Chapter Bonanza (2/5)

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“Little Old Me” remark hit a nerve with “My Fate is Determined By Me, Not The Heavens.” 

No one understood his confusion and anger.

So many people were caught in the crossfire; he lost a capable subordinate, and—most importantly—a powerful item, yet “I Love Survival Game” is still alive!

【Little Old Me: It’s a shame about I’m Handsome, but I guess that was just his fate. I remember before the disaster struck, someone warned in the zone chat to stay inside, but he insisted on going out anyway.】

He completely ignored what I’m Handsome had said—that “even our boss didn’t say anything”—and pinned all the blame on the dead man. 

My fate is in my own hands; not the heavens suddenly felt at ease.

Yes, he convinced himself that I’m Handsome had insisted on going out to take risks on his own. Since an accident happened, he had only himself to blame.

【My Fate Is in My Hands, not the Heaven’s: He’s just impulsive by nature.  I’ve told him off about it before, and sure enough, that temperament ended up being his undoing.】

Little Old Me sneered upon reading this; he was already almost certain of the truth.

He made one final probe:

【Little Old Me: Boss,  I suspect this disaster was most likely orchestrated by that “Eternal Elegance” crew.】

“My Fate Is in My Hands, not the Heaven’s” stirred slightly:

【What do you mean?】

【Little Old Me: Look, they’re over there sharing supplies for free and helping others. They’re the ones who caused the trouble in the first place—why go to all that trouble to do this? I once heard a master say that karma is a cycle: if you commit evil deeds, you must do good deeds to make amends; eventually, retribution will come back to you.】 

Little Old Me sat quietly, and the other side remained silent for a long time. 

【My Fate Is in My Hands, not the Heavens’: What nonsense are you spouting? Do you actually believe in that kind of superstition?】

【Little Old Me: But Big Brother, if it’s just superstition, how do you explain why so many of us have been dragged into this bizarre survival game?】

【My Fate Is in My Hands, not the Heaven’s: What nonsense about sin and retribution—it’s all utter rubbish! Stop talking about this!】

Little Old Me didn’t dare say another word.

He sat quietly; if his hunch was right, this guy knew how to keep his cool. 

It was getting dark.

The regional channel was unusually lively today, because the vast majority of players—ever since that incident this afternoon—hadn’t left the shelter. This was partly due to lingering fear from the psychic attack, and partly because of the disaster rain falling from the sky.

Everyone knew what would happen if their luck took a turn for the worse—no one wanted to go out and invite bad luck.

Qiyu didn’t go out either.

By now, he should be out on the farmland harvesting the ripe crops.

The tomatoes, cucumbers, watermelons, and cantaloupes he planted yesterday are all plants that mature in 24 hours. 

Although he could have handled it with a single click in the Farmer’s Panel, Qiyu still went over in person to take a look at the growing plants.

As usual, he left one of each in the ground.

【Obtained irritable tomatoes x400.】

【Obtained cucumbers x100.】

【Obtained evil honeydew melons x30.】

【Obtained watermelons x30.】

【Obtained watermelon seeds, obtained irritable tomato seeds, obtained evil honeydew melon seeds.】

Out of the four types of plants, three dropped seeds.

This came as a pleasant surprise to Qiyu. If the plants continued to produce seeds, his farm would be able to yield crops continuously.

【Cucumber: An edible fruit.】

【Watermelon: An edible fruit.】

The descriptions for the two non-mutated fruits were very concise.

The cucumber was as thick as a forearm, with a light green exterior. Qiyu bent down to take a whiff and detected a refreshing scent. 

As for the watermelon, it was round, very large, and quite heavy.

It smelled delicious and looked very appetizing.

Qiyu put them away first and went to examine the other two mutated fruits. The evil honeydew melon—a variety that had mutated after being contaminated by the disaster rain.

Just like the emerald crystal peach, this orange-red fruit gave off a very tempting, sweet fragrance that could be smelled from a great distance. Qiyu recalled what he’d read about it: after mutating, its flavor had become even sweeter.

He swallowed hard. Just how sweet was it?

His gaze fixed on the description: -10 to Life, -3 to Mental Power, and -3 to Attack Power for two hours. Well… that’s not too bad, is it? When he was resting at the shelter, these negative effects didn’t seem particularly severe.

Struggling to suppress a dangerous thought, Qiyu realized this evil honeydew melon was truly sinister—it had even tempted him to the point where he had to resist the urge to take a bite. 

He stowed the evil honeydew melon in his backpack.

The last item was the “Irritable Tomato,” which was also the most abundant crop of this harvest.

When it was still unripe and hanging on the vine, it had a mix of green and yellow hues, but once ripe, the entire fruit turned a fiery crimson red.

About the size of a fist and plump and round, it looked absolutely beautiful. Qiyu picked one up and examined it in the palm of his hand.

【Irritable Tomato: A stable fellow, but very picky about its environment. It may get so irritable that it explodes at any moment, so it’s recommended to stay close to it. Can be stored for 15 days after picking.】

Qiyu was about to pick one up to take a whiff, but as soon as he saw the message, he stuffed it back into his backpack.

Irritated to the point of exploding? Explode?

Qiyu thought, I’ll find an opportunity.

When he returned to the shelter, he found that the topic in the zone chat had already shifted.

Damn it—just this afternoon, everyone was still cursing the game, feeling pessimistic, and blaming each other. But by now, the players in the channel were… angry.

【Cockroach Taste Is So Weird: I figure I’ve got to keep living—at least until the day I figure out what the heck this “survival game” thing really is.】

【Liver Emperor: Hey, bro! Think about it—compared to working 996 every day and living a monotonous life, going on an adventure in another world actually sounds pretty interesting.】

【Can I Spend Money?: Are you two serious? I don’t find this interesting at all. I want to go back—I miss the food back home, I miss Wi-Fi, I miss the AC, and I miss my mobile game account where I’ve spent seven figures.】

【Civil Engineering Brother: To the guy above who spends money, why don’t you try imagining this as a massive holographic online adventure game?】

【Can I Spend Money?: But you can actually spend money in it!】

【Tranquility Yields Transcendence: Keep it up, young folks! Even at my age, this old man is still working hard and living life to the fullest.】

【Liver Emperor: @Tranquility Yields Transcendence, the first time I saw your username, I thought it sounded like something from my parents’ generation, haha. How old are you, Uncle?】

【Tranquility Yields Transcendence: I’m probably even older than your parents. I was already over seventy when I started playing this game.】

【Liver Emperor: Holy crap, Grandpa!】

【Can Can Top Up: …This guy’s the real deal—he’s old enough to be my grandpa.】

【A Stray By The Road: Is that for real? I thought only young and healthy people got dragged into this game—is it actually abusing the elderly too?】

【Civil Engineering Brother: It’s true—I can vouch for it. @Tranquility Yields Transcendence, he was my high school homeroom teacher and history teacher, and he used to be my dad’s history teacher.】

【Tranquility Yields Transcendence: Is that really considered mistreating the elderly? Since I joined the game, I feel like I’ve gotten a bit younger.】Qiyu’s eyes widened instantly as he read this.

Seventy years old.

He had never seen anyone that old. 

The average lifespan of people in the post-apocalyptic world was very short, because everyone knew that accidents could happen at any moment.

Just like himself—if he hadn’t been pulled into the game, in the cave of the Rift Monsters, his age would have forever remained at nineteen. Many people he knew had vanished just like that, without a trace.

Seventy years old…

That’s such a long time.

He felt a deep sense of respect and realized that his previous attitude toward “Tranquility Yields Transcendence” had perhaps been a bit too casual. In the Zone channel, it seemed that “Tranquility Yields Transcendence” revealing his age had sparked a certain energy.

To put it in somewhat playful terms: “If a seventy-year-old grandpa is still out there adventuring, isn’t it a bit unambitious for us to just give up so pessimistically?” Most of the anger and sadness from that afternoon were swept away.

Just then, a familiar ID appeared:

【My Fate Is in My Hands, not the Heaven’s: As for this afternoon’s events, I feel sympathy for all my fellow citizens who have suffered misfortune. I’ve listed some potions, items, and some basic resources in the trading section. Injured citizens from Zone 01 can send me a private message with their ID to claim them. This is my small way of contributing to the greater good.】

【Cockroach Taste Is So Weird: Wow, it’s Big Shot “My Fate”! You’re so generous, Big Shot!】

【Irritable Brother: Did the sun rise in the west? Alright, even though I’m not a big fan of your Temple of the Gods, you’re really pulling out all the stops here.】

【A Stray By The Road: Just for this, I’ll be bashing the Temple of the Gods for three days.】

【My Fate Is in My Hands, not the Heaven’s: I’m just setting an example as a top-ranked player, hoping to help those in need.】 That was a nice thing to say.

When it comes to aloof and taciturn players, the first name that comes to mind for players in Server 01 is “I Love Survival Game.”

However, “My Fate Is in My Hands, or in Heaven’s” doesn’t actually post in the server channel. It’s just that the Temple of the Gods appears so often that it makes people feel like he appears more frequently.

“My Fate Is in My Hands, not the Heavens’” scanned the chat log in the channel. Sure enough, players are easy to win over. 

By now, some players were already speaking up for him and automatically distancing him from the Temple of the Gods. 

Anyway, it all boils down to this: My Big Boss is my Big Boss, and the Temple of the Gods is the Temple of the Gods. The Temple of the Gods is a mess—what does that have to do with my Big Boss?

As he was talking, someone started badmouthing him.

As fellow regional big shots, “My Fate Is Mine, not the  Heaven’s” is so generous in helping others. But that other guy—the number one on both charts, known for selling mutant plants—why hasn’t he made a single move?