"Wu..."
"Wu Shuang..."
"Wake up..."
Sensing someone pushing him, Wu Shuang sat up in an instant, his hand instinctively reaching for the dagger at his waist. He glanced left and right, and only after confirming there was no danger did he look down at Mia—who was at an extremely low altitude, pushing him using her hair—and ask in a low voice.
"What is it? Is something happening?"
"The hell there is! We agreed to switch shifts, but I've been calling you for half a day and you wouldn't wake up! Sleeping like a pig!"
"Uh..."
Mia's words left Wu Shuang feeling a bit embarrassed. He was supposed to be very alert... but in reality, it didn't seem to be the case. Maybe he hadn't trained enough yet.
He summoned the handbook and took a look, only then realizing it was already 2:00 AM. He really had slept for quite a while.
"Let me take a bite first! I'm sleepy as hell!"
Mia grumbled. Before Wu Shuang could react, she bit down on his neck and began draining.
【Warning... Your Humanity is draining...】
Wu Shuang only felt a wet touch, as she hadn't actually used her teeth. After she let go, there was only a faint red mark left behind.
"Alright, time for a nice sleep. Don't bother me unless it's important—I have awful morning moodiness, so I might bite!"
Mia said, lying down on the temporary bed right after and falling asleep, her silver-white long hair spilling out like a waterfall.
Wu Shuang checked his Humanity. Well now, it hadn't increased or decreased at all. He couldn't help scratching his head, looking down at Mia "lying" on the floor.
It seems I can afford to keep her...
What am I thinking!
He shook his head and checked his status. He had slept quite well; his stamina was restored to 100%. Enduring the remaining few hours would be more than enough, and after eating breakfast, it wouldn't affect his daytime activities at all.
He stood up and was just about to walk over when he saw a golden particle of light float up, drifting higher and higher above Wu Shuang's head before finally dissipating.
"This is..."
Wu Shuang's eyes widened as he looked at Mia on the ground. Just as he was about to call out to her, he heard what sounded like sleep talking.
"...Just one more sip... Mmm..."
Mia's lips twitched as if she were chewing, making Wu Shuang's face darken.
This girl... is she sucking my Humanity even in her dreams? Unbelievable.
And falling asleep so fast is a bit too exaggerated—it hasn't even been ten seconds.
Wu Shuang was a bit speechless. He watched for a while and didn't see any more Golden Humanity, but what happened just now certainly wasn't a hallucination.
"Isn't she unable to produce Humanity?"
"So was that the Humanity she sucked over being converted into golden light... or was it transmitted from her severed main body?"
Wu Shuang couldn't be sure, but it wasn't a bad thing anyway. He took a sip of water and went back to keep watch.
"Holy crap... so many?"
The moment he pulled back the curtain, he was startled. The number of living corpses had surged, feeling like it had broken past 300. It seemed as though living corpses from half the town had gathered, most of them crowding around the oil lamps.
However, only six lamps remained lit. One had gone out for some reason, perhaps running out of fuel or malfunctioning, given that the quality of these lamps was inconsistent.
"With so many living corpses, could the bodies have been completely devoured?"
"Whatever. Even if I can't observe the corpses disappearing, discovering that light attracts living corpses is still a significant finding..."
He thought to himself. There was no rush anyway; there would be plenty of opportunities. Tomorrow, he could move a living corpse's body onto the second-floor eaves and just watch from a room...
Wu Shuang instantly thought of an alternative observation method. He drew the curtain, returned to the lantern, and looked down at the sleeping Mia. Unable to resist, he poked her cheek—it was quite soft.
Mia seemed to feel it and rolled onto her side. The fact that she could move like that was truly something else.
The corners of Wu Shuang's mouth curled up. He stopped teasing her and kept an eye on the time, planning to check on the situation again in about ten minutes. He wasn't ready to give up just yet.
...
Past two in the morning, a familiar set of footsteps echoed, putting Wu Shuang on high alert. He glanced at Mia, then at the window, and crouched down to sneak over carefully.
It was the goblin.
Its giant fish-like eyes looked just like a pair of red lanterns in the dark. It stepped forward, seeming to notice this direction as well. Furthermore, the old knight was no longer around, a fact it had already confirmed.
Wu Shuang narrowed his eyes. He didn't mind too much, but was only afraid it would notice his location and attack, so he immediately drew the curtain shut and stopped watching.
Sure enough, before long, a chaotic commotion broke out below. The shark goblin had clearly begun catching the living corpses, sending them scattering in all directions. Still, quite a few were caught; the chewing sounds barely stopped, accompanied by the thuds of a bone club swinging, smashing several to death.
Mia... this girl was still sleeping. She hadn't even woken up despite such a loud racket—she really was something else in a way.
"I need to be more vigilant at night. It's really easy for accidents to happen like this."
Wu Shuang thought secretly, feeling that he might have been far too relaxed recently, perhaps because Mia was around.
The commotion lasted for over ten minutes before ending. The goblin's footsteps sounded again, moving away this time, along with the sound of twisting and deforming metal as it maliciously broke the iron fence.
Only then did Wu Shuang dare to lift a corner of the window curtain to look out.
"Thank goodness, two oil lamps are still lit. The goblin's target is food—it likes eating living corpses... and humans."
Wu Shuang thought to himself. Looking down, he found that not a single living corpse remained; the scene was a total mess, littered with severed limbs and mutilated remains. Clearly, besides eating them, the goblin also enjoyed slaughtering these living corpses.
He looked toward the massive dark shadow lumbering into the distance. There were only a few hours left anyway. He would let it enjoy this last meal; next time they met, he would feed it bullets...
Wu Shuang thought to himself. He was about to drop the curtain when he suddenly remembered something and stared back at the massive dark shadow.
"Why hasn't its Humanity drained...?"
"Even though it's also in the dark, under the gaze of the Black Beast, its Humanity doesn't drop at all?"
"Is it because it's a monster...? Do monsters not have Humanity?"
"No!"
"Any living creature generates Humanity; it can't constantly be zero... The only reason must be... it's special. The night is a true blessing to it, with no negative effects whatsoever!"
Wu Shuang thought, feeling he had grasped something crucial. This might be the difference between monsters and ordinary living creatures, and likely how the system distinguished monsters.
A flurry of thoughts rushed through his mind, and he stood by the window for over ten minutes without coming back to his senses, until he heard the familiar warning.
【Warning... Your Humanity is draining...】
The difference between monsters and ordinary creatures—perhaps this was it!
Wu Shuang intended to step back, but right then, he heard a strange sound. It was completely different from the low whispers of the night; it sounded like the blowing wind, or like... the call of a whale.
"Wooo————..."
Distant and long-drawn, it seemed to come from the ocean's direction. It was extremely easy to miss unless listening carefully, blending into the whispers of the night.
"This is..."
Wu Shuang lowered his body and looked down, only to see a mangled corpse at the edge of the oil lamp's light suddenly react.
Rate on N.U.
