Extraordinary Realm from Persuasion System

At first, they were excited because it was their first time here, wandering everywhere. But as the novelty wore off and training increased, all that remained was tedium and dullness. Especially as time passed day by day, with the competition looming before them. The city leaders and school teachers had high hopes for them, which only increased their already immense pressure. Even Sophia Zhou, who was usually resilient, felt suffocated at this moment.

If she didn't go out for a walk to get some fresh air and change her mood, she guessed she might have a mental breakdown due to the tedious training that seemed endless!

So, after dinner, she inexplicably thought of Zhang Beixing and his astonishing performance that day. She went out to the boys' dormitory building to find Zhang Beixing for a chat to ease her mind. Unfortunately, no one responded on WeChat, and his roommate also didn't know where he was. Having no choice, Sophia Zhou could only wander around by herself.

"Ah! When will I ever see the light at the end of the tunnel!"

She sat down on the grass, looked up at the bright crescent moon and the shadows of the trees in the woods, and sighed deeply. From being selected by a teacher as a sports student in junior high, almost ten years had already passed. She thought she could make a name for herself in the sports world of Great Xia with her athletic talent, but in reality, up to now, Sophia Zhou hadn't even managed to secure a second-level athlete's certificate, which really hit her hard. However, her mental resilience was strong, so she usually didn't show it. Now, all alone and under recent heavy pressure, she became quite sentimental.

Lifting her head and staring blankly at the moon, Sophia Zhou's eyes flickered, her thoughts unknown.

Just as she was lost in her reverie, WHOOSH— a soft sound drifted over. Sophia Zhou's attention was drawn to it, and she turned her head to look. There, not far from the artificial lake of Shi University, was a dark, spherical object floating on the surface, bobbing up and down.

Seeing this, Sophia Zhou was stunned. Her melancholy vanished completely, replaced by utter bafflement. She squinted subconsciously at the dark sphere, murmuring to herself: What is... this?

A ball? How can someone be so inconsiderate as to throw this into the water?

Seriously, leaving such a dark sphere on the artificial lake was rather unscrupulous.

Anyone nearsighted who saw this thing vaguely from a distance would definitely be startled!

Forget it. Since I saw it, I might as well do a good deed and retrieve it.

I can't let this thing scare other people!

Muttering under her breath, and with the thought of doing a good deed now that she had seen it, Sophia Zhou patted her backside, stood up, picked up a stick, and walked along the shore towards the sphere.

But, when Sophia Zhou got close to the 'sphere,' she realized that things weren't quite what she had imagined; something was off! Previously, she was a bit too far away, and the surroundings were too dim for her to see clearly. Now that she was closer, upon a closer look, Sophia Zhou noticed the sphere had a very peculiar shape.

It was neither a common soccer ball nor a basketball, nor one of those watermelon balls children play with.

The sphere was dark, and the dark part looked like hair, swaying with the water current. Combined with its oval shape... it didn't look much like a ball at all. Instead, it resembled a...

"Human head!"

Without any forethought, looking at the object floating on the water, Sophia Zhou blurted this out. And after saying this, Sophia Zhou was utterly stunned. Because she noticed a problem: the bobbing motion of this human head was not at all related to the undulations of the water!

It was moving on its own!

Realizing this, Sophia Zhou froze. The hand holding the small stick trembled violently. She watched the head bobbing on the pitch-black artificial lake of Shi University, and in an instant, a chill shot up from her heels to the crown of her head. Her eyes widened, cold sweat drenched her, and an unknown fear enveloped her.

"Wh-wh-wh-wh-what... What is this situation?" Sophia Zhou cried out. Her voice trembled with intense fear, her body shivered uncontrollably, and her teeth chattered, making a sharp CLICKING sound.

As if disturbed by her voice, the human head on the artificial lake... moved. It suddenly twisted to the right. Then, the water around it started churning wildly! The sounds of churning water, SWIRL, SPLASH, rose and fell. Water sprayed upwards, tracing eerie arcs in the moonlight. The calm lake surface turned into surging waves, the water growing more violent. Indistinctly, Sophia Zhou also heard a roar.

Sophia Zhou's mind went blank with terror. Such a bizarre spectacle completely drained the color from her face! Scenes from horror movies she had watched in the past flashed uncontrollably through her mind. Eventually, the imagery froze, landing on a pale-faced, waterlogged woman with disheveled hair. It was Sophia Zhou's childhood nightmare, the beautiful Chu.

This memory surfaced, and suddenly, Sophia Zhou felt as if she were pulled back to her childhood, sitting in her maternal grandfather's house watching DVDs. Her grandfather, with a big smile, had pulled out the movie disc for "The Village of Old Corpses," claiming it was good stuff.