Chapter 48

Even with the heat, Su Han kept busy making charcoal, hard work now beats scrambling helplessly later on.
Before lighting the wood, she gathered dry leaves, thatch, and other flammables, piling them up beside her logs. Then she sparked her flint against a magnesium rod, one quick strike and embers bloomed. The thatch caught instantly, flames licking out in every direction.
Su Han watched from the side, calm and patient, waiting for the fire to burn down.
After a long while, several trees had burned down completely into charcoal.
Su Han gathered up some vines and bundled the charcoal tightly together, lashing them into a neat stack before dragging it all away. As for what she couldn’t carry, she just left it behind without a second thought.
At the same time, Zhong Rui wandered not far from the cave, hunting a little as he went. The cave entrance never once left his line of sight, making sure no one could sneak up on them.
When they got back to the cave, one took care of cooking, the other tidied up their supplies; they split the work seamlessly, as if they’d been a team forever, perfectly in sync and in good spirits.
Outside, the sun scorched everything it touched, but occasional breezes slipped through the cave, so it always stayed pleasantly cool inside.
For a moment, Su Han felt like the good days were just around the corner. Once they finished stockpiling, she could practically imagine coasting through the rest of the instance, holed up in their little hideout with nothing to worry about.
"Don’t get too cocky," Zhong Rui warned. "That breeze feels nice now, but wait till it turns cold, it’ll be a real pain then."
"I know everything’s got pros and cons," Su Han shrugged, not taking it too seriously. "That’s exactly why I’m busting my ass to stash all this firewood and charcoal. Plus, we’ve got a bunch of rabbit pelts and one massive deer hide. Should be enough for a harsh winter."
"Yeah." Zhong Rui answered softly.
Day 8: Gathering charcoal, hunting, eating.
Day 9: More charcoal, more hunting, more eating. Su Han even took a trip to the maple grove to refill every bamboo tube with sap once again.
Truth was, even if they ever ran out of supplies, both Su Han and Zhong Rui were the type to figure out another way to survive at the last minute. Still, having a huge stockpile just made everything feel so much safer, a comfort that was hard to put into words. And honestly, scrambling to fix things in a crisis was way more stressful...
Next morning, the system’s robotic voice sounded right on schedule, almost angelic: "Day 10 of the game."
Four bottles of milk, one piece of black bread, one meat floss cream bun, one chocolate cake, and assorted odds and ends were spread all over the ground.
Su Han tossed the meat bun to Zhong Rui and dug right into the chocolate cake herself, mumbling through a mouthful, "Wonder how many people are left trying to clear this round."
"There’s always a few, right?" Zhong Rui shot back offhandedly.
A moment later, the system chimed again: "Storm incoming. Four survivors now remain on D16 island."
Su Han, "…"
She couldn’t help glancing at her partner, then down at herself, momentarily speechless, well, there’s two spots taken right here.
Zhong Rui, on the other hand, was the picture of calm. "Good. Now it’s just nature we have to beat, not people."
With equal numbers on both sides, even if the other two survivors teamed up, he had zero fear.
No sooner had the system finished than a sudden gale roared outside, the northern wind howling. A beat later, rain began to pound down in fat, furious drops, smashing the ground with wild intensity.
At the same time, a bitter wind knifed straight into their cave.
Su Han rubbed her arms, shivering as a chill swept right through her. She frowned, "It’s already freezing, if it starts hailing later, how are we supposed to survive?"
Zhong Rui thought for a moment, then moved a wooden rack to the mouth of the cave. He folded the deer hide over it and tied it tight with grass rope, creating a heavy double-layered pelt curtain that blocked the wind beautifully.
To make sure the rack wouldn’t topple over, Zhong Rui stepped outside and found two big stones, lugging them back to brace the structure firmly in place.
"Much better," Su Han started to smile, but suddenly a gust swept through from somewhere deep inside the cave, making the fire flicker dangerously, it nearly went out.
Su Han grumbled in frustration. The cave was full of cracks; a gentle breeze was nice in hot weather, but in the cold, even a small draft was ruthless.
Zhong Rui grabbed a few rabbit pelts and studied them for a while, then out of nowhere asked, "Can you sew?"
If they stitched the rabbit skins together, they could make one gigantic pelt, almost as big as the deer hide.
"Let me think…" Su Han paused, deep in thought, then suddenly her eyes brightened. She rummaged around in one of the willow baskets and pulled out some deer sinew.
"Found thread," she muttered, and darted outside to the pile of food scraps, picking out a fine bone from the remains.
"And now," Su Han smiled with satisfaction, "we have a needle too." But as another blast of icy rain lashed her, she shivered and dashed back into the cave in a hurry.
Zhong Rui stepped up and helped, deftly shaping the bone into a proper needle with his knife.
Right after, Su Han threaded the sinew through her new bone needle and got to work stitching every rabbit pelt together.
When the rabbit pelt curtain was finished, they used it to plug the worst of the gaps. With two thick curtains in place, Su Han could instantly feel the difference, the fire burned steady and strong again, and warmth started spreading back inside.
Once everything was done, they sat by the fire in silence.
Su Han lowered her lashes, her mind racing. If they ever ran low on supplies, no matter how awful the weather got, players would have to risk everything to hunt outside. But their stockpile could easily last till day fifteen.
Plus, with nothing to do except hunker in the cave, their satiety barely budged. She did the math and realized two meals a day would be plenty to keep their energy up.
In other words, the safest way through was to do absolutely nothing. Just sit and wait for time to pass until it was all over.
With that figured out, Su Han relaxed, quietly waiting for the game to end.
The tenth day breezed by.
On the eleventh day, Su Han triggered an innate skill and scored another hunk of black bread and a bottle of milk.
Twelfth day, their bamboo tubes of maple sap finally ran dry.
Thirteenth day, the system announced: "Temperature plummeting. Blizzard warning. Two survivors remain on D16 island."
Su Han’s heart skipped, so now it was just her and Zhong Rui left. The island was truly deserted.
"Only three days to go," Zhong Rui murmured.
Su Han had zero interest in risking her life, especially now that she couldn’t access her portable storage and medical supplies were so scarce. If anything happened, they’d be stuck.
"Almost through, just a few more days," she murmured back, quietly encouraging him.
Zhong Rui wasn’t bothered by any of it. He was just bored, making conversation to pass the time. When she spoke, he just smiled, unbothered.
Just then, another icy draft swept through, nearly toppling the rack holding the rabbit pelts. The cold bit straight through, chilling them to the bone.
If only there were duct tape, Su Han would have had that rabbit skin slapped over every crack in the wall by now, no gap left uncovered.
"So cold," Su Han muttered, rubbing her arms without thinking.
Zhong Rui stepped to the side, rummaged through his willow basket, and produced his stash of bandages, anti-inflammatories, ointments, and antidotes. He set them beside Su Han with his usual clipped efficiency. "Take what you need."
No escaping the cold, when the weather's out to freeze you solid, you can only rely on being a meds hoarder. The legendary "consume-all-the-drugs" survival strat.
Su Han accepted without fuss. "Thanks."
Meanwhile, she thought, The real challenge of round four is to hunt enough food and stay alive, outside, in weather trying to kill you.
And yet... teaming up with Zhong Rui, hoarding every supply in the early days, she'd basically eliminated any need to venture out now.
She'd dug a few pit traps near the cave; odds were another unlucky animal had wandered in, ready for the pot. Not far off, the grove of sugar maples meant fresh drinking water was always a quick trip away. But honestly? No need. The cave's stockpile was more than enough for a safe clear, why risk extra work or danger?
After some thought, Su Han added a handful of rice, some preserved venison, and a bit of mineral water into a bamboo tube. Lid on, into the fire it went.
Anyway, she thought with a grin, her portable storage space would be back next round, so this cave haul? Might as well eat her fill and enjoy.
At midnight on day fifteen, the clock’s hand finally reached twelve. Right on cue, the system's robotic voice chimed in: "Round Four complete. Congratulations, player, on surviving the Extreme Challenge."
"You have earned extra rewards."
"All surviving players in this instance will be automatically teleported out."
A flash of white, and Su Han and Zhong Rui were gone from the instance.
She had just finished off the last of the rice; there was still some marinated venison left, and worse yet, she hadn't even had time to open the chips, chocolate, or plain yogurt...
Suddenly, a translucent panel appeared before Su Han. It read,
Name: Su Han (Real-name verified)
Level: 3 (XP 25/30)
Class: Nutritionist (Advanced level Talent, XP 25/30)
Satiety: 360/360
Cleanliness: 360/360
Stamina: 360/360
The mechanical voice resumed: "Processing, please wait."
After about thirty seconds: "You have earned 15 (days survived) * 5 = 75 points."
"You have received bonus rewards. Please select any two from the following options:"
"A: +5 experience points."
"B: Receive 3 grenades."
"C: +50 points."
Grenades: Detonate three seconds after pulling the pin. Can be thrown. All living things within one meter are attacked indiscriminately, stamina -30.
Su Han didn't hesitate, A and B, no question. Leveling up boosts all stats, so that was a given. She'd already stocked up on supplies, so extra points were irrelevant. But grenades? Now those were precious as weapons.
In the marketplace, hot weapons were always limited stock, having points wasn't enough; you had to be faster than the horde to grab one. With the special reward now, no contest, Su Han took the grenades, of course.
Next, the system’s robotic voice spoke again: "XP 30/30. Congratulations! Level +1. Satiety +100. Cleanliness +100. Stamina +100. Talent level +1."
The updated panel read,
Name: Su Han (Real-name verified)
Level: 4 (XP 0/30)
Class: Nutritionist (Max-level Talent, Cannot upgrade further.)
Satiety: 460/460
Cleanliness: 460/460
Stamina: 460/460
Talent Skill (Max): Each day in an instance, 90% chance to obtain a “milk & black bread” set; 25% chance of a “three milks, one meat floss cream bread, and one chocolate cake” deluxe set; 5% chance for rare foods.
Note: All of these can trigger simultaneously.