Chapter 4: First Move

Chapter 4: Chapter 4: First Move

Seraphina Sinclair didn’t even bother with the Hand-cranked Sunlight Lamp, hastily reaching out to catch the Sunflower’s coiled form.

But the next moment, she heard the Sunflower’s complaint: "Too hot."

’Is it complaining that my body temperature is too high?’

Seraphina Sinclair immediately pulled her hands back. She wasn’t one of those parents who refused to listen.

The Sunflower said nothing more, apparently satisfied.

Seraphina Sinclair breathed a sigh of relief. ’If it just spoke, that means the Sunflower is definitely still alive.’

So that meant after its Hunger Level was depleted, the Sunflower naturally coiled into a ball.

Thoughts were one thing, but the Sunflower was too important to Seraphina Sinclair. She couldn’t resist opening the regional channel, intending to see if other people’s Sunflowers were doing the same thing.

Many people had also just finished with their Hand-cranked Sunlight Lamps and were sharing their Sunflowers’ conditions on the regional channel.

"After my Sunflower spat out its last bit of sunshine, it coiled into a ball. Scared the heck out of me!"

"Don’t worry, mine did too."

"I’m relieved to see all your Sunflowers are doing the same. Mine turned completely yellow a moment ago. I’m just glad it’s fine now. Hehe, I’ll go give it some more water."

"Hold on, dude, how many bottles of water did you give it? Yours sounds like it’s actually dying."

Seraphina Sinclair couldn’t help but glance at her own Sunflower. It was just coiled up, its color still normal.

’Good, it’s fine.’

’So, what’s next...’

Seraphina Sinclair eyed the nutrient liquid, hesitating for a moment. In the end, she decided to try moving forward first. ’I have to understand the situation, right?’

Seraphina Sinclair took out the Bronze Door Card and channeled the 100 points of sunshine she had just obtained into it.

The next second, a pop-up notification appeared before her.

[Your cabin has begun to move]

[Duration: 1 hour]

After a mechanical whirring sound, the wooden cabin suddenly began to shake. Seraphina Sinclair gripped the bed frame to steady herself, her gaze fixed on the window.

The black fog roiled like a living thing, occasionally revealing the twisted silhouettes of trees and jagged rocks outside.

Seraphina Sinclair steadied herself and waited anxiously. After 20 minutes, a distinctly thicker clump of black fog suddenly slammed against the window.

The next second, the black fog enveloped the entire room.

Seraphina Sinclair’s vision went pitch-black. She moved carefully, pressing her back into the corner formed by the wooden bed and the wall. She gripped the bed tightly with one hand to stabilize herself, while her other hand clutched her military knife, ready to strike at any moment.

She counted the seconds in her head, trying hard to stay calm.

About a minute later, the black fog clearly thinned. Then, like a living creature, the mist slowly flowed out of the cabin.

Seraphina Sinclair didn’t act rashly. She stood her ground, her eyes sweeping over every corner of the room. Only after confirming there were no monsters did she breathe a sigh of relief.

This influx of black fog had brought her a Supply Box.

It was F-level.

Seraphina Sinclair wasn’t in a hurry to open it. The feeling of having her vision obscured by the black fog was truly unpleasant.

Although she couldn’t see anything clearly just now, she had faintly sensed that the lower down she looked, the denser the black fog seemed to be.

From her perspective, the very bottom was pure black, while at her eye level, the fog had almost turned gray.

Following this line of reasoning, if Seraphina Sinclair could stand a little higher, she would be able to see clearly the next time the black fog flooded in.

After a moment’s hesitation, she climbed onto the worn wooden bed, holding the Supply Box.

Fortunately, though the wooden bed was a bit worn, it was still quite sturdy.

’It was meant for sleeping, sure, but in a dump like this, with no sheets or blankets, what’s the difference between sleeping on the wooden floor and sleeping on this beat-up wooden bed?’

The hand Seraphina Sinclair used to grip her weapon grew damp with sweat. Although there was only a twenty-minute gap between each event, it felt like she had been waiting for a whole day.

When the black fog rushed in for the second time, Seraphina Sinclair was finally not completely in the dark.

She had been exactly right. The fog’s density was greater than that of air, causing it all to settle in the lower part of the cabin.

And standing on the worn bed, she could clearly see the black fog roiling.

The most conspicuous thing was a small vortex that formed where two currents of black fog met.

Seraphina Sinclair stared intently at that spot. After the black fog dispersed, an F-level Supply Box lay quietly there.

Seraphina Sinclair jumped off the wooden bed, carried the new Supply Box back onto it, and quietly waited for the third influx of black fog.

She had expected another supply drop, but as the black fog poured in, she heard the Sunflower’s voice: "Something tasty is here."

’Tasty.’

’Something the Sunflower thinks is tasty!’

’What else could it be? A monster!’

Seraphina Sinclair’s whole body tensed, and she pressed her back even tighter against the wall.

Fortunately, the black fog seemed to block the monster’s vision as well. Seraphina Sinclair could hear the gurgling groans of a Rotting Corpse and could tell it was still far away. Moreover, it didn’t seem to have noticed a human in the fog and was just wandering aimlessly in the darkness.

Seraphina Sinclair relaxed slightly but still controlled her breathing, tilting her head to listen to the Rotting Corpse’s footsteps to determine the monster’s general location.

’It’s all thanks to my experience playing that shooter in my past life,’ Seraphina Sinclair thought, finding some grim amusement. ’If I hadn’t specifically trained my hearing, I’d never be able to pinpoint this Rotting Corpse’s location!’

The black fog was like a tide; what flows in must flow out.

Seraphina Sinclair focused, and the very instant the black fog began to recede, she leaped from the worn wooden bed!

In the instant before the Rotting Corpse could react, the military knife in Seraphina Sinclair’s hand plunged into its head.

As expected, a one-hit kill!

The corpse vanished, leaving only an F-level Supply Box in its place.

Seraphina Sinclair warily scanned her surroundings again, only relaxing after confirming it was the only monster.

This time, Seraphina Sinclair didn’t need the Sunflower to call out. She expertly used the t-shirt she’d already written off as dirty to scoop up the black slime from the floor and feed it to the Sunflower.

The Sunflower seemed very satisfied, even making chewing sounds. "Smells so good. I like it."

’As long as it likes it.’

A look of pure affection crossed Seraphina Sinclair’s face. For some reason, she felt a bit like a mother.

[Current Sunflower Growth Rate: 20/100]

’Eight more to go.’

Seraphina Sinclair wiped the cold sweat from her forehead and took a deep breath before finally relaxing.

’Okay, first I’ll open the Supply Boxes and see what I get. Then I’ll decide whether to use the nutrient liquid.’

All three Supply Boxes were F-level, so there wasn’t much to choose between them. Seraphina Sinclair grabbed one and opened it.

[Obtained: wood x10, Stone x10, Metal Fragments x10.]

’It’s all materials?’

Seraphina Sinclair was a little disappointed. The system hadn’t explained what these materials were for at all.

’To her, food and water were still the most important things right now. She had to survive first before she could even think about improving her quality of life.’

She pulled over the other two Supply Boxes and opened them.

[Obtained: 500ml mineral water x3, compressed biscuits x2, tracksuit x1]

’Food and clothes this time.’

Seraphina Sinclair silently put on the tracksuit she had just gotten. The clothes were a perfect fit, having resized themselves the moment she touched them.