58

Who would've thought that the vitamins she'd casually bought on a whim would end up saving the day?

Thanks to them, both she and Youche were admitted into the survival zone.

The inside of the survival zone was incredibly advanced—nearly every pinnacle of human civilization was represented here.

Chu Yian had a feeling that if she truly got to live here, she might actually live quite well.

She held the hard metal badge in her hand, thinking of Teacher Lu, whom she had only met briefly in this round of the game.

They had barely interacted, and yet he had still helped her.

"Excuse me… is it possible for me to meet the owner of this badge?"

Chu Yian looked at the staff member guiding her, hoping she could see Teacher Lu one more time before the game ended.

"Sorry. D-class personnel are not permitted to move about freely inside the survival zone."

The staff replied coldly.

At that moment, a system notification rang in her ears:

[Detected: Player has entered the designated survival zone.]

[Congratulations, player Chu Yian, you are the 8,998th player to successfully enter the survival zone. You have successfully cleared the game: Super Mold. Prepare for extraction in 10 seconds.]

Chu Yian heard the announcement at the same time as Youche, who had his own system notification:

[Congratulations, player Youche, you are the 8,999th player to enter the survival zone...]

The 10-second countdown was already almost over when Youche, overcome with surprise and joy, suddenly said:

"Chu the Elder! Let's add each other as friends in the real world! My player ID is 2991876542.

Ugh, that's long—can you tell me yours? I have a really good memory—I'll remember it!"

"Let's add each other, Chu the Elder!"

His voice grew more anxious. He really wanted to add her as a friend.

"3210. My ID is—"

Chu Yian had just said her number, hadn't even had time to repeat it, when—

She was teleported back to that narrow, black-misted space of the real world.

Her player profile updated:

[Player: Chu Yian]

[ID: 3210]

[Gender: Female]

[Satiety: 50%]

[Cleanliness: 50%]

[Health: 80%]

[Potential: 7 (Max: 10)]

[Points: 398]

She had gained 100 more points, and that distinct hunger returned instantly.

Her body was sticky with sweat again, and a faint, unpleasant odor lingered.

Chu Yian decided not to hold back anymore. With that many points, there was no need to keep suffering.

She opened the Points Shop and selected a Food Package and a Cleanliness Package.

Once used, she felt full, fresh, and completely recharged.

Her health also returned to 100%.

The feeling of physical perfection was amazing—but mentally, she was exhausted.

She lay down on the sofa, ready for a good rest.

Then suddenly, a system window popped up in front of her—

[Notice: Player 2991876542 has sent you a friend request.]

Youche?

Chu Yian sat up and tapped "Accept."

Immediately, her chat window was bombarded:

Friend 2991876542: AHHH I added Chu the Elder!!!

Friend 2991876542: Chu the Elder, I got 100 points from this game! 100 points, can you believe it??

Friend 2991876542: You're a four-digit player! And starting with a 3! That's top-tier, and you had me thinking you were just barely scraping by! Thank god I stuck with you.

Friend 2991876542: Ahhh 100 points, I never thought I'd see this many in my life!!

...

He sent over a dozen messages in one breath, showing just how overwhelmed with excitement he was.

Chu Yian let him get it all out before calmly sending a message of her own:

Friend 3210: What's your current satiety and cleanliness?

Friend 2991876542: Both are at 40% now… Ugh, it's really uncomfortable.

Friend 3210: What about your health?

Friend 2991876542: Health's okay, still at 70%. Points are hard to earn, so I plan to hold off a bit—maybe wait until satiety and cleanliness drop to 20% before I buy food and hygiene packs.

Points were indeed precious.

How someone else used theirs wasn't Chu Yian's business.

But since they'd been through a game together, she decided to offer a bit of friendly advice.

Friend 3210: I suggest you keep a close eye on your health. Don't let it drop too low.

Friend 3210: Didn't you notice that aside from food and hygiene packages, there's also a Medical Package in the Points Shop?

Youche looked at the message, suddenly embarrassed.

Before this round, he hadn't earned a single point, so he never even noticed there was a medical option in the shop.

He hurriedly opened the Points Shop now and found it.

Medical Package: 1 unit = 5 points.

That "5" felt like a slap in the face.

If you didn't place in the rankings, clearing the game only earned 5 points—barely enough to afford one medical pack.

He hadn't expected the shop to be hiding such a stealthy point-drainer, and there were no details on how exactly health was lost.

Was it because satiety and cleanliness dropped too low, and health followed?

Youche guessed to himself, staring at the shop options and hesitating.

After a long inner struggle, he finally caved and spent 2 points on a food and a cleanliness package.

Thankfully, after using them, all three stats returned to 100%.

It stung a little, but he felt a sense of reassurance.

He reported his updated status to Chu Yian.

In return, she sent a single message:

Chu Yian was still incredibly tired.

After sending that last word, she collapsed onto the bed and drifted into a deep sleep.

Outside, the world was pitch black.

When she woke up, she had no idea how long she'd slept.

But the game forums, once quiet after she first logged out, were now buzzing with activity.

Chu Yian browsed both the World Forum and the Local Forum.

To her surprise… she found a post from her newly-added friend, Youche.

It was a full thread in the local channel:

[Let's talk about the OP I met in this round of the game: That time a boss carried me into the top 10,000 and victory…]