Renee Kane had already changed into a sun-proof jacket, a pair of thick-soled hiking shoes, and sunglasses, and she was even carrying a heavy parasol.
Then, guided by the memories of her past life, she headed toward the cave where she had previously taken shelter.
This mountain range was immense. In her past life, Renee Kane had holed up here until the train appeared and never once encountered another player.
It was unbearably hot, so she sipped iced lemonade as she walked up the mountainside.
The game didn't seem to be trying to kill the players outright. There were plenty of caves nestled in the mountains and cliffs to escape the heat, and the Train Mall offered mining pickaxes, heat-resistant nets, and, of course, food and water.
The only catch was that everything cost Life Value.
Renee Kane found a crevice between two rock walls and slowly squeezed through sideways.
Deep inside the crevice was a small cave leading into the heart of the mountain, a place Renee Kane had stumbled upon by chance in her past life.
The cave ceiling was low, forcing her to crouch as she crawled inside.
After crawling a good distance inside, Renee Kane finally took out the ultralight pickaxe she had bought from the Train Mall for 100 Life Value.
When using tools from the Mall, any dislodged rock would simply vanish, so there was no fear of a cave-in. The pickaxe was not only light but also incredibly sharp; it cut through stone like tofu.
With Renee Kane's current stats, it wouldn't even take her half an hour to dig a deep tunnel.
She tunneled her way inward, planning to deploy her safe house once she was deeper inside.
Unexpectedly, after digging only a few inches, her pickaxe struck something hard.
Her heart leaped. 'Could it be...?'
Renee Kane quickly dug around the object. Sure enough, it was a square, silver chest!
'Is this what they mean by the rich getting luckier? In her previous life, she had slaved away digging for ages and only found two Wooden Boxes.'
'Sometimes, you can't even sympathize with your past self.'
With her knife in hand, she cautiously opened the chest.
[Congratulations, Player. You have obtained: Insect Repellent Medicine x1, Mineral Water x5, Life Value +10.]
Renee Kane raised an eyebrow. 'Not bad.' Surprisingly, no dangerous creatures had appeared.
The space within the chests was a mystery. Sometimes, bizarrely shaped creatures several times larger than the box itself would leap out, and they were always highly aggressive.
Furthermore, on Pyralis, a dangerous creature known as the Fire Ant would appear after the first mass volcanic eruption.
Unlike ordinary ants, these Fire Ants appeared in swarms of tens of thousands, each one the size of a grown man's palm.
Anything they swarmed over was reduced to a skeleton in an instant.
But the first eruption wasn't until around 6:00 PM on the second day. Renee Kane's current location would allow her to completely avoid the lava flow, so she could safely lie low.
After stashing her loot, Renee Kane dug with renewed vigor.
'The sooner this is done, the sooner I can relax.'
She later dug up two more Wooden Boxes, but they only contained two pieces of stale bread, which she immediately sold for 1 Life Value.
Half an hour later, Renee Kane looked at the spacious cavern she had carved out and stopped, satisfied.
She pulled a medium-sized safe house from her inventory.
The house came pre-equipped with appliances and a generator. The first thing Renee Kane did upon entering was turn on the air conditioning. After setting up the cameras and alarms, she ducked into the bathroom.
After a refreshing cool shower, she changed into a light summer outfit, flopped onto the sofa, and popped open a bottle of ice-cold cola.
"TSSSSS—"
A two-dollar soda's first sip is worth at least a dollar ninety-nine.
'And in this scorching heat, how much Life Value was it worth?'
Renee Kane sat cross-legged and opened the chat hall.
Right now, the chat was filled with people complaining about the heat, about getting heatstroke, about being thirsty. Some people also mentioned finding chests.
Renee Kane hid her personal information, changed her ID to "Brute Force," and slowly typed, "I got five bottles of mineral water from a chest. Anyone interested?"
The Train Mall did sell water, but it cost 5 Life Value per bottle, a price many people were reluctant to pay.
But the temperature on Pyralis was brutal. Everyone was dying of thirst, so even though Renee Kane priced the water at 10 Life Value per bottle, it sold out in less than two seconds.
Sipping her cola, she scrolled through the trade listings, looking for anything she might find useful.
She still had 3,362 Life Value, but this was far from the time to let her guard down.
The upcoming stations would feature not only natural disasters but also all sorts of deadly monsters. She had to use her early resource advantage to grow stronger quickly if she wanted a better chance at survival.
Soon enough, she saw something that caught her eye.
"Selling a random Skill Card, 500 Life Value."
"What the hell is that? For that price, you might as well just be a robber!"
"A Skill Card sounds good. I'll buy it if you lower the price. How about 50?"
"Screw off."
...
The price was too high, and since no one knew what a Skill Card could even do, the message was quickly buried under a flood of new posts.
But Renee Kane thought the ID looked familiar.
She clicked on the seller's avatar and sent a friend request, which was accepted instantly.
Spinning Top: "You buying? If I wasn't short on supplies, I'd use it myself."
Brute Force: "Like you said, supplies are more important right now. I'm a little interested, but for all I know, this thing could turn out to be useless. Your price is way too high."
There was a moment of silence from the other side.
Spinning Top: "I can go a little lower. 480."
Renee Kane almost laughed in exasperation.
She typed back unhurriedly, "I don't have that much Life Value, but I do have a sun-proof outfit and five bottles of water from a chest. They're ice-cold."
Spinning Top: "...That's kind of a loss for me."
'So he's tempted.'
Renee Kane did want the Skill Card, but she refused to get ripped off. After all, with a random card, there was no guarantee she'd get her money's worth.
She was direct. "That's all I have. If you don't want to trade, just say so, and we can unfriend each other."
Spinning Top: "Wait!"
[Spinning Top has sent you a trade request. Accept? Yes/No.]
Renee Kane clicked "Yes" and placed the promised supplies into the halo that appeared before her.
Both parties in a trade could inspect the other's items before finalizing the exchange.
Looking at the pale green Skill Card, Renee Kane washed her hands again before reverently clicking "Use"—
[Congratulations, Player. You have obtained the Skill: Eagle Eye (D Level). When the skill is active, you can detect chests within a five-foot radius.]
An eagle icon appeared in Renee Kane's mind.
She activated the Skill. A wave of energy pulsed outward from her, but then nothing happened. The Skill went on a ten-minute cooldown.
Renee Kane couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. 'Good thing I only traded a cheap sun-proof outfit for it,' she thought, 'otherwise I'd be furious.'
But, unwilling to give up, she tapped the "D Level" icon next to the skill name.
A notification window popped up instantly.
[Upgrade Material: Phantom Falcon Eye (0/10). Upgrading increases detection range and adds Danger Sense.]
'Danger Sense? If it gives me a warning before opening a trapped chest, then it's not so bad after all.'
'But what the heck is a Phantom Falcon? I've never heard of it. It's probably a material you can only get from chests.'
Now that she was well-rested, Renee Kane decided to venture into the mountain's interior. She wanted to take advantage of the time before the eruption to pull a few more chests from the lava pools.
She didn't expect that just as she stepped out of her safe house, she would hear voices from the mountain path up ahead. One of them sounded vaguely familiar...