A huge thanks to GreenKiTea for the kofis. Enjoy these bonus chapters!

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Qiyu shared the same thought. 

He had thanked the drifting bottle more than once for bringing him such a good friend.

He had now moved the wooden box containing the drifting bottle to the windowsill of his second-floor bedroom, where he would glance at it several times a day—especially last night and when he woke up this morning.

Because he remembered that the last time the drifting bottle arrived, it was on the evening of his third day in the survival game.

Perhaps his return would be in exactly three days?

Unfortunately, as of this morning, he still hadn’t spotted the drifting bottle in the wooden box. 1

After finishing breakfast, Qiyu listed all the screaming lily of the valley in the trading channel, still setting the price at 20 wood, with a limit of one per person.

In the trading section, there was a “Blacklist” column where sellers could add IDs to the blacklist. Qiyu casually added everyone who had been snarky in the channel earlier. 

After doing that, seeing that the rain was still just as heavy, he had no plans to go out for the time being. Hugging his *Magical Plant Guide*, he began searching for information on the demon vine.

【Demon vine, a mutated magical plant with extremely rare growth characteristics.】

After reading through a long list of information about the demon vine, Qiyu found details regarding its diet. 

【The demon vine consumes all forms of energy; there are currently no recorded instances of it refusing to eat anything. However, ordinary food or “scrap materials” do not significantly aid the demon vine’s growth.】

Simply put, the demon vine eats everything, but it requires a great deal of energy to grow.

Magic and mental energy both fall under the category of “energy,” and even the cucumbers Qiyu feeds it count—though the energy they provide is very limited.  Qiyu thought of the Advanced Magic Energy Tower currently hovering above his domain and instantly realized: another difficult-to-care-for subject had appeared. After spending an hour poring over the Magical Plant Guide, he stood up to stretch and looked outside.

The rain showed no sign of letting up.

He sent a “Need A Little Money To Save Me” request for 2 kg of food, followed by 100 units of red maple wood. Today’s resource point drops were exactly as expected: 120 units of red maple wood and 120 emerald crystal peaches. Not a single extra drop appeared—his reputation for bad luck was well-deserved.

【Need A Little Money To Save Me: Game Master! I ran into a wandering merchant today!】 

【Need A Little Money To Save Me: I’m finally a little richer—thank you.】

A wandering merchant?

Qiyu couldn’t help but ask:

【I Love Survival Game: What does the wandering merchant you met look like?】

【Need A Little Money To Save Me: It’s a golden-yellow cat that looks super cute. The system says it’s a stray merchant named Duo Ju.】 

Qiyu thought back to that cat wearing a little blue hat—it really was adorable.

【I Love Survival Game: Then please say hello to it for me.】

【Your friend “I Love Survival Game” has sent you a gift.】 

【Received 3 emerald crystal peaches.】

【I Love Survival Game: Two for Duo Ju—one is your reward.】

Need A Little Money to Save Me woke up from the daze caused by the sweet scent of the fruit.

After taking a closer look at the contents, he swallowed hard and reluctantly refused:

【It’s just a matter of saying a few words—I certainly don’t need a reward from a gaming legend like you.】

How could he let this damn profit taint the precious friendship he’d worked so hard to build with the gaming legend! 

【I Love Survival Game: Then I’ll give you two Duo Ju—one for you to eat.】

【Need A Little Money To Save Me: Thanks, Gaming Expert!】

Need A Little Money To Save Me took the two emerald crystal peaches and cradled them carefully in his arms. “Esteemed wandering merchant Mr. Duo Ju, do you happen to know the I Love Survival Game?” The golden cat, who had just finished a transaction and was about to leave, turned its head.

Seeing this, “Need A Little Money To Save Me” knew he was in the clear.

Holding the two peaches, he jogged over and said with a smile, “I was just chatting with a big shot in the game. He mentioned meeting a very generous wandering merchant, so he asked about you.”

“The Gaming Expert asked me to pass on his regards to you, and to give you this.”

A fluffy paw reached out. 

The emerald crystal peach was still too big for a cat the size of Duo Ju—one peach was almost as big as its head.

“It’s an emerald crystal peach,” Duo Ju recognized it at a glance. “It’s the famous ‘Eat-Ya-Meow.’” 

It lowered its head and sniffed it with great delight, then stuffed the two large peaches into that versatile little shoulder bag that seemed to have unlimited capacity. 

Need A Little Money To Save Me keenly sensed that the mood of this wandering merchant before him seemed to have improved considerably.

“Please thank Mr. Game for the gift, meow. I’ll definitely pay him a visit next month.” 

Need A Little Money To Save Me: “No problem. Mr. Game said he’s already prepared a gift—you’re sure to love it.” The kitten’s emerald-green eyes sparkled. 

He was very curious—what had succeeded?

But he was too shy to ask.

Duo Ju waved a paw at him: “I’m leaving now, human. Thanks for passing on the message for me. If I come back here next time, I’ll give you a discount!” 

His figure skipped away and vanished into the curtain of rain.

Need A Little Money to Save Me: He really is a gaming pro here—who would’ve thought you could get along so well with an NPC in a survival game? 

At noon, Qiyu received his lunch.

Sweet and sour spare ribs, stir-fried pork with green peppers, and a side of cold cucumber salad. 

【God Has No Form: I’m really lucky today—I actually got some green peppers.】

The one thing he had plenty of was all kinds of game meat; the cucumbers were the two that Qiyu had eaten last night. God Has No Form asked him if he preferred salty and spicy or sweet and sour flavors. 

Qiyu was so immersed in the entirely new and delicious flavors that he couldn’t even answer.

After agonizing over it for a long time:

【I Love Survival Game: I love them both—they’re so delicious.】

He realized that the tangy and spicy cold dish was made from the cucumbers he’d harvested last night. Could a fruit that tasted a bit bland on its own actually become such a delicious dish? Without a moment’s hesitation, he gave all of the remaining ninety-plus cucumbers to God Has No Form.

【God Has No Form: ?】

【I Love Survival Game: In my world, cucumbers aren’t as tasty as emerald crystal peaches or melons. But you can make them delicious—it’s all up to you.】

It took God Has No Form only a second to understand what “in my world” meant.

He guessed that Qiyu couldn’t cook at all and probably just ate cucumbers raw like fruit—and compared to emerald crystal peaches and melons, weren’t they just bland and tasteless?

The two of them were much closer now than before, so he didn’t hold back.

【God Has No Form: Alright, I’ll take it. I’ll see what goes well with it. I’ll try making some pickled cucumbers.】 Hearing a new term, Qiyu pricked up his ears. 

【I Love Survival Game: What are pickles?】

【God Is Nothing:…】

【God Is Nothing: Sometimes, I really do have my doubts.】

【God Is Nothing: Game Bro, tell me—did you grow up abroad?】

【God Has No Form: Otherwise, it’s really hard to explain why you don’t even know what pickles are.】

Qiyu thought to himself, “I might not just have grown up abroad—I might have grown up on another planet.” 

【I Love Survival Game: Pretty much.】

No wonder.

Dan Xingyu realized: “I always felt something was off when we chatted before—it seemed like Game Bro didn’t really know much about common knowledge.”

If his upbringing was completely different, that would make sense.

And if that’s the case, it also makes sense why he’s so fond of the meals he cooks himself. 

Over lunch, Qiyu opened the trading section and saw that of the nearly 40,000 screaming lily of the valley he’d listed, over 10,000 had already been sold.

That’s over 200,000 wood. 

Qiyu didn’t retrieve them right away; he simply treated the trading board as a temporary warehouse. 

The regional chat was also buzzing about this massive listing of screaming lily of the valley.

Given the quantity and the price, a quick calculation shows just how enormous a fortune this will be.

Many players speculate that once this batch of screaming lily of the valley is sold out, the game’s top player will likely jump straight to the top of the wealth rankings. Aside from this, the most frequently mentioned topic is the weather.

【Cockroach Taste Is So Weird: If this rain keeps up, there’s no way we’ll be able to go out.】

【Liver Emperor: I quickly crafted a makeshift raincoat. It’s fine for short trips outside, but the rain is too heavy. It’s not just about getting wet—visibility is poor, and the forest paths are slippery, making it very unsafe.】

【Silent Autumn Night: Did anyone else wake up freezing last night as I did? I felt a little dizzy when I woke up this morning. It’s been windy and rainy all day, and I don’t dare get caught in the rain—if I catch a cold, I won’t even have any medicine.】

【No Destruction No Construction: Unless we’re looking for treasure chests, we don’t have any resources. Living off our savings just makes me feel uneasy.】

【A Stray By The Road: Just do it and get it over with. Since we’ve all entered this survival game, our stats must have improved a bit, right? I don’t believe a little rain is enough to bring us down.】

【A Stray By The Road: The rain just won’t stop. I can’t just stay indoors every day—I just can’t bring myself to give up on the treasure chest.】

【Civil Engineering Brother: Everyone, be careful when you go out. Don’t forget there’s still the “disaster rain” debuff active—no one can say for sure how much this will actually be like.】

【A Stray By The Road: Damn!】

【A Stray By The Road: Seriously, some of you should just stay home. @Civil Engineering Brother, I know exactly what happens when your luck is low. Damn it, it took me hours to finally find a treasure chest—three monsters guarding it was bad enough, but I killed them all and got zero drops. I can handle monsters not dropping loot, but a fine iron chest? I only got two steamed buns and a bottle of water. Is that supposed to be impressive?】

The channel was instantly filled with “hahahaha.” What Qiyu was thinking about, however, was something else entirely.

Although he’d explored a stretch along the refuge on foot, the area he could cover was ultimately limited.

Need a Little Money to Save Me managed to meet Duo Ju.

Yesterday, that monstrous dark cloud that blocked out the sky—its long, piercing roar had caused a mental attack that affected the entire area.

Do players in Region 01 really live on the same land, in the same Star Forest? If that’s true, does it mean players in Region 01 have a chance to meet in the Star Forest? This realization didn’t make him happy.

On the contrary, he felt restless and wary.

He knew full well that he wasn’t from Earth, and that he and the players in Region 01 weren’t exactly compatriots. 

He even wondered if Earth people might look different from him.

After all, before he met Duo Ju, he had never seen a cat that could walk upright or speak.

As someone who came from the post-apocalyptic world, it goes without saying that Earth people aren’t his compatriots. Even if they were, he’d be even more cautious.

The more Qiyu thought about it, the more serious he became.

He really couldn’t let his guard down. From now on, he would cut back on rest and make the most of every moment to train. He needed to boost his own strength and find a way to grow the demon vine larger. 

Otherwise, he’d really feel quite insecure.