“Hello, players! Welcome to the one-star instance, Little Sen Pharmaceutical Factory.

The Picklari continent is rich in resources and has a pleasant climate. It is home to the powerful Benpig people, who, due to their unique physiology, are especially prone to insect bites. This constant nuisance has made their lives incredibly frustrating.

Using their great intelligence, they have invented a precious insect-repellent medicine. And the best pharmaceutical factory on the entire Picklari continent is none other than Little Sen Pharmaceutical Factory!

Now, all players are tasked with venturing into the forest to collect three types of rare insect-repelling herbs. These must be delivered to Little Sen Pharmaceutical Factory, located in the heart of the forest, before dusk on the second day!

Note: You must collect all three types; missing even one will result in failure.“

As the system notification ended, each player found a piece of paper appearing in their hands.

On the paper were illustrations of three distinct herbs.

Ji He quickly memorized the characteristics of the herbs on her sheet before carefully storing the paper away.

After securing it, she discreetly glanced at the herb illustrations on the white-dressed girl’s paper beside her.

Only one herb overlapped with her own list—the rest were completely different.

Ji He let out a small sigh of relief. It seemed the system wasn’t too cruel.

If every player had to search for the exact same three herbs, people would probably end up beating each other senseless over them!

At that moment, someone shouted, “System! What about food?”

The realization hit the rest of the players as well.

That’s right—this instance lasted two whole days. Unlike previous ones that only lasted a few hours, people would definitely need to eat and drink during this time. But where were they supposed to find food in the forest?

Despite the players’ protests, the system remained completely silent. Its intent was clear: they would have to solve this problem themselves.

While the crowd was still in chaos, many players had already memorized the herb details and started heading into the forest.

Ji He was one of them.

Ignoring the noisy complaints around her, she quietly slipped into the forest.

At this moment, she felt incredibly grateful for her personal storage space—and the fact that she had stocked up on plenty of food.

At least for these two days in the forest, she wouldn’t have to wander around searching for food like the others. She could focus entirely on gathering herbs.

And if danger arose, she could always retreat into her space.

A new thought suddenly struck Ji He—

The time limits for these missions were increasing. From the initial 8-hour tasks to now a full 2-day challenge. Would there be even longer missions in the future?

How would players get food during those?

Would they have to rely on themselves?

Or would the system’s marketplace provide it?

Ji He mentally called out for the in-game shop—no response. Alarmed, she then tried accessing the chat channel—still nothing.

That’s when she realized it.

The system had locked them out of all external resources.

For the next two days, players had to find food on their own. If they couldn’t… they’d just have to starve!

This game really left no loopholes to exploit!

Despite these thoughts, Ji He didn’t slow her pace.

Staying in the crowd was even more dangerous—who knew if some desperate player might start attacking others for supplies?

She’d have to enter the forest sooner or later. Doing it now would give her a head start in understanding her surroundings.

The forest reminded her of the untouched wilderness she had seen in documentaries.

Towering trees, thick branches, overgrown vegetation—there was no sign of human presence.

Ji He frowned and pulled out a long-sleeved shirt and pants, quickly putting them on.

She also put on a hat.

Having watched plenty of survival documentaries, she knew that forest dangers weren’t just limited to animals—there were also insects, many of which could be venomous and deadly.

She pinned the Scavenger’s Badge to the inside of her clothing, hoisted her large iron shovel, and cautiously stepped deeper into the woods.

She kept glancing around warily, afraid someone might attack her from behind.

The deeper she walked, the eerier the forest felt. It was too quiet.

Not even the usual sounds of insects or birds—only the rustling of grass against her clothes as she moved.

After a while, Ji He realized she couldn’t keep moving like this.

She crouched down behind a tree and began using her shovel to clear some vegetation.

She needed camouflage!

More than half an hour later, Ji He held a hastily woven dark green cloak in her hands.

She had only finished the upper part, while the bottom was left ragged, giving it an unfinished look. But when she tested it, the results were surprisingly good.

Out of habit, she activated her talent.

To her surprise, it worked.

[Weed Cloak: A cloak woven from common weeds. Normally, it would be a flimsy piece of trash that falls apart with a gust of wind! But now, it has a new purpose—wearing it grants a 50% chance to be ignored by insect creatures, mistaking you for vegetation.]

Ji He’s eyes lit up, skipping past all the unnecessary details and grinning.

This was great!

With this, she had a 50% chance of avoiding insect bites altogether.

That instantly cut her risks in half!

Ji He immediately draped the cloak over her shoulders.

This talent might seem useless most of the time, but in critical moments, it was actually pretty handy.

With her new cloak on, Ji He turned her gaze toward a massive tree in front of her, which was glowing with a faint blue light.

On instinct, she used her shovel to scrape off the glowing blue plants clinging to the bark.

As soon as she obtained them, a string of information flashed through her mind.

**[Plaran: The most common plant in the Picklari continent. It cannot survive independently and must grow attached to other vegetation. Extremely resilient, it has a natural cooling effect.

It spreads endlessly—clear it in the morning, and by nightfall, it grows back completely. No matter how much you remove, it always returns.]**

A cooling effect?

Ji He curiously pressed a patch of the glowing blue plant against her arm.

A shiver ran through her body as she immediately pulled away.

Ice cold!

Holding it in her hand hadn’t felt like much, but pressed against her skin, the sensation was unmistakable—like a chunk of ice had suddenly touched her.

Ji He blinked and turned to look at the dense thicket behind her.

Glowing blue plants covered the tree trunks, growing freely from the base all the way up. Every tree was covered in a thick layer of them.

In an instant, the eerie blue glow in the forest transformed in her mind.

This wasn’t creepy or ominous—this was a treasure trove!

Still, Ji He remained rational.

Her main goal was to gather herbs, so she didn’t get completely carried away harvesting Plaran. Instead, she decided to collect some while moving forward.

It was ridiculously easy to gather.

A light scrape with her shovel, and entire patches fell off.

Effortless!

Ji He was starting to get addicted to collecting it.

She had no idea how many trees she had stripped bare when she suddenly noticed something ahead.

Her instincts kicked in—she quickly crouched down, secured her cloak, and crept forward carefully.

Pushing aside the grass, she spotted it—

A towering plant, more than two meters tall.

A herb?!

Ji He quickly pulled out her paper and compared it carefully.

It matched exactly!

Long, slender leaves covered in dense white thorns.

The only difference was the size—the illustration seemed to be a miniature version of the real plant.

Underneath the herb, additional details were written:

“60 white thorns required…”

Ji He looked up at the towering plant.

Her mouth twitched.

…Great. Just great.