Chapter 23

Cai Sheng was busy hauling his stuff upstairs, while Su Han watched in silence, and managed to smack down a humongous mosquito at lightning speed.
Seeing that, Cai Sheng genuinely felt what it meant to have a sense of security! He started hauling his stuff even faster.
Zhong Rui stepped out of his room and called, “Anyone got any rope? Or even just string?”
Cai Sheng blinked, then replied absentmindedly, “There should be some in the kitchen.”
Zhong Rui didn’t bother with pleasantries: “Go grab it for me.”
Without another word, Cai Sheng abandoned his moving project and scampered off to the kitchen to hunt for rope.
“Thinking about making a boat?” Su Han asked.
Zhong Rui paused, then smiled ruefully, “You really don’t miss a thing, do you?”
Su Han murmured, “All the shops outside are shuttered. No way to buy an inflatable boat, so I was thinking of a DIY option too. But...don’t you think it’s a little early to be building a boat?”
What if it gets stolen before we even need it?
“First time trying, so I want to make a few. That way if something goes wrong, we’ve got backups. Plus, I don’t trust this system not to screw us, one night, the water could be up to our door.” Zhong Rui looked resigned.
Su Han considered for a moment and had to admit he had a point. So she volunteered, “Alright, I’ll come help. What’re you planning on using to build them?”
“I took a little stroll around, turns out the bamboo in the nearby park is top-notch. I’m thinking of chopping it down for a raft.” Zhong Rui already had a plan in mind.
Su Han pointed to the pitch-black sky outside, rain coming down in sheets, her expression deadpan. “You seriously think this is prime bamboo-chopping weather?”
“I'd rather suffer now than flail around in the water later.” Zhong Rui was unfazed. “More importantly, bamboo’s the best material we’ve got for a boat right now.”
“Then knock yourself out. I’ll try to figure out something else.” Su Han had absolutely zero interest in going out to play in the rain.
So Zhong Rui had to head out solo.
Cai Sheng returned clutching a coil of rope, a little puzzled not to see Zhong Rui around. “Where’d he go?”
Su Han called back casually, “Something urgent came up. Just hand the rope to me.”
Cai Sheng obediently gave her the rope, then scurried off to keep hauling their gear around.
Su Han tossed the rope into Room 502, then wandered idly through the inn.
Ever since Cai Sheng announced rent would have to be paid in actual goods, there were way fewer customers in the place. Then came the tornado and hailstorm, some couldn’t handle it, and just vanished in a flash of white light. Others made a break for it, who knows where they ended up.
Now, apart from one tenant moving their luggage up from the second to the fourth floor, everyone else had barricaded themselves inside, huddled tightly in their rooms.
Su Han looked slightly baffled. “If you’re gonna move, why not just go up to the fifth floor?”
Cai Sheng beamed, clearly eager to please. “The fifth floor is reserved for you two VIPs. For safety’s sake, I won't let any other tenants up there. Just the three of us have the whole top floor!”
Su Han pieced it together, the owner himself lived on the fifth floor. Of course he didn’t want any randoms getting close and threatening his precious life. She couldn’t help but find it funny, though she only replied mildly, “Yeah, that works.”
Su Han made time to check out the empty rooms and soon had a decent idea of their options. She was still mulling over her plan when Zhong Rui came in, soaked to the bone.
“No luck with the bamboo?” Su Han arched a brow, a faint smile on her lips.
Rainwater dripping off his shoulders, Zhong Rui grumbled, “I’m not dumb enough to go it alone. The original plan was to hire someone to chop bamboo with food as payment.”
“But the whole place is deserted. No sign of anyone, even after I knocked door to door.”
“And the middle of the day feels like midnight, not to mention, it’s pouring buckets and you can barely see a thing. Water’s pooled up almost over my knees. Moving around is nearly impossible. So I came right back.”
“Sounds like a disaster.” Su Han murmured. “Then again, we are at the endgame here.”
“So, what’s your move?” Zhong Rui asked his teammate.
Su Han gestured loosely at the vacant rooms, totally nonchalant. “Some of these have real mattresses, others just plank beds. Take the wood planks, make a boat.”
Zhong Rui was silent for a beat, then said, “I know planks can be used, but they’re not ideal. A wooden boat that lets in water will sink fast. A bamboo raft would last longer.”
Su Han shrugged, spreading her hands. “Not like we’ve got better options. When you’re out of choices, you just gotta grit your teeth and go for it.” Hey, a boat’s a boat.
“Fair point.” Zhong Rui finally gave up resisting. He went to find Cai Sheng and explained the situation.
Before he even finished, Cai Sheng cheerfully said, use the plank beds however you want, just make sure there’s room for him on the boat.
Zhong Rui agreed, and the three of them set to work.
Step one: dismantle the beds. Step two: assemble something floaty. But they ran into trouble almost right away.
Su Han rested her chin in her hand. “We’re gonna need a hammer and screws.”
Cai Sheng scratched his head miserably. “But we don’t have a hammer, or screws. Now what?” The island was basically a dead zone now. Who knew where to even look?
Zhong Rui’s tone was heavy. “Worst case, we just sit on the planks and hope for the best.”
“That seems... risky,” Su Han doubted. “Tip over once and you’re done.”
Zhong Rui shot back, “Got a better idea?” With no materials and no tools, a plank boat was honestly the best they could manage. They could even use the doors if they had to, but it wouldn’t make much difference.
Su Han fell silent.
Cai Sheng let out a nervous laugh, playing peacemaker. “Hey, maybe we don’t even need a boat! The rain might let up tomorrow, right? And we’re already safe up here on the fifth floor.”
Zhong Rui said nothing. Banking on the system suddenly going soft and making things easier, yeah, like that was going to happen. But at this point, he didn’t have any other ideas either.
“Sitting here worrying won’t help. Let’s see how things play out.” With that, Su Han turned and retreated to her room.
The air in the room was thick and stifling, a heat that pressed down, making it hard to breathe.
Su Han took several deep breaths, but it didn’t help her calm down. In fact, the swelter only made her more irritable. She couldn’t help herself, she opened the window on the off chance a breeze might drift in.
Instead, something else flew in uninvited.
“Bzzzzzz, ” Several mosquitoes zipped around the room, whining right in her ears and making her head pound.
Unfazed, Su Han grabbed a book and wielded it as a deadly weapon, taking out two mosquitoes in quick, ruthless swats.
Not sure if it made a difference, but the surviving mosquitoes only seemed to get bolder, one even buzzed right up to her ear.
Su Han swung the book near her head, driving it away. Meanwhile, she thought bitterly, “No AC, no fan, no mosquito coils, no net, how’s anyone supposed to live like this?”
And even worse, the world outside was pitch black thanks to the downpour. With the power out, the room wasn’t much brighter. Hunting mosquitoes in the gloom was a nightmare. Every so often, lightning would flash and briefly light the place up.
She considered lighting a candle, but remembered bugs always go straight for the light. She wasn’t about to turn her room into the only glowing spot on a dark island with the window wide open, she’d just be inviting every mosquito in a mile radius to a house party.
“I’m gonna have to make a decision,” Su Han muttered to herself.
Opening the window made the room far more bearable, but it also meant inviting every mosquito in the universe inside.
Shut the window and it would get stiflingly hot, but once she'd smashed the last mosquito, blissful silence would reign.
Which way to die would she rather choose? Su Han wavered for a moment, then made up her mind. She threw the window wide open for an hour to let the temperature drop, then sealed it shut. After that, she lit a candle in the middle of the room and started her crusade against all things small and winged.
No question about it: mosquitoes were the most infuriating creatures on earth. Tiny, swift, obsessed with hiding in impossible-to-reach corners. Just tracking one down was brutal, let alone wiping out the entire clan.
One minute Su Han was perched on a chair, swatting at invaders on the ceiling; the next, she was stalking silently into a corner to strike with assassin-like precision. By the time silence finally fell and the buzzing stopped, she was ready to collapse onto the floor.
"What a ridiculous instance," she grumbled, drifting off to sleep in a haze of annoyance.
The next morning, she woke with an inexplicable itch crawling up her arm. She scratched it instinctively, then opened her eyes, and snapped fully awake. Four angry welts glared red from her arm, alongside a bright smear of blood and a squashed mosquito corpse. Clearly, she'd managed to kill the thing mid-bite, a small, sweet taste of revenge.
"There’s no way to wipe out every mosquito hiding in the shadows," Su Han sighed, dejected. But then she thought, well, one less is one less, having just one bloodsucker eyeing her up beat being swarmed by a whole horde of them.
"Hmm?" Su Han glanced at her status bar and frowned.
Satiety: 70%, Cleanliness: 85%, Stamina: 90%. Status: Good, currently being bitten by insects.
"So getting bitten gives you a debuff?" Su Han muttered, sighing from the bottom of her heart. "If you don’t stock up on medicated balm (removes 'insect bite' status), how is anyone supposed to survive the later stages of this instance?"
She said this while rubbing balm onto her skin. Instantly, Stamina +20. The "insect bite" status vanished.
Suddenly, a memory flashed, "If I remember right, didn’t Zhong Rui and I clear out the entire pharmacy on day one?"
Su Han: "…"
In other words, unless you restocked through the system shop or managed to grab balm in the beginner instance, everyone else in the same instance had no choice but to tough it out with this annoying debuff.
As she lit a (figurative) candle for her unlucky fellow players, Su Han couldn’t help feeling smug, at least she acted fast, and didn’t end up among the pitiful masses.
Just then, the system’s cold mechanical voice cut into her thoughts: "Day 17. Weather anomaly. Temperature rising further. High: 35 degrees Celsius."
"With rising temperature, glaciers are melting and sea levels continue to climb."
Su Han rushed to the corridor and looked outside. After just one night’s sleep, the first floor was now completely underwater. At this rate, the second floor would flood soon, too. If anyone went down to the lobby floor now, they’d be neck deep in water, if not completely submerged.
Cai Sheng stared at the swirling floodwaters below, shuddering. "Good thing we switched rooms," he muttered. Otherwise, drowning in your sleep wasn’t out of the question.
Su Han didn’t answer. Her brows knitted with worry, this was only day 17! How were they supposed to make it to day 20?
"Do your best, then leave it to fate," murmured Zhong Rui, appearing at her side at some point.
Su Han immediately got the message, don’t stress over the instance reward; keeping your spot in the tournament mattered more than anything.
She pressed her lips together, decision made. Waving her team closer, she called, "Everyone, to my room. Now."
Zhong Rui followed, calm as ever.
Cai Sheng: "…"
For some reason, that sounded way more loaded than it should.
Once in room 501, Zhong Rui stood quietly off to the side.
Su Han began clearing the table and chairs. Then, from her personal inventory, she pulled out several comforters, heavy rolls of plastic wrap, and a few fat rolls of duct tape.
Zhong Rui caught on instantly. "You… you’re seriously going to turn this into a boat?"
"Relax, it’s totally doable," Su Han replied breezily. "I watch a ton of survival shows, one episode, they made a raft using whatever was lying around and crossed a river with it."
"I scoped out the inn first. The bedding came from unoccupied rooms, grabbed the plastic wrap and tape from the kitchen. No one else has a clue."
"Come help out, this is a two-person job, way too much for just me."
Zhong Rui: "…"
He had a sneaking suspicion she’d only called him over because she needed manual labor. His expression turned oddly complicated at the thought.
Without even looking, Su Han knew exactly what was running through his head. She said seriously, "I don’t plan on telling anyone else I’m building a DIY boat. This stays between us."
"If we bring an NPC, grabbing things from my inventory would be a nightmare."
"And if we hauled extra players along, the more people, the bigger the problem. Plus, too many people and the boat will sink, no question. If someone gets vengeful and sabotages the raft, we’re doomed."
"So… your final decision is?" Zhong Rui pressed her for confirmation.
Su Han’s voice was solemn as a judge. "Final decision: We build two bedding boats. One for sailing, one backup. Only the two of us get a spot. I trust literally no one else."
"If that answer satisfies you, how about getting over here and actually helping? The system’s way nastier than I expected, the water’s rising fast."
So basically, everyone else was untrustworthy, but he was just trustworthy enough? The thought put Zhong Rui in a good mood. He rolled up his sleeves and walked over with a smirk. "Tell me what to do, I’ve got the hands."
Su Han started directing: "First, fold the comforters nice and tight. Tape them all together until everything’s secure. Then wrap the whole thing in a dozen layers of plastic wrap, we want it watertight. Then… instant boat."
With enough supplies, raft-making wasn’t that bad. The catch was, flying solo made it nearly impossible.
Like now: Zhong Rui hugged the stack of bedding while Su Han did the taping, easy. If she’d been alone, trying to hold everything steady and manage the tape would’ve taken forever.
Same with the plastic wrap. While Zhong Rui held the finished raft steady, Su Han could work at lightning speed. Without him, she’d need three or four hours, minimum.
If she asked someone else for help, word would get out easily, and besides, once you owe someone a favor, how could you turn around and refuse when they ask to board your boat?
So honestly, catching Zhong Rui and making him her workhorse made Su Han feel incredibly lucky.
With the two of them working together, the first quilt raft took shape in no time.
Su Han declared a short break before they'd make a second one.
Zhong Rui carefully inspected the finished quilt raft, surprised to find it actually looked pretty solid.
Out of nowhere, Su Han asked, “If not for this quilt raft, were you really going to drift on a plank?”
In fact, she'd wanted to ask this yesterday. In her eyes, Zhong Rui was strong enough to clear the beginner instance, he shouldn’t be the type to just sit around and leave things to fate.
Zhong Rui sighed softly. “You can’t cook a meal without rice, you know.” Without any materials, there was nothing he could do either.
Su Han wasn’t convinced.
But the next second, Zhong Rui switched gears. “Still, drifting on a plank doesn’t mean just waiting for death. There's always a way to turn things around.” Just like hiding out in some forest in the beginner instance, it’s not the same thing as giving up.
“Fair point.” Su Han looked thoughtful.
After their break, they got back to work. By the time they finished off the plastic wrap, their second quilt raft was done. And now they were also running out of tape.
“How about we each take one, and keep them separate?” Su Han suggested.
“Sure,” Zhong Rui agreed cheerfully, and generously let his partner pick first.
In theory, the two rafts differed a bit, the more layers of wrap, the better the waterproofing. But Su Han didn’t care, just grabbed one and tossed it straight into her inventory.
Zhong Rui took the other without a word.