In a dim and damp room, the thatched roof had been partially swept away by the wind, and raindrops dripped through the gaps onto the earthen floor.

The dilapidated thatched house was utterly unable to withstand the cold wind, sending shivers down Athena's spine even though she was wearing winter pajamas.

The hard wooden bed, devoid of any mattress, made her restless.

As she reached out to grab nonexistent blankets, her hand found emptiness instead. She jolted awake, staring at the bare walls of the thatched hut.

Water had begun to pool in some places on the floor, and rainwater continued to trickle down from above. Outside, it was pouring rain, while a lesser drizzle persisted inside.

She pinched herself hard.

"Hiss."

She involuntarily drew in a breath of cold air.

It hurt, it hurt too much. But what scared her more than the pain was the realization that she wasn't dreaming.

This was her reality; she had been kidnapped!

She didn't know which criminal gang had abducted her and brought her to this desolate place.

She didn't know if she was to be maimed and forced to beg or sold off to someone else.

Thinking about her somewhat attractive face, she felt her heart race with fear.

But what kind of gang could brazenly break into a home and take someone away?

She couldn't dwell on that thought.

She got out of bed directly, her bare feet landing on the yellow earth.

The space inside the thatched hut was extremely cramped, and someone couldn't hide inside without her noticing, so the kidnappers were likely outside.

She tiptoed to the door and quietly pushed it open a crack to peer outside, but she saw no kidnappers, only a deep darkness where nothing was visible.

In the instant she opened the door slightly, a huge figure came rushing toward her. Its eyes glowed brightly in the darkness, emitting a beastly roar.

Athena was so frightened that she quickly shut the door.

She had thought the door would be broken down, but to her surprise, the monster only lingered outside, emitting loud snorts as it circled.

[ Ding!]

[Welcome to the tower defense survival game!]

[Congratulations, you have successfully triggered the shelter defense function! The game officially begins. Please click the button below to learn more about the game.]

[Learn More <]

Athena felt a wave of relief as she hesitated, looking at the floating system panel in front of her.

There was a blood-red start button on it. Thinking about the monster lurking outside, she finally decided to press it.

The words on the system panel changed into an instruction manual.

[This is a real tower defense game.

Players need to rely on their efforts to build various defense facilities to defend against monster attacks at regular intervals.

When darkness falls, the number of monsters outside doubles! Light can repel monsters within a certain range! The shelter can resist monsters of different levels depending on its level.]

[Daytime will become a safe zone. Players are encouraged to explore on their own (Countdown: 7 days)

(!) Please note, daytime is not absolutely safe!

Wish you a pleasant gaming experience!]

Athena returned to the edge of the bed, sitting there blankly, lost in thought.

She hadn't been kidnapped; she had crossed over.

But the system kept ringing incessantly, prompting her to open the system panel again. A new panel appeared, displaying various functions commonly seen in gaming.

[Attribute Panel

Friends

Store

Mailbox

Regional Chat Channel (!)

Events]

The one constantly flashing with a red dot and emitting a notification sound was the Regional Chat Channel.

She clicked on it.

A long string of messages scrolled rapidly before her eyes.

[--Help! I just stepped out of the house and was chased by a bear. I'm hiding behind a tree now, it's about to find me!

--You're done for, buddy.

--Does the system mean we'll be attacked if we go out at night, but it's safe to explore during the day?

--Good point.

--Good point.

--If we die here, will we really die?

--Good question. Stop asking, why don't you try it yourself next time?

--I noticed there's a number displayed in the upper left corner, we have 10,000 people in our area! And it seems there are other areas too. How many people are there in total?!]

When Athena saw this message, she looked at the upper left corner of the chat panel, where indeed a remaining number was displayed, but it wasn't 10,000 anymore, it was over 9,800.

Over a hundred people had died in just a short ten minutes.

Calming herself, she scrolled through the chat messages again.

She successfully found a nearby function and turned off the notification sound.

Then she clicked on the chat channel of another area, and a pop-up appeared.

[Other regional chat channels are not open.]

How many regions are there in total? How many people have entered the game, no one knows.

Returning to the interface, continuing to browse through the chat messages. Soon, another useful piece of information caught her eye.

"Don't waste chat opportunities, you can only send twelve messages a day..."

She wasn't planning to send any messages now, intending to wait until tomorrow to explore before sending any.

After browsing for a while and confirming that there was no useful information, she left the chat channel and opened her profile panel.

[Attribute Panel

Name: Athena Ravencroft

Race: Human

Gender: Female

Strength: 1

Speed: 1.6

Agility: 1.8

Mental: 2]

Similar to the chat interface, but her mental power and agility are obviously higher than average. And she has a big gift package in her mailbox, which others don't have, maybe they concealed it.

She clicked on it, but there was nothing inside. But a string of purple text appeared on her system panel.

[Danger and benefits go hand in hand, the rain and monsters have left.

Now go out and pick up the package 50 meters in front of the thatched cottage to get survival supplies!Survival probability80%]

Athena looked at the inexplicably appearing purple text but did not choose to decide rashly, after all, it was still night.

She remembered what the system said before, that light can to some extent ward off monsters.

She picked up the candle next to her for illumination. 50 meters, with a speed of 1.6, it's worth a try, after all, in this ghostly place, people who choose comfort cannot survive until the end.

No one knows if that package will disappear, without food, water, or even heating equipment.

If she doesn't strive for it, the consequences can be imagined.

She opened the dilapidated wooden door again, holding the candle in her hand. The darkness, which was originally invisible, seemed to have a life of its own, slowly retreating in the candlelight. Athena frowned, this darkness actually seemed alive, fortunately, she didn't rush out.

She estimated and slowly walked forward, ready to rush back inside at any time. The surroundings were all muddy because it had been raining all the time, and walking on the soil gave a sticky feeling. She was sleeping when she came over, so she couldn't possibly be wearing shoes. She could only walk barefoot, which made her feel even more uncomfortable.

Next to it were some weeds, all very common on Earth. It gave her an idea, but the main task now was to get the package. Until she saw a white package lying on the soil in front of her.

Grabbing the package, she quickly rushed back.

Back at the thatched cottage, she closed the door and leaned against it, calming her heartbeat.

"Hahaha." Amid her rapid heartbeat, she couldn't help but laugh.

[Congratulations! You are one of the first one hundred to obtain the package, an extra bottle of water, please sign for it in the mailbox.]

[Package levels are white, green, silver, and gold.]

[White package: contains a bottle of mineral water and two compressed biscuits.]

Opening the package, it was as the purple text said, containing a bottle of water and two compressed biscuits. The biscuits were military-grade and should last for a day or two. She was lucky to get food.

At least now she didn't have to worry about starving to death.

The first one hundred? This means that fewer than a hundred people have opened the package now, and even if they did, it might not be food.

Thinking about the number of deaths, some people may have gone out before this and never came back alive.

Having the package but no use for it. Clicking on the system mailbox, there was a bottle of mineral water, which appeared in her hand after receiving it.

She could now confirm that the purple text was special for giving her crucial information, maybe it was only for her? Who knows.

It would be her greatest reliance for survival in this world.

She was very concerned about the countdown, which was likely a newbie protection period of seven days.

After seven days, it was very likely that even the daytime would no longer be safe.

Even so, the current daytime was not absolutely safe.

[A green package will refresh 360 meters to the right, pick it up!Survival probability50%]

Athena looked at the refreshed text but chose not to go out. She wanted to collect supplies as soon as possible, but life was more valuable.

If it were a golden package, then she might reconsider.

Putting the candle back on the wooden table, she lay back on the hard bed, now was not the time to be picky.

She rested as much as possible, saving enough energy for tomorrow's exploration during the daytime.

She curled up in bed, resting her head on her hand.

The tension in her mind, now finally relaxed. Perhaps she was too tired; she fell asleep faster than she had imagined.

The chat interface, however, didn't stop all night, many people couldn't sleep. They could only keep browsing through the chat messages, soothing their unstable emotions.

Anyway, the night passed, and as the sun gradually rose, all the darkness faded away.

Athena successfully woke up, raising her hand to look at the watch on her wrist, it was now 5:40 in the morning.

But outside it already looked like noon.

[A bit of time left until daytime, players please prepare!]

[20 minutes later, daytime arrives, a white package will refresh 800 meters to the southeast.]

It seemed that yesterday's green package had disappeared, but she didn't regret it. To ensure her safety, yesterday Athena chose not to blow out the candle but let it burn until dawn. This candle was different from the normal ones on Earth; after a whole night, it only burned about 1/7 of its volume.

This was reminded by the purple text yesterday.

[Bright Candle: can burn for 7 days]

There's only a newbie protection period of 7 days in total, and the candle can only burn for 7 days as well. But this was also welfare because as long as it was used sparingly, its burning time was definitely more than 7 days.

The mud on her feet had dried up, she reached down and scraped off a chunk of dried mud.

With 20 minutes left, standing on the bed, she cheerfully performed warm-up exercises.

[Daytime has come, please start exploring the world!]