Chapter Seventeen: The Volcanic Eruption

After quickly taking a shower back at the safe house, the small amount of food she had eaten that morning had long since been digested. Jiang Ran whipped up a simple tomato and beef rice bowl, washed it down with some milk tea, and happily took a nap. When she woke, it was already past three in the afternoon.

Through the surveillance feed, she saw that the cement patch from earlier had completely dried. With the high temperatures, it should fully solidify by nightfall.

Jiang Ran pulled out the bottle of insect repellent she’d received at the start and carefully sprinkled it around the safe house perimeter—just enough to make a circle. Next, all that was left was to quietly wait for the first volcanic eruption, then find Little Top to “restock.”

Although she was holed up in the safe house, Jiang Ran kept herself busy by training her hand-to-hand combat and evasive skills.

Her physical condition was excellent, but her fighting skills were practically nonexistent, and her combat instincts were limited to unconscious bodily reactions. That might suffice against ordinary people, but as the game progressed, players would acquire all sorts of enhanced abilities, items, and even devastating weapons.

Moreover, the dangerous creatures spawning from the treasure chests would grow increasingly formidable. If she remained stagnant, the advantage of her rebirth would be wasted.

Yet this was also Jiang Ran’s dilemma.

She could easily dodge ordinary attacks thanks to her agility, but what she truly needed was rapid judgment and precise responses in life-or-death situations—what is commonly called combat instinct.

Sometimes, even with full strength, incorrect responses might yield less than half of one’s potential.

But combat instincts are largely built through continuous training and battles, and Jiang Ran, an ordinary person, had no proper way to train.

Her only option seemed to be shadowboxing along with exercise videos...

How could she quickly improve her practical combat skills?

If only there were skill cards like “Martial Arts Mastery,” it would at least provide her with a proper training direction.

With no solution yet, Jiang Ran decided to take a different approach: first, she would maximize the speed advantage granted by her agility.

She had set up a small, square training room inside the safe house. After searching through her space, she found ten automatic tennis ball launchers, paired up in fives.

Barehanded, she began catching and dodging the launched tennis balls. Once she could accurately dodge and hit all the balls even at the highest launch speed, she would add more launchers gradually.

Confident due to her high agility stat, Jiang Ran was nearly bruised and battered by the tennis balls in the first round.

Though fast, the balls bounced off the walls and floor, often rebounding multiple times without losing speed in the confined space of the room.

With many balls in play, facing multiple launchers simultaneously, she frequently found herself overwhelmed, unable to find the most efficient evasion paths.

Despite taking several hits, Jiang Ran was not discouraged; instead, she grew more eager.

Challenges were good; otherwise, training would be pointless.

Through continuous dodging and hitting, Jiang Ran became more familiar with her current body. Her stats truly transformed into her own strength with each repetition.

After nearly two hours of training, with less than a third of her stamina remaining, Jiang Ran reluctantly stopped.

Her body was covered in bruises and tender to the touch, yet her smile was radiant.

Though she hadn’t yet perfectly dodged every ball, she could clearly feel her improvement compared to the start.

The addictive feeling of growing stronger through training was truly compelling.

Checking the time, it was almost six in the evening—the first volcanic eruption was imminent.

In truth, the eruption itself wouldn’t directly harm players. The volcanic materials in the dungeon were special and wouldn’t easily melt from lava.

This was the game’s way of giving players a lifeline.

The real danger lay in the lava flooding back through the tunnels they had dug, the unstoppable heat, and the fire ants that surged forth with the lava.

In the previous life, many players who happened to be in the path of the flowing lava were instantly consumed, sometimes in tunnels they had dug themselves.

Even with rocky mountain barriers, the lava’s emergence caused widespread dehydration deaths, some bodies even reduced to dried husks.

Jiang Ran survived before simply because she was lucky—the volcano she was in didn’t erupt, so there were far fewer fire ants.

After the eruption, survivors scurried like mice into winding caves, as lava had flooded outside and fire ants prowled everywhere.

If a fire ant scout detected someone, and they failed to catch or kill it within thirty seconds, a horde of fire ants would descend, mercilessly devouring their flesh.

Relaxing in a massage tub infused with essential oils, Jiang Ran scrolled through the chat lobby.

Outside, the unsettling sounds grew louder; everyone was sensing something was wrong.

“I’ve been meaning to ask… could this map have a volcanic eruption?”

“I told you last night I heard strange noises, but no one believed me!”

“With so many volcanoes, can they all erupt? If they do, then we’re doomed.”

“I don’t want to die—I worked so hard to gather supplies. I want to survive!”

“Stop whining; everyone wants to live. Just pray the lava won’t flood your hiding cave.”

...

Two minutes later, the simultaneous roars of countless volcanic eruptions sent a shudder through all players.

Almost instantly, two-thirds of the avatars in the chat went dark, and the usually lively public chat fell silent.

Jiang Ran checked her friend list; whirlwind slash and Little Top—the ones who still owed her debts and the ones she wanted to take down—were both still online and holding strong.

Two minutes later, a player named Red Carp Donkey Green asked in the chat, “Is anyone still alive?”

Shortly after, a group of survivors cautiously emerged.

“Oh my god, I was so scared! I thought I wouldn’t make it this time!”

“Haha, my mountain didn’t erupt—I’m the chosen one!”

“Enough already, my mountain didn’t erupt either, but I have a feeling the game is still holding back something big.”

“Shut up, we barely escaped. Can’t we just hope for some good luck?”

“No way, it’s too hot. If I had a bottle of ice water right now, I’d eat three boxes of ice cream without hesitation.”

“Taking and eating, huh?”

“My mountain erupted, but it’s thick. I’ve been digging upward; the lava can’t get in.”

“Wait, did you hear that sound...?”