Newbie Quest

She patted her cheeks, took a deep breath, and forced down her excitement before clicking to reel in the line.

Only a little over two hours left—not a single second could be wasted.

Ripples spread across the sea surface, and the next moment, a faintly glowing wooden treasure chest drifted along the current, appearing beside the little figure.

If she hadn't lived through it all, 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.

With that thought, she opened her backpack and used the Newbie Set.

[Newbie Set: Core equipment for new players]

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

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

After one-click equipping it on the little figure, the personal panel on the screen lit up. Ji Xinghe tapped lightly to check the details.

Nickname: Player 001 (default nickname can be changed)

Talent: Drain

Level: 0 (0/100)

Health: 100/100

Physique: 10 (affects health, stamina, damage resistance, etc.)

Spirit: 10/10 (magic attack, magic recovery)

Strength: 10 (physical attack power)

Agility: 10 (movement, reaction speed)

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

Every player who logged into Island at the Start would have their base stats boosted to ten points.

In her past life, she'd accidentally discovered from Show-off Bro that his base stats were absurdly high.

Thinking back to when she first entered the survival world, none of her initial stats had reached ten points, and her lowest—agility—had been a mere two.

As for confirming this theory, she'd have to wait two hours.

She casually hid the panel. Aside from the nickname, no other player could see any of her panel's information.

She stashed the freshly fished treasure chest into her backpack, and a red dot appeared on the quest tab.

[Novice Quest 1: Fish up five treasure chests (Completed) — Reward available: Experience Points +1, Wow Coins +1]

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

She tapped to claim the reward for Quest 1, and a new quest popped up.

[Novice Quest 3: Fish up fifty treasure chests (Incomplete) — Quest completion reward: Experience Points +1, Wow Coins +1]

Ji Xinghe knew about the newbie quests—they were welfare tasks that could be completed as long as you kept fishing every day.

As for the monster-killing quest, the fishing rod wouldn't just pull up treasure chests; occasionally, it would hook strange creatures. If you didn't deal with them, you'd be the one dead.

She focused on fishing for a while, the footsteps and chatter of her office colleagues gradually fading until they disappeared...

In the end, only Ji Xinghe's steady breathing and the duang duang of her finger tapping the screen remained.

Then, she lifted her head and sneakily glanced around.

Seeing no one nearby, she quietly logged into an encrypted account. Originally, she'd planned to use it to earn some extra pocket money, but now it seemed it had a different purpose.

The encrypted account had been specially processed—even top-tier hackers couldn't crack it in under three hours.

She logged into Douyin, the platform with the highest traffic right now.

Searching for the official account, she left a comment below: "[Island at the Start] is a real survival world! In a little over two hours, all of humanity will be transported there! Everyone, go play it now! Lying makes me a dog!"

Then she copied it and sent it directly to the official DMs, but this time she added one more line: "I know you're watching. Trust me, get in the game now!"

It might seem a bit ridiculous, but if even one more person believed it, maybe with the game time they'd accumulate, one more life could be saved.

She wasn't a good person, but when it came to saying a casual sentence online without exposing herself, it was no big deal—she said it and moved on.

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

As she reeled in her line, she had no idea the waves her messages were causing...

And that very move laid the foundation for the China Region to lead the world...

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

Just as she put the chests away, her phone suddenly vibrated.

Seeing the delivery notification on the screen, Ji Xinghe answered the call: "Just leave it at the front desk on the third floor, no need to bring it over."

After the rider left, she quickly walked over to pick up the takeout.

Several unopened takeout boxes sat on the computer desk. She had to eat her fill before the survival game descended—she never wanted to experience hunger so severe it left her weak and vomiting stomach acid again.

The only items she could bring in were the clothes on her back; nothing else would carry over.

All she could do was stockpile a little "capital" for herself before the survival world arrived.

Seizing the downtime while fishing, Ji Xinghe quickly opened every takeout container.

The lid came off, and the aroma of food instantly hit her nose.

Especially her favorite—Cao's.

In her previous life, after entering the survival world, she dreamed of it constantly. For someone who loved spicy food, going a single day without it was torture.

Let alone nearly half a year without touching a single chili pepper.

But for the sake of her stomach, she forced down a couple mouthfuls of rice first, then contentedly gnawed on a duck neck.

"Hiss, haah... so good..."