[Wang Shouyi]: “A bottle of water sold for 5 copper coins—why don’t you go fly to heaven?”
He Miaomiao ignored him and listed another bottle of water in the group chat.
Unexpectedly—
It was gone in a second, snapped up by Wang Shouyi.
“…”
He Miaomiao took out another bottle of water.
[Yu Qiaoyun]: “Thank you big boss, thank you.”
[Zhang Na]: “Why did the big boss list water twice back-to-back? Was the previous bottle snatched by someone?”
[Wan Zifan]: “No way, who could be so shameless? That bottle of water was meant for Sister Yun from the big boss!”
Their group had been in Despair Valley for over 2 days. After these 2 days of exploring, they had roughly understood what kind of situation they were currently in.
However, they were ultimately people raised in a peaceful society after all, and the survival experience hadn’t lasted very long yet, so in their hearts, they were all still holding onto some old rules and ethics.
Even if there were other players who were extremely thirsty, knowing that the bottle of water was given to Yu Qiaoyun by He Miaomiao, they had tactfully refrained from snatching it.
It wasn’t until they saw Yu Qiaoyun express her thanks that they realized someone had snatched the previous bottle of water, which stirred up a hornet’s nest.
[Du Qiu]: “In this endless cycle of karma, humanity will eventually expose its fangs and turn into terrifying beasts. Right now, it is merely the beginning.”
[Wan Zifan]: “Never mind the fangs for now, single out the person who snatched the water first! I advise you to step out and apologize yourself. Don’t you know how precious resources are right now? Did the big boss allow you to snatch it before you made your move?”
Wang Shouyi cringed behind the screen, turning his head away with a guilty conscience, pretending to have seen nothing.
He was truly thirsty, very thirsty—the kind of thirst where he felt like he was dying.
However, the person who had water in the group was He Miaomiao.
He had targeted He Miaomiao so aggressively at the start, so she definitely wouldn’t be willing to sell water to him, so…
Whatever, drink first and talk later!
Wang Shouyi carefully brought his mouth close to the bamboo tube, letting the water wet his lips, then pulled his head back and carefully capped the bamboo tube like a prized treasure.
Fearing that it wasn’t sealed tightly and the water would spill out, he pressed down on it repeatedly with his hand before finally placing it into his inventory slot to feel somewhat at ease.
In just that short span of time, Wang Shouyi caught sight of a new message in the group.
[Duanmu Jing]: “Violating the rules, blacklisted.”
[Wan Zifan]: “Right! Blacklisted! Block them so they can never snatch anything from the big boss ever again, let’s see what they do then!”
Wang Shouyi’s face turned instantly pale.
He Miaomiao was the strongest in Village 4. If he could never snatch items she sold in the future, then wouldn’t he…
No, it couldn’t be. Maybe He Miaomiao didn’t even know who snatched it.
Besides, it wasn’t like he didn’t pay money; he didn’t take advantage of anyone at all!
Yes, that’s right!
Wang Shouyi bit the bullet and stayed silent, stepping out to gather resources while keeping an eye on the group.
Seeing that everyone in the group had returned to being busy and no one mentioned the water-snatching incident anymore, he breathed a sigh of relief and felt smug.
Look, he wasn’t wrong, was he? He Miaomiao didn’t know who snatched it at all.
Next time he saw good stuff, he would snatch it again!
On the other side.
After performing a few operations on her panel, He Miaomiao went back to making money.
She was already eager to experience her brand-new power.
Copper coins, throw them all at her! She was ready!
“Awoo—”
Before He Miaomiao could even step out the door, her body shuddered from a distant wolf howl.
No way, no way, right? It couldn’t be what she was thinking!
Just as she was praying for no new monsters to show up, a wolf—standing a head taller than a Corrupted Dog, with rotting flesh hanging off its body and white bone showing—rushed vividly into He Miaomiao’s line of sight, heading straight for the dilapidated safehouse.
He Miaomiao quickly cast Appraisal.
[Corrupted Wolf (Lv2): HP 160, Attack Power 28, Defense 3, Agility 3.5]
[Special Skill 1: Pack Hunt. When 2 or more Corrupted Wolves are present on the field, they will flank the player from both sides to cut off their escape route.]
[Special Skill 2: Frenzy. When HP falls below 30%, Attack Power +30%, Agility +20%.]
He Miaomiao: ???
Wait, no, setting aside the fact that its HP is a tier higher than hers, how come it carries 2 special skills?!
And Frenzy! She was the one who was truly going to fly into a frenzy!
However, since the wolf was already here and about to crash into her broken house, He Miaomiao had no choice but to take action.
Fortunately, through previous battles, she had already learned simple pre-judgments. Coupled with the fact that the Corrupted Wolf was similar to the Corrupted Dog—charging straight over with a very predictable path—He Miaomiao cast a Sparks Slash before the Corrupted Wolf could get close to the safehouse.
[Corrupted Wolf HP -33!]
Yay! A hit!
Do it again.
[Corrupted Wolf HP -33!]
The Corrupted Wolf had 94 HP remaining, and He Miaomiao had 35 Energy Points remaining.
She didn’t continue casting—although 35 Energy Points were enough to support using Sparks Slash 1 more time, having her Energy Points drop to zero was far too dangerous. After all, the Corrupted Wolf still had 94 HP left. If she collapsed from exhaustion back then while the Corrupted Wolf was still alive, wouldn’t it smash her house down?
He Miaomiao looked at the Corrupted Wolf’s 3.5 Agility, then looked at her own 9 Agility, 4 Defense, and 90 HP, grabbed her Stone Blade, and charged out the door.
The effect of her Agility being more than double that of the Corrupted Wolf was obvious: the Corrupted Wolf’s movements became very slow in her eyes. Before the wolf could attack her, she landed a blade strike on the wolf first.
[Corrupted Wolf HP -29!]
Not only that, after stabbing the Corrupted Wolf with her blade, He Miaomiao smoothly ran away, rather than trading 1 injury for 1 attack.
“Huh? Am I this fast?”
After discovering this, He Miaomiao wasn’t in a rush to hide back inside the safehouse, starting to kite the wolf in the open area.
Whenever the wolf charged over she dodged, and whenever she was ready she attacked.
[Corrupted Wolf HP -29!]
[Corrupted Wolf HP -29!]
Under the prompts popping up repeatedly above the monster’s head, this new monster that appeared due to He Miaomiao leveling up collapsed to the ground with a loud thud.
[Raw Wolf Meat ×1! Beast Hide ×1! Copper Coins ×3! EXP ×50!]
[Raw Wolf Meat ×1! Beast Hide ×1! Copper Coins ×3! EXP ×50! (Critical Hit)]
He Miaomiao: “100% drop rate of 3 copper coins! Wolfie, I wronged you—you are clearly an enthusiastic, peerless good wolf who loves helping people!”
Decided! Her next target would be: hunting lone wolves!
More than 1 wolf was off-limits. That Pack Hunt thing was tough to deal with, combined with the Frenzy buff, it was far too dangerous.
As the chosen jinx, He Miaomiao’s safehouse lacked everything else nearby, but it certainly didn’t lack monsters.
She went out to explore a circle and quickly found a lone wolf.
Attack!
[Raw Wolf Meat ×1! Beast Hide ×1! Copper Coins ×3! EXP ×50!]
[Raw Wolf Meat ×1! Beast Hide ×1! Copper Coins ×3! EXP ×50! (Critical Hit)]
Good going! Again!
[Raw Wolf Meat ×6! Beast Hide ×6! Copper Coins ×18! EXP ×300!]
[Raw Wolf Meat ×6! Beast Hide ×6! Copper Coins ×18! EXP ×300! (Critical Hit)]
Absolutely gorgeous!
However, after He Miaomiao killed 6 lone Corrupted Wolves in separate attempts, night fell.
The moment the time jumped to 7:00 PM, all daylight vanished without a trace. The wind in the air instantly became as sharp as a knife, and a suffocating, decaying aura swept over overwhelmingly, choking He Miaomiao so badly she could barely breathe.
Danger!
Every part of her body was issuing warnings.
Fortunately, even though hunting Corrupted Wolves was very profitable and her attack power was much stronger than when she was Level 1, He Miaomiao was accustomed to being cautious, not venturing too far from the safehouse and luring monsters closer when fighting.
Therefore, when the noise of densely packed monsters running sounded, He Miaomiao ran back into the house simultaneously.
It was too dark; she couldn’t even see her own hands. But not far away, the warm campfire was flickering, guiding her way home like a lighthouse.
Thud!
He Miaomiao dived back inside, and the Corrupted Rabbits surging toward her lost their attack targets, stopping in place.
Corrupted Rabbits at night were different from the daytime; after stopping, they didn’t lower their heads to eat grass, but kept their crimson eyes open to search for prey.
He Miaomiao was shocked by the sight—
When the 72-hour countdown ended, would they launch a joint attack against the safehouse?
Even if Corrupted Rabbits wouldn’t, what about Corrupted Dogs and Corrupted Wolves?
No way!
Without another word, He Miaomiao lay down on the rabbit fur carpet to recover her Energy Points.
She currently possessed 541 copper coins, still short 659 to reach 1200.
It was a lot, but her experience from years of bad luck told her that it was best to upgrade the safehouse before 7:00 AM tomorrow, or else she would turn into dregs along with the house.
Not even dregs would be left.
He Miaomiao focused intently, getting up immediately once her Energy Points were fully restored.
Danger was everywhere in the dark night. She certainly wouldn’t be foolish enough to jump into a monster mob and walk into a trap. She stood right at the doorway of the safehouse—which had long lacked a door—holding her Stone Blade.
Sparks Slash had higher damage, but it consumed too many Energy Points. To make up the 659 copper coin shortfall, she needed to kill many, many rabbits; if she waited for Energy Points to recover bit by bit, there wouldn’t be enough time.
However, she could still chew 8 pieces of cooked rabbit meat—He Miaomiao intended to use them to handle unexpected situations, such as killing Corrupted Dogs and Corrupted Wolves that actively attacked the safehouse.
For now, stick to basic attacks.
The Corrupted Rabbits surrounded the safehouse from all directions. If He Miaomiao lay down to sleep, regardless of which direction she looked in upon opening her eyes, she would see layer upon layer of red eyes, which was very terrifying.
For He Miaomiao who wanted to make money, however, this was a good thing.
She could hit rabbits while standing right inside the house.
Aim, thrust.
[Corrupted Rabbit HP -29!]
[Corrupted Rabbit HP -29!]
[Corrupted Rabbit HP…]
A series of red prompts flashed and vanished in the dark, layered on top of each other.
He Miaomiao repeatedly performed the exact same motion expressionlessly: thrust, retract, thrust, retract.
Until her Energy Points were exhausted, forcing her to collapse to the ground to wait for recovery.
[Raw Rabbit Meat ×23! Copper Coins ×2! EXP ×460!]
[Raw Rabbit Meat ×23! Copper Coins ×2! EXP ×460! (Critical Hit)]
[EXP: 4190/450 (Upgradeable)]
He Miaomiao roughly did the math: she needed 3 basic attacks on average to kill a rabbit, each consuming around 1.5 Energy Points.
Her Agility was 9, and killing 23 Corrupted Rabbits took her less than half an hour.
The panel showed that it was currently around 7:40 PM, so time was still fairly sufficient.
To maximize Energy Point recovery, He Miaomiao didn’t move, but posted her newly organized findings into the group chat, including tonight’s combat guide: hunting rabbits to earn money and EXP.
For her, the risk of leveling up was high. For normal players facing the risk of the grace period ending, however, the benefits of leveling up outweighed the risks, as it could boost their self-preservation capabilities.
Perhaps because the data involved this time was more extensive and important, the automatic price generated after the guide was posted was 5 copper coins.
[You Hua]: “Thank you big boss! That goddamned countdown jumping makes my heart panic, the big boss’s guide came right on time!”
[Wan Zifan]: “Thank you big boss!”
[Qi Yi]: “Waaaah so dark so many eyes, I want to go home so bad… Thank you big boss…”
[Kuang Yinyue]: “Thank you big boss!”
[Cui Heng]: “Thank you…”
[Wang Shouyi]: “What time do you think it is for you guys to still spend money on this kind of thing?”
[Jia Chang]: “We have reached a critical moment of survival, everyone had better save up a bit.”