【Those Years】: Can everyone please use their brains? Every time something happens, you all tag the big shots for intel, acting like they're beta testers or something. We all entered this game at the same time. Even if they have something to say, they'd have to experience it once before they could talk! Stop desperately grasping at straws!
【Clean】: Exactly. Besides, Glory Shines on Blue Star gave advice last time and you guys didn't listen. I'm looking at you, Yang Ergou and Serenity, the ones always begging in the Regional Channel.
Seeing another flame war starting, Cheng Shuili simply closed the Regional Channel.
These netizens nowadays really were like powder kegs, exploding at the slightest spark.
Cheng Shuili stepped on the gas and moved forward. The number of supply crates on the road had clearly increased, but they only contained 'trash' medicine like multivitamins and digestive tablets.
She looked up at the still-scorching sun, sat back down on the shopping cart, and continued her journey.
Wan Yi struggled for a long time, unable to make a decision, before finally messaging Cheng Shuili privately.
【Wan Yi】: Crow, what do you think about this monster challenge?
【Angry Crow Takes Flight】: Do your best.
Those three words were very simple. Wan Yi paused for a moment and eventually chose Normal.
Better to play it safe and aim for a steady win!
Wan Yi didn't want to lose their life over a reckless gamble.
The afternoon slipped away, and before long, it was six o'clock.
During this time, the system hadn't issued any further alerts. Consequently, when a window suddenly popped up requiring all vehicles to stop, some people realized with a shock that they hadn't chosen a difficulty level yet.
And now, the opportunity to choose was long gone!
Those people quickly turned to the Regional Channel for help, wailing and howling as their messages flooded the screen.
Cheng Shuili watched quietly. While the system had likely engineered this distraction, forgetting something like this...
One always had to pay the price for their own carelessness.
Listening to the system's countdown, Cheng Shuili silently gripped the dagger in her hand. Her strength attribute was a full 36 points; dealing with a Casual-tier monster should be a piece of cake.
But she had chosen the Hell tier, after all. Cheng Shuili took a deep breath, suppressing the nervousness in her heart.
She had a resigned personality. When it came down to it, life's big events were just birth and death, and she had experienced both.
Whatever. It was just dying one more time.
Cheng Shuili didn't let her guard down, but her anxiety eased considerably.
“Three! Two! One! Begin! Good luck!”
Cheng Shuili's eyes widened instantly. She had thought they would be teleported elsewhere, but the battlefield was this very highway!
And the monster appeared right in front of every player's vehicle!
Cheng Shuili's thoughts raced. She realized she could use the vehicle as cover, but at the same time, the monster might wreck it.
She still had a vehicle repair card in her possession, which gave her a sudden surge of courage!
Holding her breath, Cheng Shuili pressed herself against the shopping cart and carefully moved toward the monster, dagger gripped tightly.
The grease monster was crouching on the other side of her shopping cart, its rotting fingers scraping against the metal frame with a grating, ear-piercing sound.
Plastic waste all over its body rattled with every movement, and its blood-red eyes were exceptionally piercing in the twilight.
Cheng Shuili could even see the oil from its body dripping onto her freshly cleaned shopping cart.
This was the last straw!
Cheng Shuili gritted her teeth, deciding to be brave for once. Even if she died, it would be an honor to brag about it to the other souls in the underworld, right?
Despite her thoughts, she was actually a firm materialist.
Then again, highway survival was anything but materialistic!
Cheng Shuili shook off the stray thoughts and was about to launch a surprise attack when she locked eyes with those terrifying crimson pupils!
The monster suddenly whipped its head around and lunged toward her!
Its steel teeth snapped together with a click.
Cheng Shuili froze for a second, then a surge of anger flared up from nowhere. This monster was going too far! Her expression instantly turned fierce. Did the damn thing think she was a pushover?
Cheng Shuili lunged forward in a reflexive thrust—
“Pshhh!”
The dagger pierced through the monster's temple as easily as if it were cutting through tofu.
Black, foul-smelling liquid sprayed out as the monster, its face still twisted in a hideous expression, fell straight backward.
“...Eh?”
Cheng Shuili stood frozen on the spot, her hand still extended in the thrusting position.
She watched the monster's corpse gradually dissolve on the ground, then looked down at her hand.
Seriously? You were so weak that you made my earlier mental preparation look stupid.
【Challenge successful! Congratulations to player Cheng Shuili for completing the Hell difficulty first kill! Extra rewards will be distributed once all challenges are concluded!】
The system's notification snapped her out of her daze.
Cheng Shuili blinked, looking at the motionless monster on the ground and then at her oil-stained dagger.
She admitted the bug played a part, but the system's difficulty shouldn't have been this low, right?
Given the system's usual cruelty, even the Casual tier—the lowest one—should have been enough to stump most ordinary people.
A realization suddenly struck her.
Right, ordinary people. With a strength attribute of 36, how could she be considered ordinary?
Cheng Shuili looked at the corpse again, gaining a clear understanding of her own power for the first time.
A double blessing!
Cheng Shuili stepped into the shopping cart, pulled out some tissues, and squatted down to diligently wipe her dagger clean. Then, she just as diligently wiped away the grime where the grease monster had dirtied her cart.
Looking at her restored, clean shopping cart, Cheng Shuili wiped away non-existent sweat and tucked the dagger into her waistband.
It wasn't time to rest yet; she hadn't sealed her vehicle.
The Extreme Cold disaster would arrive tomorrow.
Cheng Shuili retrieved the ill-fitting clothes she had obtained after killing Lin Mo. They were summer and autumn clothes, nothing too thick, or she would have been able to sell them for a good price.
She used her dagger to cut the clothes into strips. Before stuffing them into the door gaps, she stepped out to walk around the vehicle, even cautiously squatting beside the grease monster's remains to take a closer look.
Normal monsters usually had drops. That wild boar she killed had provided over a hundred pounds of meat.
Could it be that this thing dropped nothing at all?
Cheng Shuili frowned and looked closely for a while before finally spotting a black crystal within a puddle of oil.
The object was mixed with the sludge, making it almost impossible to see without a careful look.
Cheng Shuili only noticed it because the LED light from her cart reflected off the crystal differently than the surrounding mess.
She didn't touch it directly. After all, no one knew if the monster's remains were corrosive, and touching it recklessly was a bad idea.
She wrapped the cut strips of cloth around her hand several times until her fingers could barely move. Only then did she reach in and push the crystal out.
Rate on N.U.
