Novice Quest

After patting her cheeks, Ji Xinghe took a deep breath, forcing down her excitement as she tapped Reel In.

There were only a little over two hours left. She couldn't waste a single second.

Ripples spread across the sea. The next moment, a wooden treasure chest glinting faintly drifted toward her and appeared beside the little figure.

If she hadn't experienced it all herself, Ji Xinghe wouldn't have believed that this repetitive, mechanical single-player game would turn into a real and terrifying survival world in just over two hours.

At the thought, she opened her inventory and used the Newbie Set.

[Newbie Set: Essential gear for new players]

[White Shirt: Defense +1, White Pants: Defense +1, White Shoes: Speed +1]

[Wooden Stick: A new player's only weapon, Attack +2]

After equipping the little figure with one tap, the personal stats panel lit up on the screen. Ji Xinghe lightly tapped it to view the details.

Nickname: Player 001 (default nickname can be changed)

Talent: Drain

Level: 0 (0/100)

Health: 100/100

Constitution: 10 (affects health, stamina, resistance to blows, and other abilities)

Spirit: 10/10 (spell attacks, spell recovery)

Strength: 10 (physical attack power)

Agility: 10 (movement and reaction speed)

Looking at the neat row of ten-point base attributes on the panel, Ji Xinghe suddenly understood.

Every player who logged into Island at the Start would have their base attributes raised to 10.

In her previous life, she had discovered by chance that Show-off Bro's base attributes were absurdly high.

Then she recalled her initial attributes when she had entered the Survival World. Not a single one had reached ten, and her lowest stat, Agility, had been only two.

She would have to wait until two hours later to confirm her theory.

With a tap, she hid the panel. Other players wouldn't be able to see any of her stats aside from her nickname.

After putting the treasure chest she'd just fished up into her inventory, a red dot appeared beside the quests tab.

[Novice Quest 1: Catch a total of five treasure chests (Completed) Claim reward: Experience Points +1, Wow Coins +1]

[Novice Quest 2: Successfully kill a monster (Incomplete) Quest completion reward: Experience Points +1, Wow Coins +1]

She tapped to claim the reward for Novice Quest 1, and another quest popped up.

[Novice Quest 3: Catch a total of fifty treasure chests (Incomplete) Quest completion reward: Experience Points +1, Wow Coins +1]

Ji Xinghe knew about the quests during the novice period. They were a bonus task that anyone could complete by keeping up with fishing every day.

That included the monster-killing quest. The Fishing Rod didn't just catch treasure chests; sometimes it pulled up all sorts of strange creatures, too. If you didn't deal with them, you'd be the one who died.

After fishing with rapt attention for a while, the footsteps and conversation of her colleagues in the office gradually faded until they disappeared...

At last, all that remained was Ji Xinghe's steady breathing and the duang-duang sound of her fingers tapping the screen.

Then she raised her head and furtively looked around.

Seeing that no one was nearby, she quietly logged into her encrypted account. She'd originally planned to use it to earn some extra spending money, but now it seemed it could serve another purpose.

The encrypted account had undergone special protections. Even a top hacker would need at least three hours to crack it.

She logged onto Douyin, currently the platform with the most users.

She searched for the official account and left a comment beneath it: [Island at the Start is a real survival world. In a little over two hours, people all over the world will be transported there! Hurry and play! I'm a puppy if I'm lying!]

Then she copied the message and sent it directly to the official account's private messages, adding one more sentence this time: [I know you're paying attention. Trust me and get in the game right now!]

It might sound a little nonsensical, but if even one more person believed her, the time they spent playing the game might be enough to help them survive.

She wasn't a good person, but there was no harm in saying something offhand online, as long as she didn't reveal her identity. It wouldn't cost her anything.

After sending those two messages, Ji Xinghe logged out of the account.

As she reeled in her line, she had no idea how much of a stir her messages had caused...

That one act would also lay the foundation for the China Region to gain an advantage over the rest of the world...

Half an hour later, thirteen wooden treasure chests were stacked neatly in her inventory.

Just after putting a chest into her inventory, her phone suddenly vibrated.

Seeing that it was a delivery notification, Ji Xinghe answered the call. "Just leave it at the front desk on the third floor. No need to bring it over."

Only after the courier had left did she hurry over to pick up the food.

Several unopened takeout boxes sat on her computer desk. She had to eat her fill before the Survival Game descended. She never wanted to go through the feeling of growing weak from hunger and throwing up stomach acid again.

Aside from the clothes she was wearing, she couldn't take any of her belongings with her.

The only thing she could do was build up a little more of a "nest egg" for herself before the Survival World arrived.

While she still had time between fishing, Ji Xinghe quickly opened all the takeout boxes.

As soon as she lifted the lids, the aroma of the food filled her nostrils.

Especially the Cao's she loved.

After entering the Survival World in her previous life, she'd dreamed about it. For someone who loved spicy food, even going a day without it left her craving it badly.

And she hadn't touched chili peppers in nearly half a year.

Still, for the sake of her health, she first shoveled down two mouthfuls of rice, then contentedly gnawed on a duck neck.

"Whew, whew, that's so good..."