Chapter 2 - “Rising Cloud Camp”

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Chapter 2 Rising Cloud Camp

Yun Ling reached to touch the token, but hit empty air. It was like…she only saw an illusion, and the wood token did not actually exist.

But when she came near the token, the words in front of her changed to, [Congratulations Player for reaching the camp.]

[After the game officially starts, you may name your territory.]

[There are still 3 minutes and 33 seconds until the game starts.]

The first thought in Yun Ling’s head was, would the VR game become a real game?

The second thought, should she notify others?

But then, upon second thought, who could she notify?

Her parents had passed away during her university years, and left her two homes, and eight hundred thousand in insurance.

Her grandparents had passed away from illness when she was young.

She had no contact with the remaining distant relatives after her parents passed away. Her last cell phone had been stolen, and the numbers stored there were lost.

Also, even if she could contact them, what could she say? Should she tell them, in three minutes, the entire world would become a game, and to be careful and keep themselves safe?

If her guess was wrong, she would be committed to a mental hospital.

The numbers continued to change, and then it became, [There is only 1 minute and 12 seconds before the game starts.]

Yun Ling waited patiently for the countdown to end.

She would know what the world was like in a minute.

“There are 3 seconds before the game starts.]

[……2 seconds.]

[……1 second.]

The countdown went to zero. Suddenly, countless cards fell from the sky. White ones and blue ones covered the sky, mixed with a few purple and orange cards.

Yun Ling looked up at the sky, and found there was an orange light that fell in the nearby park.

The cards fell everywhere and floated in the air.

Then, countless balls of light descended from the sky.

When the nearest dozen balls of light fell to the ground, they turned into green-skinned little monsters holding wood sticks. They would chase people they saw, hitting, clawing, and biting them. They were very vicious.

This was noontime, and there were many people on the streets. Suddenly, the sounds of exclamations, wails, and cries for help mixed together.

At the same time, the system announced, [At 12 on April 1st, Apocalypse Calamity has opened!]

A character stats window jumped out–

[Name: Yun Ling]

[Level: 0]

[XP: 0/100]

[HP: 240/240 (200 as skill bonus)]

[MP: 60/60]

[Attributes: Strength 3 (5), Agility 4 (5), Stamina 4 (5), Intelligence 6 (5), Spirit 6 (5)]

[Skill: Heart of Nature (S-rank).]

[Equipment: None.]

[Base Recovery Speed: +2 HP/min (skill bonus 100%), +1 MP/min.]

[Life Skills: Intermediate Fishing, Intermediate Gathering, Advanced Sewing, Advanced Cooking.]

Description:

Strength determines damage and the ability to bear weight.

Agility determines response speed and movement speed.

Stamina determines HP and the ability to run for long times and fight.

Intelligence determines magic damage.

Spirit determines MP.

The value in parentheses is the value for an average normal adult male.

Also, 1 Stamina = 10 HP, 1 Spirit = 10 MP.

Yun Ling scanned the attributes window and closed it. “The same as the beta, nothing to see.”

System: [The player’s Lord Token has been detected, and the player is standing in the territory. Use?]

Yun Ling chose “yes.”

System: [Please name the territory.]

Yun Ling said, “Rising Cloud.”

The Lord Token suddenly gave off a dazzling light and spread outwards.

A moment later, a familiar campground appeared in front of Yun Ling.

In the center, there was a stone firepit, and at the side, there was a warehouse. Other than that, it was empty.

[Congratulations, Player, for becoming the master of Rising Cloud Camp.]

[Do you wish to publicize your lord status?]

Yun Ling chose “no.”

In the next moment, the territory attributes appeared.

[Territory Name: Rising Cloud]

[Level: Campsite. (There are four levels, campsite, village, town, city.)]

[Tax: 5%. (0-100%, the lord has the power to adjust it independently)]

[Population Capacity: 200]

[Existing Residents: 1]

[Unlockable Buildings: 4]

[Existing Buildings: 1]

[Existing building detail:

Warehouse (Level 1): 200 square meters in area, can store various resources, and extend shelf life for food. (Note: The lord can set an access list and allow specific people to use it.)]

In the end, the system notified [Rising Cloud Campsite has just been established, and will enjoy a ten-day beginners protection period. During this time, no creature can attack the territory. After 10 days, the territory may be attacked at any time. Player, please prepare in advance. ]

“10 days? That’s enough.” Yun Ling did not plan on setting an access list. The camp warehouse was akin to the lord’s personal storage.

She was preparing to go home and move her necessities into the camp warehouse. At a thought, this was the early stages of the game, and there were not many who would dare to break into private homes. But if she was late, then the orange card in the park might be someone else’s.

Thinking about this, Yun Ling decided to go to the park to find the orange card first.

“Run!” Zheng Ming Yue pulled his girlfriend You Qing Wen as they fled for their lives.

They had been white-collar office workers, and were meeting with their colleagues for lunch. But just as the food was brought to the table, five green-skinned monsters more than a meter tall charged in.

These monsters had mouths filled with teeth, and held wooden sticks. They looked difficult to deal with.

There had been a game fan among his colleagues, and was overjoyed to see the green monsters, “Aren’t these goblins! They really look alike.”

He had come close, reaching out to touch, wanting to know what the clothing was made of.

But when he got close, the green-skinned monsters raised its stick, and hit his head hard.

His colleague fell down, and immediately stopped breathing.

The customers were all surprised. “Is this a performance? Is it real?”

The waiter panicked and called the police while the owner tried to explain, “We did not arrange this…we do not know what is happening…”

Before he finished explaining, the green monsters grinned, and started to find their new targets.

Some customers were dumbstruck, their eyes dazed, and their reactions slow. They did not know what to do.

The green monsters bared their teeth, exceptionally vicious, as they hit with their sticks.

The heavy tang of blood spread through the restaurant.

Some people suddenly realized. “These goblins are not people in disguise, but real monsters!”

Hearing this, a youth immediately swung and threw a chair at the green-skinned monsters. He shouted at the same time, “We are many, they are few, no need to be afraid!”

There were many strong young people in the restaurant that lifted the chairs upon hearing this, and started to smash.

One green-skinned monster was hit, its wood stick leaving its hand as the monster fell to the ground. But after a few seconds, it stood up again, and viciously leapt at people, ignoring the stick it had lost.

“These green-skinned dwarfs cannot be killed! Flee!” Facing the terrifying looking, and strong green-skinned monsters, someone shouted in despair, and rushed out the door.

Zheng Ming Yue saw the situation turn for the worse, and pulled You Qing Wen to leave.

He was thinking, since he could not help, he could go out and find the police.

He thought the monsters that had charged into the restaurant were an exception, but when they went out the door, he found there were monsters everywhere.

Zheng Ming Yue panicked, and only knew to pull his girlfriend along as he ran. He did not know where to run to be safe.

“I…I can’t run anymore.” You Qing Wen did not usually exercise, and could not breathe after a while.

Zheng Ming Yue was anxious. “We cannot stop! The monsters will catch up!”

“There is no use in running.” A voice suddenly came from ahead of them.

“Then what should we do?!” Zheng Ming Yue was annoyed. “Sit and wait for death?”

Yun Ling pointed. “See the cards floating in the air? Take them, and after confirming, you will receive skills or equipment. Arm yourselves, kill the little monsters that you encounter, and you will be safe.”

Then, she kept on moving, not stopping for a moment.

—On the way to the park, she would occasionally encounter people fleeing, and would warn them if she met them. As to how many would listen, and how many would survive, that depended on the person.

Card? Zheng Ming Yue was stunned.

He suddenly found that there were white cards everywhere floating oddly in the air.

“What is this? How to use them?” Zheng Ming Yue wanted to ask more. But when he turned around, he found the person who had warned him had gone far away.

You Qing Wen really could not run anymore, and decided to just go with it. “I think the girl is not a bad person, listen to her.”

Zheng Ming Yue decided. “Stand there and don’t move. I will pick one and try.”

He went close and got a white card. Suddenly, a window appeared in front of him, [You have picked a C-rank skill “Charge”. Do you wish to use it?]

[Note 1: The skill card can be used, but not transported.]

[Note 2: Each player only has 4 skill slots, please make your choices carefully.]

[Note 3: After learning the skill, you will officially become a player, and your body will be digitized.]

Skill? Digitized? Was this not the same as an online game?

Zheng Ming Yue was suspicious, and discussed with his girlfriend.

You Qing Wen reacted with hindsight. “When eating, I heard a voice by my ear saying ‘Apocalypse Calamity has opened.’ Is it related?”

Zheng Ming Yue was shocked. “You also heard that? I thought there was someone discussing a new game…”

You Qing Wen curled her lips. “Only the dead Old Zhao is a game fan. Everyone else is in a hurry to make money, and feel there isn’t enough time to sleep. How would they know of new games?”

Zheng Ming Yue was hesitant. After a while, he decided. “Go! Let’s both pick two skills, and return to save people!”

“Save people? Just us two?” You Qing Wen was speechless.

In her view, the two of them would not going to save people, but to give up their lives.

“If we learn the skills, we should be able to win,” Zheng Ming Yue said helplessly. “Just the two of them, going anywhere is dangerous. If we return to the restaurant to save people, and team up with the survivors, then we will be safe.”

“All right, let’s go.” You Qing Wen pondered for a while, and could not think of a better idea, so she gritted her teeth and agreed.

Yun Ling had been a beta player, but in reality, her situation was not much better than others.

During the beta, she had easily fought monsters and leveled up because she had complete equipment and the skill “Thorn Halo.” When attacked, 30% of damage would automatically reflect back.

When other people were slamming skills, before they killed her, their own HP would reach zero first.

Right now, she only had the “Heart of Nature” skill. Other than +200 HP, and doubling of healing, there was no attack ability.

Of course, she could pick any skill card and use it. But the skill slots were limited, and if not as a last resort, Yun Ling did not want to waste a slot.

Ten minutes later.

After looking over seventeen or so cards, Yun Ling finally found an equipment card.

[Name: Cloth Shoes]

Quality: Normal

Equip Effect: +1 Agility.

This was the most common and low level white equipment. Its attribute bonus was not obvious, but it was better than nothing.

The system window jumped out. [You have picked the “Cloth Shoes” equipment. Do you wish to use it?]

[Note 1: There are no professions in the game. All equipment can be used.]

[Note 2: Each player has 6 equipment slots, and can change equipment at any time.]

[Note 3: After equipping, you will officially become a player, and your body will be digitized.]

In less than two minutes, Note 3 disappeared, the text turning to [Survivors of the open beta automatically become players after the game opens.]

“Searching so long to find an equipment card, how can I not take it?” Yun Ling chose “yes.”

In the next moment, the card disappeared, and a new pair of shoes appeared in front of her.

Yun Ling quickly put on the shoes.

After equipping, she immediately felt her body was lighter and she could run faster.

Coincidentally, there were two goblins coming close and so Yun Ling jogged away without a word.

Translator Ramblings: Rising Cloud (Ling Yun) is the main character’s name in reverse