“Activating map. Target is being transported.”
Ye Yi subconsciously closed her eyes, listening to the voice in her mind and feeling a slight sense of dizziness. Although she had prepared herself mentally before activating it, the moment still felt strangely unreal. Had she really left Earth?
Beep, Destination reached.
When she opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was a round-faced flight attendant bending over and speaking to her.
“Ma’am, you don’t look very well. Do you need any assistance?”
Ye Yi’s gaze was somewhat unfocused. Before she could figure out what was happening, she instinctively replied, “I’m fine. I don’t need any help, thank you!”
“Alright. If you need anything, just call me.” Before she could finish speaking, another flight attendant hurried over with a professional smile on her face.
After approaching, the second attendant lowered her head, covered her mouth with one hand, and whispered a few words into the round-faced attendant’s ear. A trace of panic immediately flashed across the latter’s face, though she quickly regained her composure.
Once they finished talking, the two flight attendants briskly headed toward the front cabin, one after the other.
Ye Yi remained seated. They were too far away for her to hear what had been said, so she could only suppress her curiosity for the moment. Looking around, she began assessing the situation in hopes of gathering more information.
The moment the flight attendants left, someone excitedly stood up and started touching everything on the plane. Some people remained quietly seated, while others spoke loudly.
“So this is the Survival Map? Are we supposed to survive on an airplane?”
That single sentence immediately revealed their identities.
It seemed they were the same as her, people who had entered the map to earn points, not natives of this world.
Ye Yi instantly lowered her gaze toward their wrists. Sure enough, each of them was wearing a red wristband.
Before she could carefully observe anyone else, lightning suddenly flashed outside the window and thunder roared. The sky alternated between darkness and blinding brightness, while the airplane abruptly began shaking up and down.
What was going on?
Could this map be…
an airplane crash survival scenario?
At the same time, the sweet voice of a flight attendant came over the intercom:
“Dear passengers, we sincerely apologize. The aircraft is currently experiencing turbulence. Please return to your seats and refrain from moving around. Fasten your seat belts and stow your tray tables. Until we have passed through the turbulence, please keep your seatbacks in the upright position. Thank you!”
The moment the plane began shaking, Ye Yi had already gripped the armrests tightly. After hearing the announcement, she reached out with her right hand and gave her seat belt a firm tug to make sure it was securely fastened. Then she sat back with her spine straight against the seat, doing her best to relax.
The announcement was repeated three times in a row.
During that time, flashes of lightning streaked across the sky outside the windows, each one seeming to strike directly at people’s hearts, filling them with an oppressive sense of dread. The plane’s shaking varied between strong and weak but never stopped.
Ye Yi felt like her heart could barely take it. She had never flown before and had never imagined that flying could be this terrifying. Her face immediately turned pale.
The girl seated by the window beside her watched Ye Yi’s reactions and burst out laughing.
“Seriously, lady? You’re scared by this little bit of shaking? Do you even want to play this game?”
Ye Yi glanced at her. The girl looked quite young, yet her manners were terrible. And somehow she was being called “lady.”
“Mind your own business.”
“Tch, what a waste of good intentions. I was actually thinking of comforting you. Whatever. Lady, move over. I need to use the restroom.”
With an indifferent expression, the girl unfastened her seat belt. The moment she stood up, she stumbled before she could even steady herself.
Ye Yi was genuinely speechless. The girl could barely keep her footing and was still thinking about going to the restroom.
This was a Survival Map. No one knew what might happen in the next second.
The best course of action was to stay put, figure out the situation first, and adapt accordingly.
“Didn’t you hear the announcement telling everyone not to move around?” Ye Yi kindly reminded her.
“Lady, don’t you know that airplanes are the safest form of transportation in the world? Being uneducated is really scary.”
The girl rolled her eyes and spoke disdainfully. Then she squeezed past Ye Yi’s legs and staggered toward the restroom.
Ye Yi did not bother saying anything else. She merely watched the girl’s departing figure.
The plane suddenly entered another bout of turbulence, even more violent than before. One after another, the overhead luggage compartments sprang open, and items came tumbling down from above.
Ye Yi instinctively leaned inward until no more bags were falling from above, then straightened up again.
While dodging the falling luggage, she thought she had heard someone scream. She had no idea what had happened or whether anyone had been injured.
Being on a plane without the solid reassurance of standing on the ground was truly nerve-racking.
Amid the shaking, she did her best to steady herself and looked up at the compartment above her. It was completely empty. The violent turbulence had probably flung all the luggage out moments ago.
The people who had been walking along the aisle were now in complete chaos.
The announcement sounded again:
“Dear passengers, for your safety, please do not move around the cabin! Passengers who are currently standing should immediately crouch down and hold onto a nearby fixed object. Do not run around! Do not run around! Do not run around!”
As Ye Yi pressed herself as close to the seatback as possible to counter the shaking, she looked toward the aisle. Through the confusion, she could make out some people obediently crouching down after hearing the announcement. A few others, however, continued running about recklessly, crashing into things one moment and stumbling in another direction the next.
Not far away, a man whose head was covered in blood from a collision was still staggering around wildly. Terrified, he shouted at the top of his lungs,
“What kind of stupid game is this?! I don’t want to play anymore!”
Feeling nauseous from the violent shaking, Ye Yi could hardly believe that someone still thought this was just a game. Had he not bothered learning anything about the maps before entering one? The authorities had already stated that these maps might be real worlds. If your consciousness was injured inside a map, your real body would suffer corresponding injuries as well.
“Are you stupid? Hurry up and crouch down! Stop yelling!” The man’s shouting was making Ye Yi even more agitated, so she repeated the warning from the announcement.
After saying that, she ignored everyone else’s reactions. Her hands gripped the armrests tightly, and her back remained pressed firmly against the seat. As the plane lurched up, down, left, and right, her heart clenched repeatedly, and the dizziness in her head grew even worse.
She silently prayed:
Please don’t let me get killed within the first five minutes of entering the map!
After all, leaving within the first fifteen days would result in a mandatory deduction of 100 points.
She only had 150 points in total. If 100 were deducted, she would be left with just 50 points.
One point equaled one hour.
In other words, she would only have enough points left to survive for another fifty hours.
If she left early, she would lose her qualification to enter maps and earn points ever again.
The thought made panic rise in her chest. She could only dig her fingernails hard into her palms, using the pain to force herself to calm down.
Since this was a Survival Map, there had to be a way to survive.
She could not afford to scare herself into losing her composure.
With so many people here, there was no way everyone would be eliminated at once. There had to be a chance to turn things around.
For the rest of the journey, Ye Yi stopped letting her imagination run wild. She sat quietly in her seat, breathing in and out with the rhythm of the plane’s movements, doing her best to relax.
Eventually, after what felt like an entire century, the plane finally began to stabilize.
The passengers who had been on the verge of a breakdown from the turbulence all showed expressions of relief, as though they had just been rescued.
The announcement came on again:
“Dear passengers, the aircraft has safely exited the turbulent area. We are approximately fifteen minutes away from our destination, Yudu Town. Please return to your seats. Injured passengers will receive medicine from the flight attendants shortly. Please wait patiently.”
Ye Yi could not help letting out a sigh of relief. Her body, which had been tense the entire time, finally relaxed against the seat.
After gripping the armrests for so long, her hands had become stiff. She could only wave them back and forth in the air to loosen them up.
The cabin soon returned to its previous noisy state, with passengers loudly calling for the flight attendants to treat their injuries first.
Sitting in her seat, Ye Yi rubbed her weak legs. After resting for a while, she unfastened her seat belt and stood up. Stretching her limbs, she noticed the backpacks scattered across the floor and could not resist bending down to pick them up.
She picked up one of the backpacks and examined it carefully. A white tag attached to the zipper had the name “Li Yu” written on it.
This was probably the backpack belonging to someone named Li Yu.
Looking around, she noticed that all the backpacks on the floor were identical in style and color.
A bold thought crossed her mind.
Could these be the so-called starter backpacks?
She arranged the nearby backpacks one by one but failed to find one with her own name on it. Left with no choice, she began walking forward while continuing to search.
Finally, near the very front of the cabin, she found a backpack bearing her name.
She did not open it immediately. Instead, she slung it over her shoulder and continued walking forward.
The girl who had been sitting beside her had gone to the restroom earlier and never returned.
If she did not go check on her, she felt she would not be able to put her mind at ease.
When she reached the restroom door, Ye Yi turned the handle and tried to open it, but no matter what she did, it would not budge.
She knocked on the door with her fingers.
“Is anyone in there?”
There was no response at all.
Don’t tell me she passed out inside?
Ye Yi quickly went to find a flight attendant. Together, they returned with a spare key and unlocked the restroom door.
Inside, they found the girl from the neighboring seat lying on the floor in messy clothes. There were multiple bruises and signs of impact injuries on her body.
Ye Yi stepped forward to check on her.
Fortunately, she was still breathing.
After feeling around her head, she found a swollen spot. She had probably hit her head and been knocked unconscious.
Working together with the flight attendant, they carefully lifted the girl and carried her back to her seat.
Before Ye Yi could properly rest, the announcement sounded again:
“Dear passengers, we have arrived at our destination, Yudu Town. Please prepare to disembark.”
They had already arrived?
And there had been no further accidents?
As soon as the cabin door opened, most of the passengers hurried off the plane.
The girl beside her still had not regained consciousness, so Ye Yi could only ask a flight attendant to look after her.
As she turned to leave, she noticed that several people had remained behind. They were collecting the backpacks that no one had claimed and slinging them onto their backs one after another.
Although she had no idea why they were doing that, she instinctively stepped forward and picked up two extra backpacks herself, one slung across her chest and the other carried in her hand.
After getting off the plane and entering the airport, she looked at the crowds of people coming and going.
A strange sense of relief washed over her, as if she had survived a disaster.
She had finally landed safely.
Ye Yi noticed that among the people who had entered the map with her, some wore red wristbands on their wrists, while others did not.
She lowered her head and glanced at her own wristband before pulling down her sleeve to conceal it.