“Is this guy cheating?!”

Upon hearing this, Xiao-Jie explained, “No, she’s not cheating. Did you notice the charm on her fishing rod?”

At this, many players recalled.

Shen Xin had indeed crafted something and hung it on her fishing rod before she started fishing.

Oh, they thought it was a tool to stabilize the float, but it’s actually a treasure that helps catch boxes!

How unfortunate. Chen Xingyun felt a pang of envy.

“Friend, do you have any more of those box-catching charms? Would you sell one to me?” Chen Xingyun walked over to ask.

“No, I don’t.” The cost to create the charm was so high that Shen Xin hadn’t even made enough for herself, let alone to sell to others.

“You just made one, didn’t you? Make another?” Chen Xingyun asked.

Shen Xin suppressed her annoyance. “I can’t, I’m out of materials.”

“What materials do you need?” Chen Xingyun called his teammates over. “Let’s gather the materials together. Once we get the boxes, we’ll divide them according to need.”

Chen Xingyun had always been dependable since forming the team, so everyone readily agreed without hesitation.

Shen Xin shot a glance at Chen Xingyun, thinking this man was quite the talker. She hadn’t even agreed to help, and already the matter of making the box bait had been settled? Though now that she considered it, the five or six people surrounding her certainly didn’t seem to be discussing so much as intimidating her.

Shen Xin pondered slightly before setting a condition. “I can help you, but I require payment for my work. Is that agreeable?”

Chen Xingyun asked, “What kind of payment?”

“I’ll need one piece each of any gem and any metal ingot, plus an extra copper ingot,” Shen Xin said, naming her price.

The members of the mutual aid squad whispered amongst themselves again. They had only seen the amount of loot Shen Xin reeled in, never expecting it would cost this much to make the box bait.

Chen Xingyun’s expression darkened as well. He hadn’t realized weapons could only be obtained from the boxes, so he still had a few copper ingots left. He had hoped to upgrade one of the fighters’ gears with the ingots.

“Can you make it cheaper?” Chen Xingyun asked, frowning.

“Price is firm.”

The mutual aid squad discussed briefly, then finally came up with four copper ingots and a red gem to give to Shen Xin.

Shen Xin completed the transaction on the spot, handing over the box bait.

Chen Xingyun stared at the way Shen Xin crafted the box bait, but unfortunately, crafting items from blueprints involved a fixed set of motions. After consuming the necessary materials, the finished product would appear automatically without any visible process.

Disappointed, Chen Xingyun accepted the transaction, and then gave the box bait to Nicholas after seeing its properties.

“Your rhythm is the best; you should be the one to fish.”

Fishing mini-games were essentially music games, and Nicholas was the best fisherman in the group. The other members had never seen box bait before, so instead of rushing to try it out for themselves, they stood around to watch their teammates’ attempts.

Being surrounded by so many people made Nicholas incredibly uncomfortable, and he turned to his friends. “Friends, please step back a bit—if you stand too close, my hook might accidentally drag you into the sea!”

Laughing, his teammates gave him space to operate.

However, their laughter quickly ceased.

Someone who was paying close attention to Shen Xin’s fishing earlier counted: Shen Xin had caught eight boxes, three of which were iron chests.

Nicholas had already cast his line eight times but only caught four chests, and not a single iron chest among them.

“I’ll do it!” Chen Xingyun couldn’t hold back. “You might have run out of luck today. Let’s not waste our opportunities.”

Nicholas, also puzzled, swiftly handed the fishing rod to Chen Xingyun.

Unfortunately, no miracle occurred.

Even after damaging the bait, the mutual aid squad still hadn’t caught a single iron chest.

Chen Xingyun was dumbfounded.

“Are we getting pranked?” someone whispered.

Many scammers would show a genuine product that yielded spectacular results before selling counterfeits—wasn’t this the same tactic?

Chen Xingyun turned around and noticed Shen Xin had disappeared.

“Where did she go?!” Chen Xingyun cursed. He quickly asked if anyone knew where Shen Xin had run off.

“Look at these footprints! She must have gone this way!” A team member noticed the sandy beach’s imprints and reported them to Chen Xingyun.

“Let’s go after her!” Most of the materials used to craft the bait earlier had come from Chen Xingyun, so he was the angriest after being cheated. “Don’t let her escape!”

Stone, wood, ore, gem…

Shen Xin sat on a rock by the seaside, a little further north and she would find the first lake.

She didn’t rush into the forest. After making sure there was no one around, she found a clean place to open the chests.

There wasn’t anything special in the low- and mid-level chests. Shen Xin opened the first iron chest and received a jar.

She only wanted weapons, so she didn’t pay much attention to the jar’s description, instead shoving it into her backpack and preparing to open the second chest.

“Give me a weapon!” After her prayer, she added, “No scimitars, no scimitars.”

With a deep breath, Shen Xin opened the treasure chest.

Liaohua Sword: Master-crafted, named for its ability to effortlessly slice flower petals in half. Inflicts 55-65 damage per attack, and when using the “stab” maneuver, has a 20% chance of triggering critical damage, dealing 85-100 damage.

“Finally not a scimitar!” This was Shen Xin’s first reaction.

After reading the properties, she was even more pleased. “It’s a good weapon.”

She did some mental math. The Liao Hua Sword had a higher attack power than the scimitar, but two scimitars together doubled the attack, making them more useful than the sword.

Shen Xin didn’t care about these calculations.

The Liao Hua Sword’s description was far more dignified than that of the scimitar, and that alone made it incomparable to the other weapon!

After acquiring her weapon, Shen Xin felt much more at ease. She swiftly opened the third chest, thinking she might as well see what it held.

Thus, the chest disappeared, and Shen Xin received a ring.

[Strength Ring]: Upon equipping, +10 attack power (see note).

Shen Xin had seen Jing Yan wear this ring before, and she hadn’t thought much of it. That was until she saw the small print.

“What is this?”

Shen Xin clicked on the glowing purple “note” and the ring instantly changed appearance, accompanied by an updated description.

[Injury Amplifying Ring]: Gag gift exclusive! Upon equipping, the wearer’s received damage will be amplified fivefold. Cannot be removed unless the wearer dies—so who’s getting this? (This note is visible only to the first person to acquire this item)

Shen Xin was speechless.

This is such a low blow.

UOL, you guys really have some nerve.

Shen Xin couldn’t think of anyone who held a deep grudge against her, so she carefully put the ring away while reminding herself sternly not to accept other people’s things so carelessly in the future.

Just as Shen Xin finished gathering her belongings, the mutual aid squad members stormed toward her. Chen Xingyun, the team’s leader, pointed at her and yelled, “What do you have to say for yourself, selling us fake bait?”

Shen Xin stared at the crowd in front of her. “What do you mean ‘fake bait’?”

“Our box bait can’t catch iron boxes. Did you sabotage it somehow?” Chen Xingyun pulled out a pile of low- and mid-level treasure chests as evidence, demanding an explanation from Shen Xin.

Fan Qing and Xiao-Jie had been growing anxious since everyone started berating Shen Xin, and now the two stepped forward to defend her. “Everyone, please wait. There might be some misunderstanding here.”

The members of the mutual aid squad, their fury fueled by deception, dragged the two out of their group and demanded, “So, you two know her, right? You were also the ones who warned us about that box-fishing thing! Come on, spill the beans—are you working with her?!”

They glared daggers at Shen Xin and Fan Qing.

Shen Xin glanced at the bait box, then looked back at the members of the mutual aid squad, baffled.

“Excuse me…” Shen Xin began slowly, “Have you read the instructions for the bait box?”

Only Chen Xingyun had bothered to read the instructions. “There’s a fifty percent chance it’ll convert live fish into treasure chests. So what if I saw it? Why didn’t we catch any iron boxes?”

Shen Xin suspected that this person might not be the brightest. “Who said that the bait box would definitely catch an iron box?”

“You did! You caught several!”

“That’s because my fishing level is high; the drop rate for treasure chests is quadrupled.” Shen Xin looked coldly at Chen Xingyun. “Who else has caught them? What are your fishing levels? Do you have any bonuses for treasure chest drops?”

“Um…” Nicholas glanced at Chen Xingyun. “I don’t have any bonuses.”

Chen Xingyun was taken aback. “I… I didn’t get a boost either.”

“So there!” Shen Xin looked at them, exasperated. “Don’t assume the bait box’s success is solely responsible for my catches, just because I caught a lot. We all completed the same exercise book, yet some of us scored high and some low—was that the fault of the exercise book? No, it’s because people are different, okay?”

This metaphor was far too vivid, and the members of the mutual aid squad looked at one another, speechless.

A few individuals continued to mumble, “This is just your side of the story; who knows if it’s true…”

Shen Xin laughed in despair. “Just think of me as a liar, then, but whatever you do, don’t ask me to make bait boxes for you again.”

The bait box’s effects were incredibly potent; as long as its users possessed the minimum required ability, they were guaranteed a huge profit.

Shen Xin felt that she had practically sold them at a loss, only to be called a liar in return.

Chen Xingyun’s heart ached for his copper ingots and gemstones. He cleared his throat. “Um, well, you didn’t explain the bait box’s function clearly. We misunderstood that it could catch iron chests, so you bear some of the blame, right?”

He placed the low-tier chests before Shen Xin. “Here, return the copper ingots and gemstones, and we’ll even things out.”

Shen Xin stared, speechless. How could this man say such shameless things with such confidence? You big shot, have some dignity!

Shen Xin finally lost her temper. “And if I refuse?”

“I advise you to think carefully, or you’ll surely regret it.” Chen Xingyun unsheathed his long blade, shooting a meaningful glance at the others in his group. The other players pondered briefly before pulling out their stone axes.

“What about you two?” Chen Xingyun looked at Fan Qing and Xiao-Jie. “Our team was made up of ordinary players, but since you two are warriors, I’ve allowed you to stay. So, what’s it gonna be? Join us or stand aside?”

Shen Xin smiled. “How come there’s no option to stand with me?”

“Hmph.” Chen Xingyun pointed his blade at Fan Qing and Xiao-Jie. “If you choose her, these two will be the first ones I slaughter.”

Fan Qing and Xiao-Jie fell silent.

As streamers, they had a fan base and were more popular during votes, so they’d noticed that Chen Xingyun had been targeting them.

They thought that as long as they worked hard, minded their own business, and avoided conflict, they would eventually become acquainted with the members of the mutual aid squad.

Now, Chen Xingyun’s words chilled them to the bone.

“Hey, big shot, we’re on your side!” Xiao-Jie pulled out his knife, and together with Fan Qing, took a few steps toward Shen Xin.

“You’ve made a grave mistake.” Chen Xingyun gestured toward his three teammates. “Attack.”

Aside from Fan Qing and Xiao-Jie, the mutual aid squad only had one more warrior: Chen Xingyun himself.

But he wasn’t panicked.

All four of them had been handpicked by the system, meaning they were skilled players. The battle prowess of Fan Qing and Xiao-Jie posed no threat.

As for Shen Xin, even if she was formidable, they had nothing to fear. After dealing with Fan Qing and Xiao-Jie, they’d have four people ganging up on her—it would be a piece of cake.

Xiao-Jie saw Chen Xingyun and his allies charging toward them, and nervously clenched the knife in his hand, shielding Fan Qing behind him. “Fan-bro, you don’t have a weapon, stay back; I’ll protect you!”

Fan Qing nodded quickly and hid behind Shen Xin. Even though Xiao-Jie was loyal, the big shot’s arm was more reassuring.

Xiao-Jie fell silent.

Shen Xin didn’t mind the little interaction between the two. “Perfect,” she murmured, “let me test out my new weapon.”

Before anyone could react, Shen Xin unsheathed a longsword patterned with peach blossoms and swung it at the four charging opponents.

The members of the mutual aid squad only saw their health bars halved in an instant.

“Fuck!”

Chen Xingyun’s warrior level was two; upon witnessing his health reduced by one-third, he immediately regretted his actions.

How did I misjudge her so badly?!

At the same time, his eyes grew even more envious.

All the good stuff goes to Shen Xin!

Their most urgent course of action now was to flee, but unfortunately, it was too late.

The writing on the sword Liao Hua wasn’t just for show. Shen Xin slashed and stabbed relentlessly, reducing the four opponents to nothing more than resources strewn across the ground, regretting their actions.

“Ooh? There’s a copper ingot here too?”

The loot these four dropped was significantly more than what Fan Qing and Xiao-Jie had collected, especially Chen Xingyun’s inventory, which contained numerous copper ingots and iron ore, along with those chests.

Shen Xin took the items that piqued her interest, then beckoned Fan Qing and Xiao-Jie over. “Come, come, take whatever you want. Don’t be shy.”

Fan Qing and Xiao-Jie were stunned. Too, too strong!

“Sorry, we shouldn’t have tried to rob you earlier, we were just being audacious…” Fan Qing and Xiao-Jie were still scared stiff.

“I just acquired this weapon, and they just happened to run into me.” Shen Xin pointed at Chen Xingyun’s blade. “Fan Qing, didn’t you need a sword? Come, come, this is for you.”

“Thank you, big shot.” Fan Qing bowed, quickly scooped up the blade, and, at Shen Xin’s prompting, stuffed the resources on the ground into his own backpack.

After doing so, the two realized that they could no longer possibly join the mutual aid squad, and might even be held in contempt by Chen Xingyun and his group.

Worry crept onto their faces.

Shen Xin noticed their concern. “If you really get into trouble, you can come ask me for help.”

These two had erred, but at the most crucial moment, they had stood by her side. Shen Xin’s initial impression of them had been rather negative, but now her opinion had changed. Thus she reassured them, “Don’t worry. Even if you get hacked to death, it’s fine; I’ll make sure they die twice as painfully.”

Fan Qing and Xiao-Jie were speechless.

Thank you, big shot. That doesn’t sound reassuring at all.