A slacker at work, but serious about working.

She taught her how to use a phone.

Yu Qingyi taught her very patiently. Finally, she told Ye Jiang, "Jiangjiang, rest at home for a couple of days. Don't go out. Once I'm done with work in the next couple of days, I'll tell you something very, very important."

Ye Jiang looked up. What was it?

Yu Qingyi stroked her head and said gently, "It's all right. No matter what, I'll always be by your side."

Yu

Qingyi wanted to tell Ye Jiang about the dangers of this world: the Polluted, ability users, and how abnormal this world was. Her friend had only just woken up and shouldn't have had to face this world's cruelty so soon, but...

She would have to face it eventually.

Once she was done with work, she would find enough time to properly teach her friend, who was as pure as a newborn...

How to survive in this world.

Ability Control Bureau City A Branch.

Zhao Yi had spent two days on missions while injured. Although he had only tagged along with the logistics team, it had still kept him terribly busy. Fortunately, ability users had excellent physical constitutions, especially since he had already reached B+ rank. Just two days after surgery to repair his ribs, his movements were no longer affected.

He could finally take a break. He plopped down on the steps outside the branch, unwrapped a lollipop, popped it into his mouth, and let out a long sigh.

The captain of Team One came out of the office in a sharp suit. Seeing him looking like a dead dog, he nudged his backside with his foot. "Move over. You're blocking the way."

Zhao Yi stayed firmly planted and raised his head. "Brother Chuan, heading out on a mission?"

Qin Daichuan wore a suit with the collar meticulously fastened. Cold and aloof, with an air of distinction, he looked as though he was going out to discuss a business deal rather than fight and kill. He looked down at his subordinate, his gaze lingering for a second on that messy, hedgehog-like hair, and lost all interest in speaking to him.

He started walking away.

Remembering something, Zhao Yi called after him, "Brother Chuan, I've got something to tell you!"

Qin Daichuan stopped and looked back at him.

Zhao Yi crunched up his lollipop and swallowed it. "I met someone with potential at the hospital. A girl who looked a little over twenty. She's a bit old, but she came through an A-rank Polluted's pollution completely unharmed. That's enormous potential!"

He meant the potential to become an ability user.

Ability users emerged on the day the Blood Moon appeared, but not all of them did. A tiny minority awakened on days without a Blood Moon, but these ability users were generally low-ranked and had little potential for advancement, like Zhou Bo, the young master of the Zhou Family who had died in the incident.

Whether someone could become an ability user seemed random, but it actually wasn't. Those who could transform into ability users showed signs of their potential even before their transformation.

Mental stress tolerance, physical constitution, and age were all indicators. The greater their mental stress tolerance and physical constitution, and the younger they were, the more likely they were to become ability users.

There was also the most important factor: resistance to pollution.

The stronger the pollution they could withstand, the more likely they were to become ability users.

Zhao Yi thought of that educated woman at the hospital. She had actually remained conscious under the close-range impact of A-rank pollution. What tremendous potential!

Zhao Yi said, "The Blood Moon is almost here, and the trial grounds open in a few days. How about adding another slot this time and letting that girl go too? We can extend an olive branch first. With potential like hers, once she awakens, we can naturally recruit her!"

On the day of the Blood Moon, the Double Moon appeared in the world. Moonlight blessed humanity, and miracles were born wherever it reached.

Moonlight shone over the earth, benefiting everyone, but over three hundred years, humanity had discovered 2,029 locations where the moonlight was stronger and transformation rates were higher. Trial grounds were established at those sites, allowing candidates aged fourteen to sixteen to enter for trials.

City A happened to have a trial ground, numbered 165.

After hearing Zhao Yi out, Qin Daichuan considered it briefly and asked, "She resisted an A-rank Polluted's pollution?"

Zhao Yi said, "Yes!"

Qin Daichuan nodded. "Give her a slot."

Zhao Yi cheered. "I'll get right on it!"

However, when he ran to the hospital, he discovered that the overlooked gem he had found had, uh, been discharged.

Moreover, unless it was for official business, the hospital wouldn't disclose patient information.

Zhao Yi: "..."

Chapter 10: A slacker at work, but serious about working.

Ye Jiang wasn't all that obedient. Obedience was something inherently missing from her makeup. In short, she was a little self-willed and didn't realize it. She had as little obedience as she had common sense, so although she had heard her friend tell her to stay home, she walked out of the house as soon as her friend left.

Unlike the impression this city had left on her two days ago, it was much livelier today. There were people now: people going to work, people strolling, people hurrying about on unknown business. The city had come alive. Though surrounded by murk and standing in mud, humanity had never given up on itself. They persisted in maintaining order, allowing civilization to bloom proudly even amid disaster.

Because humanity was resilient.

Standing on the street, Ye Jiang kept her guard up against anyone looking for trouble. She had only been outside once, and the experience had been very unpleasant, so she harbored a certain misunderstanding about public safety in this city.

But no riffraff came looking for trouble. Not a single person. She stood there for a while, bewildered for a moment, then began walking down the street.

A help-wanted notice caught her eye.

[Server wanted. Presentable appearance. Two hundred a day, paid daily.]

Because Polluted incidents occurred from time to time, people's lives could hardly attain the stability they had enjoyed before Disaster Day, so jobs that paid daily had become commonplace.

Of course, Ye Jiang understood none of this. She had come out to find work, not to study the nature of employment or the meaning behind it. So when she saw the notice, she thought nothing further, glanced at the little restaurant behind the advertisement, and walked in.

It wasn't mealtime yet, and the little restaurant was quiet and deserted. A woman wearing an apron leaned lazily against the counter, playing on her phone. Only when Ye Jiang reached her did she languidly look up.

"What would you like to eat?" The woman glanced up at Ye Jiang without much enthusiasm.

Ye Jiang looked steadily at her and asked, "Are you hiring?"

Here for a job?

The woman looked her over. She wasn't tall, had a slender build, and was pale as though anemic, but her features were exceptionally beautiful, with a delicacy that felt unreal.

The owner grew a little warmer. "Yes."

She smiled as she explained, "Two hundred a day, paid daily."

With no work experience in her memories, Ye Jiang was wondering whether two hundred was a lot or a little when the owner said, "Miss, that's not low pay. If my place weren't right outside a school and doing good business, I couldn't offer two hundred."

She said, "My last server has people attending their funeral feast. I only just got the news, and I just put up the notice. You're lucky. A little later, and you'd have to compete with other applicants."

Smiling, she said unhurriedly, "Go look around and see who else pays servers this much."

That's true, Ye Jiang thought, so she turned and walked out.

To see what other places were offering.

The owner: "..."

She watched the applicant walk out with her mouth open and couldn't close it for a long while.

Ye Jiang returned after making a circuit. Standing in front of the owner, she said expressionlessly, "Two hundred. I'll take it."

The owner's mouth twitched. Which one of them was the boss here?

After grumbling inwardly, the owner asked, "Can you start today? I'll count it as half a day."

Ye Jiang nodded. The owner casually pulled an identical apron out from behind the counter and tossed it to her. That was her work uniform.

Ye Jiang hadn't expected finding work to be so simple and convenient, and she couldn't understand her fellow patient's troubles at all. Perhaps she could recommend that it come serve dishes next time? Speaking of which, when would her fellow patient be discharged? Looking at the little restaurant without a single customer, Ye Jiang had no dishes to serve and stood there in a daze.

The owner glanced at her between playing on her phone and said nothing.

She hadn't asked Ye Jiang's name or introduced herself. Such things hardly mattered. Who could say which would arrive first, tomorrow or an accident?

This world wasn't suited to forming deep connections with people.

Thinking of certain things, the owner fell into a brief daze.

Ye Jiang hadn't stood there for long before a group of students came in. The owner hadn't lied. Business really was good.

The students ordered a heap of food and drinks. The owner went into the kitchen to light the stove and cook, leaving Ye Jiang watching things outside.

Ye Jiang wiped the tables while the customers chatted.

"I got selected this time! Wasn't the deadline almost here? I'd already given up hope, but then-guess what? Our homeroom teacher called me into her office this morning and gave me an application form. Hey, I got a slot too!"

The speaker was a boy with freckles on his face. Beaming, he said, "This one's on me. None of you fight me over it. I've got to treat you for this!"

"Wow! Congratulations!"

"Fuck, I'm so jealous!"

"I wanted a slot too. Too bad my mental stress tolerance is so low. My constitution score was high, though. This sucks."

"Who'd have thought you'd be the one in our group to get a slot? What the actual fuck."

The freckled boy chuckled. He didn't get angry when his friends shoved him around and even rather enjoyed being the center of attention. Usually, he was on the fringes of their group.

The freckled boy glanced across the table. The boy opposite him was the central figure of their group, the one everyone had always looked to. He was looking at his phone when he noticed the glance and looked up. A scoff escaped his lips, and the freckled boy immediately flushed.

He smiled awkwardly and said ingratiatingly to the boy, "I'm definitely not the only one. Young Master Jin must have gotten a slot ages ago, right?"

At that, everyone laughed and joked. "That's true. Who do you think Young Master Jin is? His overall score has always been so high we can only look up to him. He must have gotten the notification and had his slot confirmed ages ago."

The boy raised his eyebrows. Drinking the tea provided by the restaurant, he said unhurriedly, "I did get the

notification ages ago."

The students weren't surprised at all, but the boy shifted his tone and said mildly, "But I'm not going."

Sharp gasps sounded.

People drew in breaths all around.

Why?