She flipped further through the diary. Several pages in the middle had been torn out by its owner. Ji Xinghe turned to the next page.
"Why? Why did you betray the continent and your own people!"
"Do you know how everyone in the Green Tribe is cursing you? Come back, and I'll curse them right back."
"Please come back. I promise I won't bother you anymore..."
She flipped further.
"An old friend turned into an enemy. Ling, are you happy? I won't hold back. I have millions of my people behind me."
"If you apologize, I can choose to forgive you."
"Why? Why did you let me win! I hate you."
"The war is over. I won, but I'm not happy. Ling, I can't see you again."
"It's been so long since I last wrote in this diary. I've nearly lost track of how long it's been since the Survival Calendar began. Today I discovered that the island shrinking at the start of every month isn't a natural phenomenon. Dark Creatures are dragging the islands away and devouring them!"
Below it was another line, written in a hurried scrawl, the ink blurred by tears.
"I think I'm about to die, Ling. Is it you?"
"No, it's the Black Mist... I saw its eyes, glowing red in the darkness."
"If anyone finds this diary, remember not to trust anyone, including your family and friends. They may have been affected."
"At the same time, we must unite! Only by standing together can we have even the slightest hope of surviving in the Survival World... This world is more terrifying than you can imagine."
At the end of the diary was a photograph of two green-skinned, pointy-eared women. The taller woman gazed affectionately at the woman who had her arms around her.
Below it was a sentence: "If I die, I hope whoever finds this will help me deliver the things I left behind to her."
After reading the diary, Ji Xinghe was deeply moved.
The affection between the two was clear in every line.
One had been betrayed, yet still chose to forgive. Even the last things she left behind were meant for the other.
The other had betrayed her own people, but still held back for her, even on the battlefield.
If not for the Survival Game, they would probably still be like the women in the photo: one playfully teasing the other, who laughed along.
From just a few short entries, Ji Xinghe had also pieced together several things she hadn't known.
1: When an island reached level ten, its owner could choose an Island Core.
2: The shrinking islands and the movements of the Dark Creatures weren't natural phenomena.
3: Dark Creatures were powerful. She'd probably been lucky to kill the one she'd encountered on her island.
4: The diary said to unite, but also warned against trusting anyone too easily. It was probably referring to the effects of the Black Mist. Could it influence people, or even replace their souls?
She wrote these points in her diary, then put it back in the Storage Box.
Next, she opened her status panel. After fighting monsters all day, her Experience Points and Attribute Values had increased considerably.
Level: 1 (469/200) (Can Upgrade) Health: 189/190 Wealth: 1,058 Wow Coins Reputation: 19 Mutation Value: 8% Base Attributes: Constitution: 19｜Spirit: 52/60.8｜Strength: 25.1｜Agility: 13.6 Free Attribute Points: 10
She clicked Upgrade.
[Level increased. Free Attribute Points ×3 obtained.]
Ji Xinghe put 10 points into Agility, and 1 point each into Constitution, Spirit, and Strength.
She'd realized that being able to run fast had plenty of benefits, especially when it came to staying alive.
As for her Mutation Value, now that she was back in a normal environment, it was gradually decreasing.
Level: 2 (269/300) (Cannot Upgrade)
She closed her status panel.
Ji Xinghe pulled the Trash Bin over beside her.
It had been ready to upgrade ever since she explored the island, but she hadn't claimed the resources because she didn't have enough space in her inventory.
"Recyclable Trash Can (Level One)" "Trait: Devour trash to gain +5 Prosperity. For every 1 kg of trash devoured, randomly obtain one resource." "Upgrade requirements: Devour 100 kg of trash and spend 100 Wow Coins." "Current weight of trash devoured: 9,999 kg"
Ji Xinghe tried trading 1 kg of trash for resources and got Wood ×1.
She didn't try again, and clicked to upgrade the Trash Bin.
[100 Wow Coins deducted. Upgrading the Recyclable Trash Can.] [Upgrade complete.] "Recyclable Trash Can (Level Two)" "Trait: Devour trash to gain +10 Prosperity. For every 1 kg of trash devoured, randomly obtain one resource (5% higher chance of rare resources)." "Upgrade requirements: Devour 1,000 kg of trash and spend 1,000 Wow Coins." "Current weight of trash devoured: 9,998 kg"
This time, the limiting factor wasn't the weight. She didn't have enough Wow Coins. She had only a little over a thousand in total.
Ji Xinghe exchanged all 9,998 kg of trash at once and got: Wood ×5,000, Stone ×3,000, Thatch ×1,000, Plastic ×500, Rice (1 jin) ×498.
Ha, there was even rice. What kind of magical trash can was this? She loved it.
She put all the remaining Stone, Thatch, and Plastic up on the Trade Market in stacks of 999, hoping to trade them for Wow Coins.
As she always said, if someone took the offer, that was a pleasant surprise; if not, she hadn't lost anything.
She put the remaining basic materials and rice in the Storage Box, then placed the Wood Arrow Blueprint in the crafting station as well.
She used 2,000 Wood and set it to craft 10,000 Wood Arrows.
Ji Xinghe's main means of attack was still the Star Feather Repeating Crossbow.
After all, using it for two hours consumed only two Steamed Buns.
She looked up at the Treadmill in the living room, then glanced out the window at the sunset casting shadows across the beach.
Xiao Sha had casually taken root in one spot, while Xiao Xi had climbed onto Xiao Sha. Vines waved in the air as the two pets chatted about something.
It looked like a peaceful, carefree scene, but Ji Xinghe knew it was only the calm before the storm.
Both the diary she'd just read and her past experience told her that the Survival World was a harsh place.
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