Just Passing By

A dense pile of mineral water bottles suddenly appeared before Cheng Shuili, neatly arranged. Some sat on the floor of the vehicle cabin, while others were lined up on the shelf by the window.

There was even a row neatly stacked on the back of the sofa.

They actually didn't fall over.

Cheng Shuili: “...”

Well, that settles it.

Now she wouldn't have to worry about a water shortage for several months.

Immediately afterward, a small notification box popped up in front of all players.

【Player Gentleman's Sword, Player Tuoba, Player Reward Knowledge... and 54 others!】

【You have actively reported a player, disregarding your status as a human and willingly siding with the system! Treacherous and petty behavior! Do you wish to block them all with one click?】

The Regional Channel was lively once again.

【Gentleman's Sword】: I did report, but why was it announced before the review results were even out?

【Psychopath】: I can't take it, seriously, hahahaha, I'm rolling on the floor laughing!

【Psychopath】: If you're that happy, go to the village entrance and lick some chicken poop.

【Mongolian】: Huh? What does that mean? What exactly is going on?

【Silent Fortune】: I didn't want to say anything, but the result is indeed unexpected. I think I've figured out a bit. Simply put, the system is likely engaging in sting operations. It exploits the human weaknesses of jealousy and gambling; what looks like a report is actually a donation!

【Little Tiger】: Oh~ I get it. Does that mean there's no such thing as a 'report' function? Once you press that button, it just gifts five bottles of mineral water to the reported person?

【Star Melt】: Hajime, I admit you really have some tricks up your sleeve!

【Qingshan Trek】: Aside from being a donation, it's also an elimination.

He only said that short sentence, and someone with a kind heart volunteered to provide the details.

【Kind Heart】: The system sent a popup to all players asking if they wanted to block these people with one click. In this survival world, it's almost impossible to live without trading. This is the system calling on us to isolate these people together.

【Righteous Person】: Serves them right.

【Tofu Sweetheart】: Isn't that a bit extreme?

【Righteous Person】: Is there something wrong with you upstairs? They might stab you in the back at any moment, and you think this is extreme?

【Conan】: Case closed, this Sweetheart is also on the list, right at the bottom. It took me a while to find her! Alright, I'm blocking them now!

【Like Hero】: You live up to your name, buddy! Like!

【Gentleman's Sword】: @Angry Crow Takes Flight, did you pay off the system? This makes no sense! How could a report function turn into a donation?

【Tuoba】: Exactly! We clearly clicked the report button; by what right did the system change it to gifting water? This is definitely a black-box operation!

【Psychopath】: (Posts a screenshot of Gentleman's Sword's previous message) Now you know how to complain? Hilarious, the system has already judged you as treacherous villains.

【Gentleman's Sword】: We were doing this to maintain game fairness! The dog system didn't check the data and instead slandered the reporters?

Cheng Shuili watched the messages scrolling in the Regional Channel and curled her lips into a cold sneer. She calmly typed, her words sharp as knives:

【Angry Crow Takes Flight】: @Gentleman's Sword, @Tuoba, did you get one thing wrong? This isn't one of those pay-to-win games you've played where you can act like a king just by topping up.

【Angry Crow Takes Flight】: Here, the system is heaven, and the rules are ironclad laws! What are you people to question the system's judgment? And what are you to question me?

【Angry Crow Takes Flight】: What, are you so dirt-poor that you think the whole world should beg for food with you?

【Angry Crow Takes Flight】: Oh right, now that you've been blocked by the entire sub-region, no one will accept your trade requests. You won't even be able to beg for handouts later. Does that feel good?

【Angry Crow Takes Flight】: At this moment, I must bring out that classic quote.

【Angry Crow Takes Flight】: If you're bad, practice more! If you can't afford to lose, don't play!

After sending the final sentence, Cheng Shuili clicked 'Block' directly on the popup, and the Regional Channel became instantly peaceful.

【Psychopath】: Damn, why is it this line again? I can't forget it, I really can't forget it.

【Psychopath】: If you can't forget it, carve it on your body.

【Psychopath】: Oh, baby, you're so heartless.

【Righteous Person】: Go flirt in private messages, or I'll give you the Gentleman's Sword block package.

【Yun Che】: I support Righteous Person!

A wave of support for Righteous Person flooded the screen below.

Cheng Shuili smiled. She wanted to take a closer look at the items rewarded from the leaderboard, but she didn't want to waste the time she could spend driving.

After a moment of hesitation, she decided to step on the gas and move forward; she could check them tonight.

Today was the first day after the novice protection period ended, and she needed to carefully study what the differences were now compared to during that period.

The highway no longer showed its original asphalt color, leaving only a vast, snowy white. The snow was still falling, and the whole world was filled only with the sound of the wind, the falling snow, and the crunching of tires rolling over the accumulated snow.

The surface of the supply crate was also covered in a layer of white snow. Fortunately, the supply crates had some height, otherwise they would have been quite hard to spot.

Cheng Shuili now parked her car very close to the supply crates because the heater in her vehicle only reached three meters outside.

Putting on and taking off the polar cold-proof suit repeatedly was truly a hassle.

She remained cautious as always, a baseball bat in one hand and a dagger in the other. She pried open the supply crate with the bat and then stabbed around blindly with the dagger.

Although, up until now, she had only ever stabbed at thin air.

Today's supplies were as plentiful as yesterday afternoon, but the variety was clearly richer.

Or rather, it was strange.

Cheng Shuili opened two wooden supply crates and got a bird, a living one. Just as she finished stabbing at the air twice, it flapped its wings and flew off in the opposite direction.

Cheng Shuili: “...”

Aside from that, there was a bag of spicy strips, a bag of intact, edible compressed biscuits, and a box of broken mineral water bottles...

Cheng Shuili really didn't know what to say, and now wasn't the time to speak anyway.

As she stood in front of the supply crate pondering how to deal with this box of junk, the roar of a vehicle came from behind her.

Cheng Shuili's ears twitched slightly. She turned the baseball bat in her hand but didn't immediately look back.

She slowly bent down, picked up the empty mineral water bottles, and put them back in, her movements as casual as if she were picking up fallen leaves in her own backyard.

Why could she even find junk now?

Cheng Shuili couldn't help but kick the box of mineral water bottles, and the empty plastic bottles clattered loudly.

The sound of the engine grew closer, and the crunch of tires over snow came from the snowy ground.

Only then did Cheng Shuili lazily turn around, carrying the baseball bat on her shoulder.

She squinted her eyes and, through the flying snow, saw a modified off-road vehicle slowly approaching, its roof-mounted searchlight cutting a blinding beam of light through the curtain of snow.

The person inside the off-road vehicle saw from afar that, in the middle of this icy, snow-covered world, someone was standing next to a bizarre, cobbled-together vehicle wearing only boxers and a short-sleeved shirt.

This combination was truly bizarre.

They were either terrifyingly strong or terminally ill.

The door of the off-road vehicle opened, and a tall woman wearing a fur-collared leather jacket jumped out.

Su Rui raised both hands above her head to show she had no hostile intent: “Don't be nervous, I'm just passing by.”