Alex stood outside the bathroom door, waiting for a moment. Hearing no response from the young woman inside and no sound of movement, he grew concerned about her condition and placed his hand on the doorknob.

He pressed down lightly on the doorknob, then paused. After a moment’s thought, he pulled his hand back. He knocked twice on the door and spoke to the young woman inside, his tone cold. "Hurry up and come out when you’re done. I need to use the bathroom."

He deliberately enunciated the key words, speaking slowly and clearly so that Gu Ning would understand.

He knew from their interactions over the past few days that she had managed to pick up some everyday words.

「Inside the bathroom.」

Gu Ning sat on the floor, wrapped tightly in a blanket. With only her head poking out, she stared blankly at the door for a long time.

The sight of her own naked body had been too great a shock, and now she was completely at a loss for what to do next.

She couldn’t be sure what Alex had seen, or even what he might have done. Her mind was completely consumed by one thought: ’Has my identity been exposed?’

Gu Ning burrowed into the blanket like an ostrich.

The walls of security she had built for herself were now teetering like a condemned building, on the verge of collapse. It wasn’t until Alex’s voice sounded from outside again that the panic rampaging in her heart subsided a little.

She could more or less understand what Alex meant: she had been occupying his bathroom for too long, and now he needed to use it.

Gu Ning struggled to her feet, clutching the blanket and refusing to let it go for even a second.

Her head was a little clearer now, and the discomfort throughout her body felt several times more intense than it had right after she woke up.

She also finally realized that she was sick.

After getting up, Gu Ning didn’t immediately open the door. She turned in place, her gaze falling on the mirror above the sink.

She dragged her unsteady feet to the sink, stepped onto a step stool, and looked at her face in the mirror.

Her reflection in the mirror was pale. The black mark across the bridge of her nose only served to make her bloodless complexion look frighteningly white.

On top of that, her face was a little swollen and her eyes were slightly red-rimmed. She looked sickly and listless, completely devoid of energy.

The only part of her that looked somewhat healthy was her lips. They weren’t dry and pale like they usually were when she got sick; instead, they remained moist, adding a touch of color to her face.

Gu Ning licked her lips. They tasted faintly sweet. ’Is something wrong with my sense of taste? Or did I eat something while I was unconscious?’

A strange feeling lingered in Gu Ning’s mind, but she couldn’t immediately figure out why. She felt miserable right now and didn’t have the energy to overthink it; even the blanket draped over her felt heavy and exhausting.

In the past, her constitution had always been good, and since she was generally mindful of her health, she rarely got sick more than once or twice a year. Catching a minor cold during the change of seasons was a big deal for her.

It had been nearly two months since she’d transmigrated, and this was already her third time falling ill.

The first time was right after she arrived in this world. She had hidden in a garbage dump for two days—getting soaked by rain, starving, and terrified. She came down with a high fever right after Cook took her in.

The second time, she’d caught a cold after taking a cold shower right when she got her period. With no medicine, she had to just tough it out for a few days.

Gu Ning pressed the back of her hand to her forehead. It felt a little hot. ’Am I running a fever again?’

She tried hard to recall her memories of yesterday—

Red and green emergency lights, heavy rain, Mutant Species, the roar of cannons... and a winged Beastman.

Gu Ning’s memory cut off abruptly at the image of a decapitated Mutant Species. She couldn’t remember a single thing that happened after that.

She let out a long breath and rubbed her throbbing temples, then glanced at the time: 14:27.

’So I’ve been asleep since about five or six o’clock yesterday?’

Gu Ning glanced at her terminal and saw a flood of unread messages and missed calls. A quick swipe revealed they were all from Barto.

KNOCK KNOCK... The sound came from the door again.

Gu Ning tensed up at the sound of the knocking.

She lowered her hand, gripping the cold, hard edge of the sink as she took a deep breath.

She didn’t dare go out, didn’t dare face an Alex who might already know her identity.

After a few moments of agonizing indecision, Gu Ning gritted her teeth and pulled the blanket over her head, leaving only her eyes exposed. Then, as if marching to her doom, she opened the bathroom door.

’If this is it, then this is it!’ She couldn’t hide in the bathroom for the rest of her life, after all. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Gu Ning came face-to-face with Alex’s... abs.