Chapter 5: A Day Full of Loot

Su Ning and Qiao Duoduo successfully met up and returned to the inn. Honestly, the medium room was really nice—double bed, private bathroom, and a sofa.

The two girls sank onto the sofa and began sorting through the day’s gains.

Su Ning spoke first:
“Today we earned 62 copper coins. Hooray! After paying 28 for the room, that leaves 17 coins each. I’ve already sent you a mail. Counting the one we each had before, that’s 18 copper coins total.”

“Mm-hmm,” Qiao Duoduo’s eyes sparkled happily. Judging by today’s haul, they really had a fruitful day.

“Then, 112 cards in total, including 33 green cards, the rest white cards.

White cards: ordinary pajamas, 12 cards.”

“These include camisole nightgowns, pajama sets, long- and short-sleeved. Cute and versatile, courtesy of Qiao Duoduo’s charming comments.”

“White cards: timber, 2 cards; stone, 3 cards.”

“Counted by the ton, currently not very useful. But in winter, the wood should be good for warmth.” Qiao Duoduo placed these cards aside.

“White card: coal, 1 card.” Su Ning looked at Duoduo, anticipating her cute remark.

“All right, good for heating—very useful.”

“Food-wise, white cards: steamed buns, 9; candies, 7; vegetable buns, 6; chocolate, 3.”

“Not bad. Steamed buns +20 fullness, +5 HP; candies +7 MP; vegetable buns +30 fullness, +7 HP; chocolate +13 MP.”

“Daily necessities, white cards: toothbrush, 8; towels, 7; bath towels, 2; soap, 6; bath sponge, 3; scrubbing cloth, 3.”

“All disposable. Toothbrush +20 hygiene, towel +25, soap +30. Bath sponge, scrubbing cloth, and bath towel: 100% hygiene when used. Our cleanliness level should be fine.”

“Next, white cards: men’s underwear, 2; women’s underwear, 3.” Su Ning recited, feeling how thoughtful the game was.

Qiao Duoduo responded:
“Su, we can finally change our underwear—so touched.” The underwear came in complete sets. Cards indicated that if not changed every three days, they became unusable. The system was just that strict.

“Finally, white cards: 2 rolls of fabric, 1 card; basic wooden arrows, 1 card, 300 arrows.” Su Ning continued:
“The arrows and fabric are for you. You can gift them to the innkeeper. Tomorrow we’ll gather leaves for the pharmacy apprentice, and maybe give tea sets to the tea house owner. I tried it today—affection points went up.”

Qiao Duoduo nodded happily:
“Mm, I learned a bit today too. Let’s continue with the green cards.”

“Okay, green cards: women’s lingerie, 1 card. Want to give it to Huo Yang?” Su Ning couldn’t hold back a laugh.

“Go away, go away. Maybe trade it later. Green cards are precious,” Qiao Duoduo blushed.

“All right, green cards: delicate xiao long bao, 5; exquisite durian pastry, 6; strawberry cake, 8.”

“Xiao long bao +50 fullness, +10 HP; durian pastry +20 fullness, +20 MP; strawberry cake +40 fullness, +15 HP, +15 MP.”

“Also four sets of clothes, green cards: women’s sportswear, 2; women’s dress, 1; men’s casual wear, 1.” Su Ning glanced at the dress, thinking: Who even cares about dresses now?

“Sportswear +3 agility, dress +2 intelligence, men’s casual wear +1 strength, +1 constitution. Continuous wear cannot exceed 7 days. Su, is this considered equipment?” Qiao Duoduo was thrilled.

“Sure! They all add stats!” Su Ning wanted to shout with joy—agility and intelligence were exactly what she needed. They happily decided: Su Ning would take the sportswear and dress, Qiao Duoduo the sportswear and casual wear. (The casual wear would be gifted to Huo Yang.)

“Next, green cards: double-person tent, 2; single-person tent, 1; simple stove, 1; home knife set, 1; bottled water, 1; backpack, 1; delicate small shoulder bag, 1. That’s today’s loot.” Su Ning felt proud of their first day in this “hellish” game.

“You take one tent, I’ll take one. The single tent goes to Huo Yang. Store the stove and knives. The bottled water is small but weighs a ton—split into small bottles. Backpack has no stats, small bag +1 slot. What do you want?” Qiao Duoduo asked.

“The backpack. I’ll put cards inside, then store it. The small bag is yours. For water, I’ll take some out and send portions to home and Huo Yang. The rest we’ll split evenly.” As a cautious but (so far) wealthy singleton, Su Ning decided to actively support her allies.

“I’ll keep the water in the small bag, you take the cards. Also, I got some info today:

1. Equipment drop rate is very low, maybe around 1%.
2. Someone already reached level 4 today—high-level players are everywhere. Some tried exploring the edges but couldn’t measure distance. From the hills, they saw dense fog marking the safe zone boundaries.
3. NPCs do accept gifts—that you’ve already done. Troublemakers get escorted by guards; no one returned yet.
4. Huo Yang’s safe zone is similar, around 1,000 people. He temporarily formed a team but hasn’t reached level 3.
5. Monster distribution: south safe zone—level 1 zombies; east—level 5 monsters (huge cockroaches, can fly); west—nothing; north—level 3, rabbits.
6. Many people don’t dare leave the safe zone. Most can’t afford inn fees. Sleeping bags and tents are rare drops.

Also, I met Zhang Ge. He brought planners, programmers, girlfriends of teammates, and art girls. They invited us to join their team tomorrow, splitting cards and coins evenly. Teaming up increases survival chances. Many died today—no level loss, no respawn. Seems they really died.”

Qiao Duoduo’s voice was full of helplessness.

Su Ning patted her back, thinking about Zhang Ge—their project lead, 30, honest and trustworthy.

Feng Ji, 26, was a small art team leader. Handsome, making the art girls swoon.

Since Su Ning and Qiao Duoduo were new interns, details were uncertain. They were all new colleagues, seemingly similar, not fully trustworthy.

“Can we see their professions or levels?” Su Ning still felt curiosity was necessary.

“They reveal nothing. I didn’t agree to share with them—it would be too unfair.”

Su Ning agreed:
“Let’s take a bath first. We can check on them tomorrow. Who knows how this world will change?”