Chapter Seven: The Gymnasium

“Alright.” She opened her palm, and a plant sprouted from the center, its roots still clumped with soil.

“How amazing…” Lin Youwei leaned closer to her hand. “This must be some kind of cheat.”

She pouted. “Why is it only you two who have powers? The heavens are really unfair.”

Yu Yue replied without hesitation, “If you’re so capable, why don’t you try poking or biting a monster?”

Biting a monster? Lin Youwei shuddered at the thought of those grotesque creatures.

Yu Yue handed the sprout to Li Luyan.

As Li Luyan took the seedling, Yu Yue slumped against the cashier’s counter, beads of sweat covering her forehead.

“What’s wrong? Power exhaustion?” Li Luyan asked knowingly but still reached out to steady her.

“Ugh… I’m so tired. I need to rest a bit before transforming again.” Suddenly remembering something, she added, “Sister Yan, do you think this ability needs to level up by fighting monsters? I’ve read plenty of apocalypse novels where they extract something called a crystal core from zombies’ foreheads or stomachs.”

Lin Youwei couldn’t help but mock, “Do you really think these water monsters are the same as the zombies you’re talking about?”

“True enough.”

Crystal core…

Li Luyan curved her lips. “We can give it a try.”

“See? Our Luyan endorses my idea,” Yu Yue perked up immediately.

Li Luyan said, “Since you’re rested, hurry up and transform.”

“Huh? I just took a break…” Yu Yue slumped, feeling defeated. “Six hundred sixty-six, are you trying to kill me?”

Despite her words, Yu Yue obediently began sprouting plants from her palm again.

Half an hour later, Yu Yue lay sprawled on the ground.

“I can’t take it anymore. You’re draining me dry, ugh…”

Li Luyan said, “I’ll go plant the vegetables in the space first.”

“She just vanished right there!” Lin Youwei’s eyes widened, then she lowered her head to hide her emotions, murmuring, “If only I had a power too.”

…

Inside the space.

She began digging into the soft soil with her hands. The earth in the space was loose enough to make digging easy.

A moist feeling at her fingertips reminded her of the days she helped her grandmother plant vegetables as a child.

She smiled bitterly—those days were long gone.

She didn’t even know if the man who dumped her in the countryside was still alive.

“If only I had some tools…” The thought barely crossed her mind when her axe transformed into a shovel.

It could even change shape? How fascinating.

She tried transforming it into a katana, a spear, a dagger—various small tools.

If this power was so strong, could she also create these objects outside? She would have to test that later.

Returning it to the original shovel form, she worked more efficiently.

The moment the lettuce seedling entered the soil, vines began to wildly grow, burrowing deep into the earth. The writhing roots sent sensations directly to her nerves.

Li Luyan could feel that the growth speed inside was much faster than outside.

And what was even more fascinating was…

She picked up a flower she had tossed in earlier—it hadn’t wilted at all, just as fresh as when she first placed it there.

It seemed this space also had preservation properties.

She formed a hypothesis.

As the thought crossed her mind, she focused her energy on one lettuce seedling. A flash of white light appeared, and the lettuce started growing at an unnatural speed until fully mature.

“As expected… this space is completely under my control.” Her eyes sparkled with excitement as she crouched weakly on the ground, sweat pouring down her forehead. “Although the power exhaustion is quite severe…”

…

Lin Youwei picked up her phone, now completely shattered, her face scrunching in distress. “This was my brand-new smartphone!”

Yu Yue comforted her, “We’ll buy a new one once we survive.”

Lin Youwei reached out. “Let me see yours.” Without a word, Yu Yue handed it over.

Messages from the alumni group of Wenhan University kept popping up.

Yu Niaoniao from the 2055 Finance Department Class 1: [Can anyone contact the outside world?]

Zhong Wang from the 2056 Finance Department Class 3: [I tried, no luck. What on earth is going on?]

Qiu Jiayi from the 2057 Sculpture Department Class 1: [Maybe it’s an alien invasion.]

Lin Youwei glanced at the name again, then looked up at the logo on Yu Yue’s clothes.

Yu Yue noticed her gaze, covered the logo, and asked puzzled, “What are you looking at?”

Suppressing a laugh, Lin Youwei raised the phone in front of Yu Yue. “This person’s name is quite similar to what’s on your clothes.”

Yu Yue murmured the name aloud, “Qiu Jiayi… Jiayi.” Suddenly realizing something, she looked at the logo on her shirt.

“You…!”

Lin Youwei couldn’t hold back and burst out laughing. “Pfft… hahaha.”

Yu Yue’s face turned red. “Stop laughing.”

“Alright, alright,” Lin Youwei forced herself to suppress her amusement and continued scrolling through the group messages.

Zhang Min from the 2055 Physics Department Class 1: [Everyone gather at the gymnasium as soon as possible!]

“Who’s this Zhang Min? A physics genius?” Yu Yue leaned in.

“The vice president of the student council,” Lin Youwei said without looking up, eyes fixed on the screen. “The city’s top scorer in the 2055 college entrance exam.”

Lin Youwei swiped the screen. “Wait! Look at this.”

Zhang Min: [Those bitten but not mutated might awaken powers. There have been 14 such cases in the gym. Don’t harm the unmutated! You can restrain them first; they might awaken powers.]

Yu Yue stood up excitedly. “So we’re the chosen ones!”

Lin Youwei shot her a glance. “Only you and Li Luyan are. I’m not.”

Yu Yue shut her mouth, feeling the senior’s intense glare.

Zhong Wang, 2056 Finance Class 3: [The gym is too far from Dormitory 1, and the playground is full of monsters.]

Qiu Jiayi, 2057 Sculpture Class 1: [Hehe, Dormitory 4 is just not far from the gym.]

Qiu Jiayi: [But why are we going to the gym?]

Zhang Min: [Those bitten or scratched by monsters have a chance of infection. We must unite; monsters are increasing!]

Lin Youwei stared at the phone screen.

The group messages kept refreshing, with cries for help and chaos pouring in one after another.

She looked up, glanced at Yu Yue, then at the empty spot where Li Luyan had disappeared.

“Yu Yue,” she said seriously, “we have to leave.”

Yu Yue stared at her in shock. “Not waiting for Li Luyan?”

“We’ll leave first while there aren’t many monsters outside yet, before things get out of control.” She raised the phone to show Yu Yue. “There are many powered individuals organizing defenses in the gym. If we delay, we might not even be able to leave. Li Luyan hasn’t come out for so long.”

Yu Yue frowned. “So you want to abandon Li Luyan and leave now?”

“I didn’t—”

Yu Yue cut her off. “You did!”

“Yeah, I did.” Lin Youwei showed no embarrassment at being exposed; her eyes mocked. “You all have powers. When monsters increase, you can fight your way through, but ordinary people like me can’t even protect ourselves.”

Her voice grew urgent, her face flushed red. “I might as well stay and wait to die, or wait until you’re tired of me and just push me out.”

Yu Yue was stunned.

“Lin Youwei, I never thought you’d think that way.” She irritably grabbed her hair. “You know we would never abandon you! At least I wouldn’t.”

Lin Youwei was dumbfounded, mouth opening but no words coming out. Would she? She would—compared to an ordinary person without powers, she would always choose Li Luyan.

Just then, Li Luyan suddenly fell out of the space.