SBAB Chapter 10

Campus festivals are a staple in anime, so even though today marks the first campus festival at this university, everyone knows exactly what to expect. Each club showcases their best skills, putting on great performances or game projects.

Lin Xin’s recently performed in the grand hall located by the south gate of the school, with a large square in front. Apart from the time at the start of the semester when everyone crowds in to register and pick up bedding, it’s usually pretty empty. But today, it’s packed with snack stalls—from grilled cold noodles to octopus balls, all on offer. You can smell the delicious aroma from a distance.

As Lin Xin passed through the square, out of the corner of her eye, she spotted He Xiangtong weaving through the stalls, clutching a beautifully printed campus festival food guide. Every time she stopped, she’d take a bite or two. He Xiangtong’s movements were smooth, clearly well-prepared for the festival, having done plenty of research and mapped out the best routes. And Lin Xin knew exactly who had likely influenced her—Gu Nian had probably convinced their roommates.

Continuing, Lin Xin took a small path named Shang Xue Road, leading to the East Playground.

The East Playground was still packed with people. Lin Xin, not very tall, bounced her way through the crowd, finally managing to catch a glimpse over the sea of heads. Up front, someone in a medieval costume was doing slow-motion fight moves on a stage, probably so the people below could get clear photos.

Lin Xin used her high school experience of squeezing onto packed buses during rush hour every day, pushing through rows of people, stepping on toes, accompanied by many a curse, until she finally made it to the front row.

Sweating buckets from the heat, Lin Xin finally got a chance to catch her breath only to realize that there was no sign of Cheng Shiyin on the stage. And given the 1:1 ratio of boys to girls up front, Gu Nian wasn’t there either.

Lin Xin turned to a girl on her right, who was even more packed in than Lin Xin, her makeup all smudged, and asked, “Where’s Senior Gu Nian?”

The girl burst into tears, holding onto Lin Xin as if for dear life. After a moment of sobbing, she managed to choke out, “I finally got in, only to find out that Senior Gu Nian’s performance was already over. They said he was dressed as a vampire and got dragged away by the Ghost Club to help out. Without Senior Gu Nian, now I can’t even get out!” she wailed.

Lin Xin could feel her distress; she had gone through a similar experience during the orientation gala. Feeling a sense of camaraderie from their shared suffering, Lin Xin pulled out her unused makeup wipes from her pocket and gently wiped the girl’s face…wait, where did her features go?

Stalls like this one can be set up outdoors in the square, but other club activities have to be held indoors, such as the pitch-black haunted house or the elegant maid café. The school thoughtfully assigns different classrooms for these clubs, according to size.

The Ghost Club’s haunted house has a big classroom that can fit four classes at once. They set up a small maze inside to give students plenty of time to get a good scare, so they don’t just run through and see the exit immediately.

At the entrance to the Ghost Club’s haunted house, there was a table staffed by a student dressed as Sadako and another as Kayako. Both girls wore long white dresses, making it hard to tell them apart. Many students mistook them for a double dose of Sadako, but only true horror fans like Lin Xin could tell Sadako’s hair was softer than Kayako’s.

For Lin Xin’s attention to detail, the two staff members allowed her to enter directly from the exit, skipping the line of over thirty girls in front of her.

As Lin Xin stepped into the haunted house, the carefully placed old wooden boards creaked loudly, as if just a little movement would make them fall through to the next level.

This simple trick wouldn’t faze Lin Xin, though. She looked around, trying to spot Cheng Shiyin’s figure, while identifying whether the posters on the walls were of Chucky or the puppets in “The Dead Silence.”

Suddenly, Lin Xin stumbled over a thin wire underfoot, which tripped her, and she collided with some prop, feeling a soft, squishy, rubbery texture.

Must be Konjac, Lin Xin thought.

Haunted houses often use konjac as props, simulating long-tongued ghosts licking people’s faces. They tie large pieces of konjac to strings, hide them behind obstacles, and then pull them out when needed, making them hard to spot. They’re simple to operate, cheap, and hard to detect.

Thinking about it, Lin Xin couldn’t help but give the konjac another firm squeeze to feel its smooth, slippery texture.

“Hiss… ah…”

Hearing that painful noise from the konjac caught Lin Xin off guard. Startled, she quickly pushed it away.

But to her surprise, screams from women echoed all around, like a Dolby surround sound theater.

Lin Xin then saw Cheng Shiyin sprawled on the ground near the ghost fire, rubbing her bruised backside. Now she finally realized just how silly she had been, how ridiculous her actions had been moments ago. Speechless and unsure whether she should extend her hand to help Cheng Shiyin up, afraid she wouldn’t take it—what an awkward moment that would be.

Just then, Lin Xin heard Gu Nian’s agonized cry from a distance, and countless girls screaming in frenzy, “Ah! Gu Nian!”

Lin Xin looked up and saw Gu Nian sprinting towards her with all his might, pursued by a horde of crazed fangirls. Even one girl with a somewhat unclear face—who Lin Xin recognized as the one she had met earlier at the East Playground—was pushing through the crowd to get to him.

Seeing this chaos, Lin Xin immediately pulled Cheng Shiyin to her feet and they ran, closing the back door as they left.

The two of them dashed back to the South Gate Square before stopping to catch their breath.

Cheng Shiyin and Lin Xin each leaned on their knees, panting and sweating. They exchanged looks, both gasping and smiling at the thought of how Gu Nian had gone to play the ghost only to end up trapped in the haunted house surrounded by all kinds of “monsters.”

It took them several minutes of heavy breathing to regain their composure, their gazes meeting on each other’s comically flushed faces.

Seeing Lin Xin had saved her from what could have been a disastrous situation if Gu Nian had revealed their relationship, Cheng Shiyin didn’t mind the little mishap. She even kindly helped Lin Xin wipe away the beads of sweat on her forehead.

Feeling Cheng Shiyin’s lack of disdain towards her, Lin Xin was overjoyed. She then tenderly helped Cheng Shiyin peel off a few dangling fake eyelashes…

“So sweet,” Lin Xin’s three roommates teased, accompanied by the scent of grilled sausages.