Volume One, Chapter 49: Are There Truly Other Races?

So small, yet so heavy!

With the physique and strength of a human, these tools simply don’t match.

That leaves only one explanation:

This survival realm must harbor other races.

Lin Yifan swallowed hard, a mixture of confusion and unease stirring in his heart.

What kind of races could they be?

Would they be intelligent beings?

Would they be friendly?

“Different clans, different hearts,” as the old saying goes. Not to mention, from what he had seen so far, the resources in this survival realm were far from abundant.

No matter the race, to survive and live freely, resources were essential.

Humans might even fight among themselves for resources; how much more so between different races.

Perhaps for now, their level was too low to encounter others, but sooner or later, such a meeting was inevitable.

When that day came, it would likely be a bloody war.

Humans, as intelligent creatures, were not inherently strong. Facing relentless natural disasters had already been tough enough; now they were also forced to confront other races.

Who knew how many would ultimately survive?

These thoughts weighed heavily on Lin Yifan’s mind, but he refused to lose hope.

After all, he had already arrived in this cruel world; there was no going back to the peaceful Earth. Facing it head-on was his only option.

To live well, there was but one way: to become strong.

Only by becoming strong could he face anything that came his way.

Besides, judging from the state of this cave, no one had been here for years.

Earlier, he had also scouted around the shelter and found no signs of intelligent activity.

From his past gaming experience, this survival realm was essentially a massive survival game, with rules quite similar to any other game.

They had only been here a few days — true rookies among rookies.

In games, rookies stayed in beginner villages; only upon reaching a certain level could they leave for higher-level areas and encounter advanced players.

To protect rookies, high-level players were never allowed into beginner villages.

They were probably still in the newbie zone, so as long as they didn’t leave, it was unlikely that high-level other races would intrude.

As long as they quietly developed during this newbie protection period, a breakthrough in their situation was bound to come.

Lin Yifan took a deep breath, pushed aside his wandering thoughts, and looked down at the three iron tools.

Whether these tools suited him or not, he couldn't afford to waste them.

Judging by their weight, these iron tools were not ordinary; even if he couldn’t use them, he could dismantle them for raw materials, perhaps even special ones.

What puzzled him was that when he looked at the blazing stone earlier, an item description popped up immediately.

Why didn’t these iron tools have any descriptions?

No, many items lacked explanations—only some special items or medicinal herbs had them.

He wondered how to activate these item descriptions.

Could it be like in online games, requiring an identification skill?

Shaking his head, Lin Yifan tossed the three iron tools into his ring space and continued exploring.

This time, however, he found nothing else, especially the diving suit he most desired—not even a trace.

He wasn’t sure if he had taken the wrong path or if the so-called mission hint was just misleading him.

By now, there was only one hour and thirty-five minutes left before nightfall.

Though reluctant, Lin Yifan dared not delay any further.

Last night’s wild experience had been perilous; until he could resolve the mental torment of the Hellish Dilemma, he wasn’t willing to risk another adventure.

With a splash, Lin Yifan jumped into the pond, swiftly swam to its edge, dressed, and hurried toward the shelter.

After some frantic rushing, he finally made it back before darkness fell.

He wasn’t short of water, but he still brought in the container placed under the eaves to collect rainwater.

Rainwater gathered beneath the eaves was relatively clean, requiring no filtration—just a bit of settling before drinking.

Still, Lin Yifan preferred boiling it. When possible, he didn’t want to gamble with his immune system.

The fire in the shelter still burned, but Lin Yifan extinguished the indoor fire pit and even dismantled it.

Now that he had the blazing stone, it was best placed inside the room.

As for the living room, he planned to keep the fire pit. Although the blazing stone could replace it, ever since arriving in this world, he had never let the fire go out.

The sense of security the fire brought was far beyond what a glowing stone could offer.

Not to mention, he still needed the fire for cooking.

Remembering the stove he had seen in the cave, Lin Yifan decided to replicate one suitable for his use in the kitchen tomorrow.

Cooking without a stove felt awkward.

Thinking of the stove naturally reminded him of the rusty iron pan and spatula.

Since he had brought them back, he intended to clean them.

He took the pan and spatula out of his ring space, filled a wooden box partially with water, and soaked the two items.

For now, he didn’t clean them—he had more pressing matters to attend to.

He needed to inventory today’s gathered supplies.

He hadn’t gone out specifically hunting for treasure chests or materials, so he only had a few chests picked up while clearing the path.

Three white chests, two green ones.

One green chest had even dropped from the crocodile he had slain!

He ignored the white chests; lacking no basic resources, opening them now was unnecessary.

If someday he obtained an item enhancement or a daily buff that doubled rewards, opening the white chests then would maximize benefits.

As for the green chests, he planned to wait until after midnight to draw the next day’s random buff before opening them.

Perhaps he would get a buff related to chest opening.

After placing the five chests in a corner, Lin Yifan prepared to deal with the crocodile.

Yet, upon taking it out, he found himself at a loss.

The crocodile’s skin was tough; even his axe barely cut through.

His skinning skills were mediocre at best. Such fine crocodile leather was far too precious to waste—perfect for armor or boots.

If he botched the skinning and ruined it, it would be a great loss.

Just as he felt helpless, a private message popped up in his friend channel.

He had expected it to be Hong Shaoqiang, but to his surprise, it was Ruan Qingtan.

Opening the chat, there were only two item notifications.

Lin Yifan opened them and was instantly overjoyed.

Those two items were exactly what he needed most right now.