Slacking off in the Game of Survival

Chapter 13 Dark Rock Incident(1)

Gentle breeze, the smell of grass…

Qian Yue opened her eyes and found herself lying on a strange grassy field.

The grass was about as tall as an adult’s calf. Qian Yue sat up slightly and realized that as far as her eyes could see, it was all wild grass, stretching endlessly.

With a gust of wind, the wild grass swayed back and forth with a rustling sound, like waves of green, a beautiful sight to behold.

Suddenly, a strange chirping sound came from the sky. It sounded like bird calls. Qian Yue instinctively looked up and her pupils shrank!

A black figure swooped down from the sky, and a pair of enormous membranous wings abruptly spread open in the high altitude, casting a shadow that almost enveloped her entire body!

Qian Yue instinctively held her breath, her eyes fixed on the figure, and her heartbeat became increasingly clear, pounding like a drum!

That is…

“Damn, is that a freaking pterosaur?!”

Suddenly, a jarring curse came from beside her, forcefully pulling Qian Yue back to reality.

Qian Yue turned around displeased, and not far from her in the bushes, a male player sat up abruptly. His gaze revealed a mix of astonishment and excitement.

“Is this the prehistoric world?!”

Strictly speaking, this place probably couldn’t be considered a true prehistoric world. Just from what Qian Yue could see, it was evident that the developers seemed to have mixed several eras together.

But that couldn’t dampen the players’ curiosity about prehistoric creatures.

For a while, cries of “damn” echoed one after another.

“Did you see that? How huge was that pterosaur’s wingspan? At least two or three meters! Damn, damn, damn! It landed, it landed!”

“Pterosaurs are ancient birds, right? Don’t birds hop? Why can it walk upright?”

“Damn, a few more are flying over! Why do they seem so restless?”

“They’ve never seen humans before, so it’s normal for them to be restless, right?”

“Do you think they’ve been circling in the sky for so long, preparing to prey on us like eagles catching chicks?”

“Damn, so the red-named monsters in this instance are prehistoric creatures? This game really thinks highly of us!”

Qian Yue, “…”

She couldn’t listen any longer.

Although Qian Yue did not specialize in paleontology, she knew that pterosaurs were unique reptiles and not ancestors of birds. Their body structure was completely different, so it was natural for them to walk upright.

The idea of pterosaurs preying on players was both laughable and absurd. Most pterosaurs were herbivorous or scavengers.

Rather than calling them red-named monsters, Qian Yue thought they were probably the indigenous NPCs of this instance.

However, the half-interstellar era is too far from prehistoric times, and only a few people were interested in exploring this knowledge. Most people were like children who had just received a new toy, finding everything here novel and interesting.

With exclamations starting with “damn” echoing around, within a few short minutes, more and more players appeared and left one after another, either going solo or in pairs.

Their excited expressions revealed their curiosity about exploring the prehistoric world. Almost no one knew what the name “Dark Rock Incident” represented.

As for the restlessness of the pterosaurs…

Qian Yue lay back on the grass, gazing at the sky with a somewhat solemn expression.

The Dark Rock Incident, also known as the Super Volcanic Eruption, is undoubtedly the top killer in history, despite the contrasting names— one poetic and subtle while the other explosively dramatic.

Take the famous Siberian Traps Incident on the Blue Star (Earth) as an example. That catastrophic event nearly wiped out 98% of marine life and 96% of terrestrial life, almost overturning the entire world.

After graduating from university, Qian Yue had the opportunity to participate in a scientific expedition related to the Dark Rock Incident. However, at that time, she could only see the traces left behind by the super eruption millions of years ago—the authentic dark rocks.

Due to the destructive nature of the Dark Rock Incident, people could only speculate about its mysteries through data analysis in later generations, never truly experiencing its impact firsthand.

The geologists who were with Qian Yue at the time had exclaimed more than once: even if they were burned to death in the magma, they still wanted to witness the magnificent scene that would rewrite history with their own eyes.

Now, lying on this grassy lawn, Qian Yue felt like she could understand that geologist’s sentiment.

Because at this moment, all that filled her mind were these words:

“The smell of grass, truly magnificent.”

Even though she knew that this instance was nothing more than a “simulated Dark Rock Incident” built on a database, she couldn’t help but be excited by the immersive experience provided by the holograms.

She felt like she could live another ten days.

No, ten years.

Considering that she still had to survive for ten days in the instance, Qian Yue carefully checked her supplies.

Unfortunately, because she had passed up the opportunity for pre-instance provisioning, her backpack currently only contained the remnants from the previous round.

Hard bread x2, Vitamin C x10, Mental Suppressants x5, Item Fragment (Meat) x3, Item Fragment (Fur) x5, Blueprint (Roast Meat) x2, Blueprint (Bandage) x1, Flint x1, Oil Lamp x1, Ice Pick x1, Shovel x1, Rope x1, Cape x1, Seasoning x1, and the thousand yen given earlier.

Qian Yue checked the extra seasoning and found that the remaining usage count was still full, none of them had been used. It must be the spawn item today.

The flint and oil lamp was both practical and would likely come in handy in this instance. The cape…

Wait, the cape?

Qian Yue was taken aback, realizing that she seemed to have completely forgotten to return the cape!

She remembered the shovel from Uncle Xie, but unfortunately, the incident occurred just as she reached the outskirts of the village, resulting in a failed return.

“…”

I hope the NPC(s) doesn’t hold a grudge against me.

It really wasn’t on purpose!

With these thoughts in mind, Qian Yue became restless.

But soon, she calmed down again. Meeting the Item Merchant was not something that could be rushed; this matter couldn’t be forced.

“We plan to go out and explore. Do you want to join us?”

Suddenly, a voice came from above, and Qian Yue opened her eyes to meet an excited face.

It was the guy who had just shouted about pterosaurs, he had handsome features, but Qian Yue became irritated as soon as she saw him.

She responded coldly, “No.”

Song Zeyang enthusiastically invited, “This is a prehistoric world! It’s dangerous to go alone. Since we were transported together, why not form a team?”

Qian Yue pulled her backpack up, covering her entire face, and showed with her action that she rejects any further communication.

Song Zeyang wanted to say something, but his other teammates couldn’t contain themselves any longer.

“Are we going or not?”

“If she doesn’t want to go, let’s forget about it.”

Song Zeyang looked at his teammates and then at Qian Yue, who remained completely unmoved. Finally, he sighed and said, “Alright, let’s go then.”

Song Zeyang felt a bit regretful.

In fact, he had been observing Qian Yue for a while.

Despite his seemingly out-of-place appearance, Song Zeyang was actually an extreme sports enthusiast and had some skills among the many players.

During the three days of rest, he had been preparing for the game and hardly hesitated when selecting supplies.

Originally, he thought he would be the first, but he didn’t expect
someone to enter the instance before him. As a result, he paid more attention.

The more he looked, the more he felt that Qian Yue was somewhat special.

The other players who entered the instance either rambled in excitement like him or were too shocked to speak.

Of course, there were a few who showed panic, but Song Zeyang had not seen anyone else as calm as Qian Yue.

In fact, Qian Yue was quite surprised herself, but her emotions hadn’t had a chance to brew before he interrupted her.

However, Song Zeyang himself was unaware of this misunderstanding.
His intuition told him that the other person must be formidable.

Song Zeyang guessed, “Maybe she already stocked up on supplies.”

“Isn’t it possible to bring supplies from the previous instance to this one? I saw someone on the forum who seemed to have found resource points and stocked up a lot.”

One of the teammates scoffed, “The last instance only had fifty slots. Even if you stock up more, how much can you get?”

These few people were teleported very close to each other, so they knew that Qian Yue hadn’t moved since entering the instance.

Another person said, “Maybe she was scared to death by the dinosaurs and is ready to give up.”

They hadn’t walked far, and they didn’t deliberately lower their voices, but their discussion didn’t affect Qian Yue in any way—or rather, she didn’t pay attention to what people around her were saying.

Because at this moment, Qian Yue was lying close to the ground, fully focused on sensing something else.

The Dark Rock Incident is called the Super Volcano not only because its power is greater than other volcanic eruptions, but also because its eruption form is very unique—

Mountains, plains, even basins, any terrain could become its vent.

Rolling magma directly breaks through the surface, and what forms after cooling and accumulation is what people commonly know as a volcano.

In Qian Yue’s words, it’s the mother of a volcano.

Anyone who has studied biology knows that during the process of gestating a fetus, there is a term called “fetal movement.”

When the mother of a volcano erupts, it also has plate movements, which are—

“Damn, an earthquake!”

[TL Note: Dark Rock Incident is a direct translation so there can be more clarity on what it is. The official translation is Traps in which Oxford languages define as: basalt or a similar dark, fine-grained igneous rock.]