Perhaps it was a final, desperate burst of strength, but Chloe Finch had stabbed him extremely deep.
Fear of death filled Theo Sherman's eyes. He struggled to reach a hand toward Renee Kane, begging for help. "Renee, save your dad, I beg you, save me! I don't want to die, I haven't lived long enough, please save me…"
"You unfilial, worthless brat! How can you just stand there and watch your own father die?! You animal! No, Renee, my good girl, Daddy doted on you the most when you were a child. How can you be so heartless…"
More terrifying than a swift death was being forced to watch his own life drain away, completely powerless.
Theo Sherman didn't have much Life Value left to begin with. Once his body weakened to a certain point, the rest of his Life Value rapidly drained to zero.
He wept and laughed, his pleas shifting to curses and back again, but Renee Kane just stood there, watching him coldly.
It was just like the last life, when his family had coldly watched as Renee Kane eked out a miserable existence in the lowest-class train car, a place where the evils of human nature were infinitely magnified.
They'd even spent 500 Life Value to pinpoint her location just to watch the drama unfold, yet they wouldn't spare enough to buy her a B-class seat ticket.
—And this was despite the fact that they had swindled all that money and all those supplies from Renee Kane herself!
The light in Theo Sherman's eyes finally faded.
They called it a game, but players' bodies didn't disappear after death. That was why in the last life, players driven to desperation by hunger had also resorted to attacking their own kind.
Renee Kane felt no great joy looking at their dead bodies. As Theo Sherman had said, he had "doted on" her once. Even if it was all an act, her childhood had, at least, been a happy one.
'But from now on, I have no weaknesses. I will become my own strongest armor, and I will fight to survive until the train reaches its final destination.'
*
The game had a thoughtful "one-click cremation" feature. For just 2 Life Value, she could have both bodies placed in urns.
Renee Kane dug a deep hole in the mountainside and placed the two urns inside. She had done all that could be expected of her.
After Theo Sherman and Chloe Finch's appearance, Renee Kane no longer naively believed she was the only player on the mountain. She became more cautious.
However, she didn't encounter anyone else after that.
She navigated a winding path to the heart of the mountain.
The cavern within the mountain was vast, with a narrow sliver of sky visible far above.
The surrounding walls were peppered with caves at various heights. Renee Kane stood at the mouth of one, looking down.
Far below was a pool of blindingly red lava. It was mostly calm, though falling rocks would occasionally send up showers of sparks.
Numerous stone pillars of varying heights jutted out from the lava. The rising air carried waves of heat that swirled upward, soaking Renee's hair with sweat after only a few moments of observation.
After mapping out her route, Renee Kane carefully leaped from pillar to pillar, finally landing on a thick one of medium height. Only then did she take out the ultra-sturdy, telescopic retrieval net she'd bought from the store, also worth 100 Life Value.
It was not only impervious to heat and cold but was also said to be corrosion-resistant.
Renee Kane extended the net, plunged it into the lava, and began to dredge.
Before long, she felt the net grow heavy!
Renee Kane immediately lifted the net, but it wasn't a treasure chest. It was a large, black stone. If she hadn't been so strong, she might not have been able to haul it up.
Once it had cooled, Renee Kane picked up the stone.
[Magic Ore: Heat-resistant. Seems it can be used to craft weapons (requires a Manufacturing Platform and weapon blueprints).]
'It really is heat-resistant. It's not even glowing red after soaking in lava for so long.'
'I can't use it right now, but I'm still happy. Any gain is a good thing.'
'Time to keep dredging!'
Renee Kane dredged for three hours straight. In addition to the ore, she pulled up four Wooden Treasure Boxes, one Bronze Treasure Chest, and one Silver Treasure Box.
'Wooden Boxes coming out of lava completely unscathed. Sure, that's totally logical,' Renee mused.
The stone pillar wasn't a good place to open chests, so she stowed them in her backpack to open later.
The temperature inside the cavern was too high. Renee Kane was drenched in sweat, her clothes crusted with salt.
Even constantly drinking salt water couldn't counteract the exertion. She put away the net and retraced her steps to the cave she had dug earlier.
She sat on the ground, drank a bottle of Electrolyte Water, and rested for a bit. Only then did Renee Kane take out the chests she'd collected, starting with the wooden ones.
'Maybe the first stop is a tutorial level. Just like last time, the treasure chests don't have many dangerous creatures, and they're not hard to deal with.'
Three of the four Wooden Treasure Boxes contained water and bread. The Bronze Treasure Chest yielded a handful of Iron Nails and four wooden planks.
The last Wooden Treasure Box had no supplies, only a creature that looked like a starfish.
Its body was covered in mouths, and the sight of the fine, densely packed teeth within those maws was enough to make one's skin crawl. A single bite could tear off a huge chunk of flesh.
Renee Kane had suffered from one of these in her previous life. The creature was incredibly fast, leaping for her leg the moment the chest opened.
Now, however, Renee Kane dispatched it with ease.
The final Silver Treasure Box, however, held a pleasant surprise.
[Congratulations! You have obtained Manufacturing Platform Fragment x1.]
She still needed 65 more fragments to assemble it, but having a clear goal gave her direction. With her ample supplies, Renee Kane felt confident and calm.
After setting up her safe house again, Renee, who had been busy all day, was finally hungry. She took a quick shower and got ready to eat.
'What should I eat? That lava looked a lot like a spicy broth... I'll have hot pot.'
She happily took out a bean-and-rice hot pot, scooped a bowl of rice, ladled some of the savory broth over it, and began to eat with gusto, sipping a cold drink on the side.
It was now 12:30 PM. In the general chat, complaints about the heat and thirst were now joined by cries of hunger.
Many people had found chests, but most were just Wooden Boxes. The contents were meager—besides a small amount of food, they often contained useless items like scraps of cloth or bricks.
Silver Treasure Boxes, on the other hand, started to contain simple tools and various types of fragments.
But unless someone was as desperate for survival supplies as that player, Spinning Top, most people were unwilling to trade them.
Renee Kane browsed the trade messages carefully as she ate.
Right now, everyone's Life Value was limited and their supplies were pitifully scarce, which also meant it was the perfect time to find a good deal.
After all, when someone was starving, suffering from heatstroke, or injured, water and medicine were far more precious than items with no immediate use.
For example:
"Got five Manufacturing Platform Fragments from a chest. Trading for food and water only. PM me with offers."
Renee Kane's eyes lit up. She immediately sent the person a friend request.
Whirlwind: "Ten bottles of water and enough food for three meals."
Before Renee Kane could reply, he added, "If you have any heatstroke medicine, I can take less of the other stuff."
Renee Kane considered it, then initiated a trade. In the trade halo, she placed just three bottles of mineral water and two vials of herbal heatstroke remedy.
She expected him to haggle, but the trade completed in a flash.
'It made sense,' she thought. 'Severe heatstroke could be avoided by hiding in a cave, but the dehydration and exhaustion from the unrelenting heat were the real killers.'
It was just that Whirlwind had agreed so readily that Renee Kane couldn't help but feel like she'd somehow gotten the short end of the stick...