He took a deep breath, then crouched down again and delivered a fierce stab to that heart.

A second stab.

Chapter 3: We Are Both Outcasts

"Is this really a newbie?"

As William Carter's shattered body, along with those twisted tentacles, collapsed powerlessly to the ground, Grace Cooper mysteriously appeared at the entrance of the men's restroom.

Seeing Henry Bennett standing in front of William Carter holding a shard of mirror, her expression seemed a bit surprised.

Taking advantage of this moment, she had checked outside to make sure no one else was showing signs of "shedding skin," then hurried over, ready to help this bewildered newcomer deal with the trouble. She even had her gun in hand, only to find, to her surprise, that Henry Bennett had already resolved the problem himself. Moreover, there was none of the nervousness or panic she had expected on his face—he stood in front of William Carter calm, even cold, gripping the blood-stained mirror shard.

He hadn't even forgotten to finish the job...

This decisiveness and efficiency took Grace Cooper completely by surprise.

She had discovered this newcomer by chance and naturally wanted to observe his potential, so she had given him a little time alone with the monster.

Deep down, she certainly hoped he would have as much potential as possible, but now it seemed...

...maybe a bit too much?

...

The moment Grace Cooper entered his line of sight, Henry Bennett instantly looked up at her, gripping the mirror shard tightly, every nerve in his body taut.

Only after confirming it was Grace Cooper did he relax ever so slightly, in a way almost imperceptible.

He didn't understand why Grace Cooper looked so surprised, nor did he feel he had done anything wrong.

It might have looked like a split-second escape and counterattack, but for him, it was the result of long deliberation and mental preparation—he had decided to kill this monster to protect himself.

Since that was the case, he had to see it through to the end.

Only after making sure the monster before him was truly dead—at least that ruined heart had stopped beating—did he slowly stand up, looking down at the mirror shard in his hand, and suddenly threw it aside.

His heart pounded heavily like a drum, and a sense of lingering fear and tension welled up from deep inside.

"Clap, clap..."

Just then, Grace Cooper started clapping. She slowly walked into the restroom, her gaze at Henry Bennett a bit peculiar: "You did very well."

"I..."

Henry Bennett's voice carried a belated nervousness: "Did I kill someone?"

"You didn't kill anyone."

Grace Cooper calmly walked up to Henry Bennett, took the mirror shard from his hand and tossed it to the ground, then took out a medical patch and helped Henry Bennett cover his wound, speaking softly:

"It's not over yet. You've only temporarily postponed the crisis."

"It's just that you showed your anger just now—even these monsters will be somewhat suppressed by it..."

"......"

Henry Bennett felt the blood vessels in his head throbbing again. The exhaustion from killing, the headache from his mind running at full speed, and all these strange terms left him deeply confused.

"Oh my, how do you two have so many secrets to share?"

At that moment, a laughing voice suddenly sounded. Henry Bennett turned his head and was completely stunned.

He saw William Carter getting up from the ground. The torn skin and the wounds he had inflicted were slowly healing, and those writhing tentacles were retracting back into his body. As he stood up, he had already returned to his previous appearance, walking nonchalantly to the sink. While washing his hands, he laughed and said, "Back in school, we all thought there was something between you two. Looks like I was right?"

Hearing his words, Henry Bennett felt the world was utterly unreal.

It was as if the terror and deadly struggle he had just experienced were all an illusion.

He instinctively moved a little farther from William Carter, looked up at Grace Cooper, and saw her smiling, calmly explaining to William Carter, "There were too many people inside, it was hard to hear anything."

"Isn't that what class reunions are like?"

William Carter laughed, dried his hands, and said, "Come on, let's go back. You two have been gone so long, you should be punished with a drink."

......

......

Henry Bennett, Grace Cooper, and William Carter returned to the private room together, and sure enough, everyone started egging them on to drink as punishment.

But to Henry Bennett, everything before his eyes felt bizarre and surreal. He saw that his classmates were all treating him much better. Although there were still occasional dissatisfied glances, whenever they spoke to him, they all wore smiles. Some even raised their glasses to him from afar. Even William Carter was chatting away, still a bit arrogant, but much friendlier than before. Everything felt fake.

Only the wound on his palm, still faintly oozing blood, proved that it had all really happened.

The classmates were all having a great time. Although Henry Bennett didn't seem able to blend into the atmosphere, which was a bit of a downer, no one said anything about it. Someone even suggested going to sing karaoke later.

However, the center of everyone's attention, Grace Cooper, didn't seem interested.

After chatting and laughing with everyone for a while, she excused herself: "We won't be going to sing. Henry Bennett and I already made plans—we still have some things to do later."

"Huh?"

All the classmates present were a bit surprised, and many envious glances were cast at Henry Bennett.

Grace Cooper hadn't been in touch with her classmates for four years—how was she still so close with Henry Bennett?