Was Someone Forming a Team and Making Empty Promises?

"Survival shop?"

Ye Fei watched people in the chat discussing how the survival shop would unlock once they reached 20 Survival Points.

He currently had only 15 Survival Points, and he had no idea whether he could scrape together enough tomorrow.

Still, was having a shop in a game world really that strange?

As someone who was no good at socializing, Ye Fei stuck to lurking and watching, quietly living his own life.

Now, anyone who spoke in the chat channel could be added as a friend or marked for special attention, as long as their ID number had appeared.

Once someone was marked for special attention, all their previous messages could be searched in the chat channel. Just thinking about that feature made him uncomfortable.

Still, his preference for peace and quiet was merely one way of doing things. More people preferred to band together for support.

Even knowing scammers would slip in among them, they still insisted on forming all sorts of impractical groups at a time like this.

[Snow Mountain/0099-5117-1888: The Boxing Champion Hall is still recruiting. Add me as a friend if you're interested. You need at least 5 combat power. Don't bother adding me if you're below that. We want partners who can train with us, get stronger, and survive. We can't teach anyone who's too weak!]

Ye Fei vaguely remembered this person. He marked them for special attention and searched their earlier messages. This was the martial arts champion from some province or city whom he had once seen discussing combat power with others.

But after reading through their previous messages, Ye Fei lost interest.

Their spiel was on about the same level as the empty promises he had heard while looking for work.

It was all about joining their team, the plans they already had, the efforts they intended to make, and how now was the time to work hard. Everyone had to endure a little hardship so the team could develop better.

Then there was all that talk about sacrificing a tiny bit of personal gain now in exchange for boundless opportunities in the future...

Add them as a friend, and they could send over a listing for a specific item.

Once it was bought, other people's Survival Points would be transferred into their hands...

Each person only needed to spend one or two Survival Points, but the organizers stood to rake in a lot...

He opened the trading interface and took a look. Bread was currently selling at ten pieces for one Survival Point.

Someone said these teams claiming to teach martial arts required people to spend two to five Survival Points on a particular piece of bread or bottle of water. In return, they would privately include a martial arts training guide.

He couldn't say it was completely useless, but could martial arts really be learned from just a few words?

"Little one, let's give you a name. What should I call you? Little White?"

Not wanting to watch the growing number of martial arts masters recruiting people into their teams, Ye Fei closed the virtual screen. He tilted his head toward the little fox lying beside his pillow and tried giving her a name.

Ye Fei was never any good at naming things, but after he called her Little White a couple of times, the little fox actually ignored him.

"Don't like that name? Then let's try another. What should I call you? You're a snow fox, so Little Snow, Little Fox, Little Vixen... Looks like you don't like any of those. Then how about Qingxue?"

Ye Fei thought of a pet he had raised in a game he once played. It hadn't been a fox, but it had also been a tiny little ball of fluff.

"Arf!"

The little fox couldn't understand what any of those words meant. Seeing that Ye Fei had finally stopped talking, she raised her head and called out.

She meant that since he was done talking, it was time to eat.

"Looks like you like that name. Qingxue, let's eat!"

Seeing the little fox nod, Ye Fei was finally free of the naming dilemma. He stroked her head in satisfaction, then took down the pot of chicken soup, which was nearly ready to eat.

"Qingxue, have a chicken wing."

"Qingxue, try a piece of chicken breast."

"Don't like chicken breast? Then have a chicken neck..."

After giving her a name, Ye Fei called it out before doing anything, hoping to help the little fox get used to it.

By the time the little fox, who had been fed continuously, was full and lay down beside the bed, she had already grown used to the name.

"Qingxue, it's time for us to rest. We need to head out again tomorrow morning and look for things we can use."

After eating and drinking his fill, Ye Fei washed the pot and bowls and put them away. Then he took a shower before finally lying down to sleep.

Looking at the tiny ball curled up beside his pillow, he set down the hat he had taken off for bed so the little fox could sleep a little warmer.

"Yip..."

After seeing that Ye Fei had fallen asleep, the little fox Qingxue carefully crawled out, slowly walked over to him, and lay down against his shoulder.

This warm "fur" was still more comfortable. This human had actually left me off to the side. He didn't even know how to care for a cub. What an idiot.

When Ye Fei woke up and felt the fluffy little ball against his neck, he froze for a moment before realizing that the little fox had become increasingly clingy since accepting him as her owner.

"Morning. Get up and move around a bit. We'll eat soon."

There was still some chicken soup left from yesterday. After greeting the little fox, Ye Fei got out of bed.

He washed his face and switched on the electric pot, adding some water to the chicken soup. He would crack the three eggs he had found yesterday into it in a little while. Having bread with some hot chicken soup sounded pretty good, too.

"Whine, whine..."

Seeing that the pot capable of cooking delicious chicken was working again, the little fox Qingxue happily shook her little head. Then she pulled the door handle open with her paw and ran out to find Ye Fei.

When she saw Ye Fei sweeping snow in the yard, she ran up onto the crooked fence surrounding it and began running laps around the yard.

After going outside, Ye Fei had first checked today's Random Quest. It still required him to head out and collect supply crates, but today's target was five crates. Completing it would earn him 5 Survival Points.

"Qingxue, don't fall..."

He swept the yard while reading the various messages in the chat channel. What had been a perfectly ordinary morning cleanup nearly ended with him sweeping the little ball of fluff several times after she suddenly darted out.

"Yip~"

Qingxue was having a wonderful time. Hearing Ye Fei call her, she leaped straight off the fence and hurtled toward his chest.