In that eerie moment, Yining felt an inexplicable emptiness inside his body. He couldn’t pinpoint what was wrong, but he felt a vague sense of dread.

It was as if the raw material for that liver had been himself…

【Hint: You have witnessed something beyond description. You have acquired the “nightmare fear” status.】

【Nightmare Fear】

【Description: You can’t tell the difference between dreams and reality. Was what just happened a dream? Or did it really happen? Dreams in this world always foreshadow something, but none of that matters anymore, because right now, your Mental Health will be locked at “29 points” for 30 minutes.】

【Note: Extremely low Mental Health may cause symptoms such as dizziness, palpitations, memory loss, and even hallucinations. Please rest as soon as possible.】

Sounds and images overlapped in Yining’s ears. He suddenly felt waves of dizziness wash over him. The campfire not far away danced before his eyes, and the thick darkness surrounding him seemed to reach out like a hand, clamping down on his throat.

His own thoughts sent a chill down his spine. Without a second thought, he listed “roasted liver” on the trading market; he needed to get rid of this strange item as soon as possible.

But he couldn’t just give it away—that would only arouse suspicion among other players, who might worry there was something wrong with it.

【Roasted Liver ×1 for Fresh Water ×1】

【Effect: Satiety +30, Health +1, Spirit +1】

After clicking “Post,” Yining added some freshly cut wood to the fire, bathing the entire territory in bright light. The light was reassuring; in his memory, haunted places were always pitch-black.

Business came knocking quickly, and Yining successfully sold off the top-tier food—something terrifying to him, but to others, just a +30 Sat.

【Trade Successful】

【Your Liver -1】

【Obtained: Fresh Water ×1】

Yining stuffed the freshwater into a slot in his backpack, then, clutching the alloy thighbone, lay down in the coffin and fell back asleep.

The physical exertion of the day proved too effective; drowsiness overwhelmed the thought of “Do I need to keep watch?” and took over.

When he opened his eyes again, it was already 6:00 a.m. the next morning.

The game’s alarm chimed softly in his ear, and Yining immediately checked his character panel.

Health: 49/101

Satiety: 41/100

Mental: 55/100

Status: 【Contaminated】 【Growth】

His spirit had recovered more than expected.

It seems deep sleep restores an additional 6 points of Spirit per hour, two more than simple rest.

【New Population Added to Your Domain: 1】

【Yining’s territory: A 9-meter-diameter graveyard (can be seized)】

【Territory Buildings: None】

【Territory Population: 2】

【Acquired Territory: A 10-meter-diameter desert (can be seized)】

…What?

Yining couldn’t make sense of it.

Can haunting really result in an increase in population and territory?

He clenched his alloy thighbone, stood up, and circled the light ring, even feeling a bit paranoid that he should mark his territory like an animal and leave some “human presence.”

Yining noticed a red dot on the bubble icon; when he tapped it, it showed an unfamiliar ID.

【YuYuYu】: Big bro!

【YuYuYu】: You’re my own big brother! Please accept this bow from your little brother!

Uh.

【Yining】: Are you that “new addition”?

【YuYuYu】: That’s right, big bro! I’m yours now!

If Yining understood correctly, “YuYuYu”’s territory was now under his name, so that meant the territory’s population had increased by one. Yining pulled up the map and zoomed out, zoomed out, and zoomed out again. Until two points of light appeared on the dark screen—one of them marked as a visible domain, hundreds of kilometers away. That area showed one person, two trees, a few clumps of hemp grass, and a cactus—precisely the territory that originally belonged to “YuYuYu.”

Comparing it to the summary posts players had shared on the forum, Yining could tell this was a relatively resource-rich territory.

But why was this guy acting so happy after losing his territory? Was he possessed?

【YuYuYu】: To be honest, after eating your grilled liver last night, guess what? I gained a new in-game identity and even acquired a second skill!

Yining’s finger froze over the interface.

【YuYuYu】: The new skill is called 【Hollow Puppet】. The description says it will level up as your skills improve!

【YuYuYu】: Bro, you’ve got to keep it up. If you need anything, just let me know!

Yining stared at the interface in silence for a moment, then slowly typed out six dots.

［Yining］：……

【YuYuYu】: Isn’t there an extra skill slot? I got a Rattlesnake Tail while fighting monsters yesterday, and after putting it in the slot, I got the 【50% Defense】 ability.

【YuYuYu】: Combined with the 50% defense from the newbie period, I don’t lose any HP when fighting monsters now.

Yining looked at the line that read “I don’t lose HP when fighting monsters,” and his breath caught slightly.

A familiar, bittersweet emotion welled up inside him. He knew it wasn’t right, but his eyes still stung a little.

His eyes were just red, not because he wanted to cry.

【Yining】: Congrats, hahaha.

【YuYuYu】: Too bad the defense only lasted 12 hours, but it worked out perfectly for clearing out that wasp nest at home.

【YuYuYu】: I got an axe yesterday. If it weren’t for that wasp nest, I would’ve already chopped down those two trees for cash.

【YuYuYu】: Oh, by the way, bro, I’ve got an extra machete here with 80 durability. Want to buy it? 10 stones.

10 stones for a weapon—that really is a steal.

Yining glanced at the distant speck of light in the desert on the map—that was YuYuYu’s former territory, now nominally his own.

What’s there to complain about, Yining? You reap what you sow!

Yining gritted his teeth and replied as calmly as he could: “Alright, I’ll try to scrape some together by this morning.”

【YuYuYu】: Got it, boss!

【YuYuYu】: Don’t worry, if I ever get my hands on anything good, you’ll be the first I think of!

【YuYuYu】: It’s so nice to have teammates. Yesterday… I actually missed home quite a bit.

Yining stared at that last line for a moment, taken aback. That faint pang of jealousy suddenly faded. He lowered his eyes and smiled ever so slightly.

【Yining】: Mm.

【Yining】: It’s fate.

After exiting the private chat, Yining casually scrolled through the forum.

The hardcore player Yunzhou was still running his “synthesis card” business. A user named “Fanfan” stood out prominently in the trading market—trading wood for freshwater, freshwater for food, and finally food for wood, clearly having a blast with the whole process.

“Fanfan’s” writing style sounded somewhat familiar.

The hottest thread on the forum was the 【Dead Players】 Cause of Death Summary.

Just last night, over six hundred people vanished without a trace.

Of those, over 500 died from being “swallowed by darkness.”

The remaining hundred or so died in monster attacks.

The comments section was somber; players who had narrowly survived the first day couldn’t help but feel a sense of shared vulnerability. Everyone sighed with relief, realizing they had made it through the most dangerous and unpredictable first day.

But don’t forget—the game is still in the 【Beginner Phase】.

The surviving players dug up the deceased players’ posts and chat logs. Some had respawned indoors, and since it was very hot, they didn’t think to light a fire for illumination.

Others spawned in the desert, near rock walls or caves, feeling safe and choosing not to use light sources to conserve resources.

The first player to die from being “swallowed by the darkness” last night was around 11 p.m., and since then, the price of torches has doubled. Aside from torches, players have no better way to light their way than burning wood.

Yining calculated the three pieces of wood he’d burned that night—worth 3 credits—and compared that to the torch’s peak market price of 30 credits, leaving him momentarily dazed.

He hadn’t quite figured out the logic of this market yet.

From 10 p.m. last night to 6 a.m. this morning, Yining hadn’t opened a single one of his express blind boxes; he’d already accumulated 18 of them. Five large boxes were mixed in among them, like gifts hiding Easter eggs.

Yining almost wanted to start a live stream to show off his luck, but thankfully, reason quickly quashed that thought.

His professional instincts kicked in.

He decided to start with the small boxes: open five of them, and reward himself with one of the large ones.

【Obtained: Paper Ingot ×1】

【Obtained: Paper Coin ×1】

【Obtained: Daisy Seeds ×50】

【Obtained: Notepad ×1】

【Obtained: Chocolate ×1】

【Obtained: Shipping Box ×10】

Opening a large shipping box yielded 10 medium shipping boxes… Yining’s lips twitched slightly as he continued opening the rest.

After tallying everything, there weren’t many usable resources: 2 wooden planks, 1 stone, 2 hardtack, and 1 chocolate bar. No fresh water dropped, but he still had some in stock, so there was no rush.

Express blind boxes are truly a godsend. However, judging by the game’s progression, they seem to be a limited-time feature for the early game. He’s not sure if they’ll still be available in the future.

The next day, the resource shortage for the expansion was crystal clear. The current available resources were: 3 wooden planks, 9 logs, 9 stones, and 8 hemp. If he couldn’t get a dismantling card today and couldn’t break down the coffin next door, he’d still be short 5 logs, 11 stones, and 2 hemp.

That “Mountain-Splitting Axe” requires 10 stones, and crafting wooden planks also consumes wood…

Having done the math, Yining’s gaze fell on the pile of delivery boxes in his backpack. There were 10 large ones, 10+10 medium ones, and 23 small ones.

That’s a total of 48 express blind boxes over 24 hours. When buying matches, he used 5 express blind boxes to exchange for 5 points.

Come to think of it, if wood can be crafted into wooden planks, can boxes be crafted too?

As soon as the thought crossed his mind, Yining set to work. He pulled out the synthesis card, brought up the interface, and placed all the medium shipping boxes inside. He received the following prompt:

【Medium Shipping Box ×2 → Craft Large Shipping Box ×1】

【Synthesize?】 It worked!

Yining didn’t use this opportunity right away. Instead, he tried the small delivery boxes again and discovered that two small delivery boxes could be combined to make one medium delivery box. It would take 21 opportunities to combine all of them into a large delivery box.

A large delivery box is worth 1 point, but currently, wood is actually the most valuable resource—it provides both light and can be used to expand territories. One piece of wood yields 0.5 points at the recycling shop, but is worth 1 point or more at the trading market.

However, Yining had no intention of hoarding wood.

If he were to run a synthesis card business, the transaction fees from exchanging 18 pieces of wood would be sufficient. He could then use the wood to trade for stone and hemp, reserving the remaining synthesis attempts for the delivery boxes.

Large shipping boxes serve a dual purpose: they can be traded for points and used to store items not currently needed.

Over time, wood would gradually lose value, while points were the real hard currency. Players might run short on wood, but they wouldn’t run short on shipping boxes—if possible, they’d even stockpile a few.

Since Yining has a replication card, he doesn’t need to rush to trade large amounts of wood for weapons for self-defense as Yunzhou does.

He can afford to wait a little longer.

No one on the forum has yet revealed specific details about what happens after expanding the domain; no one knows what challenges lie ahead. But the fact that “people die in this game” is a consensus among all players.

He’ll just have to take it one step at a time. Plans shouldn’t be too rigid; ultimately, they have to be tailored to one’s own situation.

On the second day of the game, no players had yet reported any developments following the expansion of their territories, so no one knew what challenges lay ahead. However, it was a consensus among all players that people would die in this game.

In this survival game, the ability to allocate resources is likely more important than luck.