Chapter 39

After teaming up, Su Han gave Zhong Rui a quick heads-up, then logged off the forum. Next, she dug into every survivor guide and tech thread she could find, cramming for the next round.
Surviving the third instance had made it painfully clear just how limited her knowledge really was. She got blindsided by too many weird emergencies. Time to hit the books and do some serious training in survival skills.
On the fourth day, Su Han crawled into her VR capsule a few minutes early, like always.
At precisely 8:00am, all contestants logged in right on schedule.
The view swirled, and suddenly, Su Han was surrounded by dense fog.
A second later, the mechanical voice chimed out, "Welcome to the Infinite Survival Game. You currently have 125 points. Would you like to enter the game shop?"
Su Han clicked "yes" without hesitation.
The shop interface popped up. She breezed through her purchases, she’d done this plenty of times by now.
She’d burned through a lot of Desert Eagle ammo lately, so she immediately restocked to thirty rounds.
She still had enough food, water, and supplies, so she just picked up a folding umbrella, a raincoat, and a tent.
The inflatable raft she’d tried was way too bulky, so she ditched it and bought a massive storage crate, a rubber boat, and an air pump instead.
With a few points left, Su Han debated for a while, then snagged a giant ice block and several popsicles. In real life, saltpeter ice is reusable, but in-game, it’s a one-shot item. After thinking it over, she figured it was better to stock up on ice than stockpiles of saltpeter.
Once every last point had been spent, Su Han closed the shop window.
The system asked, "Preparations complete. Would you like to enter the game now?"
No hesitation. Su Han chose, "Yes."
A flash of white light, and Su Han was officially in the fourth round.
The moment the instance loaded, the system began its spiel: "Welcome to this round’s survival challenge: deserted island scenario. Do everything you can to stay alive."
"Rule 1: Survive 10 days and you fulfill the clear condition, you can choose to leave the instance at any time after that."
"Rule 2: If your stamina drops to zero, you die, and you’re out of the Tournament."
"Rule 3: The more days you survive, the better your rewards."
"Rule 4: If you complete the Extreme Challenge, surviving 15 full days, you’ll get an extra reward. On Day 15, all remaining players will be auto-teleported out."
"Rule 5: The D16 island server holds 100 players."
"Rule 6: For this round, your portable storage and all usual items are frozen. You may select any five items to bring into the game."
Su Han: "…"
For a moment, she almost couldn’t keep her face from twisting, she’d grinded so long to stockpile all that gear, and now this trash system dares to freeze her inventory?!
Thank god, the next second the system continued: "Rule 7: Special environment rules. Cleanliness stat is disabled. As long as you’re not starving, you won’t suffer negative status effects. (No need to eat staple food)"
Which meant: this round, all she needed to worry about was food, water, and stamina. Su Han’s mood finally started to calm down.
She thought it over, then said, "I’ll take my toolbox."
As far as she knew, that toolbox was stuffed with all sorts of handy junk, so she expected the box, complete with contents, to show up. Instead, the very next second, a translucent storage box appeared before her...completely empty.
Su Han: "…"
What a scumbag system! Absolute ripoff!
But she had to bite the bullet and ask, “If I pick the wrong thing, can I cancel?”
The system replied, “Yes.”
Su Han let out a sigh of relief. She quickly said, “I don’t want the toolbox anymore.”
Immediately, the semi-transparent storage box vanished.
Only five items allowed into the game… Su Han’s mind raced.
Then she fired off another question: “Does a slingshot plus marbles count as one item or two?”
The system didn’t hesitate. “Two items.”
Su Han almost cursed out loud, but there wasn’t much time left. She didn’t want to get stuck in a hard-mode instance with no supplies, so she’d decided to sort her personal inventory before entering the game at all. Now, of her one hour of free time, only 20 minutes remained. Judging by how shameless the system was, she wouldn’t put it past them to just randomly pick five items for her if time ran out.
“Cleanliness isn’t an issue, so all I really need to worry about are food, water, and stamina,” she muttered to herself.
“With my maxed-out nutritionist talent skill, I have a good shot at getting enough food and clean water. What I really need to worry about is other players attacking, or disasters that could wipe out my stamina.”
“And if I pick tools, they’re not just for defense, they can help me hunt or fish, too.”
After some quick thinking, Su Han finally made her choices: fire starter, dagger, Tang sword, protective vest, and a one-liter bottle of mineral water.
The most outrageous part? Even the vest she wore on her back counted as one of the five. But at least the fire starter kit, flint plus magnesium rod, only counted as one, otherwise she would’ve picked a lighter instead.
Four solid, practical tools. Good enough for survival. As for the fifth? She’d hesitated a bit.
A fishing rod was tempting. Her new tent looked great, too. But with her luck, sometimes her talent skill just wouldn’t work. What if she went days with nothing to show for it? So, whether she couldn’t fish or had nowhere to sleep, nothing could shake her decision to pick mineral water.
Right now, Su Han felt seriously lucky. Thanks to stockpiling in her storage boxes, she actually had a one-liter bottle on hand. If it were someone else, they’d probably just panic and grab whatever was nearby.
Once she’d finished, the system asked, “Five items selected. Confirm?”
“Confirm,” Su Han answered without hesitation.
The next second, the system announced, “Player receives a complimentary backpack. Enjoy the game!”
As the words faded, a black backpack appeared on Su Han’s shoulders.
Su Han finally thought, maybe the system isn’t completely heartless. It would’ve sucked to go without a bag, but she just couldn’t waste an item slot on one, everything else was too essential. A freebie backpack? Yeah, she’d take it.
She slung it off to check, fire starter, dagger, Tang sword, and her massive water bottle were all inside, while the vest was still on her body. Nothing missing. She swung the pack back on and took in her surroundings.
It was an island, water on all sides. She was standing alone on a beach, nobody in sight. Not far off, a stretch of dense woods, so deep she couldn’t see the end. The waves were lapping at her feet, like they were urging her to get moving.
“There are only a hundred players in this instance, they should all gather up eventually,” she muttered, and started walking along the shore.
Ten minutes on, and the system chimed: “Day 1 of the game.”
Suddenly, Su Han felt her backpack sag. Opening it, she was delighted to find a carton of milk and a chunk of dark bread inside.
“Not bad, luck’s holding up,” she said with a grin.
She kept going. Another ten minutes or so and Su Han was about to wonder if she’d picked the wrong direction, when a clamor erupted ahead.
People! Su Han perked up, quickening her pace.
Soon, a makeshift camp came into view.
The early arrivals were already busy. Groups clustered together, some collecting sticks for a fire, some carving wooden bowls with daggers, others kneading mud into makeshift pots. A couple of people grabbed tools and headed into the woods in search of food.
Su Han was still taking it all in when someone clapped her on the shoulder and called out, “Hey, you made it!”
Su Han braced herself to fight, then recognized the voice, familiar. She spun around and, yep, it was An Rongyue.
“Small world! Didn’t expect to see you here,” Su Han greeted her breezily.
“Yeah, what are the odds?” An Rongyue laughed, then solemnly declared, “Thanks for having my back in the last instance. This time, all the drinking water you need, on me!”
Su Han paused a moment, then quickly caught on. She lowered her voice, a little moved. “Desalination setup?”
“Exactly.” An Rongyue smiled, then immediately gritted her teeth, enunciating every word, “This time, the seawater’s not toxic. Drink all you want.” Clearly, she was thinking of the disaster that was her ‘lucky E’ experience last time.
Su Han was suddenly very grateful for that quick assist in the third instance. She accepted the offer without a hint of modesty and added, “In that case, I’ll catch you a fish dinner.”
“You? Catch fish?” An Rongyue looked stunned, she was about to point out even the buffest guys struggled with that. But just as she opened her mouth, it hit her, the girl standing in front of her was definitely not an ordinary little miss.
After a moment’s thought, An Rongyue agreed. “Alright. I’ll collect some dry firewood and meet you back at camp.”
“Deal,” Su Han replied, crisp and to the point.
So, with the plan set, they split up: An Rongyue to handle water and firewood, Su Han to try her luck fishing.
But first, fishing prep.
Su Han headed into the woods, grabbed a branch as thick as her arm, and sharpened one end with her dagger. Once it was ready, she went to the shore.
Five or six guys were already trying to fish there. Judging by their frustrated faces, results were not great.
One guy held his breath, jabbed the sharpened stick lightning-quick into the water. The surface rippled, then he cursed under his breath, “Damn it, got away again.”
Su Han, who'd watched the whole circus unfold, had mixed feelings. Thanks to the refraction of light, what they actually saw was the fish’s reflection, the real fish was swimming beneath it. Clearly, this guy had flunked middle school physics, or he wouldn’t keep missing.
A flicker darted through her sight. Su Han didn’t hesitate; striking fast, sharp, and dead on target, she jabbed the stick downward. When she lifted it, there it was, a wriggling fish speared clean through.
Bullseye!
The five or six big dudes on the shore just stood there, utterly gobsmacked, frozen speechless by the display.
With perfect calm, Su Han unhooked the fish, tied it up with some grass she’d picked from the woods, and dangled it in her hand as she scanned for her next target.
Sure enough, she soon spotted another thick, juicy fish. In a flash, faster than words, her stick shot out. She raised her arm, and, bam, another fish neatly skewered.
Landing two fish in a row, Su Han grinned, heading back to camp beaming with satisfaction.
All the other players looked as if they’d just been electrocuted. Mouths twitching, they muttered, “She’s totally cheating, right??”