Chapter 19 The Fourth Day
She didn’t linger on the posts.
Pulling up a lighthearted movie, Iris ate while watching–seizing the chance to download as many movies, TV shows, and novels as possible.
These would make perfect companions for future meals.
Post–meal, Iris took a short stroll to aid digestion before leading Summer out to patrol the base perimeter.
She checked on the chickens and ducks, tended to the vegetable plots, and looked in on the goats, then headed back to resume training.
Training stretched late into the night, leaving her utterly drained by the time she finally collapsed into rest.
*****
Early the next morning, a clear boost in strength and stamina hit Iris as soon as she began her physical training.
Every muscle ached, but she gritted her teeth and saw the routine through before showering and fixing breakfast.
ired meal was another hearty spread–roasted chicken and stew,
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both scavenged from a large supermarket.
Stored safely in her spatial inventory, the food had stayed perfectly fresh.
Adding water and turning up the heat, she soon had a steaming pot of stew brimming with ingredients: sliced beef, shrimp balls, plump shrimp, an assortment of meatballs, various mushrooms, and a medley of fresh vegetables—plentiful and vibrant.
Designed for four, the stew was polished off entirely by Iris, who added a handful of scrambled eggs–freshly laid that morning from her chicken coop.
A quick check of the coop earlier had revealed her hens were now laying around 20 eggs daily.
More than Iris could consume, the extras were left in the coop to hatch chicks; once her supplies grew even more abundant, she’d store the surplus in the warehouse.
Full and content, Iris sipped a cup of yogurt to settle her
stomach.
She’d need to burn off every calorie in her next training session
anyway.
Who else could afford such comfort in these dark times?
2/6
17:03
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While others fought to scrape together enough to eat, she was exercising to burn off excess calories.
Iris turned off the half–watched movie–finding it tedious–and returned to the forum, only to find her earlier comments had gone viral.
In a single day, likes had surged past ten thousand, with countless users hailing her as a “pro” and begging for more survival tips.
Others speculated she was a government official or insider, given the detail of her advice.
Iris ignored all the messages.
The only one she paid attention to was a reply from the original poster, Sunnie.
[Mr. Midsummer, I made it home safe! Thank you so much!]
A brow lifted.
She’d gone back anyway.
Before she could respond, Sunnic posted three new updates.
[Day 4 of the apocalypse: 6:55 AM: Thanks to Mr. Midsummer’s advice yesterday, I made it back with food safely. I got 0 packs4
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of instant mac and cheese, a 17–liter bucket of water, 10 packs of bread, 5 packs of sausages, and 7 chocolate bars. Dad and Stepmom said I did great. My brother says he would’ve brought back more—called my haul “cheap junk“.]
[7:30 AM: Oh no! My brother is dead–set on going out now. Dad wants me to go with him. I don’t know what to do–outside is so dangerous, I never want to go back.]
[7:42 AM: I’m leaving again. Dad says we should take advantage of the quiet to grab more supplies. He’s making me take my brother and bring back as much as possible. Wish me luck, everyone!]
After reading the three updates, Iris saw the comment section had exploded–some praising the girl, others bashing her brother, and many begging for survival tips. A quick glance at the multiple private messages Sunnie had sent revealed nothing new; Iris didn’t reply, only bookmarking the post to follow like a live stream.
Once the “show” was over for now, she headed back to exercise.
With only ten days left in the enhancement period, every minute was precious.
As usual, she started with a long run along the base edge -warming up while patrolling her territory, checking for amalies, and ensuring her traps remained intact. Confident all
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was secure, she returned to the base to continue her physical training.
Every movement pushed her to the brink.
Within three minutes, sweat poured down her body; five minutes later, Iris was drenched, muscles screaming in agony that served as a constant reminder of her approaching limits.
Push through! Push through! Push through!
Iris fought to hold each position for just one more second per
set.
Lucky for her, the routine was scientifically crafted, with
perfectly timed rest periods between sets to avoid overexertion and injury.
It was this ascetic, brutal training that yielded the most dramatic gains in physical fitness.
After five hours of intense exercise, Iris showered with hot water, then dug into a large bowl of oats and quinoa topped with ten packs of pre–made sauce mixes.
High consumption demanded high intake–more food meant more energy to burn, fueling the rapid conversion of calories into raw strength and stamina.
When she opened her computer again, Iris saw a new update on her bookmarked post–posted just a minute earlier.
[I’m losing my mind! My brother and I barely made it back, and he almost got me killed multiple times on the way. Luckily, there weren’t many zombies on that road. But when we got home, we saw he’s wounded! He refused to tell us at first, but my sister noticed his black–and–blue finger, and he finally admitted he got scratched by a zombie’s claw! What do I do now?!]
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Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
