[That Year]: Can't you all use your brains for once? Every little thing, and you're pinging the big shots for intel like they're beta testers. We all started at the same time! Even if they know something, they'd need to experience it first to share anything useful. Stop acting like desperate patients grasping at straws!
[Clean]: Exactly! Radiance gave advice last time, and you lot ignored it. Looking at you, Yang Er Gou and Serenity, always begging in the regional chat.
Another flame war was brewing. Cheng Shuli rolled her eyes and closed the regional chat.
These netizens were like walking powder kegs—one spark, and they exploded.
Pressing the accelerator, she drove on. The road was littered with more supply crates than usual, but their contents were junk: vitamin tablets, digestion pills, and other useless meds.
Glancing up at the still-scorching sun, she settled back into her cart and kept moving.
Meanwhile, Wan Yi, after much agonizing, still couldn't decide. Finally, she tapped on Cheng Shuli's private chat.
[Wan Yi]: Crow, any thoughts on this monster challenge?
[Crow Takes Flight]: Do your best.
Four simple words. Wan Yi paused, then selected Normal.
Better to play it safe and steady.
She wasn't about to risk her life on a reckless gamble.
The afternoon slipped by quietly, and before anyone realized, it was 6 p.m.
The system had been silent since noon, so when a pop-up suddenly demanded all vehicles stop, some players were caught off guard, realizing too late: they hadn't chosen a monster challenge tier.
Now, the chance was gone.
These players flooded the regional chat with pleas, their messages a chaotic wail, scrolling by at breakneck speed.
Cheng Shuli watched in silence. Sure, the system had played dirty, but forgetting something this critical?
People had to pay for their carelessness.
As the system counted down, she tightened her grip on her dagger. Her Strength stat was a solid 36—handling a Casual-tier monster should be a breeze.
But she'd picked Hell-tier. Cheng Shuli took a deep breath, quelling the nervous flutter in her chest.
She was a quitter by nature. Life's big moments boiled down to birth and death, and she'd already tasted both.
Whatever. Dying again wouldn't be new.
The thought didn't make her relax, but it dulled the tension.
"Three! Two! One! Begin! Good luck!"
Cheng Shuli's eyes snapped wide. She'd expected to be teleported elsewhere, but the battlefield was right here—on this highway!
The monster materialized in front of every player's vehicle.
Her mind raced. The cart could serve as cover, but it risked getting trashed by the creature.
She still had a vehicle repair card, and that knowledge flooded her with reckless courage.
Holding her breath, Cheng Shuli pressed herself against the cart, dagger in hand, inching toward the monster.
The oil-slicked creature crouched on the other side, its rotting fingers scraping the metal frame with a teeth-grinding screech.
Plastic debris rattled with its movements, and its blood-red eyes gleamed in the twilight.
Cheng Shuli could even see its oily sludge dripping onto her freshly cleaned cart.
This was unacceptable!
Gritting her teeth, she decided to be brave for once. Even if she died, she'd have a glorious tale to tell in the underworld, right?
She was a staunch materialist, but this highway survival game was anything but materialist.
Shaking off her cluttered thoughts, Cheng Shuli steeled herself for a sneak attack—only to lock eyes with the monster's terrifying scarlet gaze!
It whipped around, lunging at her, steel teeth clacking.
Cheng Shuli froze, a spark of fury igniting within her. This thing was mocking her! Her expression turned ferocious. Did it think she was a pushover?
Instinct took over. She thrust her dagger forward—
Schluck!
The blade slid through the monster's temple like it was tofu.
Foul black liquid sprayed out. The creature, still snarling, toppled backward, rigid.
"…Huh?"
Cheng Shuli stood dumbfounded, her dagger still extended.
She stared at the dissolving corpse, then down at her hand.
Hold on, buddy, you went down that easily? You're making my whole mental prep look stupid!
[Challenge Success! Congratulations, player Cheng Shuli, for achieving the first Hell-tier kill! Additional rewards will be distributed after all challenges conclude!]
The system's chime snapped her back to reality.
Blinking, she glanced at the now-motionless monster, then at her oil-stained dagger.
Sure, the bug helped, but the system's difficulty shouldn't be this simple, right?
Even the Casual tier, the lowest rung, should've been tough enough to trip up regular players.
A sudden realization hit her.
Regular players. With a Strength stat of 36, was she a regular player anymore?
Cheng Shuli eyed the corpse again, finally grasping her own power.
Double win!
Humming, she stepped into her cart, grabbed some tissue, and squatted to meticulously clean her dagger. Then, just as diligently, she scrubbed the oil stains off her cart.
Satisfied with the sparkling vehicle, she wiped imaginary sweat from her brow and tucked the dagger into her waistband.
No time to rest yet—her cart still needed sealing.
Tomorrow's extreme cold disaster was looming.
Cheng Shuli rummaged for the ill-fitting clothes she'd looted after killing Lin Mo. Summer and autumn wear, nothing thick enough to fetch a good price.
Using her dagger, she sliced them into strips. Before stuffing them into the cart's door gaps, she circled the vehicle, even crouching by the oil monster's corpse for a closer look.
Most monsters dropped loot. A slain boar had yielded over a hundred pounds of meat.
This thing couldn't have nothing, right?
Frowning, she scrutinized the scene until a glint caught her eye—a black crystal nestled in the oily muck.
Blended with the sludge, it was nearly invisible.
She'd only noticed because her cart's LED light hit it, the reflection standing out.
Cheng Shuli didn't touch it directly. Who knew if the corpse was corrosive? Grabbing it barehanded was asking for trouble.
She wrapped her hand in the cloth strips, layering them until her fingers could barely move, then carefully nudged the crystal out.