Slacking off in the Game of Survival

Chapter 48 Above the Wasteland(8)

The two of them hurriedly ran back in a fluster, pulling Xu Chuan along as they were about to leave. Midway, the girl succinctly explained their findings to Xu Chuan.

Xu Chuan, “Someone underground?”

Qin Liang, “Yes. Both Qiqi and I heard it. The sound was coming from underground.”

Xu Chuan frowned immediately, “Could it be that someone is trapped underground?”

Qin Liang, “How is that possible?”

If someone were trapped underground, they would likely be urgently calling for help.

However, the sound seemed to be as if someone was searching for something inside, not at all like a dangerous situation.

Qiqi, “Let’s just leave quickly. I have a feeling that there might be an NPC team down there.”

During the day, she had heard many people say that NPCs suddenly emerged from the ground, and she became nervous instantly.

Xu Chuan, “Uh, that’s just a rumor.”

At that time, he hadn’t met up with the two yet, but he was at the scene. He noticed that something was off and promptly left.

He did not expect it to turn into such a story later.

Thinking about it, he still felt somewhat uneasy, stopping in his tracks, “Perhaps there really is someone trapped down there.”

Although Qin Liang had initially refuted him, Xu Chuan remained uneasy. After all, he had seen glimpses of the person’s character, as evidenced by the suppressant incident.

Rescuing someone wasn’t an easy task; Qin Liang might have deliberately concealed the truth for his convenience.

Combined with the rushed manner in which they had returned, Xu Chuan felt even more suspicious.

“No, I need to go back and take a look.”

Qin Liang thought he was just unnecessarily worried: He exclaimed loudly, “Why are you going back? I told you there’s no one trapped inside. What if it’s really an NPC-made air raid shelter or tunnel?”
Qiqi, “Qin Liang, calm down for a moment…”

Qin Liang paused, then quickly lowered his voice, frustrated, “Do you want to release them and have them chase us again?”

Xu Chuan was speechless, “…This is the urban area.”

Implying: Air raid shelters are usually built according to the terrain. This is the urban area; how could they be constructed here?

Qin Liang’s expression darkened instantly, and he bluntly said, “If you want to die, don’t drag us into it.”

“Qin Liang…” Only now did Qiqi realize the tense atmosphere between the two. She tugged at Qin Liang’s sleeve, gesturing for him to tone it down.

She looked at Xu Chuan again and gently reminded him, “Little Chuan, we still need to find a place to rest for tonight.”

Qin Liang crossed his arms and smirked, “Right, didn’t you just urge us about that?”

Xu Chuan pursed his lips, lost for words.

*

Unbeknownst to them, Qian Yue, who was underground, had nearly caused internal conflict within the team.

At this moment, she was crouched in the ruins, searching for things.

An hour ago, Qian Yue had been in the process of constructing a shelter for herself, but unexpectedly, she dug halfway and suddenly created a hole.

Curious, she thought it might be a tunnel left by previous explorers, so she crouched down and started descending.

Only later did she realize that this wasn’t a tunnel; it was a narrow gap formed due to the collapse of the ruins.

“Bandages, cold medicine…”

Qian Yue struggled as she lay on the ground, using a flashlight to illuminate the area as she stuffed useful items into her bag.

Up to now, she had collected quite a few things, ranging from blankets to sweaters, hairpins to medications; she had almost everything she needed.

Qian Yue mumbled, “Before the collapse, was this perhaps a community market?”

Until her backpack could no longer hold anything, she reluctantly gave up and crawled back on the ground.

In the beginning, this passage was probably about half a person’s height, and Qian Yue crawled inside along the crack. But not long after, the ruins blocked her path.

At the time, Qian Yue had already collected a few items, but since she had a rare opportunity to come down, she decided to continue searching further down and started moving things around.

Eventually, the sound reached the surface, becoming the noise that the three people heard.

So, in reality, it wasn’t that someone was trapped or that NPCs were living underground; Qian Yue was just treasure hunting in an unconventional way _(:D)∠)_

A few minutes later, Qian Yue emerged from the passage and returned to the earthen tunnel she had previously dug.

The flashlight was still on, illuminating most of the cave.

Due to its small size, the tunnel required cautious movements, even for turning around.

First, Qian Yue patiently waited for two seconds to ensure no one was outside. Then, she carefully extended a hand from the crevice, removed the outermost makeshift board she had placed there, and used a piece of salvaged wood to block the entrance to the tunnel she had been crawling into.

As she pulled the board, some sand and pebbles fell from outside, with a few of them landing inside the tunnel.

At nightfall, the cool moonlight streamed in through the window-sized opening. Qian Yue turned off the flashlight and then spread the collected blanket on the ground, which she had just taken out of her backpack.

The cave was too small, and the blanket was too big, causing more than half of it to fall onto the wall. Bits of debris from the blanket also fell down with a clatter.

“Or maybe it’s better to shake it outside first?”

Qian Yue hesitated for a moment, but ultimately, laziness overpowered her pursuit of comfort.

She hastily pushed the items aside and leaned against the wall, lying down.

A few minutes later…

“Damn it.”

Qian Yue packed the blanket back into her backpack and crawled out in a disheveled state.

Indeed, it was not a place fit for human habitation.

The place where Qian Yue was currently living was a bunker called the “Cat Ear Hole.”

Despite its name suggesting a connection to cats and appearing cute, in fact, it was a special creation born from wartime circumstances that Qian Yue had learned about during an expedition to another planet a long time ago.

However, when she encountered this structure, it had already become a war site preserved for future generations to visit.

At that time, the leading instructor had teased that it looked somewhat like the cave houses on the mountains, and perhaps it could be useful for future expeditions. Qian Yue learned about its construction while adapting its design, although she hadn’t experienced it firsthand.

At the time, the guide mentioned that living in this thing was suffocating, and Qian Yue didn’t believe it much, considering she had slept outdoors in various places.

But now…

After shaking out the blanket, Qian Yue lingered outside for a while until she felt the air was clear. Then, with a sigh, she crawled back into the hole.

It was also known as the Cat Ear Hole as the entrance typically resembled upright cat ears, roughly about a meter high, with enough space to accommodate three to five people.

—However, in practice, these bunkers left on the battlefield were mostly adapted to the specific terrain.

The other interpretation was that the interior of the cave was damp, cramped, and dark, requiring a person to crouch inside like a cat.

Clearly, due to the limited time in the afternoon, Qian Yue’s current living conditions leaned more towards the latter description.

From the appearance, the Cat Ear Hole somewhat resembled the snow cave she had dug in the first instance, being excavated into the slope of a trench. However, considering airflow and insulation, a snow cave needed a tunnel to be dug first before an inner chamber was excavated, whereas the Cat Ear Hole’s inner chamber didn’t require as much. It was somewhat like a downsized version of an air-raid shelter.

To avoid detection, Qian Yue purposefully dug the hole slightly downward, and the entrance was located at the very top. She could cover it with a wooden plank, making it look like just another part of the ruins from the outside.

However, when entering or leaving the hole, she had to be extra cautious, as Qian Yue had used the stolen door panels she found to reinforce the ceiling.

These metal door panels were sturdy enough to withstand sudden collapses caused by debris falling from above, ensuring she wouldn’t be buried alive.

Furthermore, objects like table and chair legs were also used for reinforcement, constructing the “room” mostly from items scavenged from the ruins.

Sighing, Qian Yue leaned against the wall, her hands behind her head. She peered out through the crack of the entrance and murmured, “I hope it can hold up for a few more days.”

*

Time passed quickly, and the next day arrived in the blink of an eye.

Qian Yue was slightly surprised when she woke up in the morning because the previous night had been uneventful.

“They actually didn’t attack during the night. They do have some conscience.”

Five minutes later, new supplies were issued. Uncertain about what to do, Qian Yue decided to sit up and take inventory of her belongings.

However, before doing that, she cautiously sealed the entrance to the hole, disguising it as if there was nothing there— she did not want to be ambushed by the locals inside the hole.

After placing objects on top of it, the interior of the hole immediately grew dimmer.

Luckily, Qian Yue had left some vents in other locations, so there was still enough air and light for the time being.

She opened her backpack and, after counting, her inventory looked like this:

Hard bread x26, Vitamin C x7, Bandages x4, Anti-inflammatory medicine x3, Mental Suppressants x10, Pocket knife x1, Flint x1, Screw x1, Nylon rope x1, Gas mask x1, Face mask x1, Self-defense flashlight x1.

There was also a pile of small items Qian Yue had picked up from deep within the ruins last night, which she couldn’t fit in her backpack and had stacked inside the hole. These included things like smashed instant noodles and cookies—items that weren’t particularly useful for stat recovery but were occasionally satisfying as a change of taste.

As for the medications she found at the pharmacy, Qian Yue had tested them all.

Unfortunately, despite sharing names with in-game items, they didn’t possess the same potency. They were more like regular medications, with slow and uncertain effects that typically only restored 1-2 points of health. Except for some special medications like anti-inflammatory drugs, the significance of most other medications was limited.

Consequently, Qian Yue wrapped the bandages around her arms and legs. After all, the Cat Ear Hole was situated among ruins, so minor collisions were inevitable during her movements. With the bandages, she could avoid acquiring additional scrapes like she did yesterday when she used the nylon rope.

Cough cough…

Sensing more dust in the air, Qian Yue retrieved her gas mask and put it on, making her breathing much smoother. She did not use it constantly, only when necessary to prevent respiratory issues caused by poor air quality.

Barring any unforeseen incidents, the remaining durability should be enough to last through most of the remaining instance.

As for the rest of the supplies…

Qian Yue felt a slight sense of concern, “I’m afraid this won’t be enough.”

Although it seemed like she had quite a few items in her possession, the instance’s consumption rate for supplies was astonishingly high.
When she had just opened Lin Zhengzhi’s bag yesterday, the combined total of their bread could have been over forty pieces.

However, when she checked her stats window, her heart sank.

Almost depleted stamina, nearly depleted health, and the only relatively better mental points stat was rapidly decreasing due to the harsh environment.

Just replenishing her stats had cost her a significant amount of supplies.

By the time Qian Yue finished digging the Cat Ear Hole and checked her stat window again, she felt numb all over.

Qian Yue rested her chin on her hand, “At this rate, with the way things are going, the supplies I have on hand might not last the remaining nine days.”

To be on the safe side, she thought it would be better to stock up if she had the chance.

However, Qian Yue couldn’t think of any good methods to gather supplies at the moment— wait, did this instance provide such an option? Could she only buy from the Item Merchant?

At this moment, Qian Yue finally remembered Qi Feng, who had been forgotten in some corner for who knows how long.

She contemplated, “Or maybe I could use our previous blind date as a bargaining chip?”

Although they had only held hands once throughout the whole date.