Jiang Qi suddenly remembered that signing up for the Racing Instance cost 1,000 points, and she immediately felt like crying. “First I questioned Ye Ling, then I understood Ye Ling, and now I’ve become Ye Ling.”
No wonder he always wanted to jump straight back into another instance the moment he got out of one.
So it was all because poverty was forcing him into it!
Now she also wanted to hurry up and enter another instance.
“Sigh, no choice. I’ll have to give up on improving my abilities for now.”
After subtracting the registration fee, Jiang Qi still had 10,000 points left to spend.
She browsed through the special shop for a long time before finally finding a few items she could currently afford that suited her needs.
First were the items that boosted personal stats:
《Strength Enhancement Pill》 (Beginner Level) — 5,000 points.
《Speed Enhancement Pill》 (Beginner Level) — 5,000 points.
《Constitution Enhancement Pill》 (Beginner Level) — 5,000 points.
Jiang Qi knew exactly what her weaknesses were. Her strength, speed, and constitution were all poor. But that was perfectly normal. Any young person living in the city without regular exercise would have similar shortcomings.
So during the early stages of the instances, she had to turn those three weaknesses into strengths as quickly as possible.
At the very least, she couldn’t afford to become dead weight.
But the Beginner Strength Enhancement Pill, Beginner Speed Enhancement Pill, and Beginner Constitution Enhancement Pill each cost 5,000 points.
Jiang Qi didn’t have enough points to buy all three, so she could only choose the most important one: the Beginner Strength Enhancement Pill.
As for why she wasn’t buying the Intermediate Constitution Cleansing Pill, which could improve all three stats at once?
Well, naturally, it was because the Intermediate Constitution Cleansing Pill cost 10,000 points.
She simply couldn’t afford it!
And the effects of the Beginner Constitution Cleansing Pill were too minor. Spending 5,000 points on it just didn’t feel worth it.
After buying the Beginner Strength Enhancement Pill, there were still four items in the shop she could afford.
《Basic Firearms Mastery》 — 2,000 points.
《Basic Blade Techniques》— 4,000 points.
《Basic Archery》— 4,000 points.
And…
《Women’s Self-Defense Techniques》 (Intermediate Level) — 4,000 points.
“With Ye Ling as a teammate in the Racing Instance, I don’t need to rush into buying Basic Firearms Mastery. Blade techniques are for close combat, archery is long-range, and self-defense also falls under close combat…”
Jiang Qi was deeply conflicted. She wanted both Basic Blade Techniques and Basic Archery. Either skill book would greatly improve her combat ability.
“How about…”
“…I just earn more points in the Racing Instance and buy everything at once afterward?”
Just imagining herself buying the Speed Enhancement Pill, Constitution Enhancement Pill, Basic Blade Techniques, Basic Archery, and Basic Firearms Mastery all together made her feel incredibly excited.
“What do I do? The more I think about it, the more tempted I get!”
Lightly biting her thumb, Jiang Qi began calculating the chances of this plan succeeding.
“If I really want to do this, then our team absolutely has to place in the Racing Instance.”
“Drifting… drifting…”
“What kind of things will happen during the drift? How does drifting even work as a race? How long does the drifting instance last? If it’s more than three days, where does the food come from? And if players have to catch their own food during the drifting instance…”
A long string of unanswered questions surfaced one after another in Jiang Qi’s mind. In the end, she decided to gamble 800 points in the special shop.
Two hours later—
[One Rotten Life, Just Fucking Go For It (3)]
Jiang Qi: [Link] ×3
Jiang Qi: You guys can pick one of these items to buy and try out.
Qi Zhaozhao, who had also been considering what items to buy to improve her strength, clicked the links Jiang Qi sent. After reading through them, she looked puzzled.
“A fishing rod that can catch fish without bait (500 points), a sturdy fishing net (500 points), and a sharp fishing spear (800 points)?”
“Are these supposed to be used in the Racing Instance?”
Qi Zhaozhao’s understanding of the Racing Instance was very simple. She imagined it was probably similar to the annual dragon boat races held during festivals. The only difference was that instead of dragon boats, they’d be racing rubber rafts or bamboo rafts.
[One Rotten Life, Just Fucking Go For It (3)]
Qi Zhaozhao: Sister Jiang, will these items actually be useful?
Jiang Qi: No idea. I just want to take a gamble. What if I’m right?
Qi Zhaozhao only hesitated for three seconds before deciding to take the risk with Jiang Qi.
Qi Zhaozhao: Okay! I’ll gamble too!
Qi Zhaozhao: Anyway, I can afford one of these items. Hmm… I’ve gone fishing before, so I’ll choose the fishing rod.
Ye Ling: I’ll take the fishing spear.
Jiang Qi: Wait, aren’t either of you going to try talking me out of this?
Ye Ling: I trust you.
Qi Zhaozhao: I trust Sister Jiang too!
Having never been trusted this much in over twenty years of her life, Jiang Qi felt unexpectedly touched. She quickly typed out a reply.
Jiang Qi: Alright. If these items really can be used in the Racing Instance, then everyone wins. If not, I’ll pay back the points you wasted!
Qi Zhaozhao: No need to repay me. Just consider it my thanks for helping me clear the City Instance.
Jiang Qi: That’s separate. Clearing the City Instance also had to do with you being brave enough yourself.
Qi Zhaozhao: Then… alright.
Seeing Jiang Qi insist on paying her back, Qi Zhaozhao stopped refusing. That was how friendships worked. Being overly polite only made things feel fake. It was better to keep accounts clear.
As for Ye Ling…
He simply replied with a single “Okay” after Qi Zhaozhao’s message.
Very much in line with his straightforward style.
***
Right before the drifting instance began, Jiang Qi walked over to the apartment window. Looking out at the vast white landscape outside, she softly said to herself, “I’m definitely going to live well in this apocalypse.”
Definitely.
[Racing Drifting Instance Competition Rules:]
[① Players who reach the finish line within 7 days will receive 1,000 points.]
[② The first 100 players to reach the finish line within 7 days will receive 10,000 points.]
[③ Among the first 10 players to reach the finish line within 7 days, first through fifth place will receive 100,000 points, 90,000 points, 80,000 points, 70,000 points, and 60,000 points respectively. Sixth through tenth place will each receive 30,000 points.]
[Countdown until entering the Racing Instance:]
[3]
[2]
[1]
When Jiang Qi opened her eyes again, she found herself sitting in an orange rubber raft.
The raft was very small and could fit at most two adults. If one of the adults weighed over 80 kg, then the raft could probably only carry one person safely. Otherwise, there would be a risk of capsizing.
At that moment, the orange raft was slowly drifting forward along a stream. Endless mountain ranges stretched along both banks, with no end visible no matter how far she looked.
Jiang Qi glanced around in confusion.
“Wasn’t this supposed to be a team competition?”
“Why am I alone? Where are my teammates?”
And not only were her teammates missing, even the other players were nowhere to be seen. Jiang Qi couldn’t help muttering quietly, “Could it be that everyone starts off alone?”
“Or maybe this is preparation time the instance gives players before things officially begin?”
Forget it. No point overthinking. Time to draw a blind box first.
A few seconds later—
[Congratulations, you have obtained a Green Common Blind Box.]
A green blind box, only slightly larger than the white camera blind box from before, appeared in Jiang Qi’s hands.
She eagerly opened the plain-looking green blind box and discovered a pair of black binoculars inside.
Jiang Qi blinked in surprise.
“Binoculars?”
“What use could this possibly have?”
[X-Ray Binoculars (B-Rank): A pair of binoculars that can see through things.]
“X-ray vision!”
Jiang Qi couldn’t help twitching at the corners of her mouth. “Isn’t this basically every pervert’s dream item?”
What were a pair of see-through binoculars even supposed to do in a Racing Instance? Use them to spot hidden weapons on enemies?
Uh… actually, that might not be impossible.
Jiang Qi tried using the binoculars, looking left and right.
“What’s that?”
“Wait! A sausage?!”
She quickly lowered the binoculars and hurriedly reached for a broken wooden crate floating nearby on the water. When she opened it, there really was a sausage inside.
“Damn! So the point is to gather supplies!”
Then what was she waiting for?
Time to loot!
Jiang Qi no longer disliked the X-Ray Binoculars. In fact, she was now deeply reflecting on her earlier judgment.
“There are no useless items, only players who don’t know how to use them!”
At the moment, the rubber raft was still drifting forward quite slowly, giving Jiang Qi plenty of time to fish crates out of the water. But not every broken crate floating in the stream contained something useful. Most of them were empty.
For example, a broken crate about a hundred meters to her left had absolutely nothing inside. After confirming that with the X-Ray Binoculars, Jiang Qi didn’t waste time going after it.
“One compressed biscuit, a small piece of bread, 250 ml of mineral water…”
Jiang Qi started getting anxious. The floating crates yielded too little. The food she’d gathered so far wasn’t even enough for one person to eat.
So she simply picked up the X-Ray Binoculars and began scanning everywhere, trying to find more useful supplies.
“A bottle of Huoxiang Zhengqi liquid?”
Isn’t that for preventing heatstroke?
The crate containing the medicine wasn’t floating on the surface but was submerged underwater, half-buried in the sand. Fortunately, the stream carrying the raft downstream was shallow. Jumping in would only bring the water up to a person’s waist.
Without hesitation, Jiang Qi flipped herself over the side and jumped into the stream. One hand held onto the safety rope attached to the raft while the other reached down to pry open the ordinary wooden crate buried halfway in the sand. After opening it, she grabbed the bottle of Huoxiang Zhengqi liquid and tossed it into the raft, with no intention of climbing back aboard immediately.
“Let’s see what else there is…”
“A pack of instant noodles! Hahaha, mine!”
Jiang Qi simply dragged the raft along as she walked through the stream collecting supplies. Since she was wearing shoes, she wasn’t afraid of stepping on something sharp and cutting her feet. Sometimes, if she spotted something especially useful, she’d even drag the raft backward to retrieve it.
“A three-meter rope? Mine.”
“A can of luncheon meat? Mine.”
“A towel? A sun-protection jacket? A block of solid alcohol fuel? Ten eggs? Mine, mine, all mine!”
Jiang Qi looked like a farmer digging lotus roots out of a muddy pond, constantly bending over to pull things from the water and toss them onto the raft.
“Why is it another bottle of Huoxiang Zhengqi liquid?”
In just ten minutes, Jiang Qi had already found five bottles of it underwater.
“There’s no such thing as a useless item in an instance…”
Jiang Qi fell into thought.
“Does that mean the rafting route later on will pass through an extremely hot environment?”
“Mm… better hide these bottles first!”
Just as Jiang Qi was about to find an empty crate underwater to store the Huoxiang Zhengqi liquid, her gaze caught sight of a massive black fish over a meter long suddenly appearing in the crystal-clear stream and rapidly swimming toward her.
She jumped in fright and scrambled back onto the raft.
But the fish didn’t leave. Instead, it kept circling nearby.
“What kind of fish is that…”
Jiang Qi cautiously stretched out a hand. In the next second, the huge black fish burst out of the water, opening a mouthful of shark-like teeth as it lunged at her fingers.
“?!!”
Jiang Qi yanked her hand back at lightning speed.
“It’s a piranha! There are piranhas in the stream!”