Guo Liang found himself startled, realizing he had no idea when the biting had begun.
Swiftly, he spat out the small piece of the pen nib he had bitten and then noticed Wang Ye’s intense gaze fixed upon him.
“I genuinely didn’t take my frustration out on the pencil just because I couldn’t draw the picture…” Guo Liang felt as if he couldn’t clear his name even if he were to jump into the Yellow River.
Surprisingly, Wang Ye raised an eyebrow. “Your dental hygiene seems to be in good shape.”
Guo Liang: “…”
Wang Ye truly found it intriguing, akin to the day he observed two classmates fighting in heavy fog. Once he found something interesting, he typically enjoyed watching or delving deeper into it. “Do you usually use pliers to crack hazelnuts, or do you bite directly with your teeth?”
Guo Liang: “…”
Big brother’s focus was consistently unconventional.
Wang Ye: “What’s with that expression?”
Guo Liang: “Why did we suddenly shift to practical discussions!”
Wang Ye: “Are you going to keep blabbering?”
Guo Liang: “With pliers.”
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Wang Ye: “That settles it.”
Satisfied with his curiosity, Wang returned to playing his mobile game.
Guo Liang: “…”
Once again, he succumbed to the forces of evil. He didn’t feel much like a man!
Glancing down at the drawing assignment that had been given a second chance in his hand…
Well, it is what it is.
Yuan Sijie had long finished his phone call but paid no attention to the commotion between Wang Ye and Guo Liang. Their interaction pattern had been established since their freshman year and had become routine—a completely oblivious bullying big brother and a grumbling sidekick.
Instead, he was curious about the phone placed on Jiang Tan’s desk, the one that lit up countless times throughout the night.
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Every time it lit up, it was a new friend request notification.
“Jiang Tan,” Yuan Sijie didn’t particularly like meddling in other people’s affairs, but this persistent requester made him feel sorry, “why not just accept it?”
Jiang Tan hadn’t taken his eyes off his books all night and responded, “No need.”
Yuan Sijie said, “Adding someone on WeChat doesn’t mean you have to chat with them. Maybe the person just wants to thank you.”
Jiang Tan replied, “I already told them at the school hospital this afternoon, more than once.”
Yuan Sijie said, “If you don’t want to add them, why give them your WeChat?”
Jiang Tan: “…”
Because he hadn’t relented at the time, and the guy looked like he was about to cry.
While they spoke, Jiang Tan’s phone screen silently lit up again.
Yuan Sijie sighed softly, “So persistent, it’s quite rare.”
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Back at his desk, Guo Liang, who had only caught the latter part, understood the situation. He frowned and glanced at Yuan Sijie. “What’s with your strange tone? It’s like that person adding Jiang Tan is trying to pursue him or something.”
Yuan Sijie shook his head, “Relationships between people are interconnected. When dealing with sincerity, especially persistent sincerity, you should cherish and protect it.”
Guo Liang felt a chill down his spine. “You cherish your sincerity; Jiang Tan doesn’t need it.”
Yuan Sijie said, “It’s not needed now, but in the future, when he truly wants to be in a relationship, he’ll find that he has lost the ability to accept sincere feelings.”
Guo Liang: “…”
Yuan Sijie: “Has the realization dawned on you?”
Guo Liang: “I want to use a forklift to lift you out.”
At eleven o’clock at night, the dormitory area lights went out as scheduled.
For Room 509, it was just another typical night, where the bitten pencil of Guo Liang and the frequently illuminated phone of Jiang Tan served as insignificant side notes.
However, in Room 333, sleep eluded them throughout the night.
Advertisement
At seven in the morning, the campus stirred to life with the “Morning Symphony,” prompting the four students to sit up in their beds. They exchanged glances, their faces appearing hollow, and their eyes unfocused.
Xia Yang: “Yesterday feels like a dream, doesn’t it?”
Li Junchi: “Are you talking about the incident where Da Yu’s big head fell down but miraculously landed on his feet, or the one where he glided in a large diagonal line before touching down again?”
Lin Wu: “Whatever it was, I’ve been pondering all night, and now I’m utterly drained.”
Ren Feiyu: “It was genuinely terrifying.”
Xia Yang, Li Junchi: “Don’t feign innocence!”
In a haze for half the morning, the four barely absorbed anything in class. Although they sat in the classroom appearing drowsy, their minds couldn’t stop replaying the peculiar moments from the previous night.
Experiencing dizziness for one person might be plausible, but for all four simultaneously? That was truly eerie.
If it wasn’t dizziness, then Da Yu’s landing posture, defying human anatomy, couldn’t be explained unless something supernatural was at play.
—Well, it seemed there was no escaping the supernatural.
Advertisement
The muddled thoughts persisted until the second class. The regular teacher had a prior commitment, and a graduate student stepped in to substitute. Reading directly from the textbook, his monotone delivery almost induced a form of soul hypnosis.
The entire class succumbed to daydreaming, sneakily checking their phones. Soon, someone shared a news article in the group.
【Environmental Engineering Class 1 Group】
Pang Dongdong, a cascade of words: “Russian daredevil climbs tall building barehanded, accidentally falls from the rooftop, and miraculously remains unharmed! [Details Link]”
In the past, Lin Wu wouldn’t have bothered clicking on such news, knowing it was just a clickbait headline created for attention, often misrepresenting the actual content. This piece might be about someone conveniently landing in a man-made lake, swimming pool, or some other setup.
However, due to Ren Feiyu’s incident, Lin Wu was exceptionally sensitive to the term “falling” now and clicked on it unintentionally.
Upon opening the link, a short video played. Lin Wu muted his phone and observed the perspective and quality, indicating it was someone from the adjacent building who accidentally captured this scene.
At the start of the video, the person was already climbing rapidly, tightly clinging to the exterior curtain wall of a tall building. There was no protective gear, and the sight made everyone’s hearts race.
After a few seconds, the person finally reached the top of the building’s steel structure. There was no footing at this location; it was an imposing structure assembled with steel components. Even maintaining balance on the steel bars was difficult, yet the person only used one foot to stay steady. With one hand gripping a steel bar, the remaining foot and hand extended outward, resembling a flag fluttering in the wind at the top of the building.
The consequence of such audacity was a sudden strong gust of wind, exerting force on the point of contact and causing the person to lose their grip.
From the shooter’s perspective, the entire fall was clearly documented.
Initially, the person experienced a standard free fall from a considerable height, descending straight down. However, at the 13th floor, there was a sudden change in direction, forming a peculiar diagonal line. While the overall direction remained downward, the diagonal line effectively extended the falling time. What was even more inexplicable was that as the direction changed, the descent speed also slowed down. The video played at a normal speed because the excitement of the shooter, occasionally seen in the frame, indicated that the footage was still at a normal pace. However, the descending person’s speed visibly decreased.
Situated in a tall building, the shooter, as the person landed, saw only a small black dot in their lens, making it impossible to assess the situation.
But judging by the apparent deceleration trend, Lin Wu believed the person was unharmed.
Checking the news date, it was from yesterday.
With a blank mind, Lin Wu raised his head and looked around for his usual companions, seated together in the back row.
In the last row, Xia Yang, Li Junchi, and Ren Feiyu, who had just watched the short video together, lifted their heads at the same moment. Their bewildered expressions resembled a group of meerkats standing upright at the entrance of a burrow.
If Ren Feiyu’s fall distance was too short and too fast last night, making it impossible to see anything in the blink of an eye, this video was like a step-by-step breakdown demonstration, a “plus” version.
【Environmental Engineering Class 1 Group】
The formidable Xu Zhenlong: “This video must be edited in post-production…”
Shang Haitao, the foodie: “Be more confident, remove the ‘must.'”
Pang Dongdong, who cascades like a waterfall: “If you don’t believe it, search for yourself. There are several similar incidents. I just shared one, and Weibo is buzzing!”
Lin Wu quickly opened Weibo’s trending topics—
Russian man miraculously unharmed after high-altitude fall … Mexican prisoner mysteriously escapes … German middle school student breaks world record in the 100 meters …Today’s trending topics seemed like a global collection of oddities, but only when something bizarre happened nearby could people truly feel that chilling sensation—
Beijing woman holds breath underwater for 42 minutes Unexplained bodily abnormalities reported nationwide Unexplained bodily abnormalitiesBy the afternoon, similar or identical news, nearly swept through all social media, reminiscent of the recent fog incident.
No one in the class was focused on studying. Everyone was busy checking their phones.
Lin Wu wondered if it was just his imagination. Occasionally looking up, the teachers at the podium seemed just as absent-minded as them.
It was the hottest time of the day, and sitting in the classroom felt like being directly exposed to the sun.
The sky outside the window was cloudless; perhaps the intense sun had melted all the clouds, leaving an empty expanse that held unseen, untouchable, yet palpable unease.
At five in the evening.
After class, students headed to the cafeteria for dinner. Lin Wu and his friends also went, and everything seemed to proceed as usual. As if they turned off their phones and forgot about the news, it was still the serene campus, a university filled with sand sculptures and joy.
But something felt off.
The usual noisy atmosphere in the cafeteria was absent. Each group of students at every table was more subdued than usual. Laughter and banter were non-existent, and even if someone spoke, it was in hushed tones, like whispers.
Until the televisions above the cafeteria simultaneously displayed the live broadcast of the news—
“Regarding the recent appearance of individuals with abnormal physical conditions in various regions, we are holding a press conference to report on the relevant situation…”
“In the past two days, multiple provinces in the eastern part of the country have experienced cases of individuals with abnormal conditions…”
“Specifically, these conditions involve sudden, irrational changes in physical functions or behavioral habits, such as a sudden increase in physical and athletic abilities, abrupt changes in lifestyle, and alterations in dietary preferences, among other things…”
“Some of the individuals with abnormalities exhibit similar patterns of change, but a significant portion is unique. At present, no discernible patterns have been identified, and the cause of these physical abnormalities remains unclear…”
“However, after conducting detailed physical examinations on multiple individuals with abnormalities, it has been determined that these changes have not resulted in any physical pathology. All examined individuals show normal health indicators and are in good physical condition…”
“For any new developments, we will promptly provide updates…”
As the press conference in the live broadcast concluded, the phones of the students below the television sets began to ring. Regardless of their major or year, the ringing echoed without discrimination.
Lin Wu opened his WeChat.
【Environmental Engineering College Group】
Professor Li: “The school has issued an emergency notice. The campus will be sealed again at 9:00 tonight, all classes are suspended tomorrow morning, and a general assembly will be held on the sports field at 8:00. All members…”
Guo Liang found himself startled, realizing he had no idea when the biting had begun.
Swiftly, he spat out the small piece of the pen nib he had bitten and then noticed Wang Ye’s intense gaze fixed upon him.
“I genuinely didn’t take my frustration out on the pencil just because I couldn’t draw the picture…” Guo Liang felt as if he couldn’t clear his name even if he were to jump into the Yellow River.
Surprisingly, Wang Ye raised an eyebrow. “Your dental hygiene seems to be in good shape.”
Guo Liang: “…”
Wang Ye truly found it intriguing, akin to the day he observed two classmates fighting in heavy fog. Once he found something interesting, he typically enjoyed watching or delving deeper into it. “Do you usually use pliers to crack hazelnuts, or do you bite directly with your teeth?”
Guo Liang: “…”
Big brother’s focus was consistently unconventional.
Wang Ye: “What’s with that expression?”
Guo Liang: “Why did we suddenly shift to practical discussions!”
Wang Ye: “Are you going to keep blabbering?”
Guo Liang: “With pliers.”
Advertisement
AD
Wang Ye: “That settles it.”
Satisfied with his curiosity, Wang returned to playing his mobile game.
Guo Liang: “…”
Once again, he succumbed to the forces of evil. He didn’t feel much like a man!
Glancing down at the drawing assignment that had been given a second chance in his hand…
Well, it is what it is.
Yuan Sijie had long finished his phone call but paid no attention to the commotion between Wang Ye and Guo Liang. Their interaction pattern had been established since their freshman year and had become routine—a completely oblivious bullying big brother and a grumbling sidekick.
Instead, he was curious about the phone placed on Jiang Tan’s desk, the one that lit up countless times throughout the night.
Advertisement
Every time it lit up, it was a new friend request notification.
“Jiang Tan,” Yuan Sijie didn’t particularly like meddling in other people’s affairs, but this persistent requester made him feel sorry, “why not just accept it?”
Jiang Tan hadn’t taken his eyes off his books all night and responded, “No need.”
Yuan Sijie said, “Adding someone on WeChat doesn’t mean you have to chat with them. Maybe the person just wants to thank you.”
Jiang Tan replied, “I already told them at the school hospital this afternoon, more than once.”
Yuan Sijie said, “If you don’t want to add them, why give them your WeChat?”
Jiang Tan: “…”
Because he hadn’t relented at the time, and the guy looked like he was about to cry.
While they spoke, Jiang Tan’s phone screen silently lit up again.
Yuan Sijie sighed softly, “So persistent, it’s quite rare.”
Advertisement
Back at his desk, Guo Liang, who had only caught the latter part, understood the situation. He frowned and glanced at Yuan Sijie. “What’s with your strange tone? It’s like that person adding Jiang Tan is trying to pursue him or something.”
Yuan Sijie shook his head, “Relationships between people are interconnected. When dealing with sincerity, especially persistent sincerity, you should cherish and protect it.”
Guo Liang felt a chill down his spine. “You cherish your sincerity; Jiang Tan doesn’t need it.”
Yuan Sijie said, “It’s not needed now, but in the future, when he truly wants to be in a relationship, he’ll find that he has lost the ability to accept sincere feelings.”
Guo Liang: “…”
Yuan Sijie: “Has the realization dawned on you?”
Guo Liang: “I want to use a forklift to lift you out.”
At eleven o’clock at night, the dormitory area lights went out as scheduled.
For Room 509, it was just another typical night, where the bitten pencil of Guo Liang and the frequently illuminated phone of Jiang Tan served as insignificant side notes.
However, in Room 333, sleep eluded them throughout the night.
Advertisement
At seven in the morning, the campus stirred to life with the “Morning Symphony,” prompting the four students to sit up in their beds. They exchanged glances, their faces appearing hollow, and their eyes unfocused.
Xia Yang: “Yesterday feels like a dream, doesn’t it?”
Li Junchi: “Are you talking about the incident where Da Yu’s big head fell down but miraculously landed on his feet, or the one where he glided in a large diagonal line before touching down again?”
Lin Wu: “Whatever it was, I’ve been pondering all night, and now I’m utterly drained.”
Ren Feiyu: “It was genuinely terrifying.”
Xia Yang, Li Junchi: “Don’t feign innocence!”
In a haze for half the morning, the four barely absorbed anything in class. Although they sat in the classroom appearing drowsy, their minds couldn’t stop replaying the peculiar moments from the previous night.
Experiencing dizziness for one person might be plausible, but for all four simultaneously? That was truly eerie.
If it wasn’t dizziness, then Da Yu’s landing posture, defying human anatomy, couldn’t be explained unless something supernatural was at play.
—Well, it seemed there was no escaping the supernatural.
Advertisement
The muddled thoughts persisted until the second class. The regular teacher had a prior commitment, and a graduate student stepped in to substitute. Reading directly from the textbook, his monotone delivery almost induced a form of soul hypnosis.
The entire class succumbed to daydreaming, sneakily checking their phones. Soon, someone shared a news article in the group.
【Environmental Engineering Class 1 Group】
Pang Dongdong, a cascade of words: “Russian daredevil climbs tall building barehanded, accidentally falls from the rooftop, and miraculously remains unharmed! [Details Link]”
In the past, Lin Wu wouldn’t have bothered clicking on such news, knowing it was just a clickbait headline created for attention, often misrepresenting the actual content. This piece might be about someone conveniently landing in a man-made lake, swimming pool, or some other setup.
However, due to Ren Feiyu’s incident, Lin Wu was exceptionally sensitive to the term “falling” now and clicked on it unintentionally.
Upon opening the link, a short video played. Lin Wu muted his phone and observed the perspective and quality, indicating it was someone from the adjacent building who accidentally captured this scene.
At the start of the video, the person was already climbing rapidly, tightly clinging to the exterior curtain wall of a tall building. There was no protective gear, and the sight made everyone’s hearts race.
After a few seconds, the person finally reached the top of the building’s steel structure. There was no footing at this location; it was an imposing structure assembled with steel components. Even maintaining balance on the steel bars was difficult, yet the person only used one foot to stay steady. With one hand gripping a steel bar, the remaining foot and hand extended outward, resembling a flag fluttering in the wind at the top of the building.
The consequence of such audacity was a sudden strong gust of wind, exerting force on the point of contact and causing the person to lose their grip.
From the shooter’s perspective, the entire fall was clearly documented.
Initially, the person experienced a standard free fall from a considerable height, descending straight down. However, at the 13th floor, there was a sudden change in direction, forming a peculiar diagonal line. While the overall direction remained downward, the diagonal line effectively extended the falling time. What was even more inexplicable was that as the direction changed, the descent speed also slowed down. The video played at a normal speed because the excitement of the shooter, occasionally seen in the frame, indicated that the footage was still at a normal pace. However, the descending person’s speed visibly decreased.
Situated in a tall building, the shooter, as the person landed, saw only a small black dot in their lens, making it impossible to assess the situation.
But judging by the apparent deceleration trend, Lin Wu believed the person was unharmed.
Checking the news date, it was from yesterday.
With a blank mind, Lin Wu raised his head and looked around for his usual companions, seated together in the back row.
In the last row, Xia Yang, Li Junchi, and Ren Feiyu, who had just watched the short video together, lifted their heads at the same moment. Their bewildered expressions resembled a group of meerkats standing upright at the entrance of a burrow.
If Ren Feiyu’s fall distance was too short and too fast last night, making it impossible to see anything in the blink of an eye, this video was like a step-by-step breakdown demonstration, a “plus” version.
【Environmental Engineering Class 1 Group】
The formidable Xu Zhenlong: “This video must be edited in post-production…”
Shang Haitao, the foodie: “Be more confident, remove the ‘must.'”
Pang Dongdong, who cascades like a waterfall: “If you don’t believe it, search for yourself. There are several similar incidents. I just shared one, and Weibo is buzzing!”
Lin Wu quickly opened Weibo’s trending topics—
Russian man miraculously unharmed after high-altitude fall … Mexican prisoner mysteriously escapes … German middle school student breaks world record in the 100 meters …Today’s trending topics seemed like a global collection of oddities, but only when something bizarre happened nearby could people truly feel that chilling sensation—
Beijing woman holds breath underwater for 42 minutes Unexplained bodily abnormalities reported nationwide Unexplained bodily abnormalitiesBy the afternoon, similar or identical news, nearly swept through all social media, reminiscent of the recent fog incident.
No one in the class was focused on studying. Everyone was busy checking their phones.
Lin Wu wondered if it was just his imagination. Occasionally looking up, the teachers at the podium seemed just as absent-minded as them.
It was the hottest time of the day, and sitting in the classroom felt like being directly exposed to the sun.
The sky outside the window was cloudless; perhaps the intense sun had melted all the clouds, leaving an empty expanse that held unseen, untouchable, yet palpable unease.
At five in the evening.
After class, students headed to the cafeteria for dinner. Lin Wu and his friends also went, and everything seemed to proceed as usual. As if they turned off their phones and forgot about the news, it was still the serene campus, a university filled with sand sculptures and joy.
But something felt off.
The usual noisy atmosphere in the cafeteria was absent. Each group of students at every table was more subdued than usual. Laughter and banter were non-existent, and even if someone spoke, it was in hushed tones, like whispers.
Until the televisions above the cafeteria simultaneously displayed the live broadcast of the news—
“Regarding the recent appearance of individuals with abnormal physical conditions in various regions, we are holding a press conference to report on the relevant situation…”
“In the past two days, multiple provinces in the eastern part of the country have experienced cases of individuals with abnormal conditions…”
“Specifically, these conditions involve sudden, irrational changes in physical functions or behavioral habits, such as a sudden increase in physical and athletic abilities, abrupt changes in lifestyle, and alterations in dietary preferences, among other things…”
“Some of the individuals with abnormalities exhibit similar patterns of change, but a significant portion is unique. At present, no discernible patterns have been identified, and the cause of these physical abnormalities remains unclear…”
“However, after conducting detailed physical examinations on multiple individuals with abnormalities, it has been determined that these changes have not resulted in any physical pathology. All examined individuals show normal health indicators and are in good physical condition…”
“For any new developments, we will promptly provide updates…”
As the press conference in the live broadcast concluded, the phones of the students below the television sets began to ring. Regardless of their major or year, the ringing echoed without discrimination.
Lin Wu opened his WeChat.
【Environmental Engineering College Group】
Professor Li: “The school has issued an emergency notice. The campus will be sealed again at 9:00 tonight, all classes are suspended tomorrow morning, and a general assembly will be held on the sports field at 8:00. All members…”
