"Help me! Who knows what's going on? Why have I been locked into this underground cave?"
"Oh, f*ck! Have we been toyed with by a deity?"
"Hng, hng, hng, I am about to starve to death. Can someone save me?"
"We have to settle down since we're already here. I advise all of you to accept reality. We'll have to persevere and live on no matter how fantasy-like this world appears to be. Do your best!"
"It's over. I encountered monsters when I was digging. They are eating my thigh…"
Most of the people posting the messages had lost all their reason. They were blindly begging for help. Some were even actively seeking death.
Xia Chengfeng skipped past these messages.
He sympathized with these people. They had suddenly been thrown into this merciless world. However, sympathy wasn't going to change anything. Ensuring his survival was the most important thing.
There were also a few calm people in the forum. They had accepted this as reality and were starting to explore the crypt world.
Some of them were seeking survival knowledge. "I have chosen the Warrior Soul and noticed that my strength has increased. I encountered a beetle and managed to kill it with one punch. However, I do not know how to make a fire. Please tell me, how do I make a fire?"
"I have a pool of murky water here. How do I purify it?"
"How long can I last on my own?"
Xia Chengfeng also came across a familiar name. It was a post by the CEO of the company, Wu Rui, "I am Wu Rui from the Tianxun Company. Are there any employees of Tianxun around? We could think of a way to survive together."
Someone replied to this thread.
Wang Dahai replied, "Chairman Wu, I am Wang Dahai from the design department. To think that you are also here."
Sound of Waves replied, "I am Chen Tao from the Tianxun marketing department."
"I am from operations."
"I am the receptionist."
...…
More than 60 people had left comments in a short time.
Wu Rui posted once again. "Don't get flustered, all of you. It looks like there is a pattern to the sectors of the crypt world. The employees at our annual meeting should all be within this sector.
"Since we have all entered such a dangerous situation, why don't all of us join forces? I'll set up a personal forum group and add all of you in. We can think of a way out of this together. Let's work hard!"
Wang Dahai replied, "I support you, Chairman Wu!"
"Support!"
"Yes, let's join forces. Our chances of survival will increase."
Xia Chengfeng did not reply when he saw all these messages. They were already in a foreign world. Who cared about who was the chairman? What did those titles count for here?
Furthermore, knowing how much of a capitalist Wu Rui was, he would definitely be having the other players harvest resources for himself while convincing them that it was for the greater good.
Xia Chengfeng did not find any useful information on this forum. So he entered the trading board of area 2222.
System notification: "You can post trading information or purchase goods that other players are willing to trade on the trading channel. The items will be automatically sent to your space bubble.
"The contents of the trade will be determined by both players."
Xia Chengfeng glanced through the board. Many players had already posted there:
"Ten units of soil. It's best if I can exchange it for some food. I'll take it as long as it's edible."
"Three blocks of wood. It can be used as a club or fuel for a fire. I need water."
"One rusted runic treasure chest. It can't be opened without a key. I'm asking for food or a rusted runic key."
"Runic treasure chest..." Xia Chengfeng's eyes glimmered. Runic treasure chests were a rare resource in the crypt world. There were often valuable items in the chests.
However, a runic treasure chest could only be opened with its corresponding runic key. The runic treasure chest would self-destruct if a player tried to destroy it with violence. Everything inside the chest would also be destroyed.
Runic treasure chests could only be obtained by luck and a player would not trade them under normal circumstances. However, in the early stages of the game, a player would trade anything to ensure his survival.
Xia Chengfeng even saw someone auctioning themselves. They were willing to become another person's slave if that person bought them with food. This way, they would become a transacted object and be sent to the other party's space bubble.
The rules of the previous world were crumbling.
Xia Chengfeng immediately sent the party with the runic treasure chest a private message. The other player was a male user with the username "Little Zuanfeng".
Breeze: "@Little Zuanfeng, Are you there? Three berries for your runic treasure chest (Picture attached)."
The other party replied immediately, "??? Isn't that too little? Your three berries won't even last me a meal. Even though I have not opened this runic treasure chest, the items inside are definitely more valuable than your berries! Ten berries at least!"
Actually, Xia Chengfeng would have had the better end of the deal even if he had had to exchange 100 berries for the rusted runic treasure chest. However, this was the initial stages of the crypt world, and there was a severe lack of resources. The prices of goods were unstable. An object's value stemmed from its rarity. Currently, food and water were what everyone needed the most.
Breeze: "You can't even open your runic treasure chest. It's no different from scrap metal. My berries can preserve your life. They are rich in sugars and water. Three berries can last you a day."
Little Zuanfeng was still unsatisfied. He said, "At least eight."
He knew that the other party must have quite a number of berries since he was willing to make a transaction using food.
Breeze: "Five, my final offer. I don't have any more."
Little Zuanfeng thought for a moment. Even though he knew that his runic treasure chest was definitely more valuable than the berries, he had no choice but to trade it as he had to fill his stomach. Survival was most important.
He replied, "All right, five. Get into the transaction window."
After both players had placed their items in the transaction window and confirmed that there were no mistakes with the trade information, they tapped on the option to trade.
Five of Xia Chengfeng's cranberries disappeared. A rusted runic treasure chest appeared in his space bubble.
The chest was made out of metal and had sealing runes carved on its surface.
Unfortunately, Xia Chengfeng did not have a runic key. Otherwise, he would have immediately opened it to have a look.
He carefully scoured the trading channel. There was no one selling a runic key at the moment.
He made a trading post, writing, "Purchasing runic keys, various runic treasure chests, and blueprints. Trading for them with food. Send me a private message if you are interested."
Xia Chengfeng was not worried that he would not have enough food for the trades. The probability of discovering rare items in a channel with 3,000 people was not large.
Furthermore, he still had stamina. He could continue digging for resources.
Many people sent him private messages the moment he published his post.
"Boss, please do a good deed. I am about to starve to death. I am a student. Please give me your food."
"I have a pile of bones. Can I exchange them for berries? (Picture attached)."
"You sure are impressive. How did you find food? Can you teach me?"
"I dug out a piece of refined steel ore. Can I exchange it for food?"
"@Breeze I have spring water. Can I trade it for your food?"
...…
Many of the messages were simply begging him for food. Xia Chengfeng chose to ignore them. The death rate of new players was not high in the crypt world.
If they had chosen normal magic souls like Warrior, Knight, or Wizard, they should be able to deal with any dangers they encountered.
Furthermore, there would definitely be food and water in the nearby crypts. These people were still starving because they were lazy or afraid to dig outward.
There was no one with runic keys or treasure chests. Xia Chengfeng scrolled through his options and traded three cranberries for a refined steel ore.
He also wanted to trade for some spring water. Even though he would not die of thirst with the berries, just the berries alone would not be able to meet his daily requirement for water.
Xia Chengfeng contacted the person offering spring water for trade and realized that the other party was not using a nickname. The interface displayed her name as "Bai Yuwei".
"That female singer is also in area 2222?" Xia Chengfeng seemed to have reached an understanding. The people in the same sector would most probably have been within the same vicinity of each other when they got dragged into this world.
Since that was the case, the people from the company should also be here. Other than them, there should also be people from the other companies in the same building.
If that was truly the case, perhaps many small teams could soon be formed in area 2222. They would be a collective based on their previous companies.