Once inside the elevator, William encountered his upstairs neighbor, Tasha, holding a baby. He knew the

truth—these babies weren't Tasha's grandchildren; they were simply their next meals. "I'm sorry," William repeated silently to himself.

Back in his room, William contemplated his next move. He couldn't guarantee his own safety, let alone that of others. He was trapped in a world filled with monsters.

His mother visited his room several times, and each time, William pretended to be asleep with his eyes closed, aware of her watchful gaze.

Late at night, the doorbell rang. William thought it might be his father returning home, but it turned out to be Carl, looking distraught.

"William, something's wrong," Carl said, his eyes red from crying. William, relieved to see his friend, asked, "Are we exposed?" Carl shook his head. "William, I'm sorry."

Suddenly, a searing pain shot through William's abdomen, and he looked down to see Carl holding a knife, its blade buried in his flesh.

"Why... why would you..." William's voice trembled.

"I'm sorry, but I had to do this because... it's the only way," Carl choked out as tears streamed down his face.

The announcement over the radio jolted William awake.

As he opened his eyes, the test paper lay before him, a haunting reminder of that fateful morning on June 8th.

"Ah..." William gasped.

He had made the choice to survive, only to meet his end once again. This time, it wasn't a monster that killed him, but rather his fellow human, Carl.

"Dear examinee, please refrain from speaking loudly in the examination room."

The invigilator approached, and the other students in the room turned their attention to William. "Get out of here!" William shouted loudly as he leaped from his chair.

Turning around, he saw the familiar figure.

"Chow—Kay," William muttered as he grabbed Carl by the collar and hoisted him up. "What are you doing?" Carl appeared baffled.

"This examinee, please cease this at once," the proctor tried to intervene. "If you continue, I'll have to disqualify you."

"I'm turning in my paper!" William glared at the proctor. Even though he now knew the invigilator in front of him was a monster, he felt no fear at this moment. Monsters wouldn't attack unless their true nature was revealed, at least not until August 11.

"He's turning in his paper too!" William declared as he dragged Carl out of the classroom.

"Let go of me!" Carl tried to pull William's hand away. "What's gotten into you?"

William leaned close, whispering into Carl's ear, "If you want to save your sister, come with me." Carl's expression darkened.

William didn't stop; he turned decisively and exited the classroom.

"This examinee, are you in some kind of trouble?" The invigilator inquired. "Can I assist you?" Carl shook his head and said, "No, sir, I'll turn in my paper as well."

Carl hurried after William.

From the rooftop of the school building, William watched the stairwell intently. When he saw Carl entering, he didn't hesitate to rush over and throw a punch.

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Unfortunately, the punch missed Carl.

Carl turned out to be much more agile than William had anticipated, easily sidestepping the attack. "Don't dodge!" William steadied himself. "Stand still and let me punch you. You owe me that." "Why did you call me here?" Carl's expression grew heavy. "What's happened to my sister?"

"Just wait until I've punched you in the face!" William disregarded Carl's questions and lunged again. His fist was caught by Carl, who then executed a swift leg sweep, sending William sprawling to the ground.

"Carl! Damn you!" William cursed, struggling to get up but failing to break free. "So, to save your sister, you wouldn't hesitate to kill me?" Carl questioned.

"On what grounds? I summoned the courage to survive the monsters, only to be killed by your hands!" "What did you say?" Carl's face darkened. "What do you know?"

William gritted his teeth and recounted what had transpired between them.

"Why couldn't you just say something? Hand me a knife out of nowhere. Do you have any idea how painful it is to be stabbed? I could've stabbed you!" William vented, feeling wronged.

Carl released his grip and regarded William with suspicion. "Are you saying that my sister is going to be killed by a monster this afternoon?"

"How should I know?" William got up from the ground. "That's what you told me when you stabbed me."

"You said that after the exam this afternoon, you returned home and found that your sister had turned into a monster. You told me to relay this message and said you had to save your sister."

"How did you know your sister had become a monster? Did you witness it yourself?"

Carl frowned and said, "By the heartbeat."

"Heartbeat?" William was puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"Monsters and humans have different heart rates," Carl continued. "My ability is sensory enhancement. I can detect if someone is a monster by listening to their heartbeat."

William recalled the time before when Carl had been on the rooftop with him. Carl had managed to identify his mother going up the stairs and even detected William's scent on her.

That's why Carl had called William on August 9th, advising him not to go to Back Hill, because Carl knew that William was human, while the other students were monsters.

"So, when you got home this afternoon, you could tell from your sister's heartbeat that she was no longer your sister?"

"That's not entirely accurate," William found it perplexing. "Before I was killed... she told me that monsters who eat people have their preferences."

"Some prefer to feast on children, while others target adults."

"If your sister was devoured by a monster, it means they favor individuals of her age group. Then shouldn't you be the first to be devoured?"

Carl shook his head and explained, "I'm not like you. Monsters posing as your parents raised you, but I grew up in an institution."

William paused for a moment, realizing that he knew very little about the current Carl – not his family background, not his personality, only that he was introverted. Now, there was one more piece of the puzzle – his sister.

It occurred to him that if William had known Carl better, he might not have stabbed him to death.

"If it was a welfare home..." William pondered for a moment before asking, "How do the monsters in welfare homes consume people?"

"For these monsters, the welfare home serves as their hunting ground," Carl explained. "I discovered at a very young age that I possessed unique abilities."

"Through this ability, I discerned the existence of monsters and realized that every time someone came to the institution to adopt a child, they were actually monsters."

"Their intent wasn't to adopt children; it was to select their next meal."

At this, William recalled Tasha holding a baby in her arms. Perhaps that was how she had brought the baby back.

"So, how have you managed to survive all this time?" William looked at Carl with admiration. After all, William only had to contend with his monstrous parents, but Carl, raised in the welfare home, had to face a batch of monsters.

"Whenever a monster came to the Welfare Court to choose a child, I would secretly switch my sister and me with another pair of children and then hide with my sister for a while."

"It wasn't that difficult, given my abilities," Carl explained. "Once the monsters who had selected children departed, I would quietly return the swapped children to their original places to avoid detection."

"Why didn't you take action against the monsters sooner?" William was puzzled.

"Action?" Carl questioned with a wry smile. "How? Do you have any idea how many monsters exist in this world?"

"Let's not even consider other places; let's just focus on our class. Except for you and me, everyone else is a monster! That's just one class, let alone everywhere else."

"When those monsters devour people, others take their place. Of course, not everyone is replaced –

some people die and are done away with."

"No one remembers that they were eaten by a monster, disappearing from this world forever. It's as if they never existed."

"Wait a minute." William furrowed his brow. "That can't be true."

He thought for a moment before saying, "Apart from you and me, there should be one more person in our class who isn't a monster."

"Impossible," Carl shook his head.

"How can that be? Arthur is," William asserted. "Arthur? No, he's a monster too."