59

Chu Yian never expected there would be so many game players—and yet the person she had met in the last round of the game was somehow right here, in her vicinity.

Watching him show off so loudly was… a little hard to get used to.

She scrolled upward to quickly review the chat history involving him. Messages from added friends were highlighted in red, so there was no need to look hard—she spotted them instantly.

[Friend 2991876542]: Everyone, I cleared the round!

[Nearby 374892482]: Congrats, congrats! I cleared it too. Got 5 points, so I don't have to worry about dying just yet.

[Nearby 4492384945]: Wasn't this round easier than the last two? I cleared it too.

[Nearby 20109]: Yeah, difficulty was definitely lower. As long as you stocked up on enough food early and made it safely to one of the survival zones, you basically survived.

...

That easy?

Chu Yian stared at the messages, wondering if she had played an entirely different version of the game.

But scrolling down, many others also said they cleared it.

[Friend 2991876542]: Didn't everyone need to hand over 100 compressed biscuits or an equivalent amount of food to get in? We were about to go bald trying to gather that much!

Youche was especially hyped after clearing the game, and was very active in the group chat.

The question that had just formed in Chu Yian's mind—he had already asked it.

[Nearby 37412348]: Huh? No, when we got there, we only had to hand in 2 compressed biscuits or equivalent food. Did you get scammed?

[Nearby 4628482]: Did no one notice he said 100 compressed biscuits? Twenty-plus days in and you still had that much food? You gotta be kidding me, bro.

...

Almost everyone who cleared the round said they only needed to hand over two compressed biscuits to enter the survival zone.

[Friend 2991876542]: What the hell would I lie for? I really did hand in 100 biscuits worth of supplies. And I didn't get to the survival zone at the last second either—I cleared this round in just over ten days. Rank: 8999.

He was internally smug for quite a while after typing that reply.

[Nearby 3748237838]: Oh please. The strongest player in our area is just that girl with a five-digit ID.

[Nearby 9821374]: LMAO, you've got a ten-digit player ID and you're bragging?

[Nearby 83747183]: Honestly, I find it kinda hard to believe too...

...

Youche had never expected that the one time he got to show off, no one would believe him.

[Friend 2991876542]: You're just jealous! So what if my ID has ten digits? I still cleared early! I met a four-digit player, a total boss. She carried me to victory. You mad?

[Nearby 474828492]: You met a bigshot, and she just happened to help you clear? Who believes that? I sure don't.

...

Chu Yian watched as Youche argued back and forth in the local forum, one against many, and still held his ground. The man really had some serious keyboard warrior energy.

She kept scrolling… then suddenly spotted a comment:

[Nearby 21728482]: That guy with the 2991 ID might actually be telling the truth. I reached the survival zone on Day 19, and at the time it was still just the underground section. Entry cost was 100 compressed biscuits or equivalent. That's why I didn't get in.

[Nearby 337748293]: The survival zone I cleared also got expanded later. At first, the surface area was just a resettlement zone, and the survival zone was added afterward. That's just what I heard from others after I got in though, might not be 100% accurate.

...

One person after another started to step forward, and soon the forum began to realize that Youche might actually be telling the truth.

[Nearby 5647283483]: Seriously?? You got carried by a bigshot?? That's some god-tier luck!

[Nearby 47382981]: Just looked it up—the first 10,000 players get 100 points as a reward?! Dude really made it into the safe zone!

[Nearby 1303273727]: OMG! 100 points!! Where the hell do you find someone like that? I'd settle for just getting in the top 50k—I want those 50 points so bad!

...

Just minutes ago they were all doubting him. Now they were nothing but envious.

Satisfied that he was finally being admired, Youche started flying high.

He began to embellish his story, recounting how he and Chu Yian had cleared the game:

[Friend 2991876542]: …We ran into a bad guy. I charged forward and kicked him straight into the air. That's how we escaped the neighborhood...

[Friend 2991876542]: …We loaded a whole truck full of food, took a long detour through deserted no-man's-land, and finally made it to the survival zone...

To be fair, he had enough brains not to reveal the abilities the two of them had drawn.

But the way he kept bragging about clearing the game and earning lots of points…

Yeah—it drew serious aggro.

100 points!

There were people out there who hadn't earned even one, now starving and on the verge of death. And here he was, flexing his "luck" and how his points would take forever to use up.

How could that not make people angry?

How could that not trigger jealousy?

[Nearby 284829482]: Oh, you have points, huh? You're so f**king special? Can you shut the hell up already?! God, you're annoying!

[Nearby 845939392]: For real. I've been meaning to say this—who cares if you cleared the game? Stop showing off, seriously. Just shut it, okay?

It started with one person flaming him—and soon the whole forum piled on.

The flood of angry, vulgar comments turned into a full-on cyberbullying scene, and Youche was cursed out so thoroughly that he didn't dare say another word in the local forum.

It wasn't really his fault—he was just way too high-profile.

Especially during a time when everyone else was worried about points.

At the time of exiting the game, players who hadn't used a Food Package or Cleanliness Package had satiety and cleanliness stats at 40%, and health at 70%.

One day later, those values dropped further: satiety and cleanliness to 30%, and health to 60%.

According to posts on the forum, the hunger was already becoming unbearable at that point. With health at 60%, players also began experiencing coughing, nasal congestion, and other mild cold symptoms.