3:00 AM…
At this hour, the world lay in absolute silence; most people were already deep in their dreams. Everyone in the dormitory had long since gone to sleep, except for Luna, who was the sole exception…
So hungry…
She lay on her bed, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep. In fact, she had fallen asleep as early as one o’clock. But now, waves of hunger ruthlessly roused her awake.
“So hungry…”
Usually, if she got hungry in the middle of the night, she would force herself to endure it and wait until morning to buy breakfast.
But tonight, the hunger was unusually intense, making it impossible to bear!
I really want to eat something…
Maybe I should just go to the living room and get some snacks…
She was quite puzzled, not understanding why she was suddenly so hungry tonight. Unable to withstand it any longer, she decided to sneak out to the living room to find something to eat.
She remembered that before going to sleep, she had already finished her own portion of fried chicken. She had even eaten her sister’s leftover share. Logically, she shouldn’t be this hungry so soon.
That fried chicken shop really is delicious; I’ll buy some again next time!
Luna got up quietly from the bed and tiptoed to open the bedroom door.
The entire dormitory was engulfed in a deep silence, as if any slightest noise would be magnified infinitely.
To avoid waking her sleeping roommates and to cover up her midnight snacking, Luna carefully padded barefoot to the living room.
She slowly approached the table, standing before the bag filled with snacks, unable to suppress a gulp.
Now came the nerve-wracking and thrilling part: grabbing the snacks!
Since it was so late at night, the surroundings were exceptionally quiet, and the sound of rummaging through the snack bag would undoubtedly be loud.
Combining these factors, it would be like a phone suddenly ringing at full volume in someone’s deep sleep — enough to wake anyone!
So her mission was clear: fast! ruthless! precise!
Luna had already locked onto her targets—two ham sandwiches and a bag of potato chips. With quick eyes and hands, she decisively snatched them from the bag!
Throughout the process, the bag emitted only a faint rustling sound, which was practically negligible thanks to the dormitory door’s decent soundproofing.
Soon enough, she returned to the bedroom with her “spoils” and quietly locked the door behind her. Before closing it completely, she carefully listened for any sounds outside to ensure everything was normal.
Once she confirmed there was no noise outside, Luna felt at ease and switched on the light. Sitting at her desk, she began to enjoy her midnight feast, finally satiating her growling stomach.
Mmm~ so tasty, so good—
Before long, she devoured the two sandwiches and then quickly finished the last potato chip, downing the remaining drink on the table.
But as she wiped her mouth, a sudden realization hit her—her hunger hadn’t lessened one bit. If anything, it had only intensified!
What’s going on?
Why am I getting even hungrier!?
Luna felt as if her stomach had turned into a bottomless pit, never to be filled…
Though she had eaten quite a lot, the hunger only grew stronger!
After much hesitation, she decided to open her bedroom door once again and sneak back into the living room. This time, she took all the remaining snack bags with her, intending to finish everything in her room.
At this point, Luna was completely consumed by her craving for food and no longer cared if she was caught sneaking snacks.
Fortunately, Xiao Xi and the others remained deeply asleep, oblivious to everything happening outside. Even with all the noise Luna made, they weren’t disturbed in their sweet dreams.
Back in the bedroom, Luna eagerly tore open one snack bag after another, shoveling the contents into her mouth like a ravenous beast.
She no longer cared what exactly she was eating, mechanically repeating the action, desperately trying to fill the emptiness in her stomach!
So hungry…
Why am I still so hungry!
Luna muttered to herself. Despite eating bag after bag of snacks, the hunger didn’t subside at all; it only grew stronger.
She even began to feel weak and fatigued from the prolonged hunger.
What… is going on!?
Before long, the first snack bag was emptied, and Luna hastily tore open the second one.
Still hungry…
She kept shouting silently inside. Luna knew that if her roommates found the snack bags gone by morning, they would definitely guess it was her.
Especially her sister; if she found out, she would definitely scold her harshly.
But at this moment, Luna no longer cared. The instinct of hunger drove her to keep eating. She no longer knew how many snacks she had consumed, yet the hunger remained like a shadow, impossible to shake off.
Let sister scold me if she wants to.
Luna thought to herself, now fully swallowed by hunger, with her reason completely overtaken.
“It seems… you’re in trouble, kid.”
Suddenly, a female voice sounded from inside the room, immediately drawing her attention. Startled, she stopped eating and slowly stood up to look toward the voice.
Eliza was sitting on her bed, calmly watching her.
“Eliza…”
Luna’s heart filled with confusion as she struggled to regain her composure!
How did she suddenly appear here?
They hadn’t seen each other since the test ended. What was she up to now?
The young girl gently stood up and walked over to Luna, cupping her face softly with her fair hands to meet her gaze.
“Just as I thought.”
Then Eliza released her hold, her face showing a knowing expression as if she had expected this all along.
Strangely, after locking eyes with her, Luna’s mind suddenly cleared significantly.
“Do you know what’s happening to me? Eliza!?”
Luna asked urgently, still tormented by hunger but more desperate to know the reason behind all this. She felt Eliza must know what was going on.
As Luna had guessed, Eliza did know the reason, but it was an answer she was extremely reluctant to hear.
“Mm, from what I see, you need to drink blood, kid,” Eliza said slowly.
“Drink blood!?”
Luna exclaimed in shock, completely caught off guard by the answer.
Seeing Luna’s stunned reaction, Eliza immediately cast a [ Soundproof Barrier ] around the entire room to ensure their conversation wouldn’t leak outside.
“What exactly is going on, Eliza!? Why do I need to drink blood?”
Luna asked her, confusion etched all over her face.
Eliza took a deep breath and spoke slowly:
“…It’s because of your body, kid. If you trust me, just listen.”
Luna fell silent after hearing Eliza’s words.
Though full of doubt and unease, she ultimately chose to trust Eliza.
After all, there was no one else she could believe right now.
Eliza understood this body better than anyone else.
“You expended more Magical Power today than your body could store, which has caused this intense ‘hunger’ for magic. What you’re feeling as hunger is actually your body’s warning that your Magical Power is nearly depleted.”
“Magical Power… depleted?”
Luna looked at her puzzled. So far, she had never experienced her magic running out and knew nothing about it.
“That’s right. If your Magical Power is consumed too quickly, you’ll need to ‘replenish magic’ by drinking human blood. This is determined by your body constitution.”
“My body constitution?”
Luna was even more confused.
“Yes, for ordinary humans, when magic runs out, they can restore it by eating and resting. But your body is different; these methods can only restore very limited Magical Power.”
“So, kid, in your case, the only way now is to drink blood,” Eliza emphasized once again.
Luna pondered deeply after hearing this.
She wasn’t sure if Eliza was telling the truth or hiding some ulterior motive.
After all, drinking blood was something utterly unfathomable to her.
I’m just a human!
“Do you trust me?”
Eliza suddenly asked, pulling her back from her thoughts.
“I…” Luna hesitated, unsure.
Noticing this, Eliza moved closer, nearly pressing against her, locking her eyes firmly, “Are you doubting me? Don’t you believe what I’m telling you?”
Luna fell silent again, unsure how to respond.
After a long moment, she slowly said, “I…”
Eliza cut her off gently but firmly, “I’m part of your body, so I understand this body to some extent. You have to believe me—I would never harm you.”
As she spoke, Eliza’s fingers lightly pointed to Luna’s heart, her gaze filled with unwavering certainty.
“You’d better listen to me, kid. If you don’t resolve this soon, the problem will only get worse!”
Eliza’s tone was authoritative and impossible to refuse. She stared deeply at Luna, seemingly waiting for her reply.
“Worse!?”
Luna’s voice trembled slightly.
“Yes, right now you only feel hunger. But if you delay any longer, you’ll be unable to resist the urge to drink blood, and then…”
Eliza’s voice turned serious, warning, “You will lose your mind and become a monster that only wants to drink blood.”
After hearing Eliza’s words, Luna felt a chill run down her spine. The consequences if that happened would be unthinkable!
“So, drink some blood quickly, kid,” Eliza urged.
Luna bit her lip. Though still hesitant, she chose to trust Eliza:
“But… alright.”
However, a new problem confronted her: she had no experience with this and didn’t know where to get blood.
There was no way she could go to her sister’s room and ask for blood, right?
That thought was immediately dismissed.
She fell into deep thought, wondering where she could find blood.
Soon, she thought of a place.
“If I want blood, probably only the Academy’s medical office has some.”
Luna muttered to herself. She thought it was a reasonable choice—since the Academy was full of psychics, bleeding accidents were inevitable, so it made sense for the medical office to keep blood bags for emergencies.
She had visited the medical office at the Training Field a few times before and had seen the stored blood bags, so now it seemed she had no choice but to go there to get blood.
Looks like that’s the only option…
“What’s up, kid? Got a plan?”
“Yeah, I guess I have to go to the medical office now…”