Humans Shrunk 100 Times

Chapter 5: Climbing the Desk

Chen Mu knew that Wei Dalei had always had a slight fear of heights since he was young. He would avoid standing near windows above the third floor whenever possible. Now, asking him to climb to a height of more than twenty stories was undoubtedly like asking for his life.

But others were unaware of this. They saw Wei Dalei as a tall and strong person, especially now that he had awakened his power ability. They thought he wouldn't refuse such a challenge.

Some people looked at him differently.

Gu Ping let out a deliberate hum.

Wei Dalei's face turned red. He had always been concerned about his reputation, and he couldn't bear those eyes on him. Besides, Zhao Xiaoyan was right beside him, making him even more embarrassed. In the heat of the moment, he blurted out, "Alright, I'll do it!"

"Wait." How could Chen Mu just watch his good friend go to his death? He interrupted, saying, "Old Wei, calm down!"

Wei Dalei sighed, "But someone has to go. The squad leader just said that without that piece of cake, even if we leave the classroom, we still don't know when we'll find something to eat. We might starve to death. In that case, I might as well take a chance."

"I'll go," Chen Mu said.

"Boss, don't joke!" Wei Dalei was startled.

"I thought of a way last night, and it should be okay."

On one hand, Chen Mu didn't want Wei Dalei to die in vain, but on the other hand, without that piece of cake, there was a high probability that they would all starve. Although this plan was dangerous, Chen Mu believed he had a certain chance of success.

He didn't explain too much, but the others were naturally willing when someone took the lead.

After humans shrunk, their vision became extremely limited, and the whole classroom now became a huge maze with numerous giant wooden pillars standing in it, which was quite spectacular, to be honest.

Of course, this also made it challenging to determine the right direction.

Fortunately, they had Zhao Xiaoyan with them.

As everyone followed Zhao Xiaoyan, they followed the scent and gradually found Du Jiajia's desk.

Once they reached the spot, Chen Mu looked up, and the height was indeed intimidating. He composed himself and took a deep breath. Then, he slowly extended his hand and placed it on the wooden table leg.

His thoughts followed suit.

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In the next moment, a semi-circular handle slowly appeared on the smooth surface.

Success!

Chen Mu's idea was simple. Although he couldn't alter the entire table with his ability, he could change a part of it, in this case, creating a handle.

In fact, the most significant difficulty in climbing the desk was not the height but the lack of any gripping points on the smooth table legs.

Now, that problem was solved.

Tang Jing knew what Chen Mu was planning from the moment he made his first move and nodded approvingly.

Dong Junwei couldn't help but praise, "Chen Mu, way to go!"

The others cheered as well.

After all, whether Chen Mu could get the cake directly affected everyone's survival.

...

Chen Mu tucked in his T-shirt and tightened his belt around his sports pants.

Then, he began to climb.

With each step upward, he created a new handle on the table leg.

Just like climbing an escalator, he moved step by step.

To be honest, even with the handles, it wasn't an easy task. It put both his physical strength and mental endurance to the test.

About a quarter of the way up, Chen Mu couldn't help looking down, feeling frightened and nervous. He had grown up in the outdoors, familiar with climbing trees and squeezing into holes, but this height still made him tremble inside.

Quickly, he turned his attention back to what was in front of him.

Below, Wei Dalei looked up, sighing, "The boss is the boss. Even if I weren't afraid of heights and had handholds, I still couldn't climb up." He then started reminiscing with the others about their middle school days, from fighting to becoming friends.

Everyone was amazed and secretly relieved, thinking that they were lucky not to have offended this seemingly slender and weak guy in the past.

Dong Junwei watched Chen Mu's figure in mid-air, deep in thought.

When Chen Mu climbed two-thirds of the way up, he stopped.

Everyone's hearts were in their throats, especially Wei Dalei, who was afraid of heights and dared not look up anymore. He kept asking Zhao Xiaoyan next to him what was happening.

Though he wasn't completely exhausted, Chen Mu's childhood experience of climbing trees told him he must not wait until he ran out of strength to rest; otherwise, he might not get the chance to rest at all.

If it were a tree, he would find a branch and sit down to recover his energy at this point.

But obviously, there were no such conditions now.

In the next moment, he had a bright idea.

His hands kept moving, and on the smooth wooden surface, he took out a dozen or so rings of different sizes, threading his hands and feet through them, like an artistic performance, securing himself tightly.

Then, he slowly relaxed his whole body.

Though not the most graceful posture, at least he didn't need to exert too much effort, allowing his body to rest for a moment.

However, just as he relaxed, Chen Mu suddenly felt his head spin, followed by a wave of drowsiness that almost caused him to doze off.

He struggled to keep his eyes wide open, forcing himself to stay awake.

Although he was securely tied, he had no doubt that if he fell asleep, he might fall down.

Feeling dizzy wasn't a good sign.

As he pondered, Chen Mu realized the only reason might be the frequent use of his ability.

It seemed that this so-called "superpower" consumed something akin to mental energy. Once it exceeded the limit, his body might be fine, but his head couldn't handle it.

He didn't dare to take any more risks and decided to quietly rest, staying closely attached to the table leg.

The people below dared not even breathe loudly. Seeing Chen Mu stop for a long time, they felt that something was off.

"What's wrong, Xiaoyan?" Wei Dalei still didn't dare to lift his head, anxiously asking Zhao Xiaoyan beside him.

Zhao Xiaoyan, despite Wei Dalei using an overly intimate term to address her, worriedly said, "Chen Mu hasn't moved for a long time."

"What's happening to him?"

"I don't know. It seems like he's resting."

"Is something wrong?" someone whispered.

"Don't speculate."

"But he's been resting for a while."

"Climbing up isn't as easy as we think, especially as you go higher, it tests your mental state and skills," Tang Jing said with a serious expression. "And I suspect Chen Mu is feeling unwell because he used his ability too frequently."

"What do you mean, unwell?"

"I'm not sure," Tang Jing shook her head.

"What should we do then?" Wei Dalei was anxious. "Let's go and help him."

Tang Jing shook her head again. "How can we help? Among us, who has the ability to climb that high? Even if we manage to climb up, what help can we offer?"

"So, are we just going to stand here and do nothing?" Wei Dalei was restless, but he didn't dare to be too loud, as if afraid of affecting Chen Mu above.

In reality, Chen Mu was already far away from them, and even if they shouted loudly, he might not be able to hear them.

Tang Jing said, "Don't worry too much. Before resting, Chen Mu's movements were calm and collected, indicating that he knows what he's doing. He's just resting for extra caution."

Just as she finished speaking, the crowd saw Chen Mu start moving again.

During this time, Chen Mu did his best to relax his body and clear his mind, not thinking about the cake or the many people waiting below. He emptied his thoughts entirely.

After resting for a full half-hour, he tried climbing again.

This time, he was even more careful and cautious than when he first started, almost stopping to rest every few steps.

As Chen Mu resumed climbing, everyone's hearts tightened again.

Wei Dalei hugged his head, squatting on the ground, feeling utterly useless.

Tang Jing, usually calm, couldn't help her lips tremble slightly.

About twenty more minutes passed before Chen Mu finally reached the edge of the desk. In the end, he rolled and crawled to get inside the desk.

At this point, everyone collectively heaved a sigh of relief.

Dong Junwei relaxed and realized her fists were clenched so tightly that her fingernails left deep imprints in her palms.