Chapter 20 Finally Got the Awakening Badge

Her period had ended smoothly, and Ye Nai had resumed her work of clearing garbage alone in the danger zone. The end of the month was approaching, her student benefits were about to end, and she had no mind to think of anything else, focused on earning money, over ten thousand a day.

Before she knew it, it was late June, and Ye Nai received a text from her homeroom teacher, instructing her to come to school on July 1st to collect her diploma.

Just in time, as the student benefits ended on the last day of June.

That day, she made a big haul.

During her rides back and forth on the electric bike, she collected all the spores she had placed deep in the danger zone.

Over the past two months, the endlessly proliferating Fungal Mycelium released all its spores, and a vast amount of energy entered Ye Nai's body, causing all her capillaries to burst immediately, darkening her vision and causing strands of fresh blood to seep from the surface of her skin.

The bleeding soon stopped, and her spores rapidly healed her body. Each time her muscles tore, they would repair themselves, and with each cycle, her body's capacity to accommodate the spore energy doubled, becoming tighter and more powerful.

To protect against the sun and heat, she wore long sleeves and pants every day. The cotton clothes not only absorbed the blood but also made Ye Nai feel a bit constricted, as if they had shrunk, and her shoes felt tight too.

The energy was simply too much, Ye Nai miscalculated, only realizing through self-experimentation that her body couldn't absorb it all. Just when she thought it would be wasted, her body relaxed, and the energy found a new direction.

Her space had expanded.

What she could originally "see" from end to end in terms of length, width, and height had now become distant, her personal items that were previously quite conspicuous in the corner now seemed pathetically small.

Ye Nai laughed out loud, her laughter muffled by her face mask. She indulged in her laughter for a while as she cycled back and forth transporting garbage, the amount she collected each time not differing much from before, showing no immediate sign of her newly expanded space.

With her hard work, the mountains of trash that had never been completely cleared in the past two months were now moved entirely by Ye Nai alone, and of course, her income was quite substantial.

When she took off her protective suit, Ye Nai carefully examined her clothing. There were no visible bloodstains; they were all on the inside of the clothing, but still unsettlingly speckled.

Moreover, her clothes and shoes had indeed shrunk, her shoulders were tightly stretched, her pants had shortened, and her shoes were so tight that walking was uncomfortable. The spore energy in the process of repeatedly healing her body had increased her height.

Her muscles had also become more firm and defined. Ye Nai clenched her fist, feeling like she could kill a cow with one punch.

The final tally was made, twenty thousand was credited to her account, the rich earnings of these past few days all stored in her payment software, making over one hundred and fifty thousand in just about ten days.

She exited the electrified grid and, in the makeshift cabin where they processed passes, Ye Nai returned her pass and canceled it, completing the standard procedure from start to finish.

Bearing the discomfort of her tight shoes, Ye Nai took the bus back to the city, immediately went to the supermarket to buy plenty of new clothes and shoes for herself. But when she entered the home, she was only carrying vegetables, meat, eggs, and a big melon, the clothes stored in her space, waiting for the night when everyone was asleep to wash them. On such a hot day, they would dry overnight.

Her drastic increase in height did not catch her family's attention, nor did anyone glance at her new shoes on the shoe rack.

It was quite alright with her that no one noticed.

The next morning, July 1st, after she got up, Ye Nai first gathered the dry new clothes from her space, then put on her school uniform, which used to be loose but now barely fit, the pants also a bit short but it didn't matter.

She prepared breakfast, called her family to get up, put on her new shoes, and arrived at school on time as notified, collected her diploma, took graduation photos, and bid farewell to her student days.

Leaving the school, Ye Nai rushed to the Awakener Center of her city to try registering as a Space Awakened.

This center was inside the City Government Office, a small three-story office building that looked unremarkable and old. If not for the signboard, one could hardly tell that this was indeed the common home for Awakeners.

Walking into the first-floor lobby, Ye Nai didn't even glance at the complex floor guide on the side, heading straight for the guidance desk.

"Hello, I would like to undergo an Awakening test; I have awakened to Space."

As Ye Nai spoke, she extended her left hand, flipped her wrist, and the graduation certificate she just received appeared in her hand.

The staff at the guidance desk grabbed a thermal mug from the desk and handed it to her.

"Put this away, and then take it out again."

Ye Nai did as instructed, smoothly and successfully.

"Congratulations. Do you have your ID with you?"

Ye Nai handed over her ID, the other party tapped a few times on the computer, and then handed back her ID.

"I have already made an appointment for you. Do you see the stairs behind me? Go up to the second floor from the stairs on my right, and you'll find the Awakening testing room on the right."

"Thank you."

Ye Nai turned right after reaching the second floor; there was only one door along this short corridor, leading to a small Awakening testing room.

"Hello, I just made an appointment downstairs for an Awakening test."

"Yes, let me see your ID, please."

The tester inside took Ye Nai's ID for another check and then stood up.

"Follow me next door."

It turned out that the small room was merely the tester's office. The tester led Ye Nai through a small door to the adjacent room, which was a large space filled with testing objects of various sizes on the floor.

"Come on, take these items one by one, put them away, and then take them out again. Let me know when you are ready, and I'll start timing to see your endurance."

The tester stood by the only small table, which had a timer on it.

Ye Nai squatted in front of the smallest item, raised her hand, and counted down three, two, one; as she tucked away the first item, the tester also started the timer.

As per the instructions, she seamlessly stored and retrieved each item, from the smallest to the largest, without showing signs of fatigue, maintaining her rhythm until she had handled even a wardrobe-sized large box.

"Very good, your spiritual power and endurance are strong, suitable to withstand uses of high-intensity storage and retrieval. You would be ideal for joining a combat squad as a logistics member."

The tester beckoned and led Ye Nai back to the front office, pulling out a special digital ruler from a drawer.

"This is a laser ruler specially designed for measuring space dimensions. Look, it has just one switch. Turn it on and within ten seconds place it in the corner of your space. Once it displays the length, width, and height, bring it back."

Ye Nai did as instructed, eager to know the exact size of her space now.

Initially, she had measured it with a tape measure, and it was 3*6*3=54 cubic meters, but the precise measurement now came out to 10*20*10=2000 cubic meters.

She returned the ruler to the tester, who congratulated her upon seeing the numbers.

"Your space capacity is phenomenal, highly suited for development in dangerous areas where there is a major shortage of Space Awakened capable of storing items. The larger the volume, the rarer it is. Even if you were to do odd jobs, the compensation is substantial, starting at least from ten thousand. If you perform well, you might even get recruited by a team to be a permanent member."