She wondered if anyone had pulled a folding mattress from a crate yet. The bed of the trike was way too hard; even piling all her clothes underneath didn’t help at all.
Ordinarily she could have put up with it, but her body was in bad shape right now. If her sleep quality didn’t improve, her Health wouldn’t go back up, and her Fatigue would barely budge.
Qi Xu opened the Trading Hall, only then noticing that the half-pack of cigarettes she had listed earlier already had a dozen or so trade requests waiting.
She had completely forgotten about it.
As luck would have it, someone sent a private message asking about the cigarettes at that very moment.
Old White Dragon of the Waves: “Big shot, say something. Have your cigarettes sold yet? If they’re gone, I’ll stop bothering you.”
Qi Xu scrolled up and saw that this guy was seriously persistent, asking almost once every two hours…
Because they weren’t friends, the messages didn’t trigger special alerts, which was why Qi Xu was only seeing them now.
Invincible Black Whirlwind: “Not yet. What are you offering? I don’t want food or drinks.”
Old White Dragon of the Waves: “I pulled a toiletry set today. It’s got facial cleanser, toothpaste, a toothbrush, face cream, and hand cream. Trade for that?”
Qi Xu figured that sounded decent, so she sent a trade request right over.
Old White Dragon of the Waves: “You’re a real bro! Can I get a spot on your friends list? I got the better end of the deal this time, so I’ll make it up to you next time.”
Invincible Black Whirlwind: “Sure!”
After adding him, Qi Xu glanced at her friends list out of habit. Not bad—none of the portraits had gone dark.
She searched the Trading Hall for mattresses, quilts, and the like, but came up empty.
So she went to the lobby to ask.
Invincible Black Whirlwind: “Does anyone have a mattress or bedding?”
Donut: “Brother Whirlwind, are you starting to pursue quality of life already? Boohoo, I’m still at the stage where just staying alive is enough.”
Player 1212: “That’s what I don’t get! You’re not even short on supplies, so why be greedy for my Basic Black Spatial Stone?!”
Little Red Riding Hood: “Big shot, could you tell us what the reward for first place in the region was? Let us bumpkins broaden our horizons.”
Player 1013: “I have a yoga mat, want it? @Invincible Black Whirlwind”
Qi Xu already had one yoga mat, but since there weren’t any mattresses around, she decided to buy this one too.
She sent a private message right away: “What do you want for your yoga mat?”
Qi Xu sent over two small bread rolls and one compressed biscuit.
Player 1013 hit accept immediately and transferred the yoga mat over. Food prices were still sky-high, and Qi Xu had checked the market rates before deciding, so the offer was very fair.
Both sides were quite happy with the deal.
She returned to Public Chat.
Peppy Girl Guo Degang: “Does anyone want Anti-Fatigue Oral Solution? I have three vials—one vial drops Fatigue by 20 points!”
Donut: “Who needs that stuff? Just rest for a bit and Fatigue goes down on its own.”
I’m 1.8 Meters Tall: “Give it to me for free and I’ll take it.”
Light Shines on Everyone: “It might come in handy later. @Peppy Girl Guo Degang, if you’re selling it, don’t let it go too cheap.”
Peppy Girl Guo Degang: “Then how about I sell it to you?”
Light Shines on Everyone: “I mostly just don’t want to take advantage of you.”
Qi Xu laughed as she read that. This Light Shines on Everyone really was something else. No wonder this person ended up being the very first player tracked down and hunted—with such a talent for infuriating people.
Qi Xu sent a private message to Peppy Girl Guo Degang: “Sell the Anti-Fatigue Oral Solution to me. What do you want for it?”
Peppy Girl Guo Degang: “Sure! I need two iron pieces and one screw. Do you have rubber? I’d like one piece of rubber too. If three vials of Anti-Fatigue Oral Solution aren’t enough, I can throw in something else.”
Invincible Black Whirlwind: “That’s enough. Just those three things. Let’s trade.”
Peppy Girl Guo Degang sent a string of blowing-kiss emojis. “Thank you so much! My Vehicle is about to upgrade to level two, and those were the exact pieces I was missing.”
With that, she transferred the Anti-Fatigue Oral Solution over.
Qi Xu’s Fatigue was at 67. She downed two vials in one go and instantly felt as if two bags of cement had been lifted off her shoulders.
Since her body was aching today, she skipped her workout and just lay flat in the back of the trike, staring up at the sky.
Everyone else had just arrived in the survival game. Even if they couldn’t quite accept reality yet, at least there was still a sense of novelty to it.
Qi Xu was different. Qi Xu was already numb to it all—used to having zero entertainment, used to this tense, thrilling, yet tedious and brutal world.
She had lived like that for nearly four years. When she was about to be eaten by a monster in an instance, she had died smiling, thinking she was finally free.
She felt both relief that she hadn’t stayed dead and a deep confusion over why she was even trying to live on. She had simply thrown herself into staying busy on instinct, using her past experience to give herself a stronger footing to survive.
Did this highway even have an end? Was she supposed to keep driving down it for the rest of her life?
Qi Xu didn’t know.
In her previous run, Qi Xu had no friends, no one who mattered to her, not even an enemy. Whenever someone crossed her, she either killed them on the spot or swallowed her pride and endured it.
Nothing mattered more than staying alive. Because she didn’t want to get close to people and didn’t like making enemies either, she had lived completely out of place on the fringes, practically invisible.
Every single day had been a frantic scramble toward a future with no end in sight—carefully calculating how much to eat today, how much she could afford to eat, how to make it through tomorrow…
From a frail young girl who could barely lift a wok to cook, she had turned into a cold-blooded warrior who could kill a person without blinking and hack down monsters without flinching.
After everything she had suffered along the way… if she went through it all a second time, would the ending actually change? Even with a head start, her heart was still full of uncertainty.
Even if she didn’t have the answers, Qi Xu knew one thing: a second chance was already something tens of millions of people would beg for and never get. Her machete was right beside her, yet slitting her own throat to end it right here—she couldn’t bring herself to do it.
So she might as well just sleep…
Call it the pointless brooding of someone being overly dramatic.
Being able to fall asleep on command was a skill in itself.
The next day, after waking up, Qi Xu felt much better physically, and most of the tangled thoughts cluttering her head had faded away.
Aside from both arms still hurting badly, the rest of her body was only slightly sore.
Her spirits were pretty good, though, and her Fatigue had dropped from 21 last night down to 13. Remembering her gloomy mood from the night before, Qi Xu gave her head a hard shake.
She stretched, lounged in bed a little longer, and finally sat up. Today she felt like slacking off and skipping her workout.
Just then, a message notification chimed. Qi Xu blinked in surprise. Who was messaging her this early?
She tapped it open and saw it was China’s Little Master Chef.
“There are so many dishes to make, and my Vehicle is slow. Plus I still have to get my daily mileage in, so it’ll probably take another two days to finish everything. I made you breakfast first. Don’t worry, I didn’t run off with your stuff, so don’t stress!”
【Player China’s Little Master Chef has sent you a gift. Do you accept?】
Qi Xu tapped “Yes.”
A tray materialized right in front of her, piping hot with steam rising into the air. On it sat vegetable and lean pork congee, ham and bacon rolls, pumpkin cheese and egg toast, and a small plate of sliced apples.
Qi Xu forgot all about replying and immediately started eating, one bite after another…
……..