Jian Xingyi answered honestly, “No, besides telling you guys that day, I haven’t told anyone else yet.”

Mainly because he never had the chance—he didn’t have any friends in this game.

Heiye paused. “Right, just a reminder: be careful when revealing your cards to others next time. When you told us about your Turn Stone into Gold skill, I was too stunned to react. Now that I think about it, it gives me the chills.”

“Hm…?”

Heiye sighed. “Survival is getting tougher. The bandaged wounds on Fei Yi aren’t from zombies or beasts—they’re from other players.”

Jian Xingyi, who could never hide his reactions, looked like he had subtitles on his face. His eyes widened.

Why…?

Heiye explained, “That day, Feiyi and Lone Wolf successfully hunted an uninfected rabbit. Other players ambushed them in a group to fight over it.”

Jian Xingyi didn’t know what to say.

Heiye shook his head. “When people are pushed to the edge, they’ll do anything. So you need to be careful too. Possessing something valuable invites trouble. If you run into the wrong people, they might just use you as a tool.“

Heiye was worried not only for Jian Xingyi but also for the Long Live A Hundred Years. After all, both Jian Xingyi and the guild were still greenhorns. If Jian Xingyi attracted people with ulterior motives, the Long Live A Hundred Years wouldn’t escape unscathed either.

”I understand,“ Jian Xingyi nodded. ”I’ll be careful. Thanks for the warning, Guild President.”

Jian Xingyi paused before adding, ”If the Guild President needs anything else, feel free to ask me…”

Jian Xingyi was trying to step out of his comfort zone and be more proactive.

The blue skies and white clouds guild still triggered deep PTSD in him. Because he hadn’t actively fought for his place, he’d been unexpectedly kicked out of the guild.

He dreaded history repeating itself.

Heiye patted Jian Xingyi’s shoulder with a laugh. “Ah, it’s fine! You covering your own meals is already a huge help—I can’t keep taking advantage of you.”

Though Jian Xingyi’s seeds were inexhaustible, the fields weren’t.

Strictly speaking, while Jian Xingyi’s seeds were inexhaustible, his combat strength couldn’t be deployed outside the vicinity, limiting their use to nearby areas.

Jian Xingyi merely smiled brightly. “Then if the Guild President ever needs me to leave, please give me advance notice, okay?”

Heiye stared intently at Jian Xingyi.

Jian Xingyi’s features were gentle and unassuming, his eyes devoid of hostility or menace. Soft, slightly wavy hair framed his face, giving it a fluffy appearance. He smiled at Heiye like this, yet after spending time together, Heiye inexplicably sensed a faint detachment and loneliness.

Heiye said, “I won’t ask you to leave. I promise.”

Jian Xingyi merely chuckled softly.

After joining a guild, the first task is usually to visit the warehouse to register with Logistics and place your home base.

Jian Xingyi had already placed his home base beforehand; now it was just a matter of registering. Heiye told him to find a player named Chacha in the warehouse.

Chacha was sweet and innocent. Upon seeing Jian Xingyi, she exclaimed happily, “Ah, it’s you! Thank you for the meal—your dishes were delicious.”

“You’re welcome.”

Chacha didn’t press him about the food’s origin. She pulled out her terminal, assisting with his registration while sighing, “Sigh… My combat power is too low, and I don’t have any special skills. I can only rely on the guild. Sometimes I really envy players like you who focus on management, or the Lone Wolf who excels in combat.”

Jian Xingyi paused before offering comfort, “Maybe the bug will be fixed soon.”

But…

Jian Xingyi thought to himself: If this delicate girl is also bad at frontline combat and handles logistics like me, then she must be low-combat too?

Holding onto a sliver of hope, Jian Xingyi asked, “What’s your combat rating?”

Maybe someone else is as weak as she is?

The delicate girl smiled, “83.”

“…” My bad.

“Hah… What’s with that face?” Chacha raised an eyebrow. “Single-digit combat power players like you are pretty rare! But don’t worry, Heiye and the others are really nice. If it weren’t for their kindness in taking in so many low-power players, we wouldn’t be in such a rough spot now… They usually don’t turn down low-power players; it’s just that for a while there, we couldn’t even get food… We got off easy. If we weren’t right next to Grapevine Peak, who knows how badly we’d be bullied…“

She’d also heard of some guilds outright enslaving others. If Grapevine Peak hadn’t stepped in to stop it, who knows if the fighting would have spread.

Jian Xingyi asked curiously, ”Are all the people in Grapevine Peak big shots?”

“You don’t know?” Chacha looked surprised.

After completing the registration, Chacha tucked away her terminal. “Grapevine Peak is where the real big shots gather. Not to mention Shanhai, who’s top-tier server-wide and among the elite of T0—they only recruit T1 players. As for our guild… the only T2 big shots we’ve managed to get are Fei Ji, Lone Wolf, and Lone Wolf’s older brother, Akita.”

Seeing Jian Xingyi’s confused expression, Chacha directly opened viewing permissions on her terminal and pulled up combat data to explain.

【Combat Power Overview】

T0: Players with max combat power of 500. 11 players server-wide as of 00:00 that day.

T1: Players with combat power over 400. 132 players server-wide as of 00:00 that day.

T2: Players with combat power between 300-399. As of 00:00 that day, they make up 30% of the entire server.

T3: Players with combat power between 100-299. As of 00:00 that day, they make up 60% of the entire server.

T4: Players with combat power equal to or less than 99. As of 00:00 that day, they make up 10% of the entire server.

Only then did Jian Xingyi truly grasp how underpowered he really was—not just among the bottom 10%, but a minority even within that group. After all, most players didn’t have such low combat power as him.

Chacha chuckled, “As long as you can survive, that’s what matters! Xinghe has its own way of thriving—that’s the most important thing!”

Jian Xingyi nodded firmly.

So he needed to grow more reserve food and plan carefully for himself.

Hearing Heiye and Chacha’s words, Jian Xingyi felt a chill of fear. Deeply aware of his own weakness, he decided that to ensure he could lie low, eat, and survive in the future, he really needed to figure out how to get more food and survival tools.

Now, his backpack contained nothing but a system-gifted bow he couldn’t use, a small sheep he couldn’t raise without feed, and only a small amount of game meat, rice, and white radishes remained.

A very clean and tidy backpack.

Though he had a bit more food than others, their backpacks were packed full of combat upgrade materials.

Returning to his backyard, Jian Xingyi stared at the five barren plots of land before him, his brow furrowed with worry.

Seeds weren’t his problem now—he had buffs for maturation time and yield. But that was nowhere near enough. If he got kicked out of the guild today, his food reserves wouldn’t last two weeks.

He needed to acquire more land and improve its quality.

Especially since yields were calculated based on the game’s fundamentals, not reality. Five plots seemed substantial, but their harvest quantities were already capped by the system.

Jian Xingyi opened his skill page and discovered that purchasing additional plots required a massive amount of gold. He glanced at the price: 50,000 gold per plot.

Good grief, why not just rob someone!

Upgrading field quality required the 【Essence of All Things】 item, but money was still essential.

Jian Xingyi pondered. Money wasn’t just needed for upgrades and land purchases—he also needed gear. With a gun and decent armor, he could at least fight back if zombies appeared during an outdoor gathering. Otherwise, another Heiye rescuing him was guaranteed.

Guns cost money. Gun accessories cost money.

Plus, both guns and armor had wear rates. He’d have to pay NPCs weekly for maintenance.

He also wanted a ride—just a basic motorcycle. That way, if he couldn’t win in the wild, he could at least run.

All of it costs shiny Dawn Coins.

Jian Xingyi scratched his receding hairline. Damn it, money’s needed in both reality and the game!

But where the hell does one get money?

Just as Jian Xingyi was fretting, he spotted a man standing outside the wall, gazing at him with a haunting stare.

…!

Jian Xingyi’s train of thought snapped to a halt. Startled, she looked closer—it was… Lone Wolf?

“Um, hello?”

“…”

What was this guy doing?!

Why was he standing outside without a word?

Lone Wolf: “I need to talk to you.”

Jian Xingyi: “Did you come to visit my place?”

Both voices rang out simultaneously, followed by simultaneous silence.

Jian Xingyi dug her toes into the ground. Oh, so he wasn’t here to visit? Why did I have to ask that stupid question? This is so awkward, help me…

Lone Wolf scratched his head. “Well, I guess I could take a look. I’ve never seen a house like this in the game before.”

“Oh…”

The moment Lone Wolf stepped inside Jian Xingyi’s house, his expression betrayed utter astonishment.

Beyond the entrance, the living room featured an open ceiling extending to the second floor. A crystal chandelier hung vertically, adorned with green plants and a fish tank with ambient lighting. A large-screen TV dominated half the wall for entertainment.

An open garden sat right in the center of the living room. It was hard to imagine how blissful daily life here must be.

Lone Wolf: “You…”

Lone Wolf was dumbfounded. He’d been curious for ages and blurted out, “You… you didn’t spend real money on the Homestead System, did you?”

How could someone play Minecraft in Dawnbreaker?!

Sure, some gaming pros might specialize in certain genres, but that’s only if they have extra stamina points! This is a full-holographic combat game with zero stamina limits!

“No…!” Even a socially anxious person has their limits. Jian Xingyi jumped up and declared, “It’s all thanks to my grinding!”

Lone Wolf: “…”

Lone Wolf: “Well, you grind pretty well then.”

Jian Xingyi: “Th-thanks…”

Lone Wolf noticed the latest game console sitting nearby and found himself drawn toward it.

Jian Xingyi dutifully explained, “This is the limited edition console that just launched in the mall. I figured playing games in a game would be a huge money-maker, so I bought it.”

Lone Wolf: “…”

Lone Wolf: “Can you actually play this thing?”

“Well, yeah… Um, wanna give it a shot?”

And just like that, the two boys spent the entire afternoon playing games together for no apparent reason.

It felt a bit strange.

Even absurd.

But it was Jian Xingyi’s first time using the console’s two-player mode, and he found it refreshing.

Lone Wolf found it refreshing, too. He glanced at Jian Xingyi.

To be able to eat well and live comfortably in this environment—how many people could even dream of such luxury?

Ever since entering this game world, Lone Wolf had fretted day and night over food. This was his first time truly relaxing to play games here.

“Oh, right. I came looking for you earlier because…” Lone Wolf tossed a bag to Jian Xingyi. “I’ve got some leftover gear. It’d be a waste to throw it away, and since you need it, just take it.”

Jian Xingyi opened it to find gun accessories.

A firearm requires five parts to synthesize, with the final quality determined entirely by the parts’ grade. Lone Wolf gave him two: a magazine and a grip, both merely average B-grade quality.

Parts could be continuously upgraded and replaced. Lone Wolf must have upgraded his own gun to A-grade to have these spares, but for Jian Xingyi, B-grade was more than sufficient.

This could be seen as Lone Wolf’s subtle apology for previously rejecting him from the guild. But he couldn’t bring himself to say sorry, nor did he feel he’d done anything wrong. So he decided to show his feelings through actions instead, offering something tangible.

Jian Xingyi felt like he’d saved two separate sums of money and gratefully said, “Thanks…”

Lone Wolf teleported away immediately.

Jian Xingyi: “…”

This guy.

Jian Xingyi was both amused and exasperated.

After stowing the accessory in his backpack and sighing with relief that he finally had a life-saving item, the system’s voice abruptly sounded.

It was identical to the voice that had greeted players upon first entering the game, before they discovered they couldn’t log out.

This time, it wasn’t just Jian Xingyi—every player across the entire server heard it.

【Attention all players of Dawnbreaker V2.0: The Ark has been activated, but not everyone will earn the right to enter the new paradise! The Corpse Tide Assessment, one month from now, will determine who stays and who leaves!】

Dawnbreaker regularly hosts Zombie Tide events. As the name suggests, waves of zombies attack guild and personal residences, requiring players to prepare defensive tools and weapons.

This is one of the game’s major events. The higher a guild’s level, the stronger the zombies they face. After participating as a full guild, they receive generous rewards commensurate with their level, such as money, items, and combat power.

But times have changed—now, people can actually die!

And who has the resources to handle this? We can barely feed ourselves these days!

This is nothing short of… a death sentence.