Tree Hole Shelter

As the saying goes, "A miserable life is better than a good death."

If there were truly no hope, who would be willing to die?

And now, although she had suddenly been pulled into a place that looked extremely dangerous, it was also a tremendous opportunity.

So Lan Qingyou struggled to turn over, dragging herself across the ground with both hands as she crawled awkwardly toward the Magic Desk. Bracing herself against one corner of the desk, she straightened her body and began examining the Magic Desk the voice had mentioned.

The desk was somewhat like the smart desks she had used in school before, operated entirely by touchscreen.

The Magic Desk was divided into two sections, one large and one small.

The larger one was on the left, taking up two-thirds of the desktop. The smaller one was on the right, taking up the remaining third.

A line of Federation common script was clearly displayed on the large screen: "Please place your hand on the small screen to bind."

Lan Qingyou did as instructed and placed her right hand on it.

[Ding! Tree Hole Shelter (Level 1) successfully bound.]

As the Magic Desk spoke, Lan Qingyou saw the dark green patterns that had originally been painted throughout the room glow green before vanishing.

As the Shelter bound to her, a green leaf-shaped tattoo appeared on the back of her right hand.

It was probably something like a key or proof of registration.

Lan Qingyou thought.

After the binding was completed, the display on the desk changed as well.

Six sections appeared at the top of the large screen: [World Channel] [Regional Channel] [Regional Trading Post] [Personal Information] [Friends 0/0] [Coming Soon].

After the World Channel was a string of numbers: "22658443985/22658443985."

Forcing herself to focus, Lan Qingyou counted them. There were more than 22.6 billion people.

That was slightly more than two-thirds of Blue Star's entire population.

The Regional Channel also had a string of numbers after it: "666 (Abandoned Forest) 10000/10000."

It looked like she and more than nine thousand others had been assigned to District 666, the Abandoned Forest.

But she did not pay attention to any of that. Right now, she only wanted to know how to awaken her talent.

"Hello? Hello? Is anyone there?"

The World Channel became lively after that message appeared.

"Don't stay silent, everyone. I'm all alone in a little wooden cabin, and I'm so scared."

"What is going on?!"

"Did the Blue Star World Will sell us to the Will of Karim World?"

"What kind of interstellar triangular trade is this? This isn't funny at all..."

"Does something like a World Will really exist?"

"You've already been teleported, and you still care about questions like that?"

"My barbecue had just been served! I didn't even get one bite before I was forcibly dragged to this shitty place. What did I ever do?"

"Help! Mom, where are you?"

"I'm waiting for someone who claims to be a billionaire and says they'll reward you with half their fortune if you save them and bring them back to Blue Star."

"Why do they have to claim it?"

"Because we're all dirt poor now."

"Could it be that all of you are AI, and I'm the only living person?"

"It's not impossible, but since I'm human, I suspect you're the AI."

"Don't panic, everyone. First, check your starting points and see whether there's anyone nearby. We can only survive if we stick together."

"Fuck! What bullshit Blue Star Will! What bullshit Karim! Send me back!"

"Exactly! You forcibly filled this place with people. Did you ever ask for my opinion?"

This world chat did not seem to have the speaking restrictions described in novels.

Anyone could speak freely at any time.

Of course, that also made the World Channel refresh at an incredible speed. Lan Qingyou suspected that if the desk were not a magical creation, it would have crashed instantly, the kind that fried the CPU outright.

Fortunately, the chat window had a screen lock function.

After locking it, she could slowly scroll down and read every message.

It was convenient, but also rather tiring.

Every message had a circular profile picture and a name in front of it, looking no different from an ordinary chat app.

Could these profile pictures and names all belong to real people using their real names?

Thinking of this, Lan Qingyou tried casually sending a message herself.

After locking the screen and searching for a while, she really did find her own profile picture and name, along with the message "1111."

That confirmed it.

There were no aliases. They were all real people.

Lan Qingyou searched through the functions to see whether she could block people or post anonymously, but found nothing.

It seemed the Will of Karim World had no intention of letting these despicable outsiders hide behind masks.

She found nothing regarding talents, either.

After more than ten minutes, she had not seen a single useful message.

However, just as she was about to open Personal Information to take a look, the news she wanted finally arrived.

"Everyone, hurry to the Small Screen and claim your talents! I awakened a B-Rank talent!"

"Hahaha, mine is A-Rank Flame Nova, and it's an offensive talent! Next, I shall conquer the whole world!"

"Hmph, how dare a mere A-Rank boast so shamelessly? Where does that leave me, an S-Rank Heavenly Emperor?"

"So it's an S-Rank big brother."

"Big brother, protect us!"

"Look at me, look at me!"

Hmm, the Small Screen?

Seeing those messages, Lan Qingyou immediately turned to look at the Small Screen beside her and saw a pop-up window.

[Dear Blue Star Person, the Small Screen on the Magic Desk can be used for Material Teleportation. Teleported materials will be stored in your Trading Post shop for trading. At the same time, you may retrieve items from your shop using the Small Screen. It is a very convenient function. However, please ensure there is sufficient space around the Small Screen whenever retrieving items, or some blockage may occur. In addition, the Small Screen has an appraisal function. If you acquire anything interesting, you may bring it here for appraisal.]

"Spatial teleportation and item appraisal... This Small Screen really is amazing."

As she said this, Lan Qingyou opened the Regional Trading Post to check the situation, only to discover that she did not have a shop at all.

To obtain one, she had to pay twenty basic units of materials to activate it.

Fine. It seemed even miraculous functions did not come with a free trial.

Expressionless, Lan Qingyou closed the pop-up window.

The instant she closed it, another pop-up appeared on the Small Screen.

[Talent is a reflection of the soul. Please place your hand on the Small Screen and think of what you desire most to awaken your talent.]

It was here!

Seeing those words, Lan Qingyou's heart jolted. She then calmly placed her hand on it and began thinking about what she wanted, as instructed.

What did she want most?

She had not known before, but ever since the car accident, there had only been one thing she wanted.

The ability to move, of course!

As long as she could move freely and no longer be burdened by legs that had become mere decorations, then nothing else should matter, right?

Like those little birds, freely soaring through the blue sky.

The ability to go anywhere—able to effortlessly climb even the hundreds-story building that had been the only thing left in her memory of that dark room.

[Ding! Talent acquired successfully. E-Rank talent "Lightness Technique" awakened. E-Rank basic skill "Gathering Art" acquired. Tool Selection Gift Pack acquired. Please select your tool.]

After a string of notifications rang out, the pop-up window on the Small Screen disappeared, replaced by buttons one after another.

[Longsword] [Short Sword] [Dagger] [Long Saber] [Short Saber] [Axe] [Bow and Arrow] [Crossbow] [Long Staff] [Short Staff] [Spear]...

[Hoe] [Spatula] [Crowbar] [Hammer] [Scissors] [Sickle] [Quill Pen]...

There were probably more than a hundred different kinds in total, leaving Lan Qingyou dazzled.

She looked at the options, then at her own legs.

Lan Qingyou felt that she had basically said goodbye to wielding blades and spears. Looking at it this way, there did not seem to be many choices left for her.

So she decided to check her Personal Information before making a decision.

After all, it was free.

If nothing else, she could just pick one at random as a decoration to add some atmosphere to this bare little home.