Chapter 22

Day 13. Outside, snow floated down in thick, fluffy flakes. Inside, two people sat by the fire, sipping hot water, warm and perfectly at ease with each other.
Su Han even thought, if they could add a hotpot to the mix, it’d basically be a holiday at home.
Right then and there, someone began banging loudly at the door and yelled, “It’s me, the landlord! Open up!”
Zhong Rui cracked the door open and asked, “What’s up?”
Cai Sheng, bundled in a coral fleece blanket, lashes frosted white, teeth chattering hard, looked about ready to cry. “T-this damned weather is freezing! I know you have a fire in there, can’t I please come in and warm up for a bit?”
“Not happening.” Zhong Rui shot him down, stone-cold. With just the two of them inside, he could actually relax. But throw in Cai Sheng? Who knew if he’d pull some backstab move?
That’s the nature of survival games, everyone’s out for themselves. Playing saint is a quick way to get burned, especially considering Cai Sheng had previously led bandits right to their door.
And with that, Zhong Rui started to shut the door for real.
Cai Sheng rushed to block it, blurting out at top speed, “I’m not asking for a freebie, I’ll pay! I’m filthy rich!”
Zhong Rui paused. He’d burned through nearly all his prepared cash during the last round of stocking up. If he could get his hands on a little gold or jewelry, he’d be cruising through the next instance.
“How much?” He started bargaining without even fully letting Cai Sheng in.
Cai Sheng looked utterly miserable, crushed inside and out. His own place, and not only did he not get to collect rent, now he had to pay just to step inside. Absolute tragedy.
But what could he do? The four-person robber team had wiped the floor with him, and then these two took care of the robbers without breaking a sweat. No way was he going to risk getting on their bad side.
He thought for a second, then tried, “Two hundred Bei a day?”
“Goodbye.” Zhong Rui was speechless and nearly slammed the door.
“W-wait!” A blast of icy wind swirled into the hallway, making Cai Sheng shudder so hard he snapped back to full alertness. He scrambled, “I meant to say two pieces of gold, not Bei!”
Terrified the door would close for good, Cai Sheng yanked two small gold bars out of his pocket as fast as he could.
Zhong Rui was taken aback, the guy was holding two perfect little five-gram ingots, gleaming and temptingly solid.
His expression softened. “Wait right here.” He ducked back inside to consult his partner.
Cai Sheng waited outside, hovering nervously.
A moment later, Zhong Rui opened the door wider. “Come in.”
Overjoyed, Cai Sheng hustled inside. The instant he crossed the threshold, he could feel the difference, outside, the cold stabbed to the bone; inside, it was a rush of warmth that chased the chill right out of him.
Totally worth every coin.
“It’s brutal out there,” he groaned, collapsing in a corner. “When you exhale, it freezes midair; if your skin’s exposed, it’s frostbitten in minutes. I’ve lived on this island for years and never seen weather this hellish, seriously, what evil have I done?”
Su Han tossed out a casual, “Hang in there.” Frankly, not many would survive until day twenty, anyway.
Cai Sheng could only shake his head, feeling more hopeless by the second. Who knew when he’d finally hit his limit?
But eyeing the mountain of snacks, firewood, and thermal gear around the room, he couldn’t help feeling oddly reassured.
The next morning, right at nine, the system’s robotic voice announced, “Day 14: Hailstorm today. Low temperature: minus thirty degrees. Those with stamina over eighty points are immune to frostbite.”
No sooner had the words dropped than child-fist-sized hailstones started pelting down outside.
Cai Sheng’s eyes went round in disbelief. He muttered, “What’s next, knives made of ice falling from the sky?”
“Who knows?” Zhong Rui shrugged.
Just then, a faint shout drifted up from downstairs: “Anybody there? Is the landlord home?”
“Someone’s calling for you,” Su Han reminded him.
Cai Sheng shook his head frantically. “Go out now and you’ll freeze solid! Any empty room is up for grabs, sleep wherever you want. The landlord’s far too busy to bother with rent.”
Su Han was speechless.
A short while later, the voices downstairs faded into nothing. Maybe they’d left, maybe they’d found a place to stay, no way to tell.
Su Han glanced out the window, all she could see was gleaming white, not a soul on the street.
She wondered: Has the cold chased everyone indoors? Or did everyone out in it already turn to white light and get wiped off the map?
She gave her head a little shake, shoved away those thoughts, then settled back into her chair to quietly wait out the storm.
For players who’d prepped thoroughly, the cold snap wasn’t that hard. Just stay in your room, do absolutely nothing, and you’d be fine. But for those caught off guard, the cold was brutal and nearly impossible to fight.
Luckily, Su Han and Zhong Rui were in the first group.
Next morning at nine, the system’s mechanical voice rang out again: “Day 15. The cold wave is over; temperatures will begin to rise.”
Su Han waited for more details, but the system stayed silent. She froze in surprise, no debuff? But in the next instant, it hit her: if your stamina wasn’t high enough, you’d still get frostbite, and without the right medicine, the negative effect would stick with you, a permanent debuff.
Outside, the temperature had climbed to 10 degrees, not exactly balmy, but a world better than the last few days.
Cai Sheng let out a long breath, relief washing over his face. He stood up and said politely, “Now that it’s warming up, I should head back to my own room. Thanks for letting me crash here the past couple days.”
“No problem at all,” Zhong Rui replied, steady as ever.
With their goodbyes said, Cai Sheng left the room.
Zhong Rui doused the campfire and turned to ask, “What about you?”
“I’m heading back too, if you need anything, just message me.” Su Han waved, grabbed her stuff, and made a beeline for the door. She’d barely gotten any sleep these past days, sharing a room with two guys. Now that she finally had some peace and quiet, all she wanted was to catch up on her sleep, ASAP.
Left on his own, Zhong Rui locked the windows and doors, then flopped straight onto the bed. With Cai Sheng around, he’d never really let his guard down for a second.
Su Han slept like the dead for a full twenty-four hours, not stirring until the system’s robotic voice startled her awake. “Day sixteen. Incoming storm. Extreme weather conditions, temperature suddenly rising to 30 degrees, mosquito swarm warning.”
Su Han cleared out a storage box just for her down jacket, comforter, blankets, all stashed neatly away. Only then did she have the mental energy to worry about the next predicament.
“So it’s a midsummer storm event, huh?” She propped her chin on her hand, deep in thought. “Mosquitoes, probably gonna inflict some kind of debuff. The heat will make us burn through water faster, and the storm...”
She fell silent. Much as she hated to tempt fate, Su Han couldn’t shake the feeling that, given how shameless the system could be, this would spiral into a full-blown flood. Everyone would end up swimming for their lives.
The more she thought about it, the less she could sit still. She shot up and got ready to head out, hoping to find a raft or inflatable boat while she still could.
Outside, the snow piled high along the streets was melting at a dangerous speed.
Su Han walked along the road, taking in every market, stall, and shop she passed. But the streets were eerily quiet, empty, like a ghost town.
Every shop was shuttered tight. Not a single one open. She wandered around for ages, but didn’t pass a single market.
Even with her ear pressed to the breeze, there wasn’t a hint of haggling or vendors calling out from the stalls.
Su Han muttered to herself, How many people didn’t survive this part? Why isn’t there a soul in sight? It’s like we’re stuck on a dead island.
She prowled the empty streets for half an hour and still came up empty. Su Han sighed, ready to give up and turn back.
Of course, just as she made it back to the inn, the sky went instantly pitch-black. Rain started pounding down, and thunder rumbled overhead in bursts, the kind of racket that sounded almost triumphant.
“How’s it looking out there?” Cai Sheng was too scared to leave, terrified of being robbed, but couldn’t hide his curiosity about the other survivors, so he asked whoever he ran into.
Su Han shook her head, “No clue. I walked the whole neighborhood, didn’t see a single living soul.”
Cai Sheng muttered, “Don’t tell me everyone’s dead?” The words had barely left his mouth before they spooked even him. Cai Sheng clammed up immediately, afraid to keep tempting disaster.
“Who knows?” Su Han thought privately, Honestly, if everyone’s gone, it might not be so bad. At least I won’t have to worry about getting shot by other players. If this turns into another beginner-instance gunfight, there’s not enough stamina in the world to survive that mess.
“Man, why am I always the unlucky one stuck in these horrible situations?” Cai Sheng groaned, face full of misery.
“If you’ve made it this far, you’re luckier than most.” With that, Su Han hurried off to rest. She had a sense the next few days were going to be a grind. Better stock up on energy while she could.
The rain didn’t let up all day, in fact, it only got worse.
By evening, Su Han sneaked a look outside and realized that if you tried to stand on the road, the water would already be up to your calves.
“How’s there water coming into the inn?!” Cai Sheng was panicking, getting more and more anxious. But water flowed downhill, and more kept spilling into the inn by the minute. There was nothing he could do.
Su Han reminded him lazily, “You keep staying in a ground floor room and I’m gonna have to come fishing for you tomorrow morning.”
Cai Sheng was silent for a long while before muttering, “No way, right...”
“Hey, if you’re not worried, by all means, keep your ground floor suite.” Su Han shrugged. “But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Cai Sheng switched his tune immediately: “You never know! What if disaster really hits? If I get soaked, whatever. But if my stuff gets trashed, that’s a disaster I can’t survive.”
If the food and supplies got wet, they’d be ruined. Worse still, if the stash floated off with the floodwaters, he’d have nothing left to cry over anymore.
So, without further hesitation, Cai Sheng made up his mind: he was moving up to 503, right next door to the two big bosses of the building. If things went south, maybe living next to the “resident guardian beasts” would keep him lucky.