Chapter 24 Natural Disaster 12

Chapter 24: Natural Disaster 12

On the morning of the 18th day, after waking up, Su Han couldn’t resist glancing out the window.

As expected, the heavy rain kept pouring down without any sign of stopping. However, the dark clouds in the sky had dispersed, and the light grew brighter, making it possible to see the surroundings clearly without the need for candles.

After drinking milk and finishing a cream and pork floss bun, the system’s mechanical voice chimed in right on cue: "As temperatures rise, glaciers are melting, and sea levels keep rising."

Apart from this, there were no other explanations.

But Su Han knew in her heart that the game’s difficulty had already ramped up significantly.

So far, numerous debuffs (negative effects) had appeared in the game, listed as follows—

"Due to poor air quality (caused by the fog), residents might come down with rhinitis. (Those with cleanliness >60 will gain immunity)"

"Due to strong winds, weaker individuals might get blown away or hurt. (Those with satiety >60 will gain immunity)"

"The island’s ecosystem has been wrecked, and all residents on the island lose 15 stamina points daily."

If sufficient cold protection items are not prepared, there will also be a frostbite debuff.

If unfortunately bitten by mosquitoes, a mosquito bite debuff will be added.

Level 1 players stand little chance of surviving in such a brutal environment. In other words, only Level 2 players have a chance to clear the dungeon.

But even for Level 2 players, surviving smoothly is not easy. The floodwaters had already risen past the third floor and were now attacking the fourth floor. Nearby low-rise residential buildings had been submerged, and it's only a matter of time before higher floors are flooded as well.

The water was filthy, filled with all sorts of debris—plastic bags, bamboo baskets, stools, snack wrappers, and the like. Su Han even spotted live fish swimming around in the water, alongside two sealed cans of cola.

Actually, Su Han really wanted to catch the fish. But then she thought, the water is so dirty, what if eating the fish makes her sick? So she dismissed the idea.

"By tomorrow, the floodwaters will likely reach the fifth floor," Su Han murmured to herself. "Even with a boat, where could we possibly go?"

Before she could think further, a commotion broke out in the hallway.

"The fourth floor is about to be flooded, why won't you let us move to the fifth floor?"

"I’ve paid my rent!"

"Staying on the same floor without interfering with each other is fine, isn't it?"

Cai Cheng explained patiently, "I told you before, the fifth floor is for my own use and is not for rent."

But the tenants ignored him. "The fourth floor will soon be flooded, do you think we can still stay there peacefully?"

Cai Cheng really wanted to say, the inn belongs to him, and if they don’t like it, they can leave. But he knew full well that kicking them out now would be sending them to their deaths. If their anger escalated, they might just deal with him directly. In that case, no one would stop the tenants from changing rooms.

"Forget it," Su Han walked over to Cai Cheng and whispered, "This is life or death—they won’t back down."

Cai Cheng remained silent.

Zhong Rui took a quick look and noticed that the tenants loudly protesting in the hallway were two men. After a moment of thought, he said, "Moving to the fifth floor is possible, but you must stay on the right side of the stairs. If you cross over to the left side, it will be directly considered as malicious intent."

"Why..." one of them started to complain, but the other pulled out a pistol and coldly said, "Quit wasting everyone’s time with your nonsense, hand over all the food and supplies."

A gun? Su Han was baffled, wondering, where on earth did they get that? She considered herself a high-level player, but she had never seen anyone selling firearms.

Cai Cheng trembled and asked, "What happens after we hand them over?"

The man smirked coldly, clearly not intending to let the three of them off.

A flash of white light, and Cai Cheng disappeared.

Su Han, "..."

After all that, it turned out Cai Cheng was a player too. Seeing things go south, he bolted immediately.

The target was too quick, leaving the pistol-wielding young man stunned, unable to react for a long time.

His buddy couldn't help griping, "I told you to chill! Now look, you scared them off!"

He didn't even try to hide his contempt from Su Han and Zhong Rui, seemingly convinced of their absolute advantage in firepower.

Su Han's expression darkened as she quickly weighed her options. It was already the 18th day. Any player who made it past 12 days in the beginner dungeon could level up to two.

They were outmatched in level, and their stamina was almost the same. The worst part? The other guys had guns.

As she pondered, the gun-toting guy turned to Su Han and Zhong Rui, taking shots at them, then coldly said, "You two are players too, right? Your companion has abandoned you. If you know what's good for you, just give up quietly, and I'll make your deaths quick."

The guy spoke with confidence. In a non-combat state, players could freely leave the dungeon. But once in combat, players couldn't escape.

Cai Cheng's getaway was a total fluke. Everything happened too suddenly, and he didn't react in time. Now, by attacking first and putting the other side in combat mode, the target naturally couldn't run away.

Su Han quickly racked her brain, considering how to respond. Giving up and bailing on the dungeon wasn't even an option for her.

At that moment, Zhong Rui whispered the countdown, "Guys take the left, girls take the right."

Su Han was at a loss for words. Zhong Rui's meaning was obvious—one person takes on one opponent. The problem? The dude on the right had a gun! As a man, shouldn't he take on the more challenging task?

Su Han took a deep breath, barely keeping her cool. She thought, forget it, being able to hold off one is good enough. She'd have to rely on herself.

"Quit stalling! Hand it all over!" The gun-toting guy pointed the pistol at Su Han's heart, his threat clear.

Zhong Rui whispered the countdown, unhurriedly, "3, 2, 1!"

As soon as he said "1," he threw a kitchen knife at the gun-toting guy and charged at the other.

The kitchen knife's blade glinted coldly, looking extremely sharp. The gun-toting guy instinctively ducked. By the time he realized this was a game and tried to aim again, Su Han had already closed the distance, walking up to the guy. With her left hand, she pushed the gun barrel upward, and with her right hand, she wielded a dagger, driving it into the guy's gut without a second thought.

The guy grunted but didn't dodge. Instead, he gripped the gun with both hands, aiming it at Su Han's head.

Su Han's face stayed stone-cold as she bravely used her left hand to block the gun barrel and continued stabbing with her right.

In a pinch, hesitation means defeat!

The guy never expected a girl to be so hardcore, abandoning defense to engage in mutual slashing.

But... would he be afraid? The guy snorted coldly and pulled the trigger.

"Ugh!" Su Han gritted her teeth and endured, swinging the dagger even more fiercely.

At this moment, Su Han's stamina was at 76%, while the young man's was at 71%.

The young man couldn't understand why, despite the pistol being more powerful than the dagger, he was at a disadvantage. After a while, he realized that the abdomen Su Han was attacking was a vital spot, causing double damage, while the left hand he was attacking usually took normal damage, with occasional critical hits.

Thus, the pistol's damage was actually less than the dagger's.

Once he figured this out, the young man immediately adjusted his strategy, using one hand to grip the troublesome left hand blocking the gun barrel and the other to aim the gun at vital spots.

In a flash, Su Han threw the dagger back into her Portable Storage, then gripped the trigger with both hands to prevent the gun from firing, at the same time pointing the barrel towards the ceiling.

"Holy crap!" the young man couldn't help but curse. The girl in front of him looked quite frail, but her strength was surprisingly strong. He fought with everything he had but couldn't aim the gun at her head. What’s worse, the pistol could only hold eight bullets at most, and once used up, the magazine needed to be replaced. As it stood, by the time all the bullets were spent, he wouldn't be able to defeat his opponent.

The two were at a standoff when suddenly, the young man's calf was kicked, causing him to fall to the ground instantly.

Su Han was gasping for breath. When she looked again, she realized that Zhong Rui had already knocked down the other person and had come over to help.

"Entrusting such a heavy task to me, you really can relax," Su Han said bitterly.

Zhong Rui was unfazed, "Don't underestimate yourself, you're very capable."

For a moment, Su Han felt a twinge of frustration. She knew she was capable, but no matter how capable, she couldn't take on a gun, right? It was already quite an effort to hold someone off.

Zhong Rui snatched the pistol from the young man and asked coldly, "Where did you get this gun?"

The young man's eyes shifted nervously, about to speak, but Zhong Rui pulled the trigger without hesitation. The bullet grazed the young man's cheek, making him flinch.

"Tell the truth," Zhong Rui's voice was chilling.

The young man shivered and finally told the truth, "This is my talent, I have a chance to obtain various weapons."

"What about the bullets? Hand them over," Su Han demanded without hesitation, knowing that without bullets, the pistol was just a piece of scrap metal.

The young man knew he was in their hands and had no choice but to obediently hand over 20 bullets. However, he had a trick up his sleeve, "I still have 30 bullets on me. Let us leave safely, and I'll give them to you."

Zhong Rui and Su Han exchanged glances.

In the next moment, Su Han slit the young man's throat with her dagger, while Zhong Rui pulled the trigger, aiming at the young man's heart. In an instant, the young man vanished in a flash of white light and was eliminated.

"With such a malicious mindset and dangerous talent, keeping him around would only be a disaster," Su Han muttered.

Zhong Rui agreed. After examining the pistol for a while, he asked, "Do you want this gun?"

Su Han thought, what would she need it for? She hadn't practiced shooting.

"You keep it. First, eliminate the other guy, then help me bandage my wound," Su Han shook her bloodied left hand, signaling to her partner that the situation was serious.

"Alright," Zhong Rui responded.

Soon, the other person was also eliminated, vanishing in a flash of white light.

Immediately after, Zhong Rui took out surgical supplies, hemostatic powder, and medical bandages, and began the operation. Suddenly, he had a thought, "This scene feels strangely familiar." Only last time, he was the one injured, and this time their roles were reversed.

Su Han remained expressionless, "Stop talking nonsense, hurry up." At this moment, she was in so much pain she wanted to hit someone, and had no mind for small talk.

"Quite brave, using your hand to block the gun barrel," Zhong Rui clicked his tongue in admiration.

"It's just a game, I won't die," Su Han pretended to be fearless, but in reality, she regretted it deeply—if she had known the pain system was so realistic, she wouldn't have done it!!

The two chatted intermittently, and soon, the wound was bandaged.

"I didn't expect Cai Cheng to be a player," Su Han deliberately changed the subject. In fact, whether Cai Cheng was a player or an NPC, she didn't really care.

Zhong Rui took the opportunity to invite her, "Shall we go check out his room together?"

All along, Cai Cheng had been very careful with his disguise. This meant that, whether he had a Portable Storage or not, he would keep some supplies in his room, pretending to be an ordinary NPC.

This was the same logic as when the cold wave hit and Cai Cheng asked to enter the room to warm up, Zhong Rui and Su Han specifically took out some supplies and placed them in the room.

"Let's go," Su Han said, leading the way.

The door to room 503 was locked. Since there was no one else left in the inn, Zhong Rui forcefully kicked it open.

The room was filled with scattered supplies. Over thirty bars of soap, more than fifty bottles of shower gel, sixty packs of instant noodles, several barrels of rice and flour, over ten types of candy, and vacuum-packed dairy and meat products were strewn all over the place.

Su Han remained silent for a few seconds before speaking slowly, "Either he's too wealthy to care, or Cai Cheng simply doesn't have a Portable Storage at all." That's why there were so many supplies left in the room.

"Either way, we've hit the jackpot," Zhong Rui said, his tone hinting at negotiation. "How about a 60-40 split? You get 60%, I get 40%."

Su Han realized that Zhong Rui was willing to concede in the spoils distribution due to her injury. But in truth, she wasn't too concerned about the supplies. After all, her Portable Storage contained plenty of gold jewelry and gems, and once they entered the next dungeon, she would have enough funds to replenish her supplies.

So Su Han didn't bother to argue and casually agreed, "Alright, let's do it that way."

After peacefully dividing the spoils, the two of them headed to the fourth floor.

Not knowing where the two gunmen were staying, they decided to search all the rooms on the fourth floor. After a lot of effort, they finally found a bag of sliced bread and three cans of cola, a rather meager haul.

"You don't have much food, so take it," Su Han offered generously.

"Thanks," Zhong Rui didn't hesitate and took the bread and cola.

Glancing downstairs, Su Han noticed that the water had completely flooded the third floor. She couldn't help but ask, "We'll probably have to leave by boat tomorrow morning. Any thoughts on where we're headed?"

Zhong Rui replied straightforwardly, "I'm ready for the worst—spending the last two days on the boat. We'll figure it out when the time comes."

His attitude was clear. He wasn't confident because he had foreseen what would happen, but because he was well-prepared and ready to face any challenge.

Su Han smiled, "I agree. Whatever challenges come our way, we'll overcome them and clear the dungeon."

**

On the 19th day, the system's mechanical voice announced, "Flooding has erupted, the island is heavily polluted, and all residents lose 15 stamina points."

This meant that even if the players did nothing, they would lose 30 stamina points (15+15) as soon as they woke up in the morning.

Glancing at her stats and seeing her stamina at 165, 75%, Su Han didn't pay much attention. But she couldn't help but mutter to herself, "We'll have to dip into our reserves again."

Her Portable Storage now held 4 bottles of milk, 1 loaf of rye bread, 1 Pork Floss Cream Bread, and 1 chocolate cake. It seemed her talent had triggered, granting her two sets of meals at once.

Su Han ate the chocolate cake and then went out to find Zhong Rui.

Coincidentally, Zhong Rui had just stepped out. He asked, "You ready?"

"Yeah, let's go," Su Han replied.

Zhong Rui set the Quilt Boat in the water, broke two wooden planks to use as oars, and hopped onto the boat.

Su Han sat on the boat and was about to grab a blanket to shield herself from the rain when Zhong Rui handed her a folding umbrella, saying, "Here, take this."

Su Han didn't hesitate and took the umbrella.

Holding the umbrella, the two of them sat on the boat and slowly drifted away from the inn.

The heavy rain persisted, but without the strong winds. The Quilt Boat drifted steadily.

Su Han sat on the boat, munching on bread when hungry and sipping milk when thirsty, feeling no different than during the last days of the beginner dungeon. The only issue was the constant rain, leaving her soaked and uncomfortable. The cramped space made it hard to stretch, adding to the annoyance.

The Quilt Boat drifted slowly and steadily, with no sign of anyone around. Looking around, all she saw was water, making the dungeon feel as vast as if she and Zhong Rui were the only ones left in the world.

"Whoosh—" A gentle breeze stirred, rippling the calm water. A wave slapped the Quilt Boat, soaking both of their pants.

Su Han didn't care and quietly waited for the arrival of the 20th day.

"Slap—" Zhong Rui was quick and swatted a mosquito quickly.

However, Su Han didn't even feel like swatting mosquitoes anymore. "After all, when we enter the next instance, all three attributes will be fully restored. So even if I get bitten by a mosquito now and end up with a negative status, it's no big deal."

Since I still have plenty of stamina, it's enough to last until the end of the game.

"It does make a difference," Zhong Rui replied seriously. "Getting bitten will make you feel itchy."

Su Han had no response.

At 9 a.m. the next morning, the system's robotic voice announced, "The heavy rain has suddenly stopped, the temperature has returned to normal, and the skies have cleared."

"Due to severe pollution on the island, a disease has spread, and all residents on the island have their stamina reduced by 50."

Su Han murmured, "At least in the beginner instance, there were immunity conditions. This time, it reduces stamina by 65 points (50+15). That's too brutal."

Zhong Rui's eyes gleamed, and he suddenly asked, "What do you think would happen if, after the tornado, the cleanup progress reached over 90%?"

"I've thought about that too. If the cleanup progress reached over 90%, would there even be a disease? If the cleanup progress was below 10%, would the result of the disease now be a stamina reduction of 100?" Su Han shrugged, looking utterly helpless. "But in reality, there are no 'what ifs.' Besides, with just the two of us, getting the cleanup progress above 90% is way too hard."

"Don't worry, I didn't think of changing anything on my own. I just find the system's settings quite interesting," Zhong Rui said with a relaxed smile, then put away his umbrella and lazily remarked, "The sun's out."

Su Han looked up and saw that it was sunny and cloudless. She thought to herself that all the suffering was almost over.

They had been drifting on the boat for two full days.

At midnight on the 20th day, as the clock struck 12, the system's robotic voice chimed in right on time, like music to her ears, "The second round of the game has ended. Congratulations to the players for completing the extreme challenge."

"You have received an additional reward."

"All surviving players in the instance will be automatically transported away."

Then, with a flash of white light, Su Han found herself back in the white mist.

Author's note: Pistols are prohibited words, and specific gun names are also prohibited words. What a pain.