After Jessica’s group left, no more voices opposed Emily’s leadership on Grace’s side. The clearing finally became quiet once again.
Just as everyone thought Emily would become the Tribe Leader, she suddenly spoke.
"I don’t think I should be the Tribe Leader."
The girls looked at her in surprise.
Emily calmly continued, "Grace possesses an SS-Rank Talent, Resource Doubling, which is far more valuable to the Tribe’s long-term development than my Divine Archery. Besides that, she’s also your class teacher. She understands every one of you far better than I do. So, I nominate Grace to become the Tribe Leader."
The surrounding girls exchanged glances before nodding one after another.
"Teacher Grace does seem more suitable."
"With Sister Emily protecting us and Teacher Grace leading us, that sounds pretty good."
Grace herself was slightly stunned.
"I..." She lowered her head and thought quietly for a moment. After everything that had happened, she realized that someone had to shoulder this responsibility.
Finally, she nodded.
"Alright. Since everyone trusts me, I’ll do my best not to disappoint you."
At that moment, Elena quietly walked beside Emily and asked in a low voice, "Aunt... if you never intended to become the Tribe Leader, then why didn’t you say so when Teacher Jessica wanted to split from us?"
Emily glanced toward Jessica’s group, who were standing not too far away, before a faint smile appeared on her lips.
"I wanted to see who would choose to stand against me. In desperate situations, people’s true nature is revealed. If they can leave so easily now, they might betray the Tribe for their own interests in the future. Rather than discovering that later, I’d rather know it from the beginning."
Elena nodded thoughtfully.
"So that’s what you were thinking..."
Meanwhile, Ethan had finally recovered from vomiting. Although his face was still slightly pale, he slowly walked over and stopped beside Emily.
"...Thank you."
Emily didn’t even look at him.
"Tch." She simply clicked her tongue and turned her face away.
On the surface, she appeared completely indifferent. Only she knew that every time she looked at Ethan, the memories from before they arrived in this world resurfaced in her mind, making her feel both embarrassed and awkward. She simply didn’t know how to face him.
With Emily’s support, the remaining twenty people unanimously elected Grace as the Tribe Leader.
A cold mechanical voice echoed in everyone’s minds once again.
[Congratulations! A Tribe Leader has been successfully elected.]
[Please choose a Tribe Name.]
Grace looked around at everyone and asked, "Does anyone have any suggestions?"
The girls looked at one another, but no one spoke.
After thinking for a moment, Ethan suddenly raised his hand.
"How about... Eden Garden?"
Grace softly repeated the name.
"Eden Garden..."
She looked around at everyone again.
"What do you all think?"
The girls shrugged one after another.
"We don’t mind."
"Teacher Grace, you decide."
"It sounds pretty nice."
Grace smiled and nodded.
"Alright. Then our Tribe shall be called... Eden Garden."
Standing beside Ethan, Elena gently tugged on his sleeve and asked, "Why did you choose that name?"
Ethan scratched the back of his head awkwardly, his ears turning slightly red.
"Well... because I’m the only man here, surrounded by so many beautiful women. It kind of reminded me of the Garden of Eden..."
The moment he finished speaking, Elena couldn’t help laughing.
A mischievous smile spread across her face.
"Then I’ll help you make that dream come true."
She leaned slightly closer before whispering teasingly, "Although... if you hadn’t started vomiting earlier, I would’ve voted for you to become the Tribe Leader."
Ethan smiled and shook his head.
"I don’t really care about becoming the Tribe Leader. As long as you’re by my side..."
He paused for a moment before glancing at Emily.
"...and Aunt Emily is safe too, that’s enough for me."
Emily, who had been pretending not to listen, couldn’t help pausing for a brief moment before quietly looking away again, pretending she hadn’t heard a single word.
[Tribe Name: Eden Garden. Tribe Leader: Grace. Tribe creation complete. Rewards will now be distributed.]
[Tribe Deed ×1]
[First Kill of a Normal-grade Monster Reward: Black Iron Treasure Chest ×1]
[Reward for Actively Electing a Tribe Leader: Wooden Treasure Chest ×1]
[Tribe Creation Reward: Wooden Treasure Chest ×1]
[World Broadcast: Eden Garden Tribe has achieved the world’s first kill of a Normal-grade wild monster. Reward: Black Iron Treasure Chest ×1. A world announcement has been issued.]
A large ball of light appeared before everyone. Moments later, it slowly disappeared, leaving behind three treasure chests and a stone tablet.
At the same time, a shabby, leaky thatched hut materialized in front of them.
Before the thatched hut was a circle of small stones surrounding an extinguished campfire.
[Level 1 Thatched Hut Tribe: Provides basic shelter from wind and rain but cannot withstand external attacks. Maximum population: 50 people.]
Level 1 Thatched Hut Tribe. This was their very first Tribe.
Everyone instinctively turned their attention toward Grace, waiting for their newly elected Tribe Leader to make the first move.
Grace walked forward and picked up the most important item, the stone tablet, which was the Tribe Deed.
An introduction immediately appeared before her eyes.
[The Tribe Deed cannot be destroyed. Please keep it safe. The Tribe Leader can register Tribe members through the deed and unlock a Communication Stone for each registered member.]
[Tribe Deed Functions: Access the Regional Channel and World Channel (when unlocked), conduct inter-Tribe trading, and manage Tribe information.]
[Communication Stone Functions: Allows communication within the Tribe and with privately added friends.]
"So... this is the core of a Tribe."
Grace gently held the Tribe Deed and carefully examined every line of information.
The deed automatically displayed the chat interface.
Currently, only the Regional Channel was unlocked, while the World Channel remained locked.
At the top of the interface, a line of information was displayed.
Current Region: 9983 / 10000 Tribes Remaining.
Grace frowned slightly.
"So one region originally contains ten thousand Tribes..."
Ethan, who was standing beside her, looked at the number and quietly said,
"That means... seventeen Tribes have already been wiped out before the first day has even ended."
Everyone fell silent.
The reality of this new world had become even crueler than they had imagined.
[Iron Hoof (Level 1)]: "How could a monster be killed so quickly? I haven’t even encountered one yet."
[Old Beard (Level 1)]: "That’s terrifying."
[Skywalker (Level 1)]: "Brothers and sisters of Eden Garden Tribe, please take me with you."
[Gale (Level 1)]: "We also killed a wild monster. It was a wild boar, but we weren’t the first."
[Battleborn (Level 1)]: "Who has wood material? Damn it, I spawned on an island with no trees, but plenty of food. I’ll trade food for wood material."
[Iron Hoof (Level 1)] replied to [Battleborn (Level 1)]: "We do. We have plenty of trees here. We can help you chop them."
From the chat, Ethan quickly realized that every Tribe had been dropped into a different environment, and each location had its own resource advantages.
Like Eden Garden, they had a dense forest and wild monsters, meaning natural resources were relatively abundant.
However, they still hadn’t discovered a water source.
After studying the Tribe Deed for a while, Ethan finally understood one of its functions.
He looked toward Grace.
"Teacher Grace, everyone should come over and register their fingerprints through the Tribe Deed."
Grace nodded and held up the deed.
"It seems that after registering your fingerprint, you’ll officially become a member of the Eden Garden Tribe."
As the Tribe Leader, Grace registered her own fingerprint first.
A moment later, a circular stone tablet about five centimeters in diameter materialized before her.
The front was engraved with the words:
[Eden Garden — Grace]
Seeing that it worked, everyone stepped forward one after another to register their fingerprints.
Soon, each person received their own Communication Stone, officially becoming members of the Eden Garden Tribe..
Now it was time to open the wooden chests. Grace smiled faintly and handed the three treasure chests to him.
"Ethan, you’re the one who discovered how the Tribe Deed works, and you’re also the one who’s best at figuring things out. Besides, your luck seems to be pretty good today. Why don’t you open them?"
The others naturally had no objections.
Ethan nodded and walked over to the treasure chests.
He first opened the two Wooden Treasure Chests.
[Thatch Clothing ×5]
[Stone Axe ×2]
[Corn ×10]
"Great! Clothes!" Several female classmates who were barely covered almost cried with joy.
"But... there are only five sets." One of the girls looked around helplessly. "There are nine of us without proper clothes. That’s not enough."
For a moment, everyone hesitated. Who should receive them?
Who should continue enduring the embarrassment?
Grace suddenly smiled. "Have you all forgotten my Talent?"
Everyone was stunned before their eyes lit up.
"That’s right! Teacher Grace has Resource Doubling!"
Grace stepped forward, looked at the supplies on the ground, and activated her SS-Rank Talent — Resource Doubling.
A gentle white light enveloped the rewards.
The next moment, the five sets of Thatch Clothing became ten, the two Stone Axes became four, and the ten ears of Corn became twenty.
Everyone stared with their mouths wide open.
"So... so amazing!"
"It actually doubled everything!"
"As expected of an SS-Rank Talent!"
Seeing the supplies double before his eyes, Ethan couldn’t contain his excitement anymore. He instinctively stepped forward and gave Grace a big hug.
"Teacher Grace, you’re amazing!"
The sudden hug caught Grace completely off guard.
Her beautiful eyes widened slightly as her body stiffened on the spot.
Only after a couple of seconds did Ethan realize what he had done.
His face immediately turned red.
"I-I’m sorry, Teacher Grace! I was just too excited."
He quickly let go and took several steps back.
Grace was momentarily stunned before helplessly shaking her head.
"You..." She wanted to scold him, but seeing the embarrassed expression on his face, she could only sigh.
The surrounding girls, however, couldn’t help covering their mouths and laughing softly.
"Hehe..."
"Brother Ethan got too excited."
"Teacher Grace was startled."
Even Ethan scratched the back of his head awkwardly, wishing he could find a hole to crawl into.
Grace looked at him with an annoyed yet helpless expression before clapping her hands.
"Alright, everyone, put on your clothes first."
The girls immediately picked up the newly obtained Thatch Clothing and changed into them.
Although the straw fabric rubbed slightly against their skin, the craftsmanship was surprisingly exquisite, and the design was quite fashionable.
If it had been sold in a shopping mall back on Earth, it would probably have cost several hundred dollars.
The only downside was that it was designed to be worn over an inner layer, while they had no choice but to wear it directly.
Meanwhile, on Jessica’s side, several girls looked enviously toward Eden Garden after seeing everyone there receive proper clothing.
A few of them quietly began considering crossing over.
Seeing this, Jessica immediately shouted, "Don’t go! The clothes given by the system might have hidden cameras inside!"
Her words instantly made several hesitant girls stop in their tracks.