Survival
Having reached Level 5, far ahead of everyone else, Song Shige dragged his slightly weary but exceptionally satisfied body back to his Sanctuary.
He carefully washed away the blood and dust left by battle, then threw himself onto the solid stone bed, ready to use the remaining time to rest and face the Monster Tide at his peak.
He idly browsed the previous day's detailed system announcements, sliding a finger across the screen. Suddenly, he froze, and a bold idea flashed through his mind like lightning.
"Could I exploit a bug? The other survivors hide in their Sanctuaries because they can't withstand attacks from every direction, but I don't need to worry about any of that..."
"If I go far enough away from the Sanctuary, the monsters that spawn will come after me instead of attacking it... Then the Sanctuary won't be damaged!"
Slapping his forehead, Song Shige sat up and immediately sent a message, excitedly reporting the idea to the Mutual Aid Association's Tactical Analysis Department.
However, their reply soon arrived, calm and professional in tone:
[Comrade Song, we have already simulated and evaluated the tactical concept of "Luring Monsters Away from the Shelter." At present, we strongly advise against carrying it out.]
[Our reasons are as follows:]
[First, the target-locking mechanism is unknown. We cannot determine whether the Monster Tide's Hatred Mechanism locks onto "the survivor" or "the Shelter Core." If it is the latter, your departure would be meaningless and a complete waste of energy.]
[Second, the Sanctuary cannot be restored. Based on our analysis of all available intelligence, once a Sanctuary is completely destroyed, it cannot be rebuilt. This means that if you lose your Sanctuary, you will lose it permanently. This is a risk we cannot bear.]
[Finally, the system has given explicit guidance. On the fifth day, a system announcement emphasized: "All survivors, please rely on your Sanctuaries and prepare for battle!" This is very likely a strong hint or a rule-based restriction. Violating it may incur an unknown punishment.]
[In conclusion, please be sure to center your defensive operations on the Sanctuary. The organization has already traded the defensive blueprints and resources to you.]
As Song Shige read through the analysis, the excitement in his eyes gradually faded. Somewhat disappointed, he lay back down on the bed.
"That's true... How could the smart people in the organization have overlooked such a simple loophole...?" he muttered, suppressing his impulse to take a risk. "Forget it. I'd better follow orders. Collective wisdom is always more reliable than me guessing on my own."
Ye Xu stood atop his own Level 5 Sanctuary, looking down over his "kingdom."
The shelter ranked second on the leaderboard was only Level 3 and about to reach Level 4.
The surrounding wall was cast from reinforced metal mixed with mana, shimmering with a cold, dim light.
Atop the wall stood not simple arrow towers, but three [Automatic Ballista Towers (Fine)] glowing with mana.
In the center of the courtyard, instead of a vegetable patch, stood a small [Elemental Energy Core] that powered all the defensive facilities. In a corner, there was also a special [Rapid Production Workshop], which was constantly consuming resources to produce standardized bolts like an assembly line.
He himself was lying lazily on a sofa, eating steak to celebrate finally learning [Fireball] through private tutoring.
Beside him lay a set of [Excellent]-quality armor and two fully equipped assault rifles, while a Heavy Sniper Rifle hung on the wall. In the distance, ammunition crates were piled like a mountain.
"I'm so bored. Maybe I should go flying..."
While the world outside was gripped by fear and everyone feared for their own safety, Gao Fu's Sanctuary was peaceful... even a little languid.
His Sanctuary was still only Level 1 and had barely been reinforced, looking as though it might collapse at any moment. Yet in the safest corner of the Sanctuary, the Level 3 king-sized bed radiating a soft glow looked completely out of place.
Gao Fu lay sprawled on the bed, breathing evenly, with even a faint, satisfied smile on his lips. He was clearly fast asleep.
The bloodshed soon to come outside seemed to have nothing to do with him...
Han Song's Level 2 Sanctuary looked incredibly crude compared to the pictures of Sanctuaries posted by the big shots on the forum. Its walls were made of ordinary hard stone, and its defenses consisted of an arrow tower on the roof and a stone wall around it.
He had just spent the last of his resources reinforcing the walls. Seeing their hardness increase, he sighed, gripping the axe he had just switched to tightly in his hand.
He had moved all his food and clean water to the innermost part of the Sanctuary, ensuring that even if the outer wall was breached, he could still use those supplies to hang on for a while.
The big shots' discussions in the channel and the changes in the rankings had stirred his blood, but they had also made him see reality more clearly. He took a deep breath. Though there was fear in his eyes, there was more of a tenacity born of being driven into a corner.
Han Song quietly encouraged himself and carefully checked every inch of the walls. Then he continued anxiously reading the big shots' advice and combat tips on the forum.
"Actually, I'm already in a great position! Better off than most people! Those people with Level 0 Sanctuaries are fucking stupid. How could those pieces of junk possibly withstand the Monster Tide?"
Su Luo, who had no Sanctuary, sat expressionlessly in front of the dungeon's halo, his calm gaze resting on the image of [Flame Attachment]'s contents.
The principles of shaping flame energy and transforming its properties explained within had greatly broadened his horizons, opening another door for him toward the essence of fire.
The surrounding darkness was still thick enough to suffocate, but the steady halo of the dungeon provided him with the only relatively safe "island" in this place of despair.
No, perhaps it was no longer an island.
Without even looking up, Su Luo gave a slight thought, and more than ten orange-red fireballs appeared out of thin air around him. Like loyal guards, they floated silently, lighting up the surrounding dozens of meters as brightly as day and dispelling any threats that might lurk in the darkness.
He had no Sanctuary to speak of, so naturally he had no need to worry about one.
"Still... I should make some preparations after all."
He murmured softly and stood up. By the light of the fireballs, he spent some time carefully surveying the terrain within a hundred meters of him, committing it to memory.
Then, with the dungeon's point of light at its center, he precisely mapped out a circle with a radius of thirty meters in his mind.
Standing at the center of the circle, Su Luo slowly closed his eyes, and the mana around him began to surge. He raised both hands, palms down, as though pressing against the earth without touching it.
Hum—!
A low rumble came from the ground. Along the circle's path, soil, sand, and stones broke away from the surface and rose into the air as if gravity had lost its hold on them. They tumbled and gathered in midair, as though a pair of invisible giant hands were using the earth as material, shaping it with precision.
Su Luo's face went pale. He stopped and used his slightly modified skill to restore his mana.
After he repeated the process several times, rocks stacked atop one another and sand and soil filled the gaps. Amid a teeth-grating sound of compression, a perfect circular stone wall four meters high and two meters thick rose from the ground. It finally stood firm outside the halo, forming a crude but solid barrier.
In the middle, a stone pillar held Su Luo high in the air, making it easier to keep his distance.
The glow of mana gradually faded, and Su Luo slowly lowered his hands. His face was as white as paper, but his gaze remained calm.
Without so much as looking at the wall he had created with his own hands, he sat back down where he had been and immersed himself completely in the profound world of [Flame Attachment] once more.
All of Zone 76 was like a fully drawn bow, its string stretched to the limit. Arrows of every shape were nocked upon it, waiting for the moment to come when they would be fired in utterly different ways toward a shared destiny—survival.