Deep Within the Living

Chapter 57: Skin

[In front of the dormitory building]

The three of them cautiously advanced. The campus had turned into a labyrinth due to the sudden appearance of walls blocking the pathways. With communication devices rendered useless, it was impossible to know what was happening in other areas or the status of the others.

They soon arrived at the first intersection formed by the walls. To their surprise, there were directional signs thoughtfully placed at the crossroads, pointing toward four directions on campus:

↑ Academic Building, Administrative Offices, Main Gate← Dormitories for Students and Staff, Forest Pavilion→ Track and Field, Sports Center↓ Cafeteria, Laboratory BuildingFollowing the class leader’s suggestion, the best option was to head to the Sports Center to regroup with the larger crowd and wait under the protection of the physical education teacher until the crisis was over.

However, Luo Di hesitated. Instead of heading straight for the Sports Center as suggested, he paused at the signpost, deep in thought.

The class leader, pulling along Xiaoying, caught up and asked, "Luo Di, is something wrong?"

Luo Di replied, "Based on what’s described in the books, those who created the Seams are undoubtedly closely connected to No. 4 High School. They must be extremely familiar with the campus—possibly even students or staff here. The fact that they chose to act during tonight’s physical fitness exam clearly shows preparation.

"The school’s strongest physical education teacher and the senior students are all concentrated at the Sports Center. With so many people in one place, some students under intense graduation exam pressure are bound to be affected by the Seams' influence, transforming like the dorm supervisor we encountered earlier.

"If the transformation rate exceeds a certain threshold, chaos will break out. Also, the Sports Center is likely the area most heavily affected by the Seams, and things inside may already be catastrophic. Let’s try approaching the track and field area first to assess the situation. Don’t just focus on regrouping with the main crowd.""Okay," the others agreed.

The three followed the sign leading toward the Sports Center. Having lived on campus for three years, they knew the distance between the dormitory building and the track. Yet now, it was clearly much farther, as if the entire campus had expanded in size. The path ahead stretched endlessly, seemingly without an end.

To avoid getting separated, the three held hands and stayed highly alert throughout. About five minutes into their slow progress, their steps faltered.

In the dim light cast by the faint streetlamps, a girl wearing No. 4 High School’s uniform appeared in the depths of the path, her face consumed by fear as she ran frantically.

The moment she saw three living people in front of her, the despair in her eyes vanished, replaced by desperate hope. She screamed with all her strength:

"Help! Please save me... Everyone’s changed!

"They’ve turned into twisted, monstrous things! My friends... they’ve all been killed. It started during the fitness exam—students began changing. The teachers couldn’t react in time to stop it. The whole Sports Center is in chaos!"

The girl frantically recounted what was happening and clung to the three like a lifeline. But just as she got within a meter of them, Luo Di raised his left arm, signaling her to stop.

"What’s your name?" Luo Di asked.

"Fu Siyu," she replied.

"You—" Luo Di began to question her further, trying to eliminate any suspicion. But before he could continue, something fell rapidly and fatally beside him.

Smack!

The sharp end of a metal crowbar pierced straight into the girl’s skull. The impact was so crisp and loud that even Luo Di, who was usually calm, flinched.

What happened next was even more bizarre. The girl, her head pierced, tilted it to one side, staring in astonishment at the person who had struck her—the culprit was Wu Wen, standing behind Luo Di. She couldn’t understand how she’d been exposed.

Then, the girl’s skin began to wriggle.

Whoosh!

Her skin, along with her uniform, peeled away as if alive, slithering off... leaving behind a flayed corpse. The body itself was already severely damaged, and without its skin, it disintegrated instantly into a pile of shredded flesh and broken bones.

Zzzzt—

The streetlights in the corridor flickered. A strange, mature woman’s voice came from behind them:

"How curious~ A student wandering outside the fitness exam, and such a ‘remarkable’ one at that. How did you see through me?"

The three immediately turned around. Ten meters away, hanging from a streetlight by long black hair, was a middle-aged woman with pale skin, wearing a No. 4 High School uniform.

On closer inspection, her anomalous traits became evident—her exposed wrists and ankles lacked any bone structure, as though she were a sheet of human skin draped over the streetlamp.

The class leader showed no fear. Hoisting the crowbar onto her shoulder, she stepped forward and replied, "Fu Siyu from Senior Class 12, ranked 604 in the grade. She usually doesn’t have friends and often keeps to herself.

"There’s no way her story about friends being killed and her escaping checks out. Plus, she has a noticeable leg injury, likely from abuse or self-harm, so even if she tried to run, she’d be limping.

"Finally, Class 12 is supposed to be in the Sports Center doing strength tests. To escape, she’d have to pass through the track and field area. We didn’t encounter anyone along the way, so how could the first person we meet be a low-ranking student? Doesn’t add up, does it?"

The woman hanging from the streetlight burst into laughter. Newest update provided by NoveI[F]ire.net

"Hahaha! To think I’d meet someone who knows my daughter better than I do, and someone with such a clever mind. I’ve decided—you’ll be my daughter.

"But first, I’ll need to fit your head into my daughter’s skin. Don’t worry, dear. If you’re good enough, Mom will make sure you have everything you need."

Zzzzt—

The streetlight holding the woman flickered violently. After a longer-than-usual blackout, she was gone.

"Prepare for battle!" Luo Di commanded.

The three immediately formed a tight triangle, standing shoulder-to-shoulder, each covering a different direction.

Although it was Xiaoying's first time facing a genuine Impersonator, her experience earlier in the dormitory and the class leader’s return had bolstered her courage. She kept her eyes fixed on her assigned area, scanning it swiftly, clutching the claw blade in her hand tightly.

But the three of them waited for a long time, and no danger appeared.

Time dragged on, and the potential dangers lurking across the campus, combined with the possibility of encountering a second Impersonator, grated on their nerves like sandpaper scraping across their minds, fostering a growing sense of irritation.

Luo Di, who was usually the calmest, suddenly recalled his encounter with the Spider Woman back in the No. 13 Resettlement Neighborhood. At that time, he had let his guard down for just a moment, and the class leader, who had been holding his hand, disappeared without a trace.

The current situation felt eerily similar—dim and bizarre. Considering that the opponent likely had the ability to imitate others, Luo Di couldn’t shake the unsettling possibility: one of the three of them could already have been silently replaced.

With this in mind, his gaze shifted away from the path ahead, turning to observe the two girls beside him.

Neither had transformed into paper effigies, nor showed signs of being replaced. Both were fully alert, their concentration evident from the beads of cold sweat sliding down their temples.

Just as Luo Di let out a sigh of relief and returned his focus to the path ahead, his sharp eyes caught something unusual: a section of the ground seemed to be moving—or rather, “a patch of the ground was moving”—and it was less than half a meter away.

Without hesitation, Luo Di swung the Zombie Blade in his hand.

Clang!

The blade struck the concrete, leaving a shallow cut but failing to hit any suspicious target.

The ground in front of him returned to normal, showing no signs of movement.

As Luo Di withdrew the blade, puzzled, a sudden, creeping sensation—like an itch—spread from his leg upward. It rapidly climbed past his waist, up his torso, and reached his neck.

The class leader and Xiaoying, startled by the sound of his swing, turned their heads.

“Ah!”

Xiaoying screamed and instinctively took two steps back. Although she still clutched the claw blade tightly, she was at a loss for what to do.

In their line of sight, half of Luo Di’s face had turned deathly pale, and a grotesque set of facial features had emerged—an exact replica of the woman hanging from the streetlamp earlier.