Chapter Five: Crafting the Platform Fragments

Perhaps it was a final burst of strength before death, but Song Churou’s blade plunged deep.

Xu Tian’s eyes were filled with the terror of approaching death. He reached out toward Jiang Ran, desperately pleading, "Ranran, save your father! Please, save me! I don’t want to die, I haven't lived enough yet, save me..."

"You unfilial, wretched brat! How can you just watch your own kin die?! You animal! No, Ranran, my sweet daughter, Dad pampered you the most when you were little, how can you be so heartless..."

More terrifying than death itself was watching one's own life force ebb away while being powerless to stop it. Xu Tian had little life force left to begin with, and once his body weakened beyond a certain point, the remainder plummeted to zero.

He alternated between sobbing and laughing, pleading and cursing, but Jiang Ran stood there coldly, watching him.

Just like in her previous life, when their family watched with cold indifference as she struggled to survive in the lowest-tier carriage, a place where the worst of human nature was amplified. They would rather spend 500 life points to watch Jiang Ran suffer like a spectator at a show than buy her a B-tier ticket—even though all their money and supplies had been swindled from her in the first place!

Xu Tian’s eyes finally turned dull and lifeless.

Although this was a game, the bodies of deceased players did not vanish. In her past life, players driven to desperation by hunger had even turned on their own kind.

Jiang Ran did not feel particularly happy watching them die. As Xu Tian said, he had "pampered" her once, and even if it were a facade, her childhood had indeed been happy. But from this moment on, Jiang Ran had no more weaknesses. She would become her own strongest armor, striving to survive until the train reached its final destination.

*

The game thoughtfully provided a one-click cremation mode; for only 2 life points, both bodies could be boxed up. Jiang Ran dug a deep hole in the rock wall and placed the two boxes inside, fulfilling her final obligation.

Because of the appearance of Xu Tian and Song Churou, Jiang Ran no longer assumed the mountain was free of other players and grew more cautious. However, she did not encounter anyone else afterward.

She navigated a winding path until she reached the heart of the mountain. The interior was vast, with a sliver of the sky visible overhead. The surrounding walls were dotted with scattered caves. Standing at the entrance of one, Jiang Ran looked down.

At the very bottom lay a glaringly red pool of magma. It was relatively calm, occasionally spitting sparks when loose stones fell into it. Several stone pillars of varying heights protruded from the molten rock, and the rising heat waves curled upward. Jiang Ran’s hair was damp with sweat after only a moment of observation.

Having plotted her route, Jiang Ran carefully maneuvered across the stone pillars. She stopped on a thick, mid-height pillar and pulled out the Ultra-Sturdy Retractable Net she had purchased from the mall for 100 life points. It was not only heat-resistant but also purportedly acid-resistant.

She extended the net and dipped it into the magma. Before long, she felt a heavy tug!

Jiang Ran immediately hauled the net up, only to find it wasn't a treasure chest, but a large, pitch-black stone. If not for her strength, she might not have been able to pull it up at all. Once it cooled, she examined it.

[Magical Ore: Heat-resistant. Seems suitable for crafting weapons (requires a crafting table and weapon blueprints).]

It was indeed highly heat-resistant; despite soaking in the magma for so long, it hadn't even turned red. Though she had no immediate use for it, Jiang Ran was pleased. A harvest was always a good thing.

Keep fishing!

Jiang Ran fished for three hours. Besides the ore, she hauled up four wooden chests, one bronze chest, and one silver chest. Seeing the wooden chests emerge from the magma completely unscathed, Jiang Ran decided that logic in this game was a flexible concept.

The pillars weren't suitable for opening chests, so she stashed them in her inventory to open later. The heat inside the mountain was stifling; she was drenched in sweat, her clothes crusted with salt. Knowing she couldn't keep this up even with electrolyte water, she retracted her net and returned the way she came to the cave she had previously dug.

Sitting on the ground, she drank a bottle of electrolyte water and rested for a while before bringing out the chests, starting with the wooden ones. Perhaps the first stop was a beginner’s level; like her past life, the chests contained few dangerous creatures, and they weren't difficult to handle.

Three of the four wooden chests contained water and bread, while the bronze chest yielded an iron nail and four wooden planks. One wooden chest contained no supplies, only a creature resembling a starfish. It was covered in mouths, and the tiny, sharp teeth within them were enough to make one’s scalp crawl—one bite could tear away a chunk of flesh.

In her past life, Jiang Ran had suffered because of this thing; it crawled at lightning speed and would lunge at one’s legs the moment the chest opened. But the current Jiang Ran dispatched it easily.

The final silver chest gave her a pleasant surprise.

[Congratulations on obtaining Crafting Table Fragment *1.]

Although she needed 65 more fragments to assemble it, having a goal and a direction meant there was a way forward. The security of having ample supplies kept Jiang Ran’s morale steady.

After resetting her safe house, she felt hungry after a long day of labor. She took a shower and prepared to eat. What to have? The magma from earlier looked suspiciously like spicy soup, so hot pot it was. She happily took out a serving of bean-millet hot pot, dished up a bowl of rice, drizzled it with the appetizing broth, and enjoyed her meal with a cold drink.

It was 12:30 PM. The chat room was filled with complaints about the heat and thirst, along with many people crying out in hunger. While many had found chests, most were wooden, containing only meager supplies—a little food and useless items like scraps of cloth or bricks.

Silver chests were where simple tools and various fragments began to appear. But unless one was as desperate for supplies as that "Little Spinning Top" player, most were unwilling to trade them easily.

Jiang Ran browsed the trade listings while she ate. With life points limited and supplies scarce, it was a prime time to pick up bargains. After all, when someone was dying of hunger, heatstroke, or injury, water and medicine were far more precious than tools they couldn't yet use.

For instance—

"Found five crafting table fragments in a chest. Trading only for food and water. Private message with offers."

Jiang Ran’s eyes lit up. She immediately added the person as a friend.

"Whirlwind Slash: Ten bottles of water, food enough for three meals."

Before Jiang Ran could reply, they added, "If you have heatstroke medication, I can take less of the other things."

Jiang Ran thought for a moment, then initiated the trade, placing only three bottles of mineral water and two vials of Huoxiang Zhengqi liquid into the trade halo. She expected a counter-offer, but the trade was completed at lightning speed.

It made sense; heat exhaustion could be avoided by hiding in a cave, but the dehydration and heatstroke caused by the pervasive heat were the real killers. However, the speed of the trade made Jiang Ran feel, inexplicably, that she might have overpaid.