Zhu Zeyu needs some help, right

Zhu Yan stared at the back of the Skin Tailor, taking a deep breath.

Level was something you had to test, and obsession was something you had to try as well.

If he were a Hunter, the monster’s obsession would only be to catch him. In that case, he might as well try jumping into the Hunter role and see what happened.

"Hold on," Zhu Yan said. "If things go wrong, I'll come back."

Yang Zhanbai sensed trouble. "What are you doing—Hey!!"

He shouted too late.

Zhu Yan yanked the door open and slipped through the crack like a loach!

"Hey!" he shouted at the Skin Tailor, sprinting to the back of the hallway. "I'm right here!"

He was still within the surveillance mirror’s range, so he couldn’t trigger his Imitation ability to directly test the Skin Tailor’s level.

That meant he had to run out of that range first.

The monster, still wearing a male student’s face, had already turned its head but remained unmoved.

"Whatever," it said coldly, raising its hand again to pound on the door. Bam, bam, bam.

"You can try your tricks all you want. I’ll just level up first and come find you later!"

Oh?

Zhu Yan raised an eyebrow.

This thing actually knew how to prioritize.

But that probably wouldn’t stop him from gauging its general level.

Zhu Yan assessed the abilities he had on hand. He activated his level-three Shield and Glory to the Family simultaneously, then strode toward the Skin Tailor.

Inside the dorm,

"What’s he trying to do?" Yang Zhanbai was dumbfounded.

He reached for the doorknob, but Qi Yinming grabbed his arm.

"He still has that level-eight blade on him," Qi Yinming said cautiously, though his voice betrayed his doubt.

"Stay calm for now."

Qi Yinming’s phone was lying on the floor, new group messages popping up nonstop.

He glanced at it irritably, figuring it was about the commotion Zhu Zeyu had stirred up.

"Did someone go out?"

"Sounds like the dorm next to mine... someone from Xishan University?"

"Holy crap, is it someone on the leaderboard?"

"Damn. What level is that monster, and what’s its obsession? Sitting tight and waiting for intel."

Waiting for what? Qi Yinming tossed his phone aside and stared anxiously at the mirror.

Outside, Zhu Zeyu was almost right behind the Skin Tailor.

The Skin Tailor wailed pitifully, tears streaming down its face.

"Classmates, please help me!"

"I really need your help—please give me a response, classmates!"

On the other side of the dorm door, the only answer was the scraping sound of furniture being dragged across the concrete floor.

The players inside were obviously fighting back, reinforcing the door with bed frames or desks.

Zhu Yan fixed his gaze on the back of the Skin Tailor’s neck, carefully gauging the distance.

Two meters…

One meter.

"Dad," he said, loud enough for both the human and the horror to hear. "Are you okay, Dad?"

The wailing Skin Tailor froze, its voice going silent for two seconds.

Then, sniffling, it turned around and looked at Zhu Yan.

"Oh… oh?"

Zhu Yan nervously stepped back, making sure the people inside the room couldn’t hear him.

"Dad."

Glory to the Family was a level-six ability.

If the Skin Tailor fell for it, that meant its level was at least below six.

"You…" The Skin Tailor was stunned.

Then, a crazed, almost infatuated emotion exploded in its dull eyes.

Its lips curled up, the male face twisting into a grotesque smile.

"I know this ability," it muttered lowly. "I know it, because someone—the broadcast told me about it."

Zhu Yan mentally cursed the female voice’s ancestors down to eighteen generations.

Luckily, the Skin Tailor seemed dazed like it was drunk. It staggered toward Zhu Yan, completely distracted.

"This feeling is amazing."

The male-faced creature laughed eerily. "See? My son is one of my obsessions."

"Catching you doesn’t just give me a son—it also makes me stronger…"

Zhu Yan sensed something was wrong.

He glanced back at Room 303’s door, confirming no one had come out and there was no movement, then snapped his attention back and started thinking fast.

"What do you mean, 'one of your obsessions'?" he asked. "What do you mean, catching me makes you stronger?"

"Wouldn’t catching me end your obsession?"

The Skin Tailor tilted its head again.

"Who told you that?" it asked. "Who said we can only have one obsession, and that satisfying an obsession means ending it?"

It reached out to grab Zhu Yan, but failed.

The level-three Shield blocked the attack, stopping the Skin Tailor’s hand cold.

Doesn’t even get past level three?

Zhu Yan swallowed.

That’s good.

But what did "satisfying an obsession doesn’t mean ending it" even mean?

This thing couldn’t be unsolvable, could it?

Seeing it couldn’t grab Zhu Yan, the Skin Tailor’s brows came down hard with irritation.

"Hey, what’s the deal?"

"Aren’t I your dad? Don’t you like the future I’m offering?"

Well, at least now he could lead this thing around.

Zhu Yan still had questions to ask.

But not within the surveillance mirror’s range, for sure!

"Dad, come here,"

he whispered. Then he turned and bolted!

…

Inside the dorm,

"…Risking his life again?"

Yang Zhanbai stared at the horror chasing after Zhu Zeyu, dumbfounded.

Xu Tongguang clenched his phone, watching the group messages fly.

"Absolute madlad!"

"Madlad? More like a suicide run."

"Whatever, I’m grateful for the delay."

"Can someone send back intel? Sitting in the dorm feels like a death sentence…"

Xu Tongguang looked up at the mirror and saw Zhu Zeyu leading the horror out of surveillance range.

"Chief Qi, how about this: me, Brother Yang, and Chen Zhaoxing will go out too."

Chen Zhaoxing’s head shot up, his eyes instantly bright.

Xu Tongguang put away his phone, his pale face earnest as he explained.

"Zhu Zeyu could use some help."

"My ability is pretty special. What if that monster decides to attack me?"

"And Chen Zhaoxing can heal me anyway."

Qi Yinming was about to say something, but Chen Zhaoxing had already let out an excited yell.

"Let’s go! Woo-hoo!"

He sprang up like a fox on the hunt, grabbed Xu Tongguang, yanked the door open, and ran out.

"Zhu Zeyu! We’re coming for you!"

Bang!

The dorm door slammed shut in Yang Zhanbai’s face.

Yang Zhanbai swallowed.

Well, honestly, he wanted to go out too.

He immediately turned to Qi Yinming and shrugged helplessly. "Too reckless. Guess I’ll have to keep an eye on them! Coming along?"

"Hey—"

Qi Yinming couldn’t stop him.

That "Coming along?" was basically just a polite gesture—in the blink of an eye, Yang Zhanbai was gone.

Qi Yinming could only look at Yuan Chen and Qin Yang in the room and sigh.

"Alright," he said. "That’s enough people heading out. Someone’s got to hold down the fort."