ABFA Chapter 12

The new world didn’t feel all that novel to Jiang Yue—she lived in a constant state of anxiety.

All kinds of anxiety: anxiety about her gender, about money, about her peers, and about the future.

She no longer had endless pocket money; now, she only had a monthly scholarship of one thousand star coins.

What could a thousand star coins even get you in the interstellar world? Even a bowl of beef noodles at a small diner costs fifteen star coins.

Someone like Jiang Yue, a strong alpha, had to eat five meals a day: breakfast, lunch, and dinner, plus two late-night snacks. To keep herself from waking up hungry in the middle of the night, she even had to eat a cheap energy bar before bed.

At the military academy cafeteria, meals on floors one through four were only a third of the price outside. As long as she didn’t go to the first cafeteria for the expensive dishes, a thousand star coins was just barely enough for Jiang Yue to fill her stomach.

But living always costs money—no matter how frugal you are, there are always unexpected expenses.

Jiang Yue’s big feet were like they had teeth; no matter how sturdy the socks were, they never lasted more than three days on her.

How could a delicate little fairy possibly wear socks with holes in them? So she kept buying pair after pair. After going through twelve pairs in a row, Jiang Yue finally bought a sewing kit. Of course, she would never darn her socks in front of her five rich-kid roommates—a little fairy still had to protect her pride, after all.

Every time she mended her socks, she would stuff them and the sewing kit into the waistband of her pants, then quietly sneak into a bathroom stall. Once inside, she’d pull out the socks and sewing tools and carefully begin stitching, one thread at a time.

Sock-mending was no easy craft. You couldn’t just throw a few stitches in—the repair had to be both functional and neat, with no visible signs of patching. For Jiang Yue, whose ten fingers were untouched by spring water[mfn]The phrase “十指不沾陽春水” literally means “ten fingers untouched by spring water,” a poetic way to say someone is pampered or has never done housework.[/mfn], this was no small challenge.

After much trial and error, she finally learned the darning technique: using thread the same color as the sock, she wove a tight layer over the hole, stitching back and forth in a crisscross pattern — like weaving a net.

This method was incredibly time-consuming. And because Jiang Yue had overly sensitive hearing, whenever she was hiding in a bathroom stall darning her socks, she would occasionally hear an alpha let out a low grunt while doing number two—sometimes followed by a long, satisfied sigh.

Every now and then—just occasionally—an alpha would sneak in to masturbate. That wasn’t anything unusual; lots of alphas handled their business in the bathroom. Jiang Yue did too.

Just as she had finally gotten the hang of sock-mending, she ran out of facial cleanser.

She had already added quite a bit of water to the facial cleanser—it took real effort to work up any foam when washing her face.

Jiang Yue was heartbroken. She could no longer be a delicate little fairy.

She had now learned to live frugally. She went straight to the supermarket and bought a five-yuan bar of soap, which she used to wash her hair, her face, her crotch, and her size-45 feet.

She said goodbye to the luxury of disposable face towels.

Now, she only had two towels: one for her face, and one for everything below the neck.

The blue towel was no longer soft and fluffy, it had turned into something like a coarse, worn-out rag, scraping against her face, which was tougher than a city wall, and her heart, which was more fragile than a soap bubble.

And of course, after long use, towels inevitably turn yellow. Jiang Yue had no choice but to buy a bottle of bleach and repeatedly wash the yellowed towel.

After five or six rounds of this, the towel completely lost all its fluff and softness. It went from a coarse old rag to a stiff, scratchy scrub towel.

As for the usual skincare bottles and jars, those were out of the question. Makeup? Even less likely. All Jiang Yue had now was a five-yuan bottle of glycerin, and even that she used sparingly, only on her face.

Her life now was just as dull and monotonous as it was poor.

A month later, the department’s class schedule was updated. Jiang Yue stared at the list of courses, Combat Training and Anatomy, in silence for a full minute.

Combat Training made sense. But Anatomy? What the hell was that about?

Why did students in the combat division need to study anatomy?

Completely confused, she opened the terminal’s navigation system and headed to the anatomy lab.

Because the Zerg carried many deadly bacteria, students attending the anatomy class had to wear protective suits.

Once everyone was suited up, the anatomy instructor led them into the lab, and Jiang Yue saw what they were about to dissect.

She nearly fainted.

It was a five-meter-long, half-meter-thick red soft-bodied worm, its entire surface covered in dark red circular rings. The creature lay on the dissection table, coiled up in a heap, its head and tail indistinguishable, gently wriggling every five seconds or so.

The alphas in the classroom let out a synchronized hiss of disgust.

Jiang Yue was on the verge of losing her mind.

The anatomy instructor stood at the podium and began the lecture.

“Alright, everyone, pull yourselves together. This thing is just an appetizer for you to practice on. The real monsters haven’t made their entrance yet.”

Wait… there are bigger ones?

The anatomy instructor continued to lecture calmly.

“This thing is called a Black-ring Worm. Each of the dark red ring-like markings on its body releases a large amount of neurotoxins. The Black-ring Worm’s life is as resilient as an earthworm’s — even if it’s chopped into several pieces, it won’t die. To truly kill it, you have to chop it into tiny bits.”

“This is a Black-ring Worm that has been incubating for two days. Given enough time to grow, it can reach 50 meters in length. Some of the stronger Black-ring Worms can even grow to over 100 meters.”

“If you encounter a fully grown Black-ring Worm, and you’re without mechs or weapons, remember to stand tall, puff out your chest, and shout at it. That way, you’ll die with a bit more dignity.”

The anatomy instructor clapped his hands. “The first lesson is usually not too difficult. It’s mainly to help you get a feel for it. After this, each of you will get a small piece of Black-ring Worm. Your task is to chop it up into tiny bits, the size should be about the same as dumpling filling.”

“Of course, there are some better methods, like slicing it along its black rings into thin pieces. But that’s very difficult to achieve, because in battle, the Black-ring Worm moves incredibly fast. It’s impossible to do that perfectly, so you’ll have to chop it up into small enough pieces.”

And then, the nightmare began.

Jiang Yue was assigned a small piece of Black-ring Worm.

Even though it was a small piece, it was still half a meter long.

Not everyone had the courage to face a half-meter long, half-meter thick, red wriggling worm.

Jiang Yue quietly pressed her hand against her crotch, feeling a rush of warmth. She had to fight the urge to pee with all her might.

She was really about to wet herself from fear.

Trembling, she picked up a hot-melt knife and awkwardly began to hack at the half-meter-long worm.

Did she really have to chop this disgusting thing into dumpling filling? She never wanted to eat dumplings again in her life.

Jiang Yue gripped the knife and, under the anatomy instructor’s guidance, began cutting along the black rings on the worm’s body.

The cutting didn’t go smoothly. The creature’s skin was incredibly tough, and Jiang Yue had to use a lot of force just to get the knife tip to pierce the black rings on its body.

The moment the knife tip pierced its body, the worm contracted violently. It began to curl up, its head and tail tightly connecting, forming a shrinking, pulsating ring.

Like a broken bagel.

Its healing ability was simply outrageous. The cutting had to be fast and brutal, with the knife slicing through in a very short amount of time.

Jiang Yue steadied the gleaming hot-melt knife, found the right spot, and struck.

Puff puff puff puff puff.

In one go, she chopped the Black-ring Worm into five pieces. Some light pink liquid oozed out from the black rings’ surface. After wriggling for a while, the worm slowly came to a halt.

“Well, not bad at all,” the anatomy instructor said as he walked over to her side. He poked one of the pieces with his gloved hand.

The Black-ring Worm lay motionless, clearly dead.

Jiang Yue was on the verge of passing out.

Standing beside her was her roommate from the north, who was extremely rough. Without hesitation, she swung a crowbar and cracked the worm open.

Bang!

The light pink, thick liquid splattered everywhere, wrapping some flesh-colored tissue around it. The once plump worm was now just a shriveled husk of its skin.

Though disgusting, it was quick and efficient, so the alphas began to follow suit.

Bang!

To Jiang Yue’s right, Bai Wang exploded a Black-ring Worm.

He miscalculated the angle of the explosion, and the thick liquid shot out, splattering all over Jiang Yue.

Bai Wang stood frozen, holding the crowbar, staring at Jiang Yue with shock in his eyes behind his goggles.

When the splattering stopped, two long, slimy strips of unidentified tissue dangled from Jiang Yue’s goggles, swaying wildly.

Jiang Yue closed her eyes.

If she had committed any sin, she prayed the law would punish her—not turn her into an alpha.

 

 

 

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