Thanks to GreenKiTea for the kofis. Enjoy the bonus chapters! I’m glad you guys are enjoying the story as much as I am!

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The regional chat channel grew even more heated after 【The More I Involution The Bitterer My Life Becomes】’s post. Many players commented that while the details of the trial couldn’t be revealed, surely he could drop a hint or two about the rewards?

【The More I Involution The Bitterer My Life Becomes: I failed the fourth round and didn’t get the reward. I got quite a few materials and supplies in the third round.】

Naturally, he wouldn’t reveal the details.

The More I Involution The Bitterer My Life Becomes looked at the leaderboard, especially the top players who had already cleared the fourth round, and wore an expression of admiration.

He asked himself: even if he were given another chance, with his memories of the trial blurred, he wouldn’t be able to resist the temptation to “go home.”

Who would want to live in fear in a survival game when they could return to their hometown for a peaceful, quiet life?

The fifth round of the trial.

Qiyu knew deep down that he’d gotten off easy in the fourth round. If he wasn’t mistaken, the survival game system had identified him as an Earth native.

The scenes he’d witnessed… were likely just the daily lives of Earth humans, weren’t they?

Qiyu’s thoughts drifted for a moment: If that was the kind of life they had, then it made perfect sense that they wouldn’t like the survival game and would want to go back.

He wonders what kind of trial this fifth round will be?

Tap, tap, tap.

The sound of uniform footsteps echoed through the thick fog.

Qiyu gripped his staff tightly.

The enemies gradually revealed their forms.

Human-shaped, faceless, and pitch-black.

Qiyu couldn’t help but glance back at the alchemical dolls he hadn’t stowed in his backpack because they took up too much space.

An army of alchemical dolls?

But unlike his own dolls, this group was equipped with uniform shields and long swords, and clad in armor, making them appear far more formidable.

Qiyu tentatively cast a Fireball spell at them.

The Fireball struck the alchemical doll and extinguished silently.

Immune to fire?

His mind raced, and he cast a Waterball spell.

The result was the same.

Qiyu couldn’t tell if he felt good or bad about this.

The good news was that these alchemical dolls seemed; the fact that it was impervious to both fire and water was already quite impressive.

But the bad news was: he now had to face fifty of these things and defeat them.

In the briefest of moments, the alchemical automaton had already approached the wooden fence.

The lead doll held its longsword upright before it and emitted an inorganic voice: “Attack.”

Qiyu had a spare moment to wonder: Since the doll had no facial features, what organ was it using to speak?

The next moment, several longswords struck the wooden fence.

A large chunk of durability dropped, displayed on Qiyu’s interface.

Damn it, their attack power per strike is about the same as a Wild Giant Wolf’s!

Qiyu immediately threw a piece of wood to repair the fence’s durability while trying to deal with them using the same tactics he’d used against the Wild Giant Wolf.

Clang!

The barbarian fang dagger sliced into the neck of one of the automatons, sending sparks flying in the darkness.

A damage notification floated slowly above the automaton’s head: -3.

Qiyu: …

He sheathed his dagger.

These alchemical automatons had very low agility; their reactions were far slower than those of a Wild Giant Wolf.

But their attack power is staggering, and their defense far surpasses that of the Wild Wolves.

Moreover, they are impervious to fire and water, and seem to possess some magical resistance.

They are practically born to be tanks.

Snap.

That was the sound of a wooden fence breaking.

Fifty Alchemy dolls were simply too many.

Fortunately, after learning how to use the wooden fences, Qiyu had prepared a batch in advance in his backpack. As soon as one broke, he immediately replaced it with a brand-new one.

But such a remedy was merely a drop in the bucket against the destructive power of the alchemical dolls.

Qiyu’s mind raced. He sheathed the barbarian fang dagger, and in the next instant, the Heart of the Great Tree Staff was back in his hand.

Qiyu wasn’t using it to cast spells.

Equipped with the jade boots, his agility had soared to 20 points, making him move like a blur—or a gust of wind.

Now, that gust of wind, carrying a heavy aura of murderous intent, swept toward the alchemical doll that had just smashed through a fence.

Thud!

The heavy shaft of the Heart of the Great Tree Staff slammed viciously into the pitch-black alchemical automaton’s body.

The automaton arced through the air like a projectile, propelled by the force of the blow, and vanished into the thick fog.

Qiyu observed the scene calmly for a moment before sighing with regret: no white light.

In a survival game, this meant the opponent wasn’t dead.

Still, it wasn’t entirely ineffective, Qiyu thought optimistically: That doll seemed to have flown quite a distance. At least for a while, there would only be 49 Destroyers left here.

Next up: solo training time for the mage.

Boom! Boom! Boom! 

One after another, they arced through the air and crashed into the thick fog.

Sweat dripped from the corners of Qiyu’s forehead, yet his eyes shone with an astonishing intensity.

He dug a stamina potion out of his backpack and downed it. After a moment’s thought, he decided to treat himself to a carton of milk he’d been saving.

The rich, sweet aroma gradually calmed his racing heartbeat. As he felt the strength slowly filling his body, a pleased smile curved at the corners of Qiyu’s eyes. 

“Come on, everyone,” he said, staring at the alchemical golems that were once again emerging, swaying unsteadily from the thick fog. 

Compared to when they first appeared, their appearance had clearly become far more “pitiful”: some had shattered swords and shields, some had sunken in on one side, and others were already missing arms and legs. 

These were all the results of Qiyu’s miraculous display of brute force just moments ago. Even though these alchemical creations lacked the sense of pain, their combat effectiveness was still greatly diminished in their current state. Having recovered considerably, Qiyu tenderly stroked the staff in his hand, clenched it tightly, and charged forward once more. 

Boom!

This time, a few seconds after the alchemical dolls flew into the thick fog, a flash of white light appeared before Qiyu.

“As expected, even alchemical constructs can’t go on forever.” Qiyu had no time to pick up the loot on the ground; alone with his staff, he stood guard in front of the wooden cabin. 

The fence was no longer enough, but fortunately, the wooden cabin itself had 220 durability. Occasionally, a straggler would approach the cabin, but Qiyu was able to deal with them in time. One hour later. The last alchemical golem turned into a white light. Qiyu leaned on his staff with one hand, knelt on one knee, and closed his eyes to catch his breath for a while. 

A message popped up on the Survival Panel: 【Congratulations, player. You have successfully completed the fifth round of the Survival Trial. Do you wish to continue participating in the Survival Trial?】

Qiyu didn’t make a decision right away. After resting for a moment, he went to collect the loot from the battle. Although the alchemical dolls were troublesome, they were also generous, each one dropping a beam of white light.

【Obtained Dark Crystals x10.】【Obtained Dark Crystals x15.】【Obtained Energy Orbs (Dark) x5.】【Obtained Alchemy Golem Manual x1.】【Obtained Basic Resource Pack x15.】【Obtained Intermediate Resource Pack x1.】【Obtained Longsword Blueprint x1.】【Obtained Shield Blueprint x1.】【Obtained Armor Blueprint x1.】

A huge haul! Besides the loot, there was one major reward.

【Congratulations, player! You have successfully completed the fifth round of the Survival Trial and received a silver chest x1. 】

Accompanying this notification was a countdown asking if he wished to continue participating in the trial. The reward for the third round was a brass chest, the fourth round was 2 brass chests, and the fifth round directly awarded a silver chest. What about the sixth round? Would the reward be even better?

Qiyu couldn’t deny that he was tempted, but in the end, he could only watch helplessly as the countdown on the interface gradually ticked down until it finally hit zero.

【The player did not make a selection in time and is considered to have forfeited.】

【This Survival Trial has ended.】

Qiyu sat on the ground for quite a while longer.

Even after downing two bottles of stamina potions, he was completely drained.

After all, his class was an “Elegant Mage,” and this battle had truly put him to the test.

Opening his personal interface, Qiyu noticed that the strange “lock” had disappeared; he could now access the general chat and friends’ chat channels.

The general chat was incredibly lively, and he finally saw the Survival Trial leaderboard.

At the top of the leaderboard stood “My Fate is Determined By Me, Not The Heavens,” followed by the text 【Round 6, Passed】.

Scrolling down:

2nd Place: “Reaching for the Moon in the Heavens.”

3rd Place: “The Elegant Traveler of Jiangnan.”

4th Place: “I Am Domineering.”

5th Place: I Love Survival Game.

6th Place: Tranquility Yields Transcendence.

From 2nd to 6th place, all had passed the fifth round of the Survival Challenge.

Further down were those who had passed the fourth round.

Qiyu found “Civil Engineering Brother” in 19th place; he had also passed the fourth round.

“Dare Not Open My Eyes” was in 124th place, having passed the third round.

Qiyu was somewhat surprised.

In the “01 survival squad,” “Tranquility Yields Transcendence” was a man of few words, always giving off a calm and quiet vibe. Combined with his ID, he seemed like the kind of gentle, refined middle-aged man.

He never expected him to be able to defeat so many Alchemy Dolls.

You really can’t judge a book by its cover.