Chapter 14: The World Beyond the Mist
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At exactly eight o’clock, Ning Yun summoned the system.
Besides Attributes and Inventory, two new sections had appeared: Friends and Trading.
Perhaps because so many people were short of water, the Friends tab kept flashing. When she opened it, she found that countless people had sent her friend requests.
Unfortunately, all she could see were their identification numbers.
The first one was Xiao Qichen’s: 07.
She hurriedly accepted the request. A black avatar then appeared on the left side of her friends list.
White characters were displayed across it—his identification number, “07.”
White on black. Somehow, it looked like a curse.
She had assumed that once they became friends, the avatar would show the actual person.
Impatiently, she sent him a message.
“Xiao Qichen, are you short on water? I have a small river here. I can fill some containers for you.”
His reply came quickly as well.
“I’m not short for now. I still have a few water bottles I haven’t finished using. Take them. Don’t worry—I haven’t put my mouth to them.”
Soon, a little envelope appeared in their chat window.
When Ning Yun opened it, she discovered that Xiao Qichen had sent her a great many things.
Food, supplies, and even unopened chests!
This was the first time she had learned that friends could send items directly to one another.
It was completely beyond her expectations.
If everyone helped each other and joined hands to survive the crisis, their chances of survival would increase enormously.
But then again, everyone was poor at the moment. Who would be willing to help others for free?
Even Ning Yun herself could not manage that for the time being.
After taking so many things from Xiao Qichen, she felt rather embarrassed.
Still, she was curious. “How did you save up so many chests?”
There were eleven ordinary chests, four bronze chests, and even one silver chest.
It was no exaggeration to say that this was equivalent to three days of her own gains.
Could it be that Xiao Qichen had not opened a single chest since entering the game?
He did not hide the truth from her. “They dropped from monsters. My luck is bad, so opening them would only be a waste. You open them for me.”
Ning Yun loved opening chests!
Just like when she had played games in the past, what truly interested her was the gacha system—the feature players complained about most.
Whenever she got two high-rarity items in a ten-pull, or even three, her good mood could last for an entire week.
“All right. I’ll send everything back once I’m finished opening them!”
Now Ning Yun was in no hurry to leave.
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She first took the chests out and arranged them one by one. Before long, the entire floor was covered with them, which gave her an immense sense of satisfaction.
[Ding! Congratulations! You have triggered the Hundred Percent Critical Hit talent!]
[Congratulations! You have obtained two canteens and two packs of compressed rations.]
[Congratulations! You have obtained six pounds of cabbage.]
[Congratulations! You have obtained two ropes and two tents.]
[Congratulations! You have obtained four mangoes and two pies.]
[Congratulations! You have obtained two pounds of animal feed.]
...
Line after line of system notifications almost filled the screen.
For the first time, Ning Yun experienced the sheer exhilaration of opening chest after chest.
Should she save up her chests and open them all at once in the future?
No, no. Perhaps she should wait a little longer. There were still too many things she lacked at present.
Her talent was practically guaranteed to activate when opening ordinary and bronze chests.
But with silver chests, the current probability was only fifty-fifty.
The silver chest she had obtained in the previous dungeon had yielded nothing but a pet egg.
The silver chest Xiao Qichen had given her this time, however, contained two pieces of equipment that increased her attributes.
One was a [Power Strike Bracer], whose effect was: [Attacks have a 25% chance to trigger a critical hit.]
The other was an [Awakening Necklace], whose effect was: [Restores 1 point of Mentality every 10 minutes.]
The items obtained from these chests alone filled Ning Yun’s inventory to bursting.
She opened Xiao Qichen’s avatar and tapped the chat window. As expected, she could send items from her inventory directly to him.
Unable to resist, Ning Yun took a picture.
“Xiao Qichen, look! I got so many good things! Hurry back to your house and clear out your inventory, or I’m afraid you won’t have room for everything.”
Ning Yun was a little obsessive-compulsive. She sorted the items she had obtained into food, equipment, tools, and miscellaneous goods. She sent the food to Xiao Qichen first, followed by the equipment, tools, and miscellaneous items.
That way, it would be easier for him to organize everything.
Xiao Qichen, however, accepted only the food and returned everything else.
“My house is too small. There isn’t room for all of it. Keep the rest for me for now. I’ll come to you when I need anything.”
As he spoke, he took a picture as well.
Judging from the wooden floor, he had also upgraded his house to Level 1.
But the house, which was nearly ten square meters, was packed to the brim. There was not even enough room to sleep.
The wood alone had been piled in one corner to a person’s height.
And there were countless other materials besides, creating a bewildering display.
“Wow, you’re really rich. I can make you a few storage cabinets. Each cabinet has twenty slots, so it’ll free up space in your house.”
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But Xiao Qichen refused. “No need. I’m used to keeping things this way. They’re easier to find. Just store them for me. I’m not lacking equipment either, so wear it yourself. I have to get back to work.”
In the end, Ning Yun accepted the items.
After all, she understood Xiao Qichen fairly well by now. He always meant what he said and rarely bothered with empty politeness.
Besides, judging from his house, it really was a complete mess.
Ning Yun felt uncomfortable just looking at it. She desperately wanted to help him organize everything.
She herself was in no hurry to leave. Instead, she made two more storage cabinets and only then managed to arrange all her belongings.
Just like that, half an hour passed.
Fortunately, this was a game. If it had been reality, organizing so many things would have taken at least half a day.
After finishing her conversation with Xiao Qichen, Ning Yun began adding other players as friends.
The number, however, exceeded her expectations.
She dragged through the friend requests for a long time without reaching the end.
“Are there really so many people short of water?”
That was what Ning Yun could not understand about the game.
Not every player’s starting location had a water source.
Or rather, ninety-nine percent of the players were trapped near their starting locations and had no opportunity to go out and explore. It was only natural that they were short of water.
Even if some people could use certain methods to ensure that they themselves had enough water, they could not be like Ning Yun, guarding a small river with an endless supply and selling it to others.
Players who were not friends could not send private messages to each other.
Otherwise, Ning Yun’s friends channel might have been overwhelmed.
The containers players gave her for collecting water came in all shapes and sizes.
Plastic mineral-water bottles were the most basic.
Those who used buckets were wealthy households.
Some even used plastic bags or helmets, and Ning Yun had no idea how she was supposed to charge them.
Fortunately, one player was rather lucky. There were many gourds around his house, which could be used to hold water.
Ning Yun accepted as many as he could provide, listed them directly on the Trading Market, and posted a notification in the chat channel.
Then she hurriedly closed the Friends tab.
If she kept selling water, she would have nothing else to do today—she would spend the entire day filling containers by the river.
At last, the mist in the distance disappeared.
Ning Yun equipped both pieces of gear and prepared to go outside to see whether she could find any suitable resource points.
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