Time had halted for everybody, but Wei Huo did not know how long the time halt would last. It could be days, months, years, or even decades. Who knew if it might even be halted till the day he dies?
'If that was really the case, what should I do?'
There were supermarkets, restaurants, and a variety of food in the service area. However, the food's shelf-life could only last him for a short time. He needed to go hunting, and grow his own vegetables for self-sustainability.
Wei Huo took out his phone and realized that there was still a network connection. All thanks to the highly-developed technology in this era, machines could still work by themselves even though time had halted. He was provided electricity, water, and an internet connection for the time being, but what if these machines broke down?
Wei Huo needed to be self-sufficient. The first thing that came to his mind was to head back home. Although there was still about 200 kilometers from his home, he could drive someone's car since time had been halted. Right then, the cruel reality hit him again.
First of all, he could not open the doors of occupied vehicles. Secondly, vehicles on the highways stayed stock-still. Needless to say, God would not have made such a howler. A chain collision would have happened if time was halted for humans but not their vehicles.
It did not matter if it were vehicles, rooms, toilets, or offices in the service area. As long as there were people present, the doors could not be opened. That ought to be God's protection for humans who had their time halted. Otherwise, being surrounded by carnivorous plants and creepy creatures would have been too difficult for humans to escape when time started flowing again.
The fact that he would not be able to open his house door made him changed his mind. He could only search for supplies at shops that were currently opened. At the same time, he should look up for information and knowledge regarding farming, equipment maintenance, and other survival skills on the Internet.
He hastily took out his phone and started downloading that information. He was not sure when the Internet connection or electricity would be cut off. It was safer for him to download the information and record it in his book. After all, he had zero knowledge regarding farming.
Farming was not just about digging a hole, planting a seed and watering the plants. Now that the environment had become much more complicated and abominable, mutation of vegetations and animals had been accelerated. Moreover, he still had to keep an eye on pests, weeds, and also the weather… It was just too hard!
Wei Huo suddenly felt that it was too hard for him to survive. Even if all the human beings united, many would have still died during the earth's gamification. It was just too difficult for him to survive on his own!
Wei Huo crumbled. After feeling dispirited for about three hours, he pulled himself together. Come to think of it, did it not mean that he basically owned the whole world since time was halted for all humanity?
That meant he could do anything he wanted. 'If I could stay alive.' He would skip school, work, and do not need to earn any money. 'If I could stay alive.' He could drive all the luxurious cars he wanted and lived in any mansion he liked. 'If I could stay alive.'
Wei Huo was speechless. "…"
What was wrong with this dual personality internal monologue of his? It did not have to keep emphasizing the 'If I could stay alive' phrase!
It was right however, the premise was that he had to stay alive. Wei Huo was clueless about how long the time halt would last. If it was just a short while, he could survive with all those packaged food. What happened if time halted for a long time? He should at least be able to stay alive until the end of his lifespan, right?
Fear stemmed from his heart. He was left all alone in this world with nobody else to socialize with. Even worse than that was he had to confront all sorts of crises by himself. Who would not be afraid of such a situation? There was still a glimmer of hope in his heart. All humanity would return to normal as long as timestream recovered. He just needed to wait for that day to come. Yes, just wait.
Just when Wei Huo finally regained his confidence, the voice of God appeared again.
"Vegetation growth and animal reproduction accelerated by 10 times.
"New menu 'Vegetation and Animal Attributes' added.
"Humanity's immunity and digestive ability strengthened.
"Quest System implemented."
Wei Huo was stupefied from hearing all those voices. At that moment, another voice spoke next to his ears.
"New quest, 'Food and Security'. The Player is required to craft a wooden bow and 10 wooden arrows. A hunting knife will be rewarded once the quest is completed.
"Quest hint. If the Player does not know how to craft bow and arrow, please consult someone who knows."
Wei Huo was speechless. "…"
'Consult your big d*mn head! Where should I even find a person who knows how to craft bows and arrows?'
Wei Huo thought things were going to turn around, only to discover he was left helpless. What a scam!
On second thoughts, Wei Huo realized that instead of consulting an actual person, he could just look it up on the Internet with his mobile phone!
Indeed, Wei Huo found tonnes of information ranging from videos to images of bow and arrow crafting methods as soon as he turned on his mobile phone. However, online shopping was not possible. In fact, at this moment he could never purchase it online. He could only learn how to craft them from the tutorial videos.
There was still plenty of time. Wei Huo could survive with packaged food he got from the service area's supermarket for at least a year. He could now take his time learning how to craft bows and arrows. He soon found a video of some young European guy crafting primitive bow and arrow. That guy had not used any modern tools when crafting. His knife was made from polished river stone, his axe by binding a piece of wood to that river stone. That was a revelation to Wei Huo.
Imitating that guy in the video, Wei Huo grabbed a fire axe and hiked up the mountains.
Why make a stone axe from scratch when you have a fire axe? Wei Huo found the fire axe in a private car. Besides that, he also found some camping gadgets like a lighter, a tent, sleeping bags, and kerosene lamps in that car. It seemed like the owner of that car was a camping enthusiast.
Wei Huo acquired all of these gadgets at the expense of others. However, everybody else was protected by the golden radiance when time halted. Wei Huo was the only one forced to survive alone. It would not be excessive to borrow some stuff from others, right?
Wei Huo did not gain much on the first day although he was already up in the mountains. He still could not distinguish which wood was better for crafting bow and arrow. However, it was fine since he still had time. Surprisingly the next day when he continued hiking up the mountains, wild grass grew much taller on the second day in comparison to the first day!
Vegetation growth had indeed been accelerated!
Wei Huo was unsure whether that was considered good news or bad news. It would be good if he started growing his crops as they would have matured faster, but that meant the city would soon be covered by countless vegetation invaders. He would be eliminated if he could not adapt to living in the wild!
Fortunately, on the third day, Wei Huo completed his quest and had successfully crafted a bow and 10 arrows. At the same time, an exquisite Damascus hunting knife was added into Wei Huo's inventory.