The alloy thighbone was far more effective than the rebar, and Yining’s grave-digging efficiency doubled.

The neighbor’s grave mound was an old one; no descendants would come to sweep the grave or add fresh soil. Judging by the style of the tombstone—which lacked a base—it might be a Western-style grave, where people don’t follow traditional Chinese funeral rites.

But he digressed. Yining’s reasoning was actually this: the old soil had settled and compacted, so the mound was already very low. Its hardness was no different from the surrounding ground, and even with a shovel, it would take at least two or three hours to dig through it.

Using a thighbone and his bare hands, after about three hours, Yining’s shadow shifted from in front of him to behind him. And he opened another good item from the express blind box delivered every half hour.

【Received: 300ml bottled water × 2】

This was his 19th blind box of the day. Looking at the numbers, it seemed like getting bottled water wasn’t that hard. But a rough calculation showed that, so far, the probability of getting bottled water was just over 5%.

In the game’s trading marketplace, the few sellers offering bottled water were all looking to trade for medicine.

Yining looked at the two bottles of mineral water in the delivery box and wiped the sweat from his brow with his sleeve. He was still wearing a meticulously tailored shirt and dress shoes, while his suit jacket lay discarded nearby. It was the one he’d worn to his college graduation ceremony—a custom-made piece his mother had specially commissioned from a tailor.

His parents had even hired a mortuary stylist to do his hair, but it ended up looking like a mess.

Ghosts don’t need water. He won’t drink it.

Yining gave himself a mental pep talk: “If you can’t endure the small things, you won’t make it to tomorrow.”

He had to live well.

But at 3:47 p.m., the game still broadcast that spine-chilling announcement.

【Game Announcement】

【Player 154586 died from “Darkness”】

The world chat immediately erupted.

【Long Live the Emperor】: F*ck, f*ck, f*ck, f*ck! Someone died!!!

【Player 545691]: How did they die? What does “dying in the darkness in broad daylight” even mean! Can this game just explain itself clearly?!

【Player 356148]: Most likely, they crossed some taboo.

【Player 478459]: I bet that’s it. That lucky guy named Yining said stepping out of the light circle wouldn’t kill you, so someone obviously had to try it.

【Making Money from Blind Boxes】: I was just thinking about giving it a try. I’m broke in my server—there’s nothing else to do but open blind boxes.

【Name Change Card—Not Sure What to Change】: As long as you don’t violate this rule, you should be fine. Everyone, just play it safe!

Actually, the biggest impact this announcement had on Yining was that he couldn’t resist checking his stats.

After repeatedly bringing up his personal info panel, he saw that his already declining stats were still dropping. No new negative statuses had appeared, and the ones he’d been worried about—like 【Satiety】 and 【Thirst】—hadn’t shown up either.

Leaning on that thigh bone, he sighed, looked at the grave pit he’d dug half a meter deep, and silently cheered himself on. Hang in there.

By six o’clock in the afternoon, the corner of his neighbor’s coffin lid finally emerged from the soil.

Yining tossed the thigh bone onto the ground as if a weight had been lifted, pulled a bottle of mineral water from his backpack, poured 50 ml into an empty can, and briefly moistened his parched mouth.

He felt a bit of admiration for his own willpower.

In his lifetime, Yining had never wanted for food or drink, and he certainly wouldn’t have chosen to go on expeditions to places like deserts or glaciers. He hadn’t even completed a single mountain climb—he had never faced a trial like this before.

Now he needed to take stock of the supplies he had.

Opening 24 blind boxes in 12 hours, the probability of getting fresh water had dropped to 4.16%. The good news: he’d obtained three food items in total, a 12.5% probability.

Food and water supplies include 1 full 300ml bottle of mineral water, 1 partially consumed bottle of mineral water, 12 candies, 1 compressed biscuit, and 1 loaf of rye bread. Without a doubt, these strategic resources take up 4 backpack slots.

Basic resources for expanding the territory: 1 plank, 3 pieces of wood, 3 stones, and 3 bundles of hemp. These basic resources inevitably take up backpack slots, leaving only 2 out of 10 slots available.

Yining reserves the remaining backpack slots for that alloy thighbone and the large delivery boxes that can be exchanged for points—1 large delivery box equals 1 unit of paper, and 1 unit of paper is worth 1 point when recycled at the in-game store.

There are currently 6 large delivery boxes, offering a 40% chance to reliably earn 1 point.

However, Yining doesn’t plan to trade resources for points just yet. First, while wood and stone sell for 1 point each in the game store, their buyback price is only 0.5 points.

Second, excluding the incomplete notebook grave goods, he’s only managed to scrape together 9 points, which isn’t enough to make a purchase in the game store.

Some players have revealed that the freshwater sold in the in-game store comes in 500ml bottles.

The large shipping box can be used to store resources that Yining doesn’t need right now, preventing items from being left on the ground to set up a stall.

For example: 2 empty soda cans, 1 rebar, 2 paper gold ingots, 2 paper white flowers, 8 paper joss money, 10 beer bottle caps, 5 kindness gold coins, 1 notebook, 1 carbon pen, and 1 copy of *systematic anatomy*.

Yining finally checked the Free Trade Market. As expected, prices among players were much more flexible compared to the in-game store.

Currently, the scarcest resource is fresh water, but 1 unit of fresh water can be traded for 10 units of wood, which in turn is only worth 5 credits. In the in-game store, however, 1 unit of fresh water is valued at 10 credits.

This reveals a few key points: At this stage, basic resources command a premium; players’ demand for expanding their territories outweighs their demand for fresh water; and the game’s survival mechanics align perfectly with this dynamic.

Player attributes include a 【Luck】 stat, which may affect resource drop rates for different players.

On the first evening of the game, Yining set out with his meager resources… to open a coffin.

As the sky shifted from fiery red to deep black, the light within the glow dimmed, gradually giving way to the surrounding darkness.

Shortly after 7 p.m., Yining dug away most of the soil covering his neighbor’s coffin. Immediately, the coffin lid began to shake violently, as if something inside were struggling violently.

Yining instinctively took a step back, his heart pounding with fear.

【Hint: Zombie, Level 1, Attack 50】

He’d encountered a monster!

Yining hurriedly pushed some of the soil he’d dug out of the grave back into place. Feeling that wasn’t quite safe enough, he finally threw his full weight onto the coffin lid. Fortunately, his neighbor’s coffin was newer and sturdier than his own.

It was about to get dark, and Yining had to finish this quickly. Who knew what might happen at night? He absolutely couldn’t let this drag on until the next day.

【Trading Post】

【Search: Weapons】

The search results didn’t even fill a single page, yet the total number of items listed in the entire Trade Market had already exceeded six figures.

【Battle Axe (Gray): Attack +5, Trade for 50 Wood】

【Dagger (Gray): Attack +3, Agility +1, Exchanges for 30 Wood/Stone/Hemp】

【Fruit Knife (Gray): Attack +1, Trade for 2 Freshwater】

【Small Pouch of Gunpowder (Gray): Price via private message】

【Sling (Brown): Attack +2, Shooting +2, Trade for medicine or high-grade food】

Yining took a deep breath as the coffin beneath him trembled again.

He had no choice but to send a private message to the player selling gunpowder, steeled to take his chances.

【Yining】: Hello, looking to buy ammunition. Just asking for a price. 

【Player 156487]: Don’t worry, bro. It’s almost exactly 8 o’clock. Let’s open some blind boxes first.   

【Yining】: …

Alright.

Game time: 8:00 PM. 

Surprisingly, it hasn’t gotten completely dark yet, and the zombie hasn’t broken the coffin’s seal. A heavy thud came from behind. Yining turned to look—it was a large shipping box. 

Points +1.

That makes 10 points.

【Obtained: Cursed Watermelon ×1】

【Cursed Watermelon: Sweetness 2, Texture 5. Consuming this grants the “Insomnia” effect, preventing the player from falling asleep for 10 hours and preventing natural recovery of stamina.】

【Yining】: Hello, I’ll trade this watermelon for gunpowder. 【Player】156487: Watermelon, watermelon!!!

【Player】156487: Let’s check the stats first.

Yining sent a screenshot.

【Player】156487: This watermelon is no different from coffee—at best, you can drink it like water, but it doesn’t boost any stats. 【Yining】: What do you want?

【Player】156487: Any item worth over 100 points. Yining had no choice; the zombie under his butt was getting more and more active.

Yining thought about his pitch. At this stage, within a 10-meter radius of the player, gunpowder was a pretty useless item—it could easily backfire on the player and wasn’t worth 100 points at all.

But saying that would give away my eagerness to buy weapons.

【Yining】: Are you planning to change tents? The tent shop costs 100 points.

【Player】156487: No way. If I were trading for a tent, I’d make that clear.

【Player】 156487: I can tell you what items are worth 100 points, but you’ll have to pay an information fee.

So, judging by this player’s intentions, do most players already have items worth 100 points?

They’re likely trying to exploit information asymmetry to get a high return for a low cost.

If this person just wants to make a profit from the information fee, they could simply list it on the trading market—a single piece of intel could easily fetch several logs.

Why not think about what you might have that holds significant value without you realizing it…

【Yining】: I’ll trade you for gold coins—one gold coin is worth about 10 grams.

【Player】 156487: Deal.

He didn’t even haggle—it seems gold coins are really valuable, at least on par with a tent.

In the game interface, the mailbox icon flashed. Yining immediately clicked to retrieve the message, and a fist-sized packet of gunpowder fell out. He quickly caught the packet, then used 5 large shipping boxes to purchase a box of matches for 5 points. With everything prepared, Yining set about opening his shop.

He had to move fast.

Yining first used the rebar as a crowbar to pry the coffin lid upward, then brought out the alloy thighbone.

3……

2…

1!

Before the zombie could crawl out of the coffin, Yining lit the fuse on the explosive charge and hurled it at the zombie with all his might. He hadn’t even had a chance to get a good look at the monster before a burst of flames shot up into the air.

The game interface displayed the zombie’s health bar: 95/100.

Without an external energy source, the explosion wouldn’t occur, but the fire would indeed cause the zombie to lose health continuously.

94, 86, 82…

The zombie moved much like the ones in movies, lunging at Yining with claws and fangs bared, like a ferocious beast that hadn’t eaten in ages—its face twisted into a savage grimace, its sole intent to tear flesh and blood.

Yining quickly created some distance. Standing atop the grave pit and using the terrain to his advantage, he brought his alloy thighbone down hard on the burning zombie’s head.

The blow failed to slow the zombie down; the monster crawled out of the grave and lunged at Yining with a growl.

Yining had previously wrapped some hemp around the rebar to increase friction. He thrust the rebar straight into the zombie’s abdomen—the 3 Strength stat was sufficient; the rebar pierced the monster, but Yining, having been too close, was scorched by the flames.

The zombie monster didn’t stop biting just because it was injured. Yining barely managed to press the alloy thighbone he held in his left hand against the zombie’s face. Finally, Yining crouched down, shifted his center of gravity, and, enduring the pain of the flames, gripped the two iron rods tightly without letting go, forcing the zombie monster into the air and slamming it down to one side.

Of course, things didn’t go as Yining had imagined. The zombie wasn’t sent flying and smashed into the ground; his strength was limited, and he could only temporarily restrict the zombie’s movements.

With the narrow opening he’d managed to create, he didn’t have time to pull the rebar out. Yining quickly rolled to break the force and put distance between himself and the zombie.

【Zombie: Health 35/100】

The damage from the flames continues to take its toll. After the earlier struggle, the zombie’s movements are no longer as swift as before. Compounding this, the creature clearly lacks any sense of reason, continuing to chase its target with rebar still piercing its body.

While dodging, Yining seizes the moment to swing his alloy thighbone at the zombie’s head once more. He then grabs the rebar as it lunges toward him and uses the momentum to deliver a powerful kick.

It wasn’t that Yining had grown stronger; rather, the zombie’s body had grown weaker. To his surprise, Yining managed to pull the rebar out of the monster’s abdomen.

The zombie monster was finished; two more attacks brought its health bar to zero.

However, Yining had underestimated the power of gunpowder; even after the monster died, the flames on its body refused to die out. Surely it wouldn’t burn his loot…

【Zombie Killed 1/1】

【Obtained: Replication Card (Brown) ×1, Attack Gem ×2】

The replication card appeared in a slot in his backpack, while the gems and gold coins fell directly from the air into Yining’s hands.

【Replication Card (Brown): 5 replication attempts, capable of cloning items of any tier.】 

Any item!

Nice stuff.

Yining’s eyes widened slightly, his pupils dilating.

Although it’s brown-quality, it clearly shone with a golden glow in Yining’s eyes!

Yining inspected the rest of the loot.

Gems—uncut rubies, about the size of a knuckle. The gold coins looked exactly like the kindness gold coins he’d spent, but in their name was “Critical Strike.”

The effects of the gem and the coin were listed in their names; Yining understood. No wonder they were worth 100 points.

【Battle Damage: Health -10, Spirit -5】

【Achievement Unlocked: First Kill】

【Unlocked Role: Hollow Puppet】

【Acquired Skill: Hollow Puppet】

【Hollow Puppet: You are a toy cherished by the gods, but you will never know what your heart truly desires. You will embark on a path of eternal exploration.】

【Skill Description: The player gains an additional inventory slot. Placing certain items in it grants the corresponding attributes: Spirit Vision +1, Max HP +1.】

Spirit Vision?

What do I truly want? Yining froze.

I was just thinking about enjoying the thrill of defeating monsters.

Ignoring the character description, Yining began to study the skill’s functions.

“Spirit Vision” likely refers to the ability to see ghosts and monsters with the naked eye that ordinary people cannot see; it’s probably an essential attribute for making a living in graveyards and tombs. Gems and gold coins are all items.

He placed the gold and gems he’d obtained into his inventory slots and received a prompt: Attack +1, Critical Strike +1.

Unfortunately, each slot could only hold one item, so he couldn’t have both the Attack and Critical Strike bonuses at the same time.

By the time the battle was over, it had grown completely dark, and the only light came from the burning bodies of the zombies.

He pulled out a bottle of mineral water and took a few big gulps, then fished a piece of candy from his pocket. Unwrapping it and popping it into his mouth, Yining’s racing heart gradually calmed down.

He opened his character panel. 

Health: 41/101

Satiety: 40/100

Mental: 17/100 

Strength: 3

Defense: 2 

Luck: 4 

Goodwill: 5 

Critical Hit: 1 

Contamination: 1

Status: 【Contaminated】 【Battle Damage】

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

【Battle Damage: Please seek medical attention promptly】

In addition to the 【Contamination】 status, digging up graves and fighting monsters have further depleted Yining’s hunger. It seems the battle is far from over.

Suddenly, Yining noticed the message icon on his status panel flashing. He opened the message panel and saw that two people had sent him messages.

【Player】156487: Bro, buying gunpowder at this hour—did you run into some monsters? 

【Player】156487: Bro, are you selling watermelons?

【Player】 156487: Bro, say something, come on

【Yunzhou】: I got a synthesis card. Let me know if you need one.