The team members worked together and furiously cast skills.
But physical attacks were ineffective, and only fire spells could create damage towards shadow monsters.
In a blink of the eye, a player had died.
Before everyone could react, the shadow monster dove into the shadow of another player with a “woosh.”
“Ah!! It is targeting me!” That person was very panicked seeing the HP drop.
“Calm down!” The leader shouted. Take out all the bandages from the backpack and put them on yourself.”
Then he turned and indicated to the priest. “Don’t just stand there! Heal him, and make sure he hangs on.”
Then he called out to the team members, “Everyone work together, and attack to kill the boss!”
Everyone had been confused at the sudden change. As the orders came, the team members calmed down and started to attack in an orderly manner.
The two sides started a war of attrition. Who would win depended on whether the player’s HP would be exhausted first, or if the shadow monster boss was killed first.
When the priest used their last healing spell, the shadow monster shattered and turned into a wisp of smoke.
The attacked player’s legs gave out and he collapsed to the ground.
“I am alive…” he was still afraid, clearly having been given a great fright.
3 x purple equipment, 1 x A-rank skill card, blue equipment, white equipment, all kinds of materials. The gains were rich.
But when they saw their team member who had unfortunately died, they did not feel any joy at all, and then were all silent.
**
Rising Cloud Town.
Old Zhang held the straw and was weaving. As time passed, a straw basket half the height of a person took form.
The system notified, [Congratulations, you have made the furniture “Grass Basket.”]
[+5 experience points.]
[You have sufficient proficiency, and your life skill “Elementary Grass Art” has reached “Intermediate Grass Art.”]
Old Zhang was content, and called over his grandson Zhang Hong Bo. “The new grass basket is done, go and sell it.”
Right now, the players of Rising Cloud Town had good days. Many people moved into the wood houses, and started to buy furniture.
The grass basket was large. It could hold clothing, and also food like salted meat, preserved vegetables, and cornbread. It was a popular product.
While the bamboo baskets made by the bamboo craftsman had a similar function, there were not many people who knew how to make them. Each time he finished, when it was taken to be sold, the basket would be instantly bought.
Zhang Hong Bo took the grass basket, and tried to discuss, “Grandfather, someone is selling the neighboring wood house. How about we buy it?”
Each player was limited to purchasing one residence. If people wanted to move into the stone houses, and had bought wood houses before, they had to first sell their old house before buying a new one.
Those who had stone houses did not lack for money. Sometimes, in order to sell quickly, the price would be slightly lower than usual.
Now that there was a chance, Zhang Hong Bo wanted to take it.
“How can we do that?” Old Zhang glared. “I said to save money and buy a big house for you! In the future, you will get married. How will more people come and live in this 20 square meter house?”
“The future matters are for the future,” Zhang Hong Bo said seriously. “With spare money in hand, I would rather buy more winter clothing, and hoard more food.”
Old Zhang did not make a sound.
“It is not worth it to spend all the money on the houses,” Zhang Hong Bo said patiently. “Grandfather, I know you love me, but I hope that you will live better. You do not bear to eat or wear things. There is no need to weave day and night.”
Old Zhang struggled for a long time before sighing. “Okay, I will listen to you.”
**
Every once in a while, Yun Ling would receive news that territories were breached. After entering autumn, such appearances were rarer.
When she looked at the little map now, she found that there were fewer dots representing the territories, and the surroundings of Rising Cloud Town had become empty.
“Should I lead the foraging team to places farther away to see?” Yun Ling thought.
At this time, the system notification appeared, [Player “Hu Yao Yu” is attempting to dig a fish pond at Rising Cloud Town coordinates xxx, xxx. Do you agree?]
[Player “Zheng Jia Yi” is attempting to drill a well at Rising Cloud Town coordinates xxx, xxx. Do you agree?]
There were already five wells, no need to build more. Yun Ling did not hesitate to choose “no.”
As to the fishpond…
Yun Ling scanned the map, and found the fishpond was set at the center of the territory, next to the residence area.
Dig a fishpond by the residence area? That area was going to be expanded in the future.
Thinking of this, Yun Ling refused the player’s request.
**
Mist Village.
Recently, the heavens were good, and everyone was living well, each of them spirited.
At noon, a caravan came to the village.
The team leader quickly set up a stall. “Selling straw sandals! 30 copper coins per pair!”
“30 copper coins per pair? So cheap?” The residents did not dare to believe it.
The other continued to shout, “Selling raincoats, 30 copper coins each.”
“Selling wood shields, 40 copper coins each.”
“Selling cloth armor, 40 copper coins each.”
The caravan had brought a lot of items and the prices were unimaginably low. People immediately charged up with red eyes. “Where is the wood shield? I want to buy one!!”
Why were there such low prices?
Wouldn’t they suffer a loss?
Where did so much equipment come from?
There were many riddles, but the players of Mist Village did not care about it. At this moment, there was only one thought in their mind — if they bought, they would have a profit!
So in the next second, the residents all went forward. “I want to buy!”
“Give me two pairs of straw sandals.”
“I want a wood shield and cloth armor.”
The members of the caravan were very busy, and sometimes did not even have the time to collect the money.
The leader Ren Shi Leng took a break and estimated the profit. After getting the result, his heart sped up, and then he stopped breathing.
**
Sunglow Village.
Dong Hao Tian chewed on a stalk of sweet sorghum as he laid in the tent to rest.
The sweet sorghum was crisp and delicious, even sweeter than sugar. But they were rare, and hard to find.
Dong Hao Tian coincidentally encountered it today, and took it as a snack.
“Winter is about to come. Can I make it through the next season?” He was not confident. “How about changing a territory to live in?”
At the thought, it could not rest.
In the past, Dong Hao Tian thought that the system territories were about the same, and living was the same everywhere. But recently, he changed his mind.
Not all of the territory residents were indifferent and lived numbly.
Not all players were struggling to survive, and always on the verge of death.
He was just unlucky, and did not meet people who were powerful and reliable.
Unconsciously, Dong Hao Tian thought of the woman who had rescued him.
Young, beautiful, led a team, had many purple pieces of equipment, and could afford to buy S-rank skills. Even more importantly, when she encountered the weak, she was willing to help.
What kind of environment could produce an expert like this?
If this was the territory she was in, maybe it had better law and order than other places?
In any case, everywhere was the same. Why didn’t he go visit Rising Cloud Town?
Dong Hao Tian had thought countless times about moving, but never made the decision.
“There are not many days in autumn left, I do not know what the winter season will be like.”
“If I have something I want to do, I have to do it in the next few days. Hoard food, hoard equipment, earn money, make cotton clothing. After a few days, when it goes back to calamity days, no matter what I do, it will not be as convenient as now.”
A discussion sounded outside the tent. Soon, the voice turned low, and the other clearly had walked far.
Dong Hao Tian got up and had a serious expression. “Yes, when it is calamity days, I will not be able to leave even if I want to. I must make a decision early.”
Thinking about it, he finally decided — tomorrow, he would pack up. He was moving to Rising Cloud Town.
Traveling on autumn days was not hard. When you encountered monsters, you just had to hide away to get rid of them.
It was silent on the way.
Dong Hao Tian spent nearly two hours to successfully reach Rising Cloud Town.
Before entering the territory, he had thought it through several times in his mind. If Rising Cloud Town was about the same as Sunglow Village, or slightly better in some aspects, then the decision to move was right.
In reality, with Sunglow Village’s situation, it was not very easy to be worse off than them… the territories worse off had been breached already.
Thinking of this, Dong Hao Tian was relieved and walked with large steps inside.
“Selling straw sandals! Straw baskets, straw mats, you can pick as you please!”
Dong Hao Tian rubbed his eyes, and thought he was seeing wrong.
All the families were raising chickens and ducks. There were vegetable gardens behind people’s houses. The children were surrounding the malt sugar stall just like in the past.
This really was a system territory, and not a town of the peaceful past?
Dong Hao Tian was struck where he stood.
His backpack was slightly open, and showed the sweet sorghum inside. A resident saw this, and their eyes lit up, asking, “Are you selling this?”
Dong Hao Tian, “?”
He said hesitantly, “People sell this?”
“Look at what you say, sweet sorghum is a rare thing! Why won’t people buy?” that person said enthusiastically. “2 copper coins for a stick, how about it?”
This was a snack he had casually cut down, and it was good to sell it for money.
Dong Hao Tian took the money, and handed over the sweet sorghum.
“Someone is selling sweet sorghum?!”
Someone shouted, and a circle of people heard this. The residents all looked at Dong Hao Tian.
At the same time, someone quickly walked close. “You are selling the sweet sorghum? Give me two.”
“I also want some.”
“Hey, this sweet sorghum is very fragrant, I remember the days of eating this in the past.”
In the blink of an eye, all the sweet sorghum was sold.
Dong Hao Tian held more than thirty copper coins in a daze.
Why were copper coins so easy to make?
How could he make money without going out to hunt?
The sweet sorghum could only be eaten as a snack, and not a meal. But so many people were willing to spend money to buy it…
Dong Hao Tian was stunned for a moment. Then he hit his head hard. “Such a good place, why did I only move here now!”
**
Autumn was the season for harvest.
Anyone who saw the stored firewood, hoarded food, and copper coins increase in their houses would be in a good mood.
Without knowing it, the characters on the top right corner turned to “Day 101, winter, calamity day.”
This morning, just as Yun Ling woke up, she sensed the room was filled with a chill. It felt like winter had come overnight.
“Hiss — so cold?”
Yun Ling quickly climbed up, and put on the down jacket she had purchased before.
This was back when the apocalypse started, and the players went to the markets. Supposedly, this had been hoarded for a long time. Originally, they had wanted to hoard it, but then found that non-game items could not deal with the terrible weather so they disposed of it at a cheap price.
Yun Ling had bought one purely to prove her guess.
As she expected, when she put on the jacket, she felt no warmth at all. The cold air burrowed in all over her body.
“As expected, it does not work.” Yun Ling gave up, and took off the down jacket. Then she put on the cotton shirt, cotton pants, cotton shoes, wool hat, gloves, and scarf that she had prepared beforehand.
With each thing she put on, she felt better.
When she was fully outfitted, and covered herself tightly, she finally experienced what was called warmth.
“Such a cold day, without winter clothing, you would freeze to death!” Yun Ling felt sad.
Walking out of the stone house, she knocked on the door of her neighbor to send warmth.
Lu Chuan was not courteous and calmly accepted it.
But You Qing Wen was slightly conflicted. “Does this count as getting positive feelings of an NPC (lord) in order to get rare equipment?”
The clothing was only white and blue quality, and the attributes were not high, but they were super useful! When they were worn, it was immediately not cold!
Hearing this, Yun Ling said seriously, “You deserve it. Usually, the average person cannot get such high positive feelings.”
You Qing Wen, “……”
You speak so much sense I am speechless.
She was not polite, and accepted the clothing.
**
While the temperature had suddenly dropped, the worst situation had not come as it was not snowing yet.
To avoid the inconvenience of traveling in the future, the hunting teams went out like usual, hoping to get something.
Yun Ling indicated for Guard A to hand out cotton shirts. Then she said gravely, “Winter wear is limited, right now, I can only give everyone a cotton shirt. If someone cannot bear it now, say it, and do not force yourself.”
The members of the foraging team nodded, but no one left.
Seeing this, Yun Ling waved her hand. “Depart.”
Like usual, Guard A led a team, Yun Ling led a team, and they explored different directions.
The moment Yun Ling stepped out of the territory, she paused slightly. “So cold.”
When in the stone house, she said it was cold. That was more because of the great change in temperature which she could not adjust to momentarily.
But now, when she said it was cold, it was really cold. The wind was bone-chilling. Her fingers were almost frozen stiff, and her movements were slow.
Why was the temperature inside and outside the territory so great?
Yun Ling suddenly thought of the plants. Moderate the temperature of the territory. Would this mean lowering the temperature in the summer, and increasing the temperature in the winter?
Before she could think it through, a girl had chattering teeth. “Too, too cold.”
“Just a cotton shirt, I fear we will not last long.” Pang Yu was worried.
Yun Ling’s heart suddenly sank. It seemed harder than she imagined to pass the winter.
The winter clothing was in short supply, and for normal players, getting even one was hard. But in the present situation, without cotton shirts, cotton pants, cotton shoes, wool hats, they could not stay in the cold for very long.
Thinking, she said, “This is the first day of the winter. We will not go far, just go around the surroundings.”
If something happened, they could return to the territory to rest in time.
Hearing that they were only moving around the territory, the foraging team became spirited, and the air relaxed greatly.
“Go look over there.” Yun Ling led the way at the front.
Passing by a patch of berries, she did not let the foraging team stop, but continued forward.
They walked and walked until they reached a patch of chili peppers. Then Yun Ling ordered the players to work.
About twenty-five minutes after leaving the territory, one person warned, “I have a negative status.”
Yun Ling dashed next to the player. “Let me see.”
That person set it to “public.”
The window showed, [The cold wind is bitter. Your hands and feet are cold. Player has a negative state, -1 strength, -1 agility, -2 stamina.]
[Note: Stamina determines HP and the ability to to fight/move/run for long times. The higher the stamina, the more you are not affected by the negative effects of the environment.]
….not even half an hour, and people could not stand it.
After the spring, summer and autumn seasons, the members of the foraging team had higher levels than before!
Also, most of them added points to their agility and stamina. With each level, they would add either 2 agility and 1 stamina, or 1 agility and 2 stamina. Logically, their resistance should have increased.
Was it the winter too difficult, or the game was increasing the difficulty? A bad feeling rose in Yun Ling.
She focused and said, “Try to bear it. After two hours, everyone will go back together and rest.”
“Okay.” That person nodded and did not object.
The autumn season had just ended, and there were many edible items.
Yun Ling had people pick the Heaven chile, Tabasco pepper, cotton cloth, and sweet potato. When they were about to harvest the sisal, the player who had gotten the negative status first hurriedly reported, “My situation has become serious.”
The window showed, [You feel very cold. Your limbs are frozen stiff. Player has a negative state, -2 strength, -2 agility, -4 stamina.]
Usually speaking, negative statuses were divided into three stages.
In the first stage, being slightly affected in poor environments.
In the second stage, the severity would increase, and it was not suitable to continue.
In the third stage, people would get sick, weak and powerless, and be unable to move for several days.
Yun Ling, as a player who put all points on stamina, had high resistance. While she felt it was a bit cold, she had not gotten any negative status. Seeing her subordinate enter the second stage, she was speechless — they were too weak…
“We are stopping, returning now,” she said.
Walking on the way, Yun Ling suddenly thought of a question: the other team did not have her leading. Would they have gone out the entire day like usual?!
Thinking of this, she felt that something would happen.
But when they returned to the territory, Guard A had already returned with the team. Yun Ling was slightly shocked. “How come you came back?”
He knew it was not good to roam around in the winter? So smart!
Guard A looked down. “Not long after leaving Rising Cloud Town, we were ambushed by ice elementals. There were more than thirty enemies and they had many crowd control skills. Because of this, I was not able to bring everyone back safely…”
Yun Ling’s pupils contracted. “How many people?”
Guard A reported, “-2 members of the foraging team, -2 guards.”
Yun Ling was silent and after a long time, she asked, “What about the equipment and skills?”
Guard A answered, “After killing all of the ice elementals, we brought back all of the drops.”
Yun Ling was silent. A long time later, she slowly said, “Return the skills and equipment dropped by the members of the foraging team back to their families. Also, give them 300 copper coins as death benefits.
“Give the equipment and cards of the guards to the other people (NPCs), have them learn until they have all their skill slots full.”
“Yes,” Guard A solemnly responded.
Seeing the foraging team members still afraid, Yun Ling disbanded the team. “Go back and rest, we are not going out today.”
**
In the mine.
A group of youth were swinging shovels and mining.
Suddenly, one person received a system notification, [The cold wind is bitter. Your hands and feet are cold. Player has a negative state, -1 strength, -1 agility, -2 stamina.]
That person almost exploded. “I am wearing a cotton shirt, why am I still getting a negative state?”
The companion next to him said quietly, “Because you are only wearing a cotton shirt, and not cotton pants, or gloves.”
That person, “… …”
He knew that wearing cotton pants and gloves could help him keep warm, but wasn’t this because his money was tight and he wanted to save money?
That person was unwilling and complained, “-1 agility, but why also decrease my strength and stamina?”
Strength determined damage and the ability to bear weight.
Agility determined response speed and movement speed.
Stamina determined HP and the ability to fight/move/run for long times.
Mining was physical work.
If strength was low, it was inefficient, and the work was slow.
Low agility meant a slow reaction but it had almost no effect.
Low stamina meant that one would be tired not long after fighting. If they did not rest, the negative status would increase in severity, and the attributes would decrease.
Due to this, he did not care about the decrease in agility, but about the strength and stamina.
“It has been deducted already, can you reason with the system?” His companion urged him, “Go rest, you are not suited to work in this state.”
That person was powerless, and could only stop mining, and go to the side to sit down.
**
In the wilderness.
A team of five was roaming around.
The archer shrank his neck back and complained, “What ghastly weather is this? Too cold.”
“No way about it.” The mage had a helpless expression. “There are only a few tailors in the territory, and the amount of winter clothing they can create each day is limited. If you do not have connections, you cannot buy.”
In the past, he always felt if he made more copper coins, he could buy everything he wanted.
Later, he found that while he was doing well, there were many people doing even better! He planned to put down money on equipment, but others were willing to put down even more.
So after a while, even though he had money, he was not able to buy cotton shirts, cotton pants, cotton shoes, wool hats, and gloves.
“Just bear it for these few days.” The mage seemed to be comforting his companion and also himself. “When the top teams get their winter clothing, then it should be our turn.”
“Who made it so that we did not cultivate our own life skill players? Other people support their own tailors, they can make winter equipment, and their goods would be first for their teams.”
The archer snorted. “Why don’t you look at how much money it will take to support a life skills player? Even if you put in effort and money, what you get back may not be worth it.”
“Rather than cultivate your own, it is better to buy ready made.”
“Winter clothing is in high demand right now, but after a while, when the tailors have the time, there will be extra equipment that they will sell.”
The priest was resentful. “So on the first day of the winter, why did we come out? Why not wait until we get winter gear?”
The mage said with exasperation, “Staying in the territory, we cannot do anything, why waste the time? It is better to come out and get at least some things.”
The priest was very irtable inside. “In the winter, will the monsters run and hide in hibernation? We have been out for a while, but we have not seen a monster at all!”
Just as he finished speaking, the system notified, [You feel very cold. Your limbs are frozen stiff. Player has a negative state, -2 strength, -2 agility, -4 stamina.]
“Damn!” The priest could not help but curse. “If we continue to walk, all my attributes will be deducted. How will we fight monsters then?”
This was just an exaggeration. Each member of the team had 2-3 purple equipment, and their attributes were very strong.
However, no matter how high their attributes, they could not resist the cold. It was so cold he wanted to faint on the spot.
The mage wanted his teammate to bear it, but before he could speak, he also received the same system notification.
His lips pressed together, and he could not say a word.
In the entire team, only the two warriors had high stamina attributes, and were in the first stage of negative status. But even so, they were very cold.
“How about we forget it and return?” a warrior suggested.
“We decided with a vote to come out, we will also vote to go back. The majority wins.” The priest’s teeth were chattering as he tried to finish speaking, “I agree to go back, what about you?”
“My hands are so frozen I cannot draw my bow, how can I fight?” The archer was determined. “I want to return to the town.”
There were 3 votes of agreement, and the motion passed.
Seeing this, the mage gave up. He was the first to walk. “Go go go, return, I cannot stand this.”
“Then why were you clamoring to come out??” The priest was irritable. He sped up his steps, hurrying back, wanting to be in the territory in the next second.
**
The weather greatly affected the normal activities of the players.
Other than a few teams who had prepared winter gear and could go out to hunt as normal, other people either stayed in the territory to pass the winter, or tried to go out, and were so frozen they came back.
“We should not do anything in the winter, and just stay in the territory.”
“I stored a lot of food in the autumn, enough to eat for twenty days, it is fine if I do not go out.”
“The territory temperature leans cold, but much less than outside. If you do not want to die, do not go out.”
Soon, the news of “you cannot go out in the winter” spread through to every corner of Rising Cloud Town.
“In any case, there is nothing to do in the territory, how about making something delicious?”
The residents did not talk to each other, but they acted together.
Some took purple sweet potatoes, and made mashed potatoes. Then they ground up rice into powder, and made rice cakes. There were two layers of rice cake with a layer of purple potatoes in the middle. The purple potato rice cake was made.
Others cut the potatoes into strips, fried them, added spicy sauce, salt and other seasonings. Then the simple fried potatoes were done.
Some who knew how to cook used flour, salt, and oil to make dough. When the dough was made, it was cut into strips, and then chili oil and vinegar were added. The taste was indescribable.
Some people who had learned before the apocalypse gathered the materials, and made Indian flying bread. The dough flew through the air in a spectacular scene. The flying bread was delicious, fragrant and crisp to eat.
Without knowing it, Rising Cloud Town became a “gourmet town.” The smell of food spread through the air.