Xu Xin woke up in the midst of a jungle.
The various sounds of insects around him were so noisy that he couldn't sleep. He suddenly sat up and discovered he was lying on a square stone slab, surrounded by dense jungle.
"???"
Xu Xin's head was still in a daze. He rubbed his eyes, feeling his whole body sore, as if he'd slept on the floor all night.
"Is this really happening?" Xu Xin, who sat in place in a daze for a long time, finally found himself again, accepting the fact that this wasn't a dream.
Last night, he should have undressed and climbed into bed, so how did he end up here, wearing shorts and a T-shirt he'd never seen before?
Was he kidnapped?
Just as he was lost in his random thoughts, a voice in his mind suddenly snapped him back to reality.
[Welcome to the survival world, where your only goal is to stay alive, forget everything you once had, and strive to survive. We've prepared a great gift for all newcomers, a treehouse. Remember, never abandon your treehouse; it's your only reliance.]
[You have received a Treehouse Seed*1, please choose a suitable location to plant it within three days. Once planted, the treehouse cannot be moved.]
[Currently in the newcomer protection period, survivors will not be attacked by creatures for three days. Survivors, please plant your treehouse as soon as possible.]
What? A treehouse? Treehouse seed? Newcomer protection period?
Sitting on the stone slab, Xu Xin was still unresponsive when a glow suddenly appeared in front of him. Instinctively, he reached out to touch it, and a walnut-sized seed appeared in his hand.
[Treehouse Seed: Can be planted to grow a small treehouse, providing the most basic survival protection for survivors. Remember to find fertile soil!]
The enormous amount of information took Xu Xin quite a moment to digest.
Was this a game world? Why was there a newcomer package, and what was the voice in his mind?
Using the most primitive method, Xu Xin pinched himself with his nails, feeling a sharp pain.
The earlier prompt said "all newcomers," which meant there must be plenty of people in the same situation as him. It was like a survival game, where everyone had to survive here.
Would he die if he failed?
Xu Xin wasn't sure, but he didn't dare to test it. He got off the stone slab and stood up to stretch his body, finding nothing out of the ordinary and feeling quite energized.
He began examining the seed in his hand.
The seed was pale yellow, walnut-sized, and not light, weighing about the same as an egg.
Such a small seed could grow into a treehouse. He wondered how long it would take to mature after planting.
The prompt mentioned finding fertile soil. Was it just a playful introduction, or did the soil's fertility affect the treehouse's growth?
Xu Xin instinctively looked down at the soil beneath his feet. Was the soil underfoot fertile or barren?
"What's going on with this game? Where's the beginner tutorial? It's like they're trying to drive people away!" Xu Xin murmured with some indignation. Being well-traveled, he didn't panic too much, especially with the mention of a three-day newcomer protection period, indicating his situation was still safe.
He had no idea who brought him here, but since he was already here, he had to find a way to survive.
[Unlocking survival world creator permissions]
The sudden voice startled Xu Xin.
Now what, what did creator permissions mean?
[Unlock failed, attempting second unlock...]
[Unlock failed, attempting third unlock...]
What was this, a system glitch?
Xu Xin suddenly felt tense. If a major bug appeared at the start, how was he supposed to play?
[Unlock failed, attempting seventh unlock...]
It was already the seventh attempt. Xu Xin no longer hoped for any creator permissions to be unlocked, just hoping nothing went wrong.
[Unlock failed, granting partial creator permissions: Resource identification]
In the end, it was still a failure. However, partial creator permissions?
Xu Xin's eyes lit up. He had played sandbox games before and knew what creator mode was. It was an invincible mode with unlimited resources, essentially an in-game cheat mode.
Resource identification feature, huh...
Xu Xin glanced at the treehouse seed in his hand, and its description had changed from before.
[Treehouse Seed: Can grow into a small treehouse, providing the most basic survival protection for survivors. When planted in barren soil, it can grow into a "lowly small treehouse," in ordinary soil into a "small treehouse," and in fertile soil into a "tall small treehouse."]
So this is creator permissions: Resource identification? It's quite something!
Xu Xin became excited and turned his gaze to the soil beneath his feet.
[Barren Soil (White): The most common soil with low organic nutrients content.]
Focusing intently, the soil began emitting a faint white glow.
He then looked at the surrounding land. Whenever he focused his mind, the soil around him also started to glow faintly white.
Looking at the descriptions, sure enough, they were all of white quality.
He looked up at the surroundings.
[Stone Slab (White): Spawn point, besides making survivors wake up sore, it doesn't seem to have any other use. Can be chipped with a chisel.]
[Poplar Tree (White): A common tree in jungles, can be chopped for wood.]
[Amanita Mushroom (White): A poisonous fungus, can be eaten if you wish to die.]
Hmm? He could identify the toxicity of fungi. This ability was quite useful!
Xu Xin delightedly scanned his surroundings, though he was disappointed to find everything around him was of white quality. Then again, this was the spawn point; what good things could one expect around a spawn point?
The current goal was to find fertile soil and plant the treehouse seed. He didn't know anything about this world; perhaps all its features were in the treehouse, as the prompt stated earlier, [The treehouse is your only reliance].
If Xu Xin hadn't unlocked the resource identification feature, he might not have wasted time searching for fertile soil, as he wouldn't know which was barren and which was fertile. But now that he was aware, he couldn't give up.
Three days, and all during the newcomer protection period, which provided Xu Xin some security.
Decided, he put the walnut-sized seed into his shorts pocket, carefully checked the stone slab and its surroundings, confirmed there were no beginner tools, and then set off.
"This world is so stingy, not even giving beginner tools." Stepping over fallen leaves, Xu Xin advanced in one direction. He didn't know where this direction would lead, but staying put was not an option.
With a thought, the resource identification ability activated, and various objects around him began to emit a white glow. Perhaps due to the newcomer protection, aside from insect sounds, there were no other creatures in the jungle.
From his observation, the range of his resource identification ability was vast. At least within this jungle where his vision was obstructed, everything he saw, near or far, could emit a glow.
"Oh?" Unsure of how long he had walked, a glimpse of green caught Xu Xin's eye, rejuvenating his spirits. He quickly headed toward the source of the green glow.