Level Up

But leaving the protective shield might invite attacks from underwater sea beasts—after all, no one knew how many more were lurking in the depths, waiting to ambush.

Yet, attribute points were far too important for her at this stage, especially with the newbie trial, natural disasters, and island exploration looming after the beginner period ended.

Even an extra 0.1 attribute point could tip the scales in her favor during future battles.

Besides, wasn't every single one of those scenarios bound to require risk-taking?

Reborn into this life, she had gained more supplies and opportunities.

But she'd grown a little too afraid of death. In this survival world, caution alone wasn't enough—she needed boldness and courage too!

A greenhouse flower had only one ending here: death!

Having thought it through, Ji Xinghe stowed the Star Feather Repeating Crossbow in her backpack, pulled out the Bloodthirsty Knife, took off the White Shirt, and strapped the blade to her hand.

She swept her gaze across the sea surface. No other sea beasts had emerged during the fight between the two monsters.

The water was calm now. Even if the scent of blood drew others, it would take time for them to arrive.

Ji Xinghe quickened her pace, then plunged into the sea with a splash.

The water was icy cold. She opened her eyes and scanned her surroundings—visibility underwater was less than ten meters.

No creatures nearby. She swam swiftly toward the Black Gold Turtle Beast's corpse.

It was less than ten meters away, but every stroke made her heart race with both fear and exhilaration!

Finally reaching the Black Gold Turtle Beast's corpse, she stored it in her backpack and hurriedly swam back.

Suddenly, a disturbance stirred beneath her feet. Ji Xinghe looked down to see a shrimp-like monster swimming up from the deeper water, its pincers snapping, trying to clamp onto her leg.

Ji Xinghe was ready. She twisted her body and swung the Bloodthirsty Knife.

[Hit monster, monster HP -67.4]

While swimming, she glanced at the monster's panel.

[Blue Scale Shrimp Beast (Level 1)]

[Remaining HP: 32.6]

[Attack: 15]

[Defense: 5]

"That's it?" Ji Xinghe thought.

With another slash, the giant shrimp flipped belly-up.

[Killed Blue Scale Shrimp Beast, Experience Points +1, Wow Coins +1]

[Dismantle Blue Scale Shrimp Beast?]

Ignoring the system, Ji Xinghe stored the Blue Scale Shrimp Beast's corpse in her backpack and quickly swam ashore.

She shook off her dripping hair.

Peeling off the soaked Little White Suit and Soft Armor, she was left in only the skin-tight Constant Temperature Clothes.

She laid the clothes on an empty wooden crate, then pulled out the three monster corpses she'd just harvested.

She lined them up on the sand.

Activated her Talent: Drain.

[Talent activated successfully, Defense attribute +0.2, Defense +0.1]

[Talent activated successfully, Agility +0.1, Agility +0.1]

[Talent activation failed, no attributes drained this time]

[Talent activated successfully, Strength +0.1]

Six drains, and only the Blue Scale Shrimp Beast failed once—the other five succeeded.

High probability. The system didn't let her down!

These three, plus the Silver Squid Beast, gave her four fresh corpses. She wouldn't dismantle them yet—she'd keep them as bait.

From killing these four monsters, she'd gained: Experience Points +13, Wow Coins +5, Black Iron Treasure Chest +1, Bronze Treasure Chest +1.

Strength attribute: +0.4, Defense +0.3, Agility +0.2.

Looked like the Spirit attribute was hard to drain. Maybe the monsters she'd faced weren't Spirit-focused, making it tougher to extract.

Ji Xinghe tapped the panel to check her base stats.

Level: 0 (89/100)

HP: 172/172

Wealth: 856 Wow Coins

Base Attributes: Constitution: 17.2 | Spirit: 32/60 | Strength: 20.5+3 | Agility: 10.2

Just 11 more Experience Points, and Ji Xinghe would level up.

She glanced at the time—just past 5 PM.

There was still a chance.

Ji Xinghe left the Mysterious White Snake Beast's corpse behind as bait and stowed the rest in her backpack.

The sun dipped westward, and darkness crept in from the horizon.

Two hours later, Ji Xinghe stared at the 99 Experience Points on her panel, torn between laughter and tears.

Just one point short!

But the sky was pitch black now—she couldn't spot a single monster on the sea's surface.

Since that was the case, time to rest.

She sorted through her haul. Besides the Experience Points, she'd gotten five monster corpses and a Raw Wood Treasure Chest.

Plus the attributes she'd Drained: Constitution +0.5, Strength +0.1, Agility +0.1.

By the light of the system panel, she bottled the water she'd purified that afternoon.

She fed Xiao Xi another ten pieces of meat, waiting until it was full before stepping into the Shelter.

She stored the 1,500 finished wooden arrows in her backpack.

Then she laid out the kitchen ten-piece set on the stove.

After that, she took out the watermelon from the Refrigerator, sliced it open with a kitchen knife, kept a small half, and put the rest in her backpack.

The bright red flesh was completely seedless—each bite was crisp and sweet.

The icy watermelon juice flooded her entire mouth.

Ji Xinghe smiled in satisfaction.

After finishing the cold watermelon, she pulled out two Cream Breads and washed them down with water.

The moment she stopped moving, Ji Xinghe just wanted to lie down.

She'd been busy for over ten straight hours, and on top of that, she'd worked a full day before entering the Survival World. Both her body and mind were utterly exhausted.

She'd originally planned to run on the Treadmill at night to snag that last point of Agility.

But she didn't want to push herself too hard. The Treadmill would stay right where it was—it wasn't going anywhere.

She was tired.

She allowed herself to rest... just for a bit...

She chewed on the bread.

While eating, Ji Xinghe decided to claim whatever she could.

First up was the task tab.

It had been flashing red since the afternoon, but she'd been too busy to sort through it.

[Novice Quest (Completed)

7: Kill 5 monsters cumulatively. Reward: Experience Points +1, Wow Coins +1]