Volume 2: Winter’s End
On the sixth day of the game, in the morning, Shu Xun, covering a corner of the blanket, comfortably stretched and yawned with wide-open eyes. After a moment of daze, it seemed like he dreamed of Earth last night. He dreamt of being back with his family, a dream where a family of five walked on green grass for a picnic. The dream was so vivid, enticing one to linger, reluctant to wake up.
After briefly savoring the sweet dream from the night before, Shu Xun no longer lazed in bed. He lifted the blanket, hopped off the bed, and resumed his exploration. The available items in the bedroom were scarce. Thin summer clothes hung in the wardrobe, and on the top were some winter clothes. However, they were entirely unsuitable in size, too big for Shu Xun to wear, and impossible to take along.
After searching the bedroom, Shu Xun headed towards several other rooms on the second floor. Once again, he pushed open a door to find a similar layout—another bedroom, but seemingly a guest room. The blankets in the room were neatly folded, giving the impression that it wasn’t currently inhabited. Though Shu Xun didn’t harbor high expectations for any significant findings, he still thoroughly inspected the room inside and out.
The guest room had noticeably fewer belongings, and usable supplies were almost nonexistent. Shu Xun only came across a brand-new small towel, which he wrapped around himself, managing to serve as an improvised long scarf.
Adorned with the small towel, Shu Xun continued towards the last room. Opening the door, his view was immediately filled with neatly organized bookshelves and a plethora of books. This was evidently a study, and Shu Xun’s somewhat subdued mood instantly lifted. He headed straight for the wooden table in the left front corner.
Behind the table was a wall with a detailed map of a micro-city. Shu Xun carefully memorized the map and then began examining the items on the desk.
The items on the desk were casually arranged, with a blank sheet of paper in the middle. At a glance, Shu Xun was immediately drawn to the information written on the paper. The hastily recorded details included a few dates and addresses. Besides this, the desk also held a pen holder and several books. Shu Xun briefly perused them and found they were related to natural climate and new energy development.
Attempting to find a world map or geography books in the study, Shu Xun searched but discovered that most of the books here were specialized in forestry development and maintenance, or recent years’ work data summaries. The content mainly revolved around forestry, lacking the geographical books Shu Xun was hoping to find.
After a rough browse of the bookshelves, Shu Xun didn’t discover significant information. He crawled back to the desk, and stood on the blank sheet of paper, gazing at the recorded locations and information. Then, he searched on the map and noticed that, over time, the locations noted on the paper shifted southward. The last two locations were not displayed on the micro-city map, seemingly beyond the micro-city’s range.
Shu Xun’s little brain swiftly processed the information, pondering the clues. Subconsciously, he walked around the table, and by the time he realized it, the clean white paper had been imprinted with dusty little footprints. Shu Xun felt somewhat helpless about this. He had been kept clean by his parents since birth, and even during the month he survived alone, he diligently cleaned himself daily. However, in this cold game world, taking a bath seemed quite challenging.
Taking note of the locations on the white paper, Shu Xun decided to head south following the recorded points. This forestry base seemed devoid of people, likely forced to relocate under the harsh winter.
With the direction decided, Shu Xun climbed down the desk and discovered a small side cabinet underneath. The cabinet was not locked. Shu Xun casually opened it. As expected, it contained some books and paper materials. What surprised Shu Xun, however, was a small mini backpack tucked in the corner of the cabinet, looking like a decoration on a keychain.
Shu Xun felt his little heart skip a beat, and then his eyes lit up. He quickly climbed into the cabinet, grabbed the black backpack, and as soon as he touched it, a piece of information appeared in Shu Xun’s mind.
System Backpack: Possesses spatial compression property, with a space size of ten cubic meters and a weight limit of 100 kg.
The unexpectedly acquired system backpack made Shu Xun instantly satisfied, a smile forming at the corners of his eyes. In the current situation, what Shu Xun lacked the most was a tool to store supplies. Unexpectedly, upon discovering traces of indigenous activities for the first time, he obtained a very rare system item, and it was even a storage backpack.
Shu Xun eagerly put on the black backpack. The backpack’s spatial compression property not only allowed him to store a large amount of supplies but also changed the size of the backpack at will. This property was primarily designed to accommodate the varied body sizes of the game players, but perhaps the designers of the system backpack never expected it to be used in its smallest state one day.
With the newly acquired backpack on his back, Shu Xun joyfully wandered around the cabinet for two rounds before climbing out. He stared at the map of XX City on the wall for a moment, then pushed the chair against the wall, skillfully climbed up, and carefully took down the map using his small claws.
Although Shu Xun had strong learning abilities, he was not capable of photographic memory, especially for complex things like maps. He couldn’t guarantee that he wouldn’t overlook anything.
So, having gained a crucial little backpack and a micro-city map, Shu Xun hummed a song, took light steps, and left the study.
Returning to the guest room, Shu Xun gave up the overly large blanket, opting to store the soft pillow in the backpack. He found a few winter clothes in the wardrobe and even discovered a pair of cotton gloves. The only regret was probably that, in his current state, Shu Xun couldn’t wear these items. He wondered if there was a way to modify or tailor these items, but carrying them provided an extra layer of security.
After searching the second floor, Shu Xun returned to the first floor. Due to time constraints yesterday, he hadn’t thoroughly searched the first floor.
Compared to the second floor, the structure of the first floor was much simpler. The spacious living room and kitchen occupied ninety percent of the space. Aside from that, there were storage rooms and a bathroom. With the small backpack on his back, Shu Xun swept through, feeling quite pleased, especially in the kitchen. Not only did he store the remaining food in his backpack, but he also collected pots, pans, and utensils one by one. Outside was a world of ice and snow, with howling winds, but inside, the little one was bustling about, lively and warm.
While busy, Shu Xun hadn’t yet realized that the treasure-seeking nature of a treasure-seeking mouse was slowly awakening within him. The continuous exploration, continuous progress, and continuous collection were traits that every treasure-seeking mouse couldn’t escape. Those who loved collecting materials would gain immense satisfaction and happiness by filling their spiritual space. Therefore, in reality, every treasure-seeking mouse had an inherent love for wealth and a possessive personality.
After concluding the search, Shu Xun pushed open the door, peeking out to check the weather conditions. The door was only slightly ajar, and the frigid air rushed in like a knife cutting through when opened. Shu Xun shivered, glanced at the howling snowstorm outside, and promptly closed the door again.
Shu Xun rubbed his slightly frozen face with his paw, stood in front of the door for a moment, but eventually made his way back to the living room, climbing onto the coffee table. He spread out the micro-city map and studied his next moves.
After a moment, looking at the unclear row of small footprints on the map, Shu Xun lifted his paw and finally decided to take a bath. Without delay, Shu Xun folded the map and then pulled out a wooden bowl from his backpack. The deep brown wooden bowl was originally placed as a decoration on the cabinet, but Shu Xun thought it would make an excellent bathtub, so he stashed it in his backpack, finding a purpose for it so soon.
Placing the wooden bowl on the coffee table, Shu Xun poured nearly half a bowl of clear water, feeling a bit reluctant. He tested the water temperature with his paw, shivered instantly, hesitated for a while, then turned to look at the weather outside. Finally, he spent some spiritual energy to set up a small temperature control formation for the wooden bowl. Following that, he casually added a small purification formation. These two mini formations slowly rotated around the not-so-large wooden bowl.
After setting up the formations, Shu Xun stepped into the enchantment and sighed with comfort. Then, with three quick movements, he stripped down and leaped into the wooden bowl, completely bare.
On the calm water surface, high splashes shot up, followed by slow ripples. Shu Xun joyfully swam two rounds in the bowl, feeling the warm temperature. Leaning against the edge of the wooden bowl, he blissfully squinted his large eyes. Even while bathing, he sang and shook his head playfully. Thus, in the cold and empty room, a completely different scene unfolded, with a lively touch on the coffee table.
Shu Xun took a full hour for this bath. If it weren’t for the temperature control enchantment about to fade, Shu Xun probably would have lingered a while longer.
After the bath, dressed, and with the small backpack on his back, Shu Xun hopped back onto the coffee table from where he bounced to the sofa. The soft resilience of the sofa caused Shu Xun to bounce a bit. Seizing the opportunity, he rolled into the sofa, slipped under the cushions, and then adjusted the position to completely cover himself. Satisfied, he yawned.
Little did Shu Xun know that significant changes awaited him during this brief nap.
In the silent room, there was not a sound, except for the bathwater still untouched on the coffee table. It seemed as if nothing unusual had happened. Time passed slowly, and what was originally a very short noon seemed to pass even faster. The sunlight gradually weakened, while the snowstorm continued to rage.
Meanwhile, at the entrance of the Baiyan Forest Base of the micro-city, a blurry tall figure was slowly approaching. The black silhouette became clearer in the vast white world—neat short hair, sharp sword-like eyebrows, and eagle eyes appeared even more cutting in the wind and snow. With thin lips lightly pursed, the figure seemed fearless and indifferent.
This person was none other than Ye Qian, whom Shu Xun saw on the live streaming platform during his first entry— the top-ranked god-level player.
In the live stream at this moment, the audience was on the verge of exploding because the seemingly invincible Ye Qian was close to starving. No one had ever thought that after entering the game world, the greatest crisis he faced would be hunger. Or, to put it differently, the most significant dilemma currently faced by almost all game players was insufficient food.
This world had experienced who knows what. Not only was it extremely cold, but also suffered from a shortage of food. It was as if the original inhabitants of this world had eaten all the food, leaving very little behind.
Even the very few lucky players who discovered the remnants of the original inhabitants faced the same crisis. People like Shu Xun, who found food in the ruins of the original inhabitants, were extremely rare.
