Chapter 16
by GideonChapter 16: Snow Mountain Town 16
The side of the car still bore the canned food factory’s logo.
“Who has a map of Snow Mountain Town?” Sweet and Sour Fish asked.
Xiao Yang quickly pulled one out.
The map of Snow Mountain Town had been obtained from the Novice Gift Pack. Sweet and Sour Fish didn’t have one, likely because this wasn’t her first dungeon.
Comparing the town map, Sweet and Sour Fish drew a circle in one corner.
“Right here. My skill detected a large amount of food.”
“This area is a bit big,” Lingling Eight said, leaning in to look and muttering, “And there are no buildings here.”
Within the area Sweet and Sour Fish had circled, the map indeed showed no building markers.
“Let’s go take a look.”
Everyone returned to their seats, and the off-road vehicle drove toward the marked location on the map.
A road led to the circle Sweet and Sour Fish had drawn. Although the road surface was in poor condition due to a lack of maintenance, it was at least not a true “off-road” journey, which saved a lot of time.
Occasionally, a few scattered Shadow Ghosts were attracted by the sound of the car, leaping from abandoned vehicles by the roadside to chase it, only to be quickly left behind by the off-road vehicle.
A Shadow Ghost abruptly appeared right in the middle of the off-road vehicle’s path. Lingling Eight narrowed his eyes, neither swerving nor braking, and drove straight into the Shadow Ghost, sending it flying over ten meters away.
Jiang Qibai and the others only heard a dull thud. The bumper seemed to be a total loss.
“Lingling Eight!” Sweet and Sour Fish cried out in anguish. “You’re paying for my bumper!”
Lingling Eight scratched his head. “I couldn’t dodge it. It was out of my hands.”
He added, “By the way, can you take this car with you? If you can bring it to the next dungeon, I think what you’re missing isn’t a bumper, but a ramming horn! I have a friend who can modify vehicles. If you’re interested, I can introduce you.”
Sweet and Sour Fish fell silent for a moment, no longer mentioning the bumper.
Twenty minutes later, Jiang Qibai’s group reached their destination.
As they got out of the car and surveyed their surroundings, they saw nothing but a bare, desolate road. The surrounding area was covered in shrubs and grass taller than a person, all of which had long since withered and turned yellow, creating a bleak and desolate scene.
“How could there be supplies in a place like this?” Xiao Yang asked, bewildered.
Luan Qi Ba Jiao turned to Sweet and Sour Fish. “Can you use that skill from before again? The one with the smaller range.”
Sweet and Sour Fish’s two skills were actually designed to be used in tandem: first, a skill with a massive range but vague localization, followed by a smaller-range, more precise skill to pinpoint the target once they were nearby.
Sweet and Sour Fish checked her status. “No, it’s still on cooldown.”
“I forgot you just used it,” Luan Qi Ba Jiao said, slapping his forehead.
“Let’s look around first,” Jiang Qibai said, grabbing a branch from the roadside and using it to push aside the tall grass. “If we really can’t find anything, we’ll wait for Sweet and Sour Fish’s skill to cool down.”
The group fanned out, each claiming a section to search. In truth, most of them already had a good idea of what they were looking for.
Highway. Wilderness. Food.
When you combined those three elements, the only logical conclusion was a crashed vehicle nearby.
Sure enough, in a deep ditch not far from the road, they spotted a small panel van overturned on its side. Through the vines that had nearly engulfed the vehicle, they could see the logo of a canning factory printed on the side of the cargo hold.
The discovery was so sudden that everyone’s eyes widened, their faces lighting up with incredulous joy.
It was clearly a delivery truck from the canning factory, likely bound for a supermarket or shopping mall. The driver must have turned into a Shadow Ghost while driving, causing the truck to veer off the road and plunge into the ditch.
After some effort, they managed to pry open the cargo doors. Inside, nearly half the hold was filled with canned goods.
A foul stench wafted from the interior—the impact of the crash must have crushed several of the cans.
Judging by the grime on the floor, though, the number of damaged cans couldn’t have been that high.
Without waiting for the smell to clear, the group rushed into the cargo hold, hauling out the cans to sort through them.
“Meat! We’ve got meat! Hahaha!” Lingling Eight laughed, his voice booming with joy.
“What a waste,” someone else sighed, gesturing to a crate of canned tomatoes. “This whole box got crushed under the others. They’re all ruined.”
“Wait, this one looks…” Sweet and Sour Fish trailed off, her expression relaxing. “It’s okay. It’s just dented, not leaking.”
They worked with practiced efficiency, tossing aside the spoiled cans as they counted and divided the rest.
In the end, each person received about six crates. Each crate contained twenty-four cans, weighing anywhere from 250 to 400 grams.
Meat was the dominant category. Jiang Qibai’s share consisted of two crates of corned beef, one of luncheon meat, and one of chicken. The remaining two crates were mixed assortments—a variety of soups and sides like cream of mushroom, oxtail soup, baked beans in tomato sauce, and peeled tomatoes.
Jiang Qibai’s Spatial Bracelet was nearly at capacity. She had to reorganize the supplies she’d scavenged from the staff dorms, stuffing any clothes that wouldn’t fit into the bracelet onto her body or into her bag. Only then did she manage to squeeze everything inside.
Sweet and Sour Fish took the wheel for the ride back. Perhaps the day’s haul had been so satisfying that the pressure finally lifted, because Lingling Eight, riding shotgun, was snoring like a chainsaw.
Silence had fallen over the car. Jiang Qibai glanced back to see that Luan Qi Ba Jiao and Xiao Yang had already fallen asleep in the backseat.
As Sweet and Sour Fish drove, a system notification popped up:
[ Player [Bai Qi] is requesting to add you as a friend. Accept? ]
She tapped “Accept” without a second thought.
“Can I send you the drink I owe you through the Safehouse mailbox?” Jiang Qibai asked from the back. She remembered that after the Safehouse’s overall upgrade, the mailbox had gained a material transmission function.
“Sure,” Sweet and Sour Fish replied. She realized Jiang Qibai might not just be asking for her permission, but also confirming if the Safehouse mailbox actually had that feature.
“Friends can send materials to each other, but there’s a daily limit,” Sweet and Sour Fish added. “And don’t treat the mailbox like a trading system. A stranger who adds you as a friend is still a stranger. Once you send something, you can’t get it back. For important items, face-to-face trades are still the safest bet.”
“Got it. Thanks for the warning,” Jiang Qibai nodded.
The group successfully returned to the town before nightfall. Jiang Qibai hurried back to her Safehouse, and the moment the lights flickered on, she felt an unprecedented wave of relief.
She desperately wanted to collapse onto her bed, wrap herself in the soft blankets, and sleep until dawn.
But glancing at the dust on her clothes and the various unidentifiable fluids from her fight with the Blood Terracotta, she didn’t even dare to sit down. She slipped into her house slippers, counted out twelve bottles of drinks, and sent them to Sweet and Sour Fish via the Safehouse Mailbox.
“Received,” Sweet and Sour Fish replied.
As she took off her jacket, the System’s voice rang out: [ Daily mission completed. Would you like to claim your reward? ]
“Claim.”
[ Monsters killed today: Blood Terracotta ×1, Shadow Ghost ×3. Score: 203.
You have received: Electric Water Heater ×1 Household Heating Stove ×1 Single-Tub Washing Machine ×1 Type I Functional Granules ×5 Soda Crackers ×2 Instant Purple Rice with Lotus Seed Porridge ×3 Self-Heating Rice ×3 Pork Bone Soup Cup Noodles ×5 Bottled Water ×5 Bandage ×1 ]
Without any reference point, Jiang Qibai wasn’t sure how good a score of 203 was. However, seeing the generous rewards, she knew she hadn’t missed the chance to fleece the System.
With a water heater and a washing machine, she would no longer have to boil water in a kettle over and over again just to bathe, nor would she have to scrub clothes by hand in cold water.
Of course, the most important addition was the home heating stove. Without it, winter in Snow Mountain Town would be lethal for Jiang Qibai.
She had started planning for fuel long ago, and she hadn’t forgotten that her Safehouse still needed a stove. But whether it was a coal stove or a wood-burning one, they were already rare sights. None could be found in town; only the farms in the countryside still had them. Jiang Qibai had an idea—the players in town were a diverse bunch, and perhaps there was someone who knew how to build a stove with bricks. She could pay them to build one for her Safehouse.
But she also had reservations. First, it would inevitably expose her Safehouse’s location, and she would have to let a stranger inside. As a player’s final line of defense, the Safehouse was highly private, and Jiang Qibai was unwilling to let other players enter it lightly.
Besides, the Safehouse was also subject to change. When Jiang Qibai went to find Mr. Tree, she had seen player [ cos ]‘s Safehouse, which was a two-story small building with a courtyard.
If I build the stove myself, will its current location still be suitable once the Safehouse upgrades and expands? Everything was an unknown.
Jiang Qibai had considered asking the Fuel Search Team about heating their Safehouses when she went with them, but this had saved her the trouble.
The rewards had been issued directly. The bathroom now had a water heater and a washing machine, and the Heating Stove was already installed. The main body was about the size of a nightstand, black and seemingly made of cast iron. There was a small door with a handle on the front for adding wood and removing ash, and a Stove Top on top where cookware or a kettle could be placed. A chimney pipe went straight up through the ceiling.
Jiang Qibai ran outside the Safehouse and shone her flashlight on it. A short chimney protruded from the matchbox-sized roof, topped with a rain cap.
Only after confirming the exhaust system was complete did Jiang Qibai finally feel relieved. Unfortunately, she had no firewood on hand and couldn’t use the Heating Stove immediately.
In the past few days, the outdoor temperature had dropped below zero. The Safehouse’s thermometer showed an indoor temperature of only twelve degrees. To avoid getting sick, Jiang Qibai usually fully armed herself inside the house, dressing no less warmly than when she went out. Yet, she still felt everything was freezing cold.
After stripping off her dirty clothes, Jiang Qibai took a long, hot shower. Drying her hair with the blow-dryer felt like being reborn.
Her stomach growled. She hadn’t eaten dinner yet and felt like she could devour a whole cow.
She walked over to her “arsenal,” her eyes roaming over the energy bars, self-heating rice, instant noodles, and canned goods. Seeing the stacks of cans, she felt like a millionaire.
After a moment’s thought, she grabbed a can of beef and a can of tomatoes, then tore open a bag of pasta and grabbed a handful of fusilli.
A combination of these… wouldn’t that make tomato beef pasta?
Pasta took a while to cook, but the beef and tomatoes were already cooked. Jiang Qibai boiled a pot of water just for the pasta. Once it was nearly done, she scooped it out and set it aside, then opened the cans.
She had two types of canned tomatoes in her stock: one with finely diced tomatoes and another with the large, peeled ones she had chosen now. She poured the tomatoes and their juices into a small pot, mashed them slightly with a spoon, added half the beef, and started simmering it with some water.
The rich aroma of tomatoes and meat wafted through the air as the sauce bubbled and boiled. Jiang Qibai tossed in the pre-cooked pasta, waiting until the sauce thickened and clung to the noodles. She took a small taste, found it a bit bland, and added a touch more seasoning before taking it off the stove.
Well, technically, she didn’t “take it off” the stove—she just carried the pot over to the table to eat. She really couldn’t bring herself to wash another dish.
Jiang Qibai was well aware that her cooking was strictly home-style, but that didn’t stop her from devouring the beef and tomato pasta while thinking it was a five-star meal.
The next day, Jiang Qibai slept until she woke up naturally. When she opened her eyes, the safehouse was still shrouded in darkness. For a moment, she thought it was still the middle of the night, but a glance at the time revealed it was already 7:30 AM.
She switched off the electric blanket and lingered in the warmth of her bed, only dragging herself out once the heat beneath her had completely faded. Getting dressed was an agonizing struggle.
Jiang Qibai had spent her childhood in the countryside. By morning, the old-fashioned stove in her family’s home would have lost all its heat, leaving every inch of air outside the covers freezing. Getting up early for school in the winter was a monumental challenge. To escape the cold, she would always pull her clothes inside the blankets and dress there, earning her mother’s comment that she looked like a wriggling green caterpillar.
Her eyes stung with a sudden, inexplicable warmth. Jiang Qibai covered her face, taking a deep breath to steady her emotions before finally swinging her legs out of bed.
She brewed herself a cup of coffee using the espresso concentrate she’d found in the bar. One sip made her life feel even more bitter, so she hastily stirred in some vanilla syrup.
Cradling the steaming mug, Jiang Qibai felt a spark of her energy returning.
The endless night truly could drain a person’s spirit.
The massive haul of supplies she’d gathered yesterday had lifted a huge weight off her shoulders. Today, she enjoyed a rare moment of leisure, tossing her dirty clothes into the washing machine and humming along to its rhythmic thrum as she prepared breakfast.
Back when she was a corporate drone, she’d just thrown something together in the morning, snacking on treats while slacking off at work. Now that her activity levels had spiked, breakfast had to be a proper meal. She boiled some instant noodles and retrieved the leftover canned beef from the mini-fridge, pouring the large chunks of meat and their savory broth into the pot.
Soon, a fragrant bowl of beef noodles was ready.
As her stomach filled, a sense of contentment slowly returned.
Ding!
The System’s notification sound chimed, signaling a message from a friend.
It was Mr. Tree: “The team is all here. Meet in front of the ‘cos’ Safehouse tomorrow at 8:00 AM.”
Jiang Qibai replied with a simple “Got it.”
Eight tomorrow morning… Jiang Qibai flipped through her calendar and checked the forecast.
Not good. Though tomorrow was supposed to be clear, a sudden temperature drop tonight would plunge the next day’s temperature below minus ten degrees.
Did they just happen to assemble the team right now, or did Mr. Tree notice the weather change and decide to hurry back with the fuel?
Jiang Qibai stood up and walked over to the Robbery Cat sitting on the cabinet. When she’d returned yesterday, she had emptied the cardboard box the canned food came in and placed the Robbery Cat inside.
The box was covered in obvious claw marks and bite wounds—clearly, the Robbery Cat had enjoyed playing with it. But no new Items had appeared around it.
I was hoping to get another Item before we set off tomorrow, but it looks like that’s not going to happen.
The horizon began to glow with the first light of dawn. Another day in Snow Mountain Town had begun.
Jiang Qibai took out the plastic sheeting she’d brought back from the canning factory, preparing to seal the gaps around the window. If she had a large, solid sheet of plastic, she could have covered the entire window for better insulation, but that would have blocked too much light. Besides, she didn’t have a sheet that big. All she needed to do was cover the seams where the window met the wall.
Under normal circumstances, she could have used nails or thumbtacks to secure the plastic, but Jiang Qibai didn’t want to leave a bunch of holes in her safehouse. Instead, she opened the System Mall to look for the right tool.
The prices in the System Mall were steep. Jiang Qibai had only made a handful of purchases from it—two power strips, a pack of underwear, and the water and electricity for the safehouse.
However, the Mall’s inventory was incredibly diverse. Jiang Qibai quickly found what she needed: sealing strips.
The sealing strips were highly adhesive, designed to stick to the plastic on one side and the wall and window frame on the other.
With only one window in the safehouse, Jiang Qibai spent six points on enough sealing strips to get the job done. The window was now fully sealed.
After sealing the window, Jiang Qibai finally had a moment to check her daily quest. It was a simple one: kill five Shadow Ghosts.
She planned to head to Central Square to pick up a few more things for her safehouse once she finished. The timing was perfect—everyone was busy with their own daily quests in the morning, and Central Square usually only started buzzing with activity after noon.
As she walked toward the square, she took out the Shadow Ghosts along the way. By the time she arrived, she had just completed her quest.
Central Square was even more crowded than it had been a few days ago. Many vendors, hearing news of the impending temperature drop, had seized the last bit of mild weather to trade supplies. Some even claimed this was their last time setting up shop, warning that any missed opportunities would be gone for good.
The prices of warm clothing had spiked noticeably. A player stepped forward, announcing they could quickly dry wood, and was immediately swarmed by eager buyers. In the end, some lucky individual won out, and the two struck a deal.
At one of the stalls, Jiang Qibai traded two bottles of drink for a pair of fleece-lined gloves. They only had a thin layer of soft fuzz inside, so they weren’t expensive. She tried them on, found they fit well without restricting her movement, and decided to buy them.
After buying the gloves, she asked the vendor, “Do you know where I can buy a pot and a kettle? They need to be safe for use over an open flame.”
The vendor, a middle-aged woman, immediately turned and shouted to the vendor next to her, “Old Wang, stop sitting around! We’ve got a customer. Don’t you have some pots? Bring them out for her to see!”
Old Wang, who had been curled up in a chair wrapped in a military overcoat, shot to his feet at her words. “I do, I do!”
He had kept some items tucked away in his Spatial Bracelet instead of displaying them. As Jiang Qibai approached, Old Wang immediately produced a kettle and a medium-sized flat-bottomed frying pan. Tucking his hands into his pockets, he said, “Take a look. These are all made of materials that can withstand an open flame. I found them in an outdoor gear shop—brand new and in great condition!”
He emphasized, “I can’t even bring myself to use this pan. If you want to trade for it, it has to be for food.”
The kettle was 1.6 liters, a bit smaller than Jiang Qibai had expected. The pan, however, was just right. She was alone, after all, and didn’t need a massive frying pan.
These cookware sets were designed for heating stove tops. Jiang Qibai already had a small pot, but she always felt something was missing. For one, she couldn’t fry or stir-fry anything; everything she made was just boiled. More importantly, she’d learned on her first day in the Dungeon that the System never guaranteed a constant supply of water and electricity. Any Dungeon could suffer a blackout or water outage at any time, making cooking a nightmare. She’d have to rely on the most traditional method: building a fire. A set of cookware that could withstand an open flame was absolutely essential.
Seeing her interest, Old Wang quickly chimed in, “Oh, how could I forget! This set also comes with a pot. Would you like to see it? You could buy them together—they’re a matching set, after all. It’ll look much nicer!”
Before she could even answer, he had already pulled it out. The pot was significantly larger than the one in Jiang Qibai’s Safehouse, clearly not meant for a single person. It was big enough to cook for two or three.
The frying pan didn’t have a lid, but the pot’s diameter was the same, meaning its lid would fit perfectly on the pan. Jiang Qibai felt a flicker of interest.
“Do you want beer?” she asked, turning the pot over in her hands.
Old Wang’s eyes lit up, but he was an old pro. In an instant, his expression returned to normal, and his tone held no hint of joy—in fact, he sounded almost reluctant. “I suppose.”
Jiang Qibai named her price: “Five beers and two cans of luncheon meat.”
She had already sold most of her beer to Sister Huang, leaving only a dozen or so in her Safehouse. Beer didn’t keep as long as spirits, and the remaining bottles were nearing their expiration dates, making them less valuable. She wanted to get rid of them to save space.
Old Wang shook his head. “That’s way too low. Beer doesn’t fill you up, and it’s ice-cold in this weather—you’ll lose all your body heat drinking it. This cookware set of mine is top-quality. Your offer needs to at least double.”
“Seven beers,” Jiang Qibai countered, adding two more.
“Add two more cans of luncheon meat.”
“One more. Or I’ll go see what else is out there.”
Old Wang chewed on the offer for a moment. “Deal!”
He cheerfully accepted Jiang Qibai’s beer and luncheon meat, and she packed away the three-piece frying pan set, continuing her stroll through the market.
Sister Huang and her bodyguards weren’t around today; she had no idea where they’d gone. Their usual spot was now occupied by a Player selling Items. The goods on his stall were high-quality, but the prices were exorbitant. Many people asked for the cost only to leave in disappointment.
Nearby, a crowd had gathered, their voices buzzing with intermittent discussion. Jiang Qibai drew closer to see what was happening. A man with a goatee sat at a small table, which was scattered with chocolates, candies, and other small snacks.
Goatee spoke slowly. “As I was saying, in certain rare cases, a dungeon’s level can change. For example, in our Snow Mountain Town, the System might suddenly notify you that the dungeon has leveled up from D-rank to C-rank.”
The people around him immediately started spitting and cursing, shouting, “Change the example! Don’t you know how to avoid jinxing us?”
Goatee complied smoothly. “Alright, alright. Let’s use a different dungeon. Say the Ancient City of Weiqu upgrades from D-rank to C-rank. That’s something we can’t control, but it does raise a question.”
“We entered as a D-rank dungeon. So when it’s time to draw the next one, will we be sent to a D-rank, C-rank, or B-rank?”
Mr. Tree had revealed that when players entered a new dungeon, they would only be assigned to one at their current level or one level higher. If their current dungeon unexpectedly leveled up, it would be a nightmare. Not only would it mean the difficulty of survival would increase, but if the next dungeon was calculated based on the new rank, they might be thrown into a dungeon two levels higher.
Everyone instantly tensed up, waiting for Goatee’s next words.
But Goatee wasn’t in a hurry. He cleared the table, then looked at the now-empty surface with a highly suggestive gaze.
Immediately, several hands reached out, placing small items like cookies and chocolates on the table.
Seeing that he had received enough, Goatee continued, “You don’t need to worry about this. Changes in Dungeon Level are considered anomalies. We still count the Dungeon’s level as it was when we entered.”
Jiang Qibai was drawn in by this whole routine and stopped to watch.
Goatee was like a street performer, but he wasn’t selling a performance—he was selling information. If the audience was interested and willing to tip, he would explain it publicly. If they couldn’t scrape together his speaking fee, no one would hear a thing.
Most of the people gathered around him were newbies who hadn’t been through many Dungeons. It was rare for them to find a channel to get information, and Goatee’s prices weren’t expensive. A quick crowdfunding effort was completely affordable for them, which was why so many people had gathered.
Goatee chose this method of selling information because the knowledge he was willing to share wasn’t precious to veteran players—it was common knowledge and wouldn’t fetch a good price. Only newbies would be interested, but newbies were notoriously poor and might not be willing to pay for a one-on-one session. Therefore, Goatee chose to lecture publicly in the Central Square, which also saved him the time of having to screen for Dungeon novices—they would simply flock to him.
A player in the crowd called out, “Tell us about some of the other Dungeons!”
Goatee tapped his chin, feigning a thoughtful expression. “Oh, there are so many. I wouldn’t even know where to start.”
It was a clear hint: the payment was insufficient.
The surrounding crowd promptly crowdfunded another round of offerings. Jiang Qibai placed an Energy Bar on the table.
Goatee looked satisfied. “Alright, there’s one Dungeon with an incredibly harsh environment. The air is filled with an acidic gas. If you stay in it without any protection, it will eventually burn your skin and respiratory tract. Even the Safehouse will drain your HP.”
The gathered Players started chiming in. “I know that one! You need a gas mask. I used to work in a factory; they have special filter cartridges for acidic gases.”
“What if you can’t get any protective gear?” another asked. “You’d be stuck in the Safehouse waiting to starve. How are you supposed to survive?”
A third Player added, “Not just that. If you can’t leave the Safehouse, you can’t complete your Daily Quests. The System even penalizes you for that.”
Goatee smiled. “The acidic gas appears periodically, not constantly. You still have opportunities to leave the Safehouse.”
Goatee leaned in, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. “There’s a rumor floating around this Dungeon. They say if you can find the ruins of the legendary Golden Kingdom, all these little problems—the acidic gas, the Safehouse health drain—will be solved in one go.”
With that, he stood up, stretched his arms wide, and folded his chair.
“That’s all for today.”
Many players lingered, hoping for more, but Goatee felt the crushing weight of their expectations. He threw out one last piece of free advice: “Some Dungeons have natives—what we Players call NPCs. They don’t exactly have a high opinion of us, so keep your guard up when you’re out there.”
With that, Goatee departed.
Jiang Qibai lingered in the market for a while longer. She swapped her old lighter for a new one specifically designed for lighting firewood. She also came across an old woman selling dried small fish and spent five Points on three of them. They were barely the length of her finger, not even enough for a single bite of meat.
She had little interest in the other goods in the market—the ones she actually wanted were far beyond her means. After a brief browse, she headed back to her Safehouse.
Today’s daily quest was simple, and the rewards were meager. Besides adding a peephole to her Safehouse door, all she got was a loaf of bread and two bottles of mineral water.
A fierce wind began to howl in the middle of the night, its wails sounding like ghosts and wolves. The temperature inside the Safehouse dropped several more degrees.
Jiang Qibai had her electric blanket on and was buried under two quilts, tucking the corners in tight to keep every scrap of warmth from escaping. When she reached out, her exposed nose and ears were ice-cold. Shivering, she got out of bed, found a scarf, and wrapped it around her head. Finally, she felt a bit warmer.
I absolutely have to bring back the fuel tomorrow!
Whether she was anxious about the next day’s mission or the wind was just too loud, Jiang Qibai slept poorly. Not wanting to be late, she rushed through a quick breakfast after waking up, filled a thermos from the outdoor goods store with hot coffee, and hurriedly prepared to leave.
Before heading out, Jiang Qibai glanced at the spot by the door and froze. The dried fish she had placed in the Robbery Cat’s cardboard box yesterday was gone. In its place lay a short sword, about fifty centimeters long.
[ Fishbone Sword: Attack +8 ]
The short sword had a very strange appearance. The back half of the blade was the spiny spine of a fish, while the front resembled the sharp beak of a swordfish or a similar species, tapering to a lethal point.
Though its appearance was a bit odd, its attack power was impressive—even higher than the Mace Baseball Bat Jiang Qibai had crafted. It was also incredibly lightweight in her hand, though the handle was a bit rough. Jiang Qibai quickly found a strip of cloth to wrap around it, and gripping it again felt much more comfortable.
Those three dried fish yesterday were a real bargain.
Jiang Qibai only had time for a single thought of satisfaction before she hurried out the door.
By the time she reached the rendezvous point, Mr. Tree was already there. The lantern in his hand emitted a soft glow, and as Jiang Qibai drew closer, she immediately felt that the area around the lantern was much warmer than elsewhere.
Two other players were also waiting there. Their usernames were [Yan Nanfei] and [cos].
Yan Nanfei was a middle-aged woman with a powerful aura who rarely smiled. Seeing Jiang Qibai approach, Yan Nanfei didn’t say a word, merely nodding to her. Jiang Qibai politely nodded back.
[cos], on the other hand, was someone Jiang Qibai had only heard of but never seen. Now seeing him in person, he was a man in his thirties with ordinary features. He took the initiative to greet Jiang Qibai when she arrived, his voice surprisingly pleasant.
“Gui Yu actually backed out at the last minute,” Mr. Tree said, his expression displeased. He seemed very dissatisfied with the player named Gui Yu’s decision to break their agreement.
Cos, who was on very familiar terms with Mr. Tree, asked, “What’s so urgent that he’d rather flake on you?”
“I don’t know,” Mr. Tree replied. “I’ll ask around to see who can fill in at the last minute.”
Cos stopped him. “Forget it. Four of us are enough.”
Mr. Tree’s face remained dark, but he didn’t insist.
“I’m late!” A figure came running from the distance, white breath puffing out of their mouth. “Sorry, sorry!”
Jiang Qibai’s eyes were first drawn to the person’s striking blue-streaked hair, then her gaze lingered uncontrollably on their nickname.
[ Player: Playing with Phone | Status: Good ]
“No,” Cos said gently. “We arrived early.”
With Gui Yu flaking at the last minute, this was likely the entire team for today.
Once everyone had arrived, Jiang Qibai finally learned their destination.
In a corner of the Snow Mountain Town map was an unmarked private forest. This forest specialized in producing firewood for the surrounding households that relied on it for heating.
The forest was much farther away than the cannery Jiang Qibai had visited not long ago. Mr. Tree had notified everyone in advance to be prepared to spend the night outdoors.
Their transportation for the day was a minivan. It was spacious enough for four people, but not ideal for hauling firewood.
“This thing can’t hold much wood, can it?” Playingwithphone asked, his voice laced with surprise.
Mr. Tree explained, “Yu Xian has a high-capacity Spatial Item. It would be too conspicuous to drive back to town with a load of firewood.”
“Who’s Yu Xian?” Playingwithphone asked, completely bewildered.
“That’s me,” cos volunteered.
“Ah? Oh, oh!” Playingwithphone finally understood. He grinned. “My name is too long and hard to say, so you can just call me A Hai.”
He was incredibly talkative, to the point of practically talking to himself. “I was pulling an all-nighter playing games when suddenly everything went black. A voice told me to pick a nickname, and the only thing I could think of was my mom’s words: ‘You’re always playing with your phone!’ Sigh, if I’d known I’d die from overwork, I definitely wouldn’t have pulled that all-nighter!”
The three of them stared at him in silence, unsure of what to say. Honestly, Jiang Qibai thought, that’s a pretty dignified way to go.
Fortunately, A Hai didn’t need any comforting. He just couldn’t stop talking.
The logging camp was already far away, and they didn’t waste much time before setting off.
Yu Xian was driving. The van was spacious, but the four of them sat far apart, their distance a clear sign of their awkwardness.
Yan Nanfei cleared her throat and said, “We weren’t close before, but now we’re comrades-in-arms fighting side by side. It’s time we got to know each other’s skills. I’ll go first. I’m a pure Support. I can increase movement speed and reset the cooldowns of other players’ skills.”
Many players had incredibly powerful skills, but their limitation was the varying cooldown periods.
For instance, the only reason Jiang Qibai hated admitting she was a Healer was that her skill’s one-hour cooldown was simply too long. If her skill could refresh instantly, she would heal everyone in sight.
Yu Xian spoke next. “My Talent Skills are all attack-type.” He didn’t elaborate on his specific abilities. As a pure Combat player, he didn’t need to interact with Supports or other players in the same way, so there was no need to explain his skills in detail.
It seemed he would be the main combatant for this mission.
Jiang Qibai added, “I have a Healing Skill, and I can also control a Shadow Ghost.”
Yan Nanfei asked for the name of Jiang Qibai’s skill. In a crisis, she could reset Jiang Qibai’s skill, allowing Jiang Qibai to heal two people.
Before they set out, Mr. Tree had given Jiang Qibai two healing items that could restore ten Life points each, telling her to save them for herself. Jiang Qibai immediately understood his intention. With her low Life maximum, using her own skill on herself would result in a lot of wasted healing. It was better to use the healing items to restore her own Life and save her skill for her teammates, maximizing its effectiveness.
Moreover, with the healing items in hand, she wouldn’t have to hoard her healing skill, afraid to use it on others.
A Hai, whose hair was streaked with blue, said, “I’m more attack-oriented, so I’ll be the Sub-DPS. Our team composition is pretty complete, we’re just missing a tank. Fortunately, I have a crowd control skill, so I can barely act as half a tank.”
Everyone had been screened by Mr. Tree before being added to the team, so the composition was naturally reasonable. No one knew what role Gui Yu, who had backed out at the last minute, had played. It was highly likely that he was the tank-type character the team was missing, but dwelling on it was pointless now.
Not long after the car started, A Hai felt bored. The drive to the forest farm would take several hours. How was he supposed to kill time? It would be great if he had a phone.
After failing to cure his boredom, A Hai eagerly tried to strike up a conversation with Jiang Qibai, who was also in the backseat. However, his choice of topic wasn’t very good.
“Bai Qi, how did you die?” A Hai asked.
His expression said, I’ve already shared how I died, so it’s your turn to share.
Jiang Qibai turned her head and looked at him calmly. “Let’s change the subject.”
Yu Xian, driving up front, burst out laughing.
“Oh, right,” A Hai muttered.
He wracked his brain for a moment before finally saying, “I checked the weather forecast. It’s supposed to snow today and tomorrow. With it being this cold, it’s probably best if we make the round trip in one day.”
Yu Xian had already done the math. “That would only be possible if everything went perfectly. And considering the slippery roads from the snow, it’s practically impossible.”
His words carried an unspoken truth: they would definitely have to spend the night outdoors. If the forestry station was available, they’d stay there. If not, they’d have to make do by huddling in the car.
As the van started moving, it attracted several Shadow Ghosts from the vicinity. Though the Shadow Ghosts were fast, they lacked stamina and couldn’t keep up with a vehicle driving at normal speed. All they had to do was keep driving. However, the road wouldn’t always be clear. Occasionally, they’d encounter a pile-up of wrecked cars, and the four of them would have to get out and clear a path.
After clearing the last of the debris, the four piled back into the car, their bodies still radiating a bone-chilling cold. They hadn’t driven far before the road jammed again.
A multi-car pileup blocked their path. At least five vehicles had collided, with a small car sandwiched in the middle, crushed from both ends. Its mangled frame was the most horrific sight of all.
Resigned, the group climbed out to push the cars aside. A few Shadow Ghosts lunged from behind, but a flash of brilliant light sliced through the air. One of the ghosts’ heads rolled to the ground.
The weapon belonged to Yu Xian—a crescent-shaped chakram, its silver surface gleaming with a cold, sharp light. Its curved outer edge was as thin as a cicada’s wing, shimmering with a deadly luster.
Strangely, the chakram had no handle; its entire perimeter was a razor-sharp blade. After the swift, clean kill, it flew back into Yu Xian’s palm, where he stowed it away.
“Your weapon is so cool!” A Hai exclaimed.
Jiang Qibai took the opportunity to summon her Mutated Shadow Ghost employee, introducing it to the others: “The one with the red scarf is the Shadow Ghost I control.”
As they worked together to lift the vehicles blocking the road, they were halfway through pushing the second one when countless black figures sprouted from the ground like bamboo shoots after a spring rain, surrounding them from all sides.
“Holy shit, why are there so many Shadow Ghosts?” A Hai exclaimed in shock.
A bustling commercial center nearby explained why this stretch of road was such a hotspot. Now, the Shadow Ghosts had swarmed out of the shadows, drawn by the commotion, completely encircling Jiang Qibai and her group.
“Get in the car! Now!” Yu Xian abandoned the attempt to push the vehicle, yanked open the door, and scrambled inside.
The last time Jiang Qibai had seen this many Shadow Ghosts was during the riot Hugo’s mysterious box had triggered. But back then, the ghosts hadn’t been targeting her. This time was different.
Gaunt, withered figures surged from the shadows of buildings and abandoned cars with terrifying speed. They sprinted with a grotesque agility, moving so fast they seemed to blur, sweeping in like a black tide.
Jiang Qibai practically threw herself into the back seat, slamming the door shut behind her.
The moment she settled in, the black shadows slammed into the van from all sides like cannonballs.
Thud! Thud! Thud! The entire vehicle rocked violently. Withered, shrunken faces with sunken eye sockets pressed against the windshield and side windows.
“Don’t be scared! I have a skill!” A Hai shouted.
[ Player ‘Playing with Phone’ activates Skill: Keep the Beat. Crowd Control: Forces all enemies within range to mirror the player’s movements for 15s. Cooldown: 1 hour. ]
The moment the skill activated, the Shadow Ghosts surrounding the van comically shifted into the exact same seated, motionless posture as A Hai.
“Drive! Now!” A Hai urged. “Shake them off!”
“Hold on tight—” Yu Xian said.
He slammed his foot on the gas. The van roared to life like a beast breaking its chains, lunging forward with a thunderous boom. The front end smashed through an abandoned car blocking the path, the massive inertia throwing everyone forward against the backrests of the front seats.
This van had definitely been modified. With sheer, brute force, it tore a path through the chaotic scene, breaking free from the congested wreckage.
The Shadow Ghosts clinging to the roof or trying to leap onto the hood were flung off. Their figures shrank rapidly in the rearview mirror, turning into tiny black dots before vanishing behind the dust kicked up by the wheels.
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