[I Want Milk Tea: Holy shit? My Fate Is Mine, Not Heaven's? The big shot from the server-wide announcement? The big shot is actually in my region! Screenshot!]
[The Harder I Grind, the Worse My Life Gets: Screenshot! Big shot, carry me!]
[Overtime Dog: Screenshot! Big shot, carry me!]
[Crispy Lemon Tea: Screenshot! Big shot, carry me!]
[My Fate Is Mine, Not Heaven's: Yes. The five-hundred-meter area around the wooden cabin is the safe zone. Everyone, make sure you explore carefully. The first time you finish exploring the safe zone, you receive a reward chest. @The Harder I Grind, the Worse My Life Gets]
[The Harder I Grind, the Worse My Life Gets: Holy crap, the big shot actually replied to me! @Big Shot, how did you get the first kill? And what's a Silver Treasure Chest? Feels like you're playing a completely different game from the rest of us.]
Qi Yu was a little amused.
He had a good memory, and since the ID The Harder I Grind, the Worse My Life Gets posted frequently, he vaguely remembered it.
If he recalled correctly, this was the same person who had initially accused [My Fate Is Mine, Not Heaven's] of being a game shill.
[My Fate Is Mine, Not Heaven's: Nothing special. I was just lucky. I saw an animal outside as soon as I entered the game. A Silver Treasure Chest is just another type of chest, one grade higher than a Wooden Treasure Chest.]
The already lively chat channel became even more frenzied after [My Fate Is Mine, Not Heaven's] appeared, but there was little useful information afterward. Most messages were simply tagging [My Fate Is Mine, Not Heaven's] and begging to cling to his thigh, while others asked what rewards he had received from the Silver Treasure Chests.
Qi Yu skimmed a few messages, found them uninteresting, and closed the page. He only wondered briefly: an animal? He had searched all around the cabin and did not seem to have seen any animals at all.
He finished the remaining half of his bun and drank a little less than half a bottle of water.
His Hunger returned to 50, while Stamina recovered to 90.
Naturally, half a steamed bun could not possibly fill someone his age. But he had spent so many years accustomed to hunger that as long as there was something in his stomach and the ache was not too severe, he could tolerate it.
The survival game seemed very generous so far, but who knew what would happen after the newbie protection period ended? He would not feel secure unless he saved some food.
After eating, he took the axe and dagger and went outside again.
This time, Qi Yu did not chop trees first. He went looking for stone.
His morning exploration had given him a general understanding of the surrounding terrain. About three hundred meters west of the cabin, there were many loose stones.
[Stone x1 obtained.]
[Stone x3 obtained.]
[Stone x1 obtained.]
…
Gathering fifty units of Stone was not particularly difficult beyond taking time. Carrying all fifty units back to the cabin required far more effort.
The good news was that Jute Grass also grew nearby, so he pulled up a hundred units on the way back.
The bad news was that by the time he returned to the cabin, the survival interface was flashing red warnings again, telling him both Hunger and Stamina had crossed their danger thresholds.
Helpless, Qi Yu ate another half bun, barely pulling Hunger back up to 50.
This time, however, a new reminder appeared on the survival interface.
Survival ID: I Love the Survival Game.
Hunger: 50 (Recommended Hunger level: above 80.)
Qi Yu: …
Was that aimed at me?
Still, from what he had seen of the survival game, it probably would not issue a pointless warning.
So, with considerable pain in his heart, he ate another half bun and finished the remaining water in the bottle, barely raising Hunger to the game's recommended 80.
Unsurprisingly, Stamina reached full as well.
Next came the long-awaited construction phase.
Fifty units of Wood and fifty units of Stone filled one corner of the cabin.
[Required materials detected. Construct Workbench by consuming materials?]
"Yes."
Hazy white mist appeared from nowhere and enveloped the materials on the floor.
Clanging and banging came from within the mist.
Thirty seconds later, a Workbench 1.5 meters long and 0.8 meters wide appeared in front of Qi Yu.
The System prompt informed him that players could choose the Workbench's color and place it anywhere within the shelter.
Qi Yu chose the default natural wood color and placed it in one corner of the cabin.
Then he brought over the Jute Grass.
[Required materials detected. Consume Jute Grass x30 to craft Basic Backpack?]
"Yes."
The familiar process repeated. Twenty seconds later, an unremarkable dusty-gray cloth bag appeared on the Workbench.
Qi Yu picked it up.
[Basic Backpack detected. Bind to Personal Interface?]
It could be bound too? Qi Yu chose "Yes."
A small [Backpack] icon appeared on his survival-game Personal Interface. All ten backpack slots were currently empty.
[Backpack: Items you touch can be stored in the backpack.]
Qi Yu placed his hand on the Workbench, and a prompt immediately flashed before him:
[Functional furniture bound to shelter. Cannot be collected.]
After that, he tested his possessions one by one.
Aside from the Workbench and the wooden cabin, every "asset" he currently owned could be stored in the backpack.
Identical items—such as the four and a half steamed buns he had left—could occupy the same backpack slot, but steamed buns and water could not.
However, if he put the water, steamed buns, and cloth into a wooden chest, he could then store the entire chest in the backpack, occupying only one slot.
In addition, a chest containing items and an empty chest could not occupy the same backpack slot, but if both chests contained items, they could stack together in one slot.
Qi Yu more or less understood the system now. The Basic Backpack appeared to have only ten slots, but if identical items could stack, its actual capacity was enormous.
Because his resources were currently limited, he could not test the maximum stack size of identical items in a single slot.
Even based only on what he had seen so far, however, this thing practically counted as a divine artifact.
The more he looked at it, the more delighted he became. How was this any different from painlessly acquiring a spatial ability?
Nothing else mattered—when he went to chop trees now, he would no longer have to haul materials back to the cabin trip after trip by hand. If he encountered edible wild fruit along the way, he would no longer have to regret leaving it behind because he had nowhere to carry it.
Without question, his resource-gathering efficiency would rise dramatically.
Although the blueprint description clearly said it could not stack, what if there was a loophole? The Workbench was idle anyway, and he still had extra Jute Grass, so he crafted another Basic Backpack. Only after confirming that the second one truly could not be bound did he give up.
For the remaining time, he did not go far. He chopped trees near the wooden cabin.
After felling four trees in succession, he received a reminder.
[Players, take note. Night will fall in half an hour. Darkness represents the unknown and danger. Please enter your shelter before nightfall.]
Half an hour?
He could still chop one more tree.
Qi Yu sped up his movements.
[Critical yield triggered. Wood x20 obtained.]
Qi Yu brightened and stored the wood in his backpack. The interface now showed 17:55, yet the world outside was still brilliantly sunny with no sign whatsoever that night was approaching.
Qi Yu did not dare gamble on it. He hurriedly stored everything in his backpack, entered the shelter, and shut the door. A few Jute Grass plants were left outside the doorway.
The inside of the cabin immediately dimmed.
Although the starter cabin had no windows, its rough wooden door did not fit perfectly into the frame, so a little light still seeped through.
Qi Yu began taking stock of what he had gathered that day.
[Jute Grass x99]. He had had forty left after making two backpacks, then passed another patch of Jute Grass while chopping and pulled up enough to bring the total to ninety-nine.
Thank you, Jute Grass, for teaching him that the maximum stack of identical items in a backpack slot was ninety-nine.
[Wood x70]. He had chopped down five trees in total, and with good luck triggered critical yields twice, gaining an extra twenty units of Wood.
[Wild Banyan Berries x70]. He had encountered these along the way, and they could be eaten directly.
[Stone x99]. Once he had the Basic Backpack, gathering stones became very convenient.
[Low-Quality Wood x9] [Dry Bark x3]. These had dropped when he encountered a dead tree and struck it once with his axe. He did not know what they were useful for, but his backpack had space, so he picked them up.
His vision abruptly went black.
That was not a metaphor. It was literal.
The cabin, which had still contained some light a moment ago, plunged into night in an instant. It became pitch black, and he could not see a thing.
So there was no transition at all? The world simply switched from day to night without warning?
Qi Yu spent a little time adapting to the darkness. Slowly, faint outlines of objects emerged before his eyes—thanks to his experience in the apocalypse. Nights in the apocalypse had been equally dangerous, except there had not always been a safe shelter like this for him to stay inside.
Over the years, he had trained a pair of eyes capable of seeing in the dark.
After finishing his inventory, he walked over to the Workbench.
[Required materials detected. Consume Wood x50 to craft Wooden Bed?]
Thirty seconds later, a plank bed 1.5 meters wide and 2 meters long appeared inside the shelter.
Qi Yu placed it against the wall.
Although he could now make things out, he could only barely see their outlines, and there was nothing else he could do.
So he simply sat on the wooden bed and opened the regional chat channel.
The moment he opened it, he froze. At the top of the chat channel, the player count that had previously been 99999/100000 had become 99987/100000.
The chat channel was clearly discussing the same thing:
[I Want Cola: What's going on? How did more than ten people disappear all at once?]
[Silence Doesn't Mean I'm Wrong: Help! It said night was coming and then it became night in one second. Not even a transition! I'm blind now!]
[Jiangnan Misty Rain: I have a question. The survival interface is lit up. If we sit around chatting in complete darkness, are we going to become nearsighted?]
[Believe in Science: Whatever you do, don't leave the cabin! I got the survival game's warning earlier too, but I was chopping a tree right outside my door. The tree was almost down, and the sky didn't look dark at all, so I figured I'd finish first. The second I was done and started carrying the wood back, the entire world went black. I knew something was wrong and sprinted for the door. Thank God I was close! The instant I pushed the door open, I felt something in the darkness touch my back. My whole back is still numb!]
[Young Master: @My Fate Is Mine, Not Heaven's, big shot, do you know what's happening?]
My Fate Is Mine, Not Heaven's actually came out and replied.
[My Fate Is Mine, Not Heaven's: I don't know the exact situation either, but the survival game issued a warning. Everyone should avoid taking risks casually.]
[Monkey No. 1: There's nothing in the cabin and we can't go outside. Are we really supposed to sit here all night? My bones will ache if I sleep on this floor till morning.]
[Civil Engineering Bro: Didn't you chop trees and gather resources during the day? Prioritize gathering the materials for a Workbench. Treasure chests can contain blueprints, and you can use the Workbench to turn them into actual items.]
[Monkey No. 1: I spent the whole day chopping and only got through a tree and a half. That crappy axe is complete garbage. I've got five or six blisters on my palms and they hurt like hell. My arms are so sore I can barely lift them. Chopping also drains Stamina, and when Stamina runs out you get exhausted and have to eat, but all we have is plain water and steamed buns. I seriously want to die. Just kill me quickly already. I don't want to live.]
[Guoguo: Big shot, do you have any extra Wood and Stone? @Civil Engineering Bro. I'll pay you back after I gather enough resources tomorrow.]
While reading the chat channel, Qi Yu opened the Trade page.
The Trade channel, which had been completely empty the last time he looked, was now packed with listings:
[Item: One pair of men's socks. Exchange for Wood x10.]
[Item: Wild Fruit x10. Exchange for Fresh Water 200 ml.]
[Item: Wood x10. Exchange for any meat food, 200 g.]
…
Qi Yu actually saw one that tempted him:
[Item: Fresh Fish 400 g. Exchange for any blueprint.]
The words "fresh fish" made him swallow reflexively.
He had eaten fish once, when he was very young. A senior at the base had hunted a huge mutant fish. Since Qi Yu was one of the children at the base, he had been given a piece of fish meat the length of his thumb.
It had been more delicious than anything he had ever tasted.
But an old man nearby, someone who had lived a very long time, had said mutant fish tasted awful. Decades earlier, before the apocalypse, fish had been truly delicious. The flesh was fresh and tender, whether grilled, fried, or simmered in soup…
Qi Yu almost made himself drool just imagining it.
He shook his head and returned to reality.
Fresh fish looked wonderful, but he had no fire.
Even if he did, he was not short on food right now. Trading something as precious as a blueprint for it was clearly not worth it.
He remembered something and searched the listings for blueprints.
Unsurprisingly, there was nothing.
He continued by searching for [Dry Grass] and [Cotton].
A string of listings appeared.
