Even after the mutant beasts outside fell silent, Tang Mo remained seated, unable to straighten her back.

She hadn’t noticed during the fight, but now that she was relaxing, she realized she had completely depleted both her physical stamina and spiritual power in those ten-plus minutes.

A sharp pain shot through her arm. Looking at the gash carved out by a mutant beast’s tooth, still sticky with its bodily fluids, Tang Mo felt a wave of nausea.

Her left arm, the one she had plunged into the beast’s abdomen to retrieve the Crystal Stone, was also covered in blood and slime. The only difference was that this blood wasn’t hers.

Unable to stand her current state any longer, Tang Mo endured the pain and took a large barrel of mineral water out from her Space. She quickly stripped off her clothes and scrubbed herself clean with a towel.

Once her body and hair felt fresh again, she put on a new set of clothes and then took out medicine and gauze to bandage her wound.

Although the wound looked frightening, people’s bodies were much stronger now than before, so she didn’t need to worry about infection.

Besides, she had spiritual power. By treating her wound a few times a day, it would heal in two or three days without even leaving a scar.

Once she was all sorted out, Tang Mo finally had a moment to take out the Crystal Stone she had pulled from the mutant beast’s abdomen.

Not all Basic-level Mutant Beasts had Crystal Stones inside them, so Tang Mo considered herself quite lucky.

The Crystal Stone was red. Red represented Strength, which was a fairly common type.

Tang Mo held the Crystal Stone in her palm and crushed it with a slight squeeze.

The liquid inside the Crystal Stone immediately flowed out, seeping through her skin and into her body.

Tang Mo, with her precise awareness of her own body, could feel the single-point increase to her Strength Value. Still, she glanced at the attribute values displayed on her ID Watch just to be sure.

She only relaxed after confirming that her Strength Attribute had indeed increased by one point.

The fight had been incredibly dangerous. She’d been too overconfident.

If she had been even a fraction slower, she would have been surrounded by the other mutant beasts drawn in by its cry.

She stood a fighting chance against a single mutant beast, but if there were several, she might as well just give up. At least that way, her mind and body could be at peace before the end.

Tang Mo began to analyze the battle she had just fought.

’My spiritual power isn’t that high yet, but its enhancement and healing abilities have already been a huge help. Once it gets stronger and I can send it out to unlock the reconnaissance skill, my chances of survival will increase.’

’My Strength is still insufficient, but temporary enhancements and my high agility attribute can compensate for that weakness.’

’From now on, my focus should be on spiritual power. I’ve always felt that humanity’s understanding and development of spiritual power is still incomplete. As long as my spiritual power is high enough, I can continue to explore its potential and make it my greatest tool for combat and survival.’

Early the next morning, the daily scouting party from the cafeteria quickly discovered the mutant beast’s corpse, which had been mangled beyond recognition. Naturally, they also found the hidden back door to the warehouse where Tang Mo was staying.

Since this was the first dead mutant beast they had ever found, everyone took the matter very seriously and was eager to learn the specifics of what had happened.

As the person closest to the beast’s corpse, Tang Mo was summoned to a meeting on the second floor of the cafeteria.

"Do you know what happened to that dead mutant beast?" An Yang asked, getting straight to the point.

"I don’t. I went to rest in the warehouse very early," Tang Mo replied coldly.

She’d originally had a fairly good impression of An Yang, but seeing Wenqing sitting pressed up against him was really starting to annoy her.

’Even though she knew An Yang was likely doing it for the good of the group and didn’t want to offend Wenqing, Tang Mo still couldn’t stomach the sight of him basically selling himself.’

Tang Mo’s impression of An Yang soured even more, especially when she saw her roommate, Song Qing, sitting in the distance, looking secretly heartbroken.

"Did you hear any commotion, then? Or did you open the door and see something?" An Yang’s tone was laced with suspicion.

’Tang Mo had been staying there for several days; there was no way she didn’t know about the door. He refused to believe an ordinary girl could be so audacious.’

’She definitely has a secret. But what is it that feels so off?’ An Yang wondered.

"You don’t think I’m the one who went out and killed the mutant beast, do you?" Tang Mo asked, her signature smile plastered on her face.

"Tch, you’ve got some nerve. If you were really that capable, An Yang wouldn’t have had to save you deadweights in the first place," Wenqing sneered, tightening her grip on An Yang’s arm and rolling her eyes at Tang Mo.

She knew that An Yang had rescued Tang Mo and her group, but her suspicion didn’t fall on Song Qing. She just assumed that the "vixen" Tang Mo had seduced An Yang.

At Wenqing’s words, a flash of impatience crossed An Yang’s face. He subconsciously tried to pull his arm away and glanced toward Song Qing.

Song Qing’s face paled in turn, and she quickly averted her gaze.

In truth, An Yang didn’t actually believe Tang Mo was responsible for the mutant beast’s death. He just found her impossible to read and had wanted to probe her a little.

In fact, seeing the mutant beast’s corpse didn’t frighten the group. Instead, they felt a sense of excitement.

They had always felt a natural dread for the mutant beasts. Now, knowing they could be defeated, a spirit of defiance began to awaken in their hearts.

People fear that which shows no weakness, but they yearn to conquer that which does.

An Yang and the others discussed it at length and decided to organize planned mutant beast hunts. This would give them a chance to acquire Crystal Stones and strengthen the team, and also allow them to try and rescue students still trapped in the other buildings.

Over the past few days, many students had managed to sneak to the cafeteria in small groups, but the majority were still holed up in the dormitories. Fear was preventing them from opening the "doors" in their own minds.

Whether it was obtaining Crystal Stones or rescuing students to expand the group, An Yang’s objective was clear.

’Relying completely on Wenqing was not a sustainable solution. He had to strengthen his own team; seizing absolute authority was the only real path forward.’

An Yang made a decision: students who didn’t go out on missions would have their food rations cut in half.

This decision, however, had little impact on Tang Mo. She didn’t have a food share to begin with, and hunting mutant beasts with the team was, to her, a complete waste of time with zero benefit.

’She couldn’t use her true strength, and any Crystal Stones obtained would have to be handed over to the public supply instead of being hers alone. Why would she bother doing all that grunt work?’

As for her two roommates, Tang Mo couldn’t make life-altering decisions for them.

’They were all adults capable of making their own choices. The situation wasn’t hopeless; they could survive no matter what they decided. Tang Mo couldn’t take responsibility for the lives of others.’

.........

[Author’s Note]

I saw yesterday’s comments, so I’ll be adding an extra Chapter later today.

Not many people are reading this book, but I remember every fan who regularly votes and comments.

I’ll do my best to meet everyone’s requests.

While I’m here, I’d appreciate any donations, adds to your library, and votes. Love you all!