Wang Yu was still awake in the early hours of the night. He figured there probably wasn't a single player in the wilderness who could sleep.
He went to wait in the cave entrance above the Giant Rock Notch.
At exactly midnight, the heavy rain abruptly stopped.
The rain had started silently seven days ago, and now it had stopped just as silently. Seeing it come to a sudden halt was a spectacle in its own right.
Wang Yu knew the rain would stop right on schedule at midnight, but he still couldn't help going up to take a look.
Now that he'd seen it, he returned to the first floor of the shelter and went to bed.
He lay down on the sheepskin and fell asleep at once.
A little after three in the morning, his alarm rang. It was time to use Dice-Increased Quantity again.
Wang Yu took out the twelve prepared Wild Chilies, each weighing 12 grams. The weather was about to turn cold, so he used Dice-Increased Quantity on them to help keep warm. Staying warm meant more than just wearing clothes and keeping a fire going—you had to eat, too. Chili peppers were undoubtedly good for warding off the cold.
He rolled the Dice.
Five.
Wang Yu rolled a five, increasing his Wild Chilies by five strings. His luck was amazing once again.
He took out the five strings of Wild Chilies. He now had seventy-two in total.
He wouldn't have to worry about running out of spicy meat soup anymore.
He hung six strings of chilies in the kitchen area, then went back to sleep.
That morning marked the fifteenth day in the Survival Game. Wang Yu got up on time at eight.
After eating Meat Soup for several days, he wanted a change of pace.
He took out some Water Snail Meat and threaded it onto three wooden skewers, about six liang in all. He would have Roasted Water Snail Meat for breakfast. His food supply was more than plentiful now, so he could eat his fill at every meal.
The last time he'd used Dice-Increased Quantity on his Water Snail Meat, he'd gained roughly fifteen jin, enough to fill One Tin Bucket. He'd also earned another seventy-three jin of Water Snail Meat over the past few days, and hadn't used Dice-Increased Quantity on it yet. He could eat as much of it as he wanted.
After finishing the Roasted Water Snail Meat and some berries,
Wang Yu tidied up and prepared to leave the shelter. He climbed the big wooden ladder to the cave entrance. He didn't bring his Oil Lamp. He had to be careful when coming and going now; other players might be nearby, and he couldn't let Lamp Light give away his position.
First, he would look around from the cave entrance and check whether there was any Lamp Light nearby. Only then would he light his Oil Lamp. Making a habit of this would save him a lot of trouble later.
In the Dark Night, even a single light could be seen from far away. He couldn't afford to overlook that.
Naturally, there were no players nearby, and everything was pitch-black. Wang Yu lit his Oil Lamp and lowered the Small Wooden Ladder down beside the boulder.
He climbed down the Small Wooden Ladder and stepped outside the shelter. The moment he touched the ground, he was taken aback.
The floodwater outside was gone—or, more accurately, it had receded. The traces of the flooding were still there, but the water itself had disappeared.
Wang Yu immediately checked the area and confirmed that the floodwater was indeed gone, leaving only muddy ground behind.
The water had receded far too quickly.
Wang Yu had a theory. He opened the Chat Channel to check, and sure enough, the floodwaters across the wilderness had receded. The players were all discussing it.
Everyone agreed that it was simply part of the game's design. There wasn't much else to say.
But the receding floodwaters were great news for the players.
They could move freely through the wilderness, drain the water from their shelters, venture out to find food, and start fires to cook. More importantly, they could go looking for this round's benefits.
The small groups and guilds could finally gather in person.
It was easy to imagine players running all over the wilderness from then on.
That wasn't good news for Wang Yu.
He went to the wall outside the shelter. The wall stood four or five meters high all the way around, and there were only a few concealed openings to enter and leave the shelter.
Beyond the wall, several-meter-high boulders and woods formed a maze. The path to the shelter was extremely hard to spot.
After passing through the wall, Wang Yu went to a cedar tree more than sixty centimeters thick and removed the four Pine Oil Collectors. He poured the pine oil into the Tin Bucket.
Then Wang Yu didn't put the Pine Oil Collectors back. Instead, he used moss to conceal the holes they'd left in the Great Cedar Wood.
The tree was too conspicuous. He couldn't keep the Pine Oil Collectors installed there. The area around it was a maze, so the chance of a player coming here was low, but Wang Yu wanted to minimize the risk and eliminate every potential threat.
Afterward, Wang Yu installed the four Pine Oil Collectors in a few inconspicuous trees and concealed them. Even a player searching with a lantern might not spot them.
Once he was done, Wang Yu returned to the shelter.
The floodwaters had receded too suddenly, and he hadn't been prepared at all. He needed to go back and think through what to do next.
He had only one question: should he go looking for this round's benefits?
Deep down, he was inclined to go. As the saying went, fortune favored the bold. He wanted to see what the Fruit of the Birch Tree was, too.
He couldn't afford to miss out on something good.
He wanted to go looking for the benefits partly because the floodwaters had receded, and partly because he had Big Cat as a mount. Otherwise, he definitely wouldn't have gone. There was no point taking that kind of risk.
Now that the floodwaters were gone, he had four Big Cats to ride. He could travel a total of 120 kilometers there and back to search for the benefits. He had the means, so why not go?
Since he'd decided to go, he had to hurry. Otherwise, the thousand benefits might all be snatched up.
Wang Yu packed some meat, plant-based food, and his Crossbow. He would be fine even if someone robbed his home; the food in his Backpack alone would keep him alive.
Once he was ready, Wang Yu left the shelter. There was one more thing he had to do: set twelve Animal Traps in the Rocky Area behind the shelter. It was extremely unlikely that a player would come to this area.
He wanted to see if he could catch some game with the twelve Animal Traps. They might as well be put to use instead of sitting empty.
Wang Yu figured that such a large Rocky Area had to have small animals.
After setting all twelve Animal Traps, Wang Yu crossed the Forest Maze and came to the Steep Slope leading from the woods to the creek.
"Rumble—"
Before he even reached the creek, Wang Yu heard the floodwaters roaring. It seemed the flooding in the creek was still severe and hadn't completely receded.
It looked like crossing the creek was out of the question. He could only walk along one side of it.
Wang Yu summoned Big Cat and climbed onto his back.
He'd studied the map and had a rough idea of which way to go.
Wang Yu decided to head downstream along Creek Downstream. The reason was simple: there was a female Player upstream, someone he couldn't afford to provoke. He should stay away.
Big Cat moved lightly, making the journey remarkably smooth. He was many times faster than Wang Yu could have managed on foot.
The Prompt Message said that he would receive a notification when he came within 300 meters of the benefits. Wang Yu could only keep moving forward, like a blind cat hoping to catch a dead rat, and wait for the Prompt Message.
A little after nine in the morning, he could increase the quantity of an item again.
Wang Yu found a large boulder.
He rolled the Dice.
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