Chapter 1: Day 1 of Desert Survival (1) — Starting with a Bit of Luck…

Just as Yu Miaomiao picked up her phone to check her messages, her vision suddenly went dark, and in the blink of an eye, she found herself in this desolate and uninhabited gobi desert.

The scorching sun burned the ground until it was hot to the touch. Even with her eyes lowered, the intense light still pierced and made her dizzy.

When Yu Miaomiao was a child, her family had her fortune told and said she was lacking water in her Five Elements, so they gave her ^[1]Miaomiao (淼淼) is a reduplication of the character 淼, which means “vast expanse of water” — like an endless lake or ocean.this name.

Coming to this cursed place, it seemed that indeed her destiny really lacked water.

Before she could figure out what was going on, she heard a mechanical voice beside her ear.

【Player, hello, welcome to the Apocalypse Survival Game – 1 Desert Survival】

Apocalypse Survival Game – 1 Desert Survival?

Right before her was clearly an endless expanse of gobi desert, covered with coarse sand and gravel on a hard soil layer. Where was the desert?

Before Yu Miaomiao could think further, a bright yellow line of text appeared in front of her, followed immediately by a second round of voice broadcast and subtitles.

【Please confirm your player nickname __】

There was a blinking cursor above the underline of the text box — it looked like a game interface prompting her to enter a game name.

The game’s immersion was way too real: sweat dripped drop by drop, and her neck felt scorching from the sun.

Yu Miaomiao tentatively thought of a name: “MeowMeowNotLackingWater”

【Hello, MeowMeowNotLackingWater. After evaluation, this nickname’s luck index is nine stars out of ten, classifying you as a very lucky player. Congratulations on obtaining the Luck trait.】

Yu Miaomiao: “?”

【As you are among the first batch of beta players, the system will now distribute a beta test gift pack. Please check and receive it.】

Immediately, a wooden box dropped from midair, landing squarely in front of Yu Miaomiao.

The wooden box looked to be about half her height and was tightly sealed. How was she supposed to open it?

Right after, a few lines of system notifications appeared in front of her.

【System Notification: This game features a fully realistic experience. Death in the game means actual death in real life.】

【System Prompt: Each player starts with a 16-slot backpack.】

【Backpack usage method: Items can be stored and accessed at will through mental focus. More slots can be unlocked through gameplay.】

【Other game rules must be discovered by players on their own.】

【Wishing all players the best of luck in staying alive.】

That final wish inevitably gave her an odd and unsettling feeling.

Backpack?

As soon as the thought crossed Yu Miaomiao’s mind, a holographic image of a backpack with sixteen empty slots appeared on the right side in front of her.

Inside were two items: the first was a construction hammer, and the second was a screwdriver.

Below the sixteen slots was a large empty area, which seemed to be backpack space that could be unlocked or upgraded in the future.

So right now, all Yu Miaomiao had were two tools… and a wooden box?

She looked to the left—there was her personal panel.

【Player Real Name: Yu Miaomiao

Player Nickname: MeowMeowNotLackingWater

Age: 23

Game Trait: Luck

Stamina: 30 (Upgradeable)

Agility: 66 (Upgradeable)

Intelligence: 15 (Upgradeable)

Strength: 35 (Upgradeable)

Luck: 900 (Not Upgradeable)】

What did this mean? Judging from the Luck value, could it be that the maximum for each stat was 1000?

Then her Intelligence was only 15? Wasn’t that a bit too low? She wasn’t that dumb, was she?

This was the first time Yu Miaomiao began to doubt her own IQ. What kind of messed-up system was this?

Feeling a bit annoyed, Yu Miaomiao walked up to the wooden box and turned her gaze toward the construction hammer in her backpack. She was determined to smash open the box and see what the system had given her.

But on second thought—wait, there were four screws on the top of the crate. Sure, smashing it open would be quicker, but what if the crate itself was useful later on? If she really used the construction hammer to break it, wouldn’t that be low IQ?

Even though it was unbearably hot, she resisted the discomfort and reached out to drag the screwdriver from the holographic image, making a pulling motion. Instantly, the tool appeared in her hand.

Aiming the tool at the screw and twisting, the nail automatically popped out. The other three were also quickly unscrewed in the same way.

Could it really be this easy? Was it her lucky trait taking effect, or were all items just designed to be this simple to operate?

With a hint of excitement, Yu Miaomiao lifted the top of the wooden crate.

【Luck Trait Activated Successfully. Newbie Gift Pack: 1 worn-out outdoor sun umbrella, 0.5 bottle of mineral water, 1 single-person child-sized bamboo mat.】

Even without the voice broadcast or subtitles, Yu Miaomiao could see the three items appear before her.

Who else could be “lucky” enough to receive worn-out items? Only her.

Such a big box for such a small amount of stuff—anyone would have their imagination run wild for a second, only to be disappointed immediately after.

Oh well, these three items were better than nothing—they could at least help her get by for a while.

The sun umbrella was quite large, like the kind used at security booths, but the canopy had several holes in it, two of the ribs were missing, and the handle was very heavy. Setting it up took a lot of effort.

But the moment Yu Miaomiao managed to open it, a cool breeze swept down from above. Although sunlight still streamed through the holes, the temperature and overall heat around her dropped noticeably.

Now that she had some shade, she turned to check the other items.

Holding the umbrella was a bit inconvenient, but after trying several times and failing to get the broken-base umbrella to stand on its own, Yu Miaomiao had no choice but to keep holding it up with one hand.

She gave up on that for now and turned her attention to the bamboo mat, wondering if it might have some hidden special effect like the umbrella.

Supporting the umbrella with one hand and using her hip and one leg for balance, she bent down and pulled out a 1.2-meter-long bamboo mat from the box and tossed it onto the ground.

Considering this was possibly going to be her “bed,” Yu Miaomiao stepped on the heel of one foot with the other and took off her shoes.

She used the tip of her foot to sweep across the mat, flattening it out. The whole motion looked odd—like she was dancing while sweeping the ground.

Once the mat was smoothed out, Yu Miaomiao cautiously pressed her foot against it to test it.

“Woohoo!” With no one around, Yu Miaomiao shouted out happily in relief.

Although the bamboo mat had a slight roughness, it was gentle, comfortable, and cool. As expected, the items given by the system were good—small but very practical.

Finally, there was the half bottle of water. After finishing all that, she was already drenched in sweat. Using the last bit of strength, she took the water out of the wooden box and sank down onto the ground.

She didn’t dare to relax her grip on the umbrella, the cool touch brought her back to her senses.

The water—was actually cold.

She really felt like crying.

But since there was only half a bottle, she had to drink it slowly. Just as Yu Miaomiao twisted the cap open, she heard the system prompt.

【Mission items have all been collected. You may dispose of the item packaging as you wish.】

Item packaging? Wasn’t that just the wooden box?

After taking a refreshing sip of water, Yu Miaomiao hurriedly asked, “How do I dispose of it?”

The system did not reply.

No matter what questions she asked, there was no response from the mechanical voice. It seemed this system was not an intelligent interactive system.

She looked back at the wooden crate. Through the holographic overlay’s perspective, the crate seemed to have a touchable icon.

Yu Miaomiao tried lightly touching it and saw a system prompt appear.

【Dismantle \ Sell】

The “Sell” button was gray and unclickable. Yu Miaomiao felt this was a feature that would become available later. Looking around at the empty surroundings, she chose “Dismantle.”

【Luck Trait Activated Successfully. Dismantled into: Wood 12, Screws 8. Items have been stored in the system warehouse.】

As the system voice ended, the wooden crate instantly disappeared, and sure enough, these two items occupied two slots in her backpack.

A small wood icon took up the third slot, marked with a small number “12,” while the screws were marked with an “8.”

It seemed that items of the same type were stacked together.

But how were these wood and screws used?

Above the holographic image was a flashing “wrench” icon. Yu Miaomiao lightly tapped it, and the system displayed a new interface.

【Item Crafting Guide】

【Wood ×6 + Screws ×8 = Small Wooden House

Wood ×3 + Screws ×6 = Single Bed

Wood 2 + Screws 2 = Single Chair】

Each formula had a button labeled “Craft” next to it.

Judging solely by the number of screws, she had exactly 8 screws, so the house looked more practical.

But at the bottom of the formulas, there was a particularly eye-catching glowing line of text:

【After completing two item crafts, you will receive a first-time completion reward and unlock new crafting recipes and system functions.】

How to choose? One was steady happiness, the other was an unknown new thing.

While she was still hesitating, she noticed a question mark icon in the holographic interface. When she tapped it, a prompt appeared:

【System Notification: Every day at 12:00 noon, you can draw a gift pack.】

Oh? Did that mean she would receive other items later? This message instantly filled Yu Miaomiao with anticipation.

But that hope was quickly dashed, because at the top of her view, a line of time display appeared:

【Desert Survival – Day 1 | 14:29】

Which meant… she had already missed today’s gift pack.

Yu Miaomiao now realized that although the system seemed to lack guidance, in reality, it gave relevant prompts only after she had taken certain actions.

Thinking it over carefully—if she only built a house but had no bed, starting tonight she would sleep poorly. And with no further steps available, she’d just be stuck. Not to mention she still had no food or water.

After hesitating for two minutes, Yu Miaomiao thought: since the system had given her the Luck trait, she might as well take a bold risk. As the saying goes, “^[2]“Cowards starve to death” means that people who are too afraid to take risks will miss out on opportunities and suffer for it—often used to encourage bold action.cowards starve to death.” Anyway, no one knew how this apocalypse game was supposed to work. So she simply chose to make a chair and a bed.

Once her gaze landed on the chair’s recipe, she tapped “Craft.” The ghost image of the construction hammer in her backpack began hammering on the ground, and a small wooden chair appeared in front of her. At the same time, the wood and screws in her backpack decreased accordingly.

Yu Miaomiao had thought she’d have to manually build the stool herself, but it turned out that as long as she had the construction hammer, the recipe items were automatically crafted—pretty convenient.

She set the chair aside and then crafted the bed.

One bed… two beds.

【Luck Trait Activated Successfully – Crafted Single Bed ×2】

She used the materials for one bed… and got two!

So the Luck trait could randomly trigger in moments like this too? Yu Miaomiao was thrilled. Did this mean she might be able to get even more things in the future?

From her observations, whether the Luck trait was triggered or not would be actively notified when receiving items, during crafting, only successful attempts would get a prompt.

The size of one bed was just enough to lay out the bamboo mat, but unexpectedly, Yu Miaomiao had thought the bed was a simple hard wooden plank bed—turns out it came complete with a mattress and a four-piece bedding set.

However, with the weather so hot now, this thick quilt was obviously unusable.

Wait, she was in the gobi desert—hot during the day but definitely cold at night. The system wouldn’t waste materials by giving her two beds for no reason.

Just as she finished feeling relieved, Yu Miaomiao heard the system notification sound again.

【System Notification: Congratulations to player MeowMeowNotLackingWater for completing Newbie Mission (1).】

Completing two crafted items actually counted as finishing a newbie mission. That number 1 clearly meant there were more newbie missions, but whose newbie missions were hidden like this?

Another notification followed soon after.

【System Notification: You have unlocked the World Chat function. All transactions conducted in chat are real and final—please beware of scams.】

Yu Miaomiao thought: “The system’s being quite considerate, even giving me an anti-fraud warning.”

The World Chat function meant she wasn’t alone in this gobi world. Yu Miaomiao’s attention was immediately caught by this newly unlocked feature.

After the voice message ended, a chat interface appeared at the bottom of her view, with a text input box and scrolling lines of subtitles.

It really was a real-life version of world chat.

At the top-left corner of the chat box was displayed: Current world population: 10,049, Deaths: 9.

Although the font was small, it was shocking—9 deaths meant people had indeed come to this world, but some had already died.

People in the world chat probably used nicknames, just like the game nickname Yu Miaomiao had chosen. Her own chat box showed the name “MeowMeowNotLackingWater.”

In an instant, the game had shifted from single-player to multiplayer, and Yu Miaomiao felt a bit happy—at least she wasn’t alone. She focused intently on reading the scrolling messages.

『KindaHandsome: What the hell is this place? I just signed up for some game beta test, and the next thing I knew, I was teleported here. Seriously, you really shouldn’t click random links.』

『NeighborWang: Can you really die here? I see the death count just changed to 10.』

Seeing this message, Yu Miaomiao finally noticed the death count had indeed changed to 10. So in less than a minute, another person had died.

『PrettyGirlWarrior: Everything here feels way too real—it can’t be fake. I got here this morning and was about to die of dehydration. Then I randomly drew a card around noon and got a gift pack. Only survived because I drank some water.』

From the moment Yu Miaomiao opened the box to checking the time, not even two hours—maybe not even half an hour—had passed. But someone had arrived here as early as this morning?

That “PrettyGirlWarrior” actually revealed quite a bit: the gift packs were obtained through card draws.

The chat messages were refreshing rapidly. While scrolling up and down, Yu Miaomiao accidentally tapped on someone’s name, and a small dialog box popped up.

【Add Friend \ Chat \ Trade】

So the world chat had these features too—but where were the friends listed?

Looking carefully, she finally noticed a little person icon at the bottom of the chat box. She tapped it, and a friend list appeared on the left side of the world chat window, displaying: 0/0.

This system was seriously frustrating—so many functions, and you had to figure them out all by yourself.

Yu Miaomiao kept watching the world channel, hoping to find more useful information.

『WhoAmI: I just got here. After crafting two items, I saw the chat box pop up—but I’m about to die. Can anyone spare me a sip of water?』

It seemed this person, like herself, hadn’t received the daily gift pack. But logically, the newbie gift pack should include water—there was no way someone could get thirsty and die so quickly.

『Newbie: Click on me to trade, I’ll give you some water.』

『WhoAmI: Who are you?』

『Lily: This is the world channel. Everyone uses nicknames. Just click on the nickname ‘Newbie’ to open the trade function!』

『WhoAmI: Who is Newbie?』

After the kind-hearted “Lily” explained this, no one else responded to him. The world death count didn’t increase, so it was unknown whether this clueless “WhoAmI” managed to get any water.

Judging from the chat logs, Yu Miaomiao understood that everyone had clicked a survival game signup link and was teleported here. She recalled that she herself had accidentally clicked a link in a text message while playing on her phone.

Everyone had been teleported at different times—some arrived in the morning, some just arrived—but at least they all came today.

Everyone got a newbie gift pack, but the items differed for each person. Most had half a bottle of water, but some didn’t have any.

The dismantling of items was fixed. After dismantling a wooden box, the standard yield was 6 pieces of wood and 4 screws. Could her Luck trait be what doubled her loot?

Right, hadn’t she unlocked a mission reward by completing the newbie task? Where was that reward?