NOVEL WEB 0014 – ???
"Ahmn~" After sleeping until lunchtime, the fire in the stove had long since extinguished, leaving only a bit of residual warmth.
| Extinguishing the candle of light. |
Not bothering with anything fancy, just eating some berries washed yesterday and drinking some leftover meat soup. Watching the roasted meat and mushrooms on the fire.
Those who aren't strong enough don't deserve to enjoy life.
Sure, my idea that only those who are strong deserve to enjoy life can be quite a harsh perspective and may not accurately reflect the complexities of life and human experience but that's not the case in times of crises, right?
Opening the chat interface, the atmosphere inside was much better than Athena had imagined. Different from the widespread sorrow last night, where everyone thought they were close to death, today's chat messages were noticeably more cheerful.
| -- I encountered a Snowstorm Beast yesterday and just charged up with a long knife and hacked it seven or eight times, and it died! -- Me too, but I encountered it twice and gained +2 experience. -- Getting 100 experience points allows you to increase one attribute! -- I only found out yesterday that attributes can still be improved. After coming here, mine dropped by zero point something!" |
Everyone was discussing what happened last night. Most people encountered only one or two monsters, with only a very few encountering three. And no one had triggered the Snowstorm Beast's summoning event like Athena did.
| -- Why are you all so happy? So many people died last night! -- With these monsters, I can kill a few more times. I only killed two yesterday and got a white package! -- It's not like people haven't died on the first day. Making a fuss over nothing. I even think that yesterday's death toll was relatively low! -- You guys, you're not human! What's wrong with helping each other? Just because you've upgraded your shelter, why do you feel superior? Do you know how I survived yesterday?! -- It turns out that people who haven't upgraded their shelter also survived, I thought everyone was dead. After so many days and the temporary subsidies provided by the system, if you haven't upgraded, shouldn't you reflect on what you've been doing these days?" |
The chat area wasn't all joy and harmony. There was fear, anger, excitement, and happiness, all kinds of emotions. This is the beauty of humanity, both possess kindness and lack of empathy.
| -- Ladies and gentlemen, I have an announcement to make, the death toll of our team last night was zero! This fully demonstrates the strength of our team, once again welcome all capable players to join us! -- Look at me, Lord Ask-the-Heavens, I applied but you didn't agree. -- Is it true or not, I remember their team was quite big? -- Tch, who would share their hard-earned resources with others, a bunch of brainless people gathering together! -- I'm about to starve, does anyone have extra food, I can exchange with anything! |
It was indeed a good publicity effect for Ask-the-Heavens's team to have no casualties. If what they said was true, that their resources could be shared, and everyone upgraded their shelter, then it's not surprising.
As long as you're not as unlucky as me, triggering some weird things, it's not difficult to get through yesterday. In extreme weather like this, the scariest part is often not the beginning. But as time goes on, people can't endure it anymore, and the matched resources become increasingly insufficient.
Only in the later stages can the difference be distinguished.
Athena just tried with a sickle, and the snow outside was now half a sickle deep.
Even if the sun is out now, it's still around minus eleven or twelve degrees Celsius.
And inside the house, it's about minus seven or eight degrees, this situation will worsen when darkness falls at night. Lighting the fire will make it much better. She only made one fire during the day today.
| --> Be careful, don't let that "guys'" purplish horns touch each other to summon their companions |
| Providing useful information reputation +10 |
| -- What does 'Boss Big Dream' mean? Can these "guys" summon companions? -- I was just talking casually earlier. I can't handle it if too many "guys" come! -- Thanks, boss! We understand what you meant. For such important information, being able to share it for free is amazing! |
She only hoped that doing so would not result in too many deaths. Even before the first round of the game officially began, 3000 players had already died.
The system's decision to divide players from Earth into zones must have its significance. Who knows if there will be territorial battles later. Although she didn't think that many people could trigger such a situation, she considered it an increase in her reputation.
| Ask-the-Heavens asks to add you as a friend Yes / No ? |
"...Yes," Athena had been thinking all along when this guy would come to find her, and now he had arrived. If his goal was to gather top players together, then he would definitely come to her.
| -- Hello, I'm Ask-the-Heavens. I believe you must have heard of me. --> No |
Athena could imagine how colorful the opposite party's expression was.
| -- It's okay, I've heard of you. --> I never thought I'd be so famous. It's an honor for you to know me. -- You're really funny. Humorous people often don't have bad luck. |
| --> Now I think you can introduce yourself. I'm Big Dream. -- I'm Ask-the-Heavens. I've created a group and I hope you can join. --> My reputation speaks for itself1This is not chess, okay?/modern_footnote]. I usually share any information I have in the regional chat channel and always encourage everyone. -- Joining our team can help you get information more effectively. We also prioritize exchanging scarce supplies within the team. |
Indeed, it was a good offer.
| --> Sorry, you should know I won't join. |
It was said to be a group, but it was actually a subordinate organization centered around Ask-the-Heavens. Whether it adopts a democratic system or not, it's all superficial. Probably it was a sort of Ponzi scheme where only those at the top benefit and those at the lower end work hard for little gain.
As much as I want to survive, I don't want to if it comes at the expense of others and this guy was too suspicious to be honest.
| -- Okay, I understand. Perhaps we can make another deal. In the future, you can choose to trade the information you obtain with me first, and I can offer you a price far beyond others. |
I see, why can't people just get straight to the point from the beginning?
| --> Okay... |
Selling one's information to some small fry is not as good as selling it directly to a powerful group.
A 30% drop rate for items isn't low, which means every monster has a 1/3 chance of dropping items. What's more important is that the system doesn't specify the color of the dropped items.
So when Athena opened the trading panel, she saw the lively scene of the first trading panel ever. There were some good things among them.
| Trade | ||
| Defense Tower Blueprint (Basic) | Price | Lots of food and water, plus some building materials. |
| Description | Just by looking at the name, you know what quality this is. Don't try to fool me with those junk. For those who don't understand, click on it to see the detailed information yourself. | |
| [ Detailed Information ] | ||
| Mineral Water | Price | You decide, I don't know what I want. |
| Description | I've opened a whole box of mineral water, I'm super lucky!. | |
| Iron Ore x1 | Price | Those who can use it can exchange it for other items of the same quality! |
| Description | Very rare, I can guarantee its rarity in the early stage. | |
| Leftover Apple Cores x13 | Price | Not for trade. |
| Description | I just put it up for fun. You guys are really hungry, even want this. If you're not disgusted, I am. | |
Moreover, Athena also found that some players had started using currency for trading, no longer just bartering. The monetary system had begun to move beyond the system's mall. But this situation wasn't obvious yet, only with time would the monetary system become the ultimate form of trading.
She scrolled up and saw something she was very interested in.
| Air Wall x10 | Price | This is for showing off. |
| Description | Jealous, huh? I'll make you jealous! The Air Wall is a very practical thing, it can obstruct the movement routes of monsters. If used well, it can prolong the time monsters take to travel and make it easier to attack and defend. | |
Unfortunately, this guy didn't intend to sell it. He knew it was useful himself.
In the end, Athena chose to send trade requests to the sellers of iron ore and defense tower blueprint.
