Chapter 109: New Player

Chapter 109: Chapter 109: New Player

Mr. Wen smiled and said no more.

Shi Zhile checked the supplies in her backpack. She had enough food, and her infinite backpack was full of fresh water. If she could bring her supplies into the instance, she was confident she could make it out.

The instance would open at noon the next day, the hottest time of day.

She had to make more preparations, at the very least to block out the harsh sunlight.

The four of them split up to get busy.

A day passed quietly. The next morning, after finishing her archery practice, Shi Zhile soaked in the bathtub.

She took the opportunity to open the chat channel.

In the extreme heat, the players were lethargic from dehydration. They weren’t even as active in the chat as they used to be.

But with another instance about to open, the chat channel became unusually lively.

[Wei Hui: Latest news! There’s no limit on bringing supplies into this instance. Several hundred people will be fighting for the resources of a single island. It’s first come, first served, but it also gives us a chance to go after the players on the leaderboards.

Any players with a Summon Order? I’ll trade you a bottle of purified water for it.]

[Turtle-Loving Empress Dowager Chen: I have a Summon Order. I want to trade it for 5 bottles of water.]

[DomineeringCEO-Loves-Menopausal-Divorced-Mom-Me: I hope the system displays the resource rankings above players’ heads. That’ll make it easier for everyone to corner them. Anyone want to team up to take down the top-ranked player?]

[Player: Me!]

[Sunlit Censer: Count me in.]

...

[Wei Hui: @Jiang Yuxing, hand over your supplies, or we’re going to hunt you down.]

Shi Zhile raised an eyebrow slightly. It was rare for Wei Hui not to tag her.

She opened the resource leaderboard and saw that she had dropped to second place.

After getting out of the tub and dressing, she wrung out the clothes she’d just changed out of and hung them outside to dry, then casually dried her hair with a towel.

’In the Rule Instance, Jiang Yuxing’s role was the island’s "Cleaner." Could it be that the system funneled all the supplies from players who died on the island to him?’

Over the past month, Jiang Yuxing had been the laziest of them all.

When Mr. Wen was researching wheat seeds, he was lying on a deck chair in front of a fan.

When Wang Peng was fully geared up and foraging by the sea, he was lying on a deck chair in front of a fan.

When Shi Zhile went into her spaces to collect eggs and pull weeds, he was still lying on a deck chair in front of a fan.

Only when night fell and the four of them moved out together would he reluctantly turn off his fan and leave his deck chair.

Outside of that Rule Instance, she really couldn’t figure out when Jiang Yuxing’s supply count had surpassed hers.

The sun had just risen, but the temperature was already 38 degrees. Her hair dried quickly. Shi Zhile sat by the freshwater lake with her hair down, expressionlessly filling empty water bottles.

After filling all the empty bottles, she had a total of 50. Then she entered the Planting Space to water the plants again.

Before the last instance, she hadn’t left enough fodder and water in the Breeding Space, and the chickens and cows had nearly starved to death.

This time, to prevent her spaces from being locked again during the instance, she needed to plan ahead for both of them.

She left plenty of water and fodder in the Breeding Space. In the Planting Space, she harvested all the mature vegetables, planted a new batch, and gave them a thorough watering.

Just as she finished her preparations, the instance began.

[Survival Tip: The "Ocean Survival" instance is about to begin. All players, please prepare.

Instance Duration: Three days.

Instance Mission: Stay alive.

Clear Condition 1: Survive for three days.

Condition 2: Kill a random leaderboard player. (Note: Upon killing any leaderboard player, all of the deceased player’s supplies will be transferred to the killer.)

Condition 3: Collect the designated supplies: Black Seed Flower (0/1), Hundred-Year Ginseng (0/1), Bloodvine Herb (0/1)]

When the voice faded, the scene before her eyes changed in an instant.

The stone walls had become a boundless ocean. The raft beneath her bobbed up and down with the waves.

The sun hung high in the sky, its rays stinging her skin.

In the distance, about two or three hundred meters away, another raft was also bobbing on the water with a player sitting on it.

Shi Zhile wasn’t sure if the other player had seen her. She chose to focus and quickly opened the instance mission log to review it.

’The three items for Condition 3 will be very hard to find, especially the Hundred-Year Ginseng. I’ll rule out that clear condition first.

Condition 2 is tempting, and Condition 1 is the safest. But I’m ranked second on the leaderboard, so it will be difficult to just lie low and survive until the end.

With no rule restrictions, there are far more opportunities for players to make a move. First, I’ll check my supply backpack.’

She opened her backpack. All the supplies stored inside were still there.

However, the top of the backpack now displayed "0/3".

’0/3... Is this a daily limit on retrieving supplies?’

She tried to take out a bottle of water. The next moment, it appeared in her hand, and the numbers on the backpack changed to "1/3".

’Just as I guessed. The only question is whether the retrieval count resets daily or if it’s on a cooldown timer.

If it’s the latter, getting one retrieval chance every couple of hours would be manageable. But if it’s the former, the restriction is far too great.’

Shi Zhile was thankful she hadn’t taken out her sun parasol first.

A shout came from the distance. Shi Zhile followed the sound and saw the player on the distant raft waving at her.

She ignored them and quickly inspected her raft. Other than a very old fishing rod, there were no other supplies on it.

She tried to move the raft with her Spirit Value again, but this time it didn’t work.

’It seems the only way to move the raft is with an oar and physical strength. That other player must have realized this too, which is why they called out, probably hoping we could help each other.

But this is good, too. At least it’s safer.’

Before she could even breathe a sigh of relief, a blinding red light flashed before her eyes, and an alarm sounded in her ears.

[Warning! Body temperature is elevated. Due to environmental effects, the player’s body temperature is high. Please find a shaded area to cool down as soon as possible to avoid the risk of heatstroke. (Life Value -1/30 minutes).]

’Direct exposure to the sun deducts Life Value, and it’s a continuous drain.

Right now, the only items I have that can restore health are coconuts and Python Meat. Unless my Life Value drops below 20, it’s not worth wasting a retrieval chance.’

Shi Zhile’s gaze fell on the black-canopied boat in her backpack. She had made it yesterday specifically for today.

She only had three chances to retrieve supplies. Should she waste one on taking out the black-canopied boat?

She hesitated for only a moment before taking it out.

Taking out a coconut to restore Life Value would use up one chance, and so would taking out the boat. However, the boat could provide shade and store some of her supplies—a permanent solution.

The moment she jumped onto the boat, she quickly stored the raft in her backpack.

The display on her backpack still showed "2/3".

This meant that storing an item didn’t use up a retrieval chance.

Now that she had a shady spot, Shi Zhile sat down and focused on fishing.

She had one retrieval chance left for the day. If she wasted it on food, she wouldn’t be able to take out a weapon.

There was another player in the distance, watching her like a hawk. A weapon for self-defense was far more important than food. She could get food from the ocean, but not a weapon.

Half an hour later, the bobber finally twitched.