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6:00 p.m.

Qiyu made it back to the territory with barely enough time to spare.

His afternoon’s haul was astonishing—his backpack now contained 168 frost gems.

At this rate, he’d be able to collect all the items needed for the event in less than four days.

Oh, wait—most items are limited to one per purchase, but there’s no limit on the snow launcher.

Fifty frost gems can be exchanged for one; he’d see how effective it was when the time came.

He opened the Survival Panel.

Qiyu looked at the items in the store and found himself torn.

He was debating whether to save up the frost gems first—to collect enough for 500 and redeem a territory skin—or to exchange them for something more immediate.

While he was still deliberating, a new message popped up on the Survival Panel:

【God Has No Form: Come over for dinner.】

【I Love Survival Game: Okay!】

He skillfully grabbed the fruit he’d frozen outside his territory that afternoon, walked through the teleportation gate, and arrived at the Golden Desert.

Dan Xingyu was wearing a nightgown, his hair dripping wet—it was obvious he’d just gotten out of the shower.

As soon as he saw Qiyu, he asked, “You haven’t redeemed the tokens you got this afternoon, have you?”

Qiyu shook his head. “No.”

He explained his dilemma to Dan Xingyu.

Dan Xingyu: “I was just about to mention this to you. You can try redeeming the limited-edition skin from the event store. I suspect it was designed specifically for this event.”

“Or perhaps it was released specifically for the current extreme weather.”

Today, the entire 88th District was envious of the Star Forest.

Even though they all knew that the weather in Star Forest wasn’t great right now—their Golden Desert was sweltering, and the region next door was freezing—it was still different.

Players in Star Forest can bundle up to stay warm—Qiyu has even sold cold-weather gear like the Earthfire Dragon Thermal Set.

There’s always a way.

But what about the players in Server 88?

It’s hot—super hot.

Even in this heat, they still have to wear clothes—and not just any clothes; they have to cover up completely to avoid sunburn.

It’s absolutely agonizing.

Before the event started, some players could still control how long they spent exploring—going out for an hour or two a day, then coming back once they found a treasure chest or some resources.

Now that the new event is out, the tokens required for the event must be earned by searching for “Lost Copper Coins,” which is basically forcing them to go outside.

What? You’re saying they could just stay indoors and not redeem the shop rewards?

Come on, with so many limited-edition badges—you’d have to be crazy not to be tempted!

Compared to other players in the region, Dan Xingyu is actually doing pretty well—he has the Ice Silk Robe that Qiyu gave him, which keeps him cool whenever he wears it.

But even so, the last time Qiyu saw him, he described him as having a “dark complexion.”

Even though he’s been deliberately trying to keep from getting any darker lately, there’s no way to avoid being out in the sun day after day.

Right after returning to his territory, Dan Xingyu went to the event store and redeemed the “Desert Sun-Worshipper” outfit—the limited-edition skin for this Golden Desert event.

It’s a really cool outfit.

The all-black, wandering swordsman outfit covered him from head to toe, with a conical hat that shielded him from the sun, wind, and sand.

It really had that carefree, wandering hero vibe from Earth wuxia dramas!

That was the main reason Dan Xingyu chose it—he had no reason to turn down such a cool outfit.

However, after obtaining it, he read the set’s description.

【Desert Sunseeker: A limited-edition outfit from the Golden Desert “Lost Treasure” event. Wearing it allows you to quickly adapt to the Golden Desert’s climate, helping players complete quests more effectively.】

Realizing something, he put on this incredibly cool set. With just a few minutes left before nightfall, he stepped outside the territory.

The sunlight hit his skin, but it didn’t feel hot at all.

The set’s fabric seemed to perfectly block out the intense heat and scorching air.

It was practically a desert-survival tool!

No wonder it was worth 50 tokens.

Qiyu’s eyes sparkled with excitement, but unfortunately, it was already dark, so he couldn’t test it. He politely said, “I’ll try switching to a new set tomorrow morning.”

He certainly had enough frost gems; it was merely a matter of whether he swapped them out early or late.

If, as Dan Xingyu had said, the event skin could withstand the bitter cold, then its priority was clearly higher than that of the other items.

After dinner, Qiyu posted information about the magic sled in the zone channel:

【I Love Survival Game: Just swapped in a magic sled.】

He also pulled off a lightning-fast maneuver: he took the magic sled out of his backpack, snapped a photo immediately, and sent it back to his backpack in a second.

The elemental sprite sleeping soundly next to the sled hadn’t woken up yet, so naturally, it hadn’t had time to be affected by the change in environment.

【I Love Survival Game: The event skin looks like this (picture)】

【Cockroach Taste Is So Weird: Wow, it looks so cool!】

【Liver Emperor: Did the top players switch to this first? I haven’t decided what to switch to yet. How’s the experience?】

【Be A Good Person: Have the pros already collected 100 frost gems? That’s so impressive!】

【I Love Survival Game: It’s great—the magic sled can glide across the snow and has a flying mode, too. It’s really fast. When you’re sitting in the sled, you’re shielded from the blizzard.】

【I Love Survival Game: It really boosts exploration efficiency.】

It’s rare for him to say so much—his love for the magic sled is obvious.

However, the following string of replies was all:

【Liver Emperor: Can it fly?】

【Reaching for the Moon in the Heavens: Can it fly? 】

【Irritable Brother: Can it fly?】

【The More I Involution The Bitterer My Life Becomes: Can it fly?】

……

Qiyu:.

【I Love Survival Game: But there’s one major drawback—this magic sled is pulled by elemental sprites and can only be used in snowy or icy weather.】

【Liver Emperor: There are elemental sprites? Exchange!】

【Reaching for the Moon in the Heavens: A flying item with no downsides—if it were sold this cheap, I wouldn’t even dare to exchange for it. 】

【Cockroach Taste Is So Weird: Aaaah, a flying item! I’m going to work hard to save up frost gems—I’m swapping mine out too!】

Amid all the excitement, one player’s post stood out in particular.

【Flower Water: Wait a minute? Isn’t that… this magic sled? Haven’t I seen this before?】

【Flower Water: !!!】

【Flower Water: @I Love Survival Game, gaming pro, this afternoon—around 3:00 PM—were you flying in the sky???】

This player’s long string of posts successfully silenced the regional chat channel.

【Liver Emperor: What do you mean? You saw the gaming pro?】

【Flower Water: While I was exploring this afternoon, I happened to glance up at the sky and saw a sparkling object flying through the air. But it disappeared in the blink of an eye, so I thought it was just a hallucination.】

【Flower Water: I just saw the picture the top player posted—I’m certain that’s exactly what I saw this afternoon!】

【Flower Water: Is there anyone else in our region channel who has switched for the magic sled?】

No.

No one responded.

【I Love Survival Game: It must have been me—I saw you.】

He had actually been planning to bring this up anyway.

【I Love Survival Game: This is the second thing I was going to mention tonight. I also saw your shelter—a wooden cabin surrounded by a fence, with a smaller cabin next to it where you keep sheep. Is that yours?】

【Flower Water: Holy crap!】

【Flower Water: It’s me! If I had known earlier that it wasn’t a hallucination, I would’ve definitely waved to take a photo with you, Big Shot!】

Qiyu: …

He had originally thought that this person would be scared upon hearing what he said.

Unexpectedly, not only was he not afraid, but he actually seemed pretty happy?

【Liver Emperor: If I’m not mistaken, this should be the first time in a survival game that someone has discovered a straight player’s shelter, right?】

【Reaching for the Moon in the Heavens: Yes, people have mentioned encountering players before, but this is the first time it’s happened at a shelter.】

【Cockroach Taste Is So Weird: According to the “if there’s one, there’ll be two” rule in survival games, does this mean we won’t be playing single-player anymore?】

【Be A Good Person: I’m so jealous, @Flower Water. It sounds like you’re pretty close to a top player.】

【Flower Water: Hehe, yeah. There’s a top player living next door—I don’t know why, but it makes me feel a little more at ease.】

【I Love Survival Game: You should be on your guard. The fact that New can find your shelter might mean that the game’s protection for players’ shelters has ended. If New decides to target you, you’ll be in serious danger.】

From what he could see, this player named “Flower Water” lived in a sturdy wooden cabin—not even upgraded to a two-story house.

【Flower Water: But if we’re really entering the multiplayer era, being surrounded by top players is still way better than being surrounded by total strangers, right?】

He was just a noob; whether it was a player in the top ten, the top hundred, or even the top thousand in the region, any of them could wipe him out in an instant.

Compared to living in constant fear of an unknown neighbor who might even kill for loot, living near this well-known number-one player was already a stroke of luck.

Although he can’t say that he knows the top player all that well, he’s definitely not the kind of unscrupulous player who’d kill others to steal their loot—and that’s good enough.

The news Qiyu shared slightly dampened the excitement sparked by the magic sled.

Some felt pessimistic, while others remained hopeful. After all, in such harsh conditions, if they could share what they had and pool their resources, they might be able to live a little better.

01 Survival Squad:

【Civil Engineering Brother: Hey, Big Shot, you just dropped a bombshell without a word.】

【Civil Engineering Brother: Did you actually see the player shelter?】

Truth be told, Civil Engineering Brother knew the game veteran wouldn’t lie—if he said he saw it, then he definitely saw it.

It was just that the news came so suddenly; he still hadn’t quite processed it yet.

【I Love Survival Game: Yeah.】

【Need A Little Money To Save Me: New, I just had a thought—with the magic sled and the location cards, couldn’t we pay each other a visit?】

【Dare Not Open My Eyes: That’s actually true.】

That night, many players in Server 01 had a lot on their minds and didn’t sleep soundly.

Those with friends were already looking forward to the day they could pay a visit, since their friends’ territories weren’t far away.

Of course, most of them had something to hide.

My Fate is Determined by Me, Not the Heavens, had been on edge ever since he saw the message Qiyu posted in the server-wide chat.

He knew better than anyone else what he had done.

In the survival game, magic sleds are now available, greatly increasing travel speed. What if, by some chance, he found him?

He was usually so cocky—he was completely relying on the fact that player territories weren’t interconnected.

Now he was truly panicking.

He didn’t know that there were two others who were just as panicked.

Little Old Me and I’m Domineering.

After the split with the former leader, these two had been frantically slandering and insulting him, wishing with all their hearts that “My Fate is Determined by Me, Not the Heavens” would die sooner rather than later.

They dared to be so arrogant precisely because players couldn’t find each other—they could just trade insults on the regional channel.

Now, territories might start connecting.

They wouldn’t be spawning near My Fate is Determined by Me, Not the Heavens, would they?