Chapter 3

[Ding! It is now morning. Players, please wake up and get ready!]

Xu Xin jolted awake. The first thing he checked was his status.

[Player Xu Xin]

[Health] 100/100

[Energy] 100/100

[Fatigue] 0/100

[Wealth] 200 coins

He has recovered his energy in full, and fatigue lowered to 0. It was a good start. Even if he couldn't replenish his energy, he could perform 100 actions.

[System Announcement: Congratulations to all players on surviving the first night. The daily login benefit is now accessible. Players can collect the day 1 benefit.]

[System announcement: Players, the mandatory task daily is now released. Please check and complete the task! There will be a punishment for failing to complete the mandatory task. Players can also complete the optional task for more rewards.]

[System Announcement: Player Chat is now accessible. Please explore yourself for more information!]

A series of system announcements rang out three times.

It took Xu Xin a short while to digest the information. He was still a bit sleep-addled. The night was peaceful, despite the cold, hard ground he had to sleep on. It wasn't advisable to sleep on the ground for the long term. He had to find a bedding set or something similar.

The first thing Xu Xin did was check the game interface tab.

[Status] [Task] [Logbook] [Player Chat] was now in white. [Store] and [Trade] is still greyed out and not accessible.

Xu Xin selected the [Player Chat].

The interface changed to [Global Chat] [Region Chat] [Private Chat].

He first opened the [Global Chat]. To nobody's surprise, it was in an uproar. The appearance was like a group chat. The messages appear and disappear at a rate that was very hard to read.

"Help! Can anyone read this?"

"I didn't dare sleep last night and my fatigue is now 90!"

"Where is this place? Can anyone answer me?"

"I want to go home!"

"How do I leave this place!?"

There was a 0/1 at a corner. It seems like the world channel is exactly like in a game, where you only receive one free chance daily.

"..."

Still, it was quite user-friendly. But it was a pity there despite reading for a while, there isn't any good information he could see.

Xu Xin switched to [Region Chat].

The content of [Region Chat] was alike the [Global Chat]. But there was extra content indicating a limit in the interface. The limit of each region was 5,000 players. Currently, all players are still alive, in an uproar and out of their minds with worry.

After reading a while through the scrolling barrage, Xu Xin chooses not to send any message. There wasn't much information from the [Region Chat] either. The [Private Chat] was empty.

Full of hopes, Xu Xin decided to collect his daily login benefit.

[System notification: +1 backpack (20 slots)]

[Backpack - You can use it as a storage item. Always bring the backpack along during the exploration task. Be careful not to lose the backpack. Do not leave your backpack unattended at all times.]

"!"

The game inventory is here! The daily login benefit was the system's welfare to players!

"System, can the slots in the backpack stack?"

[Host, the answer is yes. Items in slots can stack. But not all items can stack. Each unique item requires one individual slot. The backpack is upgradable and is useful in exploration tasks.]

In excitement, Xu Xin moved to his loot corner, in preparation to transfer his loot to the backpack.

[Host, there is no necessity to bring along all items for the exploration. For the first exploration, please bring along only the empty waterskin. Due to limited storage slots, the remaining items are best left behind.]

Blushing, Xu Xin placed all the unnecessary items back into the corner.

The empty water skin immediately takes up 1 slot. There were 19 empty slots left.

Since he was ready, it was time to check on the mandatory and optional tasks.

[Mandatory task - Explore the randomly generated map. The exploration time required is one hour at the lowest. During tutorial mode, players can choose to abort the exploration task at any time. Aborting the exploration task returns the player to the shelter immediately. Aborting the task forfeits everything in the player's backpack. Punishment: None. Rewards: 500 coins.]

[Optional task 1 - Remove all danger factors and clear the exploration map. Punishment: None. Rewards: 1 space crystal.]

[Optional task 2 - Collect at least five different types of resources. Players need to also fill up all 20 slots in the backpack. Punishment: None. Rewards: 200 coins. ]

"!"

There was one mandatory task and two optional tasks. The total reward reach as high as 700 coins. It was a pretty rich reward.

Completing the optional task last night did not give out any coins. Even two achievement rewards gained yesterday only amount to 200 coins.

But there was one worry. The guide system had instructed Xu Xin to leave behind his only weapon (the machete). But the optional task 2 was to remove all danger factors!

[Host, there is no danger in the generated map. The first map for all players is a rainforest map rich in resources. Conserve your storage slots to bring back more resources!]

The guide system chimed in.

"Oh."

It was a trap.

The first mandatory task issued to all players is an exploration task. The optional task indicated that there is a danger factor. A player has to explore for one hour at the lowest.

A timid player would only explore the edges of the map. The resources collected would not be much.

Some might even opt to abort the exploration task the moment they appear in the generated map. After all, there was no hunger or thirst indicator in the game. Energy recovery is 1 every 10 minutes. You can reduce fatigue by sleeping. There was no punishment. It would be safer to stay in the shelter and wait for help.

But who can say what is the next mandatory task?

You could opt-out for a day, but could you do it forever?

What happens after the tutorial mode ends?

If the punishment is heavy, then players would still have to complete the exploration map. By then, the danger factor would no longer be low risk.

Xu Xin had the Super Guide System.

But the other players do not. They had to weigh their choices against a calculated risk. If they fall behind, the chances of their survival will be lesser.

This wasn't something Xu Xin could help with.

He couldn't expose his Super Guide System. After all, humans were greedy. He couldn't predict what they will do in desperation.

But still, he had to do one thing for them.

"Analyzing the game. The first exploration task should be of minimal danger and very rich in resources. After all, this is still a tutorial mode. If the game can give out a backpack, it means it wants the player to collect a lot of resources. It would be redundant to kill off all players right now. Most likely, the danger factor will increase once tutorial mode ends. So everyone should try to head out and collect as many resources as they can right now."

Xu Xin posted in both the [Global Chat] and [Region Chat].

He hoped his message could inspire more players to explore the generated map. At least, it would guarantee more player's safety.

After posting the message, without waiting for a reply, he chooses to leave the shelter.

[Random map-generating... Tutorial mode detected! Rainforest generated!]