Take it easy, I'm a serious game

Chapter 10
After leaving Old Bones' hut, sisters Lin Shuang walked back in silence. At this moment, they were worried about the same question in their hearts:
I can no longer go to Wanku Forest, where will my food come from?
Yes, Wanku Forest is a dangerous place. There are quite a few brave people in Xiahe Village who insisted on hunting there despite the advice, but most of them never returned.

But who wants to go to that kind of place if they don't have to?
The ice tide is coming, and the food reserves in my family are far from enough. Can we really count on the so-called "equal distribution" that the village chief said?

This regulation can still be enforced in normal times, as long as it is not in extreme circumstances, everyone is willing to share some food with neighbors who are in famine due to various reasons.

However, ice tides and red tides are extreme cases.

If equal distribution was really useful, my parents would not have died in the first place.
"Sister, what should I do?"

Lin Xue asked worriedly.

Lin Shuang sighed, not knowing how to answer for a moment.

The situation they faced was too difficult. If they went to Wanku Forest, they would have to face those crazy bandits; if they didn't go, it would be absolutely impossible to survive the ice tide.

It seems that they are all dead, but there is a sequence.

"At that time, Lin Shu's family came to propose marriage, so I should agree for you."

"In this case, at least you can survive."

"But it's too late now, they can't accept you for nothing at this juncture."

"Sister, I don't want to."

Lin Xue shook her head and interrupted Lin Shuang's words.

"Actually, it's useless. Even if I did go to his house, I should have been kicked out by now—I can't be pregnant within two months, right?"

Lin Shuang nodded sadly. The rules of Xiahe Village are indeed as cruel as Lin Xue said. If she is not pregnant, she is still a free person according to the rules. She can leave the man at any time, and the man can naturally abandon her at any time.

After a moment of silence, she said:
"Starting tomorrow, you can go fishing during the day. The ice in Dangyang Lake is already very thick, and there are more fish there than in Xiahe. If we are lucky, maybe we can survive on fish."

"Come back at night, weave some more Gebu, and see if you can get some prey from Lin Hu and the others—I guess they won't give it to you, but who knows, maybe they're lucky enough to hunt some extra."

Lin Xue could hear the determination in her sister's tone, so she hurriedly asked:

"What about you? What are you doing?"

"I'm going to Wanku Forest."

Lin Shuang replied in an unquestionable tone.

"There are bandits there! Besides, there are no oak trees on the route we walked before, and there are no wild fruits. You don't want to go deeper, do you? There are sinkholes everywhere. If you fall into it, you can't get out Already!"

"We have nothing else to do, you must listen to me."

Lin Shuang took Lin Xue's shoulders, and the latter closed his eyes in despair.

How could she not know what her sister was thinking?

She was going to take the risk alone.

If successful, both can survive.

If you fail, you can live on your own.

And I really can't be disobedient, because I don't have the ability to replace her to go deep into the Ten Thousand Caves Forest alone, let alone waste her kindness and tie the lives of two people together.

On bare ground, this is the dumbest choice.

Lin Xue raised her head and looked at the dark forest. The second snow before the ice tide had already fallen.

According to the village chief, the snow will last for at least a month.

At that time, the entire mountain forest will be buried in the snow.

And this month is her only chance to survive the ice tide.

She didn't know what was in that forest, but vaguely, she seemed to see fires flickering in that darkness?

At the same time, outside the passageway of the Sanchi Research Institute, there were indeed four figures surrounding each other, trying to start a fire in the snow.

Chen Jiu, who was in the middle, was rubbing the wooden stick in his hand vigorously, sparks had already appeared in the groove of the base, and the wig quickly handed him the tinder that had been prepared a long time ago and made of withered grass.

He carefully poured sparks into the tinder, then puffed out his cheeks and exhaled slowly, accompanied by a puff of smoke, the flames rose up all of a sudden.

"Damn it, brother Jiu is awesome!"

"Amazing!"

Wig and Chongniang, the two best fans, clapped their hands and applauded, and Qin Chuan also said appreciatively:

"This thing has a simple structure and is easy to use. It's much better than the bow drill I made. Brother, don't you watch Survival in the Wild?"

After speaking, Qin Chuan turned his head and spat out a mouthful of blood.
-
He had been injured internally by the boar, but because more than 80% of his pain sensation was blocked, he thought his gums were bleeding.

"I've seen it a little bit, hehe."

Chen Jiu smiled and added two sticks of firewood to the fire. After a while, a bonfire was lit.

In fact, using the original method to make fire is not a necessary condition for the mission——Although the F-level authority given by Shuanghe is low, there are several igniters that can still be used in the kitchen of the research institute, so it will not be reduced For the sake of drilling wood for fire.

The reason why he wanted to do this was purely because Qin Chuan wanted to test how real the game could be. Anyway, he couldn't do anything after it completely darkened, so Chen Jiu accompanied him.

After all, for a game to remain engaging, it has to be tight, because once players start to feel tired, they're not far from AFK.

Looking at the blazing bonfire, the wig leaned closer, put the meat threaded with branches on the fire, and said:
"I don't think the difficulty of this game is too high. It's still a bit far from what was advertised before. The hunting went smoothly today, and the fire was also very smooth."

".You forgot about the fact that you've done it once, haven't you?"

Chong Niang poked through the wig mercilessly, but then continued:
"But to be honest, what you said makes sense."

"For us, this game is certainly not difficult. After all, we can exchange our lives for a wild boar."

"But for other NPCs, it's not that simple."

"Today you are patronizing pig farming, but when I came back, I specifically looked at Dangyang Lake. Even the largest settlement nearby in the setting, their construction level is very low."

"It's all thatched huts, and the people here probably haven't solved the basic survival problems yet."

"After the so-called ice tide passes, I estimate that the population of that village will be reduced by at least half—either starved to death or frozen to death."

Hearing this, there was an expression of disbelief on the wig's face.

"Shouldn't it? There are so many prey in this forest, how can there be anything left to eat?"

"That's because you don't understand the real end times."

Chen Jiu on the side interjected.

"If you have read the research reports on famine, you will know that in fact, any famine is not caused by the complete depletion of resources. Most of the time, it is because the population consumption exceeds the line of resource carrying capacity."

"When the first hungry people show up, things go downhill."

"The hungrier the civilians are, the less they dare to take risks, because being injured or losing their workforce means losing all hope."

"Xiahe Village, including the entire end of the world, should be in such a situation now... Everyone can barely survive, but the balance is extremely fragile. If there is any disturbance, it will be over together."

"Besides, didn't the NPC also say that this Ten Thousand Grottoes Forest is very dangerous, that's why no one came here. The logic is very simple, they dare not take risks."

After listening to Chen Jiu's explanation, the other three players nodded in unison.

"Okay, the analysis is in place. Then what do you think our main line is going to be?"

Qin Chuan asked.

He is engaged in technology, and he really doesn't understand these sociological things.

Chen Jiu thought for a moment, then replied:

"I think it is definitely not a conventional farming flow. Now the world is fragile and critical, and the balance may be broken at any time. According to the setting, the path of slow and steady development will not work."

"So, in terms of the big plot, we must follow the kingly way, first conquer the four directions, integrate resources, and may even actively consume part of the population, and then slowly climb up the technology to build..."

"I estimate that the mainstream professions should still be combat-type, and there will definitely be life-type professions, but the weight will not be too high."

Qin Chuan nodded slightly and said:
"Your understanding of this game can be considered top-notch... But in this way, the background of this game is a bit too dark, and it is difficult to pass the review. I feel that the planning will not be so inappropriate."

Chen Jiu thought to himself, it's not up to me to decide whether to be a good person or not. Anyway, after preliminary deduction with Shuanghe, this plan has the highest success rate.

After a pause, he continued:
"Not necessarily—I remember that the player's handbook said that the player can influence the development of the main plot to a certain extent? If we can come up with a better solution by then, maybe the planner will adopt it?"

"It's up to you!"

The wig stuffed the half-baked barbecue into Chen Jiu's hand, and said expectantly.

"It depends on me. It depends on everyone."

Chen Jiu raised his head and looked across the dark forest.

In the distance, Xiahe Village is lit up with dots of lights.

Is it really like what Chongniang said, after an ice tide, that village will lose more than one-third of its population?

Is there a way to save them?
Yes, they did give themselves a first look kill, but that doesn't make them bad.

Judging from the results of the replay, if they hadn't acted too aggressively, they actually didn't intend to do anything to themselves.

It can only be said that they are too stupid.

Of course, they weren't born stupid, but extreme apocalypse made them stupid.

There is a big problem in this world, and what I, including all players, have to do is to change the world?

But how to do it is the biggest problem before them.

He gradually fell into deep thought, and his eyes were fixed on that piece of light.

But he didn't know that when he was looking at Xiahe Village, someone in Xiahe Village was also looking at him with completely different thoughts.

(End of this chapter)