploma?"

"Is there a problem with that?"

Xia Jiuwei replied without the slightest embarrassment.

The two locked eyes for several long seconds.

In the end, Lu Nian'an simply laughed and shook her head.

"Fine, fine. Whatever makes you happy."

The first class ended.

Just as Xia Jiuwei was about to head to the next lecture with Lu Nian'an, a nearby conversation caused her to pause.

"Hey, did you hear? Xiaoyue apparently got sick and took a leave of absence. She's overseas for treatment now."

"Seriously? I just saw her a few days ago, and she looked completely fine."

"Check her social media. She posted about it."

"Oh... you're right. That happened so suddenly."

The two girls continued chatting quietly as they disappeared down the hallway.

Xia Jiuwei remained where she was, listening in silence.

Her expression barely changed.

After a moment, she resumed walking.

Holding her hand, Lu Nian'an was quiet for a while before speaking softly.

"If I ever find her... I'll make sure she pays for what she did."

Xia Jiuwei blinked, then smiled faintly.

"Forget it."

"Human nature is just like that."

Looking out through the corridor windows toward the sky, she spoke calmly.

"Maybe I should even thank her."

"She made me see reality a little sooner."

Even so, a trace of loneliness flickered across her violet eyes before disappearing.

Lu Nian'an gently shook her head.

"No."

Her grip tightened around Xia Jiuwei's hand.

"The person who did something wrong should pay the price."

"The fact that the damage has already been done doesn't mean it never happened."

Xia Jiuwei didn't answer immediately.

Instead, she lowered her eyes to their intertwined hands.

The warmth in Lu Nian'an's palm was comforting—so comforting that she found herself reluctant to let go.

After a while, she gave a quiet response.

"...Mm."

Though her voice was soft, an unconscious smile had already begun to form.

Perhaps because Lu Nian'an was beside her, the heaviness weighing on her heart had eased, if only a little.

The second lecture was just as mind-numbing as the first.

Leaning back in her chair, Xia Jiuwei half-listened to the lecture while quietly bickering with Lu Nian'an beside her.

By the third class, the professor had reverted to reading directly from the slides before announcing that everyone would be forming groups for the final project.

The moment Xia Jiuwei heard the words "group project," she frowned.

She had always hated group work.

It required endless communication, coordination, and waiting for other people. Doing everything herself was far more efficient.

"Xia Jiuwei, want to join our group?"

One of her classmates waved at her.

"I'll pass."

She declined without hesitation.

The classmate simply nodded before going off to find someone else, as though her refusal were the most natural thing in the world.

"So..."

Lu Nian'an poked Xia Jiuwei's utterly lifeless expression.

"What exactly did you come to university for?"

"To integrate into society, obviously."

Xia Jiuwei answered with complete confidence.

"I want to live like a normal person."

"Then why aren't you joining a group?"

"Group projects are troublesome."

"...Then how about we stop pretending to be normal?"

"..."

Xia Jiuwei responded by silently glaring at her.

The fourth class was an exam—Introduction to Psychology.

Looking down at the test paper, Xia Jiuwei found the questions almost laughably easy.

She finished the entire exam in no time.

For the rest of the period, she could only prop up her chin and stare into space.

I'm soooo bored...

Her gaze drifted across the lecture hall.

At some point, she'd begun feeling as though an invisible barrier separated her from everyone else around her.

They occupied the same lecture hall, yet it felt as though they lived in entirely different worlds.

That feeling only became stronger after class ended.

"What do you want for lunch?"

Lu Nian'an tilted her head toward her teasingly.

"What is it? Had enough of school already?"

Xia Jiuwei thought about it for a moment before nodding seriously.

"...Actually, yes."

"Let's just go home for lunch."

The moment the words left her mouth, she reached for Lu Nian'an's hand.

In the next instant, both of them vanished.

Inside the manor within the Under-Reality, fine snow still drifted silently beyond the windows.

Sitting by the window with a plate of pastries Lu Nian'an had just prepared, Xia Jiuwei quietly admired the snowy landscape.

After a long silence, she suddenly spoke.

"Do you think I'm a freak?"

Lu Nian'an blinked.

"What do you mean?"

Still looking out at the falling snow, Xia Jiuwei answered calmly.

"I'm not a normal person anymore."

"Don't you think I'm strange?"

She paused.

"If I'm no longer human... then what am I?"

"Will I become a monster?"

Silence settled over the room.

After a few seconds, Lu Nian'an asked in return,

"Do you think I'm a monster?"

"No."

Xia Jiuwei answered without hesitation.

"But I'm not exactly normal either."

Lu Nian'an reached over and gently pinched her cheek.

"Maybe you're different from ordinary people."

"But you're not the only one."

After a brief pause, she took Xia Jiuwei's hand.

"At the very least..."

"You still have me."

"I'm someone like you."

Xia Jiuwei froze for a moment.

Then Lu Nian'an suddenly laughed.

"Besides, you're honestly kind of funny."

"You spend every day trying to live like a normal person..."

"...and somehow you still manage to do it all wrong."

"It's hilarious."

"Hey!"

Xia Jiuwei immediately turned to glare at her.

"Don't say that."

"What?"

Lu Nian'an blinked innocently.

"Embarrassed?"

"I'm not."

"Really?"

"I'm not. I'm not!"

Watching Xia Jiuwei bristle like an offended cat, Lu Nian'an finally burst into laughter.

Yet even as she laughed, she could still feel the lingering gloom buried deep inside Xia Jiuwei's heart.

After giving it some thought, she suddenly made a suggestion.

"How about we visit the zombie world?"

"A change of scenery might help."

Xia Jiuwei blinked.

After two seconds of silence, a genuine smile finally appeared.

"...Okay."