His body felt stiff, and his thoughts were sluggish.

Yining stood in the darkness. It took him five seconds—a full five seconds—to regain control of his body. Then, after an even longer struggle, he managed to take a single step backward.

That single step seemed to drain every ounce of his strength. Yining retreated back into the circle of light, then collapsed onto the ground with a thud, dizzy and disoriented, cold sweat trickling down his temples.

What had he just gone through?

Could he recall the images from the darkness?

Should he post a warning on the forum to alert all players?

The sensation of impending death was overwhelming. Fortunately, in his previous life, the aimless youth had long since overcome his fear of death. Perhaps that was precisely why Yining had managed to stay sane in the darkness and not lose his bearings.

Once he finally caught his breath and stood up again, Yining began to gather his thoughts.

【Do Not Enter the Darkness】

This was undoubtedly the most fundamental rule in the game, aside from basic survival, but stepping into the darkness didn’t necessarily mean instant death.

Yining checked his status panel: 

Health: 73/100

Satiety: 71/100

Mental Health: 47/100

He remained in the darkness for 13 seconds.

Upon returning to the light’s range, the negative status effect 【Contamination】 did not disappear; the depletion of his three stats, which had previously been measured in seconds, now proceeded by the hour. During those 13 seconds in the realm of darkness, Yining saw countless monsters.

Some stood motionless as wooden stakes, their eyes covered in pus-filled sores, staring greedily at the circle of light.

Viscous, writhing monsters darted between the gravestones and mounds of earth, as if they were about to pounce at any moment.

There were also blue-flamed lanterns, paper effigies, floating severed heads, swollen headless torsos, and massive shadows as dark as storm clouds…

The monsters seemed to fear sunlight, daring to move only in the darkness and never venturing too close to the circle of light, which, in a way, fit the stereotypical image of a graveyard.

Of course, the terrain of this pitch-black realm also contained many natural resources: trees, plants, and rocks. At the far edge stood a wooden fence and a small cottage.

Yining, still shaken, edged closer to the center of the light circle, fearing that the players’ resentment toward him might continue to grow.

This worry might have been unnecessary, as the game announcement no longer listed only Yining’s name.

【Congratulations to player “Zhang Jian” for obtaining “Healing Potion (Gold)” from an express blind box】

【Congratulations to player “Zhao Qianli” for obtaining a “Fountain Pen (Gold)” from an express blind box】

【Congratulations to player “Zhou Momo” for obtaining an “Axe (Golden)” from the tumbleweed blind box】

Meanwhile, countless players were asking about name change cards in the global chat. With more announcements popping up, maybe the resentment will spread out?

It really was just bad timing that he died then. If he’d known, he should’ve kicked the bucket a day earlier.

On second thought, since all players enter this world after death, it’s impossible that he was the only one who died on January 1st. No way!

Yining quickly stopped worrying needlessly.

First, he found 【Offset Resentment Penalty with Kindness Gold Coins】 in his personal panel.

Judging by their weight and hardness—as tested by blowing on them and biting them—these kindness gold coins are very likely pure gold, and they’re quite substantial. Since the territory is no longer shrinking, and since he was unsure of the value of precious metals in this world, he was in no rush to offset them.

He can always make up for it later by expanding.

Next, he posted about this experience on the game forum, omitting the part about the glitch caused by player resentment. Following the on-screen prompts step by step, a pop-up appeared asking whether to post using his nickname or his numerical ID.

Nicknames seemed to have become the players’ public enemy, but as long as he could keep his numerical ID under wraps, that was his new ID number.

Player 【Yining】:

【Entering a dark area does not cause immediate death】

I’ve already tried it—a new 【Contamination】 status has been added. Here’s a screenshot (image).

Although you can see the surrounding terrain and nearby monsters, it’s not recommended to charge in recklessly.

Players have long since gotten over their initial panic regarding their current situation; everyone has accepted the new world’s survival mechanics and is now throwing themselves into the survival challenge—whether by choice or by force.

As a post directly affecting players’ interests, it quickly drew attention.

First post:

Is this Yining from the natural disaster card? Can you reveal what the natural disaster card is used for?

Second post:

Bro, are you leading the charge here, or have you just lost your mind?

Third Post: 

Serves you right.

Fourth Post:

This is so stupid—I’m getting sick of this nonsense. Everyone says you shouldn’t go into the Dark Realm.

【Player】 231531 replied: Great, now some other clueless players are bound to head to the Dark Realm to try their luck. Yining is a real jerk.

Fifth Post:

Once you enter the Dark Realm, can you see nearby players? 

Fifth comment, that’s a good question. 

Yining hasn’t seen any other auras nearby, so he couldn’t verify this mechanic for now.

By choosing to share this information, Yining has acted in good conscience. As for whether he’ll get any other valuable replies later, that’s up to fate.

The negative status isn’t unbearable; maybe some other unlucky players will start the game locked up alongside him.

The 【Contamination】 status forced Yining to quickly replenish his stats. The pressure shot up instantly.

Resisting the urge to correct the second comment user’s misuse of idioms or to engage in a flame war with the second, third, and fourth comment users, Yining focused his attention on his own grave mound.

Game time: 7:06 a.m. The shadow of the long wooden stake stuck in the ground had shortened slightly.

The presence of planetary motion suggests that most physical laws and natural phenomena are similar to those on Earth. In January, solar activity reaches its perihelion in this region; the trajectory of the shadow’s movement determines the latitude range.

Geographical knowledge surfaced in his mind.

Yining couldn’t help but wonder: if the light circle lost its effect at night, would those monsters outside be unleashed, free to attack him?

The pressure seemed to have increased.

The pressure was compounding.

Yining shifted his gaze to another grave mound… The threat to his survival was imminent.

Malice welled up inside him.

He had burial goods, but what about his neighbor…

What if the neighbor was also a player? Then he’d have a duty to save him! But he didn’t have any suitable tools on hand—he certainly couldn’t dig up a grave with a medical textbook.

All Yining could do was open an express blind box every half hour, all while living in constant fear.

He sat on the coffin lid, keeping an eye on the chat channel and game forums while waiting for the blind box to refresh. While remaining still, his stamina slowly recovered.

He regained 1 point every fifteen minutes; after accounting for the debuff from the 【Contamination】 status, he could recover 1 point per hour.

Time ticked by, and at exactly 7:00, Yining received his second delivery.

【Acquired: 60 cm long, 50 mm diameter rebar ×1】

The delivery box containing the rebar was a large, square box. Upon opening it, Yining noticed the 60-centimeter-long rebar was placed diagonally inside.

【Large Parcel Box = 1 unit of paper】 

A pleasant surprise.

Can this rebar be used to dig?

Could it be used as a weapon?

Making it into a weapon doesn’t grant any extra attributes; it depends solely on one’s own strength and skill. Plus, the rebar’s hardness still can’t compare to that of ordinary blades.

Yining made up his mind.

But should he really dig up a grave? Isn’t that a bit unethical…

Morally conflicted, but his body was honest.

Yining picked up a rock from the grave pit and drove a rebar vertically into the mound next to it. Once the soil had loosened, he could dig with his bare hands.

In a survival game, the dead are respected. But he’s been dead himself, hasn’t he?

Sorry about that, neighbor.

Once he gets some matches, he’ll burn some joss paper for you.

He also had a notebook, from which he would tear out round, square-holed copper coins. Yining’s movements gradually quickened.

After repeating these steps for an hour, the hole he’d dug was less than one-tenth the size of his own grave. What made Yining stop this unethical behavior was that he felt the process was far too slow, and he’d noticed that players didn’t regain stamina naturally while moving—it just didn’t seem worth it.

He envied the players who got shovels.

A golden-grade shovel must be worth a fortune; trading it would make a killing.

He was so envious.

His remaining health and satiety were enough to sustain him for another 35 hours, but his spirit was running low. Yining silently calculated his stats.

Might as well try his luck—if he could farm a few more large delivery boxes, with 1 unit of paper = 1 point, then Yining would have a chance to restore his stats through other means.

On the game forum, a player had opened a blind box to find an undercooked sausage that granted 5 points of Satiety, 1 point of Spirit, and 1 point of Health.

At this point, some players in the game’s 【Trading Market】 were already exchanging the items they’d randomly drawn for basic resources.

At the same time, some players posted on the forums to compile statistics on the resources players had obtained from blind boxes. These players were incredibly adaptable, quickly getting into the swing of things, collating information, and forming alliances.

Some players, meanwhile, settled into the chat channels.

[Player 232154]: Holy crap, a hand is reaching out from the ground!

【Blind Box】 What’s going on?

【Player 232154】: Someone stole the wood I left on the ground!!!

【Ultraman Hikari】: Impressive.

【Blind Box Cash】: You have backpack slots, but choose to set up a stall on the ground—you’ve got some nerve.

【Player 545264]: The inventory cap is 99, so you’d better stockpile as much wood as you can.

【Player 953674]: Did you guys get a name change card from a blind box? How do you even get a name change card?! I want to change my nickname too!

【Player 232154]: It’s inconvenient to use real names online.

It was now 12:35.

Yining finally got a good item from the 13th express blind box.

【Obtained: White Rabbit creamy candy ×5】

【Obtained: Coconut Candy ×5】

【Obtained: Orange Segment Candy ×5】

1 Big White Rabbit Candy restores 1 HP, 1 Coconut Candy restores 5 Satiety, and 1 Orange Segment Candy restores 3 Stamina. His current stats:

Health: 67/100

Satiety: 60/100 

Stamina: 46/100 

Strength: 3

Defense: 2 

Luck: 4 

Goodwill: 5

Status: 【Contaminated】

【Contamination: -3 Sanity, -2 Health, -2 Satiety per hour】

Apart from the 3+1 Mental loss during rest, the other two stats are plummeting rapidly, and feelings of hunger and weakness are gradually setting in. Satiety will also naturally decrease over time!

So when he caught the sweet, cloying scent in the air, tears of joy nearly welled up in his eyes. 

As the morning passed, most players had managed to find some food in their delivery boxes; the drop rate for food wasn’t low, though the quality was another matter.

From a forum statistics thread, Yining learned that compressed biscuits had the highest drop rate in blind boxes, but what players were actually most in need of right now was fresh water.

Unlike Yining, most players were stationed in the desert, where the ambient temperature soared to 36 degrees Celsius, causing many to suffer from 【Heatstroke】.

Sitting in the grave pit, the heat wasn’t quite as unbearable for Yining, though he was indeed a bit thirsty.

Thirteen blind boxes yielded: 2 empty soda cans, 1 rebar, 1 piece of wood, 2 stones, 3 bundles of hemp, 1 paper gold ingot, 1 paper white flower, 10 beer bottle caps, 5 joss paper notes, and 15 pieces of candy. He also obtained 3 large delivery boxes, which can be exchanged for points, 4 small delivery boxes, which cannot be exchanged for points, and 6 medium delivery boxes.

The base resource yields aren’t very high, but at current rates, you should be able to collect enough materials to expand your territory by opening blind boxes.

That said, every player’s domain holds its share of serendipitous events. Those with good luck can expand their domains sooner and gain more resources as a result. Those with bad luck fall behind, and the gap between players begins to emerge as early as the first day of the game.

But before players actually face off in PvP, anything is possible.

Yining kept an eye on the game forum, and his luck came through once again—someone had posted crucial information in the replies to his thread. 

Comment #106:

Player 【Yunzhou】 

I accidentally stepped out of the light circle and into the darkness. I’ll describe what I saw here for future reference.

1.  The 【Contamination】 status does indeed appear;

2.  Based on the description, my domain appears to be a two-bedroom apartment. Currently, I only control a section of the living room, and the dark area offers a full view of the living room.

3.  There are monsters outside the window.

4.  There are strange sounds coming from the bedroom on the left, like someone muttering to themselves—completely inaudible within the light circle;

5.  Blood appears to be seeping out from under the bathroom door.

6.  The windows in the building across the street are lit up; the monsters won’t approach, so I can confirm there are other players nearby.

【Yining】 to 【Yunzhou】: Thanks for sharing. I’m not sure if you’ve found a solution to the contamination issue, but I’ve sent you some candy as a token of my appreciation. I’ve emailed it to you, so be sure to check your inbox.

Yining took out one piece of each of his three types of candy as a token of appreciation.

Clicking on 【Yunzhou】’s profile, he could see she was a female player—a meticulous person. In the era Yining lived in, not many netizens paid attention to proper punctuation.

Candy can’t solve every problem.

Yining sighed, grabbed the rebar, and continued digging up the grave.

At 1:00 PM, he managed to get another handy tool.

【Acquired: Alloy Thighbone ×1】