Chapter 83: Shouldn’t Be Here

Bai Li rushed into the restroom, shutting and locking the door behind her.

She pressed her back against the door, panting heavily, her heart pounding.

The wristband on her wrist was already starting to fade.

Soon, it would lose its effect entirely.

Bai Li removed the wristband from her wrist and placed it on the sink.

She looked up at herself in the mirror.

The black-haired boy from a moment ago was gone.

Long silver-white hair cascaded down from her head, fox ears popped out from among the strands, the inner edges lined with pale pink fuzz.

Her eyelids drooped, lashes wet, lips a natural pink.

Behind her, a large silver-white tail emerged, twitching restlessly.

Every time she took off the wristband, she froze for a moment.

Seeing this face always made her feel like it wasn’t herself.

Bai Li twisted the faucet open.

Hot water gushed out with a roar, steam filling the entire bathroom.

The face in the mirror blurred behind the mist, its outlines softening.

She bent down and buried her face in her palms.

The water temperature was just right—much better than the water heater at her place.

Over there, she had to let the cold water run for half a minute before hot water came out, and the pressure was unstable.

Footsteps sounded from outside the door.

Lin Du walked from the living room to the kitchen, opened the fridge, and closed it.

Then the footsteps came back from the kitchen to the living room, and he turned on the TV.

Bai Li listened to those sounds, her heartbeat gradually calming.

‘Living alone, I could only hear the neighbors yelling and the washing machine rattling around.

Suddenly having someone else’s footsteps in my own little world… maybe that’s not so bad?’

‘Maybe… I could just walk out like this?’

The thought suddenly flashed through her mind.

‘I’m tired of all this disguising anyway.

The wristband won’t even last a few more minutes today.

Instead of waiting for it to fail and getting caught with my cover blown while I’m asleep, I might as well fess up now while I still have the initiative.’

Bai Li took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled, and dismissed the idea.

‘The one who’s friends with Lin Du is the high schooler “Bai Li,” not the wanted freak “Li Hu.”

If I just casually expose myself like this, there’s no way Lin Du would accept it.’

‘I don’t want to lose my only friend—even if it means keeping things exactly as they are.’

‘When the time is right, when he trusts me more, I can sound him out bit by bit.

Maybe that’ll be better.’

‘When will that be?

I don’t know.

But not now.’

Bai Li wiped her face with a towel, tucked the stray hairs on her forehead behind her ears, and let out a soft sigh at her reflection in the mirror.

She suddenly remembered an awkward fact: she hadn’t brought a bath towel or a change of clothes.

Most of them had been crushed, and the ones left had to go into the washing machine first to get the mud out.

The only things she could wear right now were what she had on.

Bai Li turned off the faucet and called out softly toward the door.

“Lin Du?”

The TV volume outside lowered.

The sofa springs creaked, and footsteps walked from the living room to the restroom door.

“…What’s wrong?”

Lin Du’s voice came through the glass.

Through the frosted pane, she could vaguely make out his silhouette.

“Um…”

Bai Li’s fingers brushed the door handle, then pulled back.

“Do you have an extra towel?”

“See the cabinet under the sink?

There are disposable towels inside.

Just open the pack and use them.”

“I see it.”

Bai Li looked down.

Sure enough, there was a cabinet.

She sidled over to the sink and casually pulled her constantly swishing tail in front of her, holding it tight so its furry shadow wouldn’t be reflected on the glass and give her away.

“Okay, thanks.”

Bai Li frowned.

‘Is his place a hotel?

How does he even have these ready?

He wouldn’t happen to have… that kind of thing too, would he?’

She crouched down and opened the cabinet.

Inside were spare body wash and shampoo besides the towels.

She picked up one towel, flipped it over, and saw yesterday’s date on the packaging.

‘He must have bought it this afternoon…’

Bai Li muttered to herself, dismissing her concern.

She took off her clothes, folded them, and placed them on the rack nearby.

She turned the water valve.

Hot water poured down from above.

Humming a tune, she started washing up.

Outside.

Lin Du sat on the sofa.

The TV was on, but he stared at his own wristband, lost in thought.

The continuous use of his power had worsened his erosion.

The scales on his arm had spread from his wrist all the way to his upper arm, feeling like lizard skin.

And now, after transforming for too long, his consciousness could no longer control his body.

‘He didn’t dare to gamble anymore on whether he’d lose control next time.’

“Ah…”

Lin Du placed the wristband on his knee and rubbed his temples.

‘Hope those guys in the Equipment Department can find a solution soon.’

He pulled out his phone, thumb sliding across the screen, and opened the news.

The internet had exploded.

Four of the top ten trending topics were related to him.

He tapped one.

The screen was filled with condemnation.

“Blazing Knight Loses Control, Injures Multiple Civilians; Citizens Surround Bureau of Anomalies Demanding Public Explanation”

“Blazing Knight Rampage: Before and After—From Hero to Monster in Ten Minutes”

“Devastated Block in Ruins; Shopkeeper Cries: ‘Everything’s Gone'”

The comments section moved fast.

New messages popped up every second.

“What gives them the right to control us?”

“They torched someone’s storefront like that.

Where’s the compensation?

Who pays?”

“I always thought something was off.

A superhuman freak with that kind of strength—some hero.”

“Hero?

He almost choked someone to death, bro.”

“Hah, the Bureau of Anomalies still hasn’t said a word.

Are they secretly helping him run away?”

Occasionally a milder comment appeared:

“He saved a lot of people before.

This was probably an accident.

Can’t everyone calm down?”

Below it, a long chain of replies followed, most of them insults—”bleeding heart,” “white knight,” “fanboy copium”—and that comment was soon reported and deleted.

Lin Du flipped the phone over and set it facedown on the sofa.

‘Don’t want to look anymore.

No point.’

‘The truth is, I did lose control.’

‘No matter the reason, no matter the cause, I almost killed someone.’

‘How many people I saved before… that’s a separate account.

They don’t cancel each other out.

That’s what my father taught me.’

“…Lin Du-kun, some things, if you don’t ask clearly, you’ll regret.”

Shijo Shiori’s voice suddenly rang in his mind.

Lin Du shifted his gaze from the sofa to the floor.

He recalled the scenes he’d seen at Bai Li’s place today—the white dress, the view beneath it, and the face he saw every day.

There were too many mysteries surrounding Bai Li.

Her resident file was too clean, as if she had appeared out of thin air.

No past classmates, no former teachers, no one who knew “the Bai Li before the transfer.”

Lin Du propped his legs up, elbows resting on his knees, fingers interlaced under his chin.

He looked at the TV screen, but he didn’t process a single word of what was showing.

From inside the restroom came Bai Li’s movements—she was humming some little tune.

The sound of water still splashed, and her singing mixed with it like a little stream hopping from between rocks, skipping along cheerfully.

“Pfft—”

Lin Du couldn’t help but laugh.

He covered his mouth with the back of his hand.

‘Forget it.

Nothing to worry about.

Those comments were about “Blazing Knight,” not “Lin Du.”

And right now, I’m just waiting for a friend to finish her shower.’

click.

The door cracked open.

White mist billowed out like a cloud, carrying the sweet scent of body wash.

Then a slender calf emerged from the mist.

The toes touched the floor, testing, trying to reach the cotton slippers placed outside.

The toes tapped the floor once, then jerked back as if stung by the cold.

A moment later, Bai Li stepped out of the mist, drying her hair with one hand and holding her jacket with the other.

“I’m done.”

She tilted her head.

The towel had soaked up a huge patch of wet from her hair.

“You’re not going to rest yet?”

Lin Du looked at Bai Li.

His eyes landed on the conspicuously visible wristband around her wrist.

His Adam’s apple moved.

Then he quickly averted his gaze to the TV screen.

“Mm.”

He nodded.