Chapter 3: First Kill Announcement
In less than a minute, she saw two wooden boxes, arranged conspicuously on either side of the Highway.
Yu Qi got off her wheelchair and keenly noticed several red health bars above the two boxes. The left box had two shorter health bars, while the right box had a slightly longer one.
Anyone who has played games knows that anything with a red health bar, be it a rock or air, can be attacked! These must be the monsters the system mentioned. She gripped her dagger and utility knife and quickly moved forward.
After the left box opened, two large gray rats scurried out. Yu Qi had already been eyeing the health bars, so she swung both knives, stabbing them from left and right.
Both knives pierced the gray rats' bellies, and their health bars instantly dropped by half.
Strike while the iron is hot!
Yu Qi extended her utility knife to its full length and plunged both knives firmly into the yellow sand. The two rats completely stopped breathing, and their health bars emptied.
She pushed the two rats aside and looked inside the box, finding it empty!
Yu Qi was a bit annoyed, thinking, 'Did those two rats eat the supplies?' So, she swung her knife again, stabbing the rat's neck once more, which finally appeased her.
However, this box wasn't without its rewards. The system's voice suddenly rang in her ears.
"Congratulations on triggering the first kill in District 2333. Do you want to enable a server-wide announcement? After the announcement, you will receive a silver resource crate. Countdown: 5, 4, 3..."
A silver resource crate? This type of box clearly looked much more advanced than a wooden crate, and such resources were extremely rare in the early stages. Yu Qi didn't hesitate.
"Announce!"
In the lobby, the First Kill Announcement kept refreshing.
Boss A, Love Me Again: "Damn, I was still wondering how to use the brush from the novice reward, and someone already got the first kill? That's too amazing!"
Light Dance Fluttering: "Hunting Boss, can you tell us how you killed the monster? I just found a box too, but I don't know if there are monsters inside, so I don't dare open it!"
Green Green Grassland: "It's probably just a coincidence, it still depends on luck. The box I just opened didn't have monsters, otherwise it would have been my first kill."
Berserk Loli: "If there really were monsters, you'd probably be screaming and running away, right? Spineless, only thinking about others!"
Berserk Loli is quite domineering; she always manages to silence people!
Yu Qi followed this message upwards and quickly paused.
The other people thrown into the Survival Gamecouldn't see the monsters' health bars? Otherwise, how could they not know if there were monsters in the box? So, only she could see them?
To verify this, she scrolled through the comments above and found that most people were asking if there were monsters in the box, what the monsters looked like, and what could be used to deal with them.
Even searching with the search bar, no one mentioned health bars.
Thus, she could roughly conclude that only she could see them.
Could it be related to the Seeking Immortality Game she had bound earlier? This cheat is too good! Not only does it give her a homesteadwhere she can plant, but it also lets her see the health bars of the monsters inside the boxes!
She knew that no matter how powerful a monster was, as long as it had a health bar, it could be killed!
So, who was behind the Seeking Immortality Game system? It couldn't have suddenly gained sentience, right?
Yu Qi pondered as she looked at the silver resource crate that descended from the sky.
There was no health bar symbol on it, so it seemed that the resource boxes rewarded by the system were all safe.
Yu Qi reached out and opened it. Inside were several thin cards and a small box.
(Good Luck Card ×2, explosion card ×1, Small Medical Kit ×1)
Good Luck Card: After use, the chance of encountering a resource box increases by 50% for one hour.
explosion card ×1: Dangerous like a bomb, use with extreme caution. It is recommended to use at least thirty meters away from your vehicle.
So, besides resources, this game also has some magical cards. If it weren't for triggering the announcement, she might not have encountered such a silver treasure chest during the novice period.
Calculated this way, some precious rewards in the game are probably only obtainable by those who rank high or are the first to clear a stage. She needs to work harder!
Yu Qi put the three cards and the Small Medical Kit into her warehouse slots. Just as she was about to turn to the second wooden crate, her brow suddenly warmed, and a line of ancient text appeared before her!
[Wood and silver detected. Do you wish to collect?]
So, even empty boxes like these can be collected by the homestead?
She clicked confirm, and a line of text suddenly appeared in the upper right corner of the warehouse, displaying 'homestead Level 1 upgrade requirements: Wood 2/10, Crops 0/20, Silver 2/0.'
It seems that the homestead upgrade currently doesn't require silver.
One wooden crate yields two pieces of wood, so five boxes are enough. Crops aren't difficult either; as long as she has seeds, she can harvest them quickly.
Yu Qi thought for a moment, then took out some of the more abundant bread and mineral water from her warehouse and put them up for sale in the trading shop, marking each item for two packs of seeds, requesting different types.
Since she could bring snacks and a refrigerator, someone else must have brought seeds with them. Listing them early would allow her to quickly acquire seeds, upgrade her homestead, unlock more features, and increase her survival rate!
Closing the trading shop, Yu Qi looked at the other side of the Highway. She had opened one box, and now there was one left.
She stared intently at the health bar above. As the patterned long snake slowly crawled out, both knives struck simultaneously: one stabbed towards the snake's head, and the other aimed at a third of the way down its body.
As expected of the novice protection period, both the rats just now and this patterned long snakemoved much slower than normal animals.
Two stabs reduced most of the long snake's health. Yu Qi didn't rashly chop off its head, because some snakes can still move even after being decapitated.
She used her dagger to skewer the snake's head and body together, then grabbed the nearby wooden crate and smashed it down, instantly clearing the remaining health bar.
"Congratulations on obtaining a iron-cutting dagger ×1, and an Aluminum Alloy Retractable Snake Tong ×1!"
This time, she got two weapons, and Yu Qi was finally satisfied. What she lacked most now were powerful weapons; the fruit knife was still a bit dull and not very effective.
She took the iron-cutting dagger and lightly sliced the snake's corpse, and a section of its tail broke off.
Good, she was very satisfied with this weapon. The fruit knife could be retired!
"System: Detected snake meat. Do you wish to extract?"
"Yes."
"Congratulations on obtaining 250g of non-toxic snake meat and half a venomous fang."
Yu Qi was stunned. That patterned snake was quite heavy, so why did she only get 250g of snake meat and half a venomous fang?
How could the Highway Survival system be so stingy? There were clearly two large venomous fangs, yet it forcibly cut off half and only left her with half a fang!
This cold and heartless system, she would never sell anything to it again!
Wait, Yu Qi thought of the humorous and lively system from before, which secretly reminded her of hidden rules. She felt that these two systems were different. Could there be a division of labor between systems?
That would make sense. She clicked 'receive' and put the snake meat into an empty snack bag, directly storing the half venomous fang in her homestead warehouse.
Having quickly dealt with monsters twice, and even triggered a regional announcement, she gained some confidence in herself and continued driving forward.