See you soon, 0303

Qi Yinming was startled. "Zhu Zeyu, what are you doing?"

Zhu Yan held the door crack open. Seeing the Skin Tailor turn around and dash wildly toward him, he slammed the door shut with a bang.

"I'll chat with it before it consumes too many people."

Zhu Yan shrugged, his attitude utterly casual. "If you're scared, I can go outside instead."

"No way!" The mere thought of Zhu Zeyu's reckless style made Yang Zhanbai instinctively tense up.

He grabbed Zhu Yan's arm. "If you go out there, I'll really have to erect a memorial for you. You can't handle something like this."

From outside the door came a muffled thud.

In just those few seconds, the Skin Tailor had sprinted over and lunged at the tightly sealed door.

Through the surveillance mirror, it backed off a few steps in dissatisfaction and twisted its neck with a sharp crack.

"Classmate, what do you mean?"

An icy voice seeped through the door.

"Why did you call me out, and then shut the door on me?"

It no longer concealed its eerie tone, even unable to stop itself from slurping saliva as it spoke, revealing its insatiable craving for flesh and blood.

Yuan Chen and Qin Yang trembled in terror.

"Holy... shit, boss, is this really okay?"

Zhu Yan glanced sideways at his phone screen.

Yang Zhanbai had posted information about the Skin Tailor in the survivor group chat. The latest messages were filled with gratitude.

"Thank you, thank you! Was that Zhu Zeyu just now?"

"Damn, thanks for saving us, boss! Stay safe!"

"Stop yelling. I bet Zhu Zeyu is about to bite the dust any second now."

Yang Zhanbai kicked the last person out of the group.

Zhu Yan: "..."

He put away his phone and gestured for the others to keep quiet. He was going to try questioning it.

"Classmate!"

He pressed himself close to the door, making sure the Skin Tailor outside could hear him.

Then, putting on a tone as kind as a headmaster's, he began to probe.

"Don't worry. We all understand your troubles and obsessions!"

Qi Yinming looked up at him.

Zhu Yan made a shushing gesture while observing the Skin Tailor through the surveillance mirror.

The moment his words landed, the Skin Tailor had clearly frozen for a split second.

It tilted its head. The tear streaks on its face hadn't dried yet, but the corners of its mouth twisted upward eerily.

"Oh? Then tell me, what troubles do I have?"

As for what those troubles were, Zhu Yan had no idea.

He could only guess based on that earlier 'so that's it' and hoped to verify his suspicions.

Qi Yinming stared at Zhu Yan nervously.

"It threw the question back at you," he whispered anxiously. "Zhu Zeyu, are you sure...?"

Zhu Yan wasn't sure at all.

"I can make something up," he said, taking a deep breath. "Just watch."

Qi Yinming looked like he was about to die from anxiety.

He wanted to warn Zhu Zeyu to be more cautious, but Zhu Zeyu spoke first—and what he said was utterly startling.

"Is your connection to the mist upstairs?"

Zhu Yan knew he had guessed correctly.

Because through the surveillance mirror, the Skin Tailor's expression had completely changed. Its mouth dragged downward fiercely.

"How do you know that?"

Qi Yinming wiped his sweat and spoke in a very low voice. "Zeyu, is that for real?"

Inside the room, several pairs of eyes fixed on Zhu Yan.

Zhu Yan was nervous. Imitating Qi Yinming, he wiped non-existent sweat from his forehead.

"I guessed," he replied in an equally hushed tone. "I'm just bluffing. Don't screw this up."

Yang Zhanbai asked, "What made you think in that direction?"

Boom!

The door was pounded again with a dull thump.

The Skin Tailor sneered. "Fine. Since you know so much, it looks like you're the one I'm looking for."

"Even if it's not you, the person is in your room."

Looking for someone?

Looking for who? Tu Shan?

Zhu Yan glanced at Tu Shan's corpse inside the room.

But Tu Shan was already dead.

The Skin Tailor slurped its saliva.

"Wait for me, Hunter. I know you can change your appearance, but you're finished now that you've met me."

"You stole something, so be prepared to be devoured!"

Ah, so it was him, not Tu Shan.

Zhu Yan was genuinely a little nervous now.

Thankfully, his right hand was clean—no evidence of thievery.

But still...

"Stealing something?" Qi Yinming furrowed his brow. "What did that Hunter steal?"

What the Skin Tailor said seemed somewhat logical, but listening more closely, it didn't make sense.

The Hunter that could change appearance was supposed to be in cahoots with the mist upstairs—Zhu Zeyu and Xu Tongguang had seen it themselves.

So why did it seem like there was a blood feud instead?

Zhu Yan was a bit embarrassed.

Damn. Sure enough, one lie required countless others to cover it up.

He was about to make up something on the spot, but Yang Zhanbai spoke before him.

"Is it because of those fragments you confessed to me about earlier?"

Yang Zhanbai's red hair reflected a cold tone under the light.

"You took something from that Hunter—things the first Hunter entrusted to Tu Shan."

Yang Zhanbai frowned, sweat beading on the tip of his nose.

"But they mistake it for that Hunter's fault... no, that Hunter should have explained..."

If he kept reasoning further, the fire would burn back to him.

Zhu Yan shrugged, acting completely indifferent.

"Maybe it stole something else and ran away."

"We switched floors a long time ago. Nobody knows what happened afterward."

That wasn't the point.

Zhu Yan narrowed his eyes at the motionless boy in the mirror.

The point was, he had to find a way out and eliminate this threat at its source.

What rank was this thing? Would Pretending work?

If Pretending didn't work, what ability could he use?

Yang Zhanbai nodded, acknowledging Zhu Yan's earlier words. "True. The Hunter is too cunning. It's best not to speculate out of thin air."

He looked at the Skin Tailor outside, his expression grave.

"If this is its obsession, then catching the Hunter—would everything be fine?"

Qi Yinming shook his head, scanning the room.

He hadn't understood Yang Zhanbai's earlier statement. Except for Chen Zhaoxing, who seemed completely indifferent, everyone else looked utterly confused.

But that wasn't the main concern.

The main concern was that this thing had fixated on their dorm room.

They had to figure out a way to stop it from evolving—nip it in the bud.

In the mirror, the Skin Tailor turned around.

"See you later, Room 303."

"I need to go ask someone else... who wants to take me in?"