Not at all unpleasant.

There are always some suspicious-looking buildings beside the university town, and the shopkeeper, who has run her store here for half her life, has seen her fair share of couples lingering at the entrance. No matter how they dawdled, the men and women would eventually step inside, either concocting an excuse to study together or remaining silent, but in the end, always booking just one room.

Though the shopkeeper was worldly and experienced, this was the first time she had seen a young couple, clad in pajamas as if eloping in the middle of the night. After scrutinizing the girl’s expression, she found no hint of coercion, and finally spoke, “How many rooms?”

“Two,” Qin Mo replied. The cold night wind made her shiver; she half-covered her mouth, unwilling to cough and appear pitiful.

Ji Ning, impervious to the chill thanks to his specially made pajamas, was already eager to wrap himself in blankets in the room and ask SCP-CN-655 about everything that had just happened.

“One hundred eighty. WeChat or Alipay?”

Ji Ning patted his pockets, only then remembering that his phone was still at the hotel. He stepped back, letting Qin Mo stand at the counter. “She’ll pay.”

Qin Mo blinked. She had long since discarded her phone, for aside from junk advertisements, she never received any messages from anyone. Hope, she felt, was a greater torment than hopelessness. She thought for a moment, then drew out a small pouch from her pocket—her mother had sewn it for her by hand, and inside, besides a talisman for safety, was a small sum of leftover pocket money.

Qin Mo unfolded the bills; she counted only ninety-nine. The shopkeeper pointed to the price list behind her. “Single room, ninety-nine for one night.”

You really know how to play the game, so subtle, the shopkeeper mused as she took the scattered bills and handed the key to Qin Mo.

Qin Mo’s cheeks reddened as she accepted the key and thanked her. As she turned, she suddenly seemed to realize something, looking at the shopkeeper in disbelief. “You can see me?”

The shopkeeper thought for a moment before replying, “If you add another twenty, I haven’t seen you—no matter who comes.”

In the dim room, Qin Mo and Ji Ning each sat at opposite ends of the bed, wrapped in blankets.

Each harbored their own thoughts, and silence filled the space.

“655?”

“I’m here.”

“What happened earlier?”

“I covered your hand, then assimilated.”

“So?”

“So you were able to defeat him.”

Ji Ning decided to rephrase his question. “What is assimilation?”

SCP-CN-655 paused for a moment. “Water and ice.”

“At that moment, you changed your nature, gaining hardness and strength comparable to that man’s body?” Ji Ning ventured. He understood that SCP-CN-655’s language skills were still developing, unable to express certain things precisely. Thus, though his description was crude and far from the truth, SCP-CN-655 did not object, choosing the most energy-saving response: rough agreement.

“More or less, yes.”

“I didn’t expect you to have such powerful abilities aside from turning into a slime. Why didn’t you say so earlier?” Ji Ning rubbed his neck in mild reproach, then his arm, realizing the pain had vanished. He hadn’t noticed that half an hour earlier his finger bones were fractured.

“You didn’t ask.” SCP-CN-655’s voice was calm as ever. Were it not for Ji Ning’s knowledge of its childlike understanding of humans, he might have thought it was toying with him.

After a brief silence, Ji Ning spoke again. “What about her?”

“Anchoring,” SCP-CN-655 uttered a brief, enigmatic word, speaking slowly, as if leafing through a dictionary before delivering the most precise term.

Ji Ning was bewildered. “What?”

“You shouldn’t have slept through Supernatural Common Sense class. This female human carries the aura your kind calls ‘Old God.’ In the infinite multiverse, higher-dimensional beings cannot cross dimensions to manifest their true selves in lower ones, so they choose rituals of descent, piercing the dimensional barrier with fragments of their mental power. This method is highly unstable, like navigating the sea, so they require an anchor to prevent uncontrolled deviation.”

SCP-CN-655 recalled the professor’s lecture word for word, feeling a human emotion called helplessness.

“She told me that before I met her, no one else could see her. Why is that?”

“Those chosen as anchors usually experience a phenomenon of aura concealment. Simply put, the Old God’s aura is so overwhelming that a human’s presence is negligible by comparison. Ordinary people cannot perceive the chosen.”

“Why can she be perceived now?”

“Because of you.” SCP-CN-655 added, “Because of me. When she is with you, she absorbs some of my emanations, and since I am not of this dimension, I can mask some of the Old God’s aura on her.”

“Well, that makes it simple. Leave something of yourself on her; I’ll take the Ring of Authority back to Deer Academy, write an A on the report card, she forgets everything and returns to normal life. We’ll all have bright futures, like Li Hua in the textbook.”

“No. I cannot do that.” SCP-CN-655 immediately rejected Ji Ning’s idea, so fast that it left him stunned.

“What’s wrong?”

“When she leaves you for a while, what I leave on her evaporates and disappears. Then her aura is again masked by the Old God.”

“How quickly does that happen?”

“Very quickly.”

Ji Ning stroked his chin. “Is there a permanent solution? Like you leaving a cupful of yourself with her?”

“In theory, yes, but I would never do so. To me, she is no different from a butterfly in your eyes. Would you cut off your own leg for a butterfly? And according to human records, anchors usually become vessels for descent; their bodies are controlled and their souls perished.”

Ji Ning fell silent. He looked up, meeting the quiet gaze of the girl. He quickly averted his eyes, not knowing how to tell her the cruel truth.

He was angry at his own helplessness. If he were strong enough, he wouldn’t be trapped in this predicament.

If he were powerful, he would have seized the man earlier, followed the trail to the Old God’s lair, and finally grabbed the octopus-headed monster by its skull, telling it: This girl is under my protection. If you dare touch her, I’ll turn you into my BBQ with a single call.

But he was no hero, just an unknown nobody unable to control his own fate. He hadn’t come here to be anyone’s white knight or savior, only for a final exam. Once the exam was over, all of this would have nothing to do with him.

I owe her nothing, he thought. Even if he wanted to help, there was nothing he could do.

The world belongs to no one; it is a public place beyond anyone’s control.

I’ve done enough, Ji Ning thought, wrapping the blanket tighter around himself, yet still shivering.

“Are you cold?” Qin Mo suddenly spoke. Her feminine sensitivity allowed her to notice his movements even while lost in thought; she assumed he was cold and wrapped himself up.

Ji Ning nodded instinctively. The lamp on the bedside table was switched off.

He felt the girl on the other side slowly move closer, inch by inch. Before he could react, the two, bundled in their blankets, were pressed together.

The room was silent save for the faint sound of breathing. In the darkness, Ji Ning couldn’t see her face, but he could feel her gaze upon him.

She gently leaned against his shoulder, and a soft whisper reached his ear.

“It’s warmer when we rely on each other like this.”

After a long while, the girl’s soft voice echoed again in the darkness. “Thank you. I’m very scared.”

Ji Ning made no move. He knew precisely where he stood in her heart; when she was plunging into the abyss, he was the only one in the world who reached out to pull her back, making him the sole source of safety she had.

In an instant, Ji Ning understood the weight of such trust—she would depend on him unconditionally; he was the only light in her endless night.

Ji Ning clenched his fist. He felt he shouldn’t give her this illusion. He ought to push her away and tell her the truth—that he was useless and could not protect her. He had come only for the Ring of Authority, and once he obtained it, their connection would be severed, whether she was forgotten by the world or became a vessel for the Old God’s descent—it would have nothing to do with him.

“The Ring of Authority.” Perhaps too much had happened tonight; Ji Ning hadn’t even had a sip of water. His voice was hoarse, as if stuffed by an elephant. Once he spoke, the elephant remained in the room—no one would mention the story behind the ring.

Qin Mo extended her left hand and switched on the lamp again. In the gentle light, a complexly patterned Ring of Authority adorned her jade-like hand. She carefully brought over a glass of water.

She was a meticulous person.

Ji Ning hesitated for a few seconds, then took the glass and drained it. He spoke, “Ordinary people aren’t suited to possess this ring. If possible, let me keep it for you.”

Qin Mo waved her hand. “I don’t want the ring either, but ever since I put it on, I can’t take it off—no matter what I try.”

Ji Ning tried and found a force preventing the ring’s removal, as if a shadowy figure watched the ring, ready to awaken at any attempt to remove it.

“This ring is the source of that aura?” Ji Ning traced the patterns on the ring, studying it in the faint moonlight through the window, as if gazing at a dream.

“Yes,” SCP-CN-655 quickly responded.

Qin Mo, as if scalded, quickly withdrew her hand. Ji Ning looked up just in time to see her blushing face. “Please stop touching it.”

Ji Ning felt awkward; he really was only examining the ring’s patterns. Still, what a coincidence—the ring just happened to be on her hand. He nearly asked, How do you keep your hands so soft? He almost let slip words that could be considered harassment, but thankfully, reason restrained him at the last moment.

It was odd—he always considered himself a gentleman, but for some reason, in front of this exquisitely beautiful girl, his thoughts were restless and light, always wanting to tease her. Ji Ning, what’s wrong with you? How are you any different from those little boys who tug a girl’s braid to get her attention?

Now, two paths lay before him. He could send Qin Mo, ring and all, back to Deer Academy. Whether she spent the rest of her life on a fortified island or in a cramped cell was beyond his control. Or he could try to get Qin Mo accepted by Deer Academy, for only under its protection might she have a chance at a normal life, like him.

“There’s good news and bad news. Which do you want first?” Ji Ning deliberated for a long time before deciding. Throughout his contemplation he kept his back turned, unable to face her. He knew he lacked the courage to say no to those star-like eyes.

“The bad news first.”

“This ring may stay with you for life.”

“And the good news?”

“I’ll do my best to protect you from its harm.”

Qin Mo uttered a soft “ah,” quickly scooting to the other side of the bed and stammering, “You—what are you saying? Although… is it really necessary to go that far?”

Ji Ning realized his words carried unintended implications, but after thinking it over, he chose silence. He’d rather be misunderstood than tell her the cruel, cold truth.

The cramped room fell silent once more, until Ji Ning, exhausted, fell asleep. In his drowsiness, he heard a whisper.

“Actually, it doesn’t sound so bad.”