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**Chapter One: Apocalypse Survival Game**
**[Welcome to the Apocalypse Survival Game. As you can see, you have arrived in a strange place.]**
**[Survival is your only goal. To maximize your chances of survival, please keep the following points in mind:]**
**[1. Disasters refresh periodically. All survivors will receive a warning seven days before a refresh.]**
**[2. Do not casually place your safe house. Finding a suitable location will increase your chances of survival significantly.]**
**[3. Danger and opportunity coexist. The wilderness may contain survival supplies, but also hazardous mutated creatures. Defeating mutated creatures can bring surprises.]**
**[4. Search for survival supplies as much as possible. This is your surefire strategy to stay alive.]**
**[5. Once you place your safe house, it cannot be moved. You will have the choice to place it above or below ground at the time of initial placement.]**
**[6. If you accidentally encounter fellow survivors, congratulations! You may form alliances, trade, or, alternatively, plunder each other's hard-earned supplies.]**
**[7. Focusing your attention will open the game panel; more features await your exploration.]**
**[8. There's no need to worry about the elderly and children; their appearance will be delayed compared to yours, and relatives will be prioritized during placement. Happy gaming to everyone!]**
An endless wasteland stretched out before him.
Somo frowned as he looked at the survival manual in his hands.
The small black text on the first page floated before him. When he flipped to the second page, a blinding light suddenly erupted.
When the light faded, the book was gone, replaced by a glowing turtle shell.
"An apocalypse survival game, huh?"
Watching the blue screen in front of him wobble with his gaze, Somo quickly accepted the reality.
On December 22, 2022, no one expected that the prophecy of the Maya would arrive suddenly, ten years late.
Solar flares erupted, and an asteroid struck the Earth. Just as the fiery flames rained down, Somo fainted.
When he awoke, he found himself in this place.
**[Safe House]:**
1. Placing it above ground will form a 120 square meter wooden house with a weak disaster resistance but high development potential.
2. Placing it underground will create a 100 square meter pit with a height of 4 meters, weak disaster resistance, and poor development potential.
As Somo carefully examined the turtle shell in his hand, two lines of small black text appeared.
Looking at the surrounding wasteland and dismissing the idea of placing it immediately, Somo recalled the previous hints and concentrated to summon the game panel.
The panel contained various options: **[Chat]**, **[Trade]**, **[Craft]**, **[Items]**...
In the upper right corner of the panel, there was an icon showing the number of days.
**5 days.**
As Somo focused on the day count, a line of prompts popped up.
**[Countdown to the next disaster event: 5 days]**
**[Disaster Event (Newbie Protection): Acid Rain]**
"Five days until acid rain comes? It's a good thing I didn't choose to place the base right away."
Somo's expression turned serious as he shifted his gaze to the chat button.
The page changed.
Two new buttons appeared: **World Channel** and **Region Channel**.
He entered the World Channel first.
"I'm in a shelter, aren't I? How did I suddenly end up in this cursed place?"
"There's a lion next to me! Help! It's eyeing me!"
"The end of humanity has arrived, haha, everyone will die!"
"Do you all only have one place to set up your safe house?"
Messages scrolled past. Somo noticed a small speaker icon next to the speaking button, followed by the number 1.
**[Speaker: In the game's early stages, you can only post one message per day in the World Channel. After surviving a disaster, +1 speaking opportunity per day. For more chat, enter the Region Channel.]**
"Is this restricting players from teaming up? Or is it limiting national power?"
Somo diverted his gaze.
Based on the current information, it was evident that everyone was trapped in the wilderness, starting without any differences—everyone began with a safe house.
"One message a day means that even if the national machine were here, it wouldn't be able to gather enough people to develop in this environment. Besides, who knows how vast this place is?"
Somo exited the World Channel.
He then took a quick look at the Region Channel.
It was similar to a QQ chat group, with 1000 members displayed.
All the avatars in the chat group were real photos, with nicknames showing name + height combinations.
"Is there really only this wilderness terrain? Is there a water source nearby? I'm dying of thirst!"
"Don't place your safe house underground! Damn it, it's a grave down there—no light, no ventilation, no drainage. If acid rain comes, being inside just equals death!"
"Everyone, don't give up! Open the crafting panel; MC players will be ecstatic—prioritize placing your safe house on high ground!"
"No one has even placed near a water source? That's ridiculous!"
After silently observing for a few minutes and gathering some useful information, Somo chose to exit.
The first wave of the survival game eliminated the elderly and children, leaving mostly young adults. Excluding one or two who had never faced setbacks before, most quickly reacted and began their self-rescue.
However, there were still some reckless individuals who curiously placed their safe houses, leaving them stuck in place.
Next, Somo checked the trading feature.
The trading platform allowed players to exchange items.
The trading rules were fair and free, and items could also be designated for specific players.
There was also an auction feature in the trading function.
No broker fees were charged.
"Open the crafting panel."
Somo looked at another function.
Whoosh!
It was a whole page of items.
**[Plank: Wood 0/1]**
**[Wooden Box: Wood 0/4]**
**[Charcoal: Wood 0/1, Fire Source]**
**[Regular Shovel: Wood 0/2, Iron Block 0/2]**
...
There were dozens of basic supplies, each requiring different materials for crafting.
Clearly, gathering and producing materials was essential in the survival game.
Turning his attention to the last function—Items. As the turtle shell used for the safe house entered the item column, Somo had roughly familiarized himself with the game's basic functions.
"I need to quickly decide where to place the safe house."
Looking up at the sun that was directly overhead, Somo's heart tightened, and he quickly scanned his surroundings.
In the vast plain, there were unknown trees half his height, with some weeds on the ground, making it appear less desolate.
In the area visible to him, there wasn't a trace of rivers or lakes.
"I can only choose to place it on high ground."
Following the direction from his spawn point, he occasionally knelt to examine the terrain's undulations.
Eventually, Somo selected a small sand dune.
Taking out the safe house turtle shell, the options appeared again: above ground or underground.
The first choice was the above-ground wooden house; this option seemed to be a fairly balanced choice, as it would allow him to comfortably endure the early-stage newbie disaster while also not worrying too much about future development.
As long as he could continue expanding on the land next to the safe house, it was possible that it might eventually form a city.
The second choice was underground; choosing this option would have innate safety advantages. For example, during beast waves or cold disasters, it would naturally provide some protection. The disasters that were extremely difficult above ground might be easily avoided underground.
However, before the first disaster of acid rain arrived, if there weren't enough drainage facilities made underground, it could turn into a disaster.
Somo thought for a while.
If the first option's keyword was development potential, then the second option's keyword was safety.
In most circumstances, in this apocalyptic world, what mattered was swift steps—once you settled, the subsequent disasters would leave little time for development.
"Acid rain... high ground... development potential is extremely important..." "So, I choose..."
Somo shook his head as he toyed with the turtle shell in his hand, and without hesitation, he chose the second option.
**[You have selected to generate an underground shelter. Generating terrain...]**
The turtle shell burst with red light and jumped out of his hand, landing on the ground.
As the light intensified, the stones on the original sand dune slowly melted away, replaced by a dramatic change in terrain.
What was once a slightly elevated area turned steep, as if a small mound had risen.
As the red light gradually faded, a wooden door embedded in the ground appeared before Somo.
**[Congratulations, the underground shelter has been successfully generated. You can view the current attributes of the shelter in the panel.]**
**"Ding! Host detected with a complete shelter. Would you like to bind the Apocalypse Survival System?"**
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