Editor and Proofreader: Rinrin

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“Meow~~”

Suddenly, a lazy cat meow broke the tranquil air between the two.

In the shadow of the bushes, a round, chubby orange cat was leisurely washing its face with its little paws, not knowing how long it had been lying there.

Lin Wu suspected that Wang Ye was somehow related to catnip; otherwise, why was it that every time he encountered this person, he was accompanied by a cat?

Wang Ye was clearly much more interested in the cat than in Lin Wu. He immediately turned around, slightly bent over, and called out to the fat orange cat, “Er Mao, come here, Er Mao.”

Lin Wu was truly speechless and blurted out without thinking, “Why would you call a cat Er Mao? With such obvious features, you should at least name it ‘Xiao Huang’…”

Suddenly realizing something, his teasing abruptly stopped.

Wang Ye slowly turned his head and met Lin Wu’s eyes, finally remembering where he had seen this classmate before: “You’re the one who was riding on the wall that day.”

It was the exact same phrase he had used at the school hospital, but this time it sounded more like a certainty than a question.

“…” Lin Wu really wished he could turn back time and shut his mouth. But in life, you can only grit your teeth and move forward, “…Hmm? What wall?”

Lin Wu was putting on his best acting.

Wang Ye clicked his tongue, “Don’t pretend with me.”

“Ah, you mean Er Mao,” Lin Wu acted as if he had just realized, “I saw you playing with cats on campus last semester. You were too focused to notice me.”

With Wang Ye’s rough way of teasing cats, naming any cat Er Mao, Lin Wu believed that even if he said he had seen Wang Ye when he first entered school, it wouldn’t raise any suspicions.

But who knew Wang Ye stood up straight and stared at him leisurely, “Impossible.”

Lin Wu replied, “Don’t be so absolute.”

Wang Ye insisted, “I used to call them Mimi. I only started calling them Er Mao last time.”

Lin Wu: “…”

At nineteen and a half, Lin Wu finally understood a life lesson this Mid-Autumn Festival: some pits are destined to be yours; either you plummet into them or you dodge left and right, gasping for breath, only to fall into them anyway.

Wang Ye couldn’t figure it out, wondering why it mattered so much: “So what if you saw it? It’s not like I’m going to hit you.”

“Come on,” now that the topic was out in the open, Lin Wu decided to be honest, “You look like you want to pick a fight with me.”

Wang Ye was confused: “When?”

Lin Wu glared at his buzz cut: “Every time.”

Wang Ye was perplexed and even took the time to reflect on it, ultimately more confused: “I haven’t really spoken to you that much, have I?”

“Not counting this time, just one sentence at the school hospital” it was so few that it was easy to remember. Lin Wu even mimicked the tone perfectly, “Oh, Wang Ye, mechanical.”

Wang Ye replied, “Doesn’t that sound pretty united and friendly?”

Lin Wu gazed at him for a long time: “Do you have a misunderstanding of that term…”

That said, as they started chatting, Lin Wu noticed that Wang Ye felt a bit different compared to their previous encounters.

During that time on the wall, Wang Ye hadn’t even glanced at him, and at the hospital, although he introduced himself, he still had an aura that said ‘keep your distance.’ Moreover, Wang Ye’s ‘keep your distance’ wasn’t just coldness; it had a strong sense of rejection, as if he was always ready to take down anyone who crossed the line.

This was why Lin Wu had repeatedly felt intimidated—yes, he admitted it; what could he do?—but today, Wang Ye seemed to have added a bit of warmth towards the whole world.

“Meow~~”

The fat orange cat, not wanting to be ignored, meowed again, now stepping out from the bushes. Its confident stride clearly showed that it was often spoiled by the students.

Wang Ye waved to it again, “Xiao Huang, come here.”

Lin Wu: “…”

You really improve quickly when it comes to cats.

The fat orange cat, much bolder than last time, walked toward Wang Ye as soon as he beckoned.

But when it was about half a meter away from Wang Ye, it suddenly stopped, as if sensing some unease, its eyes wide open.

Wang Ye eagerly reached out, and the fat orange cat responded with a claw swipe before swiftly darting away, disappearing into the night.

Wang Ye looked at the new scratch mark on the back of his hand: “…”

Lin Wu stared at Wang Ye staring at the scratch on his hand: “…”

He now suspected that his initial impression of Wang Ye might have been biased. Like many large beasts, they might look fierce at first glance, but if you spent 24 hours filming them up close, you’d find that nine out of ten were actually goofy.

“Do I look fierce?” Wang Ye finally started to reflect.

Lin Wu shook his head: “Not fierce, more like ferocious… uh… tough. People avoid you, let alone cats.”

Wang Ye slowly gazed at him, saying nothing, just looking.

Lin Wu felt unnerved under his gaze and began frantically backtracking: “But you have a charismatic vibe, a total heartthrob, walking hormones. Just look, even the campus beauty confessed to you…”

“Stop with the nonsense” Wang Ye asked, “What’s your name?”

Lin Wu: “…You really didn’t ask too late, did you?”

Despite the teasing, after chatting for a while, Lin Wu felt that they had truly gotten to know each other: “Lin Wu, Environmental Studies.”

Wang Ye replied, “Wang Ye, Mechanical Engineering.”

Lin Wu paused: “You said that last time.”

Wang Ye had no expression: “Last time doesn’t count.”

Suddenly, a loud noise interrupted the conversation as a logistics teacher caught a few other students nearby.

Lin Wu hadn’t brought his phone and estimated it must be past eleven-thirty by now.

He hadn’t intended to go on a nighttime adventure; he simply didn’t know what had gotten into him. Now that his mind was clear, he naturally didn’t plan to risk being reprimanded by the teacher by continuing to wander around at midnight.

“I’m heading back” Lin Wu said to Wang Ye, then remembered that the Mechanical Engineering dorm was also in Building 2, so he nodded toward the dormitory building, “Shall we go together?”

Wang Ye didn’t respond, but his expression clearly indicated he didn’t want to go back at all.

Lin Wu had only asked out of courtesy, and seeing that they were going in different directions, he turned and said, “Alright, I’m off then.”

As Lin Wu stepped out of the shadows of the trees, he casually looked up and saw the full moon in the sky.

—

Of course, the Mid-Autumn Festival features a full moon, but it wasn’t until just before the night passed that he truly looked up and admired it.

Under the deep blue night sky, the moon was so large it seemed almost within reach, and the surrounding flowing clouds moved gently with the wind, never getting too close. Even the stars quietly hid away, and the tranquil brightness spread like water.

Lin Wu had seen many full moons before, but for some reason, only tonight was it beautiful enough to make his heart flutter.

Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks and turned back to call out to the guy still standing in place, echoing the same rudeness he had encountered earlier that night: “Hey.”

Wang Ye looked up at the sound, his shadow shifting in the moonlight.

Lin Wu smiled at him: “Happy festival.”

The next day, everyone in Dorm 333 knew about the night outing.

This was because when Lin Wu sneaked back in, he happened to bump into Ren Feiyu, who was just getting up to go to the bathroom.

With the holiday keeping them on campus and no classes to attend, the guys in 333 were racking their brains on how to pass the time. As soon as they heard about this, they perked up, forgetting breakfast and gathering together to help Lin Wu brainstorm—

Xia Yang: “So, are you just tentatively suspecting it’s a nocturnal animal, or have you confirmed it?”

Lin Wu: “I’m basically sure, it’s nocturnal, and there’s no other more reasonable explanation.”

Ren Feiyu: “And Lin Wu said he saw groups of moving… uh, no, groups of our classmates, right? It can’t be that so many people just happened to be insomnia at the same time.”

Li Junchi: “There are a lot of nocturnal animals too, ranging from bats and geckos to jackals and tigers. How do you pinpoint them?”

Ren Feiyu: “Plus, there are those that run fast and have good stamina. Oh right, strong teeth too. These conditions, when combined, narrow it down.”

Li Junchi: “Narrow it down? That’s still a huge intersection…”

Xia Yang: “Hold on, are jackals nocturnal?”

Li Junchi: “Huh? Aren’t they?”

Xia Yang: “Are they?”

Li Junchi: “Uh, let me check…”

Ren Feiyu: “I don’t see anything about jackals in my ‘Children’s Encyclopedia of Animals’. Lin Wu, does your ‘Encyclopedia of World Animals’ mention them?”

Lin Wu: “…No.”

Xia Yang: “See, you can’t say a tree lives by its bark while a person lives by their breath. If you don’t work hard, you won’t even have your name in the animal encyclopedia!”

—In Dorm 333, the atmosphere was increasingly rich, not just in academic discussion but also in life philosophy.

As for Lin Wu’s animal traits, he had already vaguely outlined a few suspicious categories.

Speed, endurance, teeth, nocturnal behavior.

With these four criteria in mind, reptiles like geckos could actually be ruled out since their powerful motor nerves and sharp teeth looked more like a land-running carnivore.

So, tigers, wolves, and leopards were now Lin Wu’s primary suspects.

However, Xia Yang insisted that the nighttime singing was definitely his point of mutation, so Lin Wu had to include that, which left the shadowy suspect looming only over wolves.

Singing at night.

Howling at midnight.

These two could practically serve as couplets!

On the second and third days of the National Day holiday, Lin Wu resisted the urge to go out at night again. Although he felt as energetic as an owl when night fell, he forced himself to stay in bed like a good wolf, passing the long night by scrolling through his phone.

Whether his awakened animal traits were indeed those of a wolf was still up for debate, but every day, new anomalies were confirmed in the world—

The first case of awakened animal traits confirmed in Germany: American crocodile!

The second case in the UK: Cheetah!

The second case in France: Indian rhinoceros!

The fourth case in the USA: Kangaroo!

Our country has confirmed a total of 9 awakened animal traits!

Russia’s first case…

Trapped within the campus during the holiday, the atmosphere was calm and peaceful. It was only upon reading these news articles that Lin Wu truly felt the world was undergoing rapid changes.

“Physically abnormal” had transformed into “awakened,” and behind this change of terminology lay a wealth of information being updated every day.

‘What will the future hold? Where will life be directed?’

Lin Wu didn’t know. He was just an ordinary college student, unable to delve into the depths of things like scientists did, nor could he look far into the distance.

Moreover, the current situation had already left him mentally and physically exhausted.

It was now one in the morning on the fourth day of the holiday, and the suppressed restlessness inside him seemed to reach its limit. If he didn’t step out for some fresh air, he felt he wouldn’t be able to resist tearing apart his bed.