Editor and Proofreader: Rinrin

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At ten-thirty in the morning, the campus-wide loudspeaker, which had been stressing everyone out, finally stopped.

The fog-covered campus was eerily^[1]creepily quiet, like it was midnight.

“It doesn’t look like there’s any sign of this fog clearing up” Xia Yang said, standing by the window after staring out for almost half an hour. The more he looked, the more unsettling it became. “This weather is seriously messed up.”

Lin Wu sat on his upper bunk, scrolling through Weibo^[2]app like messenger.

The topic “Shenyang Fog” had the entire city sharing their photography. From Shenyang North to Hunnan, from the Forbidden City to Qipan Mountain—photos from every corner, covering the city from all angles.

But without a location tag or explanation, Lin Wu couldn’t really tell where these pictures were taken, because every shot was just a mass of white.

Even such a strange event hadn’t pushed Shenyang into the top ten trending searches.

Because today, there were just too many places experiencing thick fog.

From the northeast and the north of China to the east and the south, rare fog blanketed the entire eastern region. Even the central and western parts of the country weren’t spared, though the fog there affected only scattered^[3]spread cities in smaller areas, not on the massive scale seen in the east.

“Damn” said Li Junchi, who was also scrolling through his phone. The latest report that popped up left him in shock. He turned in disbelief toward Lin Wu on the opposite bunk. “This… this might be global…”

Lin Wu had already seen it.

“Unprecedented^[4]haven’t happened before fog suddenly covers multiple locations worldwide” had rocketed to the top of the trending topics, and in the blink of an eye, it had exploded in popularity.

“What the heck?” Xia Yang asked, turning around. “What do you mean by ‘global’?”

Li Junchi handed him his phone.

Xia Yang glanced at it, and then went blank.

Seven continents, all over the world, no matter the hemisphere^[5]half of a sphere or a globe, no matter if it was day or night, no matter the weather conditions—wherever fog could form, it did. It was as if the fog had been delivered in a uniform package. The photos taken by users from various countries all looked indistinguishable from the ones in Shenyang.

Even the way the fog rolled in was identical to the situation in China, with large areas engulfed^[6]surrounded, and smaller cities seeing isolated^[7]seperate patches.

“My understanding of natural science has been overturned” Li Junchi said, sprawled out on his bed in disbelief, staring at the ceiling.

“Live long enough, and you’ll see anything” Xia Yang said, tossing the phone back onto Li Junchi’s stomach. “This is literally the start of a disaster movie, isn’t it?”

“Let’s hope not” Lin Wu said, ever aware of his own limits. “In an apocalyptic film, I wouldn’t survive more than three hours.”

“If you want to compliment yourself, just do it” Xia Yang gave him a disdainful^[8]strong dislike side-eye. “Movies only last two and a half hours max, yet you gave yourself an extra half-hour.”

Lin Wu chuckled and made a gesture of brotherhood, placing his hand on his chest: “You get me.”

Xia Yang returned the same gesture and, in rare fashion, responded in perfect northeastern dialect: “Of course.”

Li Junchi, who couldn’t keep up with these two’s weird train of thought: “…”

He often felt out of place with his roommates because he wasn’t goofy^[9]silly enough.

Which is why he believed that God was fair—when you’re given a handsome face, your personality has to be a little off to balance things out.

Yes, in Li Junchi’s eyes, both Lin Wu and Xia Yang belonged to the good-looking category. Even though Lin Wu didn’t think so, and even though Xia Yang’s face certainly stood out, Li Junchi’s judgment was backed by data—within his vast network of friends across the campus, the number of girls who had asked him about Lin Wu was about the same as those who inquired about Xia Yang.

“Why hasn’t Ren Feiyu arrived yet?” Lin Wu asked, checking their dorm chat.

An hour ago, Ren Feiyu had arrived at the train station and sent his first message—

Please grant me a koi fish: “I’ve arrived at the north station, but the fog is insane [ShockedTriple.jpg]”

Please grant me a koi fish: “All the taxis stopped, no one dares to drive [crying][crying][crying]”

Ten minutes later, he sent another message.

Please grant me a koi fish: “The subway is the only reliable option!”

That meant he was already on the subway at that point. It only takes about half an hour to get from the north station to their university by subway, but now it had already been fifty minutes.

“Could something have happened?” Lin Wu started to get worried.

Xia Yang scratched his head. “I doubt it. With the weather messing around, he’s probably taking tiny steps and still stuck outside the north gate.”

To get back to the university from the subway, you’d have to enter through the north gate.

“No, something’s off” Lin Wu felt more uneasy the more he thought about it. “You know Feiyu’s personality. If he really couldn’t move, the first thing he’d do is stand still and complain in the chat, whining for help.”

Xia Yang: “…”

Li Junchi: “…”

They couldn’t deny that this fit Ren Feiyu’s character perfectly.

Instead of just worrying, Lin Wu decided to call him via voice chat.

It took a long time before the call was answered.

“Where are you?” Lin Wu asked directly.

“Huh? Oh, almost at the north gate…” Ren Feiyu’s voice came through Lin Wu’s phone on speaker.

His tone, which usually had the brightness typical of a young guy, was perpetually^[10]always clouded^[11]unclear with a sense of gloom, like a large dog that always seems to be asking for head pats.

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However, on ordinary days, Ren Feiyu is just timid, but today he seems particularly hesitant and a bit guilty, like a thief caught in the act.

More importantly, the background noise on his side is quite loud, making it sound like he’s surrounded by a group of people.

If Lin Wu was just suspicious before, he was now almost certain: “Ren Feiyu, what happened?”

“No, no” he quickly denied. “Let’s not talk about it right now, the fog is just too thick. I’m so busy I can’t keep up, haha…”

Click.

The voice call was unilaterally^[12]one sided disconnected.

Lin Wu looked up.

The three of them in the dorm exchanged glances, and the next second, they quickly jumped out of bed, some putting on clothes, others changing shoes.

Li Junchi: “Damn, you really guessed right.”

Xia Yang: “What do you mean guessed? Lin Wu is just observant.”

Li Junchi: “Dude, don’t flatter him now.”

This guy Ren Feiyu spends 364 days a year crying and seeking sympathy, and only one day doesn’t—when he’s actually in trouble. Who knows how this awkward personality formed? It’s like he wants the whole world to know he’s the most miserable when nothing’s wrong, but when real trouble hits, he’s scared of dragging others down and insists on shouldering it alone.

The key is that this student can’t handle any kind of pressure at all.

The 333 dormitory doesn’t usually get into fights, but when it does, it’s not afraid. Usually, it’s Ren Feiyu who stops them, but today the peacekeeper is absent, and the three main instigators^[13]provokers are ready to charge.

What kind of trouble is Ren Feiyu facing? It’s hard to find out just by asking, so it’s better to go directly to the scene. The school is oriented north-south, with the south gate being the main entrance, close to the library and lecture halls, while the north gate is located between the two dormitory areas, Shushan Garden and Xuehai Garden. It’s not far from the male dorms.

The dorm building wasn’t locked, so the three of them left without any issue.

But once they stepped outside, it felt like a completely different world. The sky was darker than it was in the morning, and in the thick fog, they could see nothing. They had to rely on memory, feeling their way along one tree after another to avoid losing their direction.

Fortunately, the north gate wasn’t far. After a short walk, they heard the sound of security guards talking ahead.

With security guards around, they had reached the main gate.

The fog acted as the best “invisibility cloak.” The three of them stopped, not needing to hide deliberately, just lowering their voices.

Li Junchi: “The school is locked down; we definitely can’t go through the front gate.”

Lin Wu: “Let’s find a more hidden spot to climb over the wall.”

Xia Yang: “There’s no need to look hard; today the whole world is hidden…”

“Which college are you from—” one of the guards shouted. They couldn’t see anyone move, but they heard footsteps approaching quickly. It seemed they were calling for backup: “This way, this way—”

Lin Wu, Li Junchi, and Xia Yang: “…”

They were whispering so quietly they could barely hear themselves. How could that expose them?

What should they do? Run, brothers!

Guard: “Stop! I see you—”

Xia Yang: “Come on, even if you have sharp hearing and insight, you can’t exceed the limits of human vision—”

Guard: “Don’t run! Stay there—”

Xia Yang: “If you stop chasing us, we won’t run—”

Playing tag in this kind of weather would make anyone dizzy. By the time Lin Wu finally reached the school wall, he realized it was oddly quiet around him. Looking left and right, he found that there wasn’t a single shadow.

In this situation, trying to regroup was basically impossible, and Lin Wu couldn’t even be sure which section of the wall he was at. He had no choice but to climb over first and then use the outside buildings to figure out his position.

However, just as he painstakingly^[14]carefully climbed to the top of the wall, he discovered that there were security guards patrolling outside the wall, and they were right against the wall, leaving no escape for him, the wall-climbing student.

Do they really need to be this strict?

Lin Wu crouched on the wall, slowly lowering himself, silently repeating “You can’t see me” and holding his breath, patiently waiting for the guards to pass before climbing down.

Before the guards on the outer wall could pass, new students approached the inner wall.

Male: “Let’s just talk here. What do you want to say?”

Female: “I like you.”

Lin Wu almost fell off the wall.

He quickly steadied himself, and his gaze involuntarily drifted downward. He didn’t want to look, but curiosity is a human instinct that’s hard to resist.

Unfortunately, the fog was too dense; he could only make out that it was a man and a woman. The male voice sounded nice but a bit disinterested, while the female voice was confident and bold, despite her proactive^[15]taking initiative confession.

Suddenly, a slight breeze blew.

The fog below the wall was blown away, leaving only a thin veil.

Through the “light veil,” Lin Wu finally saw the two students clearly.

The girl who had just confessed was actually the school’s widely acknowledged beauty, a senior from the Mechanical Engineering department!

Lin Wu’s eyes widened in disbelief; he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. This senior was known for her beauty and talent. Last year at the school’s gala, she had captivated all the freshmen like him.

Their university is comprehensive, with no shortage of girls in the Literature department, yet the beauty came from the Mechanical Engineering department, which typically has classes with no more than three girls. This was indisputable proof of how stunning she was.

To have a girl like that confess, the guy’s response was—

“Sorry.”

His tone and inflection^[16]emotion remained unchanged.

Lin Wu, who had only been curious about what kind of boy would make the senior confess, was now completely stunned.

He quickly focused on the boy’s figure.

An unremarkable handsome guy.

Yes, just unremarkable. He was taller than average, Lin Wu himself was 185 cm, and by eye measurement, this guy was a few centimeters taller, around 190 cm. But even at that height, he wasn’t two meters tall. His features were quite defined, from the bridge of his nose to his jawline, with clear contours, and his eyebrows were above the aesthetic average… Alright, just to be a bit extra, he had chosen to shave his head into a buzz cut, but still looked strikingly handsome.

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So what?

Being handsome gives you the right to do whatever you want?

Senior Sister: “Why?”

Buzzcut Guy: “It’s not your problem; it’s my problem.”

Senior Sister: “You’re not going to use that cliché^[17]common excuse of ‘I don’t like women’ are you?”

Buzzcut Guy: “I don’t like people.”

… Yes, he really does whatever he wants.