Just as Lu Ren was hesitating between going back to bed to continue sleeping, or calling the dorm manager to drag the person outside away—and maybe check on the bathroom leak for him—the noises outside the door suddenly stopped.
Seeing that the other party had stopped harassing him of their own accord, Lu Ren felt temporarily at ease, deciding not to bother with the prank any further.
He returned to his seat, planning to look for his mobile phone to check the time.
But as Lu Ren’s hand smoothly reached the far left side of the desk, he suddenly froze.
Where was his mobile phone?
Lu Ren remembered very clearly that before going to sleep, he had put his mobile phone on the left side of the desk, and had even set an alarm, just in case he overslept and couldn’t get to the classroom on time the next morning.
But now, the mobile phone he left on the desk was gone.
Could it be that a thief had entered the dormitory?
Though a strong sense of unease filled his heart, Lu Ren still bent down and pressed the power button on his computer, intending to check the time and then immediately turn off the computer.
But when the display screen lit up, the soothing blue wallpaper and the dozens of various application icons had all disappeared, leaving only a black and white background image.
Just as Lu Ren wondered if something was wrong with the computer and was about to try rebooting into the mainboard settings to see if he could solve the problem, something strange happened.
A blinding red suddenly appeared in the upper left corner of the screen.
At first, Lu Ren thought the computer was acting up again.
But as the entire left side of the screen was slowly overtaken by that blood-red color, Lu Ren immediately sensed something was terribly wrong.
Something must have gone drastically wrong for this to happen!
Lu Ren hurriedly bent down and held the button on the case, trying to force a shutdown.
But no matter how he pressed, the display wouldn’t turn off.
Even as the blood-red color swallowed the whole screen and that blinding red grew stickier and more saturated, as if it could seep out at any moment, Lu Ren’s attempts still did nothing.
“Damn it!”
Lu Ren cursed inwardly, standing up to look for another solution.
But the moment he stood up, he suddenly heard a familiar and terrifying voice.
Lu Ren quickly searched for the source of the voice, only to see that blood-red liquid was seeping down from both sides of the display screen!
That blood-red liquid quickly spread across the entire desk, its faintly pungent scent filling the air with an iron-like tang.
That unique smell—there was no doubt—it was blood.
“Blood…blood…I can smell blood! Give me blood!”
Just as the blood rapidly covered the desk, the long-gone voice from outside the door suddenly sounded again.
This time, the other party was no longer scratching at the wooden door with its nails, but began slamming its body into the door.
The sound of the impact echoed through the entire room, sending Lu Ren’s heart racing in fear.
There was no doubt, whatever had the strength to hit the wooden door like this was definitely not human!
Lu Ren frantically searched for a way to shut down the computer, but no matter what he did, the display screen just wouldn’t turn off.
Even when he pulled the power cord from the power strip, the monitor still glowed fiercely.
It was as if, once it was on, it could never be stopped.
“Bang!”
The dormitory door was slammed hard again by the creature outside, the door panel trembling violently, creaking as if it could be broken open at any moment.
The dormitory door wouldn’t hold much longer—he had to think of something!
Lu Ren quickly realized the gravity of the situation. He looked around, searching for a way to respond.
He thought about finding his dormitory key to see if he could transform and deal with this monster.
But when his hand reached the usual spot, he found nothing. In that instant, Lu Ren understood.
His magical outfit had probably vanished along with his mobile phone.
“How could something like this happen…”
Lu Ren muttered inwardly, retreating to the balcony and grabbing the sweep broom that was set to the side, then walking over to Xu Wenxing’s bed. He patted the bedboard, intending to wake his roommate.
With the situation so urgent, he didn’t want Xu Wenxing to die for no reason.
But as Lu Ren forced himself to focus and patted Xu Wenxing’s bedboard, he realized something was wrong.
At that moment, Xu Wenxing’s bed was completely empty—there was nothing there!
Lu Ren thought he was seeing things, but when he looked at Xu Wenxing’s desk, he realized he hadn’t made a mistake.
Not only was Xu Wenxing gone, but all the items he had left on his desk were missing too.
Textbook, computer, standee, desk lamp…
Everything was gone.
The entire dormitory was left with only himself—no one else could help him.
When Lu Ren realized this, his heart pounded wildly, his palms breaking out in cold sweat.
The bloody scent in the air became suffocatingly strong, the dripping sound of water echoing through the room, drawing closer step by step.
The monster outside the door was slamming with greater and greater force. Lu Ren could even feel the dormitory door on the verge of collapse.
It would only take a few seconds for the thing to break in and come straight for him.
Thinking of this, Lu Ren fearfully stepped back a few paces, removed the head of the broom and kicked it to the doorway, turning the broom in his hands into a long stick.
And just as Lu Ren retreated to the balcony, a deafening crash sounded from within the dormitory.
The wooden barrier blocking the monster fell helplessly, and the grotesque monster burst into the room.
Seeing the monster so close, Lu Ren was startled.
He was clearly in pitch-black darkness, yet he could see the monster’s appearance with eerie clarity.
The monster had only a human face; below the neck, its body was all exposed flesh, slowly beating organs, and shriveled eyeballs.
From chest to belly, from legs to knees, every part of the monster’s body was covered in exposed human organs and fresh flesh.
Lu Ren looked at the monster before him, his legs trembling uncontrollably—he dared not move.
Suddenly, the monster moved.
It started to walk, extremely slowly, every step making its body shudder as if it might fall apart at any moment.
Then, as it reached the blood-red display screen, it suddenly quickened its pace.
“Blood…blood…”
“Ah, fresh meat!”
The monster’s facial skin slipped off and fell to the floor.
Two swollen eyeballs dangled in empty, ghastly sockets, with threads of thick black liquid oozing down.
A chilling aura instantly locked Lu Ren in place, an overwhelming terror devouring him.
Gritting his teeth, Lu Ren hunched over, lifting his foot, ready to make a final desperate stand.
Just as Lu Ren was about to charge forward and thrust the wooden stick into the monster with all his might—
His right foot suddenly stepped into emptiness.
In an instant, the world spun. Everything changed.
“Hah…hah…hah…”
Clutching his chest and gasping for air, Lu Ren sat up in bed.
He looked at the yellowish-red sky outside, then at the familiar white ceiling, and finally breathed a long sigh of relief.
“So it was a dream.”
“I thought it was real.”
Lu Ren wiped the sweat from his forehead, finding himself sticky all over, his clothes soaked through with sweat.
Clearly, as a Magic Girl who could defeat monsters without hesitation, he had been scared to this extent by an ordinary monster in a dream.
How embarrassing.
I should go take a shower first.
Lu Ren shook his head, got out of bed, and walked into the bathroom.