After washing herself clean in a sufficiently hot shower, Xu Kewang realized just how important it was to complete the task.
They desperately needed electricity cards and water cards—otherwise, she'd have to lie in bed covered in blood and flesh scraps and try to get some sleep, which would be utterly miserable.
"All washed up?" Wen Cai set the small electric pot on the table. "Come eat some noodles."
Xu Kewang sat down and discovered that the pot was absurdly well-stocked—braised eggs, ham sausages, canned beef, two packs of instant noodles, a full pot to the brim.
They'd thrown in everything they could.
"Thanks," she said, a warm feeling spreading through her chest. "I really am hungry."
No time for pleasantries—Xu Kewang picked up her chopsticks and started wolfing down the food. Having spent the whole night killing monsters hadn't affected her appetite in the slightest, but she was truly exhausted and in desperate need of replenishment.
There were also dried meat strips and snacks laid out on the table, all prepared for her.
"I don't know what tonight's task will be, but I think I should share last night's experience with you all," she said between mouthfuls, not wanting to waste any time—she'd need to sleep soon after. "Do you want to hear it?"
The three of them sat across from her, leaning in, eyes wide and bright, nodding in unison.
"Of course! Tonight's our turn—with the experience you risked your life to bring back, our survival odds will definitely be higher. Know yourself and know your enemy, and you'll never be defeated."
Xu Kewang nodded, then launched into a detailed account of last night's events.
She emphasized the "don't look back" rule especially, as well as how those girls had been attacked because they'd taken shifts working together.
"The way things stand, the rules on the phone seem trustworthy for now," she said, finishing the last bite of noodles and moving on to slurp the broth. "If you want to team up with others, you need to vet them carefully. Don't just join forces blindly—otherwise, you might get your whole group wiped out."
When she talked about those girls being attacked—whether they were alive or dead, no one could say—everyone felt a pang of sorrow.
Just yesterday, they'd been ordinary college students worrying about their 8 AM classes and snagging course registrations. In the blink of an eye, they had to learn to face life and death. Those girls might have been reckless and not particularly bright, but who could guarantee that everyone would think of every contingency?
They simply hadn't had the chance to grow yet.
"I suggest that everyone in this dorm complete at least one task from now on," Xu Kewang said, glancing at the now-spotless pot bottom and wiping her mouth with satisfaction. "Because only after completing your first task can you unlock your personal panel and improve your physical attributes."
She pulled up her personal information panel and selected "share." Instantly, the data appeared in midair above the dorm room.
The three of them stared with the same desperate thirst for knowledge as students cramming for finals when the teacher highlights key exam points.
"What's the difference between this and leveling up to fight monsters?" Xie Yue muttered. "I'll just go tonight. I've been drinking way too much protein powder—if I don't get some exercise soon, I'm going to get constipated again."
They'd worry about tonight when tonight came.
Xu Kewang stood up, grabbed her backpack, and said, "This is the system's spatial backpack. It currently has six slots. Identical items can stack in one slot, up to twenty per slot, but larger objects might take up extra slots, depending on their actual size."
She gestured for the three of them to move aside.
Then she unzipped it and dumped everything out onto the floor in one motion.
At first, the items seemed fairly normal—everyone was just amazed that Xu Kewang had managed to scavenge supplies in such a perilous situation, even having the presence of mind to grab things like curtains.
Until the last item fell to the ground with a "thud."
Approval instantly turned into admiration.
"So… these two boards?" Xie Yue asked, pointing with a trembling hand.
Xu Kewang was quite calm: "These are the dorm supervisor's bed boards. I dismantled them and brought them back. For one thing, if the Electricity Card ever runs out, I can split them for firewood to keep warm."
She lifted them again to examine and gesture: "Actually, if I cut them open and sharpen them, they'd make decent weapons too."
The three stared blankly as she made her plans.
They tried hard to engrave all of this into their very bones.
Not only must they learn Kewang's wisdom and courage, but also her thrifty virtue of plucking every last feather from a passing goose!
Having explained all this, Xu Kewang was already drowsy.
The three urged her to lie down quickly. Fatigue from the sleepless night surged in like a tide. She blinked only a few times before sinking into deep sleep.
"What about this?" Xie Yue crouched on the floor, holding Xu Kewang's iron shovel, and asked in an extremely small voice, "Should I go wash it?"
"Wash it," Wen Cai said. "It's all blood, pretty scary. After you wash it, put it by her bed."
The two of them took the shovel to the bathroom and scrubbed for a long time, but unfortunately the bloodstains seemed like they had been printed into it—no matter what, they couldn't be washed off.
The large patches of bloodstains seemed to flow, sliding back and forth across the iron shovel.
They had no other choice but to give up. But looking at the filthy thing, they still couldn't bear to put it by Xu Kewang's bed. They looked around and suddenly spotted a flowerpot by the window.
This was something Xu Kewang had won in an online raffle. She loved planting flowers and grass, but unfortunately could never keep them alive. There were several empty flowerpots in the dorm, all left over after the plants died.
They randomly found a pot and stuck the shovel into it.
Out of sight, out of mind. This time they felt at ease. The three rubbed their hands, then ran to their beds, drew the curtains, took out their notebooks, and began memorizing word for word the experience Xu Kewang had shared.
No one noticed.
In the center of the flowerpot, where only dry soil had remained, a green sprout was tremblingly emerging.
…
When Xu Kewang woke again, the bed curtain was drawn tightly, not a bit of light coming through. She wondered how her ten-yuan Pinduoduo bed curtain had suddenly achieved a qualitative leap in quality.
But when she pulled it open, she discovered that the entire dorm was pitch black.
"You're awake," Wen Cai was sitting with her back to her at the long table in the middle of the room. Because of the darkness, she could only identify that dark figure as her by voice. "I heated up the self-heating rice and put it in the lunchbox you brought back. You can eat it right away."
Just then, sounds came from the bathroom too.
"Kewang's awake?"
Xu Kewang got out of bed, knowing everyone had deliberately kept the lights off to avoid disturbing her sleep.
"Yeah, I'm fine now. One sleep and I'm full of energy," she reached out and turned on the small night light by her bed. The dim yellow glow traced each person's outline. "Xie Yue went out?"
Normally, the first one to speak when she woke up would definitely be Xie Yue. Today it was unusually quiet, so she could only have gone out to do a task.
Wen Cai handed her a cup of warm water: "Yeah, we didn't roll the dice today. We discussed it and decided she should go."
"Today you suggested that each of us should do a task to unlock our Panel," Ning Yiwei raised her phone, a hint of worry in her brows and eyes. "We'll have to go out sooner or later anyway. Might as well choose something with better odds. After discussing, we felt today's task might be more suitable for her."
Xu Kewang drank the water, a faint bluish tinge still under her eyes.
She unlocked her phone and saw the mission notification on the screen—
【Public Toilet Defense Battle:
Please proceed to the public restroom on the current floor to protect classmates who need to use the facilities.
(Interfering with someone's need to use the restroom is an unforgivable offense. If you encounter such scum, do not show mercy—beat them away ruthlessly!)】
"Indeed… it suits her perfectly."
Xu Kewang asked curiously, "What weapon did she bring out with her?"
"See, that one." Wen Cai pointed at Xie Yue's bed.
There, lying quietly, was a 10kg solid-core dumbbell—originally one of a pair. The other one, quite obviously, had been taken by Xie Yue.
Xu Kewang recalled the trash-tier combat ability of those monsters from last night.
"I'm not worried about Xie Yue."
"I'm just worried about those monsters—if they die too miserably and turn into vengeful spirits, then what?"