It’s mid-September 2023 now, and I awakened my superpower back in early April 2019.

  That’s roughly four and a half years ago. I was in the second semester of my third year of middle school—still at that age when the world felt full of endless possibility and fantasy.

  People around me still call me a dreamer even today, but back then I was far more naive. So when my superpower actually awakened, any lingering doubt about the existence of the supernatural vanished completely. From that moment on, I could devote myself wholeheartedly to hunting for those mysterious things everyone else dismissed as impossible.

  Fairies from legend, demons, gods—they might all be real. And superpowered individuals like me undoubtedly existed somewhere in the world.

  I never once believed I was the only one. If there’s one, there can be two—it’s that simple. I have no idea what insane stroke of luck let me stumble into awakening, but even if the odds were one in a billion, with eight billion people on Earth, there should still be at least a few dozen others. Expand the search from “superpowered people” to “supernatural forces” in general, and who knows how many more there could be. My reasoning seemed solid.

  Yet after more than four full years of searching, my progress remained exactly zero.

  The only thing that had advanced rapidly was my own power, speeding along its evolutionary track.

  —

  This time, Alice didn’t stay unconscious for a whole night like before.

  Only a few minutes passed before she groggily opened her eyes and looked at me, still half-lost in a dream.

  I offered kindness first.

  “You must still be exhausted. It’s fine—rest a bit longer if you need to.”

  She didn’t reply. She simply watched me in silence, her gaze gradually sharpening and clearing. After a moment, she pushed aside the blanket, climbed out of bed, and shuffled unsteadily toward the door.

  “Where are you going?” I stepped in front of her first.

  “Move.” She glared at me like a wounded young wolf.

  “You’re leaving already?”

  “I told you—I’ve already troubled you enough.”

  “But I still have business with you. I risked getting arrested by the police to hide and shelter you. I can’t just sit back and let you run off doing whatever you want now.” I gave her a legitimate reason.

  She ignored me and tried to slip past quickly.

  But after a single step, her body swayed involuntarily. Her knees buckled, and she started to collapse.

  I rushed forward to catch her. She stubbornly shook me off, then immediately retreated two steps, putting what she considered a safe distance between us.

  “What exactly do you think you can do in this condition?” I pressed my advantage. “You can barely walk straight—you could pass out again any second. And you’re still covered in dried blood, wearing that torn, barely-there hospital gown. The moment you step outside, the police will pick you up.”

  “I won’t tell anyone about you. That should be enough, right?” She frowned in response.

  “What I mean is… don’t you want to take a shower first?” I racked my brain for ways to buy time and figure out how to convince her to stay. “Throw those clothes away. You can borrow mine for now—I’ll give you a fresh pair of underwear.”

  “A shower?” She looked puzzled at first, then seemed to realize something and backed up another two steps, eyeing me with even deeper suspicion. “Are you…?”

  “Don’t misunderstand.” I shut down her suspicion immediately. “If I had that kind of intention toward you, I would’ve done it already.”

  “…True.” Even so, she checked her own body once more, then reluctantly admitted, “A shower… You’re right. I can’t just walk out like this…”

  After more back-and-forth, she finally gave in. She glanced back at me every few steps as she made her way into the bathroom.

  I fetched spare slippers for her, then pulled out one of my own outfits from the nightstand—plus fresh underwear and a towel—and followed her all the way to the bathroom door, watching as she closed the frosted-glass panel behind her.

  From the other side came the crinkling sound of her tearing open the plastic towel wrapper, followed by the rustle of clothes being removed. A small, blurry silhouette appeared on the frosted glass—her petite figure as she examined the bath products, bottles being picked up and set down with faint clinks.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  The showerhead turned on. Water pattered steadily against the tiles. At first it must have been cold—she let out a short, startled, adorably high-pitched yelp like a frightened small animal.

  Soon the water warmed. She quieted down and let out a soft, contented sound.

  On the other side of a single door was a living, breathing, completely naked beautiful girl. Only then did it hit me how inappropriate it was to stand so close. I retreated to the living-room sofa, sat down, and while thinking over my next move, pulled out my phone to request a leave from university.

  That’s when I noticed several unread text notifications. They were from the only friend I had at college. Sent last night—he’d asked if I was free in the evening. I’d been too preoccupied with Alice to notice.

  Why the sudden invitation? Was something urgent?

  I texted back asking what was up, added that I wouldn’t be at school today, and then officially requested leave from the university.

  Not long after, the sound of water in the bathroom stopped.

  I’d figured someone from an apocalyptic era might be obsessive about conserving water, but I still expected a girl to take her time in the shower—giving me plenty of opportunity to craft arguments to keep her here. Yet Alice showered even faster than I did, rough guy that I am. Before long she emerged, wearing my clothes, bracing herself against the wall as she shuffled out.

  The outfit I’d given her was a gray long-sleeve T-shirt and long pants, plus plain black boxer briefs. Unfortunately I didn’t have any bras—hopefully that wouldn’t bother a girl her age too much.

  My shirt was obviously way too big on her. The sleeves completely covered her hands; the hem fell like a short dress. She’d rolled up both the sleeves and pant legs, exposing slender, pale forearms and calves.

  I led her back to the bedroom. I’d already stripped the soiled sheets and blanket. She sat on the bed, still carrying the warm steam from her shower and the faint lemon scent of my usual shampoo.

  It was strangely captivating. The lemon fragrance was the exact same one I used every day—nothing special—yet drifting from her, it felt completely different, wrapping the air in a soft, unfamiliar haze.

  Even the clothes—so ordinary on me—somehow took on an inexplicable allure the moment they were on her body.

  So this was what people online meant by “boyfriend shirt,” huh? Not that we were anything like that. Just thinking it felt embarrassingly presumptuous.

  “Thank you. I can’t even remember the last time I had such a comfortable bath.”

  Perhaps the hot water had temporarily softened this little “hedgehog’s” spines—her attitude had noticeably gentled.

  Then she asked for her handgun back.

  I refused without hesitation.

  “By the way—why do you even have a gun? Did you bring it with you when you crossed over?”

  “…That has nothing to do with you.” She was still uncooperative, but her tone was milder now. “Since you won’t give it back, then keep it. I’m leaving.”

  “You want to investigate the cause of the coming apocalypse, right? But do you even have any leads?”

  “No. But the end didn’t just arrive out of nowhere. There were signs, precursors—people in this era simply haven’t paid enough attention yet. Bizarre phenomena, grotesque monsters… things like that must already be appearing openly in this time.” She grew slightly more patient, then issued a warning. “You need to be careful too. The moment you encounter anything suspicious, don’t hesitate—get as far away as possible. And also…”

  “Also what?”

  “…Don’t come near me anymore.” She spoke deliberately, forcing her voice to stay flat. “I… I’m different from you. I’m a jinx.

  “Anyone who stays close to me, anyone who gets involved with me… they always end up dragged into inexplicable, abnormal events far more often than others—until they die horribly.

  “If you value your life, stop clinging to me.”

  Wait—what? That sounded like the opposite of bad news.

  My spirits lifted instantly.

  “How could I possibly do that?” I declared righteously. “From the very beginning I told you—I saved you because I couldn’t just ignore a barely clothed girl collapsed in the dark. And now you want me to forget about you completely? Isn’t that basically killing me in spirit? If I did that, would I even still be myself?”

  “Pretty words are easy to say. When death actually comes knocking, you’ll regret your decision.” Her tone grew heavier.

  “Don’t underestimate me. When I say I won’t regret it, I mean it. And you should take a good look at yourself.” I countered. “Right now you can’t use your powers, you can barely move—you need proper rest. Yet you want to rush out there and run yourself ragged? Isn’t that just adding injury to injury?

  “Wouldn’t it make more sense to recover here first, build up your strength, so you can actually fulfill your mission to stop the apocalypse? Or is satisfying your stubborn pride more important to you?

  “Besides—even if you really are some incredible walking disaster who brings unpredictable calamity to everyone around you, it’s not like doom strikes the instant someone gets near you. Surely it can wait a few days, right?”

  “This…” She seemed genuinely swayed. “Just a few days…”

  “So?” I probed.

  “…” She fell silent.

  I waited anxiously for her answer.

  If—no matter what—I couldn’t convince her…

  Worst case, I’d have to break her legs and chain her up, keep her imprisoned here.

  Illegal confinement of an underage girl—criminal and perverse. But I was already illegally possessing a firearm and hiding a supposed “serial killer.” One more felony wouldn’t make much difference.

  I didn’t want to resort to that extreme unless there was absolutely no other choice. Even thinking about it required overcoming a massive mental barrier.

  After a long pause, she finally exhaled, nodding reluctantly.

  “…Fine. I understand.” She sounded defeated. “But just to be safe—I won’t stay long. No matter how my recovery goes, at most five days… no, three days. Then I’m gone.

  “And… thank you.”

  Her voice shrank to almost a whisper at the end.

  My pounding heart finally settled—for the moment.

  Thump, thump, thump.

  Suddenly, another knock came from the front door.

  We both froze and exchanged glances.

  The police again? Had the earlier officer come back?

  Why return? Had he finally sensed something off about me? How many officers were out there now?

  “Coming, coming!” I called toward the entrance while signaling Alice to stay quiet.

  She nodded and curled up smaller on the bed.

  I approached the door but didn’t peer through the peephole. Staying alert, I slowly turned the knob.

  No one forced the door open from outside.

  I pushed it ajar and saw who was standing there.

  “You?” I said, surprised.

  It was my only friend from university.

  But right now his face looked awful—traces of lingering panic still visible, as though he’d just been through something utterly bizarre and inexplicable.