The Yellow Bird Behind

Glass An lay atop an arched corridor roof.

Her hands were propped behind her as she faced the sky and the pouring sunlight.

A gray round cap covered her face, her sun-warmed eyes half-shut.

Suddenly, a burst of noisy chatter drifted into her ears.

She opened her eyes.

“Avita, aren’t you suspicious that this area is so… ‘clean’?”

Amid the stream of people below, a girl asked her companion in a low voice.

Avita glanced around as she walked forward, replying casually.

“So what if there’s a trap?”

“There are so many of us—what is there to be afraid of?”

She chuckled afterward and added.

“Class B wasn’t much anyway.”

“I doubt Class A is all that strong either.”

Earlier, their low-ranked classes had formed an alliance.

Before Class B could even react, they quickly surrounded and eliminated them.

Although they lost a few members of their own, wiping out Class B had been worth the sacrifice.

They had intended to continue the momentum by finding Class A and eliminating them as well.

But when they arrived at Class A’s location, they discovered that no one was there.

In fact, Class A hadn’t even occupied their own base.

Even during the following tug-of-war matches, Class A rarely showed up.

Some speculated that Class A was hiding.

After all, everyone knew that Class A wasn’t just a symbol of top-tier strength anymore—it had become a giant target.

No matter how strong they were, it was still hard to withstand a wave of group attacks.

After noticing something unusual about the experimental building on the map, they decided to group up once more and head there to claim the area.

A crowd of them passed beneath the rose corridor in front of the building.

Dappled light and shadow flickered across the ground.

The wind rustled, bringing with it a heavy floral fragrance.

It also masked the faint trail of someone’s presence in the air.

Wang Ning had already changed positions and was quietly relaying information while quickly making her way toward the small woods.

Thanks to the private physical training Siao had given her, her body had improved significantly—upgraded from a complete pushover to a minor pushover.

Trouble.

There were so many of them.

She didn’t know whether Glass An’s group would be able to handle it.

Even with rising panic in her chest, she could only wait patiently outside for the results.

“Who’s there?!”

Wang Ning suddenly spotted a figure not far ahead.

She jumped in shock and turned to run without even checking if it was friend or foe.

No joke.

Her tiny body couldn’t afford any margin for error!

The sound of footsteps behind her instantly became urgent—like a death knell beating at her back.

Her heart pounded.

She spotted a corner in her peripheral vision and darted around it without hesitation.

“Haah… haah…”

She pressed her body tightly against a wall.

After weaving through several turns, she finally shook off the pursuer.

Holding her breath, she wished she could manually lower her heartbeat.

She was terrified that these fused beings with enhanced bodies would track her through scent or the sound of her pulse.

She waited quietly for a moment.

Then carefully peeked half her face out through the bushes.

Sunlight stretched across the open ground.

A butterfly drifted by peacefully.

Good.

No one in sight.

Even the drones hadn’t caught up.

But just as Wang Ning was about to sigh in relief—

A warm breath ghosted across the back of her neck.

Then came a low, ambiguous chuckle.

Wang Ning froze on the spot.

Her limbs turned to ice.

Cold shot from her heels to the top of her skull.

“—Found you.”

---

3:20 p.m.

The experimental building was still quiet.

Aside from occasional chatter, the temporary squad formed by Classes E and D hadn’t found anyone hiding in the building.

“Someone’s been here.”

The brown-haired girl leading the group said with certainty.

Her gaze swept across the main hall.

She touched the sign-in log on the table, then lifted her fingers to her nose and sniffed.

“The items have been moved.”

“That means a class has already come through here.”

“But… this area isn’t marked as occupied.”

Before she could grab hold of a forming thought, before her brain could even react, she blurted out.

“We’ve been tricked!”

When she turned around, her pupils dilated sharply.

Behind the dozens of people who still hadn’t processed her warning—

There was someone standing not far away.

Backlit by the sun.

Wearing a gray round cap that shaded the top half of her face.

A wisp of pale mist-blue hair peeked out from under the brim.

She stood lazily.

One hand held a coffee cup.

“…Ah, I really don’t want to work overtime.”