Volume 1 Chapter 27: False Alarm

After getting spooked earlier, the tension between the three of them actually eased up a lot.

Zhang Shaoqing was grinning like a rascal, sharing all kinds of “wild couple” stories he’d heard before.

Wen Yang had a calm smile on his face.

Only Ning Chu looked utterly done with life.

It wasn’t that he was disappointed in how easily scared the other two were—it was just… he couldn’t help but marvel at how this world really lived up to being the setting of a lewd hentai novel.

Seriously, how long had he been here? And already, he’d run into two couples “doing it” outdoors in a single day.

In his previous life, he’d sometimes hear about friends accidentally running into such scenes, but that was maybe once or twice—total.

Here? Twice in one day.

People in this world must really not be able to afford hotels.

Weird? Sure. But at least they were harmless perverts—just chasing a thrill without doing anything too awful. They were considerate enough to pick a hidden spot, and even if the cops caught them, the worst they’d face was a short detention.

Ning Chu sighed.

To think, he’d once naively believed people here were “normal.”

“My old high school classmate once went shopping, and she ran into a couple going at it in a changing room—broad daylight. Man, some people really know how to play,” Zhang Shaoqing said, turning his head just in time to see Ning Chu sigh. “What? Did your pure little heart just get corrupted?”

“Not really…”

If he could be called “pure,” then he wouldn’t have been writing smut in the first place—let alone ending up in such a bizarre world.

“Then what are you sighing for? Never seen anyone this shy before,” Zhang Shaoqing scoffed, then said with mock righteousness, “Who gets so scared at an action movie that they turn pale with fright~”

He even deliberately stretched the last syllable, heavily emphasizing the phrase “pale with fright.”

Yeah right—you weren’t even watching a normal action movie!

If he were watching with close friends, that would be one thing. But Ning Chu had only known these two for a few weeks—they were barely more than casual acquaintances.

“Alright, enough fooling around. Let’s get on with it,” Wen Yang said from the front, holding up his phone as a flashlight and cutting off their bickering.

“What ghosts? Bet it was just another couple doing it outdoors. Same as earlier…” Zhang Shaoqing muttered.

“Anyway, let’s make a round of the teaching building. If we don’t find anything, we’ll head back,” Wen Yang said.

“If we do run into a ghost, I’ll smash its head in with this wrench!” Zhang Shaoqing declared, waving the tool in his hand.

“And who was it that ran off first just now?” Ning Chu jabbed back without mercy, then puffed himself up in self-praise. “Look at you—big, manly faces but scared like little girls!”

—Even though, at the time, his own brain had gone blank and his legs had locked up.

“Heh.” Zhang Shaoqing, clearly guilty, admitted defeat for once and crossed his arms, staying silent.

The suspenseful horror vibe from earlier had now completely shifted into a playful, slightly risqué atmosphere. Zhang Shaoqing was full of dirty jokes he’d probably picked up from who-knows-where. Wen Yang, the shy virgin, just listened without joining in. Ning Chu, meanwhile, was subconsciously committing the jokes to memory—planning to use them in his writing later.

…Wait a second. I’m literally inside the novel right now!

That smutty story of his had been written on and off for years. Usually, after reading some particularly spicy, well-written scene from someone else’s work, he’d write his own version for fun.

That was how this world ended up as a modern city setting filled with all sorts of monster-girls and human hybrids.

The three of them strolled up the stairs to the second floor like they were just killing time. From somewhere nearby, they faintly heard sweet, breathy moans.

Ning Chu’s face didn’t change—he almost wanted to laugh.

Yup. This world had no such thing as normal people.

“If there really is a ghost here, it’s a pervert ghost,” Zhang Shaoqing said. “They probably came looking for some thrill, but now we’re the third wheel.”

Maybe they heard him, because the sounds upstairs stopped immediately.

“I told you there’s no ghost,” Wen Yang sighed. “You probably just scared that couple away.”

“Would’ve been better to just stay in the dorm and play games…”

Ning Chu listened to them talk, feeling a little more relaxed, but he still kept his eyes scanning the area, sweeping his phone’s light across every corner.

He couldn’t help wondering—

Would the female ghost here be as beautiful as the one he’d described in his novel?

Or maybe it wasn’t even the same ghost?

What if it was a guy ghost?!

As he was lost in his messy train of thought, he caught something in the corner of his eye—a flash of pale white at the far end of the hallway.

A chill shot down his back.

He instinctively grabbed Wen Yang’s hand and pointed. “There’s something over there!”

“Don’t try to scare me,” Wen Yang said calmly, following his finger. “Come on, let’s go check it out.”

“Wow, what’s this? You’re acting like a scaredy-cat now too?” Zhang Shaoqing teased Ning Chu as he took the lead toward the far end of the hallway.

When they reached it, Ning Chu glanced around nervously and saw that it was just the entrance to the second-floor restroom.

Splash!

All three of them jumped in shock and immediately looked down—only to see that Wen Yang had stepped into a small puddle of water.

Water in front of a restroom wasn’t exactly strange.

“Damn! That just gave me a heart attack!” Zhang Shaoqing cursed under his breath, heading toward the bathroom. “I’ll just… go take a pee—ah, forget it, I’ll wait until we’re back.”

“Alright, alright, let’s go check the third floor.”

Ning Chu still suspected that the shadow he’d seen earlier had been some kind of ghost—but that only made him even more jittery. He trailed behind Wen Yang like a guilty puppy, already regretting getting involved in this mess.

Still… if he hadn’t come, and Wen Yang ended up getting eaten by a ghost, all his earlier effort would’ve gone to waste, right?

If he had to come… well, at least he could witness exactly how Wen Yang got eaten. That way, all that effort wouldn’t be for nothing.

The teaching building had four floors in total. The three of them checked every one, even poking their heads onto the rooftop. Finding nothing, they left feeling slightly disappointed.

Wen Yang had more or less pieced it together—most likely, some timid student had stumbled upon a frisky couple in the middle of the night, gotten scared, and reported it to the school. That rumor had snowballed into a “haunted” story.

If there really were ghosts, why would those couples be so fearless?

“Alright, let’s go. Total mood-killer!” Once they stepped onto the road under the bright streetlights, Zhang Shaoqing’s courage returned instantly. He started bragging, “That ghost was lucky it didn’t run into us tonight!”

“Yeah, yeah, totally~” Ning Chu replied without much enthusiasm.

“So what now?” he asked, turning to Wen Yang.

“Just report it to the school, tell them exactly what we saw,” Wen Yang said with a shrug. “Have the security guards patrol more at night. That should take care of the ‘haunting.’”

“Shame there wasn’t a real ghost—my uncle could’ve made some money off it.”

That solution was a relief for Ning Chu. His biggest worry had been Wen Yang stubbornly refusing to give up until they’d tracked down a ghost.

It’s a false alarm. 

He’d honestly thought they’d triggered some kind of exorcism storyline.

Still, that pale shadow from before lingered in his mind, making him glance back at the building every now and then. 

Something about it made him uneasy.

Maybe there had been too many of them for the female ghost to act tonight… but what about next time?

No way could he ever let Wen Yang come to the teaching building alone again!

Trying to comfort Wen Yang, who looked a bit down about wasting his time and money, Ning Chu said, “Hey, if there had been something, the three of us might not have made it back tonight.”

“That’s true,” Wen Yang admitted.

Ning Chu couldn’t help thinking how naïve this little virgin still was. If it were him—even without a ghost—he’d at least put on an exorcist act and scam the school out of some cash.

“Come on, let’s get some late-night snacks from the second floor of the cafeteria.” From a distance, Zhang Shaoqing spotted the brightly lit building and waved the other two over. “My treat—how about chicken cutlets and milk tea?”

For some reason, Ning Chu suddenly found this so-called “villain” much more likable. 

“Sure! I want some jianbing!”