Rong Hui closed the system panel and sat on the berth, beginning to organize her belongings.
At the moment, the only things beside her were the backpack she carried with her, a thick down jacket, and a wool scarf. Her suitcase had originally been stuffed under the berth, but now it was gone. Perhaps she should at least be grateful that the system had left her with her snow boots, otherwise she would have been barefoot.
Inside the backpack were several pieces of bread and a few apples. The two bottles of water she had brought had already been used during the beginner instance. Her phone and power bank were both fully charged, but the signal bars were blank, and calls could not go through. Without internet or signal, a phone was nothing more than a brick.
Rong Hui first put the phone and scarf back into the backpack. She did not want these miscellaneous items occupying slots in the System Backpack.
After finishing organizing her things, she felt the urge to use the restroom. She remembered the “one square meter washing space” mentioned by the system earlier. After searching repeatedly, she finally spotted a green button at the end of the bed with the words “Washroom” written on it. The moment she pressed it, a door appeared out of thin air, just like Doraemon’s Anywhere Door.
Rong Hui glanced around and noticed that many people were not on their berths, yet their beds had not disappeared. They must have entered the washrooms.
She twisted the doorknob and stepped into the place that felt like an extra dimensional space.
The moment she stepped inside, she had already reached the end.
Yes, she could barely even turn around inside, since the space truly measured only one square meter.
Rong Hui could not help laughing helplessly as she solved her urgent problem. To her surprise, this palm sized space actually contained a toilet, a sink, and a shower. She could not help admiring the system’s precise design.
After taking out the bar of soap from the Basic Supply Pack and washing her hands, Rong Hui noticed that the cleanliness value in her personal status increased from 90 to 100, and her Health value increased from 98 to 99. It seemed that daily items such as soap were also important for maintaining their health. Rong Hui mentally noted this before leaving the washroom.
The moment she stepped outside, she made eye contact with the young man from the neighboring berth.
Rong Hui nodded first in greeting, though she had no intention of continuing the conversation. She had only just returned from the instance and was still mentally exhausted.
The young man also nodded silently, showing no intention of talking.
Rong Hui was about to lie down and sleep for a while when she suddenly realized a major problem.
The train berths were extremely crowded, and there was absolutely no privacy between them. Normally, on a train ride, one would only sleep for a few hours before getting off, so this would not be an issue. But judging from the current situation, it seemed she would remain on this train for quite some time.
That made things very troublesome.
She simply could not ignore the several malicious gazes not far away.
Among the nearby survivors, she was the only woman. In a crowd of people, she was like an enticing piece of meat.
Those few men had been staring at her for a long time. They were probably trying to see what was inside her backpack, waiting for her to reveal a weakness. However, Rong Hui was careful not to step outside the range of her berth and maintained a closed off attitude that discouraged conversation, so they had not found an opportunity.
A cold smile appeared at the corner of Rong Hui’s mouth.
Sure enough, after experiencing only one instance, some people were already struggling to suppress their bandit like instincts.
Rong Hui decisively opened the System Shop and searched for “bed curtain.”
Sure enough, the all powerful system immediately displayed more than a dozen styles of bed curtains, priced from 1 to 20 points. The attached functions included absolute soundproofing, blocking item detection, blocking odors, and many others.
Rong Hui chose a bed curtain that cost 2 points. It provided absolute soundproofing and odor blocking. Curtains that blocked item detection were too expensive, and she did not want to spend so many points on that for now.
However, this reminded her of something important.
It seemed that she might not be the only person with special items. She could not underestimate anyone, nor could she treat instances carelessly.
[Please receive Beginner Bed Curtain ×1.]
A large package appeared on Rong Hui’s bed.
System produced items were always high quality. Two minutes later, Rong Hui lay comfortably in a bed surrounded by the newly installed curtain. The curtain immediately isolated her from the noisy surroundings. Only then did Rong Hui realize how loud the carriage had been. Even with a quarter of the people gone, the noise remained unbearable.
Now that she had a soundproof curtain, she could finally rest properly.
After closing the curtain tightly, Rong Hui felt as if she had returned to her high school dormitory days. Back then, everyone would hide in their beds with dim flashlights, secretly reading novels. It was the same sense of quiet and comfort.
Suddenly remembering something, Rong Hui took out the pork knuckle rice from the System Backpack.
She had been craving it for a long time, and now she finally had a quiet place to enjoy it.
Perhaps because she had not eaten many good things as a child, Rong Hui’s greatest hobby in life was eating delicious food. The second hand Polaroid camera she owned had actually been bought to record tasty dishes.
She had never expected that it would also bring her good fortune inside the system.
Picking up the spoon beside the plate, Rong Hui first ate a piece of pork knuckle, then scooped up a large spoonful of rice soaked in sauce and stuffed it into her mouth.
She closed her eyes in satisfaction.
The pork knuckle had been stewed until it was soft and tender. Every piece of meat was infused with rich sauce. The rice grains were distinct and fluffy, absorbing the fat and sauce from the pork knuckle so that the entire bowl carried a deep fragrance.
With a gentle bite, the pork melted in her mouth. It was rich but not greasy, lean yet not dry. The thick sauce blended perfectly with the savory flavor of the pork knuckle, leaving an unforgettable aftertaste.
Rong Hui almost felt as if she could smell the summer evening breeze again and see the streets of Chaoshan.
According to the rules of the item she obtained, this serving of pork knuckle rice still had two more chances to be converted. Not to mention that the photo box contained hundreds of photos of delicious food and beautiful scenery.
Rong Hui already felt full of anticipation for a wonderful future.
After finishing the entire serving of pork knuckle rice in one go, Rong Hui let out a satisfied burp. She opened Personal Information and saw that her Satiety value had indeed reached the maximum of 100, and her Health value had also risen to 100.
However, her Stamina had dropped to 700.
It was time to rest.
She set an alarm on her phone, draped the down jacket over herself, and soon fell into a deep sleep in the rare quiet.
…
“Ring ring ring ring!”
The alarm suddenly rang.
Rong Hui opened her eyes groggily and turned it off. She had not slept this well in a long time. Even the fire instance she had just experienced had not caused her insomnia.
Stretching lazily on the bed, she felt her energy fully restored. Opening Personal Information, she saw that her Stamina had returned to its maximum.
She was not in a hurry to leave the bed. First, she entered the washroom and took a quick shower. Feeling refreshed, she came out, ready to face the next station.
When she pulled open the curtain, the familiar noise rushed toward her.
Rong Hui noticed that many berths now had the same type of curtain installed. It seemed quite a few people had spare points.
The moment she appeared, the same men who had been watching her earlier approached again.
“Little sister, can you lend your big brother a few points? I’ll earn them back in the next instance and repay you.”
“Not much, just 2 points. Call us big brother and we’ll protect you in the next instance.”
The short man leading them wore a greasy smile and kept leaning toward her, though he seemed unable to step within one step of her berth.
“Are you sure you’ll survive the next instance? Be careful you don’t get trampled to death,” Rong Hui said expressionlessly.
“Hey you little bitch, are you asking for death? Don’t refuse kindness when it’s offered!”
The short man flew into a rage and tried to rush forward to teach Rong Hui a lesson, but he could only stomp in place, which looked rather ridiculous.
Rong Hui quietly clenched her hand at her side. She was ready at any moment to pull the mountain bike from her backpack and smash it into these men. Even if it did not kill them, it would make them suffer.
Fortunately, the system’s safety protection was strong. She did not want to reveal her trump card unless necessary.
“Three seconds. Leave here and go bother someone else.”
The young man from the neighboring berth pulled open his curtain and spoke coldly.
“Oh? So you’ve got a little lover here. Why come out now? What were you hiding for earlier?”
The men burst into loud laughter.
With a swift motion, the young man drew out a Damascus steel knife engraved with intricate patterns. The blade was half a palm wide and as long as an adult’s forearm, with blood grooves along both sides, gleaming coldly.
He said nothing more and simply wiped the blade slowly with a piece of white cloth.
The group of troublemakers, who had clearly never seen a real weapon before, immediately fell silent. They pushed each other awkwardly and retreated back to their own places.
“Thank you!” Rong Hui finally let out a breath of relief. She rarely argued with people in daily life and was not very experienced at handling such situations.
“No need. They’re annoying,” the young man replied while continuing to wipe his blade, showing no pride.
Rong Hui began to understand his personality. She had seen him several times now, and he had never shown any expression other than indifference.
“Hello. I remember we spoke earlier. My name is Rong Hui, Hui as in comet. Nice to meet you.”
“Qin Jun.” The man nodded, still showing almost no change in expression.
“Your knife looks sharpened. How did you get it?” Rong Hui asked, unable to hide her curiosity about the weapon. Such things were useless in peaceful society, but on the Doomsday Train or inside instances, they were extremely valuable.
“Bought it from the system shop. Ten points each. Limited quantity.” The man spoke sparingly.
Rong Hui immediately opened the system shop and searched for weapons.
The system actually sold weapons?
How could she have missed such crucial information?
When she searched for “weapon,” three options appeared: Damascus Knife for 10 points, Bushido Knife for 12 points, and Tang Dao for 15 points. Each had a limit of five units.
All of them were already sold out.
Rong Hui felt devastated.
At the time, when she saw the system storage space, she had spent 10 points without hesitation. She had not considered weapon preparation at all. Now, even if she had enough points, she could not buy one.
It seemed that she truly had no choice but to continue following her strategy of hoarding supplies and surviving cautiously.
Safety on the train was not a concern for now, but inside instances it would definitely be different.
She had to solve the weapon problem as soon as possible, even if only for intimidation.
Rong Hui slumped back onto her berth gloomily.
She still had 8 points left.
She would wait to see the preview of the next station first.
…