Chapter 9: Nightfall Syndrome
The process of handling the reinstatement procedures was much smoother than Luxianbei had imagined.
After a simple review of the reinstatement application and the original admission notice at the Academic Affairs Office, and filling out a bunch of forms he didn’t know the purpose of, the teacher from the Academic Affairs Office helped him register his student status.
It took less than half an hour in total.
“Alright, Luxianbei, you can go report to your department now.”
“Thank you, teacher.”
Luxianbei expressed his gratitude, took the thick stack of documents handed to him by the Academic Affairs Office teacher, and got up to leave. Before he could walk far, he heard a whisper from the office behind him.
“Another student who was sick and took a leave of absence?”
“Yeah, I wonder if there will be any issues again, it’s really concerning!”
What problems could there be with a student who was sick and took a leave of absence? Luxianbei paused his steps, wanting to hear the “gossip” from the two Academic Affairs teachers more clearly.
“Do you remember last year’s case? I heard that when the police broke down his dorm door, the whole room was filled with garbage, and he was sleeping with a bunch of rats, under all that garbage…”
“Stop! Don’t mention it, just thinking about it creeps me out!”
Luxianbei, “…… stop what? What was hiding under the garbage?”
By only mentioning it halfway, aren’t they inviting misfortune!
“I say, it’s caused by that weird change of the sun! Otherwise, how could there suddenly be so many strange diseases popping up?”
So they think I’m a patient with “Nightfall Syndrome”? Luxianbei frowned slightly; I’m not suffering from Nightfall Syndrome!
I’ve been certified by specialists in orthopedics, ophthalmology, neurology, etc., in the hospital; I have the hospital receipts to prove it!
Not to mention, what’s wrong with Nightfall Syndrome? Is it eating from your family’s rice bowl?
During his hospitalization, he heard about Nightfall Syndrome just as much as urban legends, and even a neighbor in the next ward was painted as suffering from it. From a certain perspective, his understanding of Nightfall Syndrome was definitely greater than that of the two teachers.
The so-called Nightfall Syndrome is not just a specific illness. It is a collective term for the strange diseases that begin occurring in people when night starts to become longer, which modern medicine has difficulty explaining.
As there is basically no definitive cause found, Nightfall Syndrome is arguably scarier than cancer, with a low cure rate; whether one can recover relies entirely on luck.
By the time Luxianbei was discharged, the number of people diagnosed with Nightfall Syndrome had exceeded 200,000, and that number was still slowly increasing.
“Who says otherwise? Isn’t it all over the internet that the end of the world is coming? At most, in ten to fifteen years, there won’t be any day anymore!”
“You’re just talking nonsense. Can we trust the words of those silly internet users? Be careful that the director hears you saying that; your job might be at stake!”
“Cough! Cough!”
After a slightly hoarse cough, the discussions in the Academic Affairs Office came to an abrupt halt, and Luxianbei packed away his curiosity and headed to the reporting office of the Chinese Language Department.
Yes, he chose the Chinese Language Department for his university studies!
At a technical university, choosing to study Chinese Language seems like a confusing decision.
But there was no way around it; after all, it was his father’s dying wish!
Luxianbei had a good relationship with his father. Although he grew up in a divorced family, he felt he lacked no love.
His father had once been a struggling literary worker in his youth.
He wrote online novels.
In their generation, writing online novels was a dead-end career.
Back then, only a rarity such as “phoenix feathers and unicorn horns” among writers could make a name for themselves, and his father was not among them.
Every month, their income was barely enough for the two of them to get by.
Luxianbei had always felt that his father wasn’t a bad writer; rather, he had problems with his creative ideas.
Like a book titled “Lu Xun’s Drifting Diary,” who would read that!?
It would be better to write something like “I’m Not a Magical Girl,” right?
When Luxianbei entered elementary school, his father ultimately made the choice between his dreams and his son and took on a more stable profession.
He picked up the family heirloom skills and became a Sichuan chef.
Years passed, and his father saved up for many years and finally bought a storefront to open a Sichuan restaurant.
Luxianbei had thought that his father had given up on his dream of becoming a famous writer, but to his surprise, he brought up the request for him to learn classical Chinese on his deathbed.
In fact, Luxianbei personally thought being a chef and running a restaurant of his own wasn’t too bad at all.
It’s just that…
“Forget it, as long as I can respond to my father’s love! What’s the harm in sacrificing a little personal dream?”
Luxianbei stood in front of the College of Arts and Literature student dormitory building and sighed.
Even if he was studying in the Chinese Language Department in college, it doesn’t mean he couldn’t become an excellent chef in the future, right?
Taking a step back, after completing his studies in the Chinese Language Department, he could come up with some high-class dish names for the restaurant, and the prices could be adjusted a little too!
Like “Volcanic Snow” (sugar-coated tomatoes), “Clouds Covering the Moon” (seaweed egg drop soup), “Ex-boyfriend’s Tragedy” (smashed cucumber), and so on.
……
At noon, at a corner of the campus playground.
The blazing sun filtered through the dense branches, becoming gentle, casting a patchy light on the ground.
Under an old maple tree with fluttering fallen leaves, a girl in a light blue lace tank top sat on a stone platform that hinted at the passage of time, swinging her fair legs protruding from her khaki shorts back and forth, her face adorned with a gentle smile as she kindly tore leftover sandwiches into small pieces and offered them to a plump stray cat.
“Are you another unwanted child? How pitiful. I’ll be studying here from now on! As long as I have time, I’ll come feed you!”
“Meow~!”
As if in response to the girl, the stray cat squinted its eyes slightly, rubbed against her hand, and let out a soft meow.
“Food is precious; we must not waste it!”
“Meow~!”
“That’s a good kitty!” The girl revealed a sweet smile, gently scratched the stray cat’s chin, and said, “If there are leftovers, be careful; I might burst your little balls!”
“Meow… meow???”
How are you able to say such terrifying things while wearing an angelic smile!?
After feeding the last piece of the sandwich to the stray cat, the girl leaned down to gather the food scraps that had fallen on the ground, carefully scattered them at the entrance of the ant nest under the tree, clapped her hands, content with herself, and rummaged through her small bag, pulling out a ballpoint pen.
The pen was very old, with a dirty plastic casing that had some cracks.
As soon as the girl took out the ballpoint pen, the surrounding air suddenly turned cold.
The stray cat stopped eating, its fur bristled, staring at the ballpoint pen, emitting a low growl of “gurgle.”
Even the ants under the old maple tree seemed to have been influenced by some force, losing their formation and scampering around chaotically.
“Hey, hey! Is the system there?”
“Hello, host, I am here!”
The girl shook the ballpoint pen in her hand, “This is the embodiment of the pen fairy urban legend in this school, right? How many points can this be exchanged for?”
“System verification in progress, please wait… Verification complete! This ballpoint pen contains C-grade higher energy fluctuations and can be exchanged for 20 points. Would you like to proceed with the exchange?”
“Yes!” the girl replied, and suddenly the ballpoint pen in her hand began to distort with light and shadow, flickering like a malfunctioning video signal snow, and then, as if vaporizing, it gradually faded away, ultimately disappearing without a trace.
“20 points, does that mean I can draw twice?”
“Yes, host. Would you like to start the draw now?”
“Draw, draw, draw! This time, I absolutely won’t get ‘thank you for your patronage!’ I feel like my luck is changing!”
“Okay, the host’s wheel of fate has begun to turn, please wait…”
“Ding! Draw completed, congratulations! You have received a recharge amount of three hundred yuan for the campus card! Congratulations! You have received a recharge amount of five hundred yuan for the campus card!”
“YES!” The girl seemed very pleased with the drawing result, swinging her fists excitedly, “With this eight hundred yuan, I’ll have my meals covered for the month, and I won’t have to work myself to d*ath! I can even buy some snacks!”
“Yes, host, congratulations! Would you like to withdraw your rewards now?”
“Then please help me withdraw it!” The girl politely said, suddenly recalling something, her brows furrowed, “Oh right, system…”
“I’m here.”
The girl stroked her chin, pondering, “You said that Luxianbei hasn’t turned into a witch yet, right? Which means he’s still human, so I still can’t k*ll him, right!?”
“Host, the ultimate goal will surely threaten this world in the future. It’s best to eliminate him while he is still weak.”
“But didn’t you say, with great power comes great responsibility, and our responsibility is to protect every human? How can we k*ll?”
“But host…”
“Don’t talk! Let me finish!” the girl impatiently interrupted, “Why not tell me when he’ll change! When he’s halfway transformed, I can just chop his head off, wouldn’t that be better?”
“Host, fate is unpredictable; he could change at any moment. I cannot effectively foresee.”
“Sigh!” The girl sighed helplessly. He could change at any time, but I can’t just follow him around, right? I have many things of my own to do!
“System…”
“I’m here.”
“You’re really useless.”
The system, “…”
……
On the other side of the playground, in the College of Arts and Literature student dormitory.
Luxianbei followed a “enthusiastic” senior leading him to his dormitory, half-listening to his ramblings, his gaze unknowingly drifting outside the window.
Under the blazing afternoon sun, the whole playground looked as though it was covered in a layer of gold, radiating dazzling light. At that moment of blinding brilliance, Luxianbei’s sight blurred.
In a daze.
He saw a corner of the playground where a figure with long hair, dressed in a white dress, resembled a ghost in white, and then a large nebulous figure emerged, twisted and deformed, exuding a dark, negative aura.
That figure sprang up from below the ground like a giant flatfish, opening its mouth full of sharp teeth, swallowing the white-dressed ghost whole, plummeting towards the ground, descending into the earth, silently disappearing without a trace. What the hell!? Luxianbei was stunned, his eyes wide.
However, all he saw on the ground were fallen leaves swirling in the empty playground with the breeze and fine sand, along with a silly girl dancing and talking to herself. Isn’t that the one who stopped me earlier? Luxianbei frowned. What is she so happy about alone!? Forget it, it’s better not to care.
The girl’s strange behavior, combined with the fleeting shadow a few seconds ago, made Luxianbei secretly decide that he must not get involved with that strange girl!
“Junior, junior?”
Called by the senior accompanying him twice, Luxianbei pulled his thoughts back, scratched his head, and replied coolly, “Oh, sorry, senior!”
The senior glanced outside following Luxianbei’s gaze, and upon seeing the cute girl on the playground, he exhibited a knowing expression, “Haha, no worries! Who doesn’t expect a beautiful romance when heading to college?”
“That makes sense. What year are you in, senior?”
“Third year.”
Luxianbei nodded, curiously asking, “Have you found love?”
The senior blushed, shyly swaying his waist, and said softly, “I have! We’re in the same dorm, and we’re quite happy!”
Luxianbei, “……”
What if I suddenly don’t want you to lead me anymore? Is there going to be danger?
