Chapter Ten: Physical Training
That night, Liang Ning lay on the ground, hungry and hoping that sleep would ease the gnawing emptiness in his stomach.
In the middle of the night, he felt as if something had struck his belly.
Seeing the handwriting on the water bottle—his second sister’s—Liang Ning burst into tears.
“Wah, Dad, Mom, big sister, second sister, where are you?”
“Wah, I want to go home!”
...
His cries were so loud that instead of eliciting any response from his family, they attracted the roars of wild beasts from the dense forest behind him.
“Roar!”
“Howl!”
“Uuugh!”
...
From deep within the forest came the howls of various animals.
The sounds seemed to draw nearer, and terrified, Liang Ning glanced around frantically before scrambling up a nearby tree in a panic.
He nearly fell to the ground from nervousness.
Finally perched in the branches, he clung tightly to the tree and gasped for breath.
After just a couple of minutes’ rest, Liang Ning suddenly sensed movement beneath his feet.
Looking down, he saw two tigers circling the tree. One stood upright, pressing its front paws against the trunk, sniffing around.
“Ah!”
When the tiger’s breath blew against his leg, Liang Ning recoiled in fright.
He screamed sharply as the tiger’s heavy breathing grew closer, hastily covering his mouth, fearing it might climb up.
At that moment, the screen he had seen before suddenly appeared before him again.
[Player, please continue repairing the wooden shelter tomorrow until it can shield from wind and rain.]
[Otherwise, the crisis will persist.]
Glancing at the tigers below, Liang Ning realized these were NPCs from the game, deliberately trying to scare him.
“Wah, this is too much! You give me a wooden axe and tell me to build a house—what am I supposed to use for repairs?”
His complaints went unanswered; the screen vanished once more after confirming he had seen it.
The tigers kept prowling around the tree, showing no sign of leaving.
Liang Ning could only hug the trunk, shivering.
Thankfully, the bottled water Liang Yi had provided kept his thirst at bay.
Meanwhile, after delivering supplies to their family, Liang Yi curled up in the small tricycle and began scrolling through the [Channel].
Liang Yi first checked nearby players. Throughout the day, fewer than a hundred had disappeared.
It seemed this first stage was not so simple after all.
[Player 2356: Has anyone reached the service area? There’s plenty of food inside. Picture jpg.]
[Player 23: Calling my teammates—where are you? Warning: wild boars.]
[Player 369: My teammates vanished silently after entering the service area.]
[Player 25639: I opened a level-three treasure chest today—got ten bottles of water, haha!]
...
Most messages on the [Channel] were now players boasting about their supplies, so Liang Yi couldn’t glean useful information.
He closed the game interface.
Yawning, Liang Yi prepared to sleep.
His sleep was peaceful.
Stretching upon waking, Liang Yi felt cramped in the one-and-a-half-meter-long vehicle cabin.
Looking at the time, since he had gone to bed early, it was still before six o’clock.
He was still inside the service area.
[Player Liang Yi, you may remain here until seven o’clock.]
The game assistant reminded him.
It also said he could leave early and return along the same route to enter the second stage of the game.
Hearing this, Liang Yi rubbed his hungry stomach and decided to stay and eat well before making any plans.
He pushed open the vehicle door, ready to get out.
But recalling the mechanical voice at the start—saying it was best not to leave one’s vehicle at night—he hesitated.
“Is it safe to go out now?”
Liang Yi asked the game assistant without overthinking.
[As long as there is natural light outside, no monsters will appear. Players may move freely.]
The assistant answered earnestly.
Relieved, Liang Yi gently pushed the cabin door open.
Outside, daylight was bright, casting mottled shadows on the ground.
Opening the door fully, he looked around.
The surroundings were much the same as the previous night.
Feeling reassured, Liang Yi stepped out.
First, he headed to the restroom to wash up.
Knowing that at seven o’clock the service area and food would disappear, he hurried to the convenience store, brewed instant noodles, and stuffed various foods into his belly.
Only when his stomach bulged and he involuntarily burped did he stop eating.
Checking the electric tricycle’s power, it was fully charged, with a remaining range of sixty kilometers.
Afterward, Liang Yi decided to wait for seven o’clock.
Glancing again at the [Channel], he noticed that over the night another hundred or so players had vanished.
He wondered why players disappeared on such a calm night.
Had they broken the initial rules?
[Because they revealed their real names.]
[Also, some players failed to find their vehicles and were captured by NPCs during the night.]
The game assistant, monitoring Liang Yi closely, quickly answered his questions.
With the assistant’s explanation, Liang Yi understood a little more.
---
After last night, in this road survival game, players without vehicles no longer existed.
Gripping the tricycle’s handlebars, Liang Yi thought he must guard his vehicle carefully from now on.
In this road survival game, vehicles could be stolen.
But only if the player bound to the vehicle disappeared completely.
All other supplies would vanish as well.
Looking at his own arm, Liang Yi felt that as a fragile college student, if anyone tried to snatch his vehicle, he probably couldn’t defend it.
Glancing at the stones by the roadside, he decided to start exercising.
There was still half an hour before seven, so he moved his stiff muscles.
Half an hour was better than nothing.
After doing fifty squats—despite rarely exercising—he was already drenched in sweat, his legs trembling.
He did ten push-ups, poorly but with effort, then collapsed, unable to rise.
No choice, he switched to another exercise.
Frog jumps—he circled the tricycle three times.
Huff—huff—
Liang Yi collapsed onto the ground, gasping heavily.
Those simple exercises had taken over twenty minutes.
Finally, he leaned on the tricycle to stand.
His legs were trembling uncontrollably.
[Player Liang Yi, with your current physical condition, it will be difficult to survive this game.]
The game assistant sympathized sincerely.
Then it wondered aloud why the headquarters had chosen someone with such a physique as the experience officer.
Tell me!
Liang Yi rolled her eyes several times, silently complaining.
If only her fitness were better, she wouldn’t have to struggle so hard with training.
Still, she admitted her physical condition was poor. Had she known she’d be thrust into a survival game, she would have started exercising long ago.
At this rate, progress would be slow and difficult.
“Huff—”
“Is there anything in your treasure chests that can help with physical training?”
Liang Yi asked the game assistant, no longer wanting to complain but curious if there was a training guide.
After all, she was just a college student and had never dealt with this kind of thing.
Unwilling to seek a real-world coach, she hoped for video tutorials.