Exploiting a Bug?

[8 billion survivors have been deployed]

[Welcome to the Survival World]

[This place is both a crucible of fate and the starting point of a new life]

[Whether you once wielded power over the world or lay bedridden with illness; whether you were at death's door or still in swaddling clothes... the moment you entered this realm, all that came before turned to dust]

[You stand at a relatively fair starting point. Every person's deficiencies will be made whole by an unseen force; every broken body will return to the original baseline of a mortal]

[Seize this second chance]

[The Survival System is your only support. Remember it and use it well]

[Finally—survive, at all costs]

A grand voice seemed to resound from the depths of the void, its source and gender impossible to discern. When the echo of its final word faded, every distinguishing feature of the voice vanished like a dream, beyond the reach of memory.

In a dark room, Su Luo slowly opened his bleary eyes. A translucent panel flickered silently before him.

[You have received a bound item: Shelter Voucher]

[Please note: Use your Shelter Voucher to establish a Sanctuary as soon as possible to obtain a seven-day safety period. Otherwise, there is a chance you will be attacked]

[Please note: The Shelter Voucher will generate different forms of Sanctuary based on factors such as terrain and environment, along with corresponding structures and supplies]

[Please note: Anyone who does not use their Shelter Voucher within one hour will be disqualified from survival]

A card with a peculiar texture silently fell into Su Luo's hand.

"Everyone has to survive? Crossing?"

Naked, Su Luo rubbed the card and instinctively pressed the light switch. The familiar layout of his room came into view, no different from any other day.

He fell silent for a moment.

"Could it be... I transmigrated along with my house?"

Su Luo hurried to the window and pulled open the thick curtains. The streets outside were deserted, and a deathly silence hung over the entire city.

"...Crossing without me?"

A minute later, Su Luo sat on his bed, fully dressed, fiddling with the panel.

[Su Luo: Alive]

[Age: 22]

[Note: The average person's attributes are 4, and the human limit is 8 (this note will not appear again)]

[Level: 0 (0%)]

[Strength: 4.6]

[Spirit: 5.9]

[Constitution: 4.2]

[Talent: Learning Gains:

Effect 1: Guaranteed minimum gains during the learning process

Effect 2: Your concentration while learning is significantly enhanced]

[Introduction: All humans on Earth have arrived in another world. Why are you still where you started?]

"How should I know?"

Su Luo shook his head helplessly and continued exploring the system interface. Skipping the empty forum section, he opened the chat channels, which were divided into World, Regional, and Personal.

The World Channel and Personal Channel were deathly silent. Only the constantly refreshing messages in the Regional Channel showed that other survivors were out there.

[Crossing?]

[Looks like it.]

[Hooray!]

[Hooray!]

[Hooray!]

"They're all parrots." Su Luo glanced at the number of people online in the upper left corner of the channel.

[99999/100000]

Why is one person missing?

[Stop spamming! Where the hell is this? It's pitch-black. I want to go home!]

[Dad!]

[Yeah!]

[Yeah!]

[Yeah!]

[Go home, my ass! Didn't it say 8 billion people were deployed at the start? All of humanity must have been sent to this Survival World or whatever.]

[Speaking of which, why can't I see anything either? There's nothing here.]

[Maybe we're still being teleported.]

[Teleported, my ass. This place is the Survival World! I've fallen over several times already!]

[Then why can't we see anything?]

[Because there's no light in this godforsaken place...]

[Use your Shelter Voucher first. There's light inside the Sanctuary. This world is completely dark...]

[But I want to pick a good location.]

[How are you going to find one when you can't see anything? Look at the headcount. One unlucky bastard is already gone!]

"Who's gone? Me?"

Su Luo had caught a stray bullet.

[My Talent is Fire Element Mastery. I can make fireballs, so I have light! I think I can see some kind of building up ahead.]

[I couldn't stand the darkness, so I established my Sanctuary two minutes ago. There was nothing special around me, so it's just an ordinary Thatched Hut. There's an oil lamp, some food, and a Wishing Well inside.]

[Mine's a cellar. It has an item storage slot.]

[Mine's a tower. Its special feature is a spellbook.]

[Big shot!]

[I suggest players whose Talents can't provide light establish a Sanctuary right away. There isn't a trace of light here. Just moving around in absolute darkness is extremely dangerous.]

Messages rapidly flooded the Regional Channel as the survivors quickly adapted to the new world.

But Su Luo didn't have to.

After pondering for a moment, he got up, gathered all the ready-to-eat food in his home, and began wolfing it down.

Things had come to this, so he would fill his stomach first.

As he ate, he gathered information through the chat channel.

Fifty minutes later, the flood of messages in the Regional Channel finally slowed, and some useful information emerged. The vast majority of survivors had established Sanctuaries, gaining a small glimmer of light and a chance to catch their breath in the absolute darkness.

In addition to basic facilities and supplies, every Sanctuary had one special facility. The vast majority of these were Wishing Wells.

[Guys, help! I threw my oil lamp into the well, and it spat out a lousy plank! Now I'm completely blind!

[666, you built that Sanctuary for nothing!]

[You can use the trading function once you've built a Sanctuary! Anyone have spare water? I'll trade bread for it!]

[Just 3 pieces of bread, a bottle of water, and an oil lamp that could go out at any moment? How are we supposed to survive on that?]

[We have to go out and explore! That's how it always goes in novels. You have to gather resources, open treasure chests...]

[Don't go out! The profile picture of the person who said they were going out just now has already turned gray!]

[What else can we do? I'd say the oil lamp has enough fuel to burn for a few hours at most. What happens after that? Do we just wait to die?]

[What's out there, anyway?]

[It looks like some kind of wasteland where I am. The oil lamp's light can't penetrate the thick darkness at all. I can't see anything more than a few steps away.]

[I stepped on a wooden chest right outside my door! It had 9 pieces of bread in it! Heaven's feeding me!]

[!!! What did the chest look like?]

Su Luo stood in the empty central hall of the city library, panting heavily with both hands braced on his knees.

At his feet lay piles of canned food, bottled water, and tools he had gathered from the hardware store next door: a hammer, rope, and a lighter.

Near Su Luo's home stood the largest library in the entire city, perhaps even the entire province. He had rushed there immediately, then brought plenty of food over from a convenience store and taken some equipment from the hardware store.

After all, his Talent was related to learning, so the places that came to mind were libraries, schools, and laboratories. Su Luo chose the library, which was the most accessible to him.

He gripped the Shelter Voucher tightly, his heart pounding from excitement and exertion. The countdown ticked relentlessly on the panel: 00:04:27.

Su Luo's blood was pumping.

I know this setup: everyone has to survive in another world, but I'm on Earth...

Next, I'll use the resources of human civilization to develop quickly...

00:03:01! To avoid any mishaps, he waited no longer. "Use the Shelter Voucher! The location, right here!"

The instant his words fell, a sudden change occurred!

The Shelter Voucher sank into the ground and began generating a Sanctuary.

Before he could get a good look at the Sanctuary being generated, an irresistible force, cold and immense, seized him and dragged him away!

Su Luo felt an intense tearing sensation and dizziness wash over his entire body.

Absolute darkness swallowed all his senses.

Darkness.

It was absolute darkness, so thick it couldn't be dispelled.

But the smell in the air had changed. It was no longer the familiar scent of books and dust from the library, but an unfamiliar, rank odor mingled with decay, soil, and some unknown plant.

"? Where is this?"

The system panel flickered.

[Warning: Unknown error detected...]

[Fixed]

Standing in the darkness, Su Luo's expression was impossible for anyone to see...