Chapter 10: What Should I Wear……

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May 13, 2023.

Four days had passed since the last experiment accident.

During these days, Lin Zhiyi had conducted several small experiments on Liuli again.

The tests showed that Liuli’s ability to avoid harm seemed to be related not only to things that objectively caused damage, but also, to a certain extent, to her subjective thoughts.

If it was some kind of harmful behavior that would trigger her subjective defensive intent or provoke negative emotions, [Jinghua]’s ability would shift from ordinary deviation and damage avoidance to a certain degree of damage reflection.

That force field seemed to have affected her emotions, which was why when Lin Zhiyi ordered the cannon needles to be deactivated, they had mysteriously broken.

During these days, aside from Lin Zhiyi occasionally bringing Liuli for tests or bringing Lisa to ask about Liuli’s condition, the few of them rarely met.

Until this morning, Liuli received a notification from Lin Zhiyi on her phone.

“Gather at this location at 10 AM. You might be in contact with an anomaly. If you feel unwell, you can tell me.”

Attached was a route map from Liuli’s containment unit to the designated location, as well as a limited-time access key string for today.

“Great………… I haven’t had much to do these past few days…… Sister Zhiyi and the others seem really busy.”

She used to follow a high school routine of waking up early and coming home late every afternoon, always having endless things to do.

Life in the containment facility was quite leisurely by comparison.

But that actually made Liuli a bit uneasy………… that feeling of having nothing to do.

Although she had the chance to play games she liked, she felt like she couldn’t really enjoy them like this.

This might be the “never idle” spirit ingrained in students of Linghai Nation.

Anyway, having something to do made Liuli a little happy.

What………… should she wear today?

She felt like she should dress formally, since she was going to be in contact with an anomaly.

Liuli opened her wardrobe, looking for something more formal inside.

The result, well………… apart from school uniforms, it was all school uniforms, plus some sleeveless strap summer dresses.

There was absolutely nothing formal.

What should she do………… she couldn’t really show up in her school uniform.

Scanning every corner of the wardrobe, Liuli spotted a darker set of clothes.

It was a small suit jacket paired with a pleated skirt.

If she remembered correctly, this was the formal attire her middle school required students to wear for major events.

Who knew it would come in handy at a time like this!

Liuli reached out and touched the suit………… It was quite thick.

Good thing the facility had full-building air conditioning, or wearing this would be unbearable.

After all, this was A City, Nanhua Province, about as far south as you could get in all of Linghai Nation.

The classic permanent exile zone of ancient times.

No time to waste, time to change!

Liuli took off her clothes, revealing her somewhat slender figure with faint curves.

Her skin was so delicate it seemed ready to break, smooth and fair, though some faint dark markings lingered on parts of her arms.

Even Liuli herself hadn’t noticed these, since she couldn’t see that spot no matter how she twisted her head.

She put on the white blouse and the pleated skirt, then slipped into the dark outer coat and tied the red ribbon.

Finally, she pulled on the cool white nylon thigh-high socks and stepped into the classic leather shoes.

The formal attire was complete.

Should she fix her hair a little too?

Liuli stared at her somewhat curly hair in the mirror, at a loss.

Her hair was naturally wavy, just slightly curled, which made it look a bit puffy and messy.

No matter how she combed it, within ten minutes it would always puff right back up to its messy state.

It was so annoying.

There was styling gel, sure………… but applying it felt cold and slimy on her hair, and it didn’t smell very good either.

Liuli didn’t like it.

Better check if her clothes were all neat instead.

Liuli twisted her waist left and right in front of the full-length mirror in the bathroom, patting her skirt and blouse, hoping to make them lay flatter and look tidier.

The white—or rather, grayish-white-haired girl swayed her body in the mirror, wearing a slightly snug formal suit, staring back at herself with a not-so-confident expression.

The suit had been smoothed of every wrinkle, from top to bottom, with no stains or fading, looking very clean.

Although the girl was a bit thin, the white nylon socks still traced an elegant curve around her thighs, with just a hint of an alluring little indentation.

Her height was stuck in an awkward spot………… right around the dividing line between loli and young lady.

Any shorter, under 140 cm, and she’d be a pure little loli.

Looking at herself in the mirror, Liuli’s face flushed red.

[Ugh………… it’s so weird. Every time I look in the mirror it’s like this. Maybe I should just stop looking next time…]

Liuli shook her head and patted her cheeks.

“Whaa… I should hurry up and grab some breakfast, then go find Sister Zhiyi.”

Liuli still ate very little for breakfast today—just six baskets of xiaolongbao and two bowls of soy milk.

Following the map Lin Zhiyi had given her, Liuli moved forward until she finally arrived at the elevator.

In front of the elevator was a machine for identity verification, which seemed to require presenting the access key.

Liuli pulled out her phone, brought up the access key, and pressed it against the machine.

The elevator doors slid open.

Once inside, the elevator ran automatically.

Liuli watched the floor number rise from 10.

But the sensation was downward………… it seemed the floors were numbered in reverse.

“Ding~”

After about a minute, Liuli arrived at Floor 13.

Stepping onto Floor 13………… Liuli immediately felt a sense of oppression.

An unpleasant feeling crept into her heart………… fragments of incomprehensible images began flashing through her mind.

This feeling, it was so strange………… as if something was being suppressed, just like in the last experiment.

Moving… was difficult.

“Ugh………… I should find Sister Zhiyi first………… it feels so cold down here.”

Liuli shivered, wrapping her arms around herself and hunching slightly lower.

The air on Floor 13 was colder and drier than on Floor 10, and breathing it even felt a bit scratchy on the throat.

Fortunately, the destination wasn’t far from the elevator—just a few steps away.

Lin Zhiyi had probably deliberately planned the route with Floor 13’s environment in mind.

Lin Zhiyi and Lisa were already waiting at the door.

Seeing Liuli in this state, Lin Zhiyi furrowed her brows.

“Are you feeling unwell?”

“Ugh… a bit cold, and also…………”

Lin Zhiyi opened her tablet to check the data.

“…………It looks like you can’t touch any force field at all. Your mood index is really low.”

“Little Zhiyi, did you bring that? You know, that.”

“The force field blocker? Yeah, I brought it.”

“Blocker…?”

“Anomalies contained on this floor are more dangerous than the ones above. Generally, the more dangerous the anomaly, the more it spreads a wide-range anomaly suppression force field across its floor.”

“But it seems your tolerance for force fields is very low………… Put this on. Wear it on your wrist.”

Lin Zhiyi handed Liuli a wristband.

“Normally, some people are allergic to force fields too, so we all carry these, just in case.”

“Mm………… o-okay.”

Liuli quickly took the blue-black wristband and put it on.

She did feel much better.

“What’s the principle behind this?”

“This is an exemption detection ring that corresponds to a force field. The force field will avoid people wearing this ring.”

“The only issue is if too many users gather together, the force field might form a vacuum zone.”

“With just the few of us, there’s no problem. Did you eat breakfast?”

“Mm… I did.”

“The anomaly we’re going to contact next has the designation S-01-663, Granny Poison………… Let me go over a few points of caution.”

“First, don’t eat any apple she gives you.”

“Second, if she compliments you on being pretty, don’t agree with her. Tell her you’re not good-looking.”

“Third, if she asks whether she’s pretty, tell her she is.”

“Fourth, if you feel unwell when you see her, tell me immediately and exit the containment unit.”

“It feels like a rule-based horror game…”

“It basically is a rule-based horror game………… Anomalies are anomalies precisely because they possess power that ordinary people can’t comprehend, while also having minds that ordinary people can’t comprehend.”

“Then………… I’m opening the door.”

Lin Zhiyi pulled out her access card and swiped it on the reader.