"Name."
"Lin Jingjing."
"Spiritual Power Level."
When the staff member asked this question, Lin Jingjing lowered her head slightly, fiddling with her fingers in shame.
"G... Grade D."
Her voice was barely a whisper.
The staff member's hand paused. He looked up at Lin Jingjing, his face a mask of disbelief.
He asked again, "What did you say your Spiritual Power Level was?"
Lin Jingjing could feel the eyes of those around her turning in her direction. Her face flushed red, and finally, deciding to just get it over with, she blurted out, "Grade D!"
The people waiting in line behind her began to whisper among themselves when they heard her level.
"Did I hear that right? Grade D?"
"Wow, that's worse than my five-year-old son."
"If she goes to the front lines, won't she just be cannon fodder?"
"Look at how scrawny she is. Can she even be of any help?"
Listening to the whispers behind her, Lin Jingjing's heart sank like a stone.
Back in the military compound, she had always been number one in everything—academics, fighting, and physical fitness.
'Here, I'm still number one... dead last.'
'If that gang of followers I used to beat up found out about this, they'd laugh their heads off at me.'
After looking her up and down, the staff member recorded her information, then paused to think before saying, "A Grade D can't really do anything. Go to logistics and help out with the cooking."
Taking the tag he handed her, Lin Jingjing ran off as fast as she could. It was just too humiliating.
The comments from the people behind her still reached her ears from time to time, making Lin Jingjing feel even more ashamed.
She, Lin Jingjing, had transmigrated.
She had traveled to the future, to the interstellar era, and had become a Grade D Spiritual Ability User—the lowest possible level.
As for how she transmigrated, the story had to begin with a party.
Her group of five friends, who hadn't seen each other in a long time, had met up for dinner and karaoke on New Year's Eve. On the way back, they came across a multi-car pile-up.
All five of them were military brats, and some were currently serving as soldiers.
Their sense of duty compelled all five of them to get out and help. After rescuing the victims, they all got back in their car to head home.
But the road was icy and slick. They were sent flying by a large truck, and their car tumbled twice before coming to a stop.
The fuel tank was leaking, and sparks ignited nearby. The doors were jammed, trapping the five of them inside, unable to move.
Before help could arrive, the car exploded, killing all five of them instantly.
When Lin Jingjing opened her eyes again, she found herself in a strange place. The memories of this body's original owner flooded her mind, letting her know where she had transmigrated.
The original owner shared her name and was an orphan whose parents had died.
With no Star Coins and unable to get any of the Nutrient Liquid distributed at the relief station, the original owner had starved to death.
When Lin Jingjing learned that the original owner had starved to death, she was rendered speechless.
'It's the interstellar era, how could someone still starve to death?'
As she stood on the empty streets, looking at the houses with their tightly shut doors and windows, and hearing the endless sounds of crying, cursing, and arguing around her...
...Lin Jingjing fell silent once more.
She decided to go to the junkyard to scavenge for some leftovers. But upon arriving, Lin Jingjing was once again struck silent.
On top of the mountains of trash, as far as the eye could see, there were people.
They were thin and small, forced to constantly rummage for food just to survive.
Some were even fighting tooth and nail in the garbage heaps over half a bottle of expired Nutrient Liquid.
At that moment, Lin Jingjing understood that this was a turbulent world. And so, just to get a meal, she resolutely chose to enlist in the First Corps, which was actively recruiting on B6 Star.
Just as she arrived at the logistics department, Lin Jingjing heard a sharp cry, "The pig's gotten out!"
"Quick, help me hold it down!"
"The pig!!"
The voice was very familiar. Lin Jingjing looked over and saw a skinny young man with a butcher knife chasing after a pig that weighed several hundred pounds.
The young man ran incredibly fast, but he still couldn't catch the pig. Even when he did, he wasn't strong enough to hold it down, and it would escape again.
He was shouting for help, but no one around him was willing to lift a finger.
As the young man ran past Lin Jingjing, he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. That single glance was enough to make him stop in his tracks.
"Is that you, Sister Lin?" the young man asked cautiously, afraid he was mistaken. His face was a mixture of excitement and anxiety.
Lin Jingjing looked at his familiar face, then, after a moment of consideration, spoke seriously, "Red Phoenix, Pink Phoenix."
"Red and pink phoenixes are both chickens."
The code matched. Joy and surprise washed over both their faces. The young man immediately dropped his butcher knife and hugged Lin Jingjing's leg.
"Sister Lin, how did you end up here too?"
"Sister Lin—"
Shi Feng wailed while clinging to Lin Jingjing's leg, showing no trace of manliness whatsoever.
"The same way you did," she said, reaching out to ruffle his hair. Due to malnutrition, Shi Feng's hair looked waxy and yellow. His cheeks were hollow, and his entire frame was thin and small.
"Why are they making you slaughter a pig all by yourself?" Lin Jingjing couldn't help but ask as she looked at his body, which was even frailer than in their previous life.
At her question, Shi Feng immediately started complaining, "They're not human! They bully me because my level is low."
"You're not a Grade D, are you...?" Lin Jingjing asked.
Shi Feng looked up at her, his face full of confusion. "Sister Lin, how did you know?"
"Because I am too," Lin Jingjing said, covering her forehead with a helpless expression.
Before the two could finish their reunion, a rough voice boomed from behind them. "What are you doing? Can't you see the pig's escaped? You don't want to eat tonight?!"
"Now hurry up and kill that pig!"
Startled by the man's roar, Shi Feng immediately scrambled up from the ground, grabbed the butcher knife, and replied, "Yes, sir!"
Shi Feng went back to chasing the pig, and the man's gaze fell on Lin Jingjing.
Spotting the tag hanging around Lin Jingjing's neck, the man reached out and yanked it toward him.
He pulled so hard that Lin Jingjing was dragged along with it.
"Lin Jingjing, Spiritual Power Level: Grade D," the man read word by word. When he finished, he curled his lip in disgust. "They're really letting just anyone in these days."
He let go of the tag, his stubbled face full of disdain. "Another piece of trash."
"Do they really think my logistics department is a recycling center for scraps?"
After speaking, he glanced at Lin Jingjing, who was rubbing her neck. The sight of this only made him angrier.
'So delicate and spoiled. Doesn't look like a soldier at all.'
"What are you standing around for? Go kill the pig!"
His roar was so loud Lin Jingjing felt like her ears were going to go deaf.
Being new here, Lin Jingjing knew it was wise to adapt to the circumstances. "Yes, sir."
Lin Jingjing started running after the pig, an incredibly sharp butcher knife now in her hand as well.
"Sister Lin, since both of us transmigrated, do you think the other three came over too?"
The two ran side-by-side behind the pig as Shi Feng asked in a low voice.
Lin Jingjing thought for a moment before replying, "I think it's possible."
"Do you think they'll come to the First Corps?" Shi Feng asked again.
"Probably. After all, the First Corps is the only one recruiting on B6 Star."
A few men sitting nearby and playing cards would occasionally glance over at them. Seeing that the two still had time to chat, one of them immediately stood up and yelled, "What's there to talk about? Hurry up and kill that pig so the military cooks can make dinner!"
"A couple of useless weaklings!"
After being yelled at, the two didn't dare to chat anymore. They had to use all their strength and every trick they had to kill the fat, several-hundred-pound pig.
After bleeding it out, Lin Jingjing collapsed onto the ground, drenched in sweat.
Beside her, Shi Feng lay on the ground, his chest heaving as he gasped for air. A pig in a temper was truly impossible to hold down.
"This body... it's too weak," Shi Feng grumbled.
"It really is..."
According to the original owner's memories, awakening one's spiritual power was supposed to dramatically enhance all bodily functions.
It was said that the higher the Spiritual Power Level, the more one's spiritual power could even be materialized. They were supposed to be unbelievably strong.
'So why don't we feel any of that at all?'
'Our original bodies were stronger than this.'
Spiritual power was divided into levels: 3S, 2S, S, A, B, C, and D.
In front of an Advanced Spirit Power User, a Grade D Spiritual Power User was no different from a regular person.
The only differences between a Grade D Spiritual Power User and a regular person were that they could pilot a Mecha and were a bit stronger.
'I still have to work hard and get stronger.'