Sunday was the only day Yu hua could rest.
Yesterday’s overtime had left him physically and mentally exhausted.
Today, he lay sprawled in his chair, unwilling to move, aimlessly playing games with his two other roommates.
Lin Ling had vanished early in the morning—most likely off to hunt down that Disseminator who dared to break into the Ability Bureau’s containment facility.
Yu hua thought today would pass uneventfully.
However, without warning, a sharp alarm blared.
“A Nomalous Entity has appeared in Dormitory A2, all students please evacuate immediately! An Anomalous Entity has appeared in North Dormitory Building Two, all students please evacuate immediately!”
After the Anomaly Tide, all major campuses had installed comprehensive broadcast systems to ensure everyone could be notified in emergencies at once.
“What kind of Anomalous Entity is this, to actually trigger the alarm?”
Yu hua hadn’t heard that sound at school in a long time.
By now, most Anomalous Entities had already been contained; any that did appear tended to be weak, minor anomalies missed due to faint ability reactions.
For the alarm to go off here, it probably meant a B-Class Anomalous Entity had appeared.
Though the game was still ongoing, nothing was more important than staying alive.
The three of them, with silent coordination, typed “Anomalous Entity, time to run” on the global chat, then unhesitatingly tossed aside their mouse and keyboard, joining the panicked crowd flooding out of the Dormitory Building.
Yuhua’s dorm was in Dormitory A1, separated from the incident site, Dormitory A2, by only a single wall.
By the time they ran outside, the students from the Ability Response and Management major had already reacted swiftly, cordoning off A2’s entrances and exits, sealing it tight.
Heroes were extremely rare among the general populace—about one in ten thousand.
Given that, the entire Shuicheng University of Technology likely had only three or four Heroes.
And S-Class Liu Jin was away on assignment, Yuhua hadn’t transformed, and the remaining one or two possible Heroes hadn’t shown up—probably also off campus.
Fortunately, these Ability Response students received relevant training and were authorized to use standard ability equipment in emergencies.
They quickly fetched firearms, Magic Web Scrolls, and all sorts of formidable-looking tools from the storage room, taking up positions at the dorm entrance, staring nervously inside.
Soon, the culprit behind the commotion leisurely sauntered out from the shadows of the dormitory…
It was an Orange Tabby Cat.
“What the— I thought it’d be some formidable Anomalous Entity,” Liu Shixing instantly breathed a sigh of relief at the sight.
“Turns out it’s just a cat… Why make such a fuss?”
“You can’t judge an Anomalous Entity’s strength by its appearance,” Yuhua habitually corrected and explained on the side.
“If the alarm was triggered, it definitely isn’t simple.”
Although the area inside the cordon was dangerous, outside, a crowd of thrill-seeking onlookers had quickly gathered.
Yuhua and his two roommates squeezed over, ending up beside a guy with a Professional Single-Lens Reflex Camera slung on his back, looking very knowledgeable.
Not only the onlookers—even the students armed with equipment visibly relaxed when they saw it was a cat, many lowering their weapons.
One of them took out a Magic Web Scroll specifically for capture, activated it, and threw it toward the Orange Tabby Cat, attempting to safely contain it.
However, that Orange Tabby was clearly not as simple as they imagined.
Its ears pinned back, it lifted its round head, and as the magical web descended, instead of resisting head-on, it let out a menacing hiss, then nimbly rolled aside, dodging the web entirely.
Immediately after, it tensed its hind legs and, like a streak of orange lightning, leapt at the nearest student, clawing at him in a wild frenzy.
“Merciful heavens, what a merciless hiss. This cat has probably gathered every cat meme and evolved into the Cat Apex Form.”
The professional beside them swiftly snapped photos, commenting in awe as he worked.
“So, what did you see?”
Even Yuhua couldn’t tell, without transforming, what memes this cat had gained.
“Sevenfold Human Reaction Speed, the indomitable vitality of a Nine Lives Monster Cat. Luckily, it hasn’t displayed its most terrifying ‘Spiny-Back Dragon Form’ yet…”
No sooner had he finished speaking than, as if to prove his point, the Orange Tabby Cat that had just scratched a student suddenly leapt down, letting out a low, warning growl.
Its back arched high, fur puffed out, and its previously plump body instantly swelled a size, assuming a Spiny-Back Dragon-like posture, looming imposingly on the ground.
“Oh no, it’s entered Spiny-Back Dragon Form! Run!”
The professional’s face changed dramatically.
He hurriedly packed up his camera, grabbed his bag, and squeezed through the crowd in an instant, escaping without a trace.
“What are you waiting for? Didn’t you see even the expert ran? Run!”
Seeing the expert bolt, Yu hua immediately pushed his two stunned roommates, fleeing with the panicked crowd away from the dormitory.
The onlookers scattered like startled birds, leaving only those students armed with ability equipment, who braced themselves and pulled out all sorts of weapons to confront the Orange Tabby now in Spiny-Back Dragon Form.
Naturally, Yuhua couldn’t help but worry about them.
He shoved his two roommates to a relatively safe spot, saying, “I’ll go wait outside, you two stay safe,” and then turned to run farther away.
Seeing the two of them didn’t follow, Yuhua took the chance to duck into a restroom in one of the teaching buildings.
Most people had been evacuated, so the stalls were empty inside and out.
Yuhua locked the door, and whispered the words “Transform.”
Amid swirling rainbow light, Magic Girl Shui Hua completed her transformation with a spinning dance.
By the time Shui Hua arrived, the scene was a complete mess.
The Orange Tabby Cat’s Spiny-Back Dragon mode was fully unleashed, launching frenzied attacks at the students barely holding up their Magic Barrier, its sharp claws screeching against the shield, sparks flying.
“I am Magic Girl Shui Hua.”
She landed firmly between the Orange Tabby and the students, blue twin-tails and skirt fluttering in the wind.
“Leave the rest to me!”
The Orange Tabby, seeing Shui Hua dare to stand in its way, instantly switched targets in its fury and pounced at her.
Shui Hua activated Pain Masking Magic and threw a punch, but to the Orange Tabby with Sevenfold Human Reaction Speed, it might as well have been standing still.
The cat zipped up her arm, claws flashing, aiming for Shui Hua’s face.
“No— Don’t scratch my face…”
Poor Shui Hua had barely finished showing off for a few seconds before the Orange Tabby was spinning her around like a top.
The students watched Shui Hua being whirled about, utterly different from the cute, elegant Magic Girl in their minds, and were left frozen in shock.
Only Shui Hua worried that if she didn’t draw the cat’s aggro well enough, it might end up hurting the students.
“Don’t just stand there, run!”