The next morning, Jang Yu looks like a man who has given up on life. He and Lu Yuchong are parked on a bench outside, waiting.
"Liars," he mutters, watching the two girls cycle through outfit after outfit inside the store. "They said one hour. It's been almost a whole morning. At this rate, I won't live much longer."
Lu Yuchong shoots him a look. "It's the new year. Don't say stuff like that."
Jang Yu looks at him with a strangely serious expression. "I'm not joking. Hunt or die. That's literally my situation."
Lu Yuchong blinks. "What are you talking about?"
Jang Yu quickly changes the subject. "Nothing. Look, they're finally done."
As the group debates where to eat, a purple shadow is trailing them from behind.
Jang Yu grins. "I know a place perfect for students."
He has no idea the figure behind them is drawing closer.
Jang Yu leads them to the restaurant he had in mind. But when they open the menu, the whole table goes quiet.
Lu Yaoyao fixes Jang Yu with a sharp look. "This is your idea of a student-friendly restaurant?"
Fang Yu hides a laugh behind her hand. "Oh, it's very fitting. Especially for the guys."
Jang Yu ignores them both and starts ordering. "I've been getting beat up a lot lately. Need to rebuild my strength." He rattles off. Grilled bread, fried rice, egg drop soup, stir-fried greens.
Lu Yaoyao's expression softens slightly. Okay, those are all normal dishes. I thought he was going to—
But before she can finish the thought, Jang Yu snaps the menu shut. "Actually, cancel all of that." He looks at the server and adds, "A plate of oysters. Big ones. Fresh."
Lu Yaoyao is beyond words. Soon, every last stamina boosting dish lands on the table.
Jang Yu picks up an oyster and holds it out to Lu Yaoyao. "Don't be upset. Here. For you."
Her face goes pink and she turns away. Then her phone buzzes. She opens it. It's a notice.
The combat exam has been moved up. Assessments begin on the seventeenth, expected to wrap by the twentieth. The training camp officially opens on the twenty-fifth.
Fang Yu stares at the message. "Seriously? Already? And it's mandatory."
Lu Yuchong gnaws on a lobster claw, groaning. "And they're running the aptitude assessment right after the new year. Could this get any more annoying?"
Jang Yu gives him a brotherly pat on the shoulder. "Don't stress. Your aptitude definitely won't make the cut."
Lu Yuchong barely holds back from punching him. "Thanks. Really. By the time the aberrant is dead, I'll already have caught something and developed a psychological disorder on top of it."
Jang Yu immediately strikes a pose. "If that were me, I'd take the aberrant on right then and there."
Lu Yaoyao looks at him without sympathy. "You think everyone is as reckless as you? Avoidance. The ostrich mentality. That's a normal response for most people. Even if someone seems fine on the surface, the shadow an aberrant leaves on the mind never fully goes away."
More dishes arrive at the table, but the mood has gone quiet. Jang Yu exhales, barely audible. Then he quickly lightens the mood. "All right, enough of that. Come on. Let's drink."
But the moment he raises his glass, a piercing alarm tears through the shopping center.
Everyone at nearby tables is on their feet. Faces tight. Lu Yaoyao's expression shifts to pure alarm. "That's the corruption detector. An aberrant has breached the building."
Then a man in the crowd shouts at the top of his lungs. "Run!"
The crowd snaps. Screams erupt everywhere. "Aberrant! Run!"
The entire shopping center descends into chaos. Every exit is instantly choked with people.
Lu Yuchong goes pale. "It's no use. There are too many people. We can't get through."
Fang Yu grabs his arm. "Then what do we do?"
Lu Yaoyao steadies them both. "Don't panic. Everyone stay calm. We can get out."
Then a clear voice cuts through the noise. "Get back."
A figure drives a fist into the wall and the thick stone shatters open, leaving a massive hole. The sheer effortlessness of it makes Lu Yaoyao's face go red, her heart picking up without her permission.
Jang Yu turns back. "What are you waiting for? Move."
As the three reach the opening, Jang Yu looks back, scanning. A man comes sprinting toward them, screaming, "Aberrant!"
Jang Yu follows his gaze. A massive shape pushes through a crack in the wall. Two enormous blades catch the light and gleam cold.
The twin blade specter. An old acquaintance.
Jang Yu's jaw tightens. Too many people here. If I act now, everyone will see.
He grabs Lu Yaoyao, who is still frozen in place. He pulls the group and runs. The crowd floods around them. The scene is completely out of control.
Lu Yaoyao glances back, confused. "There should be protective measures around this area. How did an aberrant get inside?"
Jang Yu has no time for that. "Doesn't matter now. Just run." Lucky it's still forcing its way through, or this whole place would already be a massacre. He points ahead. "Faster. Stairs are right there."
Then the entire building shudders. Jang Yu's expression changes instantly. "Watch out. It's coming down. Hold on to me."
But it's already too late. The entire floor gives way. Everyone on the level, Jang Yu included, plunges downward.
Dust and debris billow. And when it settles, the world looks different.
Jang Yu grabs his backside and hisses through the pain. "Is everyone okay?"
Lu Yaoyao wipes the grime from her face. "Just scrapes. I'm fine."
Lu Yuchong isn't so lucky. A massive slab of rubble has his leg pinned. He can't move.
Everyone rushes over. Jang Yu grips the rebar jutting from the slab. "Stay calm. I'll get this off you."
He braces and lifts. The slab comes up with ease.
Then Lu Yuchong screams. His left leg is broken. The limb is bent at a grotesque, horrifying angle.
Lu Yaoyao pulls out a small pill bottle and shakes a few tablets into her palm. She holds them out to Lu Yuchong. "Painkillers. Chew them and swallow."
Lu Yuchong chews them and looks around. "Where are we? Why did it suddenly get so dark?"
Lu Yaoyao shakes her head. "I don't know. I've never seen anything like this."
Jang Yu reaches down and presses his hand to the floor. "It's still the shopping center floor. We should still be in the same building, same level."
A chill creeps into his hand, faint but unmistakable. Jang Yu stares at his own hand, heart lurching. No way. He knows this feeling. Has the entire floor been pulled into the shadow realm?
He spins around to check. Beneath the rubble, survivors are everywhere. Some pinned under slabs of concrete, others desperately trying to calm sobbing children.
His stomach drops. This many people still trapped. And in the shadow realm, there's no fast way in. The Night Watch will take time to arrive, and the longer they stay, the deadlier it gets. Even without an aberrant attack, the corruption alone could kill. They need to get out now.
Then something clicks. He turns to Lu Yaoyao. "Yaoyao, didn't Uncle Lu give you that watch?"
Her eyes go wide. She glances at her wrist and nods. "Right. Almost forgot in all the chaos."
With both of them watching, she presses the button on the watch. It sends out a signal. The Night Watch will pick it up.
Fang Yu finally exhales, a relieved smile breaking through. "Yaoyao, you're a lifesaver. We're going to be okay."
Jang Yu breathes easier too. No guarantees on how fast they'll get here, but at least the watch can hold back the corruption for now.
Aberrants could strike at any second. He can't afford to let his guard down. He shifts into a ready stance when a commotion erupts from the crowd ahead. A wave of thick, oppressive energy surges out. Screams tear through the air.
"Look out! There's a monster!"
Jang Yu snaps to attention. The entire floor begins to shudder. A crushing pressure rolls over him like a wave. His eyes flash with surprise.
Then a deafening crash. The floor gives way and a thick cloud of dust swallows everything.
Coughing erupts from within the haze. "Jang Yu, where are you?"
Fang Yu comes running and throws her arms around Lu Yaoyao. "Yaoyao, I'm here."
Nearby, Lu Yuchong shoves a slab off himself, gasping. "Where is everyone? I can barely see."
Lu Yaoyao scans the wreckage. No sign of him. "Jang Yu. Jang Yu, where are you?"
Fang Yu lets out a sharp cry. "Yaoyao, come look."
Lu Yaoyao spins around. A crack has split the floor open. Deep, dark, bottomless.
Fang Yu's voice trembles. "He didn't fall in, did he?"