Chapter 1

After a long day’s work, Su Han got home, threw together something quick to fill her stomach, and then went straight to scrolling through the “Survival Maniac” forum.
There’s a certain crowd in this world, even in a peaceful era, with nothing to worry about, they’re always vigilant, always on alert for the worst. After all, who knows which will come first, tomorrow or disaster?
That’s what “Survival Maniac” forum members are like, worrywarts with a plan for everything. For example,
“I’ve got enough food and water at home to last me a full year.”
“Bought a backpack, stuffed it to the brim with emergency supplies. If anything goes wrong, it's grab the bag and go. Only problem, there’s just so much stuff. Too heavy. Thank god I have a car: I keep the bag in the backseat, otherwise there’s no way I’d be hauling it everywhere every day.”
“We’re stocked up on all kinds of home medical supplies. On the way: a combat knife, a gas mask, military boots, a Kevlar vest. Now the real question, who sells the best canned food? Give me your top two recs. I’m stocking up.”
Of course, sometimes the paranoia backfires spectacularly,
“Ten years ago, I panic-bought so much table salt during that radiation leak scare that I’m still not done with it… I’ve cried myself to sleep in the bathroom over it.”
“Pfft.” Su Han couldn’t help but snicker. She clicked into the thread for a closer read, spotting the bittersweet regret dripping from every word.
“Back then, I was paying ten bucks a pack for salt in a frenzy. Can’t sell it, nobody wants it for free either!”
“A whole decade later and I’ve still got a pile to get through. Who knows when it’ll be gone.”
“Thank god salt doesn’t go bad, I’ll just take it slow… feeling ancient.jpg.”
Finishing the thread, Su Han looked thoughtful. “Guess I don’t need to hoard that much seasoning.”
There’s always something to learn from others’ mistakes, every lesson helps her fine-tune her own prepping plan. And when crisis does come, she’ll be ready to handle it even better.
After a while, just as Su Han was about to log off for bed, she spotted a newly pinned, trending post, freshly posted and racking up replies like wildfire.
Su Han blinked, wondering if she’d misread. She checked again. The headline was loud and clear: “The world’s first survival-type full-dive VR game is about to launch. The developer, Jinjiang Group, is hosting the inaugural Endless Survival Tournament as promo, everyone’s encouraged to join!”
A full-dive VR game, first of its kind! As a self-proclaimed survival maniac, Su Han clicked into the post, digging straight for the sign-up link.
One month later, registration for the first Endless Survival Tournament closed. The game was set to begin on October 1st.
From the year 3000, interstellar era onward, October 1st through 10th was a government-mandated public holiday, no exceptions. All players who registered for the survival competition could rest easy, knowing they’d have the time off.
On October 1st, as soon as dawn broke, Su Han eagerly slid into her VR capsule and waited in the darkness for the tournament to begin.
At exactly 8 a.m., all participants logged in.
The world flickered white. When Su Han’s vision cleared, she stood enveloped by endless mist.
A mechanical voice blared in the ether: “Welcome to ‘Limitless Survival Game.’ Please choose one of the following three classes.”
Su Han squinted at the options flashing before her eyes,
“Class: Doctor. Talent Skill (Beginner): Each day within an instance, you have a 30% chance to receive common medicine, and a 5% chance to receive rare medicine.”
“Class: Miner. Talent Skill (Beginner): Each day within an instance, you have a 30% chance to receive gold, and a 5% chance to receive rare gemstones.”
“Class: Nutritionist. Talent Skill (Beginner): Each day within an instance, you have a 30% chance to receive a ‘bottle of milk + a slice of black bread’ meal set, and a 5% chance to receive a deluxe set: ‘three bottles of milk + a fluffy meat bun + a slice of chocolate cake.’”
“Note: These random events can all occur in the same day.”
Su Han needed only a split second to see the bigger picture. The Doctor meant a steady supply of medicine; the Miner meant hard currency; the Nutritionist meant food and water security.
Every class was tempting, each held an edge in different scenarios.
When times are brutal, medicine’s worth more than gold. In peace, cash is king and lets you buy what you need. But stranded on a deserted island? Forget gold, food and water would be all that mattered.
So hard to decide...
After a full minute of weighing her options, Su Han finally made up her mind. “I’ll be a nutritionist.” No matter the environment, you can’t survive without food or water. If I’m out of other resources, at least I can barter.
The mechanical voice responded, “Class selected. Please wait as the system processes your request.”
A few seconds later, a translucent screen appeared right in front of Su Han, displaying,
Name: Su Han (real-name verified)
Level: 1
Class: Nutritionist (Beginner Talent unlocked)
Satiety: 100/100
Cleanliness: 100/100
Stamina: 100/100
Below the stats was an explanation.
Satiety: 75% - 100% is dark green – stuffed. 50% - 75% is light green – not hungry. 25% - 50% is yellow – a little hungry. 0 - 25% is red – starving.
Eating food restores your Satiety.
Cleanliness: 75% - 100% is dark green – squeaky clean. 50% - 75% is light green – not dirty. 25% - 50% is yellow – getting grimy. 0 - 25% is red – stink bomb.
Using daily essentials restores cleanliness.
Stamina: If satiety or cleanliness drops below 50, stamina will start falling (the lower those are, the faster your stamina falls). If stamina hits zero, your character dies, you’re knocked out, no respawns.
If you’re injured or have a debuff, stamina drains over time. (You can use the right medicine to clear debuffs.)
With satiety and cleanliness both in the green, or if you sleep or get medical treatment, stamina will gently recover.
For every 30 days you survive in an instance, level +1, max satiety +100, max cleanliness +100, max stamina +100, and talent skill +1.
"They really want to see who’s got the deepest pockets, huh..." Su Han muttered.
The lower your satiety and cleanliness, the faster your stamina nosedives. So, if you want to stay healthy, you need to constantly hunt for food and daily supplies and keep both stats in the safe zone (green or higher).
In an instant, “stockpile supplies” moved to the very top of Su Han’s to-do list.
After reading everything, Su Han closed the floating stats panel.
System message: “Player has received 100 system points. You may use these points in the game shop to buy supplies.”
“Note 1: You cannot shop in the store while inside an instance.”
“Note 2: Shop inventory is limited, first come, first served. If a product sells out, it will display ‘Sold Out’ and will only be restocked before the next instance.”
Su Han “!!!”
Items can actually sell out in the shop? Careful folks who obsess over class and stats analysis are totally getting screwed over!
She dove into the shop, ready to snatch whatever she could.
The shop window popped up; the sheer variety of goods was jaw-dropping. Food, clothes, daily necessities, plus every kind of weapon from single-edged and double-edged knives to daggers, pretty much everything you could dream of. Of course, this is a system store after all.
Su Han clutched her measly 100 points, thinking, no way is this enough for everything she needs!
Watching shop stock vanish by the second, Su Han sighed, locked onto her targets, and blew through all 100 points in a flash.
Her shopping cart looked like this,
Personal Inventory: 50 points, ten slots; each slot can hold up to 100 of the same item.
Super Value Starter Pack: 40 points, includes ten bars of soap, ten bottles of water, ten meat floss cream buns, and five bandages.
Soap: Restores +25 Cleanliness after use, costs 2 points each.
Bottled Water: 250ml, raises Satiety +10 per use, 2 points.
Meat Floss Cream Bun: Raises Satiety +25 per use, 2 points.
Medical Bandage: Restores Stamina +10 and ends “Bleeding” status, 4 points.
In other words, items worth 80 points for just 40 in a starter bundle, an absolute steal! So Su Han didn’t hesitate for a second choosing that.
Her last 10 points were exchanged for in-instance currency: a total of 1,000 Bei (the game’s local money).
At first glance, it seemed like having money meant you could just buy more food, water, and medicine, so using points to get supplies might be a waste. But... who says the instance will be peaceful enough for that? What if you can’t buy any of it?
And even if you could, who knows what ‘Bei’ are worth? What if all 1,000 only buys a single bottle of water? That’d be a disaster.
Factoring it all in, Su Han felt good about her three picks. Maybe it wasn’t a perfect loadout, and there were still some things missing, but what she had covered most situations she might face.
As soon as she finished shopping, Su Han watched the inventory for Personal Inventory plummet from 1,000 in stock to just 722. Her stomach dropped. A horde of players was clearly about to start a frenzy of panic buying.
Lucky for her, she’d already finished shopping.
System prompt: “Preparation complete. Ready to enter the game now?”
Without hesitation, Su Han chose, “Yes.”
A flash of white light, and Su Han officially entered the world of the game.
The system began its orientation: “This round’s scenario is a survival game set against a backdrop of hyperinflation. Do your best to stay alive.”
“Note 1: After surviving 10 days, the player meets the clearance condition and can request to exit the instance at any time.”
“Note 2: If Stamina drops to zero, your character dies and you’re out of the competition.”
“Note 3: The longer you survive, the greater your rewards.”
“Note 4: If you complete the extreme challenge, survive 20 days in the instance, you’ll receive a special reward. After 20 days, all surviving players will be teleported out automatically.”
“Note 5: The A5 Town server (your current server) includes 100,000 players and 400,000 NPC residents.”
“Note 6: As of 9 a.m. today, hyperinflation officially begins. (In real life, inflation above 50% monthly is considered hyperinflation; values here are tweaked for gameplay.)”
Hyperinflation begins at 9 a.m.? Su Han faltered, caught off guard.
She logged into the game at 8 a.m. sharp: choosing a class, skimming through information, and grabbing supplies all took her about five minutes. Now, in-game, the time showed exactly 8:06.
All at once, a strange sense of urgency crashed over her, it was like she was racing the clock, and every second wasted was a crime!