Chapter 50

The next instant, a mechanical voice sounded: “Welcome to the ‘Infinite Survival Game.’ You currently have 75 points. Would you like to enter the game store and shop?”
Su Han immediately chose, “Yes.”
The store interface appeared. She shot straight to the limited-products section, before each round, the store always offered two rare guns or explosives, with only 100–300 in stock. Only the fast and the lucky ever snagged one.
This time, the hot items were 100 flamethrowers and 200 packs of timed explosives.
Before her eyes, the stock numbers plummeted by the second. Su Han unleashed her legendary click-speed and barely managed to snatch up three packs of timed explosives.
Timed Explosive: Set to detonate anytime between 1 second and 1 hour. At detonation, every creature within a two-meter radius suffers a non-discriminatory attack, -30 stamina, worth 15 points.
A second later, both limited items were sold out.
Su Han let out a long sigh of relief. Competing for these was honestly more nerve-wracking than clearing any game level!
She still had 30 points left. After a moment’s thought, she bought a sleeping bag, salt, MSG, soy sauce, and sugar. Then came a pot, a bowl, chopsticks, she kept shopping until her points hit zero.
Done, she closed the interface. The system prompted: “Preparations complete. Would you like to enter the game now?”
Su Han didn’t hesitate: “Yes.”
A flash of white light, and she officially entered the fifth instance.
The moment she arrived, Su Han frowned. It looked like a city, but with crumbling ruins everywhere, the place was stripped bare, desolate as hell.
What the heck happened here?
The system voice chimed in: “This round features a wartime siege survival scenario. Do your utmost to stay alive.”
“Note 1: Survive 10 days to meet the completion condition. At that point, you may request to exit the instance at any time.”
“Note 2: If your stamina hits zero, your character dies and you are eliminated from the competition.”
“Note 3: The more days you survive, the greater the end rewards.”
“Note 4: If you complete the ‘Extreme Challenge’, survive 15 days, you’ll receive an extra prize. After 15 days, all surviving players will be teleported out automatically.”
“Note 5: City E44, your server, currently contains 1,000 players and 19,000 resident NPCs.”
“Note 6: At 9:00 this morning, the game will officially begin.”
“Note 7: The residents of E44 have been trapped here by war for an entire year. Water, electricity, and gas are all cut off. Fifty white supply crates are scattered around the city, players must find them themselves.”
“Note 8: This round, your portable storage is restricted to just one slot. (Items on your person aren’t affected.)”
With barely a pause, Su Han reorganized her inventory at top speed. She pulled out her fishing rod, inflatable raft, and pump, then stuffed all medicines into her toolbox, followed by the new cookware, condiments, and finally food, bottled water, and daily supplies.
In no time, the toolbox was crammed to capacity, not a single scrap of space wasted, every last gap packed tight with candy and chocolate.
Once ready, she told the system, “I choose the toolbox.” Just to be sure, she even pointed to it with her hand, no way was she trusting some dumb system to guess right.
As soon as she picked, the system asked, “Item selection complete. Confirm?”
Su Han answered immediately, “Confirm.”
The system declared, “Preparation complete. Have a great game.”
Su Han pulled out her backpack, dropped in a bottle of water, a handful of candy, and a few bars of soap. Then she glanced around, picked a random direction, and set off.
Right now, her mood was a real jumble. Ever since discovering that selling off cheap gold jewelry to the system could net her a pile of cash, she hadn’t gotten a single supply drop…
But her personal inventory was already packed to the brim, there really was no more space to cram anything else in. With that thought, Su Han felt a little more at ease.
Soon, the system’s robotic voice announced, “Day 1 of the game. Current number of white supply crates: 50/50.”
Where should she hide? Su Han stopped in her tracks, frowning in thought.
At that moment, three filthy men approached, eyeing her with obvious bad intentions.
NPCs tough enough to survive a year without water or electricity! Su Han’s chest tightened, she sprang into action. While running, she whipped out a slingshot and steel pellets from her inventory, turned, and fired off eight shots in quick succession.
The steel pellets whizzed through the air, perfectly staggered and spaced.
If the men didn’t slow down, those shots would almost certainly smack their shins, probably sending them face-first into the pavement. After thinking it over, the three wisely slowed down and stopped chasing.
Su Han took the chance to bolt, vanishing from their line of sight in seconds.
Only when she was sure no one followed did she slump against a corner, gulping for air and trying to catch her breath.
Getting swarmed the moment the game starts? Adrenaline rush, check. Su Han took a few deep breaths, forcing herself to calm down.
Just then, a girl with a backpack dashed past her in a flash.
“Get her!” The three thugs gave chase without letting up.
Su Han quickly pressed herself flat, hiding in the shadows and holding her breath. She definitely didn’t want to be spotted.
Using a conveniently placed corner, the girl dodged into a pile of ruins and tucked herself away, getting out of sight just as her pursuers sped off, convinced their target had escaped down the street.
A long, relieved sigh echoed out.
Su Han slowly stepped closer, calling out from a distance, “How about teaming up?”
The girl looked clean, backpack slung over her shoulder, definitely another player.
Su Han might be a proud soloist, but she wasn’t about to get knocked out this early. Co-op beats nothing, even if she had to share the game.
The breathing faded, so quiet it felt like Su Han imagined it.
She spoke sincerely, “You’re a girl, I’m a girl, it’s a lot safer if we stick together.”
“Relax. There’s no one else around here but me.”
“If you’re still not comfortable, that’s fine, I’ll just leave on my own.”
“But you’ve got one minute to decide. Those guys could circle back any second.”
Ten seconds later, the girl who’d been running for her life finally stepped out of the rubble, hesitant but present.
Taking a closer look, Su Han blinked in surprise. Why did this girl seem so familiar?
“I’m Yu Baowen. We met in the beginner instance.” The girl spoke at last, her voice soft but steady.
Su Han racked her brain, but had no clue who Yu Baowen was…
Yu Baowen had to prompt her: “You traded me soap for inventory sorting, remember?”
“Ah, that was you.” It all clicked for Su Han. The name hadn’t stuck, but the exchange was crystal clear. If it hadn’t been for this girl, she might never have discovered how powerful the inventory really was.
“All my teammates got wiped last round. What about you?” Yu Baowen shot her a look, her turn for questions.
Su Han was vague. “I’m on my own, at least for now.”
She did have teammates, technically, but she had no clue where they were. Might as well be solo.
Yu Baowen nodded. “Alright, let’s team up. Just so we’re clear: if this doesn’t work out, we part ways, no backstabbing allowed.”
She seemed trustworthy from before, but Yu Baowen wasn’t letting herself get comfortable. People were unpredictable, especially after so much time and so many games, who knew how anyone might change?
“That works for me,” Su Han agreed, stepping out first. “Let’s get out of here.”
Yu Baowen followed in silence.
The storefronts lining the street had all been smashed open, most of them gutted long ago and blanketed in dust.
Su Han ducked into a random shop, hoping to find somewhere discreet to talk strategy with her temporary partner.
Yu Baowen came in seconds later, automatically hugging the wall and keeping her distance.
“How about a little honesty, let’s lay it all out?” Su Han offered, direct as ever.
Yu Baowen didn’t hesitate. “Sure, you go first.”
Su Han didn’t mind, flashing a friendly smile as she introduced herself: “Su Han. My innate skill is Nutritionist, there’s a chance I get food and water every day.”
Not a lie, but she left the specifics purposely vague.
Innate Skill (Max Level): Each day in an instance, there’s a 90% chance of receiving a ‘milk and black bread’ meal set. A 25% chance of unlocking a deluxe meal, three milks, a meat floss cream bun, and chocolate cake. And a 5% shot at truly rare food.
So, unless her luck completely tanked, food and water were practically guaranteed for her every single day.
Yu Baowen took her turn, “Yu Baowen, Fuel Supplier. I get a chance at lighters, candles, charcoal, and matches every day.”
Whatever Su Han shared, she gave exactly as much.
“Fuel Supplier, huh…” Su Han’s gaze grew thoughtful.
“I know my skill is kinda trash, so I basically play like I’ve got no skill at all,” Yu Baowen said, half-joking, then moved on, cool as ever. “With nine slots in our portable storage sealed, what did you put in your last slot for this round?”
Recognizing that Yu Baowen knew all about inventory tricks, Su Han was upfront. “Water, food, supplies, tools, meds, I brought a bit of everything. Stocked up on daily necessities since there’s nowhere to resupply.”
“Same.” Yu Baowen nodded. “Mostly daily supplies, three days’ worth of food, some tools for self-defense, and essential meds.”
Three days’ of food? Su Han’s eyebrow arched. Was her new teammate’s stash that small? Why only three days?
Or maybe she’d packed enough daily supplies to barter for more food and water down the line?
Su Han kept her face unreadable. She thought, maybe she just doesn’t need any help. Maybe with the right tools, she can handle clean water and food on her own, after all, she’s made it through four instances already.
She was running a dozen calculations in her head, but on the surface, she kept it cool, acting like nothing was amiss. “That’s the gist of things. So, what’s your plan?”
Yu Baowen shot her new teammate a weird look, like she’d just asked the dumbest question in the world. “Obviously, we dodge danger and gather supplies. What I’ve got in my inventory isn’t getting me to day ten, not a chance.”
Su Han: “……”
Stone-faced, she thought: Great, now I can rule out the chance she’s lying. This girl really did only pack enough rations for three days, so of course she’s laser-focused.
People like her, who had enough food, water, and daily necessities to breeze through twenty days, could easily lose sight of the game’s actual challenge.