Chapter Fifteen: The True Revival of Coffee

Before Jiang Ran, determined to strike first before Little Spinning Top could grow stronger, could act, he was unaware that Little Spinning Top harbored the same plan.

From his perspective, the so-called "Black Silk Young Lady" remained as arrogant and foolish as ever.

Yes, it was indeed Lin Yang himself.

Though the afternoon offline period might be related to his space or items, it did not interfere with his plan.

Little Spinning Top licked the cracked layers of his lips, his eyes darkening as he contemplated his current predicament: it was time to serve Lin Yang a harsh dose of reality, forcing him into action...

*

Jiang Ran enjoyed a blissful sleep under the air conditioner, wrapped in her blanket.

Upon waking, she felt revitalized, her stamina fully restored.

While eating bacon and eggs with toast, she checked the new messages in the chat hall.

Nothing particularly surprising—mostly complaints about the relentless heat even at one or two in the morning, making sleep impossible.

There were some late-night emotional posts as well, tears flowing as people expressed a longing to go home, feeling utterly hopeless.

A few scattered voices mentioned increased volcanic activity, with strange noises heard in the dead of night, sparking fears of an impending eruption.

Yet whether from disbelief or unwillingness to face such despair, these warnings were tacitly ignored by the community.

Jiang Ran refrained from commenting.

In her previous life, she had also heard some odd noises and had brought it up in the chat hall.

At that time, newly immersed in the dungeon, she was less cold-hearted and hoped that raising awareness might lead to some means of escape.

After all, humanity was always powerless in the face of natural disasters.

But initially, no one paid her any mind; later, when the warnings had already been buried beneath newer messages, a strange wave of targeted attacks emerged against her.

Several people mentioned the volcanic activity, yet these detractors singled her out, accusing her of deliberately sowing panic, alleging ulterior motives, and vowing to expose her.

This forced Jiang Ran into silence thereafter.

Later, she realized that much of this was orchestrated by Xu Yunxuan.

She had never understood why Xu Yunxuan harbored such hatred for her, until rebirth brought clarity—perhaps what she had believed to be a harmonious family was, to Xu Yunxuan, a facade of enduring humiliation and hidden resolve.

*

After their identities had completely reversed, Xu Yunxuan had been eager to trample Jiang Ran into the mud, watching her struggle in agony with no hope of release.

But now that everyone was dead and gone, his thoughts no longer mattered.

Finishing her last sip of freshly brewed coffee, Jiang Ran listed fifty bottles of instant coffee under the Black Silk Young Lady’s account, pricing each at 25 life points.

At first, everyone scoffed—who would spend so many life points on instant coffee? That could easily buy a proper breakfast.

As a result, only one bottle sold after half an hour.

Then, something strange happened: within half a minute of that sale, the remaining forty-nine bottles sold out in under two minutes.

Jiang Ran was stunned when she noticed her life points had suddenly jumped to 7,250; what was going on?

Reopening the chat hall, she uncovered the reason.

The buyer who had purchased the most of her coffee had posted publicly: “Holy crap! This coffee actually restores stamina!”

In the game, stamina supported all player activities—similar to an energy meter.

The lower a player’s stamina, the more fatigued they became, their movements sluggish.

If stamina dropped too low, players could even “auto-shutdown”—in this dungeon, fainting suddenly might mean never waking again.

Besides stamina potions, the only way to recover stamina was by sleeping.

But therein lay the problem.

The oppressive heat made restful sleep a luxury; even a solid two hours of sleep was rare, so stamina never fully replenished.

Stamina potions were scarce and seldom appeared on the market.

So when word broke that Jiang Ran’s coffee restored stamina, a frenzy ensued.

Understanding the situation, Jiang Ran slapped her thigh in frustration—selling stamina-restoring coffee for only 25 life points was a huge loss!

It wasn’t due to carelessness; in her previous life, she hadn’t drunk coffee since entering the game, and this time, having slept well, she hadn’t noticed the coffee’s effects.

She comforted herself by thinking of it as charity... but the more she thought about it, the more it hurt.

Thanks to the news that “coffee restores stamina,” the chat hall buzzed with renewed energy.

*

Though a whole bottle of instant coffee restored only two stamina points, players’ base stamina ranged from 20 to 50, so every point counted—sometimes that little extra meant survival.

Besides, if two points weren’t enough, just drink another bottle!

Soon, the chat hall was flooded with messages urgently seeking coffee, tagging the Black Silk Young Lady to request more stock.

Jiang Ran even spotted a few familiar IDs who had bought six or seven bottles from her, then resold them in the chat hall at 100 life points per bottle!

She laughed in disbelief.

Not only had she failed to profit, but they brazenly flipped her product at several times the price to mock her?

Fine, she’d show them who truly controlled the market!

Jiang Ran swiftly blacklisted those accounts, then listed a hundred bottles of instant coffee at 50 life points each.

She also added a hundred boxes of instant coffee powder—each box containing ten sachets, priced at 25 life points per sachet or 200 life points per box.

The message was clear: she could afford to earn less, but they wouldn’t get rich off her.

With such abundant supply flooding the market, no one paid attention to the price-gougers anymore.

Coffee powder sold even better than instant coffee.

Players found that though the effect was the same, instant coffee required less water...

In short, thanks to the stamina coffee, Jiang Ran’s life points soared past twenty thousand!

Seeing all those zeros was hard not to spark a sense of happiness, especially compared to the harshness of her previous life.

Yet Jiang Ran didn’t let herself indulge in satisfaction.

She knew that high life points only meant resilience; without offense, survival against dangerous creatures was not guaranteed.

Everything was just beginning, and she dared not be lulled by the comfort before her eyes.

As she prepared to dive back into the magma to scavenge more boxes, a new message arrived.

It was from someone seeking Brick Flyer.