Chapter 114 – The Unlucky One in the Survival World (Part 15)

Time was tight and the task was urgent, so Zheng Haoyun didn't dare waste another second. Now that she understood the rules, her next step was to search for an advancement token.

However, this area was crawling with snakes, bugs, rats, and other pests. Zheng Haoyun held a machete in her left hand and a shovel in her right.

She watched every step she took, clearing the tall grass ahead before moving forward. Though this slowed her down, it ensured her safety.

Even though she had stocked up on medicine in her backpack, this thrifty survivalist preferred to save them if she could—getting bitten by the wildlife here would be both painful and risky.

After walking just 100 meters, she noticed something shiny lodged in the branches of a tall kapok tree. Her heart skipped a beat.

She hadn't expected to find an advancement token this quickly! But the item was stuck around 7 or 8 meters high in the branches.

Climbing was out of the question—fiery red ants were crawling up and down the trunk, and they were clearly venomous.

After thinking it over, Zheng Haoyun decided to use her bow and arrow. Using psychic abilities would've been easier, but that ever-present feeling of being watched stopped her—she didn't want to expose her trump card here.

After four attempts, she finally knocked the object down. At first glance, it looked legitimate.

But ever-cautious, Zheng Haoyun inspected it more carefully—and nearly burst out cursing when she saw the truth.

It wasn't a "晋级令牌" (advancement token), but a "晋级今牌"—the character for "令" (command) was missing a single stroke and had been replaced with "今" (now). It was a fake!

This game was truly devious. If Zheng Haoyun hadn't been fully aware of her negative luck stat, she might have gotten excited and let her guard down.

She'd just been wondering how she could've found such a rare item so easily—turned out it was all a scam.

Wasted effort and wasted time.

Similar things were happening to other survivors in the area. Some were sharp enough to spot the fakes, while others guarded their counterfeit tokens with their lives, completely unaware.

On planet Toska, where the game was being live-broadcast, the wealthy viewers were thrilled.

A man named Pirit commented, "That was some good planning from the dev team this time. I love this kind of cutthroat competition."

A woman named Polishawa, sipping nutrient solution, watched the survivors eating natural food and suddenly thought their lives looked better than hers.

No, wait—that's an illusion. Toska was the pinnacle of tech civilization—there was no comparing it to a lower-tier world like this.

Watching the players fight over fake tokens, a man named Libiria sneered, "These low-tier people are truly brainless. So stupid. That's why we Toskans are the superior species."

Overall, the Toskan elites were thoroughly enjoying the show. They found this live broadcast incredibly entertaining.

Zheng Haoyun glanced at the fake token again and, after a moment's thought, carefully tucked it into a separate part of her backpack—maybe it would come in handy later.

Over the next few hours, she saw nothing but mosquitoes and small animals—not even another fake token.

With no progress, she took out an apple and three compressed biscuits from her bag for lunch—saving time and supplies.

But just as she finished her last bite, she heard a soft rustling—something large was slithering underground nearby.

Zheng Haoyun immediately moved diagonally away from the source of the sound.

Moments later, a giant dark-patterned python slithered into view.

Her whole body broke out in a cold sweat. She'd always been terrified of snakes—back in the cultivation world, at least she could attack from afar.

But today, she had no choice but to face it head-on.

That familiar sensation of being watched grew even stronger. Zheng Haoyun dared not use her psychic powers, so she would have to rely on brute force.

She fired an arrow at its vital point (the "seven inches"), but it did no damage—not even a scratch.

Worse, the attack enraged the python, which now lunged at her with terrifying speed.

She quickly grabbed some frozen snow blocks from her bag and hurled them at it, stunning it just long enough for her to raise her machete and hack at its weak spot.

The python recoiled, instinctively curling its body. Zheng Haoyun barely dodged the tightening coils, but didn't let go of the machete—she drove it deep into the new wound.

The python tried to spew venom at her, but Zheng Haoyun used several pieces of self-made animal-hide armor to cover its head, completely blocking the attack.

For ten grueling minutes, she hacked and dodged until the beast finally stopped moving. Looking back, it was by far the most dangerous moment she'd faced since entering this world.

Of course, she still had her psychic powers as a last resort. If it had truly come to life or death, she would've used them.

The python's corpse quickly turned into a bronze treasure chest, and Zheng Haoyun was about to store it when a man suddenly leapt from the bushes, grabbed the chest, and ran.

She reacted instantly, flinging the venom-soaked animal hide with her shovel, cutting off his escape route.

The man had been watching from the bushes and knew the hide was toxic. He narrowly dodged it, the vicious glint in her eyes nearly making him flinch.

If he'd been a bit slower, he would've been poisoned for sure.

Now he stopped running. His name was Wu Fan, and he thought: This woman's just fought a python. She should be exhausted. Might as well finish the job and kill her too.

He stuffed the chest into his backpack, drew his sword, and charged at her with a killing blow aimed at her heart.

Zheng Haoyun, already furious, raised her machete to meet him. But her weapon was inferior—it wouldn't last long.

Suddenly, she grabbed her shovel with her left hand and slammed it down on his sword arm. Wu Fan cried out and dropped his weapon.

She seized the chance, picked up the sword, and stabbed it straight into his chest.

Even as he writhed on the ground, she followed up with another blow, finishing him off. Her machete broke completely in the process.

Looking at his dying expression of disbelief, the anger on her face finally faded.

No one had ever dared steal from her before. Now that someone had, she would show no mercy.

Once Wu Fan was dead, the game automatically transferred his entire backpack into hers—no effort required.

As for his corpse, she couldn't burn it. Fire in a tropical rainforest was too dangerous—it could end in disaster.

Burying him? He wasn't worth it.

Just as she turned to leave, a clear female voice called out behind her:

"Big sister, I'm Wang Yue. Can I team up with you?"

Zheng Haoyun replied with a sarcastic smile,

"You've been hiding this whole time, waiting to swoop in. And now you want to act innocent? Don't bother. If you don't leave, you can join your brother over there."

Wang Yue had indeed been hoping to scavenge something after the fight. But after seeing how dangerous this female killing machine was, she'd planned to cozy up first and strike later—only to be instantly exposed.

Realizing the situation, Wang Yue didn't dare linger. She turned and ran as fast as she could, afraid of being chased down.

Zheng Haoyun didn't pursue her—not because she didn't want to, but because her body was exhausted and hadn't yet recovered.

Right now, what mattered most was finding a safe spot to go through the loot she'd just acquired.