Chapter 11: An Unexpected Upgrade Effect, The Personal Interface Unlocked

To be honest, both of these options seemed quite appealing. Upgrading the vehicle meant greater resistance to disasters and a significant boost in survivability. As for the vehicle core upgrade... deep down, he didn’t think it was that useful. Even if it was upgraded, wouldn’t it just mean room for more passengers? That didn’t seem particularly important to Lin Mu. Yet the name alone suggested it carried weight.

Lin Mu glanced at the materials required to upgrade the vehicle: he was short by twelve pieces of plastic and five iron ingots. Give him one more day, and he was certain he could gather the necessary items.

“Hey, Panel, can I decide on this tomorrow?” Lin Mu asked tentatively.

[Please make your choice within one minute, otherwise it will be considered forfeited.]
[59]
[58]
[...]

What? Was this intentional? There was no countdown until he asked; the moment he inquired, the countdown appeared. What else could he do but choose? If he didn’t, there would be no more opportunity.

In the final three seconds, Lin Mu ultimately decided to upgrade the vehicle core! After all, upgrading the vehicle only required materials, which was easy for Lin Mu. But upgrading the vehicle core required looting... and finding another vehicle on this endless highway seemed nearly impossible.

[Congratulations, player. Vehicle core upgraded to Lv2. Vehicle capacity increased by 1, storage space doubled!]

He didn’t care much about the extra capacity. But the doubled space truly astonished Lin Mu. Who would have thought that upgrading the vehicle core would also expand its internal space?

He quickly turned to look behind him. Sure enough, the space in the back had doubled. It was just over a meter in size, but combined with the original back seat, it should be enough to fit a 1.6-meter bed. It would still be a bit cramped, but much better than before.

He wondered whether the vehicle had actually been lengthened, or if only the internal space had increased. Unfortunately, it was too dark outside to tell.

Lin Mu glanced at the time. How was it already ten o’clock? He hadn’t taken care of his main business yet. He hurriedly opened the trading center and split the first piece of snake meat into one hundred portions. That’s right, just one gram per portion—barely a bite.

He selected “trash” as the exchange option, then began adding items. Empty water bottles, sausage wrappers, instant noodle cups—he included every kind of packaging he had ever obtained, even tattered clothes. Who knew, maybe those could be recycled for something, too? He set it to save, so he could use the settings next time.

The second piece of snake meat he divided into twenty portions, requiring only four pieces of trash for each exchange. The last piece was cut into ten portions, needing just seven pieces of trash each.

To be honest, Lin Mu never expected to successfully trade away the first piece of snake meat, let alone finish the trades within a day. As long as it was all exchanged within two days, that was good enough. He didn’t believe anyone could resist the temptation of meat. To anyone, trading trash for meat was a fantastic deal.

No sooner had he put the items up for sale than, within ten seconds, someone exchanged four pieces of trash for a five-gram piece of snake meat. He tossed the trash casually into the disposal unit in the back.

Lin Mu checked the time and opened the regional chat channel again.

“Hahaha, someone just traded meat for trash! I didn’t hesitate and swapped my used plastic bag and my socks for five grams of meat.”
“That’s hilarious! I exchanged a broken wooden box for ten grams of meat—what a steal!”
“Say no more, I’m picking up my boxes to trade for meat. Ten grams is still meat.”
“...”

Lin Mu curled his lips in a smirk. If you think you’re winning, I’m making an even bigger profit!

He closed the channel, reclined the seat, and lay down to rest. As for the bed, he’d deal with that tomorrow.

...

At midnight, as Lin Mu drifted in and out of sleep, the game panel’s voice sounded in his ears.

[Ding! Personal information is now available. Please check it carefully.]

Lin Mu’s eyes snapped open. He’d been quite curious about this personal information. He still hadn’t eaten the snake gallbladder—not because it needed to be swallowed raw, but simply because he didn’t understand what “constitution” really meant.

He opened the panel, and indeed, a new section had appeared at the bottom: [Player Personal Information].

[Name: Lin Mu]
[ID: 9527L-LM002837]
[Attributes: Strength: 9, Constitution: 10, Agility: 8]
(Note: Planet 9527L, average male human value is 10, female is 8)
[Physical Condition: Health: 100, Energy: 99, Hydration: 80]
(Note: Maximum value for each is 100. If health drops below 30, irreversible death occurs at 0. If energy remains below 30 for three consecutive days without replenishment, health will continue to decline. If hydration remains below 30 for two consecutive days without replenishment, health will continue to decline.)

Hey, this isn’t reasonable! You die faster here than in real life! But then again, it is a game.

Still, it wasn’t much of a problem for Lin Mu. With all his supplies, there was no way he’d die.

With these changes, did that mean the food would be different too? He opened his backpack to check.

[500ml bottled water]: Hydration +50
[Braised beef noodles]: Energy +50
[100g bread]: Energy +30
[200g snake meat]: Energy +60, Hydration -10, Health may decrease with some probability.

Does this make sense? Well, somewhat.

But what mattered was that none of his food could increase his health! If something went wrong, wouldn’t he just be done for?

This was serious. He quickly consulted the panel.

[After three days, the player will understand. So, for the next three days, please treat each day with care.]

Lin Mu: ...

Three days, then. In any case, as long as he stayed inside his vehicle, it shouldn’t affect him much.

He turned off the vehicle, lay back, and soon drifted into dreamland. In such warmth, it was hard not to sleep peacefully.

Compared to Lin Mu’s comfortable life, others were far less fortunate.

“I can finally speak again. Have you all checked your personal information? I haven’t done anything, and my health is already down to 80! What’s going on? Does anyone have something that can restore health? Please, let me borrow it.”
“Ugh, I only have 20 energy left, and I just lost 2 points of health.”
“Save your strength. I’m about to freeze to death—the temperature in my car is just at zero.”
“Going to sleep now. I hope I get to see everyone tomorrow.”

...

At the top of the regional chat, the number displayed was now—97,011!

They had arrived around nine o’clock, which meant that in just over fifteen hours, three thousand people had died.

The survival game had only just begun!