Chapter 109 Survival 5

Chapter 109 Survival 5

To be more precise, Su Han stood casually while the other two instinctively kept their distance.

Ignoring their wariness, Su Han tossed out the third bag. "As promised."

The turncoat caught the bag, his tension easing slightly. Paying up meant she’d keep her word. Still, he remained cautious and asked, "Can I leave now?"

"Get lost," Su Han waved dismissively.

The man retreated step by step, staying alert. Only after putting considerable distance between them did he finally turn and sprint away at full speed.

Dai Hui arched a brow. "You’re just letting him go?"

"Or what?" Su Han countered.

"Anyone who’s schemed against us should be eliminated," Dai Hui replied.

To her surprise, Su Han made a face of disdain. "Not worth the hassle."

Dai Hui, "...".

"You wanted to shake off pursuers, he wanted supplies, and I wanted to get rid of extra bags. Everyone’s satisfied—what’s the problem?" Su Han sat down lazily. "Go do whatever you need to. Oh, and take those two bags on the ground when you leave."

Her tone made it sound like she was telling her to take out the trash. Dai Hui bristled. Like she wanted these damn bags either? Four bags were already drawing too much attention, and now there was an extra one after the fight...

But this person had helped her. Grumbling, Dai Hui snatched up the bags and stormed off.

With fewer bags, Su Han felt an unprecedented sense of relief, as if she’d shed dead weight.

One detail she’d left out—an hour earlier, she’d sorted through her belongings. The bags she’d given away contained food, daily necessities, and drinking water, but no medicine.

"Gotta keep the good stuff for myself," Su Han thought matter-of-factly. Then she closed her eyes to rest.

Her consciousness gradually blurred until she fell completely asleep.

At dawn, the acrid stench of smoke hit her.

Su Han groggily opened her eyes, her mind still foggy. The next second, she jolted upright—the forest was ablaze, flames swallowing everything in their path!

Though the setting was a deserted island, the place was densely wooded! And she’d gone too far into the woods. No telling how far she was from safety.

Realizing this, Su Han’s expression darkened. She snatched her gear and booked it away from the flames.

Before long, she heard arguing nearby. Despite the urgency, she glanced toward the noise—only to find people fighting instead of fleeing.

One snarled, "Instead of running, you’re picking fights? You out of your mind?!"

The other shot back, "You think running will save you? Are you an Olympian or a marathoner? Better to thin the herd and hit that 50% cutoff!"

"Do you even know how many have died already?!"

"I can make a rough estimate. At least thirty or forty died on the first day. A few more kills, and we’re golden."

The guy was seething, speechless. His opponent was stubborn, unreasonable, and wouldn’t listen to anything! No way out—he lunged, likely thinking he could finish the fight quickly and then escape.

Su Han turned away and kept running. She scoffed inwardly, *Talk about bad timing—who picks a fight during a wildfire?* At least she wasn’t that unlucky.

But the relief was short-lived. Flames spreading too fast. No telling how close it was now.

After running a little further, the flames grew fiercer, and she could almost feel the heat waves against her back. Yet at that moment, her eyes locked—there stood a familiar figure not far away. Around him, the trees and weeds had been cleared, forming a fire barrier.

Su Han stopped dead in her tracks.

"So we finally meet," Zhong Rui said with a faint smile.

Su Han frowned, her suspicion growing. "You didn’t start this fire, did you?"

"Of course not!" Zhong Rui was tickled by her assumption.

Good. Su Han let out a sigh of relief and made one last dash. Holding her breath, she sprinted into the fire barrier.

Not long after she entered, the flames reached the edge of the barrier. Just a little later, and she would have been caught.

Now in a safe zone with a reliable ally nearby, Su Han relaxed. She collapsed onto the ground, gasping for breath, not caring how she looked.

"Tired?" Zhong Rui asked with concern.

"On the first day of the game, I kept getting targeted and fought several battles. Got barely any sleep, managing only fitful rest. Woke up this morning to thick smoke and have been running with all my gear ever since." Su Han couldn’t help complaining.

Zhong Rui’s lips curled almost imperceptibly, feeling secretly pleased. If she had a rough time alone, maybe she’d finally learn the value of sticking with a teammate.

Outwardly, he put on a serious face. "What happened after you entered the game? Tell me."

Su Han began recounting her misfortunes. As a female player, most passersby saw her as an easy target for robbery. But her high stats turned the tables—would-be thieves wound up dead, leaving behind scattered satchels. Unable to discard them yet unable to carry them all, she grew increasingly anxious. Thankfully, everything was eventually resolved.

This sob story would have drawn sarcasm from anyone else. But Zhong Rui nodded solemnly. "Not having enough bag space is indeed troublesome."

His weary demeanor suggested he faced the same dilemma.

Su Han instinctively glanced at her companion—only to freeze mid-motion. He was lugging around an enormous hiking backpack!

Su Han, "…"

She felt completely sold out by her so-called ally.

Beside her, Zhong Rui continued, "If I hadn’t been lucky enough to trade for this backpack, I’d be stuck figuring out how to carry all these satchels too."

Su Han gave a noncommittal grunt.

Getting the hint he might be kicked out of the ally category, Zhong Rui smoothly changed the subject. "Rest for now. We’ll move once the fire burns out."

Su Han turned away and followed his lead. "What about you? What happened on your first day?"

Zhong Rui replied casually, "Grabbed a supply crate, took out two attackers, traded for a backpack, and scouted around."

"How did you think to create a fire barrier?" Su Han pressed curiously.

"Saw a campfire last night, and it just clicked," he answered.

Ah. Su Han fell silent, sitting quietly to rest.

Zhong Rui lowered his gaze, his face going cold for a moment. If he were a lone wolf, he mused, he would’ve used fire too—the simplest, most effective way to eliminate competition.

But now… better not.

Having a teammate is such a pain. Yet the corners of his lips lifted slightly.

The fire kept raging, showing no signs of dying out.

Su Han sat inside the firebreak zone, feeling waves of heat washing over her, with sweat beading on her forehead and palms. Meanwhile, thick smoke from the fire quickly spread in all directions.

She could only console herself that getting scorched by the flames and inhaling some smoke was nothing compared to burning to death...

Just past 7 a.m., the system's robotic voice suddenly announced, "59 survivors remain, with a survival rate below 50%. The clearance conditions have been met. Survivors can exit the instance at any time when not in combat."

Su Han and Zhong Rui exchanged glances, both thinking the same thing—these were true late-game survivors, managing to wipe out half the players in less than a day.

"Quite a few players must have died in the fire," Zhong Rui remarked calmly. "Setting up a firebreak isn’t easy. First, you have to be far enough from the flames to have enough time to clear trees and grass. Second, with the Portable Storage sealed, you might not have the right tools on hand, slowing things down."

"Not to mention, players are only one day into the game, so they’re low on meds. If an accident happens, they can’t rely on potions for long," Su Han said grimly. "And the trees started burning at dawn, when most players had just woken up—they were still groggy, and their reactions were slower than usual."

"So, the timing of the fire was well-chosen. They had it coming," Zhong Rui mused.

Su Han fell silent, opening her bag to quietly eat breakfast.

Zhong Rui sat on the ground, patiently waiting for the fire to burn out.

At exactly 9 a.m., the system’s voice sounded again, "Game Day 2, 33 survivors remain."

As soon as the announcement ended, four bottles of milk, one piece of black bread, one "Pork Floss Cream Bread," one chocolate cake, three bars of handcrafted soap, and two bars of lilac soap appeared in front of Su Han.

"My bag can’t hold all this. Mind storing it for me?" Su Han tentatively asked her companion.

"Sure," Zhong Rui agreed readily.

"What should we do with the AP rockets we just got?" Su Han inquired.

"Throw them away," Zhong Rui answered without hesitation. "We didn’t bring a rocket launcher in, so they’re useless."

Compared to that, Su Han suddenly felt her secondary profession was still quite good.

Time passed minute by minute, yet the fire showed no signs of weakening.

Instead, Su Han realized something was wrong with her condition. "You have inhaled too much toxic gas, triggering the 'Poisoned' status. -1 stamina every 5 minutes."

She quickly did the math: -1 stamina every 5 minutes meant -12 stamina per hour, and -288 stamina per day! A similar status had occurred in the nuclear radiation instance, but back then, she had her Portable Storage—this time, she only had her bag!

After a brief calculation, Su Han felt a pang of dread, quietly relieved she had brought Vitality Potions.

Then again, if even with her stats she still felt survival pressure, others would find it even harder to cope. She didn’t need to endure the harsh conditions for too long—she just had to outlive the others.

Thinking this, Su Han’s expression softened slightly.

The fire raged for a full day and night without stopping.

The next morning, the system announced, "Game Day 3, 25 survivors remain."

Immediately afterward, the robotic voice spoke in Su Han’s ear, "You have inhaled more toxic gas, advancing to the 'Moderately Poisoned' status. -1 stamina every 3 minutes."

With the status change, she would now lose -480 stamina per day!

Several Vitality Potions gave Su Han a huge safety net, so she remained calm and unhurried.

Zhong Rui, however, was surprised. "Still more left than I figured? More survivors than expected."

A survival rate below 10% was considered an extreme challenge, granting additional rewards. With 120 players in the instance, that meant only 12 spots to advance.

"The difficulty of clearing this is indeed high," Zhong Rui murmured.