Having thought of a solution, Jian Xingyi immediately put it to the test.

He tried listing a jar of pickled vegetables from his inventory on the merchant marketplace to see if it would work.

【Sorry, your item does not meet the listing standards and cannot be traded.】

Jian Xingyi: “…”

Jian Xingyi checked the details and discovered the issue was the food’s low quality rating. After all, white radishes weren’t rare ingredients, and these came from fields with inconsistent yields.

Ah… Damn it!

Jian Xingyi’s grand plan had been stillborn, but he couldn’t give up.

Whether it was the lack of money to buy equipment, the lack of funds to purchase land leading to insufficient food production, or the guild’s 200,000 credit debt, all were problems that had to be solved. Otherwise, he couldn’t survive.

Now that he had a way to earn money quickly, his focus shifted to the fields.

Spending 50,000 Dawn Coins on a new field wasn’t as effective as upgrading his existing five. If he improved the field quality, not only would yields return to normal, but they could even double and enhance food quality.

To upgrade field quality, he needed the Essence of All Things item.

This item was neither simple nor difficult to obtain. Occasionally, when Jian Xingyi used his alchemy to turn stones into gold, besides seeds, a small amount of essence would spawn.

But this was a matter of chance—not every living thing yielded it. Moreover, Jian Xingyi was currently only alchemizing low-level creatures in the safe zone, making it even rarer.

Currently, Jian Xingyi only possesses… 3 points of essence. Upgrading a single plot requires 50 points, meaning he needs a total of… 250 points.

Jian Xingyi returned home to get a good night’s sleep, planning to head to the back mountain—Peace Mountain—the next day.

Not only would the wilderness offer better chances for essence, but perhaps even more special seeds. He needed to find more seeds now, since the guild’s plants only provided rice, wheat, and white radishes. But if he wanted to list items for sale, relying solely on white radishes clearly wouldn’t work.

Surrounded by Grapevine Peak, Blue Sky and White Clouds, and Long Live For A Hundred Years, and particularly close to Grapevine Peak, this mountain was actually safer than other wilderness maps.

First, its proximity made it easy to dash back to the guild’s safe zone. Second, Grapevine Peak members likely visited here periodically to gather basic supplies, meaning most dangers—besides the regularly spawning monsters—had probably been cleared by them.

After all, once inside the game, aside from the guild portal to Dawn Town and a few one-way teleporters near boss locations, no other means of travel were available. Thus, unless the materials were exceptionally rare, no one would venture too far.

After lying down, Jian Xingyi fell into a dream.

In the dream, he ran endlessly.

[Savior! Savior! You are our savior!]

[Please stop and look at us!]

What…?

Jian Xingyi dared neither stop nor turn back. He only sensed countless people chasing him from behind. Fear propelled him forward, running until he was breathless, his head spinning.

Dreams were always chaotic. Gradually, the purpose of his escape seemed to shift—from initially trying to shake something off, it became… a pursuit.

He was chasing someone.

And the fear of losing this person was far greater than the fear of being caught by those pursuers behind him.

[Don’t go…!]

In the dream, Jian Xingyi finally caught up. He saw the man in the black jacket holding a cigarette between his index and middle fingers, speaking to him.

[Xinghe, go back.]

An unknown dread suddenly engulfed Jian Xingyi. He thought, No, I can’t go back.

[If you go back, you’ll never see me again.]

The man flicked the cigarette into the void.

[No, no matter how many times we start over, we’ll meet again.]

[We… start over.]

Thud!

Jian Xingyi opened his eyes to find himself having rolled off the bed.

He strained to recall the dream, but it was already hazy. Only a vague impression remained—he seemed to have been chasing someone.

Jian Xingyi glanced at the time.

This dream left him utterly exhausted, yet today he held crucial tasks. Jian Xingyi forced himself to rise, wash, and get ready.

Before heading to Peace Mountain, Jian Xingyi opened the marketplace to purchase basic supplies.

First came bullets, followed by a detector, and a lunchbox to store food synthesized by the machine in his backpack.

Both bullets and detectors were consumables, yet they weren’t cheap.

Jian Xingyi checked his account. His original balance of 666 had risen to over 700 after trading with an NPC for some food. Combined with Firelight’s 5000, it was now barely enough to buy anything.

[Payment Failed! Player lacks sufficient dawn coin for deduction!]

[Detected player at max Business Level with sufficient Credit Score. Would you like to apply for a loan?]

[If the loan remains unpaid within one month, 10% interest will be charged!]

Jian Xingyi pondered. Wouldn’t the zombie tide arrive in a month?

If they could smoothly reach Level 20, he’d surely find a way to earn money; if he couldn’t repay the loan, it meant he was probably dead anyway—what did interest matter when you’re dead?

Go for it!

Jian Xingyi bought enough supplies outright.

Consider it a business expense!

After packing the prepared food into his backpack, Jian Xingyi left the guild.

Peace Mountain was a typical mountain—dense with towering trees, thankfully with relatively flat terrain rather than steep cliffs. Once inside the mountain, Jian Xingyi began frantically spending skill points.

[Gathering successful, obtained [Rice] seeds x3]

[Harvest successful, obtained [Rice] seeds x2]

[Harvest successful, obtained [White Radish] seeds x6]

[Harvest successful, obtained [Carrot] seeds x4]

Surprisingly, the seeds here seemed identical to those in the guild, with no increase in essence.

The only difference was the carrots, but carrots and white radishes were essentially the same thing, just categorized differently.

Jian Xingyi scratched his head and cautiously ventured deeper.

After walking a distance, Jian Xingyi would toss out the detector.

Once deployed, the detector couldn’t be retrieved, making it a consumable. However, it could scan nearby infected threats and sound an alarm—the more dangerous the threat, the shriller the alert. For a noob like Jian Xingyi, it was absolutely essential.

Jian Xingyi thus cautiously chose his path, venturing deeper and higher.

Along the way, he gathered countless rice and carrots, earning 2 points of essence.

“S-s-s-s-”

Right then, Jian Xingyi saw a zombie suddenly rush out from beside him.

…!

He had just deployed a detector not long ago! Had he already left the detector’s range?

The detector’s range required personal estimation, and most players weren’t as clueless as Jian Xingyi, needing such precise, full-coverage accuracy.

Jian Xingyi felt his blood run cold. Seeing the zombie still some distance away and a large tree with thick branches nearby, he immediately turned and decisively… climbed the tree.

Before the zombie could tackle him, Jian Xingyi successfully scrambled onto a branch.

Curled up on the branch, Jian Xingyi watched the rotting zombie—eyes dangling precariously—shrieking as it scraped against the tree trunk, emitting furious sounds. He felt a wave of relief wash over him.

Mua, that was close.

It was just a low-level zombie. Jian Xingyi took a deep breath. He could handle this.

He drew his pistol and aimed it at the zombie’s head.

To kill a zombie, you had to aim for the head.

Actually, sitting up in the tree with the zombie stationary below, the distance was close enough and time ample. Most would use a bow to conserve ammo, but Jian Xingyi couldn’t use a bow. He didn’t have the strength to draw it anyway, so he might as well get used to the feel of the pistol.

“Bang!”

As Jian Xingyi pulled the trigger, the zombie collapsed to the ground.

Jian Xingyi exhaled in relief. Thankfully, he hadn’t wasted the bullet.

He weighed the pistol in his hand, feeling his confidence surge.

Jian Xingyi activated his skill and tapped the tree he sat upon—his lucky tree.

[Harvest Successful: Obtained [Rice] Seeds x3]

[Essence: 0]

Well, the harvest wasn’t exactly lucky.

Just as Jian Xingyi was about to climb down, he froze.

For three seconds after activating the skill, he could see glowing dots around him. After three seconds, he’d have to reactivate it, but within those three seconds, he saw a dense cluster of dots beneath the tree.

Yet the ground below was bare, clearly empty.

Jian Xingyi tried clicking, but couldn’t select anything.

Yet the light points were real.

Jian Xingyi felt puzzled. Could it be… something underground?