Chapter 101: The Unlucky One in the Survival World (Part 2)

Although it was only 9 a.m. on the icefield, the temperature had already dropped to around -3°C.

If Bi'er hadn't been doing her best to provide her with a bit of warmth, Zheng Haoyun probably would've had no choice but to crawl into the rickety igloo nearby and shiver miserably inside.

She couldn't afford to waste another second—Zheng Haoyun immediately set out, walking into the distance.

This survival game had a convenient feature: it automatically recorded one's traveled paths to form a map. At least she wouldn't have to worry about getting lost.

After nearly half an hour of trekking, Zheng Haoyun finally spotted a snowfield elk foraging about ten meters ahead.

She hadn't expected to encounter a target so soon, and naturally didn't dare to act recklessly. If the beast noticed her, it might bolt—after all, although the first three days were meant to be relatively safe, the system only said one "would not be attacked under normal circumstances."

She immediately dropped to the snowy ground and crawled forward, smearing snow over her clothes and exposed skin to camouflage herself. She focused her psychic power on the beast's soft underbelly.

Suddenly, the elk shifted, exposing its vulnerable spot.

Zheng Haoyun instantly struck with her psychic spike.

Two attacks later, the snowfield elk collapsed.

Still, Zheng Haoyun lay in wait for another three minutes, unmoving.

Her experience from the previous world reminded her that many spiritual beasts would fake death in their final moments. That's when they were most dangerous.

She clearly remembered the game's wording: "You will not be attacked under normal conditions during the first three days"—which meant some exceptional cases could still lead to counterattacks, especially if the creature's life was threatened.

She had to stay alert for these kinds of word traps.

Once she confirmed the elk was dead, she quickly got up and brushed off the snow.

As she approached the corpse, a prompt from the game interface appeared:

"Congratulations, District 13 player Zheng Haoyun has completed the First Kill of a snowfield creature. Would you like to make a public announcement?"

"No, I don't want to announce it."

She wasn't about to attract unnecessary attention. Going public would only stir up envy or hostility from others.

But then another system message popped up:

"Note: If you decline the world announcement, you will lose out on bonus luck points and additional rewards. Please confirm your decision."

That was tempting—seductively so. Even though she knew the announcement was a trap, she really wanted those rewards.

"I changed my mind. Announce it!"

If there were rewards to be had, she wouldn't pretend to be low-profile anymore. As long as she remained strong, she had nothing to fear.

Plus, the chance to increase her luck stat was too rare to pass up.

"Ding! World Announcement: District 13 survivor Zheng Haoyun has completed the First Kill mission. Awarded: +2 Luck and 1 Bronze Treasure Chest."

Even worse, the announcement appeared in bold, enlarged font, pinned to the top, and repeated three times—as if the system was begging everyone to come gang up on her.

Sure enough, the world chat exploded.

"Who the heck is Zheng Haoyun in District 13? Male or female? Anyone know them?"

"Damn, the reward is amazing! This player must have insane luck now!"

"Hey, Zheng Haoyun! Share your kill method with the rest of us! We're all human here!"

Meanwhile, Zheng Haoyun ignored the chatter and focused on gathering loot.

She opened the wooden chest dropped by the elk. Inside were:

2 cuts of venison

1 elk hide

10 copper coins

1 pair of holey socks

The first three items were guaranteed monster drops, while the socks—obviously—were the result of her still-negative Luck stat, currently at -3.

If she had still been at -5, like when she first arrived, she might have ended up with literal garbage—like a used insole, just like the original owner had received.

Still, she had one more hope: the bronze treasure chest.

According to memory, that should at least contain something valuable.

She opened it.

Inside were:

10 ice bricks

1 damaged iron shovel

1 blueprint for a wooden bed… and that was it.

The moment she saw the contents, Zheng Haoyun finally realized just how terrifying bad luck could be.

She remembered that, in her past life, the player who'd scored the first kill had proudly shown off their rewards in the channel: a thermal jacket, fireplace blueprint, and tons of food.

Compared to that, her haul was just… tragic.

Clearly, this world held immense hostility toward unlucky players.

Not daring to dawdle, Zheng Haoyun wrapped the elk hide tightly around herself, stuffed the loot back into the wooden chest, and began the trek home.

The bronze treasure chest was stored in her limited backpack, since each item type took up a separate slot and couldn't be stacked.

Everything else had to be carried by hand.

Back at her starting point, she stared at the shaky snow shelter in front of her and forced herself to keep moving.

She set aside the items that wouldn't fit inside and inserted the 10 ice bricks into a designated slot beside the igloo.

With a flash of white light, the once-collapsing igloo stabilized, though its level remained the same.

Sigh. The bricks had only been enough for repairs, not upgrades. That was just wishful thinking on her part.

The elk hide wasn't enough to stave off the cold for long either—her body was already nearing its limit.

Earlier, after obtaining the elk hide, she had asked Bi'er to rest. After all, this world lacked spiritual energy, and she couldn't push the little one too hard.

Now that the shelter was usable, Zheng Haoyun hurriedly grabbed her items and rushed inside.

She needed to warm up, fast. If she caught a cold or worse, her chances of surviving this world would plummet.

It had only been a little over an hour since her arrival in the survival world, but it felt like an entire day—because hardship always made time stretch endlessly.

Currently, she only had two pieces of venison to eat. The wooden chest was disassembled into four planks, which she planned to use as firewood.

As for ignition, she borrowed a small flame from Bi'er. With temperatures this low, she preferred her meat cooked—besides, she hated raw food.

Thankfully, the wood here burned slowly—one plank could last about three hours.

She placed one piece of venison on the damaged iron shovel and set it over the fire. Since her space was sealed and she had no cooking tools, she had to make do.

While waiting for the meat to cook, she skimmed through the world chat and saw a bunch of people urging her to "say something."

"We're all in this together!""Don't hog resources—share with your fellow survivors!"

Zheng Haoyun ignored them all.

Then a new world announcement appeared:

"The first player to activate the trading panel has been rewarded with a Bronze Treasure Chest."

Zheng Haoyun currently had only 10 copper coins, and it took 15 to unlock the trading panel.

She could only sit there, watching others reap rewards.

It seemed this survival world followed one rule: the first player to accomplish a task received the reward.

Unfortunately, the original owner's memories were mostly a jumble of pain, hunger, and despair. Few were helpful, so she had to figure everything out on her own.

Fire was precious in this icy world.

Zheng Haoyun wondered: If I'm the first person to successfully cook food, will I get a reward too?