At the edge of the grove, I did a quick warm-up — one-two-three-four, a few stretches — then rubbed my hands together and got ready to scale the rock wall.

The artificial cliff was about six or seven meters tall, topped with a live electric grid. In plain terms, it was a man made barrier — a “Berlin Wall” built to keep the boys' campus and the girls' campus strictly separated.

Just so you know, the sheer drop only exists on the boys' side. The girls' side is a gentle grassy slope.

Luckily, I’d already mapped out a shortcut — a not-so-grueling climb that even lets me bypass the electric grid and reach the top directly.

The uneven rocks scraped my palms, dirt dug under my fingernails, the moss-covered footholds slipped now and then, and some nameless insect buzzed in my ear. Stuff I never used to notice was now getting in my way — I couldn’t help but feel a flicker of hesitation.

But when I glanced down at the ground… then looked at my short skirt… yeah, I sped up my pace. If anyone was watching from below, the view right now was probably… quite good.

Still, it wasn’t all bad news. I might’ve lost a lot of strength in this new body, and the climb was more tiring than usual, but being lighter had its perks — I was scaling this thing way faster than before. I felt like a nimble little monkey, springing up with barely a pause.

Just as I was about to reach the top, I heard movement above me.

This familiar feeling… yeah, no surprises here.

“Command, this is Patrol Unit 07. I’ve spotted the target!”

Knew it — the security squad.

Biyang Girls Academy had its own elite all-female security force. Fully equipped and highly trained, their job was to guard the campus — and remove any and all male lifeforms that wandered in. Their mission: maintain the sacred peace of the sanctuary.

This was bad. I was still dangling here — and my usual “when in doubt, run for it” strategy wasn’t going to work this time.

Damn it. Is this the end?

I nervously looked up — and locked eyes with a woman wearing dark sunglasses and a serious ponytail. She was dressed in a black tactical uniform, with a walkie-talkie clipped to her left shoulder.

“Looks like it was just a student who slipped and set off the alarm… leave it to me.”

Wait, what? A student who slipped? Alarm?

“Hey, that girl hanging there — you okay? Didn’t get zapped, did you?”

It was hard to guess her age with the sunglasses on, but her voice was deep and steady.

“Huh? You mean… me?”

Her calm demeanor threw me off. I froze for a moment, too stunned by memories of previous capture attempts to realize she was actually talking to me.

“What, cat got your tongue? You still have any strength left?”

Wait… could it be?

She’s… misunderstood the situation?

She thinks I’m not some pervy trespasser trying to scale the wall, but just a poor girl who slipped and got stuck part way up?

This… this could work. This could actually work!

If I play along, I might be able to slip right into the girls’ school!

“Nope! Totally out of energy! Just standing here’s using up the last of my strength! Help me~!” I wailed as pitifully as I could.

“You sure? You’re yelling pretty loud. Sounds like you’ve got energy to spare.”

Yikes. Saw through that one instantly. Was my acting really that bad?

“It’s just an illusion! My legs are jelly! Please, pull me up!”

She still looked a little suspicious… but rescuing distressed students was part of her job. Eventually, she got down on the grass and reached out a hand.

I noticed a nasty scar across the base of her thumb. I hesitated a second, then grabbed on.

She was ridiculously strong — with one flex of her biceps, she hoisted me up like I was a kitten. I half-thought my arm had come out of its socket.

“Owowow! Muscle strain! That was way too intense!”

…Was I really fighting this level of opponents before? I was kind of amazing, wasn’t I?

The girls’ side of the wall was like a landscaped viewing platform — lush green grass even in summer, scattered garden plants, and a cozy little European-style gazebo.

Standing here again after so long, I felt a mix of emotions. Finally, I wasn’t being chased off by security!

We hopped through the fence and stepped onto a neat stone pathway through the garden, heading toward the classroom buildings.

Compared to the run-down classroom buildings and gym over at the boys' school, the girls’ school looked like a fancy manor. Just the high school section alone had three full buildings — the grounds were at least four times as big as ours.

I was staring wide-eyed when the security lady gave my arm a squeeze.

“Whoa, pretty solid build for such a petite girl. You work out?”

“Uh… I play basketball?”

“Huh, not bad. Not too many girls are into that.”

Then her tone turned scolding:
“Didn’t they just tell everyone during the opening ceremony not to climb the fence? There’s an electric grid, the grass is slippery, it’s dangerous! If you wanna watch monkeys, you can do it from a distance, right? You’re lucky you caught that ledge — a fall from that height isn’t a joke!”

…Monkeys?

So in her eyes, the boys on the other side were just caged-up animals?!

“Y-yes... I know I was wrong.”

I swallowed my pride. No need to stir up trouble now.

“You’ve got the polite act down, but if you were really that well-behaved, you wouldn’t be dangling off a cliff.”

She gave my head a noogie. Guess she’s a softie with girls.

“I thought installing an alarm would be enough, but it looks like we’ll have to tighten security. Between musclehead perverts and slippery little girls like you, we can’t let our guard down.”

…Wait, there’s an alarm?

No wonder the principal’s bloodhounds were catching me faster and faster every time I tried climbing over.

“Alarm? I didn’t see anything.”

“It’s a hidden infrared sensor. Some pervy guy from the boys' side kept sneaking over the wall. Luckily, you moved to that exact spot — otherwise I might not have spotted you.”

I looked away, lips twitching.

Sorry, sis — thanks to your help, that guy made it through just fine.

“You don’t seem to know much. Are you a first-year?”

I paused, then gave a noncommittal nod.

“There’s even a campus rumor among your upperclassmen: ‘Say his name and you’ll get pregnant.’ Can you believe that? What is he, Voldemort? The truth is, he’s just an idiot — climbs the same route every time. One alarm sensor is all it takes.”

…Ouch. Sorry for being an idiot. But hey, you’ve got an electric grid everywhere else!

“Why don’t you just expel the guy?”

“We use him for emergency drills.”

They’re totally using me like live practice gear. Am I the catfish among the sardines¹?

She muttered to herself again:

“School’s been in session for two days now. He should’ve shown up by now… Don’t tell me he found a girlfriend over summer break? Nah. No way.”

Hey, don’t shoot that idea down that fast!

The bell rang, and groups of girls came streaming out of the buildings — a full-on bouquet of blooming lilies, just as you’d expect from an all-girls school.

“Um, can I go back to class now?”

I was just about to make my exit when the security sister called me back.

“Hold on. Which class are you in? What’s your name? I need to log this.”

You’re… logging it?

I froze, completely blanking out.

“Worried about getting in trouble? Don’t worry — I won’t report you!”

I glanced left and right, unsure how to answer. I didn’t have a class or a name here!

No choice. Time to make a break for it — grease the soles and vanish. If I can loop around the school building a few times, she’ll never find me again.

Decision made — I turned to bolt and instantly crashed into someone.

Or rather, into a very springy girl, who staggered back into her friend, while I ended up flat on my butt.

Oof. The floor was hard. My tailbone hurt.

“Well, well. Trying to run away, huh?”

The security sis seized the moment, clamping her hand around my head and forcing me to look her in the eye. She was smiling… but not smiling at the same time.

“Also — young lady, when you’re sitting on the ground, you should really keep your knees together.”

Blushing, I squeezed my legs shut. Before I could come up with an excuse, the girl I’d bumped into spoke first.

“Aiya, if it isn’t Xiao Lei!”

I froze.

Wait… someone recognized me?

I looked up — and felt a cold sweat break out across my back.