As the letter vanished, a wood-grain floor spread across the ground, and the originally blank space was divided into two areas, one large and one small.
The larger area featured a single bed with light gray sheets, a natural wood-colored desk, a matching chair, and a simple wardrobe. Pushing open the door to the smaller area revealed a simple bathroom equipped with a sink and a toilet.
It had the typical size and layout of a simple rental room, perhaps even simpler, as it lacked even basic electrical appliances. However, this place didn't seem to require electricity anyway.
Seeing the complete set of furniture, Bai Ci made a prediction. Although the letter hadn't mentioned it, daily survival would surely require points, and her measly points were nowhere near enough to handle any emergencies.
Bai Ci stood up, walked over to the desk, and sat down. The chair felt almost exactly like a real wooden one.
She tried to summon her information panel with her mind. Since there was a settlement panel, there should be one of these as well.
Sure enough, a blue light more complex than the settlement panel lit up before her eyes, displaying several options: Personal Information, Inventory, Shop, and Forum.
Bai Ci tapped on Personal Information first. The light screen refreshed instantly, displaying rows of neat black text with each entry clearly labeled.
【Player Information】
Name: Bai Ci
Level: 1
Current Experience: 10/100
Points Held: 20
Core Attributes: Constitution 10 (HP 100/100), Spirit 10 (Mental Value 10/10), Agility 10
Stat Points Available: 0 (Obtained after leveling up)
Current Status: Healthy
Current Class: Ghost Bride (Incubating)
Next Instance Opening Time: 71 hours 33 minutes
Instance History: 《The Diary》 (D-grade evaluation, settled)
Exiting the Personal Information screen, she opened her Inventory.
The interface instantly switched to a grid layout, resembling a storage space in a game, with four rows of five slots each.
Currently, there was only that ring in her inventory. Tapping it displayed the detailed description and effects, which were identical to those on the settlement panel.
Next was the Shop option.
The moment the light screen expanded, a dazzling array of product categories popped up. The top was marked in eye-catching red text with "Newbie Zone," and below it were four major categories: Items, Lifestyle, Space Construction, and Attribute Enhancement.
Bai Ci tapped into the Newbie Zone first. Most of the item prices inside ranged between 10 to 50 points.
The most prominent item in the Items category was the Basic Hemostatic Spray, priced at 15 points, which restored 10 HP instantly and could be used inside instances. There was also the Mental Stabilizer, priced at 20 points a bottle, which could relieve mild mental fatigue and reduce the probability of triggering a confused state.
The Lifestyle category consisted entirely of daily necessities: a basic toiletry set for 5 points, a nutrient solution for 5 points with the label "tastes average, satisfies one day's energy needs," and even a change of clothes for 20 points, which looked like a simple tracksuit in the image.
Bai Ci did some quick mental math. The next instance would open in about three days. To face it in optimal condition, her 20 points would barely cover her basic daily needs—namely, three nutrient solutions.
Recalling the line in the letter stating that a player would die if their points dropped to zero, Bai Ci decided to finish looking through all the sections of the panel first. Once she had a better understanding, she would carefully plan how to use her limited points.
Following the order, Bai Ci looked at Space Construction next. The prices of the various furniture pieces inside made her gasp. Even the cheapest small stool started at 20 points, not to mention the most basic 10-square-meter space expansion item, which cost 100 points. Adding an independent storage room required 500 points. To her, with only 20 points, these were complete astronomical figures.
Having a sudden brainwave, Bai Ci stood up and looked back at the chair she had been sitting on. However, she only received a prompt stating that items in the initial furniture pack could not be sold or maliciously damaged.
The game system certainly knew how to guard against players.
Needless to say, the remaining Attribute Enhancement items in the shop were even more out of reach. Just looking at the category name was enough to tell how premium they were; a temporary +1 Constitution card cost 80 points. Bai Ci didn't even dare to look at them for too long.
After browsing around, Bai Ci deeply felt like a poor person who couldn't even afford food. She sighed, exited the Shop interface, and felt an even stronger sense of urgency in her heart.
Twenty points was simply too meager in this world. She had to obtain a higher evaluation in the next instance; otherwise, letting alone returning to reality, it would be hard to say if she could even survive the next crisis.
When she closed the Shop, Bai Ci felt a bit heavy-hearted, but she quickly cheered herself up. No matter how expensive the items in the shop were, they at least gave her a clear direction to strive for. Finally, she opened the Forum. This was the module she needed most right now. After all, being alone in this world, information was the most valuable resource.
The moment the Forum loaded, a prompt box popped up on the light screen: [System has detected that this is the player's first time logging into the Forum. Please set a unique nickname. Nicknames are only used for Forum interaction and cannot be modified. Please set yours carefully.]
Below it was an input box and a random generation button.
Bai Ci stared at the input box, feeling conflicted. The nicknames she used to use in games either contained the word "Ci" or were artistic short phrases, which could easily expose her personal habits. In her current situation, it was better to keep a low profile—the fewer personal characteristics, the better.
After pondering for a long time without coming up with anything suitable, she simply clicked the random generation button.
A line of text immediately popped up in the input box—"Jinxed 24 Exes to Death."
Bai Ci was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter. What on earth was this? Even if she counted her "ex-husband" Lin as one, did that mean there were twenty-three more? If so, wasn't her fate so robust that she could chop down trees with her bare hands?
Despite her internal complaints, she looked at this completely non-indicative nickname and felt it was actually more suitable than any name she could have come up with herself. The moment she clicked to confirm, the main Forum interface fully expanded.
At the top of the Forum was a search bar, and below it were three major sections: General Discussion, Item Trading, and Team Recruitment.
After a moment of thought, Bai Ci directly entered "newbie" into the search bar and attempted to search.
After clicking search, over a hundred results popped up. Ranked at the very top was a pinned and highlighted post with an exceptionally eye-catching title: 【Strategy Guide】 Must-Read for Newbies! From Entry to Survival, Taking You Through the Rules of "Anomalous Infection" 【Constantly Updated】.
The poster's ID was "Slack Off Forever," and the latest reply was from just a moment ago. With over ten thousand replies already, it looked very reliable, so she immediately clicked in.
The post's featured image was black text on a white background: "Thanks to all the exploration-type players for their selfless contributions. This guide is not an official rulebook and is for newbie reference only to avoid pitfalls—after all, we were all once lost newbies ourselves."
Rate on N.U.
