Chapter 38: An Unexpected Level-Up
Translator: Pluto Editor: Tehrn
To be more accurate, the mattress was actually a thin black blanket. When she laid on it, she could smell a faint sour stench and even the bed board… Lin Sanjiu flipped to her side, and the bed made a sharp, unpleasant creak.
Even though it was totally dark, Lin Sanjiu could still clearly see everything within her small cubicle. The air circulation in the basement was poor, so there was a musty smell in the air. There were a few nails on the walls of the cubicle, which was probably used for hanging clothes. The condition of the space was considerably shabby — she could even hear the sound of her sleeping neighbor scratching herself despite the walls. As she laid in her bed unable to fall asleep, she wondered if it was because of the new environment.
If the people here only developed their heat-resistance ability through medication just as Hu Changzai described, she did not see the point of staying. After all, her main purpose of joining Oasis as a member was to find a Consular Officer and not due to the availability of food and water here. [What was the possibility of a Consular Officer being here since this large group almost consist of only normal people?]
However, it didn’t seem right to leave immediately after they had just arrived. Lin Sanjiu did not know why but she suddenly recalled that suspicious figure she happened to see. [It’s alright, we can stay a few days here and observe the situation…]
Disjointed thoughts ran through her mind, and before she knew it, her eyelids gradually grew heavier, and she grew drowsy. Just as she was about to fall asleep, an intense current flowed through her entire body...
Lin Sanjiu opened her eyes instantly as she suddenly shivered uncontrollably. The tremors from her body were so violent that her bed frame started producing “thud thud thud” sounds, which rang out distinctively through the quiet environment. She wanted to move her fingers, but she found that she had lost control over her body just as before… Even though the current running through her body did not feel the same, it was not entirely foreign to her. [Damn it! Why did my ability choose such a poor timing to evolve!]
Gritting her teeth, she intended to fling herself onto the floor since the bed frame was too noisy and might attract attention. During this period, there was no way she could defend herself, it would be terrible if a stranger came in now… Even though Oasis seemed peaceful, she did not want to take such risks.
However, she was not even able to move, so how could it be easy for her to flip herself over?
Using the momentum of her body movements, she managed to push herself slightly away from the wall, and her long hair slid from the bed. [This isn’t enough…] Lin Sanjiu thought anxiously to herself. But she was too late. Her neighbor’s deep breathing sounds suddenly stopped, then she heard a creak from her neighbor’s bed. The person seemed to have gotten up. Thereafter, she heard footsteps heading for 1629’s entrance. The footsteps stopped at the curtains.
“Hey… are you new here?” a woman lectured softly in a dissatisfied voice. “How could you do such a thing right now when everyone is sleeping? Don’t you two have any shame! Stop it now!”
Even though she had lost control over her body, her mind was still clear. Lin Sanjiu was stunned for two seconds before she realized what her neighbor meant. She could feel herself almost vomiting blood — that woman has mistaken her for doing that! Though, she couldn’t deny that the bed was making a lot of noise.
The woman waited for a while outside, but the noise continued in a rhythmic manner. She finally felt a little suspicious and lifted the curtain. She immediately cried out in shock when she saw Lin Sanjiu, “Hey, are you alright?”
Despite being unable to speak, Lin Sanjiu felt a momentary wave of relief which was quickly replaced by anxiousness once again. The neighbor that rushed in was a long-haired woman in her thirties and was wearing a light-yellow Winnie-the-Pooh pajama. The woman was rather decisive as she immediately helped Lin Sanjiu down from her bed and propped her head on her thigh.
“Hey, can you speak?” The woman hit Lin Sanjiu’s face repeatedly, as the slapping sounds rang out. “Is this one of your epilepsy seizures?”
Lin Sanjiu could no longer tell if she was trembling due to the evolution or due to her anger.
Thankful, the process was rather short. After a brief period, she gradually calmed down and regained control over her body. Once she discovered that she could move on her own accord, Lin Sanjiu immediately leaped up from the woman’s thigh. She glared at the woman for a second; she wanted to say something but realized that the woman did nothing wrong, so she finally managed to force herself to say, “I’m okay. Thank you.”
The woman gave her a blank look without leaving. Instead, the woman asked, “What sort of illness do you have? Does this happen frequently? Does this happen frequently when you sleep? Do I have to request Xiao Yu to change a room for you?”
The woman was driving her mad, Lin Sanjiu gritted her teeth and snarled, “I am not sick! You don’t understand. This is just a normal reaction that happens when your ability evolves.”
“Huh?” As expected, the woman was shocked and started observing her from top to bottom. “You evolved naturally? Me too!”
Lin Sanjiu felt a sudden rush of disappointment as her vengeance failed her — Lin Sanjiu sighed, “So, why can’t you tell?”
“I didn’t know this… I arrived here very early. My abilities did not evolve further even though I’ve been here for some time.”
This was most likely because Oasis was too peaceful.
“Okay… Anyway, I should still thank you for your help. I’m Lin Sanjiu, and you are?” Lin Sanjiu quickly adjusted her emotions and extended her hand out to the woman.
The woman touched her hand very briefly, and Lin Sanjiu just took it for a handshake. Following which, the woman replied, “I am Fang Dan. Let’s try to keep our distance. After all, I don’t know how long you’ll survive.”
After she said these mysterious words, Fang Dan stood up, turning to leave.
[Does this mean that the posthumans living in Oasis are all weirdos without any social skills?] Lin Sanjiu had a strong urge to bury her face in her hands to lament.
“Hey, what do you mean by that?”
Fang Dan looked back at her innocently, “New members like you with strong abilities are usually assigned to difficult missions. So, the survival rate of your type is not high,” after she said that, the woman left without showing much concern.
Lin Sanjiu watched as she left, not knowing what to say. The walls were simply not soundproof so she could clearly hear Fang Dan returning and lying back on her own bed. Within ten minutes, the soft snoring noise returned.
[It’s psychologically suffocating to speak to that woman!] Lin Sanjiu ranted inwardly, not taking to heart about Fang Dan’s comments about the difficult missions. She had already gone through her fair share of strange and dangerous experiences, here in this Hyperthermal Hell. [Was it even possible for Oasis’s missions to be more lethal than that pocket dimension?]
From the sounds she heard, Lin Sanjiu concluded that Fang Dan was fast asleep. After lying in the dark for a long time, Lin Sanjiu finally stretched her palms out cautiously.
She decided to check the state of her ability — This time, when the evolution was complete, she had an intense impulse to summon out a card. It was quite clear to her that this advancement was related to her card ability. With a simple though, a card appeared in her hand. There was no sign of the usual white flash. Instead, the card appeared without any sign.