The Student’s Unsettling Double Life

“I’m so exhausted… so incredibly, utterly exhausted.”

After toiling all night long, battling monsters, I was unceremoniously dumped in the middle of nowhere by two utterly despicable wretches.

Attempting to ride my motorcycle home, I nearly collided head-on with a large truck, only to be apprehended by a passing traffic officer who proceeded to give me a stern, mandatory lecture.

Xiu Lan finally staggered back to her rented apartment, collapsing onto her bed like an octopus, limbs splayed.

Just when she thought she could finally enjoy a quiet game and a comfortable night’s sleep at home, an unexpected phone call immediately put her on edge.

“Hello, is this student Liu Yu?”

“Who is this?!”

Upon hearing the unexpected female voice, the caller paused noticeably before gently prompting:

“Little sister, I’m looking for student Liu Yu. Would you mind asking him to take the call?”

‘Liu Yu…’

‘Who’s that? Do I know him?’

‘Oh, wait, that’s me. Never mind.’

The gentle, familiar female voice reminded Xiu Lan of her other occupation: student.

“My apologies, my apologies. I’ll get him right away.”

Knowing further explanation was futile, Xiu Lan quickly fabricated an excuse.

She was currently in the newly awakened [Life-Devouring Hound] mode, a state where her shadow remained like a venomous snake, constantly on guard, unresponsive to any commands to transform back.

‘So, should I try to revert to my normal state first?’

“Thud!”

It was the sound of her phone hitting the floor.

“Little sister, are you alright? Did you fall?”

A concerned voice came from the other end of the line.

“I just accidentally bumped into something. It’s nothing serious.”

Xiu Lan leaned against the wall by her headboard, her expression peculiar.

The moment she deactivated the [Life-Devouring Hound] mode, her right hand had suddenly gone numb, causing her phone to slip.

Strangely, once she transformed back into Liu Yu, she could move it again…

‘What… was going on?’

‘Could it be a side effect of this power?’

Though she wished to investigate further, more pressing matters demanded her attention.

With a surge of dark mist, Xiu Lan finally reverted to the familiar black-haired youth.

He picked up the phone from the floor and inquired, “Hello, this is Liu Yu. May I ask who’s calling?”

“This is Rosa.”

Xiu Lan, who habitually never saved names to phone numbers, immediately broke out in a cold sweat.

Slightly different from schools of the past, schools after the Great Migration had taken on some of the functions of orphanages, gathering many children who had lost their families and relatives due to war, providing them with living assistance, and planning their future careers and lives through their education.

Though it felt a little disloyal to her parents and older sister, who were far away in another dimension, Xiu Lan had enrolled under the guise of a displaced orphan who had lost her parents.

The obvious benefit was a considerable subsidy from the school, but it wasn’t without its drawbacks…

Just as every family has a head, the school attempted to assign “parents” to these children who had lost their loved ones.

These roles were filled by teachers or willing senior students, tasked with guiding them in their daily lives and planning the use of their poverty grants.

And Rosa, this senior student, was… my mom. *Pah, pah!*’

“Long time no see, Mom… I mean, Senior Rosa.”

He had almost blurted out that awkward title.

“Are you done with your business outside? Can you come back to school tomorrow?”

Facing the truant who had skipped classes, the senior student didn’t display the anger Xiu Lan had anticipated.

Instead, she gently reassured him, “If you’re not done yet, I can arrange a few more days of leave for you.”

“I’ll be back tomorrow.”

Yao Jing had stated he would handle the vampire situation, and with no new developments, there was naturally nothing more for Xiu Lan to do.

Thus, he replied:

“My business is concluded; I can return to school tomorrow.”

“Really? I distinctly recall a certain student saying that last time, only to be unreachable for two whole days, leaving me worried sick that something terrible had happened.”

“I-I-I-I-I…”

With his past embarrassment exposed, Xiu Lan stammered, unable to form a coherent sentence for a long while.

This was his old habit; he would stutter whenever he felt nervous or flustered, and especially when facing elders like Rosa, who showed him such attentive care, he found himself utterly speechless.

“Alright, I won’t dwell on the past.”

Even through the network, Rosa could sense Xiu Lan’s awkwardness.

Having given a reprimand, it was time for some encouragement, so she continued:

“Just remember this: you are a student, and studying is your primary duty.

If you truly need money, you can tell me directly.

Don’t go working in those… places unsuitable for your age.

Do you understand?”

“I… I understand!”

Xiu Lan, of course, had never frequented any disreputable places.

It was merely that one time, to maintain the facade of having a part-time job, he had specifically asked Old Wu for a verification letter.

That had been the most regrettable decision of his life.

Ever since, Rosa’s gaze towards him had become strangely unsettling, sending shivers down his spine.

He had truly dug his own grave and fallen into it, suffering the consequences of his own actions.

****

Inside the school.

Rosa hung up the phone with a smile.

She sat by the window in her dorm room, her golden hair gently ruffled by the breeze, her violet eyes sparkling in the sunlight.

“Ro~sa~ Mom~my~”

A sickeningly affected voice drifted from behind her.

As if encountering something foul, her formerly maternal demeanor instantly shattered.

Rosa, with dead-fish eyes, pushed away the woman who was leaning against her.

“Wuwu, Mommy doesn’t want me anymore.”

The woman, pushed away, covered her face with her hands, writhing her body and fake-crying, “Mommy has a new child now, and doesn’t want her good old child anymore.”

Rosa sighed, walked over to the woman, and under her expectant gaze, landed a solid punch to her abdomen.

“This is child abuse! I’m going to report you to the school for domestic violence,” the woman accused.

“You’re not a child, and I’m not your mom.”

Despite being barely 22 years old as a human, Rosa was constantly being chased and called “Mommy.”

She gazed wistfully at the silly woman rolling on the floor before her, muttering, “I can only get up with a kiss.”

Tina, 21 years old, was her classmate and her ward.

Her intelligence was low, her academic performance perpetually at the bottom, and she possessed no self-care abilities whatsoever.

Aside from her figure and face, Rosa, despite living with her for so long, couldn’t find a single redeeming quality.

“Isn’t a good figure and face enough? Besides, I’m quite a fighter.”

Hearing Rosa’s muttered thoughts, Tina scrambled up to retort.

“Yes, yes, yes.”

“Don’t be so dismissive!”

Tina was a Derivative (TL Note: A being created or transformed by the power of a powerful entity).

She was a [Forest King]’s Derivative, a [Spirit].

Three years prior, after an accidental exposure to the [Forest King]’s power, her intelligence had fluctuated between that of an adult woman and a kindergarten child.

The so-called [Forest King] was one of the Blackblood species that had driven humanity to this point.

No one had ever seen the Forest King’s true form; the only certainty was that its arrival invariably led to the appearance of an all-encompassing forest, hence its name.

Its Derivatives, the [Spirits], were creatures caught in the forest and subsequently corrupted by its power.

They possessed no fixed form, merely inhabiting the forest, cooperating and preying upon each other, living lives devoid of racial concepts, intellect, or the passage of time.

Even when one Spirit preyed upon another, new Spirits would emerge through fission.

‘Perhaps you’re already the most intelligent among the Spirits.’

Rosa sighed inwardly.