156487 was trying to gather intel, while Yunzhou was offering information.

Neither message required an immediate reply, so Yining set the chat panel aside for the moment.

He had to quickly use the zombie’s flames to set the wood alight. Any player who’s burned wood knows that while it burns slowly, it’s hard to light with a match—even when using the “friction” method, it takes ages to get it going with dry grass.

Using paper was too wasteful, but on the first night of the game, he couldn’t find a better or more cost-effective light source than wood.

After lighting it, he propped the wood up to increase the surface area exposed to oxygen. After watching for a while to make sure it would keep burning, Yining turned to check the zombie’s lair.

There’s still plenty to do.

The coffin next door was completely empty. Worried that the zombie might be carrying some kind of dangerous bacteria, Yining didn’t dare to investigate it further, but the coffin itself displayed 【Dismantlable: Wooden Planks ×5】.

In the crevice between the outer edge of the coffin and the soil, there was the growth of two flowers. Upon closer inspection, the petals of these flowers were actually made of flesh; when touched firmly, they oozed a liquid resembling fresh red blood.

Pulling on the roots to pluck the flowers, the petals trembled and wriggled, as if they were not plants at all, but small creatures capable of emotional expression.

【Acquired: Bloodflesh Flower ×2】

Is this thing poisonous? Is it edible?

In truth, Yining was a decent person; his first reaction wasn’t driven by hunger, but by the fact that he’d never seen anything like this before. It was beyond his comprehension, and he found it both eerie and intriguing.

Given that he was in a graveyard filled with monsters—zombies with rotting skin that only wanted to eat people—the fact that this kind of “flesh flower” had grown here…

…seems quite reasonable.

Before roasting the bloodflesh flower as a dish, Yining was more interested in figuring out how to turn the coffin in front of him into the five planks of wood the system mentioned.

【Hint: You have not yet obtained the “Disassembly Card.”】

 Disassembly Card.

A player named “Yunzhou” had mentioned obtaining a 【Synthesis card】, while he himself had dropped a 【Replication card】 after defeating a zombie monster.

Instead of asking Yunzhou directly, Yining searched the forum for 【Synthesis cards】. Sure enough, Yunzhou’s post was at the top: 【4 logs → 1 plank; 1 log processing fee】.

Clicking in to take a closer look, the rules stated that there was a ten-minute cooldown for synthesis, and users had to reply to his update to join the queue. So that’s how the synthesis card works.

Thinking in reverse, could a Decomposition Card break the plank back down into wood?

Yining had figured out a new game mechanic. He smiled and took a screenshot of the replication card’s information, sending it to Yunzhou via private message.

Time: 1013/01/01, 20:16

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

Time: 1013/01/01, 21:03

【Yining】: (Image)

【Yining】: Can I use my resources to rent your synthesis card for two minutes?

There’s a huge line of people replying to Yunzhou’s post, and the total number of replies has already surpassed 10,000. It seems the demand for synthesis is enormous. There’s no time to waste—using up a copy chance now is just right.

He just wondered what color Yunzhou’s synthesis card is.

Yining refreshed the game forum, sorted the posts by number of replies from highest to lowest, and discovered that after Yunzhou, two more players with synthesis cards had posted similar threads. The fee was 1 wood for each, yet the line of people waiting remained endless.

It seems that compared to most people, his supply of wood isn’t exactly abundant.

Wood is a form of currency, and currency has its own value—but at this stage, wood itself is the hard currency.

Yunzhou must be pretty busy right now; he probably doesn’t have time to worry about him. Yining clapped his hands, climbed out of the grave pit, and walked over to the fire to prepare the flower-like meat.

The flower was about the size of a fist, with stems resembling hardened veins and thick leaves; it felt like it weighed nearly a quarter of a pound.

Yining held the hard, fleshy object and held it close to the fire to roast it directly. Before long, fat began to ooze from the edges of the “petals,” and an indescribable aroma wafted through the air. Yining’s heart raced with anticipation for the dinner to come.

【Acquired: Roasted Bloodflesh Flower ×1. Restores 10 Satiety, 5 Stamina, and 5 Health upon consumption.】 

Wow.

What a surprise.

It’s delicious and restores health—so this was the real loot from this monster hunt!

His near-death condition eased, and Yining felt a glimmer of hope for survival.

The 【Contamination】 status was still active, and his health was still slowly draining, but the desperate tension he’d felt during the day finally eased a little.

Food that restores health quickly is so much more satisfying than having to manually fiddle with items.

Simple, direct, and reassuring.

Oh, and there’s the kill reward skill, 【Hollow Puppet】.

Yining chewed the meat with gusto, casually placing the other intact bloodflesh flower he’d obtained into an empty skill slot. The original Critical Hit Gold skill was pushed out, and the newly equipped bloodflesh flower glowed faintly.

【Acquired: “Growth” attribute.】

【Growth: Restores 1 Spirit, 1 Health, and 1 Satiety per hour; the bloodflesh flower withers after 12 hours】

It is now 9:10 p.m.

The stats gained from the 【Hollow Puppet】 skill appear to be more beneficial than those from consuming food directly.

Of course, satiety naturally decreases as Stamina is consumed. Under 【Contamination】, the 【Growth】 status is essentially a sustain skill that maintains a balance between input and output.

In the early stages of a survival game, you really do have to budget every last penny.

Yining couldn’t help but smile wryly; he’d calculated his three core stats more times today than he had in an entire year of bookkeeping in his previous life.

Pulling out the bloodflesh flower, he tried stuffing other items into the skill slot. Gold coins, gems, the bloodflesh flower, and the small delivery box… only these few could fit. Other items, including that huge watermelon that looked delicious, were ruthlessly rejected.

Among them, the small delivery box provided no attributes, while the kindness gold coin displayed the message: 【Included in personal attribute panel】.

Therefore, spending the kindness gold coins wouldn’t deduct any attributes.

A thought struck Yining. He stuffed the “Attack Gem” and “Critical Hit Coin” into the small delivery box, then placed the box into the skill slot.

This maneuver actually worked—he now possessed both Attack and Critical Hit attributes simultaneously! Quite an interesting mechanic.

However, once the small delivery box was placed, there was no room for the bloodflesh flower. With no immediate need to fight, Yining decisively chose the 【Growth】 state, allowing it to slowly resist the erosion of 【Contamination】.

As the day of tinkering finally drew to a close, Yining didn’t forget to keep an eye on his personal stats. 

Health: 46/101

Satiety: 49/100

Mental: 21/100

Status: 【Contaminated】 【Growth】 【Battle Damage】

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

【Growth: Restores 1 HP, 1 Satiety, and 1 Stamina per hour】

【Battle Damage: Please seek medical attention promptly】

Hmm…

Yining scribbled on the ground with a small stick.

During rest, Stamina recovers 4 points per hour. 4 minus 3 plus 1—if nothing happens tonight, it will recover 18 points by 6 a.m. tomorrow. Health decreases by 1 point per hour, so he can last 46 hours.

Without working, Satiety decreases by about 1 point per hour—subtract 1, subtract 2, add 1—so it decreases by 2 points per hour.

Very well. Yining’s next goal is to gather as much food as possible and avoid combat.

That way, even if he can’t find a way to restore his health, he can at least hold out for two more days.

With that, the only remaining issue was the 【Battle Damage】 effect, which needed to be resolved as soon as possible.

Yining had several burn marks on his body from the recent battle, but strangely enough, he didn’t find injuries of this severity frightening in the least, nor did he feel any pain. After all, in the past, even if Yining had been scratched by his own vaccinated cat, he would have sought medical attention immediately.

Humans are supposed to have an instinctive fear of wounds, especially those on their own bodies.

He didn’t know where things had gone wrong. Was it because his Mental Health was too low?

A red dot appearing on the bubble icon in the game interface drew his attention.

【Yunzhou】: A 5-use replication card is probably one of the most practical items in the game right now.

【Yunzhou】: Do you have any resources?

Yunzhou was selling access to synthesis cards to earn transaction fees. He’ll probably have to pull an all-nighter tonight, and he definitely won’t be able to keep going tomorrow.

【Yining】: I have some energizing watermelon. Want some?

【Yunzhou】: Sure.

【Yunzhou】: But why does watermelon help you stay awake?

Yining showed Yunzhou a screenshot of the 【Insomnia】 effect.

【Yunzhou】: That’s brilliant.

【Yunzhou】: I’ll just need a quarter or an eighth—I ate way too much white rice tonight, and I’m stuffed.

【Yunzhou】: I can give you three extra synthesis attempts as a thank you for sharing this info with me.

It seems Yunzhou has gone to great lengths to counter the 【Contamination】 effect.

【Yining】: Do you have any rice left?

【Yunzhou】: I traded some Freshwater for this with the player @363578. You can ask him about it.

【Yining】: Okay.

The transaction was completed, and Yunzhou’s synthesis card appeared in Yining’s inventory.

The game system pulls Yining’s 【cursed watermelon】 into the trade window, then releases the watermelon, missing a quarter of its volume—cut to perfection.

Immediately, Yining chose to use the replication card. The game system popped up a card slot page; the synthesis card was placed in the 【Copy Target】 slot, and a prompt appeared

【Do you wish to duplicate?】

Yining selected 【Yes】.

【Obtained: Synthesis Card (Gray) ×1】

【Synthesis Card Remaining Uses: 100】

【Remaining Replication Card Uses: 4】

Now that Yining had two powerful cards, he felt incredibly satisfied.

After returning the borrowed synthesis card to its owner, Yining searched for Player 363578 and saw that this person had also posted a trade thread. He learned that rice has the following stats: 50 grams of rice yields 1 bowl, providing 8 Sat and 3 HP. 

【Player】 363578: Selling my last bowl of rice for today. Do you have any other food that doesn’t take up stomach space?

【Yining】: I have three kinds of candy.

After showing the other player the stats, the two began haggling.

【Player】 363578: One bowl of rice for three of your White Rabbit creamy candies, plus 8 Sat. How about that?

【Yining】: Maybe girls with small appetites get full quickly just from eating rice. How is that a “gift” to me? You make it sound like I’m the one getting the better end of the deal.

【Player】 363578: You’re not satisfied even after eating your fill? You’re the one buying the rice. One piece of candy restores just one HP. If you’re not satisfied, you don’t have to buy it—there are plenty of other people who’ll buy my rice.

That was a sharp remark, and it made Yining frown.

But he was a level-headed adult who understood that emotions don’t put food on the table: “One White Rabbit candy, two coconut candies. 10 satiety points and 1 health—consider it an after-dinner snack. That’s fair.”

“Besides, rice needs to be steamed fresh and isn’t easy to carry. When you really need to restore health, candy is definitely more practical.”

【Player】 363578: Alright, you’re a patient one. Let’s add each other as friends. Deal.

The other party didn’t try to haggle with Yining and agreed to the deal without hesitation.

After adding her as a friend, Yining clicked on her profile and discovered that this seasoned veteran was actually a girl.

After testing the waters with a few words, he found they could still reach an agreement—someone like this might actually make a good friend. Finally, Yining remembered the guy he’d traded gunpowder with earlier.

Time: 01/01/1013, 20:12

【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

Time: January 1, 2013, 9:24 PM

【Yining】: The monster has been defeated.

【Yining】: Buy watermelon seeds, get a free watermelon.