Chapter 38
In the darkness, the outlines of the Lip-faced monsters grew clearer. They flail their arms and legs, mouths gaping and drooling as they charge forward.
A sea of mouths, dense and layered, stretched endlessly into the horizon—a horrifying sight.
Yu Zhi’s throat bobbed as he swallowed. When he’d been with Lu Liming and Zuo Feiyang, he hadn’t felt much fear. At least if he died, he wouldn’t die alone.
Now, facing an uncountable number of pollutants by himself, his nerves began to fray, and the pressure mounted.
Wiping the sweat from his palms, Yu Zhi cautiously stepped back.
When the leading Lip-faced monster was less than two meters away, he used the “Ordinary Kick” ability to sidestep to the right, darting into the corner.
He turned to watch the approaching army of Lip-faced monsters closely.
Not one missed a beat as they pursued him, though their leading members struggled to round the corner. A few collided clumsily with the ones behind them, tumbling to the ground only to be trampled over as others surged forward.
“….”
The “Warrior of Lip Love” title wasn’t a joke.
Yu Zhi scanned his surroundings before sprinting toward the staircase.
This section was full of administrative offices, and every door he passed had turned into an ugly, dripping mouth oozing saliva.
There likely weren’t any survivors here, and so far, he hadn’t seen signs of anyone else.
Noticing his universal coin balance fluctuating, Yu Zhi stole a glance at the barrage of comments in his livestream:
[User “Strongest King” reminds you of the fate of characters who split up in horror movies.]
[User “Mr. Bunny” suggests you stay where you are.]
[User “Pure Love Warrior” praises your honorary title to no end.]
[User “momo” wonders why pollutants are so obsessed with you and tips 20 universal coins.]
Seeing a generous viewer for once, Yu Zhi smirked and quipped, “Because I’m the Warrior of Lip Love.”
[User “momo” questions your answer and reminds you that the pollutants were already fixated on you before you earned the honorary title.]
Glancing at momo’s ID, Yu Zhi realized they were new.
Pollutants had been drawn to him long before this scenario.
For the sake of the tip, Yu Zhi added, “Because I smell good.”
[User “momo” expresses curiosity about your scent and tips another 20 universal coins.]
During the conversation, the staircase came into view.
Yu Zhi bolted up the stairs, glanced at the rooftop door, and kicked it open with a sharp motion.
Grinning, he said to the livestream comments, “My scent? Obviously—”
“Manly charm!”
“….”
The comments paused for a moment, before resuming at a furious pace:
[User “momo” doubts your answer and urges you to reveal the truth.]
[User “Gaze of the Abyss” commends your shamelessness.]
[User “World’s Cutest Girl” reminds you someone has prophesied your death.]
[User “Rich Young Master Supreme” compliments your graceful escape and tips 0.1 universal coins.]
[User “National Tactical Humanoid Weapon” suggests you use your ability to eliminate the pollutants.]
“I’m telling the truth. If you don’t believe me, come smell for yourself,” Yu Zhi replied while quickly surveying the rooftop.
The rooftop was empty. The sky above was pitch black, as if covered by a massive, heavy curtain. No stars, no moonlight—just an oppressive darkness.
Yu Zhi sprinted to the edge of the rooftop and leaned on the railing to peer down.
The dim street lights illuminated the ground below. He couldn’t see any pollutants; it seemed they’d all entered the school building. The campus was eerily silent, devoid of life.
Suddenly, the quiet was broken by the rush of frantic footsteps.
Yu Zhi turned around. Countless Lip-faced monsters swarmed onto the rooftop, charging at him without hesitation.
Leaning against the railing, Yu Zhi tried reasoning with them. “Does anyone—any mouth—know who the pollutant source is?”
The Lip-faced monsters didn’t respond. They simply kept advancing with their mouths wide open, drooling incessantly.
In a flash, they were ten meters away.
Yu Zhi continued, “I heard the source is Chen Wan.”
Still no reaction. Their movements were unchanged, and their gaping mouths drooled more as they charged at him.
Yu Zhi’s eyes stayed locked on them as he rattled off more names. “Chen Tingting? Wang Lili? Zuo Feiyang? Zhou Shuren?”
No matter what he said, the Lip-faced monsters didn’t respond. They seemed completely crazed, saliva spraying everywhere, singularly focused on devouring him.
Five meters.
Three meters.
One meter.
The lead Lip-faced monsters stretched its neck forward and lunged at Yu Zhi with its gaping mouth.
[Kick the Lower Lawn.]
In an instant, Yu Zhi disappeared.
The Lip-face monsters froze, biting down on nothing but sweet-smelling air. Before it could close its mouth, a tremendous force shoved it off the rooftop.
The pollutants behind, unaware of what had happened, instinctively followed the scent and surged forward.
“Thud—”
“Thud—”
“Thud—”
The muffled sound of bodies hitting the ground echoed repeatedly as countless Lip-faced monsters fell from the rooftop. Some smashed onto the concrete, their limbs twisting and deforming, while others landed in trees, their bodies impaled on branches.
Their bodies were mangled and broken, but their long, thin necks remained intact. They slithered on the ground like snakes, stretching their necks and opening their wide, gaping mouths.
Yu Zhi wiped the foul blood splattered on his eyelids and glanced up at the rooftop.
The Lip-faced monsters above were still peering down, their dark silhouettes looming ominously. Sticky, putrid saliva dripped steadily from the rooftop, falling like a grotesque drizzle.
[Kick the rooftop railing!]
[Kick the Lower Lawn!]
[Rooftop railing!]
[Lawn!]
*
After repeating the process several times, the once-green lawn below the teaching building was now stained deep crimson, soaked in splattered blood.
For a brief moment, the thick metallic scent of blood overpowered the pervasive meat aroma in the air.
Yu Zhi’s pale cheeks were streaked with blood, and a few drops clung to his long lashes. The fresh blood added a sharp edge to his soft, delicate features.
Casually, he severed the neck of a nearby Lip-faced monster and looked toward the first-year teaching building.
Is Xiao Ming doing okay over there?
*
First-Year Teaching Building
“Class 1-8, Class 1-7… Class 1-5 should be just ahead,” Zuo Feiyang said. “The noise has stopped. Brother Yu should be fine, right?”
Without hesitation, Lu Liming replied, “Brother Yu is definitely fine. He’s Brother Yu, after all. Even if we’re in trouble, Brother Yu wouldn’t be.”
Zuo Feiyang: “…”
That second sentence was completely unnecessary.
Glancing back, Zuo Feiyang saw no signs of pollutants following them.
Recalling how Yu Zhi had effortlessly lured the pollutants to the office earlier, Zuo Feiyang couldn’t help but ask, “Xiao Ming, do you know how Brother Yu managed to lead those pollutants away?”
Lu Liming answered confidently, “That’s Brother Yu for you.”
Zuo Feiyang pressed, “So?”
After a moment’s thought, Lu Liming declared firmly, “Brother Yu has his own unique charm!”
“Charm?” Zuo Feiyang scanned the classroom nameplates ahead, then asked, “What kind of charm?”
Lu Liming gave him a strange look. “Obviously, the kind that attracts pollutants.”
Zuo Feiyang: “…”
That’s the most pointless answer I’ve ever heard.
He was about to ask if it was due to some ability or a system-issued item when he turned his head, and his flashlight illuminated Lu Liming’s face.
What he saw made him stop abruptly.
Lu Liming’s face was blurry, like an old photograph. Though faintly visible, it was shrouded in a hazy mist.
A chill ran up Zuo Feiyang’s spine. His voice trembled. “You…”
Lu Liming swallowed hard and stammered, “You—you feel something’s off too, don’t you?”
Zuo Feiyang hesitated. “You can see it too?”
“My eyesight is 20/20,” Lu Liming said, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead. “I saw the Class 1-7 nameplate for a second time. A high school shouldn’t have two Class 1-7s, right? And it doesn’t even say if it’s for arts or sciences… Oh, wait, do high schools still separate arts and sciences? I think I heard somewhere they switched to elective courses…”
The more nervous he got, the more he babbled, rambling on without end.
Zuo Feiyang listened to him prattle on and suddenly realized they weren’t talking about the same thing. He quickly turned his flashlight toward the front.
The dim beam illuminated the rusty nameplate for Class 1-7 once again.
Zuo Feiyang’s heart sank. The nameplate was identical to the one they’d passed earlier.
He turned to look back, but the flashlight barely lit more than a meter or two in the pitch-black corridor.
The hallway stretched into the darkness, an infinite void with no end in sight.
Looking at Lu Liming again, Zuo Feiyang saw that his face was still blurry, and his lips were unnaturally pale, drained of all color.
His face had changed, but his mind seemed clear enough.
Swallowing the words about mental contamination, Zuo Feiyang said instead, “Let’s keep moving forward and see.”
The two of them sprinted ahead, running past Class 1-7 without a second glance.
Their footsteps and labored breathing echoed through the deathly silent corridor.
Before long, the nameplate for Class 1-7 appeared again.
No matter how far they ran, forward or backward, the nameplate for Class 1-7 was always ahead.
They were trapped.
*
Outside the Teaching Building
The blood-soaked lawn was littered with pollutants whose lips had separated from their bodies.
A thin figure stood amidst the corpses, holding a phone. Glancing at the screen, he checked the time.
It had been ten minutes since he’d separated from Xiao Ming and Xiao Zuo.
By now, they should have reached Class 1-5, right?
Glancing at the teaching building, Yu Zhi used a standard ability to teleport himself closer, speeding along the familiar path toward Class 1-5 as quickly as possible.
Before long, he arrived on the third floor of the first-year teaching building.
Reaching the corridor, he abruptly stopped in his tracks.
Xiao Zuo and Xiao Ming were nowhere to be seen.
Yu Zhi frowned. Ten minutes was more than enough time for the two of them to have searched the entire first-year building.
Did they get lost? Or had something unexpected happened?
He flashed to the door of Class 1-5. Like the other classrooms, its front and back doors had transformed into glossy, lip-shaped barriers, tightly sealed. The windows were coated with sticky saliva, making it impossible to see inside.
Holding his breath, Yu Zhi strained to catch any sound in the teaching building.
The pollutants had fallen eerily silent at some point. The entire building was deathly still.
All he could hear was the frenzied pounding of his own heartbeat.
Something wasn’t right. It was far too quiet.
At that moment, the barrage of comments in his livestream exploded.
[User “World’s Cutest Girl” reminds you that someone has prophesied your death and tips you 10 universal coins.]
[User “World’s Cutest Girl” reminds you that someone has prophesied your death and tips you 10 universal coins.]
[User “World’s Cutest Girl” reminds you that someone has prophesied your death and tips you 10 universal coins.]
[User “World’s Cutest Girl” reminds you that someone has prophesied your death and tips you 10 universal coins.]
Yu Zhi’s eyelid twitches. He’d seen “World’s Cutest Girl” post a similar comment earlier but had ignored it.
Now they were spamming it.
After the spam, another comment from them appeared:
[User “World’s Cutest Girl” reminds you that the prophet has a 100% accuracy rate and tips you 10 universal coins.]
Yu Zhi’s eyelid twitches even more violently. Why would such a powerful ability user waste their time prophesying the death of someone as ordinary as him?
Were they that bored?
Wait a minute…
His eyes widened as a belated realization struck him.
He wasn’t just some ordinary nobody anymore.
He was now a nobody being hunted by the protagonist.
Could that lunatic Fu Suxi have found someone to prophesy about him?
Suddenly, the lip-shaped door to Class 1-5 creaked open, and a wave of meat-scented heat wafted onto Yu Zhi’s face.
“It’s so late—what are you doing loitering outside?!”
Startled by the voice, Yu Zhi reflexively turned to look.
The lip-shaped door had opened, but there was nothing at the entrance—just an empty doorway.
The next second, an intense blast of hot air hit him. His vision went black, and he couldn’t react in time, not even to use his standard ability.
The world spun wildly as the scene before him shifted abruptly.
Pink, fleshy gums. Massive teeth, tightly clenched together, sealing the space completely. No light from the outside could penetrate.
He was inside Class 1-5.
