Chapter 74: Comparisons Are Maddening
That young man, Wu Meng, was quite the honest type. Who else would answer that dolt?
But Wu Meng had answered truthfully, "It’s only about thirty-five square meters, not that big."
"Not bad, young man!" Ji Taixian praised.
Gu Chen turned his head just in time to see the girl’s face fall the moment she heard that.
It was strange, and for no apparent reason.
Her face, which had been a blank slate just a second ago, now looked rather angry.
’A show-off! She must be mad because that Space Ability User is bragging!’
Gu Chen got it in a flash. He turned and shot Wu Meng a glare. "Get back in formation."
"And you," he added, turning to Ji Taixian, "what was the point of asking? Big or small, a Space is just for holding things."
Having been inexplicably rebuked, Ji Taixian shot his brother a pitiful glance and silently shrank to one side, not daring to make another peep.
Xie Ning was, indeed, very angry.
’To think that when I awakened my Space Ability, it was only two square meters. Two square meters!’
’Other Space Ability Users with small Spaces of two or three square meters could expand them by leveling up later on.’
’But my small Space was like it was welded shut, never changing in the slightest over all those years.’
’It was just so infuriating.’
’You really can’t compare people. Some are just born geniuses, like that dolt Ji Taixian, or this young traffic cop right in front of me.’
’After my rebirth, I was so thrilled, thinking my Space had gotten bigger and that I’d actually improved!’
’But thanks to the butterfly effect, it turns out everyone else’s Space got bigger too.’
"Little sis?" Gu Chen tilted his head, calling out cautiously. "Are you about to level up?"
"Who’s leveling up?" Xie Ning snapped, her anger flaring.
’The apocalypse has only just begun. How could I possibly be leveling up?’
’Besides, anyone could level up before me. I’m just a tragic, pitiful case who *can’t* level up!’
"You, I mean. Lately, have you been feeling a kind of... fullness in your body? A little drained? And do you feel drowsy all the time?"
Xie Ning paused.
’Huh? It can’t be, can it?’
’In my past life, I was a Small Space Superpower User who was stuck—welded—at the Initial Stage. I never knew what it felt like to level up.’
’That’s why, from yesterday through today, I never once considered this feeling of fullness to be a sign of leveling up. I just figured I got greedy and ate too much.’
"You’ve leveled up before?" Xie Ning leaned in closer to the man, a curious look on her face.
Gu Chen’s eyes crinkled with a smile as he nodded again and again. "Of course. Just looking at you, I had a feeling you were about to level up."
"How long does it usually take to level up?"
"It depends on your superpower level and Pure Power."
"Generally speaking, the higher someone’s Pure Power and superpower level, the longer the process takes."
"For example, someone with E-level Pure Power going from Zero to Level 1 would probably take half an hour. But for someone with A-level Pure Power, it’s different. It could take as long as two hours."
Xie Ning narrowed her eyes and looked him up and down.
’This guy knows about Pure Power?’
’Then he must be closely connected to the Superpower Academy.’
’So... the Superpower Academy was actually founded *before* the apocalypse??’
Xie Ning’s thoughts were suddenly dragged back to the past, familiar scenes flashing before her eyes.
A little girl in dirty, disheveled clothes dragged a battered suitcase into the Academy, opening the door to a new world of Superpower Users.
Her classmates from prestigious families pointed and whispered about her.
After a grueling fifteen-day assessment period, she had stumbled and scraped her way to the very end.
Yet on the final day of the team competition, only two other sorry souls would team up with her.
Obviously, their small team of three had no chance of beating the other teams of five or seven.
They were all eliminated together...