Surprise

The senior seemed to be guessing, but in the end, Mahendra managed to deflect the conversation by bringing up curfew. The dormitory did allow them to go out as long as they were back before midnight. Feeling that his time was almost up, Mahendra quickly entered the dormitory building.

The senior's persistence in trying to stop Mahendra from entering the building only annoyed Mahendra further. No matter what the senior tried, Mahendra continued to walk inside. Seeing the senior's panicked expression today, Mahendra thought something might happen to him.

"What's wrong, Senior?" Mahendra asked. He stopped right in front of his dorm room door.

"Ah, I just wanted to know if you've eaten?"

"Senior must be rambling. I thought you were pressing me to say something," Mahendra retorted, regretting his thought.

It was useless for him to dwell on the senior's strange expression earlier. Mahendra quickly opened the door, intending to rest. However, colorful magic sparks like fireworks greeted him, along with shouts from a dozen academy students inside.

"Happy Birthday, Mahendra!"

At 9 PM, out of nowhere, a lively surprise suddenly appeared. They were all friends he was quite close with. Mahendra just hadn't known that a birthday surprise would happen to him today. One of them was Senior Uru.

"The other day, I planned this with people you know. Sorry for surprising you," said Senior Uru.

"Uru, that's not fair, he gave you a gift first. We initially thought this would be hard to keep a surprise, but seeing you frozen still, we're happy because it means this surprise wasn't in vain."

Mahendra felt that he had never remembered his own birthday in his entire life. Neither in his old world nor in his current world, he didn't even remember his own birth date. But now, someone had arbitrarily set his birthday and even prepared an unexpected surprise, then celebrated a birthday that felt so luxurious to him.

"Thank you. I'm happy," Mahendra said with a shy smile, scratching the back of his head while looking down.

This celebration wasn't as grand as the Princess's 5th birthday party; it didn't even deserve to be called a "Luxury Party." It was just simple, with the room neatly arranged without wall decorations, and only a dozen students who had forced their way into the room while giving him gifts.

As time passed, Mahendra, who was starting to feel tired, suddenly began to feel something strange in his body. Dizziness and heat returned, causing Mahendra to lose focus.

"What's happening? Is this because the effect of that drink hasn't worn off?"

The poison-like effect of the drink made his body hot and cold. No matter how hard he tried to stay conscious, his body still collapsed. All his friends were very surprised and quickly checked Mahendra's condition, laying him on the bed.

"Is Mahendra sick?"

"I don't know, but he's been a bit strange since the party. I don't know what's wrong."

"It looks like he just took some medicine. His body condition is abnormal, but it's not a problem."

Mahendra's complexion improved after his friends helped remove the remaining effects of the drink from his body. He fell into a deep sleep and would likely only wake up tomorrow. Sleep is one way to dream, and Mahendra was no exception; he was now dreaming.

Everyone lay sprawled along the dormitory hallway, injured and unconscious. Red stains marred the walls irregularly. The grim night atmosphere felt like it was suffocating his neck. He struggled to speak and breathe. Mahendra slowly stepped backward and then noticed his wet hands.

"What is this?" He raised his hands and saw his palms had turned red. Thick liquid dripped from them, staining his pale feet.

"No... no... no. This isn't me. Not me... right, no. I'm not... the one who did this." His words stammered, nervousness and cold sweat mixed with intense and deep fear and guilt.

It was as if he was too late to realize that everything was covered in this red liquid. Even the moonlight followed the same color, a nauseating and disgusting red. Mahendra was speechless, remaining silent for a long time among the helpless people sprawled on the ground.

"No!" In the blink of an eye, the dream vanished like dust. Mahendra woke up with his heart pounding so fast that it took him a few minutes to fully realize the day had changed.

This morning, the sun was already high. He was alone in the room—no one else was in sight.

The residual drug in the drink seemed to be gone. Mahendra convinced himself not to dwell on it too much. Meanwhile, on the other side, the friends who had celebrated a party in his room last night looked a bit awkward when study time arrived. This wasn't because of the subject matter, but because of what had happened the night before.

"Is it really that drug you found?" A student, still very curious, now asked his deskmate in a low voice.

"Later, don't say this in front of Mahendra. If he hears it, he'll be shocked."

"I know, but I didn't expect Mahendra... I mean, someone tried to do something to him."

"It was already strange when he came home with messy clothes. But seeing that there were no other marks on him, it seems it never happened."

Their conversation then stopped after they realized the teacher was monitoring them from a distance. Some of the students around them stifled their laughter because of it.

It was too late for Mahendra to join today's lesson, especially since he was only half-hearted about studying after what happened to him last night. However, the dream he had simply vanished, as if not allowing Mahendra to remember it again.

"I don't want to be here. I don't know why my gut feeling is much worse than before. The crisis is over, after all. So what am I really worried about?" Mahendra wondered to himself.

This unexplainable anxiety made Mahendra keep thinking about it. Even though he was quite sure the crisis was over. The crisis he referred to was Princess Melissa.

The day passed so quickly, and night had fallen. Time seemed to be moving too fast, making the man increasingly anxious until he no longer got out of bed. He sat deep in thought, with a furrowed brow, occasionally observing his surroundings and waiting for the arrival of his three roommates.

"Mahendra, are you awake?"

Mahendra smiled happily as his friend greeted him from behind the door.

"Yes, Senior."

"That's good then."

However, it wasn't just his roommates, almost all of his classmates appeared, filling the hallway.

"We all came to visit you because you suddenly fell ill yesterday."

"I'm feeling better now. It seems thanks to someone skilled in healing."

"Good."

Until sunset, their conversations, always heard from all directions, never stopped. Even as it grew darker, they didn't leave. They even deliberately told some of their horror stories with the faint light from a few candles. They deliberately didn't turn on the lights.

For a moment, Mahendra's anxiety vanished.

Yes, only for a moment.

Only for a moment until something filled his mind.

He didn't know what it was, but it made Mahendra go wild again and start ferociously attacking those around him.

"Mahendra?! What's happening to you!?"

"Go away!" Mahendra screamed, his eyes glowing red in the darkness. The dim light from a few candles flickered out, blown by the wind, making the darkness even more absolute.

Every wild punch he threw still landed on them, pushing his friends back, and some had already fled.

The situation grew increasingly chaotic and suffocating. Mahendra was no longer himself. A savagery within him had twisted his true personality—he raged and then laughed, not hesitating to use his devourer's strength.

One of those who had fled was now being chased by Mahendra. In a flash, he appeared, cut off his friend's escape, and then strangled him.

"Where do you think you're running to?" another side of Mahendra taunted. "Don't... don't do this, stop!" Yet, his other side tried to halt his actions.