Chapter Four: The Desolate Town

"There is a sign ahead. Let's go check it out first."

Liang Yi had already parked the vehicle, pulled the key, and stepped out.

"Okay!" Wu Can, who had been trailing behind, tucked his wiggle car under his arm and hurried to catch up with her.

[Attention players: The first stage of the game covers a distance of fifty kilometers. Players must reach the next service area within one day.]

[There are twenty-five routes in total that players may choose to attempt. Treasure chests have been placed along the way, which you may open to obtain supplies for the day.]

[A reminder: You must reach the next service area before 7:00 PM. If you fail to arrive, you will bear the consequences.]

[You must not leave your vehicle when sleeping at night. If you fail to do so, you will bear the consequences.]

"Sister, which route should we choose?"

Wu Can seemed to have latched onto Liang Yi; after understanding the situation, he looked to her immediately for direction. It was understandable—even if he pedaled his wiggle car until his legs gave out, he likely wouldn't cover fifty kilometers in a day. Walking might be a possibility, but just barely.

Liang Yi glanced at Wu Can. She had intended to mention that she was likely younger than him, but she stopped herself the moment she opened her mouth. There was no need. The game was unpredictable and dangerous; it was better not to reveal personal information easily. Say less, err less.

She turned her full attention to the information on the routes ahead:

[Route 1: A ruined town, but perhaps you can scavenge useful supplies within.]

[Route 2: A vast forest—does it hide crisis or opportunity?]

[Route 3: A desolate desert—find an oasis to survive.]

[Route 4: ...]

The remaining routes were either frozen lands, heavy rainstorms, overgrown wilderness, or even waterways. Liang Yi considered the water route; it appeared that one simply had to park the vehicle on it, and large vessels would carry them forward. However, the bottomless underwater world was full of unknown dangers. If a storm picked up, there would be nowhere to hide. Liang Yi decided that for the sake of safety, she would avoid that route.

Beside each route was a string of numbers; Liang Yi guessed these represented the number of players who had entered. Ultimately, she chose Route 1, which the majority of players had picked—a dilapidated, deserted town. The roads were two to three meters wide, making it much safer for the vehicle.

Wu Can had no objections; he only asked that Liang Yi continue to tow him and hoped she wouldn't make any sudden stops.

Back in the vehicle, Liang Yi started the engine and headed toward the chosen path. Three minutes later, the surrounding environment shifted completely. The black fog that had previously enveloped them vanished. Five or six-story buildings stood one after another, their exterior walls peeling and crumbling. The wide roads were littered with all sorts of debris.

Near the entrance to the town, there were several car washes, but their doors were tightly shut, and the signs were either hanging at crooked angles or lying on the ground, covered in dust.

"Sister, there's a box over there."

Having traveled only ten meters, Wu Can, sitting on his wiggle car behind her, suddenly called out loudly. Liang Yi looked confused. She was in front and hadn't seen anything at all. She even suspected that Wu Can might be lying.

Once inside the town, Liang Yi drove slowly to avoid collisions. Wu Can, ignoring his own safety, abandoned his wiggle car, jumped up, and ran toward the entrance of an empty supermarket. From Liang Yi’s confused perspective, he appeared to be fiddling with thin air. It wasn't until he opened the chest that she finally saw it.

"Sister, there's mineral water!"

Wu Can pulled two 500ml bottles of water and a loaf of bread from the box, grinning as he held them up to show off to Liang Yi.

[Game Assistant, what is going on?] Liang Yi rubbed her eyes, beginning to suspect there was something wrong with her vision.

[Welcome, Tester. We have placed many chests along the way. We were concerned that if they were all snatched by powerful players, there would be too few participants left for the later stages of the game. Therefore, the chests each person sees are different.]

With this explanation, Liang Yi began to understand. The Game Assistant then proactively explained that there were five tiers of chests in the game, ranging from Level 1 to Level 5, each with different probabilities of yielding supplies. They were color-coded: Level 1 is black, Level 2 is white, Level 3 is green, Level 4 is red, and Level 5 is gold. The probabilities of obtaining supplies were 80%, 60%, 40%, 20%, and 2%, respectively.

As the chest level increased, more players would be able to see them; Level 5 chests were visible to every player, with no distinction. Besides empty chests, there was also the possibility of triggering dangerous monsters. The higher the chest level, the greater the chance of encountering a monster, and the higher the monster's level would be.

[Danger and opportunity coexist. Tester, you must be mentally prepared when opening chests in the future.]

These details were mentioned in the game interface, so the assistant revealing them didn't disrupt the balance. Liang Yi nodded. She accepted the water and half the bread Wu Can offered. After all, she had been towing him for so long; a little compensation wasn't unreasonable. Moreover, she was truly starving.

After drinking the water and eating the bread, she continued driving. Twenty meters further on, the roads became a labyrinth, and the area grew larger.

"Damn it! I found this first! You dare try to snatch it?"

Following the sound, Liang Yi noticed two or three vehicles parked in an alley on her left. A group of men were gathered in front of a shop. She realized it was a wholesale and retail store selling cigarettes, alcohol, and various beverages. The men were fighting over the supplies inside—or, to be more precise, fighting over the cigarettes and alcohol.

Liang Yi didn't understand. They were in a survival situation; why were they so obsessed with those two things? If they were fighting over hard liquor, she could understand it to an extent, as it could be used to disinfect wounds in an emergency.

"Do you want to go get some cigarettes or alcohol?" Thinking that Wu Can was also a guy, perhaps he needed such things. Liang Yi slowed the vehicle to a stop, stood up, leaned back against the carriage, and asked.

Wu Can shook his head. "I don't smoke or drink."

"Oh."

Liang Yi acknowledged this, sat back down, and restarted the vehicle to continue weaving through the town, searching for both chests and shops.

[Game Assistant, since your game has various unattended shops, why place chests at all?] Liang Yi asked.

[These shops only appear in areas where there are towns. Furthermore, even if you collect supplies now, they will all disappear by tomorrow. Only items obtained from treasure chests will be kept.]

Hearing this, Liang Yi realized that opening chests was the most important task. Seeing a supermarket not far away, she asked another critical question: [Will things eaten disappear?]

Calculating the time, more than four hours had passed since the game began, and that half-loaf of bread hadn't been enough. Despite her question, she decisively parked the tricycle near the supermarket and went in with Wu Can to grab food. Filling their stomachs was the priority; they could worry about tomorrow when tomorrow came.

[No, they will not.]

Upon hearing this, Liang Yi quickly gathered as much water, bread, spicy snacks, and instant noodles as she could carry. Wu Can’s vehicle was a wiggle car with no storage space, so the game had thoughtfully provided him with a backpack at the start. It functioned like an inventory space, though it required upgrades to hold more items, and its initial capacity was limited.

Consequently, once inside the supermarket, Wu Can grabbed a plastic bag and started stuffing it indiscriminately with food—instant noodles, sausages, water, chocolate, Red Bull... He even nearly got into a fight with someone over the last can of cola.