It wasn’t until Rinka and Zhao Zhao, dragging the wheelchair behind him, crawled in after me that I realized what felt off.

“Wait… this door doesn’t have a lock?”

No wonder Rinka said the door couldn’t be picked—it didn’t even have a keyhole.

“Huh? No keyhole? Then how do we open it?”
Zhao Zhao looked just as confused as I was. Rinka, on the other hand, looked quite amused.

“Of course the secret passage between the boys’ and girls’ campuses wouldn’t use some basic mechanical lock. Watch carefully—and try not to freak out!”

As she said that, Rinka leaned in close to the stone wall beside the door. Embedded in it was a tiny peephole. When she brought her eye up to it, a faint red light flickered across her iris.

At the same time, the heavy iron door slowly swung open.

Zhao Zhao lit up with recognition. “Oh! It’s that thing, right? The one they always show in movies—an iris scanner!”

“Bingo. I’ll register Kai-chan’s iris data in the system later, so it’ll be like giving you a key of your own. Come on in.”

Implied, of course, was that she had no plans of giving Zhao Zhao a “key.” Fortunately, he was smart enough not to press the issue, and quietly helped me through the doorway.

And just in case we hadn’t figured out this was a secret passage, it really was pitch dark inside. The overhead lights were barely brighter than nightlights, barely illuminating the narrow corridor. It was just wide enough for two people to walk side by side and stretched in a straight line into the hillside. Beyond a certain point, the light simply disappeared into pure blackness—honestly kind of creepy.

“Uh, Rinka… isn’t it a bit too dark in here?”

“Relax. It won’t stay this way.”

Right as the iron door sealed shut behind us, the so-called “nightlights” suddenly kicked into full power. The whole passage was instantly flooded with light—almost too bright.

Rinka explained, “The lights only activate after the door’s shut. Otherwise, they’d leak out at night and draw attention.”

With proper lighting, I could finally see the full interior. White painted walls and ceiling, and above us, metal ventilation ducts in addition to the lighting system.

The passage wasn’t long. In the distance, we could already see another iron door. The girls’ campus side of the hill was a grassy slope. The gazebo we’d seen before was up that hill, so based on the passage length, this door probably exited near the foot of that slope.

To the left of the exit door was a small black panel with what looked like a camera—another iris scanner.

Just as Rinka was about to scan herself again, I stuck out my crutch to stop her and pointed to the school uniforms Zhao Zhao and I were wearing.

“Wait, Rinka—you’re not seriously planning to let us walk out like this, are you?”

Marching into the girls’ campus in boys’ uniforms would instantly raise alarms with the security team. And Zhao Zhao was already on their most-wanted list—if we walked out like this, he’d probably be arrested before making it five steps.

“Kai-chan, relax. I told you—I’ve already got everything fully arranged!”

The iron door opened. But instead of a grassy sunlit field, what lay beyond was… a fully furnished, pastel-themed room, unmistakably decorated in Rinka’s preferred pink aesthetic.

It wasn’t big—maybe about fifty square meters.

There were all the basics: sofa, coffee table, TV, fridge, even a simple kitchen and a bathroom tucked into one corner.

Everything was brand new. Even the paint on the walls still smelled faintly of chemicals… Probably some serious formaldehyde levels in here.

Looking at the size of it, if you took a bath in that bathroom, you’d probably be able to smell stir-fry from the kitchen at the same time.

All four windows were made of frosted glass—reasonable, considering the room was meant to be kept secret.

Rinka and I took off our shoes and stepped inside. Maybe the sheer concentration of girly energy in the room had some kind of spiritual suppressive effect, because Zhao Zhao stood frozen at the doorway, visibly hesitant, like some invisible chains were stopping him from crossing the threshold.

He frowned and muttered, “Good grief… how much did this cost?”

“Ehehe… yeah, I kinda went over budget on this one. My savings weren’t enough, so Haitang and Meow Meow also chipped in. Don’t worry—I’m not charging you guys a cent!”

Haitang and Meow Meow, huh? I mean, both of them do come from wealthy families. Still, I didn’t expect Meow Meow to pitch in too… I don’t really get it, does she actually hate me or?

“This’ll be your temporary dorm from now on. There’s a second floor with beds and closets, so whether you’re transforming or splitting into your avatar, you can get changed up there. You can even come back for a nap during lunch.”

“Second floor?”

Following her finger, I noticed a narrow wooden staircase leading up to what looked like a bedroom of roughly the same size.

So this place was actually a two-story mini-house.

I couldn’t help asking, “Wait—where is this, exactly? I thought we came out on the slope?”

Rinka replied, “We are on the slope.”

“But there wasn’t a two-story house here before…”

“That’s because it was just built yesterday.”

“…Huh?”

Hold on. Earlier she said she blew her savings… I thought she meant on furnishing this place?

So to solve my “avatar logistics problem,” she not only reactivated this long-forgotten secret passage—but also built a two-story house in a single day at the exit?

“Kai-chan, you really need to get with the times. Houses like this are made with prefabricated panels—they go up fast, like building a giant LEGO set. It’s the interior that takes time.”

“Still, one day? Are you actually Hideyoshi¹?”

“Oh come on, Nobunaga~ This is the modern era! If you’ve got the cash, nothing’s impossible!”

Yeah, well… cash sure is nice. Too bad I don’t have any.

After that, I used the notebook to transform Zhao Zhao into Xiao Lei. Once she changed into her uniform upstairs, I used my avatar bookmark to create my own split form.

“No peeking up here, got it?!”

My school uniform was the one Rinka had given me before, and I’d brought it with me.

Xiao Lei wasn’t wearing the old uniform Rinka had stashed at the boys’ school either—she had already picked up a new one and a student ID the last time she went to Rinka’s place.

Oh, and she also had a legit-looking ID card now—fake, of course. Another student council special. Seriously, is Haitang running an international crime ring?

When I came downstairs in my uniform, Rinka let out a whistle from the couch and teased, “Wow, Kai-chan~ You really hiked that skirt up! Ooh! I can see your panties!”

“Ugh! Don’t look, you idiot!”

Maybe the layout was intentional, but from the stairs to the sofa there was just the perfect viewing angle. I instinctively grabbed at my skirt, my face burning red.

Xiao Lei was squirming awkwardly beside her. She probably wanted to sneak a peek too, but acting too much like Zhao Zhao would ruin her image.

I muttered through my hands, “Like you’re one to talk. Your skirt’s just as short—and you’ve got one leg up on the sofa, totally flashing!”

Rinka had a bad habit of lounging with one leg propped up on the backrest. I couldn’t see from my angle, but from where Xiao Lei sat, she had a clear view.

“She’s wearing safety shorts,” Xiao Lei offered helpfully. “So it’s fine.”

Ah, I see. So that’s how you play it… All the times I trashed safety shorts as an otaku, and now they’re my saving grace.

“Guess I should get a few pairs too.”

“No worries, even if I do see Kai-chan’s panties, I won’t mind~!”

“Well I mind!”

With everything ready, we were finally about to step into the girls’ campus—as proper JKs.

Standing before the front door that led directly into the school, I felt a strange rush of nerves… It was like… yeah, like that moment in Left 4 Dead right before leaving the safehouse. Only more intense.

“Let’s head out!”
With a cheerful voice, Rinka pulled open the door.