"Chapter 1: Survival Begins

[Welcome to Survival Battlefield, Sector Great Xia #9527]

[Current Sector Population: 10,000]

[Protect your survival tent. Prioritize upgrading it—it’s your final safe haven.]

[At night, only shelters are safe zones. Hide well! Though remember: safety is relative. This is a shelter, not a panic room.]

[This battlefield is rife with crises, disasters… and limitless opportunities. Will you rise from the depths? Or give up?]

[Everyone receives one free perk selection. From this moment, destinies diverge.]

[Newbie Protection Period: 7 days. Chest spawn rates are increased. Explore, gather resources.]

[First Disaster: Ice Age]

[Countdown: 7 days]

“Huh?” Chu Ran blinked, disoriented, finding himself beneath a towering tree. Leaves rustled in the breeze, brushing playfully against his face.

Above, sunlight streamed through the canopy, warm and golden against the cloudless sky. Lush, unfamiliar trees and dense thickets surrounded him; small creatures darted through the underbrush, vanishing as he stirred.

“Am I dreaming? A dream within a dream?” Chu Ran muttered, reeling. His home was gone—vanished. Now he stood alone in an unknown wilderness.

Slap!

He instinctively smacked his own cheek, wincing at the sting. “Not a dream! What the absolute hell?!”

“Damned thing… Curse this nightmare!” he spat, fists clenched. “Calm down. Anger won’t fix anything.” Forcing himself to breathe, he focused: Why am I here? Where did that voice come from?

[Survivor, stop wasting time. Check your survival watch—now.]

Buzz… buzz…

sleek black watch hummed on his wrist. Blue light pulsed across its surface as his gaze landed on it.

[Market] [Trades] [Local Chat] [Private Chat] [Friends]

[Backpack]

“No way… Is this like one of those mass-survival stories?!” Chu Ran’s expression twisted in disbelief—he’d read dozens of those web novels. Skeptical, he willed his attention to [Local Chat].

[Local Chat]

[Whose sick joke is this? End it before I lose it!]

[Holy crap, I was showering! Teleported here naked!]

[Need pants? I’m wearing two pairs. Down to share?]

[Piss off! I’ll wrap leaves around me first!]

[Help! I twisted my ankle chasing a rabbit! Can’t walk!]

[Forget rabbits! Chop wood. Upgrade your damn shelter!]

[Whoever kidnapped me—I reported this! Send me back NOW!]

Chu Ran closed the chat, mind racing. However impossible, this was a survival game.

Fine. Adapt.

He checked his inventory:

[Shelter (Survival Tent)]

System-issued. Zero defenses. Upgrade urgently.

Requirements: Wood ×100 | Stone ×20

(An unrolled tent. Place where needed.)

He dismissed it and grabbed:

[Stone Axe]

Quality: Basic

(Better than nothing. Try tree-chopping without it.)

Ding!

[Perks Refreshed! Choose One:]

[Speed-Gro: Accelerates plant growth.]

[Double Crafting: Receive two items per craft.]

[Workhorse: Immune to fatigue. Work twice as long.]

“What even are these options?” Chu Ran groaned. “Workhorse? Hell no.” After twenty years of life as an office drone, he wasn’t picking that.

[ALERT: Foreign anomaly detected. Purging…]

Pain spiked through his skull like needles as he reached for [Double Crafting].

“Argh!” He collapsed, writhing—then the agony vanished as suddenly as it came.

His perk choices flickered… and morphed:

[Trait Refresher]

All three options now read:

[Trait Refresher: Forbidden Perk (Unique)]

(Refresh any item’s trait. Warning: Limited to 10 refreshes per item!)

“A Forbidden Perk?!” Chu Ran gaped. This wasn’t normal. Something had changed.

He selected it instantly. Before it glitches away.

His anxiety eased. Shelter, food, and treasure chests topped his list now.

Shelter meant safety. Food meant survival. Chests meant game-changing possibilities.

Scooping up the stone axe, he surveyed the woods. The tool felt pitifully flimsy, but options were scarce. He approached a sapling and swung.

Thunk. A two-centimeter dent.

“Pathetic output,” he muttered. “Time to test my perk.”

“Refresh.”

Ding!

[Acquired: Stone Axe (Flawless)]

[Fine Trait: Doubled woodcutting speed]

[Flawless Trait: 50% lighter + minor damage boost]

[Refreshes Left: 9]

grin spread across his face. “Now we’re talking.”

He dashed to his tent, trying to refresh it—but got [Cannot refresh special items].

Frustrated, he refreshed the axe again:

[Acquired: Stone Axe (Basic)]

“You can downgrade?!” Panicked, he refreshed four more times until:

[Acquired: Stone Axe (Flawless)]

Never again, he vowed, sweating. Ten refreshes is too precious.

Swiping at the sapling with the Flawless axe, he felt its weightlessness. Half the effort. Double the gouge.

“Perfect. I’ll outpace anyone harvesting wood now.”

His stomach growled fiercely. Hunger won over progress—chopping wood wasted energy he needed for hunting. If he ran out of stamina before finding food… it was game over."