Chapter 18: Jumped Down?

Chapter 18: Chapter 18: Jumped Down?

The fluorescent light shone until the Sunflower spat out its last glob of sunshine, then instantly went out the moment Seraphina Sinclair’s movements ceased.

Seraphina Sinclair lay flat on the floor.

The damage to the floor reset daily. Yesterday’s marks from being soaked in black water had already disappeared, which was why Seraphina Sinclair could relax.

She needed to rest a bit before moving again. Rather than waiting idly, she opened the regional channel to check for any useful information.

This was the third day for all of humanity in The Black Mist World. Compared to the previous two days, the general mood was noticeably more negative.

Seraphina Sinclair understood completely. For the first two days, the novelty of it all had kept people going. Today, that was well and truly gone, and they were beginning to face reality.

"So... even if we manage to stay alive, we have to live in this godforsaken place for the rest of our lives? Gnawing on this rock-hard bread and disgusting compressed biscuits every day? Honestly, I’d rather just die sooner."

"For the first two days, I could still trick myself into thinking this was all a game. Killing monsters for rewards actually felt pretty good. But today, the moment I opened my eyes, I just felt awful. I don’t want to be in this godforsaken place! I want to go home! I want to sleep in my big bed! My mattress... my blankets... my pillow, and takeout... WAHHH, just let me go back!!!"

"I’m kind of craving the pig’s trotter rice from the place downstairs from my apartment. Only twelve yuan a serving, free rice refills, and tons of meat. Now, forget about eating meat, you can’t even find free rice."

"Damn it, you guys, shut up! I opened the regional channel for a good time, not to have my resolve shaken! I’m going to make it through this, I swear!"

"Hehe, my Sunflower’s Hunger Level is full again. More sunshine is coming, hehe. Supply Box... Supply Box... my precious~ I’m coming for you!!!"

"Feels like the Spirit of the person above isn’t all that stable either."

’No kidding.’

Seraphina Sinclair watched for a while and felt that the survivors’ mental states were now at two complete extremes. One group was desperately pessimistic, while the other was overly enthusiastic.

As for her, she was probably somewhere in the middle.

She knew the Sunflower could evolve by consuming the slime dropped by monsters, so... that made her someone with a clear objective.

She was passionate about her objective and passionate about acquiring supplies, but relatively calm otherwise.

’A pretty good state to be in.’

Seraphina Sinclair nodded to herself. She had always considered herself an egoist.

Of course, being an egoist didn’t mean hurting others. She still had a shred of morality.

Seraphina Sinclair raised her arm and rotated it. Feeling the soreness had faded, she rolled smoothly to her feet.

She narrowed her eyes, gripped the handle of her military knife, and moved the Sunflower onto the wooden bed.

Seraphina Sinclair glanced around the moving cabin. After confirming there were no issues, she raised her hand and infused the sunshine into the door card.

’Time to get moving.’

The familiar sound returned, and after a slight jolt, the cabin began to move forward.

Compared to the first time it moved, the cabin’s stability had improved a lot. A person could now stand inside without needing to hold onto anything.

Seraphina Sinclair habitually looked up at the ceiling. Seeing no dust fall, she then lifted the bedding she’d laid out yesterday and, without any care for delicacy, stood with her shoes on the exposed wooden boards.

’In this godforsaken place, what’s the point of being clean? Safety is what matters most.’

’A higher vantage point is essential for a better view.’

Twenty minutes later, the first wave of black mist arrived right on schedule.

Seraphina Sinclair slowed her breathing. This time, as the black mist poured in, the Sunflower hadn’t announced, "Something tasty," so there shouldn’t be any monsters.

Seraphina Sinclair relaxed a little. Just as she raised her hand to rub her brow, her ears caught an extremely faint, eerie sound.

It sounded like footsteps, but also like the hoarse groan of some monster.

But it seemed very far away, and because of the swirling black mist, she couldn’t make it out clearly.

But Seraphina Sinclair was instantly on alert. She almost instinctively glanced down at the Sunflower.

’I didn’t hear the Sunflower’s inner voice, it’s true, but there’s no guarantee it will give a warning *every* time a monster shows up!’

Seraphina Sinclair had already suffered once from making assumptions.

’There was no way she was making that mistake twice.’

She narrowed her eyes, tightened her grip on the military knife, and focused her Spirit, trying hard to distinguish the abnormal sound.

The direction... Seraphina Sinclair roughly figured it out. It was coming from in front of the wooden door she had never opened.

Right now, the enemy was hidden while she was exposed. It was clearly not a good time to make a move. As long as the monster didn’t attack first, Seraphina Sinclair had the patience to wait until the black mist receded.

As the black mist roiled and began to surge outward, Seraphina Sinclair heard another soft sound, like the wooden door being opened.

Followed by the distinct sound of two footsteps...

The black mist receded completely.

The first thing Seraphina Sinclair saw was the open wooden door. Her gaze swept around the cabin, and after finding no Supply Box and no monster, she couldn’t help but frown.

Although she had never opened this wooden door, she knew what was outside it.

This door was a trap designed to screw over new players. There was nothing to stand on outside, just a bottomless abyss one step away.

The pitch-black mist concealed everything, but it was obvious that leaving the moving cabin would not lead to a good end.

Seraphina Sinclair, holding her knife, cautiously circled the inside of the moving cabin. After confirming that there was truly nothing there, she fell completely silent.

’What was that about?’

’Was my sunshine wasted? How could this happen?’

Seraphina Sinclair’s brows furrowed deeply. She recalled the [Basic Rules of the Black Mist World] again.

’When there are no monsters, the black mist is guaranteed to bring a Supply Box.’

’Guaranteed.’

’Since there’s no Supply Box, that means there really *was* a monster here.’

’So where’s the monster?’

Seraphina Sinclair glanced at the open wooden door. The mist outside scrambled to pour in, but it seemed to fear something, only daring to roil at the threshold.

’Ah... Did it jump off?’

’I know the idea is ridiculous, but it seems to be the only explanation right now!’

’So do I still get the Supply Box?’

’If a monster kills itself by falling, does that count as my kill?’

’Too many questions, and none with any answers.’

Seraphina Sinclair returned to the bed to wait calmly for the second influx of black mist.

The second time, nothing unexpected happened. Seraphina Sinclair quietly watched the location of the black mist vortex. She was experienced now; in this situation, there would definitely be a Supply Box at the vortex’s center.

After the black mist receded, a Supply Box did indeed appear right where she was looking. It was a basic F-level one.

Seraphina Sinclair returned to the wooden bed with the Supply Box in her arms. Summing up the past three days of travel, she seemed to have discovered a method of determining the presence of monsters that was even more reliable than the Sunflower’s warnings.

When there are no monsters, the black mist will always bring a Supply Box, and these Supply Boxes always generate at the center of a vortex.

’In other words, if there’s a vortex, there are no monsters.’