At nine o’clock, the School Youth League sent a message in the group chat:
**School Youth League:** All teachers and students, the school has now closed the cafeteria, supermarkets, vending machines, and all other places selling food. Starting tomorrow, the school will distribute food uniformly to ensure everyone’s daily needs are met. Class leaders, please gather in the auditorium to discuss the details.
This message was undoubtedly a strong reassurance for everyone.
Yunduo (Journalism): I really want to go home…
Xia Xia (Biology): Better not. My roommate still hasn’t been contacted; what the news said must be true.
Li Qian (Foreign Languages): It’s true. I just called my roommate’s mom. She said my roommate never made it home and can’t be reached. Something must have happened…
Tang Mo’s dormitory door was open, and low sobs from nearby rooms floated into the hallway.
Girls are emotional, especially in moments of helplessness. Thinking that friends who went out in the morning might have met with accidents, everyone felt tense. Crying, which is contagious, started as worry for others but quickly became sorrow for themselves, deepening their despair.
Soon, the corridor was filled with the sounds of continuous sobbing. Even Tang Mo’s roommate, Lanlan, began quietly sniffling.
Having experienced the same situation in her previous life, Tang Mo was already immune to such emotions. This was only the beginning. Right now, it was just accidental entry into the mist. Later, when people began starving to death, it would happen on a massive scale. Half a year later, when beasts appeared, deaths wouldn’t be counted individually—they would come in batches.
However, Tang Mo didn’t mock anyone. In her previous life, she had felt the same sorrow but soon overcame it. When you’re starving, there’s no time to grieve.
Human potential is limitless. If she hadn’t lived through her previous life, she wouldn’t have known just how resilient humans could be. Every disaster didn’t break people—it made them stronger. Soon, everyone would understand that emotions are useless; only food and strength truly keep you alive.
Tang Mo changed into her outdoor clothes, grabbed only her phone, and headed straight for the hidden area behind the supermarket warehouse.
It was a very secluded spot. If she hadn’t once chased a stray cat there, she wouldn’t have known about it even after three years at the school. Now, it was perfect for her knife training.
During the day, Tang Mo could only focus on mental power training. Training other attributes was impossible, so nighttime was ideal.
Darkness didn’t matter—she could use her mental power to enhance her vision. This was one of the ways experts later discovered mental power could be used, and from that day on, it became the most coveted ability apart from space-related powers.
Once at the spot, Tang Mo opened her phone and found basic martial arts videos, memorizing the movements after a single viewing.
The basic movements were simple—horse stance, kicks, and so on. Tang Mo insisted on performing each move perfectly. Speed didn’t matter, but accuracy did.
Her physical fitness was mediocre. Her previous life’s life and strength values were below average for girls, so just thirty minutes of exercise left her muscles sore all over.
She was really weak. Tang Mo bent over, hands on her knees, half-squatting.
In her previous life, her physical condition was much better, though she had no formal training. Her agility had improved from life-or-death escapes, and her life and strength increased from long treks and fighting. Every attribute gain had been forged under the threat of danger. This time, she wanted to prepare in advance and not be caught off guard.
After a five-minute rest, Tang Mo began the next training set.
Each set lasted thirty minutes, and she completed four sets that night. Afterwards, she did a stretching set and went for a run.
Peaceful days were rare; she couldn’t waste time.
When Tang Mo returned to the dorm at 11 p.m., her roommates were asleep, exhausted from a day of emotional ups and downs. After a quick wash, she lay down and did half an hour of mental power training.
Tang Mo’s mental power felt innate, like her hands and feet, responding to her will. She guided it through all her meridians, revitalizing her tired body.
This was the second application of mental power: recovery. The first discovered use of mental power had been strengthening; the second was healing one’s own fatigue.
However, recovery only worked for exhaustion. Hunger or injuries couldn’t be alleviated by mental power. It also could not be applied to others—no “healer” function. Many initially considered this useless.
Humans can’t work when they’re hungry; using mental power might feel redundant.
Yet in six months, when people faced harsh environments and rampaging beasts, they would understand that this skill was indispensable for survival. Tang Mo’s higher mental power allowed her to escape danger multiple times—a key reason for her survival.
The next morning, Tang Mo didn’t wake until 8 a.m. Without breakfast or immediate dangers, there was no need to rise early. For others, the upcoming six months of starvation loomed. For Tang Mo, it was rare relaxation.
At 9 a.m., the Youth League sent a notice for students to gather at the school playground at 10 a.m. to receive combined breakfast and lunch. Meals would not be given after the deadline.
To save food, the school merged three meals into two. Students were confined with little activity, so two meals were sufficient.
“At the playground? Why do I feel like this meal is kind of scary?” Li Lanlan complained while changing.
“Then don’t eat?” Tang Mo teased with a smile.
“Eat! Even if it’s just steamed buns and pickles, I’ll eat four or five!”
Her words turned prophetic. The school handed out exactly steamed buns and pickles—but only one bun and a bit of pickles per person. Fortunately, the buns were large enough for girls. Bigger boys had to manage as best they could.
All students lined up by their department, led by teachers. Professors who stayed on campus joined their department teams.
Tang Mo and her two friends greeted Professor Tian and quietly joined the line to wait for their food. There was no space to eat on the playground; everyone took their food back to their dorms.
T University had seventeen departments. During the holiday, roughly 600–700 people were present on the playground. The biology department, needing experiments, had about 70–80 students; other departments had 40–50, with the smallest having only eight.
The school leaders remaining oversaw the food, while class leaders distributed it. Tang Mo squinted to observe the leaders. Two boys were at the front—familiar faces from her previous life.
One was An Yang, the Social Sciences class monitor who had comforted everyone in the chat. The other was Tang Lianwei from the Arts department, wearing tight pants, with a greasy demeanor.
An Yang was upright and leadership-capable. Tang Lianwei, however, was infamous for scandals—embezzling school food, hoarding supplies, harassing girls, and changing girlfriends every three days during the six-month confinement. Rumor had it his family had influence and connections with a school official, which is why he was tolerated.
“Only steamed buns and pickles?” Seeing the limited food, murmurs of dissatisfaction erupted.
“Three meals a day are now two, and this is all we get? What is this?”
Some students, like goldfish, quickly forgot the news and despair from yesterday, reverting to their spoiled mindset.
Seeing the unrest, the class leaders remained calm. They had anticipated this reaction during yesterday’s discussion.
An Yang climbed the flag platform with a megaphone and shouted:
“Everyone, quiet! Listen to me first.”
The crowd immediately fell silent, eager to hear what the leader would say and whether the answer would satisfy them.