Reaching the top of the stairs, the little girl was surprised to see a brand-new box of fever medication. She quickly picked it up, and a familiar scent drifted to her nose.
"It's that older sister," she thought.
She knew the medicine had been left by the young woman who responded to her earlier; her scent was still on it. She wasn't angry at the apathy of the others—it was normal for people to fend for themselves in the apocalypse—but she was still somewhat disappointed.
Looking at the box in her hands, the girl's heart warmed, and a smile curled her lips. She quickly turned, hurried downstairs, and returned to her own room.
…
By the time Bai Xi returned to her apartment, the rain outside had intensified again.
Prompted by the little girl's warning, Bai Xi began paying close attention to the organisms exposed to the rainwater. She wondered what exactly was so special about this rain.
As the raindrops PATTERED against the glass window, Bai Xi remained remarkably calm. After observing for a while, the only thing she could conclude was that it wasn't a strong, corrosive acid rain.
Recalling the previous system announcement, she guessed, "Could it be related to that genetic serum?"
After pondering for a long time without coming to a conclusion, she gave up. She wasn't a scientific genius and couldn't deduce such technical concepts. Since the rain was dangerous, she just needed to avoid contact with it. In this situation, staying indoors was safer than being anywhere else.
Just then, a deafening clap of thunder boomed. The CRACKLING sound made her heart tremble.
The rain grew heavier. Massive drops pounded against the glass as if trying to shatter it, and the corrugated iron awning next door RATTLED wildly under the barrage. The ants on the street had vanished. Rainwater flooded the entire road, rushing rapidly toward the storm drains and forming whirlpools.
"With rain this heavy, aren't the giant ants going to relocate?" Bai Xi wondered.
Sure enough, she found news online that several office buildings and residential complexes in the city had already been occupied by the ants. Many people inside had been killed; some had braved the rain to escape, while others had managed to evacuate to the top floors in time.
Just as she was about to click on a webpage to read the details, the internet suddenly cut out. Bai Xi walked all around the apartment, but there was no Wi-Fi or cellular signal anywhere. She checked the time. It was 10:30 AM.
"Alright then! It really is an accelerated game progression. It starts with cutting the internet, and next will likely be the water, electricity, and gas."
At that thought, Bai Xi hurried into the kitchen. Taking advantage of the fact that she still had power and gas, she cooked all the meat and vegetables she had bought into ready-to-eat meals and stored them in her spatial inventory. Time was paused inside the space, so she didn't have to worry about the food expiring or spoiling.
For cooking, she used the bottled water she had purchased, not daring to touch the tap water. Water was the source of life; she hadn't hoarded an excessive amount of bottled water, but it was certainly enough to sustain one person.
Just past 1:00 PM.
Bai Xi brought out a plate of twice-cooked pork with garlic sprouts and savored it with white rice. Afterward, she got into bed to rest and recharge. She wasn't sure if she'd be able to sleep after 7:00 PM, so she needed to stay energized to face any sudden changes that might occur.
In the same building, the siblings had also chosen to rest and conserve their energy.
The girl tightly hugged the seven-or-eight-year-old boy in her arms, gently patting his back. "Go to sleep! We might not be able to sleep later."
The boy obediently closed his eyes. "I'm asleep, sis."
The girl smiled warmly and closed her eyes as well, letting the room fall silent. The game was difficult, but she and her brother would definitely survive.
…
At 6:00 PM, the sky cleared up.
The world outside looked completely renewed. Aside from the reflective puddles, there were no traces of living creatures, let alone any giant ants. It was as if they had simply vanished.
A short while later, several people smashed open the doors of the supermarket downstairs across the street. They gathered several large bags of supplies before heading off to other shops.
Behind the group, Bai Xi thought she saw a dark shadow dart rapidly past the street corner, but when she looked closer, there was nothing there. She stared at the spot for a moment, finding no dark shadow.
"Did I see it wrong?"
Bai Xi shook her head, thinking she was just making a fuss over nothing, and continued to observe the situation outside.
With someone leading the way, others gathered their courage and ran out, looting the nearby supermarkets, clothing stores, and jewelry shops bare. Aside from the players and a small number of smart individuals, the vast majority of people hadn't yet realized the severity of the crisis. Most were just looking to take advantage of the chaos.
A man suddenly ran out of the jewelry store across the street, screaming in terror. He carried a backpack, and a thick gold chain dangled from the partially unzipped opening.
Hot on his heels was a swarm of giant ants, chasing him down.
The trail of blood the man left behind stimulated the ants. They swarmed over him in a frenzy. Very quickly, the man stopped moving, leaving behind only a pool of bright red blood.
Watching this scene unfold, Bai Xi felt physically sick and retched repeatedly. Her reaction hadn't been this severe even when she killed Qi Yubin yesterday. The sight was simply too gruesome.
Before Bai Xi could adapt, another terrified scream erupted from a nearby store—the very store where the group that first looted the supermarket was currently scavenging. Not a single person from the group of five made it out. Only one managed to reach the doorway, but he was violently yanked back by a massive claw extending from the shadows.
Bai Xi swallowed hard.
Was this what the accelerated game looked like? Danger everywhere, and every step fraught with peril?
As the minutes and seconds ticked by, the street fell quiet once again.
At 7:00 PM, another server-wide announcement appeared.
[Current game survival rate: 85%. All players, please note: due to the accelerated game progression, this round will enter Hard Mode.
Starting now, for surviving players who persist for more than seven days and rank among the final 10% of participants, rewards will be doubled. Novice players will receive triple rewards. Please strive to survive.]
The moment the message was broadcast, all players—especially the veterans—went absolutely ballistic.
"F*ck! Hard Mode? Isn't that difficulty reserved for advancement trials?"
"Son of a b*tch! Don't let me run into you, or I'll grind you into meat paste!"
"So f*cking unlucky, getting grouped into the same round as a dumbass like that."
Bai Xi didn't have as intense a reaction as the other players. She had no practical concept of what Hard Mode meant; at worst, it just meant things would be a bit more difficult.
Thirty seconds later, the light screen vanished.
A white progress bar appeared in the top right corner of her vision, displaying (85%).
Staring at the survival rate progress bar, Bai Xi was momentarily at a loss for what to do. She had no experience and didn't know what the game's Hard Mode actually entailed.
"I'll just adapt to the changes as they come!" she decided.
Bai Xi started busying herself around the apartment; she needed to be ready to leave at a moment's notice. She had seen the giant ants on high-rise buildings before, which meant they would likely climb up to forage. Nowhere was absolutely safe.
She changed into clothes better suited for physical activity and stuffed some food into her backpack as a cover. Then, she began doing warm-up exercises in the room.
At 7:30 PM, the white progress bar suddenly dropped to (80%).
The total number of NPCs and players in this game was over 215,000. That 5% represented over 10,000 people. In half an hour, over ten thousand people had died.
The game had reduced human lives to mere numbers, and behind every dropping digit was the loss of a vibrant, living person. In that moment, Bai Xi deeply felt the cruelty and apathy of the game.