Volume One, Chapter 15: A New Buff, Reaping Critical Hits

The wooden bed was originally small, roughly the size of a military cot you’d find at school—just enough for a single adult to lie down. Moreover, the craftsmanship was truly crude! The wood was covered in splinters, completely unpolished, embodying the most primitive workmanship.

Examining the bed’s details:

[Simple Wooden Bed]
Grade: Rough
Dimensions: 100cm x 200cm
(Note: This is a very rudimentary simple wooden bed. Avoid vigorous activity on it, and never share it with more than one person, or it may collapse at any time!)

Even rougher! Lin Yifan twitched the corner of his mouth upon reading the note again. He realized that although this world wasn’t particularly impressive, the various notes were written with a humorous touch. However, despite the humor, Ye Yifan never dared to underestimate these notes. Whenever there was a note, it was bound to contain critical information! Without careful analysis, one could easily fall victim to it.

Ye Yifan sat down hard on the wooden bed and roughly tested its weight-bearing and stability. Only then did he confirm that the note was absolutely accurate. This seemingly crude wooden bed was actually quite sturdy.

After testing it, he placed the bed near the fire and then lay down, fully clothed, to rest. He wanted to replace the bedding or blankets but, unfortunately, none were available at the auction house. Still, lying on a bed was far more comfortable than sleeping on the ground. Just that alone put him ahead of 99.99% of the people in District 10086.

Originally, Ye Yifan thought that in such an unfamiliar place, no matter how exhausted he was, he probably wouldn’t be able to fall asleep. So, his plan was to close his eyes and rest, waiting until midnight to refresh his talents and draw a new daily buff.

Unexpectedly, he fell asleep as soon as he lay down.

When he woke up, it was already 5 a.m. Looking out into the still pitch-black world, Ye Yifan helplessly patted his forehead. Although he had overslept, he wasn’t upset. It was all happening today anyway; an hour earlier or later didn’t matter.

He got up and washed his face with the rainwater he had collected in an empty box under the eaves yesterday, feeling refreshed. However, he didn’t immediately go to draw today’s talent buff. Instead, he began exercising—doing push-ups, crunches, and shadowboxing.

Push-ups and crunches were great for strengthening the body and were the easiest exercises for ordinary people to learn. Before crossing over to this world, Ye Yifan had been a programmer who rarely exercised. His only luck was that the place he lived was over ten kilometers from work, so he biked to and from the office daily, making him somewhat stronger than other programmers. Otherwise, he might never have been able to chop down so many trees today.

In this survival world, luck was one thing, but a strong body was equally crucial. So, Ye Yifan had long planned to spend at least an hour exercising every morning. Push-ups and crunches were basic exercises anyone could do, so naturally, he could too.

As for boxing, he didn’t really know how to fight. The moves he was practicing now were the half-hearted “Dragon Fist” routines he had learned years ago when following Liu Genghong’s fitness videos. Although his moves looked awkward now, the human body was remarkable—any exercise, any training, would eventually yield results.

After an hour, Ye Yifan finally finished. The fire was still burning. He took the meat skewer he had saved from yesterday for breakfast and roasted it again by the fire. Only then did he turn his attention to his talents.

Name: Lin Yifan
Age: 23
Health Status: Sub-healthy human
Talent: [Random Buff, One Draw per Day!] (Draw by lot)
[One draw per day at midnight to obtain various buffs with different effects. Whether you’re lucky or unlucky depends on your fate!]
Strength: 8
Agility: 10
Endurance: 7 + 1
Intelligence: 9
Remaining Attribute Points: 0

His talent skill had indeed refreshed! He wondered if today would bring the same luck as yesterday.

He decided to draw an item upgrade.

---

Ye Yifan clasped his hands and prayed earnestly for a moment before beginning to draw the [Daily Random Buff].

“Drawing the lot!”

[Draw successful! Today’s buff: Critical Hit]
[Critical Hit: For today only, any gains will trigger a critical effect, increasing the amount of items obtained by 1.5 to 10 times.]

Ye Yifan’s smile grew wider as he looked at today’s buff. Although it wasn’t the item upgrade he most desired, getting a critical hit was undoubtedly the best buff for gathering resources. If luck struck and he hit a 10x critical while chopping trees, one tree could yield fifty or sixty pieces of wood. Chopping ten or so trees would be enough to gather the wood needed to upgrade to a level 3 shelter. Normally, he would have to chop a hundred trees or more to get that amount.

Even with his ordinary new axe, it would take him at least two days to chop 100 trees.

Basic resources weren’t hard to obtain; it was just a matter of time.

What he really wanted to know now was whether this buff could be applied to opening treasure chests.

He took the two chests placed nearby and opened the white one first.

“Talent activated, 4x critical reward!”

[800g Whole Wheat Toast] ×4
[550ml Mineral Water] ×4

It was Ye Yifan’s first time opening a white chest, but he had observed in the chat channel yesterday that each white chest only contained one kind of item—food or something else. The rarest was blueprints.

His luck wasn’t great with this white chest; it only contained food and water. But with the 4x critical multiplier, the haul was quite considerable—four bags of 800g toast and four bottles of mineral water. If rationed, this could sustain one person comfortably for half a month.

Ye Yifan tore open a bag of toast and ate a couple of pieces with the water. After digesting through the night, his previously rumbling stomach finally felt full. The happiness brought by carbohydrates lifted his spirits considerably.

Although eating meat and fruit could fill the stomach, going without carbs didn’t affect survival but did impact mood.

So he didn’t feel disappointed that the white chest only contained bread and water.

He put the items back into the chest and turned his attention to the remaining green chest. Taking a deep breath, he mentally commanded:

“Open chest!”

“Talent activated, 7x critical reward!”

[Multifunctional Camouflage Suit] ×7
[Waterproof Breathable Leather Boots] ×7
[Waterproof Safety Helmet] ×7

Looking at the pile of clothing, Ye Yifan felt a little disappointed. He had hoped this green chest would contain some hardware equipment like the two chests yesterday, but it was all clothes.

However, after picking up and examining the garments, he became satisfied. As expected from chest loot, the clothes were of outstanding quality. The fabric was thick, durable, and breathable—probably even better than the military camouflage used on Earth.

In this wild world, no clothing could be more suitable, especially the safety helmet. Its thickness gave him a strong sense of security. He even struck the helmet with his axe handle using half his strength, but the helmet remained intact. Such defensive strength was impressive.

The leather boots were top-notch too, lined with fleece inside and made of thick leather outside, dirt-resistant and durable—a true model of quality.

And he had obtained seven complete sets at once, so he wouldn’t have to worry about clothing for a long time.

Happily, he changed into a new set and stored the remaining six sets in his spatial ring.

He had initially planned to dismantle the two chests for materials, but when he looked up, he saw the blueberry bushes he had transplanted into the cultivated soil last night were bursting with fruit! The branches were so heavy with blueberries they were bent down, almost touching the ground.

The mugwort beside them had grown from a single stalk into a large potful, some as tall as over half a person, with seeds forming at the top and some already fallen. New shoots had sprouted around the edges, some reaching calf height.

Ye Yifan was overjoyed and couldn’t bear to dismantle the chests. They were perfect for storage.

He quickly picked all the blueberries, popping a few into his mouth as he went. Their taste was far superior to the wild ones from yesterday, especially in sweetness.

It took him over ten minutes to harvest all the blueberries, filling an empty box to the brim. By weight, it was probably about fifteen to twenty kilograms.

Next, he pulled up the fully grown mugwort. They immediately decomposed into neatly portioned medicinal materials.

Mugwort ×242

---

Over two hundred portions of mugwort—enough for the foreseeable future! Moreover, there were still plenty of mugwort seedlings in the cultivated soil, growing quickly enough that by nightfall, he could probably harvest just as much again.

Satisfied, Ye Yifan stored the mugwort in his ring space and moved the box of blueberries beside the fire.

Originally, he planned to spend the day chopping trees to gather enough wood to upgrade to a level 3 shelter, then collect stones tomorrow and try to upgrade before the mosquito swarms emerged. Although a level 2 shelter offered some protection against mosquitoes, it was never as secure as level 3.

But now, he no longer had to struggle for basic supplies!

With so many blueberries, eating them alone would become tiresome. Besides, as long as there was cultivated soil, blueberries would keep growing endlessly.

The best choice was to trade these blueberries for other resources.

Still priced at ten blueberries per unit, Ye Yifan listed all the blueberries on the auction house to exchange for basic materials.

He also listed the toast he had opened earlier, but the toast was just for display and couldn’t be traded directly. Since the auction house didn’t trade basic resources like wood or stone, but rather blueprints, medicinal herbs, and special items, he needed to carefully judge which items to accept.

Thus, the toast’s trade was done privately.

After listing everything, Ye Yifan exited the auction house. It was only 6:50 a.m., still ten minutes before dawn.

With time to spare, he warmed himself by the fire while peeking at the chat channel.

What he saw made him pause. The total number of players had changed again. At dusk yesterday, it was over 97,900, but now it had dropped to 97,500. Over four hundred people had logged off overnight!

Such a high mortality rate weighed heavily on even resource-rich Ye Yifan.

The chat information trickled in less frequently than yesterday but was still largely repetitive. Familiar faces appeared frequently in the comment section—like the seductive wildcat he had traded with yesterday, the “sexy little lamb” who had been exposed as a transvestite, and the effeminate member of the idol boy band still begging others for food.

One message caught Ye Yifan’s attention:

“Hey, everyone, have you noticed the temperature dropping? I felt it got much colder last night.”

“What do you mean ‘felt’? It actually dropped. I saw the temperature was around 20 degrees during the day yesterday, but now it’s only 12.”

“Exactly, it really cooled down. I checked around 10 p.m. last night, and it was still 15 degrees!”

“God help me! I only wore a single layer when I arrived. Last night, I nearly froze to death. If it gets any colder, how am I supposed to survive?”

“Yeah, I hope we can find some warm clothing today. Don’t know how low the temperature will drop.”

...

A temperature drop?

Ye Yifan quickly flipped to the date and weather screen.

Current time: Survival Year 20245, April 29, 6:56 a.m.
Dawn: 7:30 a.m.
Dusk: 4:30 p.m.
Today’s weather: Light to moderate rain
Temperature: 13 degrees Celsius
[Warm reminder: Dawn is approaching, a new day is about to begin. Everyone, work hard to find supplies and fight to survive! Also, the temperature is steadily dropping—who knows how low it will go! Please dress warmly!]

Ye Yifan had only intended to check if the temperature had really dropped, but his eyes immediately caught two other changes: dawn was delayed by half an hour, and dusk came half an hour earlier.

What on earth was going on?

Could the day be getting shorter and shorter until it eventually turned into eternal night?

Impossible. If eternal night really came, what would be the point of survival anymore? Better to just give up and die outright!

There had to be some hidden rules. Perhaps earning a first-place achievement might reveal the truth.

Ye Yifan rubbed his temples, more determined than ever to upgrade to a level 3 shelter. He wasn’t sure about other things, but since upgrading to level 2 had earned him a top achievement in the entire district, upgrading to level 3 surely would too.

But to upgrade to level 3, he needed to find iron nails—where on earth could those be?

Compared to the shortening daytime, the temperature drop now seemed trivial.

With his clothes, no matter how cold it got, he wouldn’t freeze to death.

But if eternal night came, would the dangers lurking in the darkness cost him his life?

Even he couldn’t guarantee that.