Volume One, Chapter Five: You Give Me Two Choices?
At this moment, the chat channel fell silent, everyone eagerly awaiting the revelation of the method to clear the level from the user known as “Cold Heights.”
Cold Heights said, “The key point I want to emphasize is that the strength of the treasure chests and their guardian beasts is not fixed. The strongest are the Lion-Tiger Beasts and Earth Dragons guarding the golden chests. Everyone must avoid provoking them. Next in strength are the silver, bronze, and black iron chests.”
Cold Heights continued, “The guardians of the black iron chests are small carnivores like foxes and dogs, much easier to handle. So, if your plant spirit cannot move, you will have to team up with players in the same situation and use your numbers to defeat the guardians of black iron chests, taking turns opening the chests to complete the task.”
Cold Heights concluded, “Finally, I wish everyone survives and completes the mission.”
Two hours of gathering this much information? Li Chuan was astonished. What surprised him even more was how selfless this person was! Though the information was simple, it was crucial at the early stages when everyone was confused. It could give many players an edge, yet he freely shared it all? Could he be an NPC assigned by the system?
A player named Long said, “Thanks, big brother! Does anyone know if there’s anything edible in this forest? I feel like I haven’t eaten for a long time; I’m about to starve.”
Manager Liu from Shen Energy remarked, “This information is useful! Thanks, big brother! Hunger I can endure, but I’m so thirsty I’m about to chew on leaves. Does anyone know where to find water?”
More players joined in the discussion about sources of water.
Cold Heights replied, “The chests contain food and water. There are also some wild fruits in the forest to stave off hunger, but be careful not to eat anything poisonous.”
Silently, Li Chuan set Cold Heights as a special focus in his system, meaning he would be notified whenever they spoke. Though he disliked sharing, he admired those willing to do so.
Yang Liu Xiyao said, “So you must have already opened some chests. How about sharing some of the food you got with us? This game is so dangerous; not everyone can hunt beasts. You can’t just watch us starve, can you?”
How shameless! The man was already so selfless, yet someone still dared to ask for food? To Li Chuan’s surprise, the shamelessness was not isolated.
Rich Young Master said, “Exactly, I need bread and water. I’ll pay you once we get out. @Cold Heights.”
Manager Liu from Shen Energy added, “I’ll pay you too when we’re out. I just sent a trade request.”
More and more players were demanding handouts, flooding the chat. Li Chuan, nibbling on his bread, was dumbfounded. Were there really so many shameless people? Get out? Dream on.
But what if Cold Heights really had a lot of food to share? Should he ask too? No, he couldn’t be that shameless.
Just as he was about to close the chat channel, a message that stood out caught Li Chuan’s attention.
Supreme Fungus said, “So many of you need food? I have wild boar meat. Anyone want it? You can trade with ores, copper coins, or purified water.”
This person had obviously slain a giant beast!
Shelled Peanut replied, “I don’t have those things, but I have wild berries. Interested?”
Supreme Fungus said, “Wild berries? If they have attribute panels, I can take them.”
Cold Heights interjected, “Wild berries have no attribute panels and cannot be traded; the same goes for freshwater. Only purified water from chests can be traded.”
Shelled Peanut sighed, “Then forget it, I’ll just use wild berries to get by.”
Manager Liu from Shen Energy asked Cold Heights, “@Cold Heights, why won’t you accept my trade request? What do you mean?”
Cold Heights answered, “There are too many people. You should try harder yourselves, not…”
Li Chuan pondered. Supreme Fungus was smart—keeping bread and water for himself but selling the difficult and foul-tasting beast meat at a high price. A good strategy.
He still had ten portions of wolf meat and could sell them now before they became worthless. Learning from this, Li Chuan posted in the regional channel:
“Just Admiring Flowers, No Trouble: Selling wolf meat. Can trade for materials, copper coins, or any equipment with a grade.”
“Just Admiring Flowers, No Trouble” was the nickname Li Chuan gave himself.
Rich Young Master scoffed, “Are you crazy? Who would trade equipment for that lousy wolf meat?”
Wang Gang said, “I will! I’ll trade my novice wooden sword!”
Rich Young Master exclaimed, “Are you nuts? That’s your only weapon against the giant beasts. Without it, how will you fight?”
Wang Gang replied, “Better than starving!”
A novice wooden sword? Ha. This guy probably wasn’t stupid. He might have already opened some chests and gotten better weapons, so he wanted to trade away the wooden sword.
Dream on.
Li Chuan refused Wang Gang’s trade request. He had a wooden sword and felt it was unlikely to appreciate in value.
[“Behind the Curtain” initiated a trade request: 50 copper coins for 10 wolf meat.]
That was worth considering.
Li Chuan messaged Donghe Liushui privately: “Fifty copper coins can only get five pieces of wolf meat.”
[“Behind the Curtain” sent a new trade request: 50 copper coins for 5 wolf meat.]
Straightforward.
Li Chuan accepted the trade. His copper coins instantly rose from one hundred to one hundred fifty.
Somewhere in the Chaotic Forest, a man in novice cloth tossed a piece of fresh meat high into the air.
Plop.
A black-mouthed creature lunged out swiftly and swallowed the meat in one bite, chewing noisily as blood dripped from its vine-like body.
The man grinned beneath the giant mouth.
“Big Mouth Flower, oh Big Mouth Flower, the game just started, and you already swallowed my fifty copper coins. Don’t expect me to lose out.”
...
“That is... a treasure chest?”
After much hardship, Li Chuan finally found a chest in the sweltering forest.
But he couldn’t feel happy at all. The chest was silver, shining brightly, and beside it lay a giant lion comparable in size to a minivan.
The distance was just enough, but the strength of this guardian beast was truly overwhelming!
According to Cold Heights’ information:
Treasure chests were divided into black iron, bronze, silver, and gold.
Black iron chests required players to team up to defeat their guardians, let alone this silver chest’s guardian beast.
Could Xiao Lu handle it? What if the giant wolf guarding the bronze chest was Xiao Lu’s limit?
Li Chuan was uncertain and was about to turn to search elsewhere.
“Hey! Stop right there!”
A rude voice suddenly rang out.
Li Chuan turned cautiously to see two men standing under a nearby tree, grinning wickedly at him.
He had imagined encountering others in the forest, but not with such hostile attitudes.
“You calling me?”
Li Chuan looked at the short, stout middle-aged man.
The man’s face was rough and arrogant.
“I’m calling you!”
Behind him stood a long-faced young man who smirked.
“You got a short knife—is that equipment? Pretty rich, huh? Heh heh.”
Li Chuan tightened his grip on his short knife, watching them warily.
“What’s your business?”
The middle-aged man strode toward Li Chuan.
“Of course! The two of us want to team up with you. You distract the lion, and we’ll open the chest. Whatever we get, we split three ways. Next time we find a chest, you open it. How about that?”
Li Chuan’s face turned cold.
Split three ways? And I open it next time?
Not a chance.
This was just a childish joke. The ‘team-up’ was a sham; these two wanted to kill him.
“Heh, really split it? How about you two distract the lion and I open the chest?”
The long-faced man laughed loudly.
“You’re arrogant, kid. Who do you think decides who distracts the lion?”
The middle-aged man’s face twisted with malice, revealing his darkest nature.
“Kid, I’m giving you two choices.”
“Number one: you obediently distract the lion for us. If you’re lucky and survive, you might get some food.”
“Number two: we kill you, then use your corpse to distract the beast. Which do you choose?”