Slacking off in the Game of Survival

Chapter 51 Above the Wasteland(11)

Qian Yue decided to open the beggar player’s backpack first.

It had to be said, the other party truly lived up to the title of a professional beggar. The level of destitution in their backpack was truly fitting for the name “beggar.”

Qian Yue turned the entire backpack upside down, but only found five pieces of hard bread, four vitamin C, three mental suppressants, and some inconspicuous item fragments. When tallied up, it seemed to be short of even the spare change of her inventory.

Qian Yue sighed, “… so poor.”

No wonder this person was so urgently trying to obtain something. He probably realized long ago that with just these supplies on him, he wouldn’t last past the day after tomorrow.

Qian Yue turned her head and opened Hong Mingyuan’s backpack.

From just their previous two encounters, she could tell that Hong Mingyuan wasn’t an honest person. He had a lot of tricks up his sleeve. As expected, the things in his backpack were much more numerous than that beggar player’s. Additionally, due to his profession, he also had several blueprints in his bag.

Some of them were ordinary blueprints, like those for grilled meat or gauze. Another one was related to construction.

【Blueprint: Bamboo Fence (Special)】

Description: Gather the required materials to craft a ten-meter-long bamboo fence. This fence can be used to resist attacks from crazied creatures. Durability ranges from 30 to 50, randomly.

Materials Required: Bamboo x5, Item Fragment (Metal) x2.

Crazied creatures?

Qian Yue speculated that this referred to players who went mad due to low mental values. However, she was more of a homebody and hadn’t interacted much with other players during the events of the Dark Rock Incident and the Ten Square Meter Island’s instance. She had almost forgotten about this setting.

“Going crazy…” The only thing Qian Yue could recall was the night she took refuge in the city during the first round of instances. She couldn’t remember the specific details clearly, but she recalled that players who went crazy were somewhat similar to zombies from post-apocalyptic movies. If they were scratched by these mad players, even normal players would fall into the negative state of 【Infection】.

Qian Yue thought, “This bamboo fence seems quite useful.”

However, she didn’t have any bamboo at the moment. In the previous instance, she did have some, but unfortunately, they were all cleared out after she completed the instance.

Nevertheless, in a war instance, who knew when an explosion might happen? Items such as bamboo fences might come in handy here. After considering this, Qian Yue decided to keep the blueprint for now.

Beside her, Yuan Dongqi noticed that she had been lost in thought staring at the blueprint for several minutes. He seemed completely unaware of the commotion above his head. Finally, unable to bear it any longer, he leaned against Qian Yue ——

Only to be pushed away with a slap.

“Stay away from me.”

Qian Yue conveyed this with her eyes, but she didn’t say anything.

Footsteps echoed from above.

Two players were in conversation:

Player A: “We’re in the middle of nowhere. Why did you bring me here?”

Player B absentmindedly replied, “… It’s all ruins. How did you see ‘middle of nowhere’?”

Player A seemed a bit regretful, “There’s not a soul in sight here.”

Player B sighed, “Are you dumb? It’s precisely these kinds of places we need to find.”

The footsteps of the two people gradually faded away, and the sound disappeared with them.

Yuan Dongqi remained tense throughout, while Qian Yue continued to lean against the wall, seemingly unbothered by the possibility of being found.

As the footsteps completely vanished, Qian Yue turned her head and looked at Yuan Dongqi in surprise, raising an eyebrow. “I thought you might take the opportunity to create some noise or something.”

Yuan Dongqi replied, “…”

He wasn’t foolish. At a time like this, if he made any noise, it would be strange if Qian Yue didn’t silence him first.

The young master wanted to speak up to clear his name, but he forgot about his situation. The moment he opened his mouth, only muffled sounds came out.

“…” Yuan Dongqi’s expression grew even darker.

Qian Yue suddenly chuckled, “Want me to take whatever’s in your mouth out first? But let me warn you upfront, better not try any funny business.”

Yuan Dongqi hesitated for a moment, seemingly analyzing the meaning behind Qian Yue’s words carefully before nodding slowly.

Qian Yue reached over and removed the cloth from his mouth. Yuan Dongqi immediately spat twice and scrunched his eyebrows together.

He whispered, “What on earth did you stuff in my mouth?”

Qian Yue glanced at him with a somewhat playful smile. “Don’t worry, it’s definitely not something like smelly socks.”

Yuan Dongqi’s face stiffened, and he looked visibly uncomfortable.

Seeing his expression, Qian Yue found it quite amusing.

When Yuan Dongqi jumped down, Qian Yue hadn’t initially recognized him. She just felt like his voice was somewhat familiar. So, being cautious, she had only knocked him out at first, not resorting to anything extreme.

It wasn’t until she was binding him that she vaguely recognized him.

This guy seemed to be from the Yuan family.

Even though people within their circle didn’t know Qian Yue’s appearance, she often saw relevant updates on her brother’s social media account, thanks to Qian Chi.

Qian Chi and Yuan Dongqi belonged to the same small group, so Qian Yue had seen this guy’s face quite a few times in their group photos. Thus, she quickly recognized him.

Furthermore, during the Dark Rock Incident’s instance, Yuan Dongqi and the two Du brothers had acted together. Based on that, Qian Yue had an idea of his identity.

Well, this was troublesome. Qian Yue didn’t want to leave this cat ear hole she had worked so hard to dig out, but she also couldn’t harm younger members of their circle. So, for now, she had no choice but to tie him up.

Fortunately, Yuan Dongqi didn’t seem too anxious.

Though he was bound, he could still sense that his backpack was on his back, and the weight inside it hadn’t changed.
The only thing missing was his gun.

Yuan Dongqi felt surprised and subconsciously glanced at the two deflated backpacks next to Qian Yue.

Although she could use the items from her backpacks, due to system rules, Qian Yue couldn’t actually use the backpacks themselves.

Even after the five-minute timeframe had passed, Qian Yue could only take things out of the backpacks but couldn’t put them back in. So, Qian Yue was now surrounded by supplies, giving the impression that she was sitting on a mountain of wealth.

Yuan Dongqi furrowed his brow slightly, puzzled.

He had witnessed Qian Yue carrying these two backpacks in, herself.
Although she maintained a calm facade, the delight she exhibited while unpacking those backpacks was too evident for Yuan Dongqi to overlook.

So, his confusion grew stronger — if this person was so lacking in supplies, why was she leaving him his backpack?

Not taking his belongings, yet not allowing him to leave, could it be… she intended to assault him?

Yuan Dongqi’s thoughts paused, his expression subtle.

… Doesn’t seem like it.

This person didn’t even let him get close.

—Could it be a kidnap?

But this was a game. The closed beta slots were long gone, and players had no means of communication with the outside world beyond dying to exit the game. Even if they kidnapped him, his family couldn’t negotiate or send money within the game.

—Furthermore, wouldn’t this be inviting real-world trouble?

So, why?

Yuan Dongqi sat stiffly in the confined space of the tunnel, securely tied with nylon rope. He couldn’t move a muscle and felt utterly frustrated, questioning the meaning of life.

Unable to make sense of it all, he eventually arrived at a conclusion that shook him to his core —

Could it be that this person was binding him up to use him as an emergency ration?