Slacking off in the Game of Survival

Chapter 24 Ten Square Metres Island(1)

On the evening of the next day, Qian Yue saw her family of three waiting for her in the arrival pick-up hall.

Qian’s parents hadn’t changed much, but Qian Chi, the kid, had grown taller in the past half year.

With his height of over 1.8 meters and refined and handsome face, he stood out among ordinary people, attracting the attention of many girls nearby.

If only he didn’t exude such a strong silly disposition when he opened his mouth.

“Sis! What are you looking at? I’m here!”

Qian Yue didn’t like going to those so-called high-end restaurants to join the crowd, and her family knew her habits, so they went straight home after picking her up.

Once they got on the hovercar, Qian Chi couldn’t wait to start talking, “Sis, how are you preparing for the next instance? I’ve already prepared the nutrition pod for you!”

Qian Yue asked, “What do you mean?”

Isn’t the content of the instance only known after entering the game? How do you prepare in advance?

“Don’t you know?” Qian Chi was also taken aback momentarily and then realized that Qian Yue might have lost her internet connection again.

He asked, “Did you see the game forum website that I sent you that day?”

Qian Yue replied, “I saw it. Is there a problem?”

Qian Chi suddenly understood, “…Open it again. You probably didn’t see the official update with that set of pictures.”

Hearing this, Qian Yue turned her head and glanced at him.

The two looked at each other, at a loss for words.

Qian Chi thought, “My sister is great in every way, except for her hot temper and frequent internet outages. She’s young yet old-fashioned.”

Qian Yue thought, “It seems like my little brother’s brain doesn’t work properly most of the time. I hope he’s not a fan of that item merchant.”

Although Qian Chi didn’t know what she was thinking, he knew it probably wasn’t something good.

He simply handed over his terminal, and on it were the pictures released by the game’s official website.

“Here, see for yourself.”

Qian Yue glanced at it and realized that the so-called set of pictures was completely different from what she had imagined.

Instead of personal portraits, there were images of beautiful islands.

In the azure ocean, numerous islands were scattered, with seagulls flying over them, creating a breathtaking scene.

Qian Yue was stunned for a moment, “This is…”

Qian Chi knew what she wanted to say and gestured for her to continue scrolling.

Following his instructions, Qian Yue scrolled down, and the subsequent pictures showed a similar arrangement of islands but from a slightly different angle.

One of the islands was obviously larger than the others, with several smaller islands scattered around it, giving a feeling of stars surrounding the moon.

Unconsciously, Qian Yue sat up straight, completely changing her previously indifferent attitude.

The content of the later pictures was almost the same as the previous ones, except for one small difference.

The man who had been mentioned on the forum was shown wearing a tilted conical straw hat, sitting gracefully at the edge of a cliff, playing with an emerald-green bamboo flute in his hand.

The slanted hat covered most of his face, making it impossible to see his expression, yet it’s inexplicably captivating.

Beside him, below the cliff, the white waves crashed against the cliff walls, and in the distance, the islands were scattered amidst the lingering mist, resembling a fairyland.

Finally, Qian Yue noticed that in the upper right corner of the picture, there was a sentence written with sharp strokes:

“The Ten-Day Plan: Preparation for the Third Round of instances in Progress, Stay Tuned…”

Qian Yue casually scrolled through the comments below, and many people were praising the beautiful scenery, but there were more discussions about the item merchant.

Some even referenced a previous sarcastic post about the “Painful Mask”:

“I seriously suspect that Feng Baby hasn’t shown up for a few days in the last instance because he finds the mask too ugly.”

“Same.”

…

“Do you find this map familiar?”

Qian Chi approached, but Qian Yue pushed him away.

Qian Chi exclaimed, “Ah!”

Qian Yue maintained a calm expression on the surface but quickly slid the page back up with her other hand.

Qian’s parents in the front seat watched the good relationship between the siblings as usual and couldn’t help but smile.

In the back seat, Qian Yue looked at those pictures again and again.

“Is this the Ninety-Nine Islands?”

Qian Chi snapped his fingers, “Bingo.”

He added, “According to the official statement, they only used the terrain of the Ninety-Nine Islands as a reference. The specific gameplay will only be known when we enter the instance.”

Qian Yue remained silent.

Ninety-Nine Islands…

From the name alone, it could be inferred that it was a small planet composed of islands.

Ninety-nine is an imaginary number, and the true number of islands on the planet is countless, with varying sizes.

Similarly, not every island can be inhabited. Strictly speaking, it is indeed challenging to survive on the Ninety-Nine Islands.

Otherwise, over the past hundreds of years, the Ninety-Nine Islands would not have become a paradise for exiles and outcasts due to their poverty and remoteness.

However…

Qian Yue turned her head and gave her brother a thump on the head,
“You’re regressing more and more? Choosing the Ninety-Nine Islands, and you still need to prepare in advance?”

The previous years were simply wasted.

“Ouch!”

Qian Chi howled, holding his forehead and complaining, “Didn’t they say it’s just a reference? How could it be exactly the same as the real Ninety-Nine Islands!”

Qian Yue chuckled, “Excuses won’t change anything.”

Qian Chi, “…”

Her younger brother glared at her with resentment, about to say something, but suddenly caught sight of a tall building from the corner of his eye.

Qian Chi became excited, “Sis, look outside! The tallest building, do you see it?”

Qian Yue followed his gaze and looked outside. Among the numerous tall buildings, there stood a uniquely shaped high-rise building that immediately caught people’s attention.

This was an industrial park, and theoretically, there shouldn’t be many tourists. However, that building was an exception.

There was a constant stream of people coming and going.

Qian Chi exclaimed excitedly, “That’s the headquarters of ‘The Ten-Day Plan.’ Today is the open day, and I’m guessing there will be many people visiting out of curiosity.”

Qian’s father, who had been silent all along, spoke up, “That’s the game you two play, right? This company seems to be developing quite well recently.”

Qian Yue was somewhat surprised.

The Qian family was considered a more prominent presence in the circle, so for Qian’s father to say “quite well” meant that they were indeed doing very well.

— But upon further thought, it was reasonable for the development company to be doing well, considering the high popularity of “The Ten-Day Plan.”

Qian’s mother smiled slightly upon hearing this. “Indeed.”

She pursed her lips and said, “I heard that the company’s executives are not much older than our Yue Yue…”

Soon as Qian Yue heard this, she had a headache. She was about to say that she didn’t want to think about romance when Qian Chi suddenly spoke up.

“Mom, what are we having for dinner tonight? I suddenly have a craving for the dish we had last time—”

As he spoke, he exchanged a glance with Qian Yue.

Qian Chi, “You should thank me.”

Qian Yue, who missed the perfect timing, “…Thank your head.”

Qian’s father, unaware of the silent argument between the two, continued the conversation, “Almond Drunken Chicken, right?”

Qian Chi hadn’t even heard what his father said and quickly nodded, “Yes, yes, yes.”

Qian’s mother scolded the two of them with a glare, “Yes, yes, yes, what? You think I still don’t know who is the one actually craving it? Qian Chi, don’t always side with your father, he can’t handle these kinds of dishes…”

Qian Chi froze, realizing that he had been tricked by his father.

He instinctively turned his head to look at his father, who was touching his nose and shifting his gaze.

In the end, Qian’s mother scolded the two of them all night and completely forgot about convincing Qian Yue to go on a blind date.

The next morning, Qian Yue lay down in the nutrition pod.

At eight o’clock sharp, the game began.

Unlike usual, this time there was a short animation segment as well.

On the island, a group of small carrot-like figures was happily running and playing on the beach, leaving a trail of shallow footprints.

Old women sat nearby, weaving something with reeds and bamboo strips, occasionally erupting into laughter in the crowd.

Not far away, men were using bamboo rafts and casting nets to fish.

Most of the young men had bare arms, with dark, muscular bodies.

Suddenly, a sound of splashing water came from the sea, and a beautiful woman emerged with her hands resting on a bamboo raft, pinching a large pearl with her fingertips.

The girl’s smile on her face shimmered under the sunlight, just like the falling water droplets.

The camera froze, and then the animation slowly dissipated like mist, causing Qian Yue to blink her eyes and return to the pure white room.

“Welcome back to ‘The Ten-Day Plan.'”

“Based on player feedback, the following adjustments have been made during this internal testing—”

“The spawn rates of materials have been optimized, and a mosaic effect has been added for hunting in the underage mode.”

“The settings for crafting-related blueprints have been optimized. For details, please refer to the physical blueprints.”

“The environmental broadcasts have been optimized, and a system weather notification has been added.”

“New materials have been added…”

The list of adjustments was very long, and there were even some areas that Qian Yue hadn’t paid attention to before.

She patiently read through all the items, and then flipped to the next page—

“Added time-limited settings for items. The following is an explanation of the rules, players are advised to read it carefully.”

“Starting from this instance, the items purchased or obtained from the Item Merchant, Super Mall, and other systems can only be used for a maximum of two instances.”

“Items created by using materials or obtained from NPCs in the instance can only be used within the current instance and will be automatically destroyed after the instance ends. They cannot be retained for the next instance.”

“This rule also applies to items obtained in previous instances and takes effect from this instance onwards.”

This passage of text was a bit long, and it took Qian Yue a while to fully understand its meaning.

“This is exactly the third instance. In other words, the items I purchased in the first instance, such as the ice picks and oil lamps, can no longer be used.”

“The gas masks made from blueprints in the second instance are also unusable.”

This measure was clearly taken to prevent certain players from excessively hoarding items in the early stages, which would result in a decrease in instance difficulty.

—In simpler terms, it was to prevent players from slacking off in the later stages, so they forcefully implemented an expiration date for items.

Depending on how the items were obtained, the length of the expiration period varied. This effectively prevented the game from becoming too easy due to a lack of items, while also avoiding excessive difficulty.

This was truly… a stroke of genius by the planners.

In order to prevent players from slacking off, the planners had put in so much thought and effort to ensure that nothing slipped through the cracks.

However, it seemed that they had forgotten one thing—there would always be a type of person in the world who could slack off and deceive others to an——

Unpreventable extent.