Chapter 20 | Fantasy Descends, I Start as a Magical Girl

As they moved toward the cafeteria area, Mo Shao and her group soon encountered the cafeteria crew, who were busy clearing monsters.

However, they didn’t approach directly. Instead, they chose to observe from a distance first, remaining unnoticed for the time being.

“They seem... really weak,” Xu Huaan muttered.

“You don’t know how good you have it. Do they have the equipment we have?” Zhang Xiao remarked, giving Xu Huaan a light tap on the head.

“I guess so. After all, we have Sister Hui.”

Xu Huaan’s realization prompted him to clap his hands together, and the rest of the group instinctively turned their gazes toward Mo Shao, who was standing at the front.

The efficiency of this cafeteria team was truly, exaggeratedly low. No wonder they hadn't seen a single person from the cafeteria on the other side of the school.

Part of it might have been because last night’s monster “siege” had caused a larger cluster of monsters to gather on this side during the day—but the main reason was simply the massive gap in strength.

They had no equipment and no powerhouse leading them. Furthermore, many of them had accidentally Dead-bound some weak Object-type monsters by sheer chance.

Without a reborn survivor like Mo Shao to lead the way, it was natural for people to complete Dead-bindings in the heat of battle without understanding what they were doing.

They likely didn’t even know the difference between Dead-binding and Live-binding yet; they probably only had a vague intuition about the process.

They might be able to piece together a theory after last night’s experience, but they would only realize it after the fact.

By Dead-binding recklessly in the past, they had wasted an unknown amount of early-stage combat potential. The importance of information was clear to see.

***

Furthermore, there was another factor that severely crippled their combat power—they had chosen to concentrate their resources.

You could tell just by looking at their team composition; there were still a large number of ordinary people among them. It had already been over half a day!

“This isn't right, is it?” Little Ka had clearly noticed something off about the group as well. “Why are there so many ordinary people?”

“That’s not all. Look closely—they only have one Echo-Dead-bound survivor,” Mo Shao pointed out.

“It seems so... but why?” Little Ka asked, confused.

“Because Echoes can absorb other Echoes to level up,” Mo Shao stated the truth calmly—this was a core setting of the world.

In other words, the cafeteria staff had not chosen to first build a team of Echo-Dead-bound survivors to increase their overall combat power.

Instead, they were letting a single Dead-bound individual absorb everything for a personal power boost. Naturally, this meant the number of Dead-bound survivors would not increase.

***

“Eh?!” Little Ka was startled, still holding onto a bit of naivety. “So those ordinary people are waiting for the Dead-bound survivor to finish farming before they get their own Echoes to bind?”

“There’s a small possibility of that.” Mo Shao nodded before shaking her head and looking back at the group. “However, the far more likely possibility is...”

“A monopoly,” Zhang Xiao followed up, catching Mo Shao’s lead.

By preventing the people below them from Dead-binding, those in charge ensured the others lacked supernatural abilities or the means to threaten them, allowing the leaders to maintain permanent control over the group.

It was a suicidal move. In the early stages, one simply couldn't grow strong enough to fight alone.

The instantaneous Feedback from [Order] gained by killing monsters hadn't appeared yet, so “leveling up” was deathly slow.

Otherwise, Mo Shao would have spent all her time farming monsters to get stronger long ago. This was another example of how information allowed one to make the best choices.

Of course, even without special information, the cafeteria staff should have realized something after fighting through yesterday and farming today.

This method of concentrating power into a single individual was not viable because there were far too many monsters. No one could solo every battlefield yet.

If they still insisted on this approach... then either a system of survival of the fittest had already emerged inside, or some kind of rigid rule system had been established. For example, ordinary people might be required to provide enough contributions before being allowed to become a Dead-bound survivor.

But seeing that there were still ordinary people in an expedition team... even if there were rules, they likely weren't very good ones.

Besides, the fact that a set of rules could be established so quickly was suspicious in its own right.

***

The group’s expressions darkened. They were finally feeling the reality of the social shifts following the world’s transformation.

“Don't be so quick to jump to conclusions. This might just be one specific squad,” Mo Shao said with a wave of her hand, offering some casual comfort.

But even as she spoke, the fact that a field squad was acting like this proved something was wrong at the cafeteria.

Consequently, the group from the supermarket looked at Mo Shao with even more respect. She had guided them through the early stages and even distributed equipment...

She was a literal saint—in the best way possible! Loyalty! Absolute loyalty!

As for the few who still hadn't Dead-bound anything, unless they were truly beyond help, they felt a sense of urgency. Now that they saw the benefits of being Echo-Dead-bound, they likely wouldn't be stubborn anymore.

Unfortunately, now that the fact that Echo-Dead-bound survivors could absorb other Echoes to grow stronger was known, their chances of obtaining an Echo would drastically decrease.

***

As everyone knows, people are prone to feelings of resentment.

To survive the present, the majority of the group had already undergone Dead-binding, essentially “sacrificing their future.”

Compared to the “transformation” method Mo Shao provided, the power level of Dead-binding was indeed a step lower, and it was irreversible.

When the few remaining people insisted on waiting for something better, such “selfish” behavior naturally stirred up dissatisfaction among the rest.

Presumably, some were already thinking that even if something good appeared, they would rather use it themselves for a Live-binding slot than give it to these parasites.

It was only because Mo Shao hadn't made a move that they hadn't acted on it yet.

Furthermore, they hadn't possessed a constitution that allowed for multiple Echoes before, so it hadn't mattered if they distributed the extra Echoes.

But now, the fact that Echoes could be absorbed by a Dead-bound survivor to increase their strength had come to light. This was different from gathering Echoes of the same system; this was absorbing “experience,” which didn't require a specific constitution.

Since their team already had enough combatants, it was natural to focus on increasing the quality of those fighters. They had every reason to refuse the hangers-on now.

After all, those people were the ones who had said they didn't want the previous Echoes, weren't they?

Karma always comes around in the end.

***

After observing for a while, the supermarket survivors followed behind Mo Shao with mixed expressions to meet with the cafeteria squad.

Close up, the contrast became even more glaring.

One side looked like wasteland survivors, while the other looked like a regular army. Their levels of exhaustion, organization, and morale were completely different.

“Teacher Zhang?” During the slightly awkward standoff, a member of the cafeteria squad was the first to recognize a familiar face in the supermarket group.