"Ah?" The two girls exclaimed in surprise upon hearing this, eyeing Shi Wanyun, "Did you come on your own?"
Shi Wanyun looked at the two girls, opened her mouth slightly, and her body felt somewhat stiff.
These two girls seemed normal at first glance, but upon closer inspection, they were also monsters.
The long-haired girl, who had just spoken, was utterly surprised, and her originally waterfall-like straight hair began to wiggle!
Only then did Shi Wanyun see that what was on the girlâs head wasnât hair, but some black thread-like worms!
Even her eyebrows, eyelashes, and even the fuzz on her face were slightly wriggling!
The other girl was even more direct; as she covered her mouth in shock, it was actually a birdâs claw!
Her wrist was bird-like too, extremely slender, with wrinkled patterns on it, and the wide sleeve resting on it looked like it was draped over a clothes rack, giving off a slightly eerie vibe.
These people...
Are they all genetically modified?
Shi Wanyun felt she needed to clear her mind, otherwise she feared the shock from these people might drive her insane.
"Youâre so strong!" The bird girl exclaimed, "How did you get here?"
"...Just lucky, not as strong as you imagine." Shi Wanyunâs smile was somewhat forced.
"Lucky? Seriously? Youâre the only one whoâs been lucky in decades? Donât be modest; itâs not luck that got you here."
The girl with a head full of black worms stopped wiggling her hair and smiled, "Youâll be one of us now, so take good care of us, okay?"
One of us...
I donât want to be one of you...
I donât want to become a monster!
In this hallway, one after another, none of them are normal!
In that instant, a strong urge to escape rose in Shi Wanyunâs heart.
Staying here would definitely make her turn into a monster like them!
No way, she couldnât stay here!
But...
She knew nothing about this place, nor where the exit was, so escaping recklessly wouldnât be meaningful at all.
...She could only act according to circumstances.
At least she needed to figure out the situation here first.
"Alright, alright, no more chatting, no more chatting, I need to quickly take her over there!" The girl known as number 228 greeted, then continued walking with Shi Wanyun.
"By the way, what exactly is this place..."
"This is the lowest level dormitory," the girl explained, "Just call me 228, none of us here have names, you should forget your name early, a number is easier to remember."
Number 228...
Shi Wanyun was silent.
So, there are at least two hundred others like her here.
"Itâs called a dormitory, but itâs actually more like a prison. If I donât open the door, you have no way to get out of that room at all; itâs like being imprisoned."
"So, I actually live elsewhere. Only newcomers like you temporarily stay here."
"However, with your ability, once youâve been baptized, you shouldnât continue to stay here. Ah, number 359, youâre here too?"
An approaching girl responded while walking, "Sigh, Iâm responsible for guiding newbies too. Recently, thereâs been a lot of newcomers; why are there suddenly so many? Did our entry threshold drop?"
As the girls brushed past each other, Shi Wanyun glanced slightly and saw layers of scales on the back of her neck.
Along the way, number 228 greeted many, but to save time, she didnât introduce Shi Wanyun to anyone else, and Shi Wanyun wasnât interested in talking to others here.
"Why does it feel like... theyâre all women?" Shi Wanyun asked softly.
"This is the womenâs dormitory, so of course, theyâre all women," number 228 laughed. "Weâre not allowed to contact the opposite sex."
"Is there really such a rule?" Shi Wanyun was a bit surprised.
"Hmm... it wasnât like this before, but those who have undergone genetic modification, if they combine and give birth, the offspringâs mutation becomes uncontrollable, sometimes causing significant problems, creating incidents back then."
"After that, male and female accommodations were completely separated, unable to contact each other," number 228 shrugged, "But it doesnât matter, for people like us, thereâs not much demand for that."
Shi Wanyun nodded, and the two continued forward.
Along this path, she saw many more abstract and bizarre humans.
If number 228 and those girls she saw earlier were still similar to normal humans, then the further they walked, the wider the corridor became, and the people in the hallway became more abstract.
Like someone with a direct dogâs head who seemed unable to speak, even greeting with barking sounds.
Or someone whose limbs had turned into spider legs, with thick, hair-covered spider legs growing behind.
If the earlier bird girl only had different hands, then these people were simply half-beast people!
"This is a higher level dormitory," number 228 pointed at those people who looked like composite beasts.
"Donât be fooled by their strange exterior, looking strong, but in fact, they are what we consider failed genetic mutations, the lowest labor force here."
"Thatâs why they live in this area; itâs only a little more advanced than the newcomersâ temporary area we just passed."