​April’s jaw tightened. She turned her head slowly toward the bed and realized the necklace was right where she left it. Liora hadn’t taken it off.

​Stepping closer to the mattress where Liora was peacefully sleeping, April looked down. Sure enough, the deep-green jade necklace was still tied securely around Liora’s neck, resting right against the delicate skin of her collarbone.

​A cold sweat broke out on April’s palms, but her mind remained perfectly sharp. This was the moment. She had to take it.

​She crouched beside the bed, her breath shallow and even. Slowly, she extended her hands, her fingers hovering just millimeters away from the metal clasp behind Liora’s neck.

​Liora shifted slightly in her sleep, letting out a soft sigh and turning her head to the side.

​April froze, her heart hammering against her ribs like a trapped bird. She held her breath, waiting. After a few agonizing seconds, Liora’s breathing evened out again, falling back into a deep, heavy slumber.

​April didn’t hesitate a second time. She slid her fingers beneath the blonde hair, locating the tiny silver clasp. Her hands were steady—honed by ten years of parsing through scraps in the ruins of civilization. With a gentle, precise pinch, she released the latch.

​She carefully slid the weathered green jade piece out from under Liora’s neck, lifting it into the air.

​The metal felt unexpectedly hot against her skin, almost vibrating with a faint, hidden pulse. The moment the necklace completely left Liora’s body, a sudden, sharp chime echoed directly inside April’s head, making her flinch.

​[Ding! Detected a primary worldly anchor: ’The Jade Core of Infinity’.]

[Warning: This item is currently unbound. Would the host like to initiate a soul-binding contract?]

​April’s eyes widened in the dark. She didn’t answer the system immediately. It felt too loud, even if it was in her head and she had a bad feeling she would get caught if she lingered too long.

So, she tightly gripped the necklace, turned on her heel, and glided back toward the bedroom door. She slipped out into the hallway, closing the door behind her, and didn’t stop moving until she was sprinting silently up the back stairs, rushing straight into the safety of her attic room.

​She locked her door, her back hitting the wood as she panted for air.

"I... I did it," she muttered to herself.

​In her hand, the jade necklace was glowing with a faint, iridescent green light that wasn’t there before. The system screen was still hovering in her vision, the text pulsing demandingly.

​[Would the host like to initiate a soul-binding contract?]

​"Yes," April whispered fiercely. "Bind it to me."

​[Contract initiated. To complete the soul-binding process, the host must provide a drop of vital blood.]

​April didn’t have a knife, but she didn’t need one. Without a single second of hesitation, she brought her right index finger to her mouth and bit down hard on the tip, breaking the skin until a thick, bright bead of crimson blood welled up.

​She pressed her bleeding finger directly against the smooth, cold surface of the green jade.

​The moment her blood touched the stone, the jade didn’t just absorb it—it drank it. The crimson liquid vanished into the green core, and then, a sudden, blinding flash of light erupted from the necklace, completely illuminating her tiny attic room.

​April gasped as a sharp, searing pain shot straight up her arm and into her chest, right where her heart was. It felt like a hot iron branding her soul from the inside out.

Her vision blurred, the walls of her room began to spin, and the solid wooden floor beneath her feet suddenly felt like it was dissolving into thin air.

​She closed her eyes, gasping for breath as her consciousness was violently yanked out of her body.

​When she finally opened her eyes again, the cramped, dusty attic room was completely gone.

​She was standing on a vast, solid white platform that seemed to stretch out into infinity. The air here didn’t smell like mothballs or stale tea; it was incredibly crisp, pure, and filled with a strange, vibrant energy that instantly made the dull ache in her scarred back vanish. Above her, there was no sky—just a brilliant, swirling expanse of soft white and blue mist.

​In front of her, rows upon rows of massive, pristine, transparent grid spaces extended as far as her eyes could see, like an endless, futuristic warehouse waiting to be filled.

​[Ding! Soul-binding successful.]

[Congratulations, Host! You have successfully acquired the Boundless Spatial Dimension.]

[Current Space Level: 1 (Upgradable). Current Capacity: 10,000 cubic meters. Time-Stasis Feature: Active (All organic and inorganic materials stored inside will remain in a state of perfect preservation).]

​April stared at the system window for a while. 10 thousand cubic meters. That was already a lot and it said this place was upgraded. What? Did this mean she could pack an entire island in here if she upgraded it to the max?

She looked around the massive, clean, empty void, and for the first time since her rebirth, a loud, genuine laugh escaped her lips.

​It was hers. The ultimate cheat tool of the apocalypse, the very thing that had made Liora a goddess among survivors, was now sitting inside April’s soul.

Ten thousand cubic meters of space where food would never rot, water would never spoil, and weapons would never rust. This was golden.

​"Let’s see them try to use me as bait this time," April whispered, her eyes burning with a fierce, cold resolve.

She felt so happy that she kept laughing, but then the system notified her.

[For level one spatial dimension, Host is only allowed to remain in here for thirty minutes.] 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

[For level two, Host can activate the revitalization spring and custom features for the space, but can only remain in here for thirty days.]

[For level three, Host can bring in another person and you can remain here for thirty months.]

[For level four, Host can bring in over ten people and stay here for thirty years.]

[And for level five, Host can bring in the entire planet’s population and stay here for thirty centuries.]