Inside the abandoned city, Ethan Carter and Natasha Romanoff moved forward with extreme caution.
Glancing around, Ethan noticed the city was filled with towering skyscrapers. Burned-out vehicles littered the streets, abandoned where they had stopped decades ago.
At one intersection, the shattered remains of a small aircraft were scattered across the pavement, suggesting the city’s technology had once been highly advanced.
Deep claw marks scarred the walls of nearby buildings, while massive craters pockmarked the streets.
It was obvious that a fierce battle had taken place here.
And judging by the destruction, one side had consisted of powerful monsters—creatures that were both incredibly strong and frighteningly numerous.
Low, guttural roars echoed through the city.
Ethan and Natasha immediately ducked behind an abandoned car, concealing themselves in its shadow.
Only after the growling gradually faded did Ethan let out a quiet sigh of relief.
An idea suddenly came to him.
He placed his hand on the rusted vehicle.
A System prompt immediately appeared.
[Abandoned Vehicle detected. Collect?]
"Collect."
Ethan expected the car to break down into valuable crafting materials.
Instead, another notification appeared.
[Collection failed. The vehicle still contains items. Remove all contents before collecting.]
"...Seriously?"
He sighed.
So the System couldn’t simply dismantle an entire vehicle if there were still objects inside.
Looking toward the surrounding buildings, he realized the same rule probably applied to them.
If a building still contained loot, he wouldn’t be able to instantly recycle the whole thing.
"Commander," Natasha whispered, "where should we search next?"
"Let’s check that convenience store. We have a much better chance of finding food and water there."
Searching a car in the middle of the street would leave them exposed to monsters, and whatever remained inside was unlikely to be useful.
A convenience store, on the other hand, offered both supplies and cover.
They entered without incident.
The moment Ethan stepped inside, his hopes dropped.
The convenience store, which covered well over a thousand square feet, was a complete mess.
Shelves had been overturned, merchandise was scattered everywhere, and most of the supplies had long since disappeared.
After thoroughly searching the store, they found only ten 300-milliliter bottles of mineral water and ten packs of compressed survival biscuits.
With the two of them sharing rations, it would last no more than three days.
After storing everything in his inventory, Ethan’s attention shifted to the broken metal shelves lying across the floor.
He rested a hand on one.
[Damaged Scrap Metal Shelf detected. Collect?]
"Collect."
A soft white light enveloped the shelf.
Seconds later, it disappeared, leaving behind several pieces of metal.
[Obtained: Basic Iron Plate ×5]
Ethan immediately opened the Universal Crafting Bench and navigated to the Iron Nails recipe.
"Perfect."
"One Basic Iron Plate makes ten nails. There are plenty of shelves here—more than enough to gather the materials needed to reinforce the cabin."
Without wasting another second, he began dismantling every metal shelf in the store.
To his pleasant surprise, Natasha was also able to use the game’s collection function.
Compared to other survivors, that effectively gave them an extra fifteen inventory slots, providing a significant advantage during the early stages.
Once everything worth taking had been collected, Ethan noticed the sky outside had turned a deep crimson.
"The sun’s about to set."
"Traveling at night will be far more dangerous. The game also said our cabin is currently the only safe shelter."
"We should head back before dark."
After weighing the risks, Ethan and Natasha carefully withdrew from the abandoned city and returned to their cabin.
After eating a compressed biscuit and drinking a little water, Ethan opened the Universal Crafting Bench and selected Cabin Upgrade.
The required firewood and iron nails instantly disappeared from his inventory.
A gentle white light enveloped the entire cabin.
Just as quickly as it appeared, the light faded.
The cabin looked completely different.
The floor, walls, and roof had all been rebuilt with sturdy new timber.
The structure no longer looked like it might collapse at any moment.
Even the flimsy wooden door—which previously looked incapable of stopping a house cat—had become much thicker.
A heavy wooden crossbar had also been installed, allowing it to be securely barred from the inside.
Finally, a simple wooden bed had appeared inside the cabin.
It didn’t even have a mattress, but it was still far better than sleeping on the floor.
Walking over to the door, Ethan knocked on it several times.
Judging from the solid sound and sturdy feel, it would have no trouble stopping a charging wild boar.
"Commander, get some rest," Natasha said. "I’ll take the first watch."
"All right."
"I’ll sleep for a few hours, then I’ll relieve you during the second half of the night."
"Thank you, Commander."
A warm smile spread across Natasha’s face.
Seeing that beautiful smile eased much of the tension Ethan had carried throughout the day.
Using two bundles of firewood as a makeshift pillow, he quickly drifted off to sleep.
Half-asleep, he silently appreciated the improvements the Gene Serum had made to his body.
The desert’s temperature swung wildly between day and night.
The daytime heat had been oppressive, yet nighttime felt like the middle of winter.
Although the cabin had already been upgraded once, icy wind still found its way through every crack.
If he still had his old body, he doubted he would have survived the night.
When Ethan woke around midnight, darkness had completely swallowed the desert.
Occasional wolf-like howls echoed in the distance.
Natasha remained on guard with a pistol in her hand.
Fortunately, the clouds had cleared.
Bright moonlight illuminated the surrounding dunes.
Unless something tunneled underground to attack, not even a mouse could approach without Natasha noticing.
As Ethan stretched after getting out of bed, the Daily Check-In System chimed inside his mind.
[Ding! A new day has begun.]
[Today’s available rewards are:]
[1. One Legendary-Grade Axe]
[2. One Genetically Modified Hen]
[3. One Epic Fire Starter]
"No beautiful companion today?"
After a brief moment of disappointment, Ethan carefully considered the options.
"One hen isn’t enough to make much of a difference, even if it’s genetically modified."
"The axe overlaps too much with the knives I already have."
"But a fire starter..."
"That’s incredibly useful."
"With a reliable source of fire, I can cook once I find ingredients."
"It might even help keep monsters away."
"And if not, it’ll at least keep us warm."
"Who knows how much colder this world is going to get?"
After making up his mind, Ethan said,
"I choose the Epic Fire Starter."
A flash of white light appeared.
When it faded, an obsidian-black fire starter rod floated before him, accompanied by its item description.
[Epic Fire Starter — A fire starter with unlimited durability. The chance of successfully igniting a target is increased by 100%.]
Ethan couldn’t help clenching his fist.
What an incredible item.
An ordinary fire starter would eventually wear out.
This one would last forever—as long as he didn’t lose it.
After crafting a simple campfire, Ethan scraped one of the combat knives against the rod.
A handful of tiny sparks burst from the fire starter.
Though each spark was barely larger than an ant, the instant they landed on the firewood, the pile burst into bright, comforting flames.
The cabin quickly became noticeably warmer.
Feeling the heat spread through the room, Ethan smiled.
"Natasha, go get some sleep."
"I’ll take watch from here."
"Yes, Commander."