Chapter 27: Just scratching for fun?

Chen Mu's first act upon waking was to pull the plastic ball he'd placed under the towel the night before; he discovered it still had a faint glow, though very weak, desperately trying to emit its last light.

Judging by that, the bulb's lifespan is pretty good—it can last at least one night.

Yesterday Dong Junwei also tried wood and cotton thread, with no reaction; it seems her energy infusion doesn't work on all objects.

I thought I was the first to get up, but I saw Tang Jing already walking back from the toilet direction.

"So early today?"

"After splitting the rooms, Dalei's snoring got much quieter, so I slept better last night." Tang Jing laughed.

Chen Mu said helplessly: "But we're unlucky."

There are two rooms total—naturally five guys in one, four girls in the other.

Wei Dalei's snoring was much better for the girls, but the guys suffered—Qian Fei and others didn't fall asleep until late, and Chen Mu was also affected.

Tang Jing pursed her lips and smiled: "Looks like we'll have to give Dalei a separate room from now on."

Chen Mu said: "From now on, each of us should have our own room."

"I've thought about that too—it's not actually hard, just time‑consuming. For now the house prioritizes safety; comfort can wait, and we still have a lot to do."

"Mm." Chen Mu indicated agreement.

Tang Jing added: "I thought about it last night—if the door won't work, we could just leave a hole big enough for one person to crawl in and out; at least we wouldn't have to worry about big pests like rats, then we could plug it at night, and it would basically be fine."

"No need."

"Huh?"

Tang Jing, puzzled, saw Chen Mu finish speaking and walked straight to the girls' room, placing one hand on the door.

The next moment, the originally askew door that wouldn't close properly suddenly shifted its angle.

Chen Mu casually pulled the door shut.

It fit perfectly, seamlessly.

"You're improving fast." Tang Jing said happily.

Chen Mu also smiled: "I may not be as smart as you, but I make up for clumsiness with diligence—I kept simulating the motion in my head before bed last night, then this morning I practiced a few times on the boys' room door."

"You've got diligence, but maybe not clumsiness." Tang Jing gave him a sideways glance and added: "You get up so early every day just to train your Special Ability?"

"Yeah, this is my last reliance." Chen Mu said frankly.

Tang Jing fell silent for a moment, wanting to speak but stopping herself.

Just then, Chang Junyan burst out of the room, excited: "Hey, Chen Mu, did you fix this door?"

"Still making do?" Chen Mu asked.

"More than just making do—it's just like the door at home."

"What are you doing? You're so excited."

Besides Wei Dalei, Chen Mu probably interacted most with Chang Junyan in class—not because they were particularly close, but because this guy is a chatterbox, naturally outgoing and even a bit goofy, able to chat about any little thing for half a day.

Only because of the apocalypse, his mood had been low for the past few days, but now it seems he's gradually returning to his original personality.

Chang Junyan ran up to the two, somewhat mysteriously, and said: "Chen Mu, Tang Jing, I think I may have awakened an ability."

"Really!"

Chen Mu felt genuine joy—one more ability user means more strength, greatly reducing survival pressure; Tang Jing's eyes also flashed with fierce light.

One minute later, everyone had gathered together.

"What exactly is the ability?" Dong Junwei asked on everyone's behalf.

"I don't know how to describe it; I'd have to start from the beginning…" Chang Junyan sighed long, preparing to ramble.

However, everyone in class knows his tendency—if he really started from the beginning, we'd probably get nothing done all day.

Dong Junwei hurriedly stopped him: "Don't start from the beginning; just tell us the important parts."

"Well… mainly, these past few days I've been getting bumps on my body, itchy, at first I thought they were mosquito bites. I mentioned it to Zhu Hao last night, and he said I was stupid—now a mosquito would be bigger than us, so how could I not notice a bite? I realized he's right; there's no such tiny mosquito, so it can't be bites. I then considered other possibilities, like allergies…"

"Be more concise!" Dong Junwei interrupted.

"Oh oh, in short, I think the bump growing on my body is my ability." Chang Junyan concluded.

"Then… what does it actually do?"

"I don't know, so I'm asking everyone to help brainstorm."

"Can you control it growing out?" Chen Mu asked.

"Yes."

"Can you control it receding?"

"No, you can only wait for it to heal on its own, just like a real mosquito bite."

"Can you control where it grows out?"

"Yes, but it's easiest on the hand and easier to control; on the back it's harder, and if it grows there you can't scratch it, which would be uncomfortable."

"How many times have you tried?"

"I didn't notice it before; only last night did I try it on purpose. Look…" Chang Junyan said, then extended his arm, revealing a faint red swollen bump on his forearm, really no different from a mosquito bite.

"Does it itch?"

"It does, but not severely—just scratching it feels nice." Chang Junyan said while scratching his forearm with his other hand.

"At most how many can grow at once?" Chen Mu asked.

"Only one at a time; you have to wait for it to fade naturally before a second can appear."

"Besides that, are there any other special cases?" Tang Jing asked.

"Special? Scratching it feels great—does that count?"

"……"

Everyone was speechless.

Afterwards, everyone chattered and asked several questions, then had a heated discussion. But the result was that even Tang Jing couldn't explain why.

Can grow a lump on the body.

This is also called a Special Ability?

What's the use?

Just scratch it for fun?

Tang Jing said: "I estimate it's just like Zhu Hao— for now we can't see any special use, but don't worry, we'll find out eventually."

It's fine— at least when bored we can still scratch it for fun; it's a bit more useful than Zhu Hao's horn...

Chang Junyan himself seemed not to be feeling down; he was scratching his arm over there while bragging to others.

This person is too bold.

……

As for Chang Junyan's Special Ability, it ultimately came to nothing, just like Zhu Hao's— for now he can only bear the title of a Special Ability holder in name, doing ordinary people's work.

By now, out of the nine people, six have awakened, leaving only Du Jia Jia, Qian Fei, and Tang Jing.

But among those who have awakened, Zhao Xiao Yan's enhanced sense of smell hasn't been used in a long time, causing this girl to almost forget she is a Special Ability holder; moreover, Zhu Hao and Chang Junyan obviously can't be of much help either.