Chapter 37: The Mysterious Roommate

After escorting his sister to the base of the girls’ dormitory, Chen Mo found himself surrounded by a stream of female students coming and going. Naturally, he couldn’t enter the girls’ dormitory, so he simply reminded her, “Alright, Ning Xuan, this is as far as I go. See you tomorrow.”

“I know, you nag like an old man. Good night, brother!” she replied.

Chen Mo waited until Ning Xuan had entered the building and disappeared around the corner before finally leaving. The boys’ dormitory was located on the far east side of the school, while the girls’ was on the far west—a deliberate arrangement to prevent early romances between male and female students.

His room was in Building 3, Room 303—a coincidence, all threes. He ran up to the third floor, arriving at his door. The lights inside were off; it seemed no one was there. He opened the door, closed it behind him, and flicked the switch.

Under the sudden light, Chen Mo saw two large, pale rabbits swaying back and forth.

Ah—

Chen Mo screamed.

The owner of the rabbits, however, appeared utterly unfazed, calmly wrapping her rabbits in a white cloth, round and round until they were firmly bound. If one didn’t look closely, you wouldn’t realize they were a girl’s chest.

This girl sported a cropped haircut like a boy’s, her hair dyed a milky gray. She looked cool and handsome, her features delicate, but if not for the rabbits on her chest, Chen Mo would never have guessed she was a girl.

“Had enough staring?” Her voice was neutral, almost like a boy’s in the midst of puberty.

“Not enough—wait, yes, enough! I—I didn’t mean that, I wasn’t trying to, I wasn’t on purpose!” Chen Mo was flustered; it was the first time in his life he’d ever seen a real chest.

The cropped-haired girl’s expression remained flat and calm. “It’s fine. We’ll be sharing a room for a long time. Even if you hadn’t seen it today, you’d see it eventually. Better you know now.”

Chen Mo had only ever heard of Mulan going to war disguised as a man. He’d never heard of a girl pretending to be a boy to attend school.

“Why are you pretending to be a boy?”

Agile as a cat, the girl flipped herself and leapt onto the two-meter-high top bunk. “I hate women. No matter how outstanding, they end up as men’s appendages. I don’t want anyone to know I’m a girl. I want to prove myself like a man, with strength.”

Such an extreme outlook. Chen Mo was tempted to argue that men and women depend on each other, that neither is the other's accessory, but he restrained himself. He hadn’t lived her life and had no right to judge her values.

“I’ve showered already. I’m going to sleep. Remember to turn off the lights.” With that, she lay down, pulled up the covers, and went straight to sleep.

Huh?!

Chen Mo stood there for a full five minutes, bewildered. How surreal—he was sharing a room with a girl, and had even seen her chest. Terrifying, truly terrifying. The thought of spending every night in the same room with such a girl made his scalp tingle!

But wait, she was so open, so unfazed, and he was a grown man—what was there to be afraid of? He wasn’t losing out, after all.

Once he’d reasoned it out, his restless heart finally calmed. The dorm was excellent: a double room, desk below, bed above, air conditioning, a private bathroom, twenty-four-hour hot water—like a hotel.

No wonder it was a top provincial high school, even the accommodation was top-notch.

After a day of emotional upheaval, Chen Mo was physically and mentally exhausted. He hurried to the bathroom for a shower.

As soon as he entered, he caught a faint scent. Remembering the girl had just showered there, he swallowed nervously.

Under the stream of hot water, Chen Mo enjoyed its soothing touch, absentmindedly rubbing himself with soap. Suddenly, it struck him that the girl might have used this soap too. Startled, his hand slipped and the soap dropped to the floor.

He was losing his mind! His calm shattered again.

After his shower, he nervously tiptoed to check on the girl in the top bunk. She seemed utterly indifferent to his presence, eyes closed, breathing steadily as she slept.

Shaking his head, Chen Mo drove away any impure thoughts, climbed into his own bed, and pulled up the covers.

…

The next morning, Chen Mo woke up and carefully shielded his eyes, afraid of seeing anything he shouldn’t. But his roommate was already gone. Checking the time—six-thirty—he thought, this girl was really intense, off to class so early.

Whatever her habits, as long as she didn’t affect him, she could do as she pleased.

He ran all the way to the girls’ dormitory, waiting nearly twenty minutes before Ning Xuan finally arrived.

“You lazybones! Didn’t we agree to get up at six-thirty? Look at the time!”

Ning Xuan grinned sheepishly. “The bed was so soft and comfortable, I just couldn’t bear to get up, so… heh heh.”

Hearing Ning Xuan’s words, Chen Mo’s nose stung with emotion. Over the past ten years, the siblings had slept in streets, under bridges, even in fast food restaurants. Even when they finally got a public housing unit, it was on a hard wooden plank bed, the quilt stuffing long since mildewed and hardened.

“No matter. From now on, Ning Xuan can sleep as long as she likes. I’ll always wait for you!”

Ning Xuan stuck out her tongue. “Okay! Then tomorrow I’ll sleep an extra half-hour!”

Chen Mo: …

After the most satisfying breakfast of their lives, the siblings began a new day of study.

Chen Mo entered Class F. The noisy classroom instantly fell silent, all eyes fixed on him with terror. Especially the TikTok goddess, Zhong Lin’er, who had always loved to tease Chen Mo—she now hid in the very last row.

It turned out that Chen Mo’s fight with the vice class monitor of Class C, Zhu Tao, which landed him in the infirmary, had spread through Class F. The class's perennial bottom-ranked student, once mocked and bullied, had overnight become the F Class’s demon king. No one dared meet his gaze or utter a single extra word.

“Chen Mo, sit here!” Ye Zhiyan stood up and waved.

Chen Mo was very pleased with his classmates’ reactions. Yesterday’s demonstration had worked; at last he could enjoy some peace.

He strode over and sat beside Ye Zhiyan. She was positively glowing, occasionally glancing around smugly, as if flaunting her connection to Chen Mo.

Just then, Instructor Moon Fox entered the classroom.

Moon Fox wore a white trench coat, fox mask atop her head, her chest so prominent it threatened to burst her tight outfit. Many of the boys couldn’t help but swallow nervously.

Every student gazed anxiously at her.

Moon Fox, however, looked directly at Chen Mo and smiled meaningfully, as if she could see right through him.

Chen Mo didn’t flinch. To act guilty only invited suspicion; it was better to face her openly. He believed that unless she had some special ability, she would never see through his true strength.

Sure enough, Moon Fox withdrew her gaze, stopped probing, and spoke in a charming voice, “Good morning, students. Today, we’ll begin theory class. To excel in the dungeon, we must first understand it. I’ll now introduce everything you need to know about the Temple Escape dungeon!”