Reborn One Week Before the Apocalypse

Chapter 16: Chapter 10: Going Up the Mountain

”Wow! So my Life Value is this high, a full 22 points. No wonder I used to be able to eat three bowls in one sitting. Now I only eat one bowl a day and don’t even feel that hungry.”

An average person’s basic attributes, aside from Space, were usually around 10 to 20. A value of 22 was indeed very high.

”I noticed I’ve been getting stronger lately, but I thought it was just my imagination. Turns out it was real!” a guy from the physical education department excitedly shared in the group chat.

By comparing their stats with classmates and friends, as well as with data posted by netizens online, everyone naturally had a rough idea of where they ranked.

It was just a shame that the leaderboard function hadn’t been released yet. Otherwise, everyone would have a much clearer picture of their Overall Strength.

The Famine Age was a tragedy for humanity, but it hadn’t closed every door. The star shower that day had drastically increased everyone’s basic attributes according to their individual potential, giving humanity a spark of hope.

Tang Mo scrolled through her own data, which was clearly displayed:

ID: Tang Mo

Life Value: 13

Strength Value: 12

Agility: 16

Spiritual Power: 32

Space: 0

Overall Strength: 73

’My Life and Strength Values are still so low.’ Tang Mo thought with a bitter smile. ’All this time I’ve been training, and these two attribute values have only increased by a single point compared to my previous life. My stash of instant noodles was a terrible return on investment.’

Her agility, however, was much higher than in her previous life. This was likely due to her consistent workouts, which toned her muscles, and her daily runs.

In her past life, Tang Mo’s spiritual power was 27, which was already much higher than an average person’s. This time, it was a full 32. ’It seems my daily training has had a significant effect.’ Tang Mo finally felt a little satisfied when she saw her spiritual power.

A Space attribute of 0 was normal. The spatial attribute was innate, and spatial attribute abnormal treasures were even rarer. It was something determined by fate.

’But with my Jade Pendant, I basically have a space of my own, right?’ Tang Mo was very satisfied with her Jade Pendant and didn’t envy Space Ability Users at all.

After all, Spatial Superpower Users generally had very low attribute values in other areas. They were difficult to improve, resulting in very low Overall Strength.

However, they were treated like national treasures in any team, so they didn’t have to worry about their safety.

After checking her attribute values, Tang Mo chose to hide them on her ID Watch. If left public, others could see your attribute values through the watch’s query function.

An average person’s Overall Strength was currently around 50-60. Tang Mo didn’t want to be too conspicuous. Keeping a low profile and surviving to the end was her guiding principle in this life.

Tang Mo had already finished the food she kept by her bedside and was now starting on the stash in her cabinet.

Of course, she rarely ate in the dorm and never opened her cabinet in front of her two roommates. As a result, Li Lanlan and Song Qing subconsciously assumed that Tang Mo’s remaining food supply was about the same as theirs.

Because they had prepared relatively well, and since girls generally have smaller appetites, they could get by even on a single meal. Thus, Li Lanlan and Song Qing wouldn’t touch their private stashes unless they were exceptionally hungry. A month had passed, and they still had a lot left in those few large bags.

Others, however, weren’t having such an easy time, especially the male students.

At first, they could endure the hunger, but constantly being unable to eat their fill made people increasingly irritable. It eventually escalated to the point where those with high Strength Values used violence and threats to force classmates with lower Strength Values and no ability to resist to hand over their food.

Normally, such violent bullying would be unheard of in an institution of higher learning. But in these special times, when people couldn’t even fill their stomachs and their basic survival needs weren’t being met, who had the energy to maintain a facade of peace and civility?

The law of the jungle, where the weak are prey for the strong, was beginning to emerge.

Subsequently, such incidents occurred repeatedly. Everyone at the university was on edge, and they started going to get their food in groups, terrified that someone would snatch their rations.

”I can’t believe there are such morally corrupt people in our university.” Song Qing rarely showed emotion, but as someone who had been a model student her whole life, she couldn’t accept this from the bottom of her heart.

”Yeah! Aren’t they just leaving those students who lost their food to starve to death?” Li Lanlan nodded in agreement, her face filled with anger.

Tang Mo remembered that at this time in her past life, she had been more furious than anyone. But now, her mindset had completely changed.

’Someone is bound to starve to death eventually, but no one wants it to be them. Perhaps this is just human nature.’

Tang Mo brought the steamed bun in her hand straight to her mouth and took a large bite.

’People are now fighting over things they used to look down on. And this is just the beginning. Who knows what else the future holds?’

The numerous fights and brawls finally caught the attention of the university administration. With everyone trapped on campus, the restraints of the law were proving to be incredibly weak.

But in the end, the university had no effective solutions. There were only a handful of administrators, and even including the student leaders, there were only about thirty people in total. How could they possibly manage everyone? Using force was out of the question; the university didn’t have the power. Ultimately, they could only rely on everyone’s self-restraint.

However, everyone understood that it was better to provide an outlet than to suppress the problem. Since everything that was happening was caused by hunger, solving that issue became the top priority.

But the university’s food supply was limited. How could they solve this?

After much discussion, it was An Yang who came up with a solution.

T University’s campus was huge. With its mountains, water, and excellent green spaces, it was known as the most beautiful campus. In peaceful times, many citizens would visit the university as a tourist attraction during holidays.

To maintain ecological balance and for aesthetic purposes, the university had released a number of rabbits and wild pheasants on the back mountain. Because it was a small, natural mountain range and not an artificial rockery, the population of these rabbits and chickens was quite substantial.

T University’s back mountain was a scenic tourist spot in T City. Back then, the university president had pulled out all the stops to have the mountain included within the campus grounds for promotional purposes. Because the mountain was quite large, students didn’t usually go there in their free time.

On the east side of the back mountain, there was also a long, man-made lake, specially built to complete the scenic view of ”mountains and water.” It was filled with koi fish, and a small bridge spanned across it, connecting two quaint pavilions.

And An Yang’s solution was this: organize the students to go up the mountain to catch rabbits and pheasants, and into the lake to catch fish!

In truth, the university administration had been thinking about going after the rabbits and pheasants on the mountain for a while. But unfortunately, the mountain was too big, and there was no way they could catch anything with just twenty-odd people, so they had given up the idea.

But now, with the situation so grim, this was the only solution. Idleness breeds trouble, and giving the students something to do was the only way to solve the problem.

As soon as this proposal was raised, it received unanimous approval.

”I have an idea. To prevent some people from slacking off, let’s only distribute food to those who follow the arrangements. Those who don’t go up the mountain and don’t work, don’t get any,” someone suggested.

”I think that’ll work. And any rabbits caught must be turned over to the collective; they belong to the university, after all. The people who catch them should be rewarded with some extra food. Everyone on campus hasn’t had any proper dishes in a month. We’re so sick of the bland food our mouths have lost all flavor. Even a mouthful of rabbit soup each would be great,” another person added.

Everyone chimed in with their thoughts, and in no time, all the various details were hammered out.

”Alright, it’s settled then. We’ll implement this tomorrow. An Yang, Tang Lianwei, the two of you discuss it and take care of it.” A university leader gave the final approval, settling the matter on the spot.

...

”What? Go catch rabbits?”

That evening, when the students saw the message from the University Youth League Committee in the group chat, they all went into an uproar.

”I haven’t had any meat in over a month! If I really manage to catch a rabbit, I’ll roast it and eat it right on the spot. That would be so delicious!” Li Lanlan imagined a rabbit sizzling with fat as it roasted on a branch, and she couldn’t help but drool.

”Get real. Even if you catch a rabbit, you have to turn it in. If you don’t and someone reports you, you won’t get any food for the next week,” Song Qing said, crushing her hopes without hesitation as she sat reading on her bed.

”Aww...” Li Lanlan slumped, dejected.

”It’s okay! Trading a rabbit for an extra bowl of rice is good too! I’m fine with rice!” As expected, it was easy for an optimist to find happiness.

In fact, most students at the university thought like Li Lanlan. Before, they were just idling in their dorms, starving, and the longer they stayed, the more agitated they became. Now they had something to do. Whether or not they could actually catch any rabbits, at least they had something to look forward to.

But while everyone else was excited, Tang Mo was worried.

In her previous life, she had discovered that Spiritual Power Mushroom more than a month after they started going up the mountain. The official explanation was that abnormal treasures only began to appear two months into the apocalypse. At that time, it had been exactly two and a half months since the beginning of the Famine Age, but...

She was still a little panicked.

Now all the plants were dead. The mountain was completely bare except for rocks. Although the mushroom’s location was relatively hidden, she couldn’t afford to take any chances.

That mushroom was a huge part of the reason she had chosen to return to the university. What if it didn’t appear after two months?

’If it appeared early and someone else picked it, I’d die from regret.’

Even though people didn’t know what an abnormal treasure was yet, it was still a mushroom. Anyone who saw it wouldn’t just leave it be.

’After thinking it over and over, she decided she couldn’t just be passive. She had to do something!’

...

[Author’s Note:]

Since everyone was so generous with their collection adds and recommendation votes yesterday, I’m adding an extra Chapter today.

As of today, this book has reached 30,000 characters, and it has really been liked by many people.

To me, your approval is more important than anything. Ranran will keep working hard!!

I hope everyone can add this to their collections and cast more votes. It’s really important for a new book.

Ranran has stable daily updates and will release extra Chapters if the stats are good. The previous setup is almost complete, and the plot will start to unfold from here. Trust me, I definitely won’t let you all down.

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