【Congratulations to all players who survived the first round of the survival challenge. The second round will begin at the top of the next hour.】
Every surviving player received a notification on their survival panel.
What now?
Some rejoiced, while others fell into despair.
For Qiyu, the arrival of mutated creatures was like having a resource package delivered straight to his doorstep. But others weren't nearly so fortunate.
【Exquisite Single Character ID: Again? Those rats have chewed through most of my wooden cabin's durability. The wood I got as a reward is barely enough to repair it. I got bitten several times while fighting the monsters, and my health is down to 50.】
【Little Old Me: Didn't the person above upgrade their shelter? Once you've upgraded it, these attacks won't even put a dent in your cabin's durability.】
【Stop Showing Off Your IQ: Losers deserve to be eliminated. I'm using the long sword I got as a reward for killing mutants during the day. One swing is enough to take out those little monsters. It feels amazing.】
【Little Old Me: Selling wood, stone, food, and other survival supplies. DM me if you're interested.】
【I Am Born Noob But Useful: Don't trust that bandit selling supplies. He's demanding blueprints and rare resources in exchange for a pitiful amount of wood.】
【Little Old Me: Why are you making personal attacks? Wood is a lifesaver right now. No matter how valuable your blueprints are, they're worthless if you're dead.】
【I Have A Short Temper: Isn't that just taking advantage of people when they're desperate?】
【Little Old Me: It's a voluntary exchange. I'm not forcing anyone to trade.】
【Little Old Me: Supplies are limited, so it's first come, first served. There are only about ten minutes left until one o'clock.】
Civil Engineering Brother was also chatting in the 01 survival squad.
【Civil Engineering Brother: That "Little Old Me" guy in the main chat is really something. He could've just kept everything for himself, but he actually gave some wood to other people.】
【Civil Engineering Brother: Is everyone doing okay?】
【Civil Engineering Brother: @I Love Survival Game, boss?】
Everyone else in the group had already checked in. Qiyu was the only one who hadn't responded.
【I Love Survival Game: I'm fine.】
【Civil Engineering Brother: I knew a little skirmish like that wouldn't be enough to trouble you.】
【Civil Engineering Brother: I wonder what the next round will be like. If this follows the usual game pattern, the next attack should be even more intense.】
【Tranquility Yields Transcendence: We lost over five thousand people in the channel from that one attack alone. I hope all the kids who are still here manage to survive.】
His words plunged the group into a brief silence.
The next ten minutes seemed to drag on forever.
Qiyu stood inside the fence, staring intently into the thick fog.
One minute passed. Then two. Then several more.
Everything remained quiet.
Nothing happened.
Still on high alert, he took a moment to open the area chat.
【Stop Showing Off Your IQ: A Silver Chest! I just got a Silver Chest! Hahaha! I knew I wasn't destined for an ordinary life! This survival game is my chance to make it big!】
【I Want To Go Home: I can hear my grandma calling me from outside. Waaah, I miss her so much. I haven't been home in three days. She must be worried sick about me.】
【Little Old Me: You bunch of idiots! You didn't bother working hard these past few days, and now you're practically on your knees begging me to sell you wood. I'm going to make a fortune tonight! A fortune!】
【Living Is Suffering: Surviving in this game is pure hell. What's the point of struggling to stay alive? We're all going to die anyway! We're all going to die!】
【I Want To See How Long A Name Can Be: There are too many monsters! I can't hold out anymore! Can somebody save me? Help! Help!】
【Nori Seaweed or Kelp: The truth is, Earth has already been destroyed. A more advanced civilization has taken control of our minds and trapped us inside a game for its own amusement! Nothing means anything anymore. There's no point in living or dying. We're nothing but strings of data.】
***
The messages in the region-wide chat were all over the place. It was impossible to tell exactly what the players were experiencing.
Much of it sounded like outright madness.
Qiyu didn't believe so many people would suddenly lose their minds for no reason at such a critical moment.
He switched to the 01 survival squad.
【I Love Survival Game: Has the mental corruption outside the shelters gotten stronger?】
A few seconds later, someone replied.
【Tranquility Yields Transcendence: Yes. I can hear a lot of people crying outside. They're begging for help at my door.】
【Tranquility Yields Transcendence: But I know none of it is real.】
【Tranquility Yields Transcendence: I take it your Mental attribute is quite high too?】
【I Love Survival Game: Does it amplify people's deepest fears and desires?】
Tranquility Yields Transcendence didn't respond.
Qiyu switched back to the regional channel.
The player count was dropping rapidly.
At the end of the first round, there had still been more than 94,000 players remaining in the region.
Now, that number had already fallen to just over 80,000.
And only a few minutes had passed.
After thinking for a moment, Qiyu sent an item to Civil Engineering Brother through the trading system. Then he opened another chat window and greeted his new friend.
【I Love Survival Game: How are you holding up?】
Half a minute later, he received a reply.
【God Has No Form: Not bad. Did you think an illusion of this level could trap me?】
【God Has No Form: You broke free that quickly, buddy? Impressive.】
Qiyu, who hadn't even noticed the illusion: …
【I Love Survival Game: Maybe it's because I'm pretty satisfied with my life right now.】
Relieved that his miner friend was safe, Qiyu closed the chat window.
Then he noticed a string of messages from another friend.
【Civil Engineering Brother: Boss! Godfather! You're family to me!】
【Civil Engineering Brother: What kind of incredible treasure is this?!】
【Civil Engineering Brother: Thanks for saving my ass, Boss!】
Qiyu skillfully ignored the nonsense and went straight to what he wanted to know.
【I Love Survival Game: How much of the effect can Basic Purification eliminate?】
He had already suspected that it might work against this sort of attack. Sending it to Civil Engineering Brother had been a way to test his theory.
【Civil Engineering Brother: Let me put it this way. I was in a pretty bad state. Even though I knew those things weren't real, my mind and body were still caught up in them. I had no idea how long it would take me to break free. But the moment I put this bright sunflower beside me, it was like a barrier sprang up between me and everything I was experiencing. Suddenly, it all felt like I was just watching something on TV.】
He had broken free effortlessly.
【Civil Engineering Brother】 has initiated a trade with you.
【Civil Engineering Brother: Boss, I'm sending it back.】
【I Love Survival Game: Keep it. I have more. Want to buy it?】
Civil Engineering Brother was delighted.
Of course he wanted to buy it!
This bright sunflower didn't just purify mental pollution. Placed inside a room, it was like an enormous 200-watt lightbulb. Neither candles nor kerosene lamps could compare to its dazzling brightness.
He couldn't tell whether the effect was real or just psychological, but in a room as bright as daylight, he felt that if his courage could be measured as a stat, it would have shot up by at least +50.
No demons or monsters could frighten him now!
Civil Engineering Brother rummaged frantically through his inventory for quite some time before something suddenly occurred to him.
【Civil Engineering Brother: I don't have anything particularly valuable right now, Boss. Would these be any use to you?】
Civil Engineering Brother offers to trade you 【Basic Farmland x1】 and 【1 Packet of Chinese Cabbage Seeds】.
A few seconds later:
Civil Engineering Brother offers to trade you 【Basic Stamina Potion x1】.
He had only just obtained all three items from a resource package.
Qiyu had previously asked him about seeds, so Civil Engineering Brother guessed that he might possess some special farming skills.