At this mont, Everly and Misha were on a train traveling from Yalijifu State to Concord.
The journey from Dwight State to New Osebuch State for school had been far more difficult and unlucky than anyone could have imagined. Everly even began to doubt herself at tis, wondering whether going to this damn school was really necessary… In any case, after going through the zombie outbreak in Radyard City and the strange ti loop at sea, the two of them were finally on the last stretch of their trip to school.
Yalijifu State had a railway line that went directly to Concord, the capital of New Osebuch State. From Concord, they could take an intercity coach to Dalami City, where their university was located—minimizing transfers and allowing them to reach campus entirely via public transportation.
Since it was all public transport, it should at least be reliable…
Even soone as tough as Everly couldn’t help but feel exhausted after going through so many hardships in just a few days.
She began to suspect she was cursed with bad luck—and she had solid evidence to support it.
The two of them sat huddled on the train like a pair of wilted quails for over eight hours, eating a not-so-tasty maple chicken patty with juice. Just as they both started to feel drowsy, the train finally arrived in Concord.
The rest of the journey, however, went unbelievably smoothly.
They stayed one night in a local star-rated hotel in Concord, and the next morning took a Grey Wolf bus straight to Dalami City.
On the afternoon of the following day, when the two girls got out of a taxi and saw the classical wrought-iron gates of New Osebuch State University, their dusty, travel-worn selves couldn’t help but embrace each other and scream with joy.
By this ti, the school had already started its term.
With Old John having already helped send an email to the university’s admissions office—and with Everly and Misha able to provide docuntation issued with assistance from the Arican Holland Cruise Company proving that their journey had been delayed due to an accident while traveling on the Mary Jane—the two of them finally managed to complete a whole series of procedures after running around between the admissions office, registrar, and faculty office. These included enrollnt, student registration, course selection, and collecting their dormitory keys.
Starting tomorrow, they would be able to attend classes like normal university students.
There was also a piece of good news: because they enrolled late, the school had already assigned dorms to the freshn who arrived on ti. As a result, the two “leftover unlucky ones,” Everly and Misha, ended up being assigned to the sa room.
The dorm was a double room. A dozen or so rooms shared a common bathroom and shower area. Aside from being a bit larger than their high school dorms, everything else was pretty much the sa—equally run-down and old.
The mont Everly entered the dorm, she took out various small charms and decorations from her backpack—ant for warding off evil and providing early warnings—and arranged them around the doorway, windows, walls, and bedside.
One advantage of sharing a room with Misha was that Misha never stopped her from “arming” their dorm in ways that looked a bit superstitious. Moreover, Misha was willing to listen and be cautious; she wasn’t like Everly’s previous roommate, Jessica, who recklessly ddled with mysterious forces without any sense of fear, bringing disaster upon herself and those around her.
After doing a simple cleanup of the dorm and unpacking their belongings, the two girls saw that it was still early, so they left the dorm and went shopping in the streets outside the university.
New Osebuch State University was located right within Dalami City, with convenient transportation and well-developed infrastructure, making it easy to access various city services. The downside, however, was that it had less of an academic atmosphere, and the boundary between the campus and the city wasn’t very distinct.
After the long journey to school, Everly and Misha had basically been discarding their luggage along the way—aside from the valuables in their backpacks. Now that they had finally arrived at the university, they could at last shop freely in stores without worry.
Daily necessities, clothes, shoes, electronics like laptops and phones, stationery… The shopping trip wasn’t just about restocking supplies; it also helped the two girls quickly familiarize themselves with the area around the university and gain a better understanding of Dalami City.
It was a relatively small city, surrounded by coniferous forests, with snow-capped mountains visible farther in the distance. Because of its higher latitude and proximity to the sea, even at the peak of sumr, the temperature only reached around 27°C—making it a great place to escape the heat. On the flip side, winters were said to be very cold, with snowfall starting early.
It was completely different from Micano City.
Everly had already bought a city map in advance and made a shopping plan. Using the university as their center point, the two of them made a full round of Dalami City. By the ti their hands were full of purchases, they just so happened to arrive at a place called “178 Interstate Vehicle Transport Company.”
This was the sa chain company Everly had used to ship her car before setting out. Now, her Grand Cherokee had already arrived—a 90%-new modified SUV, sitting quietly in the shop, waiting for its owner.
It was almost funny: starting from the sa origin and heading to the sa destination, Everly had faced danger after danger along the way, while the Grand Cherokee had traveled smoothly the whole ti—arriving even earlier than she did.
If she’d known that in advance, why bother flying? Maybe hitching a ride with the shipped car would’ve been safer… just kidding.
After confirming the vehicle’s condition, Everly paid the remaining balance without hesitation. She had Misha get in, drove to a gas station to fill up the tank—which was down to a quarter—and then took her to a pizza place she had already researched on social dia, ranked “#1 must-eat in Dalami,” for dinner.
After eating their fill and finishing their shopping, the two returned to campus—only to find that all the parking spaces near the dormitory were already full.
Left with no other choice, Everly parked the car in an empty spot near the teaching buildings. She had no idea that this simple decision would end up saving both her and Misha’s lives.
The next day—Everly and Misha’s first official day of classes—at 8:53 a.m., the two had just finished breakfast in the cafeteria and were about to cross the green lawn toward Teaching Building No. 2 for their first class of the sester.
At that mont, a black car drove in from the direction of the school gate.
The fact that it could enter the campus ant the vehicle had been registered in the university system—either belonging to faculty or, like Everly’s Grand Cherokee, registered under a student who had purchased a parking permit.
However, despite being on campus, the car was driving recklessly. Not only did it exceed the school’s speed limit of 30 km/h, it also brazenly cut across the lawn, leaving tracks all over the neatly trimd grass.
“Hey, you! How are you driving like that? Stop right there!”
A passing campus security guard, seeing this, raised the coffee cup in his hand and ran a couple of steps toward the car.
Instead of stopping, the driver sharply turned the wheel. The tires screeched against the ground, and after a brief pause, the driver slamd on the accelerator, sending the car straight toward the guard.
At first, the guard thought the driver was joking and didn’t move. It wasn’t until the car was almost upon him—still showing no sign of slowing down—that he realized the driver was serious.
But by then, it was too late to escape.
As if driven by deep hatred, the black car slamd into the guard, throwing his body forward like a kite with its string cut, sending him flying several ters.
With a heavy thud, he hit the ground headfirst on the hard pavent. Blood splattered outward, mixed with sothing pale and ominous, spraying over a couple embracing nearby and covering them from head to face.
“Ah… ahhhh!”
After a two- or three-second delay, the students who had witnessed the scene finally reacted, letting out one piercing scream after another.
Everly had sensed the danger the mont the black car appeared—her sixth sense sending her that familiar warning. Even though Lamia had already disappeared, the alerting ability she had left behind still lingered within Everly, sending a sharp pang of bitterness through her chest.
The black car was heading straight toward the guard, and Everly and Misha were standing in the middle of the lawn—less than six ters from the vehicle’s direct path.
Realizing how dire the situation was, Everly imdiately scanned her surroundings.
New Osebuch State University was one of the rarer U.S. universities built with a periter wall.
If the lawn Everly was standing on was labeled Lawn A, then running south less than 200 ters would bring her to the school gate. But this path was completely straight, with no bushes or structures to hide behind—just fountains and open grass. If the black car wanted to pursue, it could easily catch up.
To the west of Lawn A—Everly’s left—was Lawn B, equal in size and the favorite spot for students to lie down, read, or sunbathe. Beyond Lawn B to the west stood the school library, a large red-brick building.
To the north of Lawn A, about twenty to thirty ters from Everly, was Teaching Building No. 2. With classes starting at 8:30 a.m., the building should be full of people at this ti.
Finally, to the east of Lawn A was a wide scenic lake. The water was shallow—waist-high at most—and the lakebed was lined with smooth stones, ho to brightly colored ornantal fish.
From a vehicle-avoidance perspective, Everly thought both the teaching building and the lake were good options. The building was closer; a short sprint would get her inside. The lake offered natural terrain advantages; a car entering would be forced to slow down significantly.
But which one should she choose?
Everly was still thinking when—“BOOM!”—a loud crash rang out.
She turned her head and saw that the black car, after hitting the security guard, had failed to brake in ti due to its excessive speed and had smashed into the decorative pedestal at the entrance of Teaching Building No. 2.
The car’s hood buckled from the impact, and thick black smoke, the kind that marked a totaled vehicle, poured out.
The doors of the black car suddenly opened, and a man stepped out wearing a black ballistic helt and a black mask that covered his entire face except for his eyes.
The helted man wore a T-shirt and jeans, with a thick bulletproof vest over the T-shirt. He kept the car door open, his back facing outward, and bent over casually to rummage through the passenger seat.
Everly knew that equipnt too well.
A Premiere 906 riot helt paired with a Blanck ST-series bulletproof vest—both standard defensive gear for Arican police. Everly had seen stacks of similar gear in Old John’s underground safehouse; all of it ca through his old police friends.
And if he was wearing both the helt and vest, what he was retrieving was obvious—it had to be a gun.
So… she had just stumbled into a campus shooting?
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Author’s Note:
I checked—most U.S. universities don’t have walls, but so do. I decided to set this one with a wall because it feels more familiar to readers’ everyday experiences (alright, the truth is the author’s imagination isn’t great and can’t picture a campus without walls…).
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