Chapter Eleven: The Enchanted Forest

[Apologies.]
[The game chest currently does not contain this type of supply. I will promptly report this to headquarters.]
[Thank you for the feedback, experience officer.]

Knowing there were no fitness videos available, Liang Yi felt dispirited. However, recalling how slow the game assistant had been to respond when they first discussed terms before the game started, she couldn’t help but urge it.

“Can you speed up your feedback?”

“You wouldn’t want me to be powerless and die so quickly, would you? That would ruin your internal testing.”

Liang Yi was aware of her importance in the game, so she seized the opportunity to make a request. Originally, the game assistant had set up experience officers mainly to record errors or suggest additions to settings and supplies for the next “Highway Survival” game.

After hearing Liang Yi’s words, the game assistant paused briefly, finding her reasoning sound. Moreover, adding a few items to the treasure chest wouldn’t disrupt the game’s progress.

Thus, the game assistant drafted a feedback report, emphasizing the urgency to headquarters.

Knowing this, Liang Yi felt a renewed hope of survival. Time quickly approached seven o’clock.

Suddenly, her vision dimmed, and then a cacophony of frustrated voices filled her ears.

“Hey, when did you all get here?”
“Damn, where are my supplies? Who took my supplies?”
“My supplies are gone too!”
“What kind of lousy game is this, stealing supplies like this?”
“Great, my supplies are still here.”
“Ha~ What’s going on? Why all the noise so early in the morning instead of sleeping?”

Some players shouted in anger over missing supplies, others breathed a sigh of relief seeing theirs were intact. A few bold players, annoyed at being woken, cursed and sounded ready to brawl.

Liang Yi sat in her vehicle, no different from the other players. Already aware of the situation, she scanned the crowd, hoping to spot Wu Can. Unfortunately, the number of players was too great, and she saw no sign of him.

She didn’t know his game account either, nor whether he was alive or dead.

Suddenly, someone in the crowd exclaimed, “I figured it out!”

“The supplies from the treasure chests don’t disappear. Only the items taken from the service area vanish.”

A clever player had discovered the key to the disappearing supplies. Others quickly checked their own items and confirmed this.

“Exactly!”
“Check the game board announcements — it says supplies not from treasure chests disappear the next day.”
“Damn, I fought for nothing yesterday!”
“You have supplies? Wasn’t there only one person in the service area?”

This sparked small groups of strangers gathering to discuss the routes they took the previous day.

Meanwhile, Liang Yi’s body had recovered. She grabbed the half bottle of mineral water hanging on the tricycle’s front and gulped it down hard. The workout had drained too much moisture, leaving her lips dry.

Another bottle sat in the rear compartment, but surrounded by dense players, she chose to endure rather than reach for it.

The game rules assured that her vehicle and backpack would remain secure, inaccessible to others.

Time swiftly passed to eight o’clock, and the mechanical voice rang out again.

[Congratulations to all players for surviving until now. The survival game will now officially begin. Please remain vigilant.]

As the voice faded, a transparent screen appeared overhead, scrolling text across it. At the same time, the thick, black fog that confined them dissipated.

Several eager players started their vehicles without hesitation, determined to be the first through this stage.

Liang Yi did not rush but focused on the glowing screen.

[Greetings, players. The second stage of Highway Survival is “Forest Enigma,” spanning a diameter of two hundred kilometers, with a time limit of five days.]
[Players who arrive first may rest at the service area until all have passed.]
[The forest is mysterious and rich with supply chests but fraught with peril.]
[Please remain cautious and survive successfully.]
[Looking forward to meeting everyone at the next service area.]
[Reminder: Do not get out of your vehicles at night.]

The text quickly scrolled away.

The mechanical voice returned.

[Players, the second stage will begin its ten-minute countdown.]

A clock appeared in the sky, counting down.

Players around Liang Yi started their vehicles, moving forward. They all understood the consequences of staying put.

Sure enough, ten minutes later, without turning back, they heard thunderous explosions.

Liang Yi glanced back to see towering flames and rolling smoke.

“You really don’t hold back,” she muttered, focusing back on driving.

The game assistant responded.

[These are all illusions, what humans call special effects.]

“Alright then.”

Liang Yi thought about the heat she felt. While it might be fake to the game assistant, to the players it was undeniably real — because they could truly be blown to bits.

She twisted the throttle, and the vehicle began moving forward slowly.

But after barely twenty meters, the vehicles ahead were jammed again.

Complaints erupted from players unsure of what was happening.

Liang Yi opened the game board and quickly saw in the chat channel why they were stuck.

[Player12563: There’s a forest ahead, no road at all. How are we supposed to pass?]
[Player23568: What? Are we supposed to chop down all these trees?]
[GameMasterX: Move aside, don’t block the way. I’m going straight through to see if my car or the trees are tougher.]

Among the nonstop messages, the player “GameMasterX” drew most of the attention.