Fate Gift, Greenforest City Daily

[Congratulations! Fish Abyss Shelter has joined the Rankings. Current rank: 10,000. Reward: 100 Survival Points.]

Yu Yuan was about to take a closer look at his Hideout.

But a mechanical voice sounded in his ear.

[Hideout construction complete. Player Yu Yuan has drawn Fate's attention and received a Fate Card.]

What the hell?

A Fate Card?

On the Virtual Light Screen, the [Survival] page had originally offered only one option: [Hideout Management].

Now it had a new one—[Fate Card].

He tapped it.

A mysterious deep-purple glow washed over the Virtual Light Screen, and a plain wooden box appeared at its center.

A wooden box.

A line of text slowly appeared beneath it.

—Maxim: Every gift from Fate had its price marked in secret long ago.

After three seconds, the words faded and became three options.

[Choose one of the three Fate Gifts below as your gift from Fate.]

—Worn Dining Table

Function: Receive one free breakfast each day (one glass of milk and one piece of bread). Additional food requiring Survival Points to purchase might appear.

—Worn Newspaper Rack

Function: Receive one free newspaper each day. It might contain useful intelligence. Additional items requiring Survival Points to purchase might appear.

—Worn Wooden Table

Function: Receive one free item each day (medical supplies, energy supplies, building materials, electronics, tools...). Additional items requiring Survival Points to purchase might appear.

Damn...

As Yu Yuan looked at the three options on the Light Screen, his heart began to race.

He couldn't tear his eyes from any of them. He wanted them all.

But that was clearly impossible.

Food was naturally the safest choice. Whatever happened, choosing food wouldn't be wrong.

But...

The other two options, intelligence and items, were tempting too.

Intelligence could tell him what was happening, while items would probably help him build his Hideout.

After a few seconds of thought, his gaze settled on [Worn Newspaper Rack].

He made his final choice.

Food and items would offer some security, but compared with them, intelligence held limitless possibilities.

[Worn Newspaper Rack has been placed in your Hideout. Please inspect it yourself!]

Once Yu Yuan made his choice, the wooden box began to shake.

Three seconds later, it stopped, and a long, earth-yellow card marked with mysterious patterns appeared before him.

[This Fate Card—Slaughter]

Rock Tier Slaughter Card

[Slaughter Card. Quality: Rock Tier. The player must kill one human within two days, or the player will die.]

Yu Yuan's pupils contracted. He immediately understood what the Fate Gift's marked price meant.

"Whenever I choose a Fate Gift, I have to fulfill the requirement on its Fate Card."

He took a deep breath. Strangely, his unease eased.

He pushed open the wooden door of the Hideout. Inside was an empty space of a little over sixty square meters, with nothing but an old three-tier newspaper rack.

He opened the Virtual Light Screen and brought up the Hideout information under Hideout Management.

[Fish Abyss Shelter] (Rank: 10,000)

Owner: Yu Yuan

Area: 60 m²

Security level: 0

Comfort level: 0

Energy level: 0

Defense level: 0

Sanitation level: 0

The [Facility Management Log] contained more than twenty [Facility Construction] options, including [Security], [Rest Area], [Water Collector], and [Ventilation].

None could be built yet. Yu Yuan checked them one by one.

[Rest Area Level 1—Floor Bedding]

Construction materials: Lighter ×1, yoga mat ×1, old cloth ×3

[Security Level 1—Worn Front Door]

Construction materials: Wood ×10 units, screwdriver ×1, screws ×15, hinges ×2

[Bathroom Level 1...]

By the time he had gone through them all, his sense of urgency had only grown.

Supplies. Supplies, and more supplies.

Building a Hideout would take a huge amount of supplies. He also had to find food and drinking water today.

Otherwise, once his strength declined tomorrow, searching for supplies would only get harder.

From what he'd learned in the chat channel and the intensity of the marauders' gunfight, Yu Yuan knew his only chance to gather supplies would come at night.

Daylight was out of the question. A single Sniper—or even a marauder—could kill him.

That was the advantage of building his Hideout in the Sewer. Its network ran beneath every street and building in the city, where he wouldn't have to worry about snipers.

The Virtual Light Screen displayed the time: 4:32 p.m. Nightfall was probably only two or three hours away.

Time was short. He had to move!

His gaze fell on the room's only item, the Worn Newspaper Rack. A neatly folded newspaper was already resting on it.

Everything depends on this.

He unfolded the paper. Most of its contents were blurred, as though stained with ink, but two sections were still legible.

Yu Yuan was delighted and began reading at once.

[Greenforest City Daily]

Date: Wasteland Calendar, Day 1

Weather: Sunny, turning cloudy. A little acid rain was expected at 11:50 p.m. and would last approximately half an hour.

Temperature: 19°C–26°C.

Publisher: Wasteland Fate News Agency.

[District News Section]

Quality: Rock Tier

Danger level: Low

At 2:45 p.m. today, a gunfight broke out at Phoenix Tree Apartments, No. 48 Felwood Street, East City District 13. A chase through the district followed, leaving eight dead and seven injured.

An investigation found that Phoenix Tree Apartments was a surveillance outpost established by Marauder Prison in East City District 13. Black Shield Police Department destroyed it in a Surprise Attack, seized all supplies, and placed Trip Mines outside Rooms 401 and 402.

A small quantity of supplies remained in Rooms 408, 503, and 506.

Nearby refugees had marked the apartment building. They would enter to search it late at night.

Yu Yuan took a deep breath, suppressing his excitement as he read the newspaper.

Marauder Prison and Black Shield Police Department had to be the two Factions involved in the gunfight and chase two hours earlier. The timing matched too.

This had happened today.

As he read on, his heart began to race again.

"Some supplies left in Rooms 408, 503, and 506, and the city's refugees have marked the place..."

The precise location of the supplies and the warning of possible danger made Yu Yuan deeply grateful he had chosen the Worn Newspaper Rack.

"Danger level: low. City refugees?" His eyes moved to the earth-yellow Fate Card on the Light Screen, and his gaze sharpened.