CH 10

As they walked back in silence after leaving Old Bones' hut, the Lin sisters were worrying about the same question: where would their family get food if they could not go to the Great Ravine?

Yes, the the Great Ravine were a dangerous place. Many bold people from Xiahe Village disregarded warnings and insisted on going hunting there, with most of them never returning.

But who would voluntarily go to such a place unless they had no other choice?

The ice tide was coming, and their own food reserves were far from enough. Could they really rely on the so-called "equal distribution" proclaimed by the village chief?

This rule worked under normal circumstances, and everyone was willing to share some of their food with the neighbors who were suffering from famine due to various reasons.

But ice tides and Red Tide were extreme cases. 

If the equal distribution was really effective, their parents wouldn't have died.

"What should we do, Sister?" asked Lin Xue in distress.

Lin Shuang sighed, not knowing what to say in the moment.

The situation they faced was so difficult: if they went to the Ten Thousand Caves, they would have to face a band of mad bandits, and if they didn't go, they would surely not survive the Ice Chills.

It seemed that death was inevitable, just at different times.

"When the Lin family came to propose a marriage for you, I should have accepted on your behalf," said Lin Shuang.

"At least that way you would have survived."

"But now it's too late; they cannot accept you on this date."

"Sister, it's because I don't want to," interrupted Lin Xue, shaking her head.

Lin Shuang nodded with a glum expression. Indeed, the rules in Xiàhé Village were as cruel as Lín Xuě said. If she was not pregnant, she was still a free person according to the rules, and she could leave the man anytime, and the man could also abandon her anytime.

After a moment of silence, she said, "Starting tomorrow, you can go fishing during the day. When the ice is thick enough, there will be more fish than in the Great Ravine. If we are lucky, maybe we can survive on the fish."

"When you come back in the evening, you should weave more burlap. See if you can exchange something from Lin Ha and his companions. I guess they won't give us anything, but who knows, maybe they were lucky and got some extra."

Lin Xue heard the resolute tone in her older sister's voice, so she quickly asked, "What about you? What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to Wàn Kū Lín," Lin Shuang answered.

There are bandits there! Plus, there are no more oaks and wild fruits along the route we took before, would you want to go deeper? Everywhere there are pitfalls, once you fall into one, you can never get out!

We have no other choice; you have to listen to me.

Lin Shuang embraced Lin Xue's shoulders; the latter closed her eyes in despair.

How could she not know her elder sister's thoughts?

She was planning to take a risk alone.

If she succeeded, both of them could survive.

If she failed... she alone could survive.

She really had no choice but to obey, as she had no ability to replace her and go deep into Wan Keng Forest, much less waste her good intentions and bind both their fates together.

That was the stupidest choice on this barren land.

Lifting her head, Lin Xue gazed upon the dark, looming forest; the second snowfall before the coming of the Ice Tide had already begun.

Going by the word of the village chief, this snowfall was to last for at least a month.

By then, the entire forest would be buried deep under the snow.

And this one month was her only chance of surviving the Ice Tide.

She knew not what the forest held, but deep within the darkness, she could faintly make out... flickering flames?

......

At the same time, outside the passage of the Three-Foot Research Institute, there were indeed four figures huddled together, trying to make a fire in the snow.

In the middle, Chen Jiu was vigorously rubbing the wooden stick in his hand, and sparks were flying from the groove of the base. Wig quickly handed him the tinder made of dry grass that had been prepared in advance.

He carefully poured the sparks into the tinder, and then slowly exhaled with a swollen cheek, accompanied by a thick smoke, and the flames suddenly rose.

"Wow, Jiu Ge is so cool!"

"Awesome!"

Wig and Worm, the two best cheerleaders, clapped their hands and exclaimed, and Qin Chuan also praised:

"This thing is simple and easy to use, much better than the bow drill I made...brother, have you watched a lot of wilderness survival shows?"

After that, Qin Chuan tilted his head and spit out a mouthful of blood.

He had been injured by a wild boar, but due to more than 80% of the pain being blocked, he still thought it was just his gums bleeding.

"I just glimpsed a little, hehe," Chen Jiu smiled and added two logs to the fire pile. A few moments later, a pile of bonfire was lit up.

In fact, getting fire with primitive methods was not a necessary condition of the mission. Even though the F-level authority granted by Chidi was low, there were several igniters that could still be used in the laboratory kitchen, without having to resort to drilling wood for fire.

The reason for doing this was simply because Qin Chuan wanted to test to what extent the game could be realistic. Since there was nothing else to do after the sky completely darkened, Chen Jiu accompanied him to play around.

After all, in order to maintain the attractiveness of a game, it must be a combination of tightness and looseness. Once the players start to feel tired, they are not far from going AFK.

Gazing at the roaring campfire, Wig stepped closer and put the meat pierced with branches onto the fire while saying, "I don't think the difficulty of this game is very high, which is quite different from what was advertised. Hunting and making fire today also went smoothly."

"Did you forget that you almost died once?" Worm pierced Wig's words without mercy, but then continued, "Though to be honest, what you said makes sense. This game is certainly not difficult for us, since we can exchange a wild boar with our lives. However, it is not so easy for other NPCs."

"While you were busy playing the game today, I took a look towards Dangyang Lake and even the largest settlement in the setting has very poor architecture. It's all mud houses, and the people there probably haven't even solved their basic survival problems yet. After this so-called Ice Age passes, I estimate there will be at least half of the population missing from that village -- either starving or freezing to death."

Hearing this, Wig couldn't believe it and showed an expression of disbelief. "It shouldn't be that way. There's so much game to hunt in the forest; how could someone starve?"

"That is because you don't understand the true end times," Chen Jiu interjected from the side.

If you have read the research reports on famine, you would know that it is not always due to the total depletion of resources, but mostly because the consumption of people exceeds the capacity of the resources.  When the first hungry population appears, the situation will take a drastic turn. The hungrier they are, the less likely the civilians are to take risks, as any injury or loss of labor means the loss of all hope. Now, the Xiahe Village, and the entire post-apocalyptic world should be in such a situation...everyone can barely survive, but the balance is extremely fragile, and any more turbulence will cause them all to be finished. Moreover, didn't the NPCs say before that this vast forest is very dangerous, and that's why no one has come here? This logic is simple, they are not willing to take risks. After listening to Chen Jiu's explanation, the other three players nodded in agreement.

Qin Chuan asked, "Can it be done? The analysis is very accurate. So what is our main storyline going to be?"

He was a technology expert and didn't really understand these social science things.

Chen Jiu thought for a moment and replied, "I don't think it will be the usual farming stream. The world is fragile and dangerous right now and the balance could be broken at any moment. So according to the setting, a slow and steady development path won't work."

"So the main story will definitely be the royal path: first conquer all directions, consolidate resources, and even actively consume some of the population. Then slowly climb the science and technology and construction..."

"I guess the mainstream career should still be fighting, and certainly there will be life, but the weight will not be too high."

Qin Chuan nodded slightly and said, "Your understanding of this game is top-notch... but this makes the game's background a bit too dark. It won't be easy to pass the review... I don't think the planners would be so irresponsible."

Chen Jiu silently thought to himself that it's all up to me anyway... After the initial deduction with Chidi, this plan has the highest chance of success.

After a pause, he continued, "It might not be—I remember the player manual said that players can influence the development of the main storyline to a certain extent, right? If we can come up with a better solution, maybe the planners will accept it?"

"It's all up to you!" Wig stuffed the half-cooked barbecue into Chen Jiu's hands, saying full of anticipation.

"How do I...we must rely on everyone."

Chen Jiu raised his head, and his gaze crossed the dark forest. In the distant Summer River Village, a few lights were shining. Could it be true that, as the Worm said, after the ice wave, the village would lose more than one third of its population? Is there any way to save them?

Yes, they did give themselves a first glimpse of harm, but this does not mean that they are bad. From the results of the review, if it were not for their overly aggressive performance, they would not have intended to do anything to themselves. It can only be said that they are too foolish. Of course, they are not naturally foolish, but the extreme doomsday has made them foolish.

The world is facing a major issue, and what we, including all the players, need to do is to change the world. Yet, the biggest question before them is how to do this. He gradually fell into contemplation, his gaze fixed on the lights. Unbeknownst to him, as he looked towards Summer River Village, someone in the village was looking back at him with a completely different mindset.