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Chapter 1 Kicked Out of the Chaney Family Genevieve Chaney was suddenly told that she wasn't her parents' biological child. "You should leave. We've found our real daughter now." A bitter sigh escaped Genevieve's lips. Since her childhood, her parents, who now turned out to be her foster parents, had been abusive, her foster mother in particular. Had she not been raised in this place since infancy, she might have questioned her parentage sooner. It all started when Alora Chaney appeared at their doorstep a few days ago. The girl burst into tears, insisting she was the Chaneys' true daughter. The Chaneys didn't believe her, so Alora dragged her father Samuel Chaney to the hospital for a paternity test. The results confirmed her claim: Alora was indeed his daughter, while Genevieve wasn't. Strangely, this brought relief. Finally, Genevieve could escape their torment. "I'm leaving now. Save your breath," Genevieve said coldly, catching the Chaneys off guard. "Genevieve, you can leave, but don't take anything valuable from the house," Samuel immediately warned, suspicious of her sudden compliance. "I won't take a single thing." She didn't even pack her belongings. "Wait!" Alora approached Genevieve and handed her a black trash bag. "Here. Take this 'gift' to the Trevinos. Maybe they'll need it." Genevieve looked at the black bag, from which the stench of rotting food seeped through. "You've gone too far!" Genevieve clenched her fists in anger, throwing the trash at Alora's face. "I think you need it more!" Alora's dramatic wails echoed behind her. Genevieve left without looking back. Just then, a black Mercedes-Benz pulled up in front of her. "Ms. Chaney, get in," said the Chaney family's chauffeur Gerardo. "Gerardo? I don't remember the Chaneys sent you." "It's my own decision. It's a long way to the city. You'll be worn out if you walk all the way there." Gerardo was one of the few people in the Chaney's house who had been kind to her. Even he had spent more time with her than Samuel ever had. After a moment of hesitation, Genevieve opened the car door and got in. The car drove out of the villa area and stopped at a bus station. "This is as far as I can take you, Ms. Chaney," Gerardo said, his tone a bit sad. He then pulled an envelope from his bag, adding, "Ms. Chaney, here's 8,000 dollars. It's not much, but we hope this will help somehow..." That "we" probably referred to Gerardo himself, along with Felipe the butler, and Emma the maid. Although they worked for the Chaney family, Samuel was quite stingy and didn't pay the servants much. This sum of money must have taken them a while to save up. Genevieve gazed at the envelope, feeling touched. A while later, she pushed it back to him. "No, Gerardo, you keep it. Thanks for the ride." She stepped out, watching the Mercedes disappear before making a phone call. "Pick me up at Cedar Avenue bus stop." After a short while, a black Rolls-Royce pulled up to the bus stop. A man in a grey suit got out of the car and greeted her, "Genny." Ignoring the shocked stares around them, Genevieve expressionlessly nodded and entered the vehicle. "Genny, did the Chaneys actually kick you out?" asked Raymond Caldwell, her right-hand man. Raymond knew about the baby mix-up between the Chaneys and Trevinos. But he never expected the Chaneys to actually kick Genevieve out. Genevieve didn't respond. Instead, she picked up a tablet and began scrolling. "If I recall correctly, Zenith Group has been secretly supporting the Chaney family, hasn't it?" "Yes. Around a dozen projects of varying scales over five years." "From today onward, cut them off. Blacklist the Chaney family and notify all our partners that anyone who dares to work with them from now on will be opposing Zenith Group." Raymond stiffened. "Genny, are you planning to ... destroy the Chaneys?" "I was the one who lifted them up. Of course, I'd tear them down myself." Genevieve closed the tablet and handed it to Raymond. "But Zenith Group currently has one ongoing collaboration with the Chaneys. Should we terminate that as well?" "How big is the scale?" "Not huge. Just a small one worth over three million dollars." "We can afford the loss. Just terminate it." Raymond nodded and immediately began executing the orders on the tablet. "Genny, there's one more thing." He pulled out his phone and sent a few screenshots to Genevieve. She studied the images, her fingers tapping lightly against the desk. "Tell the Compton Group I'll take this deal, but the price needs to go up by 30%." Raymond nodded, preparing to respond to the Compton Group. Genevieve looked out the window, her thoughts in disarray. "Let's go to Serein Estates. I want to visit the Trevino family." Serein Estates was a low-end, run-down neighborhood in Isondale. According to Alora, all five members of the Trevino family lived in an apartment of less than ninety square meters. Built ten years ago, the complex had no property management. The peeling walls, weed-choked greenbelts, and uneven concrete paths put Raymond off somehow. "Genny, are you sure the Trevino family actually lives here?" With her status, Genevieve shouldn't live in such a shabby neighborhood. "If Alora wasn't lying, this should be the place." "Genny, now that you're reconnecting with the Trevinos, why not just buy them a proper house? This place is..." "I've never actually met the Trevinos. I don't know their temperaments or personalities..." Raymond understood. She feared the Trevinos might be money-grubbing social climbers like Alora. "Alright, you can head back now. I'll go in alone. I'll contact you if I need anything." Genevieve opened the car door and walked toward Serein Estates. Meanwhile, inside the Trevino's place, her parents were sitting nervously in their tiny living room. "Dylan, are we really doing this? What if Genny isn't like Alora?" Chapter 2 Not Letting Genny Take Anything Away Priscilla Beasley, Genevieve's mother, sat nervously on the couch, her eyes darting toward the door every now and then. "After what happened with Alora, I have to be cautious. But don't worry. If Genny truly isn't like Alora, we'll tell her the truth immediately," responded Dylan Trevino, Genevieve's father. He patted Priscilla's hand reassuringly, though he wasn't entirely certain himself. After dealing with someone as opportunistic as Alora, he figured it was better to be safe than sorry. "I know. I'm just afraid Genny will be furious when she finds out," Priscilla muttered. "She won't be. I'm sure she'll understand." Though Dylan tried to comfort Priscilla, he couldn't shake his own unease. "By the way, aren't our sons coming back today?" Priscilla frowned. It was Genny's homecoming, yet her three brothers were nowhere to be seen. "Malik and Liam had urgent business at the company and hospital. As for Marcus..." Dylan coughed awkwardly, hesitating. "Don't tell me he's at some film set again! He's always hanging around there. It's just inappropriate for his status!" Just the mention of Marcus set Priscilla off. He refused to take his duties at the company seriously, spending all his time on movie sets and barely coming home. "If it makes him happy, let him be. I already talked to him. He'll come back." Dylan's words soothed Priscilla slightly. The numbering on Serein Estates' buildings had long since faded. Genevieve had to ask several people before finally locating Unit 3 of Building 17 at the complex's far end. The aging neighborhood had no elevators, and the Trevino family lived on the top floor. Genevieve walked up the stairs in one go, arriving at unit 701. Though the door to 701 appeared worn, it was remarkably clean. A pristine doormat lay at the entrance, starkly contrasting with the dirty, disorganized floor outside unit 702 across the hall. "It seems the Trevino family values cleanliness." This was Genevieve's first impression of them. With no doorbell, Genevieve hesitated briefly before raising her hand to knock. "Is that Genny?" Priscilla stiffened, her previous irritation suddenly replaced with nervousness. "Relax. I'll get it." Dylan gave Priscilla's shoulder a reassuring pat and went to answer. "You are..." The woman at the door bore such a striking resemblance to Priscilla that Dylan instantly knew who she was. "Hello, I'm Genevieve, y-your daughter." Meeting Dylan for the first time, Genevieve couldn't hide her awkwardness. She considered offering a handshake but thought better of it. Meeting Dylan for the first time, Genevieve fidgeted with her empty hands. "I should've had Raymond prepare gifts," she thought ruefully. "Genny!" Dylan's face lit up. "Come in!" He chuckled at her awkwardness, stepping aside. Genevieve nodded and stepped inside. Out of habit, she gave the space a quick scan. The room was indeed small, but meticulously organized, crowded yet far from cluttered. Many items showed wear, but everything was spotless. Just as expected, the Trevino family really did prioritize cleanliness." "Genny..." a trembling voice sounded. Genevieve turned toward the voice. Genevieve looked over and saw a middle-aged woman in a white knit sweater and yellow long skirt standing clutching her hemline, looking at her with nervous eyes. This must be her biological mother. Genevieve's heartbeat quickened. She gave a small smile and called out, "Mom." "Yes!" Priscilla rushed forward and wrapped Genevieve in a tight embrace. "My Genny, my dear Genny... I've finally met you." Never having experienced familial affection, Genevieve was overwhelmed by Priscilla's warmth. Her eyes widened slightly. She raised her hands uncertainly before letting them drop. Hearing Priscilla's choked sobs, Genevieve sighed softly. She returned the embrace, gently rubbing Priscilla's back. "Mom, don't cry. I'm home now." "Alright, she just got back. Don't scare her," Dylan said, patting Priscilla's shoulder. Reluctantly, Priscilla released Genevieve. "Genny, I was just so excited... Did I frighten you?" Genevieve shook her head, letting Priscilla lead her to sit down while holding her hand. "Genny, how have you been all these years? Did the Chaney family treat you well?" "It was fine. The Chaneys treated me ... quite well." Seeing the Trevino family's modest circumstances, she decided against telling them the truth. The conflict with the Chaneys was her own burden to bear, no need to drag the Trevinos into it. Genevieve smiled faintly, offering nothing more. But Priscilla and Dylan noticed her faded denim skirt and canvas shoes, which spoke volumes. While not the wealthiest in Isondale, the Chaneys were still elite. They could certainly afford proper clothing. And Genny had arrived without even a single bag. The Chaneys, seeing she wasn't their blood, must have denied her even necessities. Their daughter had clearly suffered greatly under that family's roof. "Hmph! How dare the Chaneys mistreat our girl!" Dylan muttered to himself. He decided Malik should teach them a proper lesson. Genevieve, unaware of what Dylan and Priscilla were thinking, glanced around the living room. "Oh, where are my brothers?" She recalled that the Trevino family had three sons, none of whom seemed to be home at the moment. "Oh, your oldest brother Malik is busy socializing. Your second brother Liam is on a night shift at the hospital. And your third brother Marcus, that brat is always messing around on set, playing a corpse or something. Don't bother with him," Priscilla replied, rolling her eyes. Genevieve quickly figured out the occupations of the three brothers: company employee, doctor, and movie extra. The Trevino family wasn't seemingly doing too well financially, but so far, Dylan and Priscilla seemed like decent people. She wondered what the other three brothers were like. If the Trevino family were all good people, Genevieve wouldn't mind helping them out. After all, she was now their daughter, and it was normal to help her own family. "Genny, are you hungry? I'll cook for you," Priscilla asked, worried that Genevieve might be famished as it was getting late. "Sure, Mom, I'll help you," Genevieve replied, following Priscilla into the kitchen. Meanwhile, Dylan sent a message in the family group chat. Dylan: "Genny's back. Get home now!" Malik Trevino: "Okay." Liam Trevino: "I'll be home as soon as my surgery is over." Marcus Trevino: "Got it! On my way!" Dylan: "Don't forget to bring gifts for Genny. I'll kick out whoever comes back empty-handed!" Satisfied, Dylan put away his phone, grabbed an apron to tie on, and went into the kitchen to help. There came a knock on the door. "I'll get the door." Genevieve put down the potato in her hands, randomly wiping her wet hands on the apron. "You are?" She opened the door. The man outside the door wore a relatively cheap suit, holding a somewhat damaged briefcase and a gift bag. Seeing his resemblance to Dylan, Genevieve guessed that he was one of her three brothers, though she wasn't sure which one. The man looked at her coldly and handed her the gift. Chapter 3 That Woman Looks Like Genevieve "I'm your oldest brother, Malik, and you're Genevieve, right?" Malik asked, his tone quite cold. Genevieve took the gift, smiling as she replied, "Hi, Malik." Malik's attitude was really cold, but Genevieve didn't take it to heart. The sister who had grown up in the family for 22 years was a snob, while this biological sister was someone he wasn't familiar with. It was only natural that he felt indifferent toward her. "Malik, have some rest. I'll go help Mom with dinner first." While Genevieve assisted in the kitchen, Liam and Marcus arrived home. "Dinner's ready!" Genevieve placed the final dish on the table, beaming at the Trevino family. Never before had she shared meals like this with the Chaneys. The cozy atmosphere of family dining felt wonderful. "Genny, I didn't know your preferences, so I just made some simple dishes. Hope you like them." Priscilla served Genevieve some fish. Genevieve stared at the fish but hesitated to eat. Watching this, Malik felt scorn rising, thinking that she was a spoiled rich girl turning up her nose at home cooking. Just as Malik was about to speak, Genevieve gently pushed the fish aside. "Mom, I'm sorry... I'm allergic to fish." Everyone froze at this unexpected revelation. Priscilla's face flashed with embarrassment. "I'm so sorry, Genny! I didn't know about your allergy." "It's okay, Mom. I'll eat the other dishes." Genevieve served Priscilla some food, then herself. After the brief awkwardness, the atmosphere at the table actually improved slightly. After dinner, the Trevino men handled the cleanup while Priscilla took Genevieve's hand for a chat in the living room. "Dad, what do you think of Genevieve?" Malik asked, washing dishes. "Genny's a good kid, much better than Alora," Dylan was leaning against the kitchen doorway as he watched Priscilla and Genevieve with a contented smile. "Malik, you dislike Genevieve, right?" Liam had noticed Malik's odd demeanor during dinner. "Come on, Malik! Genny's not only pretty but she's also got a great personality. What's not to like?" Marcus nudged Malik while drying a plate. "I wouldn't say dislike. I just worry she might be like Alora." The Trevinos were self-made, raising their children with strict traditional values. None knew the family's true status before graduating college. They'd thought Alora would pass the test too until she started complaining about their modest lifestyle. Recently, after a head injury, she'd woken up insisting she wasn't a Trevino by blood. She'd even sneaked off to the Chaneys for a DNA test. Within an hour of the results, she'd discarded the Trevino name. "Genny's different from Alora," Liam said firmly, watching Genevieve through the doorway. His gut told him she wouldn't be like Alora. "We'll see." Malik rinsed a glass. "Her 22nd birthday's next month. If she proves trustworthy, we'll throw her a grand homecoming party." Unaware of the kitchen discussion, Priscilla chatted animatedly with Genevieve. "Genny, are you still in school?" "I graduated last year. I was working at Chaney Group, but now..." Back when working at the Chaney Group, Samuel said he didn't want Genevieve to receive preferential treatment through connections. Thus, Genevieve remained at the Chaney Group as an intern. But rather than proper work, it was more like being an errand-running cleaner. "Don't worry." Priscilla patted her hand. "We'll have Malik get you a position at Trevino Group." "The Trevino Group? The company of the wealthiest family in Isondale?" Genevieve's eyes widened. She was surprised. Was Malik so capable? Perhaps realizing she'd spoken carelessly, Priscilla quickly backtracked, afraid Genevieve might notice something amiss. "Malik is at least a team leader at the Trevino Group. Getting you a position shouldn't be too difficult for him." She thought, "So Mom thinks a team leader has that much influence." "It's alright, Mom. A friend of mine happens to be hiring right now. I've already arranged an interview for tomorrow." "I see. Is the company far from home? How's the pay?" From Serein Estates to Zenith Group was about an hour's drive. It wasn't too far in her eyes. As for the salary... "Don't worry about the distance, Mom. As for the pay, I'll find out tomorrow at the interview." "Oh, alright. If you've got it handled, then I won't worry. "By the way, I've already prepared your room. Get some rest early so you're ready for tomorrow's interview." Though the small house wasn't spacious, with only three bedrooms, the Trevinos had originally set aside a room for Alora. But Priscilla worried Genevieve might feel uncomfortable staying in Alora's old room, so she had redecorated and furnished another one instead. After her shower, Genevieve lay in the modest bedroom. The room was small, but it had everything she needed. "So this is how having a family feels. I like it." Wrapped in lemon-scented blankets, Genevieve slept soundly through the night. The next morning after breakfast, Genevieve left the house with her three brothers. However, since she was heading in the opposite direction, the four parted ways at the neighborhood entrance. After walking about a kilometer from Serein Estates, Genevieve stopped before a Bentley. "Genny." "Let's head to Zenith Group." The Bentley made a U-turn and drove toward Zenith Group. Meanwhile, Malik had turned into an alley after leaving Serein Estates, where a Maybach was parked. "Mr. Trevino, shall we return to the company?" After changing clothes, Malik checked his watch. "To Zenith Group." The Maybach started smoothly and headed in the same direction. At a traffic light, the Bentley and Maybach came to a stop side by side. The Bentley's window rolled halfway down, revealing a striking profile. Malik glanced over casually, then froze. That person ... looked just like Genevieve... As he reached to lower his own window for a better look, the light turned green. The Bentley sped off, leaving exhaust fumes and its rear end in view. Malik thought, "Was I imagining things? But that really looked like her." And Genevieve had gone this same direction that morning. Was it a coincidence? As they neared Zenith Group, Malik spotted the familiar Bentley again. This time, the figure's silhouette seemed even more like Genevieve's, except the outfit was Idyll Chic's latest release, not the cheap office wear she'd worn earlier. The cheapest Idyll Chic piece cost over 130 thousand dollars. No way Genevieve could afford that. Shaking his head, Malik dismissed the absurd thought. "Raymond, go over today's schedule?" Genevieve sat in her chair, head bowed as she processed documents. "Nine AM, negotiate cooperation with the Trevino Group. Eleven AM, hold the routine meeting. Two PM..." "Wait, the Trevino Group? Which one?" Genevieve interrupted. "The one owned by the richest Trevino family in Isondale, of course." Raymond didn't understand why Genevieve suddenly asked this. The Trevino Group wasn't where Malik worked, was it? "Ms. Chaney, Mr. Trevino is here." Chapter 4 The Fair-Weather Woman Genevieve's phone suddenly rang. "Hello, what's it?" Genevieve's brows furrowed as she listened to what the other end said. "I'm on my way." Hanging up, she pinched the bridge of her nose, voice weary. "Raymond, I need to go out. Handle the Trevino Group negotiations." Without waiting for Raymond's response, Genevieve grabbed her coat and left the office, heading down the corridor. Meanwhile, Malik had just been led by staff to the office doorway. Seeing that retreating figure in the distance, he felt an inexplicable sense of having missed something. "Mr. Trevino, this way, please." Malik collected himself and entered. Having left Zenith Group, Genevieve drove herself to a private hospital with pleasant surroundings. The entire 18th floor comprised a single ward. Upon exiting the elevator, Genevieve saw a woman in a pink dress pacing anxiously by the door. "Sherlyn, how's Darrell?" "Genny! You're finally here!" Sherlyn Hayden looked ready to cry, pulling Genevieve toward the ward. "Darrell had been fine these past days, but today he suddenly went berserk and hurt the doctors and himself." "Calm down. I'll check on him first and see what to do." Genevieve patted Sherlyn's hand, comforting the tearful woman. Genevieve felt frustrated at the sight of Darrell Howard, who had just collapsed on the bed after exhausting himself during the outburst. Darrell, like Raymond, had once been her most capable and trusted aide. Three years ago, during an ambush, Darrell had stepped in at the critical moment to ensure Genevieve's escape, only to fall into enemy hands himself. By the time she found him, he wasn't dead, but he'd been injected with an experimental drug. Non-lethal, but designed to ravage the nervous system, turning its victims into frenzied beasts. Genevieve had poured vast resources into developing an antidote, only to hit a roadblock: it required ice lotus, a rare herb. She'd only seen it in her mentor's ancient texts. Years of searching had yielded nothing. "He should be fine after waking." Genevieve packed her treatment tools, wiping Sherlyn's tears. "Genny, still no leads on ice lotus? Darrell's violent episodes are becoming more frequent. I'm worried..." "Don't worry. I'll double our efforts to track both the herb and those bastards. Darrell will survive." Though she'd rescued Darrell, the masterminds remained at large. Finding them might mean securing the cure. Genevieve clenched her fists, her knuckles whitening, a vein throbbing at her temple. After calming Sherlyn, Genevieve left the hospital. Raymond called to update her that the Trevino Group deal was progressing smoothly. Slumping into the car seat, she exhaled. She glanced at her phone and realized that Priscilla's birthday was coming up soon. She decided to go and pick out a birthday gift for Priscilla. Priscilla usually dressed modestly and didn't like wearing jewelry. Thinking of Priscilla's gentle and graceful demeanor, Genevieve thought a bracelet would be perfect. "Can I take a look at this one?" Genevieve asked a sales clerk. "Excellent choice! This bracelet showcases excellent design and superb craftsmanship. The rich color palette is particularly striking!" Genevieve observed the bracelet. While not top-quality, it was decent enough. As for the price, something too expensive would raise suspicions, but this moderately priced piece could pass as savings. "Alright, please wrap this up for me." "Right away, miss!" Just as the sales clerk prepared to package the bracelet, a sweet yet grating voice interrupted, "Genevieve, it really is you." "So, it's you, the fair-weather woman," Genevieve retorted, crossing her arms as she faced Alora and Paulina Gibson. Originally, the Chaney family and the Gibson family had a marriage agreement. Genevieve was to marry into the Gibson family, but Paulina found Genevieve disagreeable in every way. Now that Alora had returned to the Chaneys, she'd replace Genevieve in marrying into the Gibson family. Now, Alora and Paulina seemed to get well along. "Genevieve! Who are you calling a fair-weather woman?" Paulina jabbed an accusing finger when Alora took offense. "Whoever answers to the name." Genevieve shrugged, utterly unbothered. "You..." "Paula, don't be upset. Genevieve didn't mean it like that." Alora restrained Paulina, her choked voice oozing false magnanimity. Genevieve's eyebrow arched as she assessed Alora's new Chanel dress and diamond necklace, likely Idyll Chic's latest 300-thousand-dollar piece. The Chaneys clearly spoiled their returned princess rotten. Noticing Genevieve's gaze on her necklace, Alora caressed the pendant on it. "Genevieve, are you looking at my necklace? Father gifted me this Idyll Chic limited edition. Isn't it exquisite? "If you like it, maybe your dad can buy you one too." Alora suddenly gasped, covering her mouth in fake remorse. "Oh wait, my bad! This necklace costs over 300 thousand dollars. Even if the Trevinos worked themselves to the bone, they still couldn't save enough to afford it in thirty years." The sales clerk side-eyed Genevieve. If her family was that poor, how was she buying a bracelet worth over 100 thousand? "Thirty years?" Paulina sneered. "Those paupers wouldn't scrape together enough in fifty!" The Trevinos had doted on Alora, but they'd made her suffer financially. Only Paulina's brother's warning about "ungrateful" rumors stopped her from exiling them from Isondale. "Paulina, don't say that," Alora chided. "Her brothers are capable. They might get promotions and become rich!" "Promotions?" Paulina scoffed. "They'll still be employees. How much can they even earn? They'll still be poor." "No way, Paula. Look at what she's wearing today. It's Idyll Chic's new collection. I remember this outfit costs over 130 thousand dollars." Paulina doubted that. Those penniless Trevino family wretches could afford to buy Genevieve such clothes? She wore a mocking expression and let out a cold laugh. "Over 130 thousand dollars? More like a 13-dollar knockoff. A fraud like her only deserves to wear fakes." Alora uttered, "But her clothes don't look counterfeit to me." "Alora, you're so naive. Someone like her could never afford Idyll Chic's new releases." Having said this, Paulina called out to the clerk again, "Hey, she's just some pauper who can't afford this bracelet. Don't let her fool you." The clerk glanced at Genevieve, then at Alora and Paulina. She didn't recognize Alora, but Paulina was the Gibson Group's heiress, someone she often saw at the Dior boutique next door. She returned the jade bracelet to the counter and said to Genevieve, "Miss, I'm sorry. We can't sell this bracelet to you. Please leave." Chapter 5 Slap Them "Leave?" Genevieve arched a brow, casually taking a seat. She propped her chin on one hand while the other tapped the counter with a single finger. "Hey, Genevieve, are you deaf? She told you to get out!" Paulina yelled. Ignoring her, Genevieve pulled out a sleek black card with gold trim and slid it toward the clerk. "Now, can you wrap it up for me?" "It's the Supreme Black Card, limited to just three in the entire mall!" The clerk's eyes lit up as she took the card, immediately bowing apologetically. "My sincerest apologies, miss! I'll package the bracelet for you right away!" She hurriedly retrieved the bracelet from the display and began carefully wrapping it. "No way! How could you have a Black Card?!" Paulina cried out. Alora might not have known what it meant, but Paulina did. This wasn't just any card, but one of only three ever issued by Spotlight Mall. The holder could spend without limits, and more importantly, obtaining one required not just wealth, but power. Even the prestigious Gibson family of Isondale only had a card with an 800-thousand-dollar limit. So how the hell did Genevieve, of all people, get her hands on a Black Card?! "Why wouldn't I have one?" Genevieve smirked. "I could pull out ten of these if I wanted." After all, she owned Spotlight Mall. She could get as many similar cards as she wanted. "You're just a fraud! That card has to be fake!" Paulina couldn't believe it. She turned to the staff. "Don't fall for her scam!" The clerk paid Paulina no mind, swiftly completing the transaction before handing the card and bracelet to Genevieve. "Here you are, miss. Your card and bracelet." "No... No way! How did it actually go through?!" Paulina snatched the card from the clerk's hands, flipping it over repeatedly as if searching for flaws. "Done staring?" Genevieve reclaimed it with ease. Paulina still refused to believe it. "I get it now. This belongs to your sugar daddy, doesn't it?" Genevieve was amused that Paulina had quite the imagination. "Paulina, how could you say that? Genevieve would never stoop to finding a sugar daddy!" Alora's eyes gleamed at the accusation, though she pretended to defend Genevieve by tugging Paulina's sleeve. "Alora, how else would she get a Black Card?" Paulina sneered. "Tsk tsk. I never thought you'd whore yourself out for money, Genevieve. Disgusting. "But I guess it makes sense. After living in luxury with the Chaneys, slumming it with the Trevinos must be rough. "I'm curious. Is your sugar daddy older than your father?" A sharp slap landed on Paulina's cheek when she was laughing heartily. "Genevieve! How dare you..." Then came another slap. "Genevieve! You can't hit Paulina! She's a Gibson!" Alora shielded Paulina, though her lips twitched upward. She thought, "This idiot actually struck a Gibson? She's done for. "I haven't even decided how to handle her yet, and she already dug her own grave. Total dumbass." "I almost forgot you." Genevieve cracked her knuckles before delivering two stinging slaps to Alora's face. "These are for your ingratitude. The Trevinos raised you. They never let you go hungry or cold, yet you let trash insult them? Even a pet knows loyalty." She turned back to Paulina. "Ms. Gibson, you speak of sugar daddies so freely. You must be quite familiar with such arrangements. Does the Gibson fortune not satisfy you, or is this some twisted fetish?" "Genevieve! How dare you!" Paulina lunged to hit her, fury overriding the sting on her face. Genevieve wouldn't back off. She caught Paulina's raised hand mid-air and smacked another stinging slap across her face. This time, Paulina's cheek swelled even more, her lip splitting at the corner with a faint trickle of blood. The force of the blow sent her crashing to the floor, dazed and disoriented. "Paula! Paula, are you okay?!" Alora rushed to her side, panic rising. If the Gibsons blamed her for Paulina's injury, she was screwed. "Guess I'm a little out of practice," Genevieve mused, flexing her wrist. As she walked past the two, she paused. "Wearing Idyll Chic only drags its name through the mud when it's on trash like you." Alora clenched her fists, watching Genevieve leave, exclaiming inwardly, "You stole my life for years, Genevieve. I will make you pay!" After exiting the store, Genevieve made a call and headed toward the mall exit until a commotion erupted near a crowded shop. Normally, she'd ignore it, but this was her property. If something went wrong, the liability fell on Spotlight Mall. "Honey, how are you feeling? Don't scare me!" Pushing through the crowd, she found an elderly man collapsed on the floor, face twisted in agony as he clutched his chest. A woman knelt beside him, frantic. "Honey, hold on! The ambulance is coming!" "Ma'am, let me check him." Genevieve crouched down, assessing his blue-tinged lips, labored breathing, and ashen skin. It should be acute myocardial infarction. "Does he have a history of heart disease?" "No! He's always been healthy!" Could it be spontaneous cardiac arrest? Genevieve frowned as she unzipped her bag and pulled out a slim tool case. "Young lady... y-you're a doctor?" "I am." "Thank God! Please help my husband!" Genevieve nodded, retrieving a special tool when a sharp voice cut in, "Hold it! You don't look like any doctor I've ever seen!" Darren Griffith, a bespectacled man in his forties, pushed forward. "And you are?" "A surgeon at Monsoon Hospital." Monsoon Hospital was Isondale's top medical institution, where even junior doctors held dual master's degrees. "Young lady, an ambulance is coming. Don't play hero with this man's life." "By then, he'll be dead." The patient's lips darkened to violet, his breaths shallowing. He wouldn't make it that long. "Nonsense! This gentleman's condition is completely stable enough to last until the ambulance arrives. Don't risk his life just to show off!" "Show off?" Genevieve almost laughed. "Let me guess. You're about to try some special treatment on him. He's having an acute myocardial infarction right now. Don't tell me you plan to rely on traditional medicine to save him." "Where's your medical license? How dare you use that so-called skills..." "No time for this." Though the man's condescension rankled, lives came first. Ignoring his rant, Genevieve started her treatment. "Hey! Why wouldn't you listen to me? I trained under Kareem Dunlap! You really think..." Darren's words died as the impossible happened before his eyes. Chapter 6 Slander The elderly patient's breathing gradually steadied, his oxygen-starved lips regaining their natural color. Genevieve took his wrist, checking his pulse. Nearby, Alora, who had been about to take Paulina to the hospital, spotted Genevieve through the crowd and frowned. "Huh? Is that Genevieve? What's she doing?" Paulina followed her gaze and stiffened. "Genevieve is ... treating someone? Since when did that bitch know medicine?" In her memories, Genevieve had been too busy groveling to the Chaneys and Gibsons to even focus on school and she'd nearly failed to graduate. How could she have possibly studied medicine? Paulina's eyes gleamed, her stinging cheek momentarily forgotten. "Come on. Let's check it out." Dragging Alora with her, she pushed through the crowd just as Genevieve finished withdrawing her tools. Noticing the well-dressed elderly couple, Paulina came up with an idea. "Oh? Genevieve, what's this? Playing doctor now? You've never studied medicine. Can you face the consequences if something goes wrong?" Genevieve ignored her, calmly packing her special tools before offering the old man a small pill. "He'll be fine, ma'am. Just get some rest for a few days." "Thank you, young lady! Thank you!" The woman's eyes welled up as she clutched Genevieve's hands. My pleasure. But I'd still recommend a full check-up at the hospital." "Yes, yes, we'll go right away!" Genevieve smiled and turned to leave. She'd already wasted too much time, and Priscilla would worry if she stayed out much longer. But Paulina stepped in front of her, arms crossed. "Stop right there! Who said you could leave?" "Move." Genevieve's voice was cold. "Make me." Paulina jutted her chin out defiantly, her hands on her hips. "Seems you still haven't learned your lesson, Ms. Gibson." Genevieve flexed her wrist, smiling at Paulina's swollen cheek. "W-what are you doing? Genevieve, there are witnesses here! I'm not afraid of you!" Paulina stumbled backward, hiding behind Alora as the memory of those stinging slaps resurfaced. "Alora, help me!" "What an idiot!" Alora suppressed a scowl, cursing inwardly. "Pick fights she can't win and then drag me into it?" But when she considered that after marrying into the Gibson family, Paulina would become her sister-in-law, she couldn't actually just stand by. Otherwise, the Gibson family would surely blame her. She stepped forward with a plastic smile. "Genevieve, Paulina just ... misspoke. Don't hold it against her." Her words dripped poison, subtly telling the crowd: This fraud has no medical training. Murmurs erupted in the crowd. "She claimed to be a doctor, right?" "Is she a fraud?" "But the man recovered after her treatment." "Exactly! Genevieve, you've never studied medicine, but you're here deceiving people and 'treating' a patient!" Paulina stepped out from behind Alora, pointing at Genevieve and shouting. "Everyone, I've known this woman for over twenty years. I swear, she's never had any medical training! "Not only that, she's a thief who replaced my friend's place to live a privileged life! Her birth family are all penniless nobodies! "She probably can't get used to living in poverty after reuniting with her real parents. She's some rich man's mistress, and now trying to scam these well-dressed elderly folks!" Paulina declared loudly. "Genevieve, if anything happens to this elderly man, you'll be held accountable for murder!" Paulina's words caused the crowd to murmur. "So, she's a homewrecker!" "This woman looks decent. How could she do such shameless things!" "And she actually dares to play doctor. How reckless! She doesn't seem to mind whatever the consequences at all." Listening to the murmurs around her, Genevieve arched an eyebrow with a cold smile. "It seems I've been too lenient with you two." "What, Genevieve? Are you embarrassed because you got exposed?" Paulina taunted. "There are witnesses here. If you dare hit me, I'll call the police!" Paulina felt emboldened as public opinion was on her side now. "Call the police? Excellent. You'll get into trouble for slander and defamation." Paulina faltered. Though she'd repeatedly called Genevieve a mistress and a fraud, she had no actual proof. Seeing Paulina choke, Alora cursed her inwardly for a fool. "Genevieve, Paula only worried you'd gone astray. Don't blame her." Genevieve knew that Alora always incited hotheaded Paulina to confront her, while Alora herself stayed back and watched. Genevieve snorted and pointed at the middle-aged man who had claimed to be a doctor earlier. "Isn't there a doctor here? Whether I cured the patient or not, let him take a look." Every gaze turned to the man who'd mocked Genevieve moments ago. Darren man cleared his throat and examined the patient's condition. "Ahem... the patient is indeed stable now." Alora and Paulina froze. Could Genevieve actually know medicine? No way! She'd spent years groveling before the Chaneys and Gibsons. When would she have had time to study? "But..." Darren added. "But what?! Spit it out!" Paulina snapped, impatient. "But we'd need professional equipment to confirm his true condition. This could just be a superficial improvement. "I've heard traditional medicine can briefly stimulate meridians to revive patients without actually curing them." "Ha! I knew it! Genevieve's a fraud!" Paulina crowed. Darren sneered at Genevieve. "Young lady, even if you bought him some time, delaying proper treatment could cost his life. That's on you." Already biased against traditional medicine, and with Paulina and Alora insisting Genevieve was untrained, he dismissed her outright. He assumed she had just used some method to keep the patient alive for now. After all, he was a disciple of Kareem Dunlap - the renowned medical authority whom countless people begged to study under. He himself had only become Kareem's nominal student after persistent pleading and generous gifts. There was no way someone as young as Genevieve could surpass even him, let alone Kareem Dunlap. Seeing Darren and Paulina echoing each other, Genevieve smiled with mockery. Just as she was about to respond, a group of doctors and nurses rushed over. "Make way, please!" A doctor crouched beside the patient and checked his condition. "Brad, is my husband going to be okay?" The elderly woman seemed to know him. Bradford Castillo listened to the patient's heartbeat, examined his eyelids, and then exhaled in relief. "Don't worry, ma'am. He's stable for now, but we'll need to run tests at the hospital to be sure." The woman nodded and stepped back as the nurses prepared to lift his husband onto a stretcher. "Wait." Chapter 7 How Dare You Call Traditional Medicine Useless? Genevieve called out to Bradford. "Miss, what's wrong?" Bradford frowned. Matthew Compton was stable for now, but anything could change. They needed to get him to the hospital as soon as possible to avoid delaying treatment. Genevieve said, "I want to tell you. When you check his heart, check his lungs too." She found a lung issue when she took Matthew's pulse earlier. She hadn't said much then to avoid worrying his wife. She just suggested a full check-up for Matthew. Now that a doctor was here and seemed familiar with them, she figured it was fine to add a reminder. "Lungs?" Bradford was skeptical, thinking, "I've been handling his check-ups, and the last report didn't mention any lung issues. Is she trying to trick me?" Paulina said, "Genevieve, he's a professional doctor. You're a scammer. You'd better keep quiet." "Scammer?" Bradford's eyes darkened as he sized up Genevieve. Paulina nodded. "Yeah. Didn't you know? Genevieve is a scammer. She learned some shady tricks and pretends to be a doctor." "Shady tricks? Pretending to be a doctor?" Seeing how calm Genevieve was, Bradford couldn't picture her as a scammer. "If you don't believe me, ask this guy. He's a doctor too!" Paulina pointed at Darren. Darren cleared his throat and straightened up. "Yeah, this girl learned some weird stuff. She stimulated some parts of his body to keep Matthew hanging on. Don't be fooled. He seems fine, but it's all an illusion from that weird stuff." "Weird stuff?" Bradford found it amusing. He just examined Matthew. It was an acute heart attack, but the critical period had passed. "You're saying she just saved Matthew?" asked Bradford. Hearing Bradford's doubt, Paulina and Darren were even more convinced Genevieve had harmed Matthew. Paulina hurriedly said, "Yeah, that's right! Matthew was harmed by Genevieve!" "I told her not to move him. Just wait for the ambulance. But she wouldn't listen. What a pity. She's so pretty. How could she be a scammer?" said Darren. Though Darren seemed regretful, he was secretly delighted inside. "You two idiots. You don't know anything. Cut your nonsense." Bradford rolled his eyes. He couldn't stand their stupidity. "How dare you curse at us!" Paulina's face turned red. With her puffy cheeks, she looked kind of ridiculous. "Because I'm a doctor and you're an idiot. If she hadn't stepped in, Matthew wouldn't have made it till the ambulance came," said Bradford. "H-how is that even possible?" Paulina and Alora exchanged glances, their eyes wide with disbelief. They wondered, "Could Genevieve really know anything about medicine?" "Impossible!" Darren shook his head. He looked at Genevieve and then at Bradford. "You're in cahoots, right? You're just putting on a show! "A young girl saving someone with something as useless as traditional medicine? No way!" "Useless?" Genevieve's eyes darkened, a hint of killing intent showing. "How dare you call traditional medicine useless?" As Genevieve approached, Darren felt a chill. Cold sweat broke out on his forehead. "W-what do you want to do?" Genevieve didn't say a word. She just kicked him in the stomach. "As a doctor, you should know Gatriula is famous for traditional medicine. It's been around for thousands of years and has saved countless lives. How can you call it useless?" snapped Genevieve. Darren was kicked back a meter. He sat on the ground, clutching his aching stomach. His face was twisted in pain. He insisted, "Traditional medicine is useless! It can't compare to modern medicine!" Darren had studied abroad since he was a kid and received the best education. He looked down on everything in Gatriula. If his mom hadn't forced him to come back, he would have stayed abroad, living a high-paying, carefree life. "When traditional medicine was saving lives, your so-called modern medicine was nothing! The people who invented modern medicine haven't even been born yet!" Genevieve clenched her fists, holding back the urge to kick Darren to death. This was in a shopping mall, and more people were gathering. It wasn't the place for a big scene. If it were in the wilderness, she would tear Darren apart. Darren shouted, "Nonsense! Modern medicine is the real deal. Traditional medicine is nothing. You're in cahoots with this guy, trying to use Matthew's life to show off. You're playing with people's lives!" Paulina and Alora, stunned by Genevieve, snapped back to reality when Darren shouted. Paulina said, "That's right. You're definitely putting on a show. You're not taking Matthew away." Alora persuaded, "Genevieve, don't be so stubborn. If you delay his treatment, you'll really be a murderer." Paulina and Alora blocked the way, acting like they were heroes. "A show? I, Bradford, wouldn't stoop to acting with anyone. Move out of the way." Bradford's patience was wearing thin. If he didn't have a rule against hitting women, he would have kicked Paulina and Alora out of the way ages ago. "Bradford?" Darren was a bit stunned. "Y-you're saying you're Bradford?" Bradford was one of the most outstanding and relatively young genius doctors in Gatriula. He was relatively young because there was another genius, no, a prodigy doctor, even younger than him. "N-no, it can't be. How could you be Bradford?" Darren had thought Bradford looked familiar but couldn't remember. It was only when Bradford introduced himself that it finally hit him. At an academic conference before, Bradford gave a speech on stage, but Darren was too far away to see clearly. Now, looking closely, this young man in front of him did look a bit like Bradford. "If I'm not Bradford, are you?" Bradford retorted. Both Paulina and Alora wondered, "Who is Bradford?" They usually didn't pay attention to such things, so naturally, they didn't know who Bradford was. "Bradford, could he be that genius doctor from Monsoon Hospital?" "No way. Isn't this guy also from Monsoon Hospital? Hasn't he met Mr. Castillo?" The whispers reached Paulina and Alora's ears clearly. They thought, "If this guy is really a genius doctor, then what he said about Genevieve saving Matthew is true!" "Oh? You're from Monsoon Hospital?" Bradford raised an eyebrow and sneered. "If Monsoon Hospital has trash like you, it really stains the place." Genevieve was also a bit surprised. She hadn't expected that the person in front of her was Bradford, who was known as one of the two great talents of Monsoon Hospital along with Valentina. Darren was completely stunned. He sat on the ground, his eyes blank, mumbling, "It's impossible. It's impossible." Bradford didn't feel like arguing with Darren anymore. He looked at Paulina and Alora, who were still blocking the way, and his expression turned sour. "Excuse me, please move." Paulina and Alora looked at each other and were about to move when they heard Genevieve's voice. "No need to trouble them. Mr. Castillo, I'll clear the way for you right away."
Chapter 1 Kicked Out of the Chaney Family Genevieve Chaney was suddenly told that she wasn't her parents' biological child. "You should leave. We've found our real daughter now." A bitter sigh escaped Genevieve's lips. Since her childhood, her parents, who now turned out to be her foster parents, had been abusive, her foster mother in particular. Had she not been raised in this place since infancy, she might have questioned her parentage sooner. It all started when Alora Chaney appeared at their doorstep a few days ago. The girl burst into tears, insisting she was the Chaneys' true daughter. The Chaneys didn't believe her, so Alora dragged her father Samuel Chaney to the hospital for a paternity test. The results confirmed her claim: Alora was indeed his daughter, while Genevieve wasn't. Strangely, this brought relief. Finally, Genevieve could escape their torment. "I'm leaving now. Save your breath," Genevieve said coldly, catching the Chaneys off guard. "Genevieve, you can leave, but don't take anything valuable from the house," Samuel immediately warned, suspicious of her sudden compliance. "I won't take a single thing." She didn't even pack her belongings. "Wait!" Alora approached Genevieve and handed her a black trash bag. "Here. Take this 'gift' to the Trevinos. Maybe they'll need it." Genevieve looked at the black bag, from which the stench of rotting food seeped through. "You've gone too far!" Genevieve clenched her fists in anger, throwing the trash at Alora's face. "I think you need it more!" Alora's dramatic wails echoed behind her. Genevieve left without looking back. Just then, a black Mercedes-Benz pulled up in front of her. "Ms. Chaney, get in," said the Chaney family's chauffeur Gerardo. "Gerardo? I don't remember the Chaneys sent you." "It's my own decision. It's a long way to the city. You'll be worn out if you walk all the way there." Gerardo was one of the few people in the Chaney's house who had been kind to her. Even he had spent more time with her than Samuel ever had. After a moment of hesitation, Genevieve opened the car door and got in. The car drove out of the villa area and stopped at a bus station. "This is as far as I can take you, Ms. Chaney," Gerardo said, his tone a bit sad. He then pulled an envelope from his bag, adding, "Ms. Chaney, here's 8,000 dollars. It's not much, but we hope this will help somehow..." That "we" probably referred to Gerardo himself, along with Felipe the butler, and Emma the maid. Although they worked for the Chaney family, Samuel was quite stingy and didn't pay the servants much. This sum of money must have taken them a while to save up. Genevieve gazed at the envelope, feeling touched. A while later, she pushed it back to him. "No, Gerardo, you keep it. Thanks for the ride." She stepped out, watching the Mercedes disappear before making a phone call. "Pick me up at Cedar Avenue bus stop." After a short while, a black Rolls-Royce pulled up to the bus stop. A man in a grey suit got out of the car and greeted her, "Genny." Ignoring the shocked stares around them, Genevieve expressionlessly nodded and entered the vehicle. "Genny, did the Chaneys actually kick you out?" asked Raymond Caldwell, her right-hand man. Raymond knew about the baby mix-up between the Chaneys and Trevinos. But he never expected the Chaneys to actually kick Genevieve out. Genevieve didn't respond. Instead, she picked up a tablet and began scrolling. "If I recall correctly, Zenith Group has been secretly supporting the Chaney family, hasn't it?" "Yes. Around a dozen projects of varying scales over five years." "From today onward, cut them off. Blacklist the Chaney family and notify all our partners that anyone who dares to work with them from now on will be opposing Zenith Group." Raymond stiffened. "Genny, are you planning to ... destroy the Chaneys?" "I was the one who lifted them up. Of course, I'd tear them down myself." Genevieve closed the tablet and handed it to Raymond. "But Zenith Group currently has one ongoing collaboration with the Chaneys. Should we terminate that as well?" "How big is the scale?" "Not huge. Just a small one worth over three million dollars." "We can afford the loss. Just terminate it." Raymond nodded and immediately began executing the orders on the tablet. "Genny, there's one more thing." He pulled out his phone and sent a few screenshots to Genevieve. She studied the images, her fingers tapping lightly against the desk. "Tell the Compton Group I'll take this deal, but the price needs to go up by 30%." Raymond nodded, preparing to respond to the Compton Group. Genevieve looked out the window, her thoughts in disarray. "Let's go to Serein Estates. I want to visit the Trevino family." Serein Estates was a low-end, run-down neighborhood in Isondale. According to Alora, all five members of the Trevino family lived in an apartment of less than ninety square meters. Built ten years ago, the complex had no property management. The peeling walls, weed-choked greenbelts, and uneven concrete paths put Raymond off somehow. "Genny, are you sure the Trevino family actually lives here?" With her status, Genevieve shouldn't live in such a shabby neighborhood. "If Alora wasn't lying, this should be the place." "Genny, now that you're reconnecting with the Trevinos, why not just buy them a proper house? This place is..." "I've never actually met the Trevinos. I don't know their temperaments or personalities..." Raymond understood. She feared the Trevinos might be money-grubbing social climbers like Alora. "Alright, you can head back now. I'll go in alone. I'll contact you if I need anything." Genevieve opened the car door and walked toward Serein Estates. Meanwhile, inside the Trevino's place, her parents were sitting nervously in their tiny living room. "Dylan, are we really doing this? What if Genny isn't like Alora?" Chapter 2 Not Letting Genny Take Anything Away Priscilla Beasley, Genevieve's mother, sat nervously on the couch, her eyes darting toward the door every now and then. "After what happened with Alora, I have to be cautious. But don't worry. If Genny truly isn't like Alora, we'll tell her the truth immediately," responded Dylan Trevino, Genevieve's father. He patted Priscilla's hand reassuringly, though he wasn't entirely certain himself. After dealing with someone as opportunistic as Alora, he figured it was better to be safe than sorry. "I know. I'm just afraid Genny will be furious when she finds out," Priscilla muttered. "She won't be. I'm sure she'll understand." Though Dylan tried to comfort Priscilla, he couldn't shake his own unease. "By the way, aren't our sons coming back today?" Priscilla frowned. It was Genny's homecoming, yet her three brothers were nowhere to be seen. "Malik and Liam had urgent business at the company and hospital. As for Marcus..." Dylan coughed awkwardly, hesitating. "Don't tell me he's at some film set again! He's always hanging around there. It's just inappropriate for his status!" Just the mention of Marcus set Priscilla off. He refused to take his duties at the company seriously, spending all his time on movie sets and barely coming home. "If it makes him happy, let him be. I already talked to him. He'll come back." Dylan's words soothed Priscilla slightly. The numbering on Serein Estates' buildings had long since faded. Genevieve had to ask several people before finally locating Unit 3 of Building 17 at the complex's far end. The aging neighborhood had no elevators, and the Trevino family lived on the top floor. Genevieve walked up the stairs in one go, arriving at unit 701. Though the door to 701 appeared worn, it was remarkably clean. A pristine doormat lay at the entrance, starkly contrasting with the dirty, disorganized floor outside unit 702 across the hall. "It seems the Trevino family values cleanliness." This was Genevieve's first impression of them. With no doorbell, Genevieve hesitated briefly before raising her hand to knock. "Is that Genny?" Priscilla stiffened, her previous irritation suddenly replaced with nervousness. "Relax. I'll get it." Dylan gave Priscilla's shoulder a reassuring pat and went to answer. "You are..." The woman at the door bore such a striking resemblance to Priscilla that Dylan instantly knew who she was. "Hello, I'm Genevieve, y-your daughter." Meeting Dylan for the first time, Genevieve couldn't hide her awkwardness. She considered offering a handshake but thought better of it. Meeting Dylan for the first time, Genevieve fidgeted with her empty hands. "I should've had Raymond prepare gifts," she thought ruefully. "Genny!" Dylan's face lit up. "Come in!" He chuckled at her awkwardness, stepping aside. Genevieve nodded and stepped inside. Out of habit, she gave the space a quick scan. The room was indeed small, but meticulously organized, crowded yet far from cluttered. Many items showed wear, but everything was spotless. Just as expected, the Trevino family really did prioritize cleanliness." "Genny..." a trembling voice sounded. Genevieve turned toward the voice. Genevieve looked over and saw a middle-aged woman in a white knit sweater and yellow long skirt standing clutching her hemline, looking at her with nervous eyes. This must be her biological mother. Genevieve's heartbeat quickened. She gave a small smile and called out, "Mom." "Yes!" Priscilla rushed forward and wrapped Genevieve in a tight embrace. "My Genny, my dear Genny... I've finally met you." Never having experienced familial affection, Genevieve was overwhelmed by Priscilla's warmth. Her eyes widened slightly. She raised her hands uncertainly before letting them drop. Hearing Priscilla's choked sobs, Genevieve sighed softly. She returned the embrace, gently rubbing Priscilla's back. "Mom, don't cry. I'm home now." "Alright, she just got back. Don't scare her," Dylan said, patting Priscilla's shoulder. Reluctantly, Priscilla released Genevieve. "Genny, I was just so excited... Did I frighten you?" Genevieve shook her head, letting Priscilla lead her to sit down while holding her hand. "Genny, how have you been all these years? Did the Chaney family treat you well?" "It was fine. The Chaneys treated me ... quite well." Seeing the Trevino family's modest circumstances, she decided against telling them the truth. The conflict with the Chaneys was her own burden to bear, no need to drag the Trevinos into it. Genevieve smiled faintly, offering nothing more. But Priscilla and Dylan noticed her faded denim skirt and canvas shoes, which spoke volumes. While not the wealthiest in Isondale, the Chaneys were still elite. They could certainly afford proper clothing. And Genny had arrived without even a single bag. The Chaneys, seeing she wasn't their blood, must have denied her even necessities. Their daughter had clearly suffered greatly under that family's roof. "Hmph! How dare the Chaneys mistreat our girl!" Dylan muttered to himself. He decided Malik should teach them a proper lesson. Genevieve, unaware of what Dylan and Priscilla were thinking, glanced around the living room. "Oh, where are my brothers?" She recalled that the Trevino family had three sons, none of whom seemed to be home at the moment. "Oh, your oldest brother Malik is busy socializing. Your second brother Liam is on a night shift at the hospital. And your third brother Marcus, that brat is always messing around on set, playing a corpse or something. Don't bother with him," Priscilla replied, rolling her eyes. Genevieve quickly figured out the occupations of the three brothers: company employee, doctor, and movie extra. The Trevino family wasn't seemingly doing too well financially, but so far, Dylan and Priscilla seemed like decent people. She wondered what the other three brothers were like. If the Trevino family were all good people, Genevieve wouldn't mind helping them out. After all, she was now their daughter, and it was normal to help her own family. "Genny, are you hungry? I'll cook for you," Priscilla asked, worried that Genevieve might be famished as it was getting late. "Sure, Mom, I'll help you," Genevieve replied, following Priscilla into the kitchen. Meanwhile, Dylan sent a message in the family group chat. Dylan: "Genny's back. Get home now!" Malik Trevino: "Okay." Liam Trevino: "I'll be home as soon as my surgery is over." Marcus Trevino: "Got it! On my way!" Dylan: "Don't forget to bring gifts for Genny. I'll kick out whoever comes back empty-handed!" Satisfied, Dylan put away his phone, grabbed an apron to tie on, and went into the kitchen to help. There came a knock on the door. "I'll get the door." Genevieve put down the potato in her hands, randomly wiping her wet hands on the apron. "You are?" She opened the door. The man outside the door wore a relatively cheap suit, holding a somewhat damaged briefcase and a gift bag. Seeing his resemblance to Dylan, Genevieve guessed that he was one of her three brothers, though she wasn't sure which one. The man looked at her coldly and handed her the gift. Chapter 3 That Woman Looks Like Genevieve "I'm your oldest brother, Malik, and you're Genevieve, right?" Malik asked, his tone quite cold. Genevieve took the gift, smiling as she replied, "Hi, Malik." Malik's attitude was really cold, but Genevieve didn't take it to heart. The sister who had grown up in the family for 22 years was a snob, while this biological sister was someone he wasn't familiar with. It was only natural that he felt indifferent toward her. "Malik, have some rest. I'll go help Mom with dinner first." While Genevieve assisted in the kitchen, Liam and Marcus arrived home. "Dinner's ready!" Genevieve placed the final dish on the table, beaming at the Trevino family. Never before had she shared meals like this with the Chaneys. The cozy atmosphere of family dining felt wonderful. "Genny, I didn't know your preferences, so I just made some simple dishes. Hope you like them." Priscilla served Genevieve some fish. Genevieve stared at the fish but hesitated to eat. Watching this, Malik felt scorn rising, thinking that she was a spoiled rich girl turning up her nose at home cooking. Just as Malik was about to speak, Genevieve gently pushed the fish aside. "Mom, I'm sorry... I'm allergic to fish." Everyone froze at this unexpected revelation. Priscilla's face flashed with embarrassment. "I'm so sorry, Genny! I didn't know about your allergy." "It's okay, Mom. I'll eat the other dishes." Genevieve served Priscilla some food, then herself. After the brief awkwardness, the atmosphere at the table actually improved slightly. After dinner, the Trevino men handled the cleanup while Priscilla took Genevieve's hand for a chat in the living room. "Dad, what do you think of Genevieve?" Malik asked, washing dishes. "Genny's a good kid, much better than Alora," Dylan was leaning against the kitchen doorway as he watched Priscilla and Genevieve with a contented smile. "Malik, you dislike Genevieve, right?" Liam had noticed Malik's odd demeanor during dinner. "Come on, Malik! Genny's not only pretty but she's also got a great personality. What's not to like?" Marcus nudged Malik while drying a plate. "I wouldn't say dislike. I just worry she might be like Alora." The Trevinos were self-made, raising their children with strict traditional values. None knew the family's true status before graduating college. They'd thought Alora would pass the test too until she started complaining about their modest lifestyle. Recently, after a head injury, she'd woken up insisting she wasn't a Trevino by blood. She'd even sneaked off to the Chaneys for a DNA test. Within an hour of the results, she'd discarded the Trevino name. "Genny's different from Alora," Liam said firmly, watching Genevieve through the doorway. His gut told him she wouldn't be like Alora. "We'll see." Malik rinsed a glass. "Her 22nd birthday's next month. If she proves trustworthy, we'll throw her a grand homecoming party." Unaware of the kitchen discussion, Priscilla chatted animatedly with Genevieve. "Genny, are you still in school?" "I graduated last year. I was working at Chaney Group, but now..." Back when working at the Chaney Group, Samuel said he didn't want Genevieve to receive preferential treatment through connections. Thus, Genevieve remained at the Chaney Group as an intern. But rather than proper work, it was more like being an errand-running cleaner. "Don't worry." Priscilla patted her hand. "We'll have Malik get you a position at Trevino Group." "The Trevino Group? The company of the wealthiest family in Isondale?" Genevieve's eyes widened. She was surprised. Was Malik so capable? Perhaps realizing she'd spoken carelessly, Priscilla quickly backtracked, afraid Genevieve might notice something amiss. "Malik is at least a team leader at the Trevino Group. Getting you a position shouldn't be too difficult for him." She thought, "So Mom thinks a team leader has that much influence." "It's alright, Mom. A friend of mine happens to be hiring right now. I've already arranged an interview for tomorrow." "I see. Is the company far from home? How's the pay?" From Serein Estates to Zenith Group was about an hour's drive. It wasn't too far in her eyes. As for the salary... "Don't worry about the distance, Mom. As for the pay, I'll find out tomorrow at the interview." "Oh, alright. If you've got it handled, then I won't worry. "By the way, I've already prepared your room. Get some rest early so you're ready for tomorrow's interview." Though the small house wasn't spacious, with only three bedrooms, the Trevinos had originally set aside a room for Alora. But Priscilla worried Genevieve might feel uncomfortable staying in Alora's old room, so she had redecorated and furnished another one instead. After her shower, Genevieve lay in the modest bedroom. The room was small, but it had everything she needed. "So this is how having a family feels. I like it." Wrapped in lemon-scented blankets, Genevieve slept soundly through the night. The next morning after breakfast, Genevieve left the house with her three brothers. However, since she was heading in the opposite direction, the four parted ways at the neighborhood entrance. After walking about a kilometer from Serein Estates, Genevieve stopped before a Bentley. "Genny." "Let's head to Zenith Group." The Bentley made a U-turn and drove toward Zenith Group. Meanwhile, Malik had turned into an alley after leaving Serein Estates, where a Maybach was parked. "Mr. Trevino, shall we return to the company?" After changing clothes, Malik checked his watch. "To Zenith Group." The Maybach started smoothly and headed in the same direction. At a traffic light, the Bentley and Maybach came to a stop side by side. The Bentley's window rolled halfway down, revealing a striking profile. Malik glanced over casually, then froze. That person ... looked just like Genevieve... As he reached to lower his own window for a better look, the light turned green. The Bentley sped off, leaving exhaust fumes and its rear end in view. Malik thought, "Was I imagining things? But that really looked like her." And Genevieve had gone this same direction that morning. Was it a coincidence? As they neared Zenith Group, Malik spotted the familiar Bentley again. This time, the figure's silhouette seemed even more like Genevieve's, except the outfit was Idyll Chic's latest release, not the cheap office wear she'd worn earlier. The cheapest Idyll Chic piece cost over 130 thousand dollars. No way Genevieve could afford that. Shaking his head, Malik dismissed the absurd thought. "Raymond, go over today's schedule?" Genevieve sat in her chair, head bowed as she processed documents. "Nine AM, negotiate cooperation with the Trevino Group. Eleven AM, hold the routine meeting. Two PM..." "Wait, the Trevino Group? Which one?" Genevieve interrupted. "The one owned by the richest Trevino family in Isondale, of course." Raymond didn't understand why Genevieve suddenly asked this. The Trevino Group wasn't where Malik worked, was it? "Ms. Chaney, Mr. Trevino is here." Chapter 4 The Fair-Weather Woman Genevieve's phone suddenly rang. "Hello, what's it?" Genevieve's brows furrowed as she listened to what the other end said. "I'm on my way." Hanging up, she pinched the bridge of her nose, voice weary. "Raymond, I need to go out. Handle the Trevino Group negotiations." Without waiting for Raymond's response, Genevieve grabbed her coat and left the office, heading down the corridor. Meanwhile, Malik had just been led by staff to the office doorway. Seeing that retreating figure in the distance, he felt an inexplicable sense of having missed something. "Mr. Trevino, this way, please." Malik collected himself and entered. Having left Zenith Group, Genevieve drove herself to a private hospital with pleasant surroundings. The entire 18th floor comprised a single ward. Upon exiting the elevator, Genevieve saw a woman in a pink dress pacing anxiously by the door. "Sherlyn, how's Darrell?" "Genny! You're finally here!" Sherlyn Hayden looked ready to cry, pulling Genevieve toward the ward. "Darrell had been fine these past days, but today he suddenly went berserk and hurt the doctors and himself." "Calm down. I'll check on him first and see what to do." Genevieve patted Sherlyn's hand, comforting the tearful woman. Genevieve felt frustrated at the sight of Darrell Howard, who had just collapsed on the bed after exhausting himself during the outburst. Darrell, like Raymond, had once been her most capable and trusted aide. Three years ago, during an ambush, Darrell had stepped in at the critical moment to ensure Genevieve's escape, only to fall into enemy hands himself. By the time she found him, he wasn't dead, but he'd been injected with an experimental drug. Non-lethal, but designed to ravage the nervous system, turning its victims into frenzied beasts. Genevieve had poured vast resources into developing an antidote, only to hit a roadblock: it required ice lotus, a rare herb. She'd only seen it in her mentor's ancient texts. Years of searching had yielded nothing. "He should be fine after waking." Genevieve packed her treatment tools, wiping Sherlyn's tears. "Genny, still no leads on ice lotus? Darrell's violent episodes are becoming more frequent. I'm worried..." "Don't worry. I'll double our efforts to track both the herb and those bastards. Darrell will survive." Though she'd rescued Darrell, the masterminds remained at large. Finding them might mean securing the cure. Genevieve clenched her fists, her knuckles whitening, a vein throbbing at her temple. After calming Sherlyn, Genevieve left the hospital. Raymond called to update her that the Trevino Group deal was progressing smoothly. Slumping into the car seat, she exhaled. She glanced at her phone and realized that Priscilla's birthday was coming up soon. She decided to go and pick out a birthday gift for Priscilla. Priscilla usually dressed modestly and didn't like wearing jewelry. Thinking of Priscilla's gentle and graceful demeanor, Genevieve thought a bracelet would be perfect. "Can I take a look at this one?" Genevieve asked a sales clerk. "Excellent choice! This bracelet showcases excellent design and superb craftsmanship. The rich color palette is particularly striking!" Genevieve observed the bracelet. While not top-quality, it was decent enough. As for the price, something too expensive would raise suspicions, but this moderately priced piece could pass as savings. "Alright, please wrap this up for me." "Right away, miss!" Just as the sales clerk prepared to package the bracelet, a sweet yet grating voice interrupted, "Genevieve, it really is you." "So, it's you, the fair-weather woman," Genevieve retorted, crossing her arms as she faced Alora and Paulina Gibson. Originally, the Chaney family and the Gibson family had a marriage agreement. Genevieve was to marry into the Gibson family, but Paulina found Genevieve disagreeable in every way. Now that Alora had returned to the Chaneys, she'd replace Genevieve in marrying into the Gibson family. Now, Alora and Paulina seemed to get well along. "Genevieve! Who are you calling a fair-weather woman?" Paulina jabbed an accusing finger when Alora took offense. "Whoever answers to the name." Genevieve shrugged, utterly unbothered. "You..." "Paula, don't be upset. Genevieve didn't mean it like that." Alora restrained Paulina, her choked voice oozing false magnanimity. Genevieve's eyebrow arched as she assessed Alora's new Chanel dress and diamond necklace, likely Idyll Chic's latest 300-thousand-dollar piece. The Chaneys clearly spoiled their returned princess rotten. Noticing Genevieve's gaze on her necklace, Alora caressed the pendant on it. "Genevieve, are you looking at my necklace? Father gifted me this Idyll Chic limited edition. Isn't it exquisite? "If you like it, maybe your dad can buy you one too." Alora suddenly gasped, covering her mouth in fake remorse. "Oh wait, my bad! This necklace costs over 300 thousand dollars. Even if the Trevinos worked themselves to the bone, they still couldn't save enough to afford it in thirty years." The sales clerk side-eyed Genevieve. If her family was that poor, how was she buying a bracelet worth over 100 thousand? "Thirty years?" Paulina sneered. "Those paupers wouldn't scrape together enough in fifty!" The Trevinos had doted on Alora, but they'd made her suffer financially. Only Paulina's brother's warning about "ungrateful" rumors stopped her from exiling them from Isondale. "Paulina, don't say that," Alora chided. "Her brothers are capable. They might get promotions and become rich!" "Promotions?" Paulina scoffed. "They'll still be employees. How much can they even earn? They'll still be poor." "No way, Paula. Look at what she's wearing today. It's Idyll Chic's new collection. I remember this outfit costs over 130 thousand dollars." Paulina doubted that. Those penniless Trevino family wretches could afford to buy Genevieve such clothes? She wore a mocking expression and let out a cold laugh. "Over 130 thousand dollars? More like a 13-dollar knockoff. A fraud like her only deserves to wear fakes." Alora uttered, "But her clothes don't look counterfeit to me." "Alora, you're so naive. Someone like her could never afford Idyll Chic's new releases." Having said this, Paulina called out to the clerk again, "Hey, she's just some pauper who can't afford this bracelet. Don't let her fool you." The clerk glanced at Genevieve, then at Alora and Paulina. She didn't recognize Alora, but Paulina was the Gibson Group's heiress, someone she often saw at the Dior boutique next door. She returned the jade bracelet to the counter and said to Genevieve, "Miss, I'm sorry. We can't sell this bracelet to you. Please leave." Chapter 5 Slap Them "Leave?" Genevieve arched a brow, casually taking a seat. She propped her chin on one hand while the other tapped the counter with a single finger. "Hey, Genevieve, are you deaf? She told you to get out!" Paulina yelled. Ignoring her, Genevieve pulled out a sleek black card with gold trim and slid it toward the clerk. "Now, can you wrap it up for me?" "It's the Supreme Black Card, limited to just three in the entire mall!" The clerk's eyes lit up as she took the card, immediately bowing apologetically. "My sincerest apologies, miss! I'll package the bracelet for you right away!" She hurriedly retrieved the bracelet from the display and began carefully wrapping it. "No way! How could you have a Black Card?!" Paulina cried out. Alora might not have known what it meant, but Paulina did. This wasn't just any card, but one of only three ever issued by Spotlight Mall. The holder could spend without limits, and more importantly, obtaining one required not just wealth, but power. Even the prestigious Gibson family of Isondale only had a card with an 800-thousand-dollar limit. So how the hell did Genevieve, of all people, get her hands on a Black Card?! "Why wouldn't I have one?" Genevieve smirked. "I could pull out ten of these if I wanted." After all, she owned Spotlight Mall. She could get as many similar cards as she wanted. "You're just a fraud! That card has to be fake!" Paulina couldn't believe it. She turned to the staff. "Don't fall for her scam!" The clerk paid Paulina no mind, swiftly completing the transaction before handing the card and bracelet to Genevieve. "Here you are, miss. Your card and bracelet." "No... No way! How did it actually go through?!" Paulina snatched the card from the clerk's hands, flipping it over repeatedly as if searching for flaws. "Done staring?" Genevieve reclaimed it with ease. Paulina still refused to believe it. "I get it now. This belongs to your sugar daddy, doesn't it?" Genevieve was amused that Paulina had quite the imagination. "Paulina, how could you say that? Genevieve would never stoop to finding a sugar daddy!" Alora's eyes gleamed at the accusation, though she pretended to defend Genevieve by tugging Paulina's sleeve. "Alora, how else would she get a Black Card?" Paulina sneered. "Tsk tsk. I never thought you'd whore yourself out for money, Genevieve. Disgusting. "But I guess it makes sense. After living in luxury with the Chaneys, slumming it with the Trevinos must be rough. "I'm curious. Is your sugar daddy older than your father?" A sharp slap landed on Paulina's cheek when she was laughing heartily. "Genevieve! How dare you..." Then came another slap. "Genevieve! You can't hit Paulina! She's a Gibson!" Alora shielded Paulina, though her lips twitched upward. She thought, "This idiot actually struck a Gibson? She's done for. "I haven't even decided how to handle her yet, and she already dug her own grave. Total dumbass." "I almost forgot you." Genevieve cracked her knuckles before delivering two stinging slaps to Alora's face. "These are for your ingratitude. The Trevinos raised you. They never let you go hungry or cold, yet you let trash insult them? Even a pet knows loyalty." She turned back to Paulina. "Ms. Gibson, you speak of sugar daddies so freely. You must be quite familiar with such arrangements. Does the Gibson fortune not satisfy you, or is this some twisted fetish?" "Genevieve! How dare you!" Paulina lunged to hit her, fury overriding the sting on her face. Genevieve wouldn't back off. She caught Paulina's raised hand mid-air and smacked another stinging slap across her face. This time, Paulina's cheek swelled even more, her lip splitting at the corner with a faint trickle of blood. The force of the blow sent her crashing to the floor, dazed and disoriented. "Paula! Paula, are you okay?!" Alora rushed to her side, panic rising. If the Gibsons blamed her for Paulina's injury, she was screwed. "Guess I'm a little out of practice," Genevieve mused, flexing her wrist. As she walked past the two, she paused. "Wearing Idyll Chic only drags its name through the mud when it's on trash like you." Alora clenched her fists, watching Genevieve leave, exclaiming inwardly, "You stole my life for years, Genevieve. I will make you pay!" After exiting the store, Genevieve made a call and headed toward the mall exit until a commotion erupted near a crowded shop. Normally, she'd ignore it, but this was her property. If something went wrong, the liability fell on Spotlight Mall. "Honey, how are you feeling? Don't scare me!" Pushing through the crowd, she found an elderly man collapsed on the floor, face twisted in agony as he clutched his chest. A woman knelt beside him, frantic. "Honey, hold on! The ambulance is coming!" "Ma'am, let me check him." Genevieve crouched down, assessing his blue-tinged lips, labored breathing, and ashen skin. It should be acute myocardial infarction. "Does he have a history of heart disease?" "No! He's always been healthy!" Could it be spontaneous cardiac arrest? Genevieve frowned as she unzipped her bag and pulled out a slim tool case. "Young lady... y-you're a doctor?" "I am." "Thank God! Please help my husband!" Genevieve nodded, retrieving a special tool when a sharp voice cut in, "Hold it! You don't look like any doctor I've ever seen!" Darren Griffith, a bespectacled man in his forties, pushed forward. "And you are?" "A surgeon at Monsoon Hospital." Monsoon Hospital was Isondale's top medical institution, where even junior doctors held dual master's degrees. "Young lady, an ambulance is coming. Don't play hero with this man's life." "By then, he'll be dead." The patient's lips darkened to violet, his breaths shallowing. He wouldn't make it that long. "Nonsense! This gentleman's condition is completely stable enough to last until the ambulance arrives. Don't risk his life just to show off!" "Show off?" Genevieve almost laughed. "Let me guess. You're about to try some special treatment on him. He's having an acute myocardial infarction right now. Don't tell me you plan to rely on traditional medicine to save him." "Where's your medical license? How dare you use that so-called skills..." "No time for this." Though the man's condescension rankled, lives came first. Ignoring his rant, Genevieve started her treatment. "Hey! Why wouldn't you listen to me? I trained under Kareem Dunlap! You really think..." Darren's words died as the impossible happened before his eyes. Chapter 6 Slander The elderly patient's breathing gradually steadied, his oxygen-starved lips regaining their natural color. Genevieve took his wrist, checking his pulse. Nearby, Alora, who had been about to take Paulina to the hospital, spotted Genevieve through the crowd and frowned. "Huh? Is that Genevieve? What's she doing?" Paulina followed her gaze and stiffened. "Genevieve is ... treating someone? Since when did that bitch know medicine?" In her memories, Genevieve had been too busy groveling to the Chaneys and Gibsons to even focus on school and she'd nearly failed to graduate. How could she have possibly studied medicine? Paulina's eyes gleamed, her stinging cheek momentarily forgotten. "Come on. Let's check it out." Dragging Alora with her, she pushed through the crowd just as Genevieve finished withdrawing her tools. Noticing the well-dressed elderly couple, Paulina came up with an idea. "Oh? Genevieve, what's this? Playing doctor now? You've never studied medicine. Can you face the consequences if something goes wrong?" Genevieve ignored her, calmly packing her special tools before offering the old man a small pill. "He'll be fine, ma'am. Just get some rest for a few days." "Thank you, young lady! Thank you!" The woman's eyes welled up as she clutched Genevieve's hands. My pleasure. But I'd still recommend a full check-up at the hospital." "Yes, yes, we'll go right away!" Genevieve smiled and turned to leave. She'd already wasted too much time, and Priscilla would worry if she stayed out much longer. But Paulina stepped in front of her, arms crossed. "Stop right there! Who said you could leave?" "Move." Genevieve's voice was cold. "Make me." Paulina jutted her chin out defiantly, her hands on her hips. "Seems you still haven't learned your lesson, Ms. Gibson." Genevieve flexed her wrist, smiling at Paulina's swollen cheek. "W-what are you doing? Genevieve, there are witnesses here! I'm not afraid of you!" Paulina stumbled backward, hiding behind Alora as the memory of those stinging slaps resurfaced. "Alora, help me!" "What an idiot!" Alora suppressed a scowl, cursing inwardly. "Pick fights she can't win and then drag me into it?" But when she considered that after marrying into the Gibson family, Paulina would become her sister-in-law, she couldn't actually just stand by. Otherwise, the Gibson family would surely blame her. She stepped forward with a plastic smile. "Genevieve, Paulina just ... misspoke. Don't hold it against her." Her words dripped poison, subtly telling the crowd: This fraud has no medical training. Murmurs erupted in the crowd. "She claimed to be a doctor, right?" "Is she a fraud?" "But the man recovered after her treatment." "Exactly! Genevieve, you've never studied medicine, but you're here deceiving people and 'treating' a patient!" Paulina stepped out from behind Alora, pointing at Genevieve and shouting. "Everyone, I've known this woman for over twenty years. I swear, she's never had any medical training! "Not only that, she's a thief who replaced my friend's place to live a privileged life! Her birth family are all penniless nobodies! "She probably can't get used to living in poverty after reuniting with her real parents. She's some rich man's mistress, and now trying to scam these well-dressed elderly folks!" Paulina declared loudly. "Genevieve, if anything happens to this elderly man, you'll be held accountable for murder!" Paulina's words caused the crowd to murmur. "So, she's a homewrecker!" "This woman looks decent. How could she do such shameless things!" "And she actually dares to play doctor. How reckless! She doesn't seem to mind whatever the consequences at all." Listening to the murmurs around her, Genevieve arched an eyebrow with a cold smile. "It seems I've been too lenient with you two." "What, Genevieve? Are you embarrassed because you got exposed?" Paulina taunted. "There are witnesses here. If you dare hit me, I'll call the police!" Paulina felt emboldened as public opinion was on her side now. "Call the police? Excellent. You'll get into trouble for slander and defamation." Paulina faltered. Though she'd repeatedly called Genevieve a mistress and a fraud, she had no actual proof. Seeing Paulina choke, Alora cursed her inwardly for a fool. "Genevieve, Paula only worried you'd gone astray. Don't blame her." Genevieve knew that Alora always incited hotheaded Paulina to confront her, while Alora herself stayed back and watched. Genevieve snorted and pointed at the middle-aged man who had claimed to be a doctor earlier. "Isn't there a doctor here? Whether I cured the patient or not, let him take a look." Every gaze turned to the man who'd mocked Genevieve moments ago. Darren man cleared his throat and examined the patient's condition. "Ahem... the patient is indeed stable now." Alora and Paulina froze. Could Genevieve actually know medicine? No way! She'd spent years groveling before the Chaneys and Gibsons. When would she have had time to study? "But..." Darren added. "But what?! Spit it out!" Paulina snapped, impatient. "But we'd need professional equipment to confirm his true condition. This could just be a superficial improvement. "I've heard traditional medicine can briefly stimulate meridians to revive patients without actually curing them." "Ha! I knew it! Genevieve's a fraud!" Paulina crowed. Darren sneered at Genevieve. "Young lady, even if you bought him some time, delaying proper treatment could cost his life. That's on you." Already biased against traditional medicine, and with Paulina and Alora insisting Genevieve was untrained, he dismissed her outright. He assumed she had just used some method to keep the patient alive for now. After all, he was a disciple of Kareem Dunlap - the renowned medical authority whom countless people begged to study under. He himself had only become Kareem's nominal student after persistent pleading and generous gifts. There was no way someone as young as Genevieve could surpass even him, let alone Kareem Dunlap. Seeing Darren and Paulina echoing each other, Genevieve smiled with mockery. Just as she was about to respond, a group of doctors and nurses rushed over. "Make way, please!" A doctor crouched beside the patient and checked his condition. "Brad, is my husband going to be okay?" The elderly woman seemed to know him. Bradford Castillo listened to the patient's heartbeat, examined his eyelids, and then exhaled in relief. "Don't worry, ma'am. He's stable for now, but we'll need to run tests at the hospital to be sure." The woman nodded and stepped back as the nurses prepared to lift his husband onto a stretcher. "Wait." Chapter 7 How Dare You Call Traditional Medicine Useless? Genevieve called out to Bradford. "Miss, what's wrong?" Bradford frowned. Matthew Compton was stable for now, but anything could change. They needed to get him to the hospital as soon as possible to avoid delaying treatment. Genevieve said, "I want to tell you. When you check his heart, check his lungs too." She found a lung issue when she took Matthew's pulse earlier. She hadn't said much then to avoid worrying his wife. She just suggested a full check-up for Matthew. Now that a doctor was here and seemed familiar with them, she figured it was fine to add a reminder. "Lungs?" Bradford was skeptical, thinking, "I've been handling his check-ups, and the last report didn't mention any lung issues. Is she trying to trick me?" Paulina said, "Genevieve, he's a professional doctor. You're a scammer. You'd better keep quiet." "Scammer?" Bradford's eyes darkened as he sized up Genevieve. Paulina nodded. "Yeah. Didn't you know? Genevieve is a scammer. She learned some shady tricks and pretends to be a doctor." "Shady tricks? Pretending to be a doctor?" Seeing how calm Genevieve was, Bradford couldn't picture her as a scammer. "If you don't believe me, ask this guy. He's a doctor too!" Paulina pointed at Darren. Darren cleared his throat and straightened up. "Yeah, this girl learned some weird stuff. She stimulated some parts of his body to keep Matthew hanging on. Don't be fooled. He seems fine, but it's all an illusion from that weird stuff." "Weird stuff?" Bradford found it amusing. He just examined Matthew. It was an acute heart attack, but the critical period had passed. "You're saying she just saved Matthew?" asked Bradford. Hearing Bradford's doubt, Paulina and Darren were even more convinced Genevieve had harmed Matthew. Paulina hurriedly said, "Yeah, that's right! Matthew was harmed by Genevieve!" "I told her not to move him. Just wait for the ambulance. But she wouldn't listen. What a pity. She's so pretty. How could she be a scammer?" said Darren. Though Darren seemed regretful, he was secretly delighted inside. "You two idiots. You don't know anything. Cut your nonsense." Bradford rolled his eyes. He couldn't stand their stupidity. "How dare you curse at us!" Paulina's face turned red. With her puffy cheeks, she looked kind of ridiculous. "Because I'm a doctor and you're an idiot. If she hadn't stepped in, Matthew wouldn't have made it till the ambulance came," said Bradford. "H-how is that even possible?" Paulina and Alora exchanged glances, their eyes wide with disbelief. They wondered, "Could Genevieve really know anything about medicine?" "Impossible!" Darren shook his head. He looked at Genevieve and then at Bradford. "You're in cahoots, right? You're just putting on a show! "A young girl saving someone with something as useless as traditional medicine? No way!" "Useless?" Genevieve's eyes darkened, a hint of killing intent showing. "How dare you call traditional medicine useless?" As Genevieve approached, Darren felt a chill. Cold sweat broke out on his forehead. "W-what do you want to do?" Genevieve didn't say a word. She just kicked him in the stomach. "As a doctor, you should know Gatriula is famous for traditional medicine. It's been around for thousands of years and has saved countless lives. How can you call it useless?" snapped Genevieve. Darren was kicked back a meter. He sat on the ground, clutching his aching stomach. His face was twisted in pain. He insisted, "Traditional medicine is useless! It can't compare to modern medicine!" Darren had studied abroad since he was a kid and received the best education. He looked down on everything in Gatriula. If his mom hadn't forced him to come back, he would have stayed abroad, living a high-paying, carefree life. "When traditional medicine was saving lives, your so-called modern medicine was nothing! The people who invented modern medicine haven't even been born yet!" Genevieve clenched her fists, holding back the urge to kick Darren to death. This was in a shopping mall, and more people were gathering. It wasn't the place for a big scene. If it were in the wilderness, she would tear Darren apart. Darren shouted, "Nonsense! Modern medicine is the real deal. Traditional medicine is nothing. You're in cahoots with this guy, trying to use Matthew's life to show off. You're playing with people's lives!" Paulina and Alora, stunned by Genevieve, snapped back to reality when Darren shouted. Paulina said, "That's right. You're definitely putting on a show. You're not taking Matthew away." Alora persuaded, "Genevieve, don't be so stubborn. If you delay his treatment, you'll really be a murderer." Paulina and Alora blocked the way, acting like they were heroes. "A show? I, Bradford, wouldn't stoop to acting with anyone. Move out of the way." Bradford's patience was wearing thin. If he didn't have a rule against hitting women, he would have kicked Paulina and Alora out of the way ages ago. "Bradford?" Darren was a bit stunned. "Y-you're saying you're Bradford?" Bradford was one of the most outstanding and relatively young genius doctors in Gatriula. He was relatively young because there was another genius, no, a prodigy doctor, even younger than him. "N-no, it can't be. How could you be Bradford?" Darren had thought Bradford looked familiar but couldn't remember. It was only when Bradford introduced himself that it finally hit him. At an academic conference before, Bradford gave a speech on stage, but Darren was too far away to see clearly. Now, looking closely, this young man in front of him did look a bit like Bradford. "If I'm not Bradford, are you?" Bradford retorted. Both Paulina and Alora wondered, "Who is Bradford?" They usually didn't pay attention to such things, so naturally, they didn't know who Bradford was. "Bradford, could he be that genius doctor from Monsoon Hospital?" "No way. Isn't this guy also from Monsoon Hospital? Hasn't he met Mr. Castillo?" The whispers reached Paulina and Alora's ears clearly. They thought, "If this guy is really a genius doctor, then what he said about Genevieve saving Matthew is true!" "Oh? You're from Monsoon Hospital?" Bradford raised an eyebrow and sneered. "If Monsoon Hospital has trash like you, it really stains the place." Genevieve was also a bit surprised. She hadn't expected that the person in front of her was Bradford, who was known as one of the two great talents of Monsoon Hospital along with Valentina. Darren was completely stunned. He sat on the ground, his eyes blank, mumbling, "It's impossible. It's impossible." Bradford didn't feel like arguing with Darren anymore. He looked at Paulina and Alora, who were still blocking the way, and his expression turned sour. "Excuse me, please move." Paulina and Alora looked at each other and were about to move when they heard Genevieve's voice. "No need to trouble them. Mr. Castillo, I'll clear the way for you right away."
Chapter 1 Kicked Out of the Chaney Family Genevieve Chaney was suddenly told that she wasn't her parents' biological child. "You should leave. We've found our real daughter now." A bitter sigh escaped Genevieve's lips. Since her childhood, her parents, who now turned out to be her foster parents, had been abusive, her foster mother in particular. Had she not been raised in this place since infancy, she might have questioned her parentage sooner. It all started when Alora Chaney appeared at their doorstep a few days ago. The girl burst into tears, insisting she was the Chaneys' true daughter. The Chaneys didn't believe her, so Alora dragged her father Samuel Chaney to the hospital for a paternity test. The results confirmed her claim: Alora was indeed his daughter, while Genevieve wasn't. Strangely, this brought relief. Finally, Genevieve could escape their torment. "I'm leaving now. Save your breath," Genevieve said coldly, catching the Chaneys off guard. "Genevieve, you can leave, but don't take anything valuable from the house," Samuel immediately warned, suspicious of her sudden compliance. "I won't take a single thing." She didn't even pack her belongings. "Wait!" Alora approached Genevieve and handed her a black trash bag. "Here. Take this 'gift' to the Trevinos. Maybe they'll need it." Genevieve looked at the black bag, from which the stench of rotting food seeped through. "You've gone too far!" Genevieve clenched her fists in anger, throwing the trash at Alora's face. "I think you need it more!" Alora's dramatic wails echoed behind her. Genevieve left without looking back. Just then, a black Mercedes-Benz pulled up in front of her. "Ms. Chaney, get in," said the Chaney family's chauffeur Gerardo. "Gerardo? I don't remember the Chaneys sent you." "It's my own decision. It's a long way to the city. You'll be worn out if you walk all the way there." Gerardo was one of the few people in the Chaney's house who had been kind to her. Even he had spent more time with her than Samuel ever had. After a moment of hesitation, Genevieve opened the car door and got in. The car drove out of the villa area and stopped at a bus station. "This is as far as I can take you, Ms. Chaney," Gerardo said, his tone a bit sad. He then pulled an envelope from his bag, adding, "Ms. Chaney, here's 8,000 dollars. It's not much, but we hope this will help somehow..." That "we" probably referred to Gerardo himself, along with Felipe the butler, and Emma the maid. Although they worked for the Chaney family, Samuel was quite stingy and didn't pay the servants much. This sum of money must have taken them a while to save up. Genevieve gazed at the envelope, feeling touched. A while later, she pushed it back to him. "No, Gerardo, you keep it. Thanks for the ride." She stepped out, watching the Mercedes disappear before making a phone call. "Pick me up at Cedar Avenue bus stop." After a short while, a black Rolls-Royce pulled up to the bus stop. A man in a grey suit got out of the car and greeted her, "Genny." Ignoring the shocked stares around them, Genevieve expressionlessly nodded and entered the vehicle. "Genny, did the Chaneys actually kick you out?" asked Raymond Caldwell, her right-hand man. Raymond knew about the baby mix-up between the Chaneys and Trevinos. But he never expected the Chaneys to actually kick Genevieve out. Genevieve didn't respond. Instead, she picked up a tablet and began scrolling. "If I recall correctly, Zenith Group has been secretly supporting the Chaney family, hasn't it?" "Yes. Around a dozen projects of varying scales over five years." "From today onward, cut them off. Blacklist the Chaney family and notify all our partners that anyone who dares to work with them from now on will be opposing Zenith Group." Raymond stiffened. "Genny, are you planning to ... destroy the Chaneys?" "I was the one who lifted them up. Of course, I'd tear them down myself." Genevieve closed the tablet and handed it to Raymond. "But Zenith Group currently has one ongoing collaboration with the Chaneys. Should we terminate that as well?" "How big is the scale?" "Not huge. Just a small one worth over three million dollars." "We can afford the loss. Just terminate it." Raymond nodded and immediately began executing the orders on the tablet. "Genny, there's one more thing." He pulled out his phone and sent a few screenshots to Genevieve. She studied the images, her fingers tapping lightly against the desk. "Tell the Compton Group I'll take this deal, but the price needs to go up by 30%." Raymond nodded, preparing to respond to the Compton Group. Genevieve looked out the window, her thoughts in disarray. "Let's go to Serein Estates. I want to visit the Trevino family." Serein Estates was a low-end, run-down neighborhood in Isondale. According to Alora, all five members of the Trevino family lived in an apartment of less than ninety square meters. Built ten years ago, the complex had no property management. The peeling walls, weed-choked greenbelts, and uneven concrete paths put Raymond off somehow. "Genny, are you sure the Trevino family actually lives here?" With her status, Genevieve shouldn't live in such a shabby neighborhood. "If Alora wasn't lying, this should be the place." "Genny, now that you're reconnecting with the Trevinos, why not just buy them a proper house? This place is..." "I've never actually met the Trevinos. I don't know their temperaments or personalities..." Raymond understood. She feared the Trevinos might be money-grubbing social climbers like Alora. "Alright, you can head back now. I'll go in alone. I'll contact you if I need anything." Genevieve opened the car door and walked toward Serein Estates. Meanwhile, inside the Trevino's place, her parents were sitting nervously in their tiny living room. "Dylan, are we really doing this? What if Genny isn't like Alora?" Chapter 2 Not Letting Genny Take Anything Away Priscilla Beasley, Genevieve's mother, sat nervously on the couch, her eyes darting toward the door every now and then. "After what happened with Alora, I have to be cautious. But don't worry. If Genny truly isn't like Alora, we'll tell her the truth immediately," responded Dylan Trevino, Genevieve's father. He patted Priscilla's hand reassuringly, though he wasn't entirely certain himself. After dealing with someone as opportunistic as Alora, he figured it was better to be safe than sorry. "I know. I'm just afraid Genny will be furious when she finds out," Priscilla muttered. "She won't be. I'm sure she'll understand." Though Dylan tried to comfort Priscilla, he couldn't shake his own unease. "By the way, aren't our sons coming back today?" Priscilla frowned. It was Genny's homecoming, yet her three brothers were nowhere to be seen. "Malik and Liam had urgent business at the company and hospital. As for Marcus..." Dylan coughed awkwardly, hesitating. "Don't tell me he's at some film set again! He's always hanging around there. It's just inappropriate for his status!" Just the mention of Marcus set Priscilla off. He refused to take his duties at the company seriously, spending all his time on movie sets and barely coming home. "If it makes him happy, let him be. I already talked to him. He'll come back." Dylan's words soothed Priscilla slightly. The numbering on Serein Estates' buildings had long since faded. Genevieve had to ask several people before finally locating Unit 3 of Building 17 at the complex's far end. The aging neighborhood had no elevators, and the Trevino family lived on the top floor. Genevieve walked up the stairs in one go, arriving at unit 701. Though the door to 701 appeared worn, it was remarkably clean. A pristine doormat lay at the entrance, starkly contrasting with the dirty, disorganized floor outside unit 702 across the hall. "It seems the Trevino family values cleanliness." This was Genevieve's first impression of them. With no doorbell, Genevieve hesitated briefly before raising her hand to knock. "Is that Genny?" Priscilla stiffened, her previous irritation suddenly replaced with nervousness. "Relax. I'll get it." Dylan gave Priscilla's shoulder a reassuring pat and went to answer. "You are..." The woman at the door bore such a striking resemblance to Priscilla that Dylan instantly knew who she was. "Hello, I'm Genevieve, y-your daughter." Meeting Dylan for the first time, Genevieve couldn't hide her awkwardness. She considered offering a handshake but thought better of it. Meeting Dylan for the first time, Genevieve fidgeted with her empty hands. "I should've had Raymond prepare gifts," she thought ruefully. "Genny!" Dylan's face lit up. "Come in!" He chuckled at her awkwardness, stepping aside. Genevieve nodded and stepped inside. Out of habit, she gave the space a quick scan. The room was indeed small, but meticulously organized, crowded yet far from cluttered. Many items showed wear, but everything was spotless. Just as expected, the Trevino family really did prioritize cleanliness." "Genny..." a trembling voice sounded. Genevieve turned toward the voice. Genevieve looked over and saw a middle-aged woman in a white knit sweater and yellow long skirt standing clutching her hemline, looking at her with nervous eyes. This must be her biological mother. Genevieve's heartbeat quickened. She gave a small smile and called out, "Mom." "Yes!" Priscilla rushed forward and wrapped Genevieve in a tight embrace. "My Genny, my dear Genny... I've finally met you." Never having experienced familial affection, Genevieve was overwhelmed by Priscilla's warmth. Her eyes widened slightly. She raised her hands uncertainly before letting them drop. Hearing Priscilla's choked sobs, Genevieve sighed softly. She returned the embrace, gently rubbing Priscilla's back. "Mom, don't cry. I'm home now." "Alright, she just got back. Don't scare her," Dylan said, patting Priscilla's shoulder. Reluctantly, Priscilla released Genevieve. "Genny, I was just so excited... Did I frighten you?" Genevieve shook her head, letting Priscilla lead her to sit down while holding her hand. "Genny, how have you been all these years? Did the Chaney family treat you well?" "It was fine. The Chaneys treated me ... quite well." Seeing the Trevino family's modest circumstances, she decided against telling them the truth. The conflict with the Chaneys was her own burden to bear, no need to drag the Trevinos into it. Genevieve smiled faintly, offering nothing more. But Priscilla and Dylan noticed her faded denim skirt and canvas shoes, which spoke volumes. While not the wealthiest in Isondale, the Chaneys were still elite. They could certainly afford proper clothing. And Genny had arrived without even a single bag. The Chaneys, seeing she wasn't their blood, must have denied her even necessities. Their daughter had clearly suffered greatly under that family's roof. "Hmph! How dare the Chaneys mistreat our girl!" Dylan muttered to himself. He decided Malik should teach them a proper lesson. Genevieve, unaware of what Dylan and Priscilla were thinking, glanced around the living room. "Oh, where are my brothers?" She recalled that the Trevino family had three sons, none of whom seemed to be home at the moment. "Oh, your oldest brother Malik is busy socializing. Your second brother Liam is on a night shift at the hospital. And your third brother Marcus, that brat is always messing around on set, playing a corpse or something. Don't bother with him," Priscilla replied, rolling her eyes. Genevieve quickly figured out the occupations of the three brothers: company employee, doctor, and movie extra. The Trevino family wasn't seemingly doing too well financially, but so far, Dylan and Priscilla seemed like decent people. She wondered what the other three brothers were like. If the Trevino family were all good people, Genevieve wouldn't mind helping them out. After all, she was now their daughter, and it was normal to help her own family. "Genny, are you hungry? I'll cook for you," Priscilla asked, worried that Genevieve might be famished as it was getting late. "Sure, Mom, I'll help you," Genevieve replied, following Priscilla into the kitchen. Meanwhile, Dylan sent a message in the family group chat. Dylan: "Genny's back. Get home now!" Malik Trevino: "Okay." Liam Trevino: "I'll be home as soon as my surgery is over." Marcus Trevino: "Got it! On my way!" Dylan: "Don't forget to bring gifts for Genny. I'll kick out whoever comes back empty-handed!" Satisfied, Dylan put away his phone, grabbed an apron to tie on, and went into the kitchen to help. There came a knock on the door. "I'll get the door." Genevieve put down the potato in her hands, randomly wiping her wet hands on the apron. "You are?" She opened the door. The man outside the door wore a relatively cheap suit, holding a somewhat damaged briefcase and a gift bag. Seeing his resemblance to Dylan, Genevieve guessed that he was one of her three brothers, though she wasn't sure which one. The man looked at her coldly and handed her the gift. Chapter 3 That Woman Looks Like Genevieve "I'm your oldest brother, Malik, and you're Genevieve, right?" Malik asked, his tone quite cold. Genevieve took the gift, smiling as she replied, "Hi, Malik." Malik's attitude was really cold, but Genevieve didn't take it to heart. The sister who had grown up in the family for 22 years was a snob, while this biological sister was someone he wasn't familiar with. It was only natural that he felt indifferent toward her. "Malik, have some rest. I'll go help Mom with dinner first." While Genevieve assisted in the kitchen, Liam and Marcus arrived home. "Dinner's ready!" Genevieve placed the final dish on the table, beaming at the Trevino family. Never before had she shared meals like this with the Chaneys. The cozy atmosphere of family dining felt wonderful. "Genny, I didn't know your preferences, so I just made some simple dishes. Hope you like them." Priscilla served Genevieve some fish. Genevieve stared at the fish but hesitated to eat. Watching this, Malik felt scorn rising, thinking that she was a spoiled rich girl turning up her nose at home cooking. Just as Malik was about to speak, Genevieve gently pushed the fish aside. "Mom, I'm sorry... I'm allergic to fish." Everyone froze at this unexpected revelation. Priscilla's face flashed with embarrassment. "I'm so sorry, Genny! I didn't know about your allergy." "It's okay, Mom. I'll eat the other dishes." Genevieve served Priscilla some food, then herself. After the brief awkwardness, the atmosphere at the table actually improved slightly. After dinner, the Trevino men handled the cleanup while Priscilla took Genevieve's hand for a chat in the living room. "Dad, what do you think of Genevieve?" Malik asked, washing dishes. "Genny's a good kid, much better than Alora," Dylan was leaning against the kitchen doorway as he watched Priscilla and Genevieve with a contented smile. "Malik, you dislike Genevieve, right?" Liam had noticed Malik's odd demeanor during dinner. "Come on, Malik! Genny's not only pretty but she's also got a great personality. What's not to like?" Marcus nudged Malik while drying a plate. "I wouldn't say dislike. I just worry she might be like Alora." The Trevinos were self-made, raising their children with strict traditional values. None knew the family's true status before graduating college. They'd thought Alora would pass the test too until she started complaining about their modest lifestyle. Recently, after a head injury, she'd woken up insisting she wasn't a Trevino by blood. She'd even sneaked off to the Chaneys for a DNA test. Within an hour of the results, she'd discarded the Trevino name. "Genny's different from Alora," Liam said firmly, watching Genevieve through the doorway. His gut told him she wouldn't be like Alora. "We'll see." Malik rinsed a glass. "Her 22nd birthday's next month. If she proves trustworthy, we'll throw her a grand homecoming party." Unaware of the kitchen discussion, Priscilla chatted animatedly with Genevieve. "Genny, are you still in school?" "I graduated last year. I was working at Chaney Group, but now..." Back when working at the Chaney Group, Samuel said he didn't want Genevieve to receive preferential treatment through connections. Thus, Genevieve remained at the Chaney Group as an intern. But rather than proper work, it was more like being an errand-running cleaner. "Don't worry." Priscilla patted her hand. "We'll have Malik get you a position at Trevino Group." "The Trevino Group? The company of the wealthiest family in Isondale?" Genevieve's eyes widened. She was surprised. Was Malik so capable? Perhaps realizing she'd spoken carelessly, Priscilla quickly backtracked, afraid Genevieve might notice something amiss. "Malik is at least a team leader at the Trevino Group. Getting you a position shouldn't be too difficult for him." She thought, "So Mom thinks a team leader has that much influence." "It's alright, Mom. A friend of mine happens to be hiring right now. I've already arranged an interview for tomorrow." "I see. Is the company far from home? How's the pay?" From Serein Estates to Zenith Group was about an hour's drive. It wasn't too far in her eyes. As for the salary... "Don't worry about the distance, Mom. As for the pay, I'll find out tomorrow at the interview." "Oh, alright. If you've got it handled, then I won't worry. "By the way, I've already prepared your room. Get some rest early so you're ready for tomorrow's interview." Though the small house wasn't spacious, with only three bedrooms, the Trevinos had originally set aside a room for Alora. But Priscilla worried Genevieve might feel uncomfortable staying in Alora's old room, so she had redecorated and furnished another one instead. After her shower, Genevieve lay in the modest bedroom. The room was small, but it had everything she needed. "So this is how having a family feels. I like it." Wrapped in lemon-scented blankets, Genevieve slept soundly through the night. The next morning after breakfast, Genevieve left the house with her three brothers. However, since she was heading in the opposite direction, the four parted ways at the neighborhood entrance. After walking about a kilometer from Serein Estates, Genevieve stopped before a Bentley. "Genny." "Let's head to Zenith Group." The Bentley made a U-turn and drove toward Zenith Group. Meanwhile, Malik had turned into an alley after leaving Serein Estates, where a Maybach was parked. "Mr. Trevino, shall we return to the company?" After changing clothes, Malik checked his watch. "To Zenith Group." The Maybach started smoothly and headed in the same direction. At a traffic light, the Bentley and Maybach came to a stop side by side. The Bentley's window rolled halfway down, revealing a striking profile. Malik glanced over casually, then froze. That person ... looked just like Genevieve... As he reached to lower his own window for a better look, the light turned green. The Bentley sped off, leaving exhaust fumes and its rear end in view. Malik thought, "Was I imagining things? But that really looked like her." And Genevieve had gone this same direction that morning. Was it a coincidence? As they neared Zenith Group, Malik spotted the familiar Bentley again. This time, the figure's silhouette seemed even more like Genevieve's, except the outfit was Idyll Chic's latest release, not the cheap office wear she'd worn earlier. The cheapest Idyll Chic piece cost over 130 thousand dollars. No way Genevieve could afford that. Shaking his head, Malik dismissed the absurd thought. "Raymond, go over today's schedule?" Genevieve sat in her chair, head bowed as she processed documents. "Nine AM, negotiate cooperation with the Trevino Group. Eleven AM, hold the routine meeting. Two PM..." "Wait, the Trevino Group? Which one?" Genevieve interrupted. "The one owned by the richest Trevino family in Isondale, of course." Raymond didn't understand why Genevieve suddenly asked this. The Trevino Group wasn't where Malik worked, was it? "Ms. Chaney, Mr. Trevino is here." Chapter 4 The Fair-Weather Woman Genevieve's phone suddenly rang. "Hello, what's it?" Genevieve's brows furrowed as she listened to what the other end said. "I'm on my way." Hanging up, she pinched the bridge of her nose, voice weary. "Raymond, I need to go out. Handle the Trevino Group negotiations." Without waiting for Raymond's response, Genevieve grabbed her coat and left the office, heading down the corridor. Meanwhile, Malik had just been led by staff to the office doorway. Seeing that retreating figure in the distance, he felt an inexplicable sense of having missed something. "Mr. Trevino, this way, please." Malik collected himself and entered. Having left Zenith Group, Genevieve drove herself to a private hospital with pleasant surroundings. The entire 18th floor comprised a single ward. Upon exiting the elevator, Genevieve saw a woman in a pink dress pacing anxiously by the door. "Sherlyn, how's Darrell?" "Genny! You're finally here!" Sherlyn Hayden looked ready to cry, pulling Genevieve toward the ward. "Darrell had been fine these past days, but today he suddenly went berserk and hurt the doctors and himself." "Calm down. I'll check on him first and see what to do." Genevieve patted Sherlyn's hand, comforting the tearful woman. Genevieve felt frustrated at the sight of Darrell Howard, who had just collapsed on the bed after exhausting himself during the outburst. Darrell, like Raymond, had once been her most capable and trusted aide. Three years ago, during an ambush, Darrell had stepped in at the critical moment to ensure Genevieve's escape, only to fall into enemy hands himself. By the time she found him, he wasn't dead, but he'd been injected with an experimental drug. Non-lethal, but designed to ravage the nervous system, turning its victims into frenzied beasts. Genevieve had poured vast resources into developing an antidote, only to hit a roadblock: it required ice lotus, a rare herb. She'd only seen it in her mentor's ancient texts. Years of searching had yielded nothing. "He should be fine after waking." Genevieve packed her treatment tools, wiping Sherlyn's tears. "Genny, still no leads on ice lotus? Darrell's violent episodes are becoming more frequent. I'm worried..." "Don't worry. I'll double our efforts to track both the herb and those bastards. Darrell will survive." Though she'd rescued Darrell, the masterminds remained at large. Finding them might mean securing the cure. Genevieve clenched her fists, her knuckles whitening, a vein throbbing at her temple. After calming Sherlyn, Genevieve left the hospital. Raymond called to update her that the Trevino Group deal was progressing smoothly. Slumping into the car seat, she exhaled. She glanced at her phone and realized that Priscilla's birthday was coming up soon. She decided to go and pick out a birthday gift for Priscilla. Priscilla usually dressed modestly and didn't like wearing jewelry. Thinking of Priscilla's gentle and graceful demeanor, Genevieve thought a bracelet would be perfect. "Can I take a look at this one?" Genevieve asked a sales clerk. "Excellent choice! This bracelet showcases excellent design and superb craftsmanship. The rich color palette is particularly striking!" Genevieve observed the bracelet. While not top-quality, it was decent enough. As for the price, something too expensive would raise suspicions, but this moderately priced piece could pass as savings. "Alright, please wrap this up for me." "Right away, miss!" Just as the sales clerk prepared to package the bracelet, a sweet yet grating voice interrupted, "Genevieve, it really is you." "So, it's you, the fair-weather woman," Genevieve retorted, crossing her arms as she faced Alora and Paulina Gibson. Originally, the Chaney family and the Gibson family had a marriage agreement. Genevieve was to marry into the Gibson family, but Paulina found Genevieve disagreeable in every way. Now that Alora had returned to the Chaneys, she'd replace Genevieve in marrying into the Gibson family. Now, Alora and Paulina seemed to get well along. "Genevieve! Who are you calling a fair-weather woman?" Paulina jabbed an accusing finger when Alora took offense. "Whoever answers to the name." Genevieve shrugged, utterly unbothered. "You..." "Paula, don't be upset. Genevieve didn't mean it like that." Alora restrained Paulina, her choked voice oozing false magnanimity. Genevieve's eyebrow arched as she assessed Alora's new Chanel dress and diamond necklace, likely Idyll Chic's latest 300-thousand-dollar piece. The Chaneys clearly spoiled their returned princess rotten. Noticing Genevieve's gaze on her necklace, Alora caressed the pendant on it. "Genevieve, are you looking at my necklace? Father gifted me this Idyll Chic limited edition. Isn't it exquisite? "If you like it, maybe your dad can buy you one too." Alora suddenly gasped, covering her mouth in fake remorse. "Oh wait, my bad! This necklace costs over 300 thousand dollars. Even if the Trevinos worked themselves to the bone, they still couldn't save enough to afford it in thirty years." The sales clerk side-eyed Genevieve. If her family was that poor, how was she buying a bracelet worth over 100 thousand? "Thirty years?" Paulina sneered. "Those paupers wouldn't scrape together enough in fifty!" The Trevinos had doted on Alora, but they'd made her suffer financially. Only Paulina's brother's warning about "ungrateful" rumors stopped her from exiling them from Isondale. "Paulina, don't say that," Alora chided. "Her brothers are capable. They might get promotions and become rich!" "Promotions?" Paulina scoffed. "They'll still be employees. How much can they even earn? They'll still be poor." "No way, Paula. Look at what she's wearing today. It's Idyll Chic's new collection. I remember this outfit costs over 130 thousand dollars." Paulina doubted that. Those penniless Trevino family wretches could afford to buy Genevieve such clothes? She wore a mocking expression and let out a cold laugh. "Over 130 thousand dollars? More like a 13-dollar knockoff. A fraud like her only deserves to wear fakes." Alora uttered, "But her clothes don't look counterfeit to me." "Alora, you're so naive. Someone like her could never afford Idyll Chic's new releases." Having said this, Paulina called out to the clerk again, "Hey, she's just some pauper who can't afford this bracelet. Don't let her fool you." The clerk glanced at Genevieve, then at Alora and Paulina. She didn't recognize Alora, but Paulina was the Gibson Group's heiress, someone she often saw at the Dior boutique next door. She returned the jade bracelet to the counter and said to Genevieve, "Miss, I'm sorry. We can't sell this bracelet to you. Please leave." Chapter 5 Slap Them "Leave?" Genevieve arched a brow, casually taking a seat. She propped her chin on one hand while the other tapped the counter with a single finger. "Hey, Genevieve, are you deaf? She told you to get out!" Paulina yelled. Ignoring her, Genevieve pulled out a sleek black card with gold trim and slid it toward the clerk. "Now, can you wrap it up for me?" "It's the Supreme Black Card, limited to just three in the entire mall!" The clerk's eyes lit up as she took the card, immediately bowing apologetically. "My sincerest apologies, miss! I'll package the bracelet for you right away!" She hurriedly retrieved the bracelet from the display and began carefully wrapping it. "No way! How could you have a Black Card?!" Paulina cried out. Alora might not have known what it meant, but Paulina did. This wasn't just any card, but one of only three ever issued by Spotlight Mall. The holder could spend without limits, and more importantly, obtaining one required not just wealth, but power. Even the prestigious Gibson family of Isondale only had a card with an 800-thousand-dollar limit. So how the hell did Genevieve, of all people, get her hands on a Black Card?! "Why wouldn't I have one?" Genevieve smirked. "I could pull out ten of these if I wanted." After all, she owned Spotlight Mall. She could get as many similar cards as she wanted. "You're just a fraud! That card has to be fake!" Paulina couldn't believe it. She turned to the staff. "Don't fall for her scam!" The clerk paid Paulina no mind, swiftly completing the transaction before handing the card and bracelet to Genevieve. "Here you are, miss. Your card and bracelet." "No... No way! How did it actually go through?!" Paulina snatched the card from the clerk's hands, flipping it over repeatedly as if searching for flaws. "Done staring?" Genevieve reclaimed it with ease. Paulina still refused to believe it. "I get it now. This belongs to your sugar daddy, doesn't it?" Genevieve was amused that Paulina had quite the imagination. "Paulina, how could you say that? Genevieve would never stoop to finding a sugar daddy!" Alora's eyes gleamed at the accusation, though she pretended to defend Genevieve by tugging Paulina's sleeve. "Alora, how else would she get a Black Card?" Paulina sneered. "Tsk tsk. I never thought you'd whore yourself out for money, Genevieve. Disgusting. "But I guess it makes sense. After living in luxury with the Chaneys, slumming it with the Trevinos must be rough. "I'm curious. Is your sugar daddy older than your father?" A sharp slap landed on Paulina's cheek when she was laughing heartily. "Genevieve! How dare you..." Then came another slap. "Genevieve! You can't hit Paulina! She's a Gibson!" Alora shielded Paulina, though her lips twitched upward. She thought, "This idiot actually struck a Gibson? She's done for. "I haven't even decided how to handle her yet, and she already dug her own grave. Total dumbass." "I almost forgot you." Genevieve cracked her knuckles before delivering two stinging slaps to Alora's face. "These are for your ingratitude. The Trevinos raised you. They never let you go hungry or cold, yet you let trash insult them? Even a pet knows loyalty." She turned back to Paulina. "Ms. Gibson, you speak of sugar daddies so freely. You must be quite familiar with such arrangements. Does the Gibson fortune not satisfy you, or is this some twisted fetish?" "Genevieve! How dare you!" Paulina lunged to hit her, fury overriding the sting on her face. Genevieve wouldn't back off. She caught Paulina's raised hand mid-air and smacked another stinging slap across her face. This time, Paulina's cheek swelled even more, her lip splitting at the corner with a faint trickle of blood. The force of the blow sent her crashing to the floor, dazed and disoriented. "Paula! Paula, are you okay?!" Alora rushed to her side, panic rising. If the Gibsons blamed her for Paulina's injury, she was screwed. "Guess I'm a little out of practice," Genevieve mused, flexing her wrist. As she walked past the two, she paused. "Wearing Idyll Chic only drags its name through the mud when it's on trash like you." Alora clenched her fists, watching Genevieve leave, exclaiming inwardly, "You stole my life for years, Genevieve. I will make you pay!" After exiting the store, Genevieve made a call and headed toward the mall exit until a commotion erupted near a crowded shop. Normally, she'd ignore it, but this was her property. If something went wrong, the liability fell on Spotlight Mall. "Honey, how are you feeling? Don't scare me!" Pushing through the crowd, she found an elderly man collapsed on the floor, face twisted in agony as he clutched his chest. A woman knelt beside him, frantic. "Honey, hold on! The ambulance is coming!" "Ma'am, let me check him." Genevieve crouched down, assessing his blue-tinged lips, labored breathing, and ashen skin. It should be acute myocardial infarction. "Does he have a history of heart disease?" "No! He's always been healthy!" Could it be spontaneous cardiac arrest? Genevieve frowned as she unzipped her bag and pulled out a slim tool case. "Young lady... y-you're a doctor?" "I am." "Thank God! Please help my husband!" Genevieve nodded, retrieving a special tool when a sharp voice cut in, "Hold it! You don't look like any doctor I've ever seen!" Darren Griffith, a bespectacled man in his forties, pushed forward. "And you are?" "A surgeon at Monsoon Hospital." Monsoon Hospital was Isondale's top medical institution, where even junior doctors held dual master's degrees. "Young lady, an ambulance is coming. Don't play hero with this man's life." "By then, he'll be dead." The patient's lips darkened to violet, his breaths shallowing. He wouldn't make it that long. "Nonsense! This gentleman's condition is completely stable enough to last until the ambulance arrives. Don't risk his life just to show off!" "Show off?" Genevieve almost laughed. "Let me guess. You're about to try some special treatment on him. He's having an acute myocardial infarction right now. Don't tell me you plan to rely on traditional medicine to save him." "Where's your medical license? How dare you use that so-called skills..." "No time for this." Though the man's condescension rankled, lives came first. Ignoring his rant, Genevieve started her treatment. "Hey! Why wouldn't you listen to me? I trained under Kareem Dunlap! You really think..." Darren's words died as the impossible happened before his eyes. Chapter 6 Slander The elderly patient's breathing gradually steadied, his oxygen-starved lips regaining their natural color. Genevieve took his wrist, checking his pulse. Nearby, Alora, who had been about to take Paulina to the hospital, spotted Genevieve through the crowd and frowned. "Huh? Is that Genevieve? What's she doing?" Paulina followed her gaze and stiffened. "Genevieve is ... treating someone? Since when did that bitch know medicine?" In her memories, Genevieve had been too busy groveling to the Chaneys and Gibsons to even focus on school and she'd nearly failed to graduate. How could she have possibly studied medicine? Paulina's eyes gleamed, her stinging cheek momentarily forgotten. "Come on. Let's check it out." Dragging Alora with her, she pushed through the crowd just as Genevieve finished withdrawing her tools. Noticing the well-dressed elderly couple, Paulina came up with an idea. "Oh? Genevieve, what's this? Playing doctor now? You've never studied medicine. Can you face the consequences if something goes wrong?" Genevieve ignored her, calmly packing her special tools before offering the old man a small pill. "He'll be fine, ma'am. Just get some rest for a few days." "Thank you, young lady! Thank you!" The woman's eyes welled up as she clutched Genevieve's hands. My pleasure. But I'd still recommend a full check-up at the hospital." "Yes, yes, we'll go right away!" Genevieve smiled and turned to leave. She'd already wasted too much time, and Priscilla would worry if she stayed out much longer. But Paulina stepped in front of her, arms crossed. "Stop right there! Who said you could leave?" "Move." Genevieve's voice was cold. "Make me." Paulina jutted her chin out defiantly, her hands on her hips. "Seems you still haven't learned your lesson, Ms. Gibson." Genevieve flexed her wrist, smiling at Paulina's swollen cheek. "W-what are you doing? Genevieve, there are witnesses here! I'm not afraid of you!" Paulina stumbled backward, hiding behind Alora as the memory of those stinging slaps resurfaced. "Alora, help me!" "What an idiot!" Alora suppressed a scowl, cursing inwardly. "Pick fights she can't win and then drag me into it?" But when she considered that after marrying into the Gibson family, Paulina would become her sister-in-law, she couldn't actually just stand by. Otherwise, the Gibson family would surely blame her. She stepped forward with a plastic smile. "Genevieve, Paulina just ... misspoke. Don't hold it against her." Her words dripped poison, subtly telling the crowd: This fraud has no medical training. Murmurs erupted in the crowd. "She claimed to be a doctor, right?" "Is she a fraud?" "But the man recovered after her treatment." "Exactly! Genevieve, you've never studied medicine, but you're here deceiving people and 'treating' a patient!" Paulina stepped out from behind Alora, pointing at Genevieve and shouting. "Everyone, I've known this woman for over twenty years. I swear, she's never had any medical training! "Not only that, she's a thief who replaced my friend's place to live a privileged life! Her birth family are all penniless nobodies! "She probably can't get used to living in poverty after reuniting with her real parents. She's some rich man's mistress, and now trying to scam these well-dressed elderly folks!" Paulina declared loudly. "Genevieve, if anything happens to this elderly man, you'll be held accountable for murder!" Paulina's words caused the crowd to murmur. "So, she's a homewrecker!" "This woman looks decent. How could she do such shameless things!" "And she actually dares to play doctor. How reckless! She doesn't seem to mind whatever the consequences at all." Listening to the murmurs around her, Genevieve arched an eyebrow with a cold smile. "It seems I've been too lenient with you two." "What, Genevieve? Are you embarrassed because you got exposed?" Paulina taunted. "There are witnesses here. If you dare hit me, I'll call the police!" Paulina felt emboldened as public opinion was on her side now. "Call the police? Excellent. You'll get into trouble for slander and defamation." Paulina faltered. Though she'd repeatedly called Genevieve a mistress and a fraud, she had no actual proof. Seeing Paulina choke, Alora cursed her inwardly for a fool. "Genevieve, Paula only worried you'd gone astray. Don't blame her." Genevieve knew that Alora always incited hotheaded Paulina to confront her, while Alora herself stayed back and watched. Genevieve snorted and pointed at the middle-aged man who had claimed to be a doctor earlier. "Isn't there a doctor here? Whether I cured the patient or not, let him take a look." Every gaze turned to the man who'd mocked Genevieve moments ago. Darren man cleared his throat and examined the patient's condition. "Ahem... the patient is indeed stable now." Alora and Paulina froze. Could Genevieve actually know medicine? No way! She'd spent years groveling before the Chaneys and Gibsons. When would she have had time to study? "But..." Darren added. "But what?! Spit it out!" Paulina snapped, impatient. "But we'd need professional equipment to confirm his true condition. This could just be a superficial improvement. "I've heard traditional medicine can briefly stimulate meridians to revive patients without actually curing them." "Ha! I knew it! Genevieve's a fraud!" Paulina crowed. Darren sneered at Genevieve. "Young lady, even if you bought him some time, delaying proper treatment could cost his life. That's on you." Already biased against traditional medicine, and with Paulina and Alora insisting Genevieve was untrained, he dismissed her outright. He assumed she had just used some method to keep the patient alive for now. After all, he was a disciple of Kareem Dunlap - the renowned medical authority whom countless people begged to study under. He himself had only become Kareem's nominal student after persistent pleading and generous gifts. There was no way someone as young as Genevieve could surpass even him, let alone Kareem Dunlap. Seeing Darren and Paulina echoing each other, Genevieve smiled with mockery. Just as she was about to respond, a group of doctors and nurses rushed over. "Make way, please!" A doctor crouched beside the patient and checked his condition. "Brad, is my husband going to be okay?" The elderly woman seemed to know him. Bradford Castillo listened to the patient's heartbeat, examined his eyelids, and then exhaled in relief. "Don't worry, ma'am. He's stable for now, but we'll need to run tests at the hospital to be sure." The woman nodded and stepped back as the nurses prepared to lift his husband onto a stretcher. "Wait." Chapter 7 How Dare You Call Traditional Medicine Useless? Genevieve called out to Bradford. "Miss, what's wrong?" Bradford frowned. Matthew Compton was stable for now, but anything could change. They needed to get him to the hospital as soon as possible to avoid delaying treatment. Genevieve said, "I want to tell you. When you check his heart, check his lungs too." She found a lung issue when she took Matthew's pulse earlier. She hadn't said much then to avoid worrying his wife. She just suggested a full check-up for Matthew. Now that a doctor was here and seemed familiar with them, she figured it was fine to add a reminder. "Lungs?" Bradford was skeptical, thinking, "I've been handling his check-ups, and the last report didn't mention any lung issues. Is she trying to trick me?" Paulina said, "Genevieve, he's a professional doctor. You're a scammer. You'd better keep quiet." "Scammer?" Bradford's eyes darkened as he sized up Genevieve. Paulina nodded. "Yeah. Didn't you know? Genevieve is a scammer. She learned some shady tricks and pretends to be a doctor." "Shady tricks? Pretending to be a doctor?" Seeing how calm Genevieve was, Bradford couldn't picture her as a scammer. "If you don't believe me, ask this guy. He's a doctor too!" Paulina pointed at Darren. Darren cleared his throat and straightened up. "Yeah, this girl learned some weird stuff. She stimulated some parts of his body to keep Matthew hanging on. Don't be fooled. He seems fine, but it's all an illusion from that weird stuff." "Weird stuff?" Bradford found it amusing. He just examined Matthew. It was an acute heart attack, but the critical period had passed. "You're saying she just saved Matthew?" asked Bradford. Hearing Bradford's doubt, Paulina and Darren were even more convinced Genevieve had harmed Matthew. Paulina hurriedly said, "Yeah, that's right! Matthew was harmed by Genevieve!" "I told her not to move him. Just wait for the ambulance. But she wouldn't listen. What a pity. She's so pretty. How could she be a scammer?" said Darren. Though Darren seemed regretful, he was secretly delighted inside. "You two idiots. You don't know anything. Cut your nonsense." Bradford rolled his eyes. He couldn't stand their stupidity. "How dare you curse at us!" Paulina's face turned red. With her puffy cheeks, she looked kind of ridiculous. "Because I'm a doctor and you're an idiot. If she hadn't stepped in, Matthew wouldn't have made it till the ambulance came," said Bradford. "H-how is that even possible?" Paulina and Alora exchanged glances, their eyes wide with disbelief. They wondered, "Could Genevieve really know anything about medicine?" "Impossible!" Darren shook his head. He looked at Genevieve and then at Bradford. "You're in cahoots, right? You're just putting on a show! "A young girl saving someone with something as useless as traditional medicine? No way!" "Useless?" Genevieve's eyes darkened, a hint of killing intent showing. "How dare you call traditional medicine useless?" As Genevieve approached, Darren felt a chill. Cold sweat broke out on his forehead. "W-what do you want to do?" Genevieve didn't say a word. She just kicked him in the stomach. "As a doctor, you should know Gatriula is famous for traditional medicine. It's been around for thousands of years and has saved countless lives. How can you call it useless?" snapped Genevieve. Darren was kicked back a meter. He sat on the ground, clutching his aching stomach. His face was twisted in pain. He insisted, "Traditional medicine is useless! It can't compare to modern medicine!" Darren had studied abroad since he was a kid and received the best education. He looked down on everything in Gatriula. If his mom hadn't forced him to come back, he would have stayed abroad, living a high-paying, carefree life. "When traditional medicine was saving lives, your so-called modern medicine was nothing! The people who invented modern medicine haven't even been born yet!" Genevieve clenched her fists, holding back the urge to kick Darren to death. This was in a shopping mall, and more people were gathering. It wasn't the place for a big scene. If it were in the wilderness, she would tear Darren apart. Darren shouted, "Nonsense! Modern medicine is the real deal. Traditional medicine is nothing. You're in cahoots with this guy, trying to use Matthew's life to show off. You're playing with people's lives!" Paulina and Alora, stunned by Genevieve, snapped back to reality when Darren shouted. Paulina said, "That's right. You're definitely putting on a show. You're not taking Matthew away." Alora persuaded, "Genevieve, don't be so stubborn. If you delay his treatment, you'll really be a murderer." Paulina and Alora blocked the way, acting like they were heroes. "A show? I, Bradford, wouldn't stoop to acting with anyone. Move out of the way." Bradford's patience was wearing thin. If he didn't have a rule against hitting women, he would have kicked Paulina and Alora out of the way ages ago. "Bradford?" Darren was a bit stunned. "Y-you're saying you're Bradford?" Bradford was one of the most outstanding and relatively young genius doctors in Gatriula. He was relatively young because there was another genius, no, a prodigy doctor, even younger than him. "N-no, it can't be. How could you be Bradford?" Darren had thought Bradford looked familiar but couldn't remember. It was only when Bradford introduced himself that it finally hit him. At an academic conference before, Bradford gave a speech on stage, but Darren was too far away to see clearly. Now, looking closely, this young man in front of him did look a bit like Bradford. "If I'm not Bradford, are you?" Bradford retorted. Both Paulina and Alora wondered, "Who is Bradford?" They usually didn't pay attention to such things, so naturally, they didn't know who Bradford was. "Bradford, could he be that genius doctor from Monsoon Hospital?" "No way. Isn't this guy also from Monsoon Hospital? Hasn't he met Mr. Castillo?" The whispers reached Paulina and Alora's ears clearly. They thought, "If this guy is really a genius doctor, then what he said about Genevieve saving Matthew is true!" "Oh? You're from Monsoon Hospital?" Bradford raised an eyebrow and sneered. "If Monsoon Hospital has trash like you, it really stains the place." Genevieve was also a bit surprised. She hadn't expected that the person in front of her was Bradford, who was known as one of the two great talents of Monsoon Hospital along with Valentina. Darren was completely stunned. He sat on the ground, his eyes blank, mumbling, "It's impossible. It's impossible." Bradford didn't feel like arguing with Darren anymore. He looked at Paulina and Alora, who were still blocking the way, and his expression turned sour. "Excuse me, please move." Paulina and Alora looked at each other and were about to move when they heard Genevieve's voice. "No need to trouble them. Mr. Castillo, I'll clear the way for you right away."
Chen Fan transmigrates as a son-in-law in a wealthy family. His wife cheats. Her family humiliates him. Desperate, his "Wife-Doting System" awakens. He discovers a bug: all married women count as wives! He splurges on other men's wives to gain power and builds his empire.
It was the day Gu Yun's world collapsed. 😱 An unexpected encounter overseas, a special mark on a woman—it sliced through an 18-year-old lie! The "daughter" she raised with all her heart, Gu Xue, was actually the child of her enemy, swapped by her ex-husband and his accomplices! Meanwhile, her biological daughter was left in the countryside, enduring the world's coldness. 💔 All her maternal love had been fed to a viper, while her real child shivered in the corner. Gu Yun straightened her back. This time, she would make those scum pay for their crimes with blood. 💥
It was the day Gu Yun's world collapsed. 😱 An unexpected encounter overseas, a special mark on a woman—it sliced through an 18-year-old lie! The "daughter" she raised with all her heart, Gu Xue, was actually the child of her enemy, swapped by her ex-husband and his accomplices! Meanwhile, her biological daughter was left in the countryside, enduring the world's coldness. 💔 All her maternal love had been fed to a viper, while her real child shivered in the corner. Gu Yun straightened her back. This time, she would make those scum pay for their crimes with blood. 💥
It was the day Gu Yun's world collapsed. 😱 An unexpected encounter overseas, a special mark on a woman—it sliced through an 18-year-old lie! The "daughter" she raised with all her heart, Gu Xue, was actually the child of her enemy, swapped by her ex-husband and his accomplices! Meanwhile, her biological daughter was left in the countryside, enduring the world's coldness. 💔 All her maternal love had been fed to a viper, while her real child shivered in the corner. Gu Yun straightened her back. This time, she would make those scum pay for their crimes with blood. 💥
It was the day Gu Yun's world collapsed. 😱 An unexpected encounter overseas, a special mark on a woman—it sliced through an 18-year-old lie! The "daughter" she raised with all her heart, Gu Xue, was actually the child of her enemy, swapped by her ex-husband and his accomplices! Meanwhile, her biological daughter was left in the countryside, enduring the world's coldness. 💔 All her maternal love had been fed to a viper, while her real child shivered in the corner. Gu Yun straightened her back. This time, she would make those scum pay for their crimes with blood. 💥
It was the day Gu Yun's world collapsed. 😱 An unexpected encounter overseas, a special mark on a woman—it sliced through an 18-year-old lie! The "daughter" she raised with all her heart, Gu Xue, was actually the child of her enemy, swapped by her ex-husband and his accomplices! Meanwhile, her biological daughter was left in the countryside, enduring the world's coldness. 💔 All her maternal love had been fed to a viper, while her real child shivered in the corner. Gu Yun straightened her back. This time, she would make those scum pay for their crimes with blood. 💥
It was the day Gu Yun's world collapsed. 😱 An unexpected encounter overseas, a special mark on a woman—it sliced through an 18-year-old lie! The "daughter" she raised with all her heart, Gu Xue, was actually the child of her enemy, swapped by her ex-husband and his accomplices! Meanwhile, her biological daughter was left in the countryside, enduring the world's coldness. 💔 All her maternal love had been fed to a viper, while her real child shivered in the corner. Gu Yun straightened her back. This time, she would make those scum pay for their crimes with blood. 💥
It was the day Gu Yun's world collapsed. 😱 An unexpected encounter overseas, a special mark on a woman—it sliced through an 18-year-old lie! The "daughter" she raised with all her heart, Gu Xue, was actually the child of her enemy, swapped by her ex-husband and his accomplices! Meanwhile, her biological daughter was left in the countryside, enduring the world's coldness. 💔 All her maternal love had been fed to a viper, while her real child shivered in the corner. Gu Yun straightened her back. This time, she would make those scum pay for their crimes with blood. 💥
It was the day Gu Yun's world collapsed. 😱 An unexpected encounter overseas, a special mark on a woman—it sliced through an 18-year-old lie! The "daughter" she raised with all her heart, Gu Xue, was actually the child of her enemy, swapped by her ex-husband and his accomplices! Meanwhile, her biological daughter was left in the countryside, enduring the world's coldness. 💔 All her maternal love had been fed to a viper, while her real child shivered in the corner. Gu Yun straightened her back. This time, she would make those scum pay for their crimes with blood. 💥
It was the day Gu Yun's world collapsed. 😱 An unexpected encounter overseas, a special mark on a woman—it sliced through an 18-year-old lie! The "daughter" she raised with all her heart, Gu Xue, was actually the child of her enemy, swapped by her ex-husband and his accomplices! Meanwhile, her biological daughter was left in the countryside, enduring the world's coldness. 💔 All her maternal love had been fed to a viper, while her real child shivered in the corner. Gu Yun straightened her back. This time, she would make those scum pay for their crimes with blood. 💥
It was the day Gu Yun's world collapsed. 😱 An unexpected encounter overseas, a special mark on a woman—it sliced through an 18-year-old lie! The "daughter" she raised with all her heart, Gu Xue, was actually the child of her enemy, swapped by her ex-husband and his accomplices! Meanwhile, her biological daughter was left in the countryside, enduring the world's coldness. 💔 All her maternal love had been fed to a viper, while her real child shivered in the corner. Gu Yun straightened her back. This time, she would make those scum pay for their crimes with blood. 💥
Series 1-Chapter 1 After seven years of secret marriage and three months of pregnancy, Josephine Marchand found out that her husband and his ex-girlfriend had officially announced their relationship. “Dad, I agree to leave my husband and my son. I will leave Roderick Girault and come home to take over the company.” “Josephine, it's good to think about it. Roderick is seven years older than you. During your marriage, he is still coupled up with that first love of his and is by no means a good match for you. You should deal with the divorce and household registration as soon as possible. I will wait for you to come back.” “Okay.” Just after hanging up the phone, the hot search that popped up on the cell phone attracted Josephine's attention again. #Roderick Girault ft Katie Lawson #OMG! They have a child. A well-known entertainment reporter posted a video: [Announcing a relationship only after giving birth to a child, is it true love or is it borrowing a child to get to the top?] In the video, Roderick was full of smiles. His hands carefully held the newborn child. And he lowered his head and kissed again and again. Katie leaned on him and smiled with her hands covering her mouth. They were just like a happy family of three. Roderick reposted the Instagram post with the caption: [Yes, we have a child. I love him and I love his mom even more, @Katie_]. In just a few seconds, Roderick's agency, fan club and friends in his circle sent their blessings. Everyone knew that Roderick was going to officially announce his relationship and the birth of his child with Katie. But only she and her manager were still in the dark. Josephine gave a self-deprecating smile and threw the pregnancy test results into the trash can. No wonder Roderick who had always been inseparable from her, unprecedentedly supported her to stop her work and go into the mountains for purification this time. If she hadn't found out that she was pregnant and ended her cultivation early, she was afraid that she wouldn't have seen this ridiculous scene. Her seven years of misery were harrowing and unbearable. Fortunately, she had come to her senses and decided to let go of Roderick. “Mr. Girault, the official announcement is so popular and has become a trending topic. What if Mrs. Girault knows about it?” The worried voice of the little assistant sounded. “Don't worry, she won't know.” Roderick's tone was without ripples, “There is no signal in the deep mountains and old forests. When she comes back after staying for a full month, the news will have long passed.” “When Mrs. Girault comes back? This matter will definitely not be concealed. Will she be angry at that time?” “It’s already done. Whether she accepts it or not, it can't change the reality. If she gets angry, the worst that can happen is divorce.” A sentence that pierced Josephine's heart. Katie was Roderick's first love. It was because of her that Roderick chose to become an actor. When Roderick's career was booming, he jumped to the top of the stream. But Katie fell to the bottom of the black news. Nine months ago, Roderick saved Katie from a humiliating situation at a dinner table. After learning that she was pregnant and had been dumped by her boyfriend, Roderick immediately spent a huge amount of money to cancel her contract and signed her into his own company. He gave her resources and accompanied her to speculate on CP. And even when she gave the word, he was able to leave the awards ceremony just to accompany her for her maternity check-up. For the sake of Katie, Roderick abandoned Josephine countless times. He would leave her behind on dates, during business trips and even when she was sick. Even on important occasions like their wedding anniversary, a single call from Katie would make him abandon Josephine and rush to her side. Josephine had always believed that Roderick was simply pitying Katie, which was why he couldn’t help but care for her. It wasn't until the paparazzi came to her with photos of their affair that Josephine realized how naive she had been. Upon hearing the word ‘divorce’, Katie's eyes lit up. “Roderick, it's a good thing you're here. Otherwise, I really can't hold on. If Josephine misunderstands, I'm willing to take my child and leave. We will never cause you any trouble.” She bit her lip slightly. Her trembling voice revealed helplessness and vulnerability. Roderick's heart softened. He gently wiped away her tears. “Don't cry, Katie. I won't leave you and your child behind. If Josephine can't accept it, I'll divorce her.” Having said that, Roderick firmly believed in his heart that even if Josephine knew about this matter, she would not leave him. Katie said coquettishly, “Don't talk nonsense about divorce. Josephine will be so sad if she hears it.” Josephine smiled and lowered her eyes to hide the mockery in her gaze. Whether she was sad or upset, it didn't matter. Anyway, everything was about to end. Chapter 2 When it became quiet outside, Josephine opened the door of the office and prepared to leave. She met Katie who was walking with a cup of coffee in her hand. Katie instantly freezes in place. “Josephine, why are you in Roderick's office?” Seeing Josephine holding her cell phone with a hard look on her face, Katie laughed. “Oh, you didn't see the hot search and run back overnight, right? I'm really sorry that you came back late. Now everyone knows that Roderick is the father of my child.” Josephine coldly looked at her. “Roderick and I are not divorced yet. If I post our marriage certificate, will you still be able to laugh?” Katie didn't care at all. “If you're not afraid of ruining Roderick, just go ahead and post it. With him as the top star, falling with me, I won't be at a loss” Josephine didn't expect that someone could really be shameless to this extent. Katie thought that she had pinched Josephine's weakness and became more and more arrogant. “How long do you think you can get this marriage certificate? Roderick has already said a long time ago he wants to divorce you and marry me. He also wants to give me a grand wedding to announce our relationship and the child's status to everyone.” Josephine was stunned for two seconds. She couldn’t believe Roderick actually took the initiative to propose a wedding with Katie. Over the past seven years, she had mentioned wanting to have a wedding several times, but Roderick had always found excuses to refuse. If she had known about this before today, she would have been heartbroken. But at this time, she didn’t care anymore. “Whether to divorce or not isn’t something Roderick can decide on his own. Get out of the way!” Katie reached out to stop her. “You know what, Josephine Marchand? I hate this condescending look of yours the most.” After saying that, she raised her hand and poured the coffee on her head. She then heavily shatters the cup. Hearing footsteps approaching, she let out a scream and collapsed to the ground. “Josephine, I'm sorry. I know the hot search thing made you unhappy. If this can make you feel happy, I have no complaints.” Without waiting for Josephine to speak, Roderick had already walked over with his assistant. “Katie, are you alright?” The corners of Katie's eyes were red. Her teardrops slid down her cheeks. “Roderick, Josephine found out about our official announcement of our relationship and having a child and she was so angry she couldn't help but act out. Please don't blame her.” Roderick painfully helped her up and glared fiercely at Josephine. “Josephine, you've gone too far! Katie hasn’t even finished her postpartum period yet. How could you treat her like this?” “Why? Are you worried about your child’s mother?” Roderick frowned slightly. “Don't talk nonsense! Katie and I are innocent. I’ve already said it’s just a publicity stunt. Why are you still being so petty about it?” Josephine sneered in her heart, ‘Am I fussing about it, or does he have ulterior motives?’ Roderick of the past never played these publicity stunts. He said he was a family man and wanted to give her enough sense of security. Nowadays, he had actually forgotten all about it. “Roderick, if I say that I'm also pregnant, which one do you choose, our child or Katie's child?” Roderick sighed. “Josephine, stop it! You haven't gotten pregnant for so many years, why bother making such a joke?” Josephine stares straight into his eyes. “I'm serious.” “Josephine, be reasonable, okay?” Roderick clearly didn't say anything, but Josephine already knew his choice. She turned and left. She coldly said, “Roderick, there is only one chance. Don't regret it.” The assistant was a bit puzzled. “Mr. Girault, what does Mrs. Girault mean? She doesn't want to divorce you, right?” Roderick waved his hand. “No, she's just angry for a while, I'll give her a gift to comfort her later.” Chapter 3 Josephine returned home and carefully collected everything related to Roderick. All the worthless things were thrown into the trash. She sorted out the valuable things and prepared to send them to a familiar store for recycling. Since she had decided to let go, there was no need to drag things out. When she carried a bag of things to recycle, she actually accidentally bumped into Roderick accompanying Katie to shop at the bridal store. Roderick was holding a baby and gazing tenderly at Katie, who was arranging her veil. “Baby, look. Mom is so pretty.” Katie's eyes sparkled with shyness. “Roderick, the baby isn't even a month old yet. How would she know if it's pretty or not? You're teasing me again!” Roderick handed the baby to his assistant and turned around to hug Katie's waist with both hands. He lowered his head and kissed her forehead, his tone doting, “In my eyes, you will always be the prettiest.” The clerk couldn't help but snicker, “Ms. Lawson, you are so lucky! Handsome and sweet men like Mr. Girault don't come along very often.” “No, it's me who's really lucky.” Roderick smiled more and more brightly. “It's my good fortune to be able to marry Katie. With her and the baby, I have no regrets in my life.” Josephine's gaze fell on the two of them. They no longer bothered to hide their affection, busy flaunting their happiness everywhere. At this moment, she, the legitimate wife, looked like a peeping clown. “Josephine?” Seeing Josephine standing outside the floor-to-ceiling window, Roderick hurriedly let go of Katie. He walked out quickly. “I saw the pregnancy test report. I'm sorry, I didn't think you were really pregnant. Why did you come out alone and didn't call me to accompany you?” Katie's face was expressionless. A clerk knew it. “Sorry if I dare to disturb Mr. Girault now. It seems that you should go back immediately. Ms. Lawson is still waiting for you to choose your wedding dress.” Roderick's eyebrows raised when he heard the clerk's words. He hurriedly explained to Josephine, ‘Sorry, Josephine, the clerk said something rude just now. Please don't take what she just said to heart.” “What about choosing a wedding dress? What about hugging and kissing the forehead? Was that also the clerk pulling you around to do something messy?” Roderick was a bit angry. “I've said it's just hype. I'm innocent with Katie. So, don't be rude and jealous.” “You're a manager, it doesn't matter whether you have this title or not, but Katie can not. It's already miserable for her to be pregnant and abandoned by a scumbag. Why are you still bothering her about these things?” “Roderick, the baby is peeing.” Hearing Katie calling out to him, Roderick lost his desire to continue the conversation. He glanced at the shopping bag in Josephine's hand. “What's this?” Josephine Marchand's hand carrying the bag tightened. “Nothing, just some random stuff.” Roderick didn’t seem to care. “As long as you like it, you can just swipe my card.” Josephine breathed a sigh of relief but also felt a little disappointed. Roderick had already forgotten that all these things were gifts he had once given her. Roderick thought for a moment and then reminded her, “Next time you buy something, remember to call me. You’re pregnant now. It’s not safe for you to be out alone.” After saying that, he returned to the bridal store and skillfully changed the baby's diaper. Looking at his busy back, the corner of Josephine's lips curled into a cold smile. It turned out that even if he knew she was pregnant, Roderick would still choose to leave her behind to take care of someone else. Obviously, over the years, the person who was most looking forward to the arrival of this child was him. He had once said that he would be good to her and the child for the rest of his life. The oath was still there, but people's hearts had changed. Now, he had long forgotten the words he had spoken. His whole heart had shifted to someone else. Josephine did not hesitate to sell all the gifts. She gently stroked her belly and said, “Baby, we don't want Daddy anymore. Mommy will take you home.” Chapter 4 Roderick accompanied Katie to pick out her wedding dress and didn't come home until the evening. He pushed open the bedroom door just in time to see Josephine hugging the trash can and dry-heaving. He panicked and handed over warm water. His eyes were full of concern. “Josephine, I know morning sickness is very uncomfortable. Thank you for your hard work.” Smelling the perfume odour on his body that belonged exclusively to Katie, Josephine was even more nauseous. “If you know I feel uncomfortable, don't bring a strange smell home.” Roderick's face was slightly stiff. “What strange smell? Don't think too much. I'll make time to spend more time with you later.” As soon as he finished speaking, the phone rang. “Roderick, it's bad news! Someone exploded Josephine's pregnancy test report on the internet, saying that you and Josephine are secretly married. And I'm the mistress interfering. Now the netizens are cursing and attacking me. What should I do?” “Don't panic. I'll come over right away.” Hanging up the phone, Roderick looked Josephine up and down. “Josephine, you didn't send anything to the paparazzi indiscriminately, did you?” Josephine Marchand was puzzled. “What do you mean?” “Nothing, something is going on with Katie. I'll go and accompany her first. You have to rest early. Don't need to wait for me.” The next door, the room door slammed shut. The man who had just said that he would take the time to accompany her more had disappeared. Josephine calmly withdrew her sight. Fortunately, she had long since stopped believing what he said. Early the next morning, Josephine’s cell phone rang non-stop. When she opened it, countless Instagram story replies and private messages nearly caused her phone to crash. Only after regaining her composure, Josephine saw that the replies and private messages were almost all insults from Roderick and Katie's fans. When she opened Roderick's Instagram, she felt as though she had fallen into an ice cave, feeling cold from head to toe. [Roderick: Thank you for all the fans' concern. My only wife is only @Katie. And we have and only have one child between us. My manager @Josephine is indeed pregnant. The father of the child is not from the entertainment industry. Please do not believe the rumours and do not spread rumours]. It was strange to say, but Josephine thought she had already made her decision a long time ago and wouldn't be sad or hurt by Roderick anymore. But the moment she realized she had been abandoned. She still couldn't hold back the fine pain that flooded the bottom of her heart. Roderick rushed home. The first sentence he said was, “Josephine, let's get a divorce.” At this moment, Josephine's heart finally felt a real sense of closure. She calmly opened her mouth and spoke, “Alright, should we apply for the divorce now?” “Well, Josephine, don't worry. You’re the one I love most. We're just getting a fake divorce. And when public opinion dies down, I'll marry you all over again.” Roderick leaned his head on Josephine's stomach. He swore a promise and said, “At that time, I'll make up a grand wedding for you. So, the whole world will know that you and the baby are my wife and child.” “It's all right, whatever you want.” Josephine's eyebrows were soft, not seeing the slightest bit of sadness. Meanwhile, Roderick felt an unexplainable sense of unease. “Josephine, you know, I really don't have anything to do with Katie. Even if I get married to her, it's just for publicity. Once the hype dies down, I'll divorce her for the first time.” “Alright, I understand.” “Josephine, thank you for your understanding. I will never let you down.” Roderick finished speaking and rushed out quickly. Katie was waiting for him in the car. “Roderick, did Josephine agree to the divorce?” “Yes, she agreed. Katie, don't worry. Once we get the marriage certificate, we will have a wedding. At that time no one will ever use the child issues to blackmail you again.” The two were happily discussing and neither of them saw Josephine who was standing nearby with the household registration transfer documents. She quietly and detachedly looked at Roderick. The man who had once made her heart thump was finally killed by himself. And he could never come back. “Roderick, I will let you go and spare myself.” Chapter 5 Josephine returned to the company after completing the household registration transfer procedures. When she opened the office door, she saw Katie sitting at her desk with her child in her arms. “Get out of the way. This is my seat.” Katie raised her eyelids and coldly swept a glance at Josephine. “Your seat? Did Roderick not tell you that as of today, you're fired? And this will be my spot from now on.” She pushed a divorce agreement and a termination notice of dismissal in front of Josephine. “Sign it now. Don’t waste each other’s time.” Josephine laughed lightly. “If I refuse to sign, what can you do to me?” Katie rolled her eyes in contempt. “Roderick praised you for being atmospheric and understanding, but now it seems you’re nothing more than that. Say it, what do you want before you sign?” Josephine's eyes flashed with a hint of amusement. Katie was so arrogant now. It seemed that she didn't realize that Roderick had reached his current position entirely because of her. In the beginning, she fell in love at first sight with Roderick, who was a hero who saved beauty at first sight. She quietly spent money and resources to push him from a small transparent person in the entertainment industry to the current top position. Just imagine that a virtuous wife who had helped her husband achieve his dreams would be betrayed by her own husband after he succeeded and instead have an affair behind his wife's back. “I don't want anything, Ms. lawson. Just make sure you keep an eye on the trash I've discarded, or else someone else might snatch it away. After all, a cat that's tasted fish will never linger for just a single fish.” Katie choked and was speechless for a moment. Without waiting for her to understand, Josephine had already signed and simply threw away the pen. Just as she was about to leave, Katie violently got up and slapped her across the face. She then pushed her to the ground with force. “Josephine, what gives you the right to act so arrogant as an abandoned woman? How dare you call Roderick trash and curse me for being cheated on?” “I want you to see the reality. The one who was dumped is you. It's Roderick who doesn't want you and that bitchy seed in your belly anymore!” The sharp pain in her abdomen caused Josephine to panic. In the next moment, Katie slapped the child hard across the face and then threw the child forcefully at Josephine with force. Josephine subconsciously caught the child. But her entire body was knocked to the ground. The baby was shocked and cried out tearfully. Katie obediently knelt in front of Josephine. “Josephine, please give me back my child! I'll never dare to compete with you for Mr. Girault anymore. Please, let my child go!” Roderick rushed in when he heard the noise. “What's going on? What happened to the baby?” “Roderick, I don't know why Josephine did this. I just told her that the public opinion on the internet is not friendly to her right now. And asked her to sign a resignation notice of dismissal to temporarily block the mouths of the netizens.” “She suddenly called me a slutty mistress and said my child was a bastard. She also suddenly went crazy and snatched my child and slapped him hard. The baby has been crying nonstop. He must have been very scared.” “Josephine, if you have any grievances, take it out on me. Why do you want to hurt my child?” Roderick's eyes were filled with disappointment. “Josephine, how could you be like this?” He picked up the child. He quickly left with Katie. Roderick did not pay the slightest attention to Josephine, who was pale-faced as she covered her belly and weakly paralysed on the ground. “Roderick…” The pain in her abdomen became more and more intense. Josephine cried out Roderick's name in despair through her tears. But she only saw his back walking farther and farther away. Josephine panicked and dialled 911. And when she saw the emergency personnel, she finally couldn't hold on and fainted. When she woke up again, she frantically looked at the doctor. “Doctor, my child?” “It's fine. I have been given Atropine. The baby is saved now.” The doctor spoke softly to comfort her, “You need to rest well in the future and be careful not to bump into anything again.” “By the way, where is your husband? It's such a time, why doesn't he come to stay with you?” “I'm divorced and don’t have a husband.” The doctor was stunned. His face looked ashamed. “Then have a good rest. You can be discharged after the drip.” Chapter 6 When Josephine returned home, she saw Roderick and Katie. They were sitting side by side on the sofa chatting in low voices to each other. Upon seeing Josephine, Roderick's face instantly darkened. Katie, on the other hand, her eyes were red. And she scrambled to stand up from the sofa with her arms tightly around her child. “Josephine, don't be angry. I'll stay far away from Roderick. Please, don't ever hurt my child again. He's still so young and innocent. If you have any grievances, you can just come to me!” Josephine snorted lightly, “Katie if you used your acting skills to frame me in a movie, you might even win a Best Actress award this year.” Roderick finally could no longer stay seated. He stood in front of Katie to block her. “Josephine, apologize to Katie right now! It was your fault to snatch the child. Katie is magnanimous and doesn't hold a grudge. Yet you still dare to slander her?” Josephine's gaze landed on Roderick's face. He suddenly felt utterly absurd. He actually believed Katie's words and believed that she would harm an innocent child. After knowing her for so many years, was she so ruthless and heartless in his eyes? Katie poked her head out behind Roderick and smiled faintly at Josephine, full of provocation and complacency. Josephine coldly lowered her face. “I will never apologize. I won’t admit to something I didn’t do.” Roderick pinched his eyebrows. His face filled with impatience. “If you didn't do it, how did the child end up in your hands? Look at his face, it's still swollen even now. Josephine, when did you become so cruel like this?” “In order to not get divorced and do this kind of unethical thing. Aren't you afraid that retribution will come to your own child?” “Shut up!” Josephine's eyes nearly blazed with anger. For the sake of Katie's child, Roderick dared to curse the child in her womb. He was not worthy of being the father of her child. “Early tomorrow morning, see you at the City Hall.” Josephine turned around and went upstairs. And in a short while, she walked out with her suitcase. Roderick grabbed her hand. His expression changed slightly. “Where are you going?” Josephine shook off his hand. “I’m moving out so that if anything happens later, you can’t blame it on me again.” “Josephine Marchand!” Roderick said angrily, “You want to threaten me with running away from home?” “Think whatever you want, but don’t forget to go to the City Hall tomorrow.” Roderick darkened his face. “Okay, don't you regret it? Since you're so stubborn, don't come begging me when you want to remarry.” “Josephine, remember this, I'm not obligated to you. The day you don't apologize to Katie, the day I won't forgive you.” Josephine was too lazy to pay attention to him and left without looking back. *** The next morning, Josephine waited at the entrance of the City Hall for an hour before Roderick finally arrived. “You are late.” He frowned as he walked in front of Josephine. “Are you so impatient?” “What else can I do?” Roderick walked into the City Hall with a cold expression and said nothing. Twenty minutes later, the two successfully obtained their freshly issued divorce certificate. “Josephine, if you realize your mistake, apologize to Katie. And by the way, help take care of the children at home. Otherwise, I will never agree to remarry.” Before Josephine could reply, the phone rang. “Josephine, the divorce procedures are done, right? Three days from now, you will attend a birthday banquet on behalf of your father. And then I’ll send a car to take you to the airport.” Josephine nodded. “Yeah, everything is done. Then I'll go straight back in three days.” Roderick snapped his head up to stare at her. “Where are you going back to? You haven't apologized to Katie yet. You're not allowed to go anywhere!” Josephine found it funny. “We are already divorced. What does it matter to you where I go?” “It's up to you, Josephine. In three days, I’ll be getting married to Katie. You can come or not!” After saying that, he opened the car door straight away, ready to drive away. Meanwhile, Katie sat in the passenger seat. She smiled provocatively at Josephine. She used her lips to speak silently, “You lost. Roderick is mine now.” Katie didn't know that Josephine didn't want Roderick a long time ago. A man who had been tainted like him, she would never look back to pick him up again. Chapter 7 After leaving the City Hall, Josephine went to the investment company. This company was specifically set up by her for Roderick. Borrowing the background of the Marchand Family, she slowly pushed Roderick into the public eye. It could be said that Roderick's current achievements were entirely due to Josephine's efforts. In order not to put Roderick under pressure, Josephine had never revealed this matter. She just didn't expect that Roderick would betray her and get mixed up with Katie just after he had stabilized his position at the top of the stream. Since they had already divorced, she naturally would no longer provide financial support, connections, or resources. For specific matters, she explained that her secretary would help her to do it on her behalf. “Mrs. Girault, regarding the withdrawal of investment and shares, when would you like me to discuss this with Mr. Girault?” “Let's do it after Roderick and Katie’s wedding. This wedding gift, I hope Roderick likes it.” Josephine recalled what Roderick had just said. He told her not to regret it, that he didn’t need her. She wanted to see if he would regret it without her. Josephine's cell phone rang. It was a WhatsApp message from Katie. She sent a photo. Wearing a lace camisole, Katie was lying in Roderick's arms. Her hair was messy with clear signs of intimacy. It looked like they had just finished. Josephine couldn't help but frown. The lace garter on Katie looked familiar as if it was hers. In the next second, Katie confirmed her suspicion. Katie: [Josephine, the pyjamas you picked out are nice, the bed is nice and of course, the man is even nicer. But from now on, all of this belongs to me.] Josephine snorted derisively, blocked Katie’s number and called a few more bodyguards to go home with her. Just as she entered the door, she saw Roderick. He had a determined look on his face. “Do you know you're wrong? Katie just left out. Wait for her to come back and you apologize properly.” “I have no intention of doing that.” Josephine pointed to the bodyguards behind her and ordered, “It's just moving house. Don't get carried away.” Roderick's face turned a few more points colder. “Fine, go ahead and move. Don't ever come back if you have the guts.” He walked straight out the door without looking back. The sound of the door closing completely drowned out Josephine's voice. “I won’t be coming back.” She directed the bodyguards to move things around. The clothes, shoes and bags in the closet, the jewellery and cosmetics from the vanity table and pots, pans and utensils from the kitchen, everything that could be taken were packed up and carried away. Everything else that was inconvenient to take, Josephine smashed to pieces. Finally, she looked at the wedding photo on the wall. Josephine tore down the half that had her in it. One by one, the pieces scattered across the floor. Roderick came back and only saw a mess. Katie carried the child through the door and was shocked by the miserable state of the house. “Roderick, what's going on in the house?” Roderick gritted his teeth. “It must be Josephine's doing.” “Roderick, I'm sorry. It’s all my fault for interfering with your relationship with Josephine. Why don't we not get married? And after the wedding is over, you can remarry her.’ “I'm afraid that Josephine will be too angry and won't be able to think of coming to hurt my child again.” Roderick heartbreakingly hugs her. “Don't be afraid, I will protect you. If I said I would get married to you, I would definitely go. We'll go as soon as the wedding is over, okay?” “But what about Josephine?” “It's fine. It'll be fine when she's done throwing a tantrum. She loves me so much, she wouldn't want to leave me.” Roderick gently raised his eyebrows, as if everything was under control. He waited for two days, but never received an apology from Josephine. For two whole days, there was no sign of her. He opened his cell phone and looked again and again. But Josephine actually didn't even send him a message this time. It was too abnormal. Roderick was vaguely uneasy inwardly, but quickly put it down again. In Josephine’s age now, it was impossible to find a man with better conditions than him. He believed she would never leave him. Chapter 8 On the way to the birthday party, Josephine received some WhatsApp messages from Roderick. Roderick: [Katie said you blocked her number. Josephine. How long are you going to keep acting this way?] Roderick: [At twelve noon, Katie and I are going to hold a wedding ceremony. If you still want to remarry, come to the wedding venue and apologize to Katie. I'm warning you, this is the last chance I'm giving you.] A few minutes later, he sent two more messages. Roderick: [Josephine, you really disappoint me too much. It's obvious that you were the one who was wrong in the first place, why do you just refuse to apologize?] Roderick: [The wedding is about to start. Hurry up and come over! Katie is still waiting for you. She said she would forgive you as long as you apologize.] Looking at the constantly refreshing chat box, Josephine felt annoyed and decided to block him as well. Not long after blocking him, Roderick switched to texting again and sent it over. Roderick: [Josephine, you have gotten bold. Do you even dare to block me too? If you keep this up, I really won’t tolerate it anymore! I'll give you one last chance, add me back and come over immediately to apologize, or else don’t even think about me agreeing to remarry you.] Josephine was speechless to the extreme, so she decisively blocked all of Roderick's social media accounts to regain some peace to herself. After the birthday banquet ended, she was about to get into the car to leave when she happened to run into Roderick and Katie. Roderick’s face was so dark that it could drip ink. “Josephine, it's really you! Since you're here, why don't you find Katie and apologize?” “Roderick, don't be angry. I think it must be because there were too many people at the wedding and Josephine was embarrassed.” Josephine only then realized that their wedding and birthday party were held at the same hotel. “Don't think too much. I came to attend the birthday banquet. And it has nothing to do with you guys at all.” Roderick sighed helplessly. “Josephine, don't be tough. Bernard's birthday banquet only invited friends. How could you possibly get in?” “Forget it, Josephine. I don't need you to apologize. Roderick is just afraid that public opinion will affect me and my child, so he was kind enough to help us. If you really mind, hit me and scold me all you want. Please don't hurt my child anymore, okay?” Katie suddenly knelt down, crying with tears streaming down her face. Roderick wrapped his arms around her. “Katie, don't beg her. With me here, no one will dare to harm you and your child.” “I've already said it's just a fake marriage. It's not like I don't want her. She’s so petty, insisting on causing trouble for no reason!” Josephine was uncomfortable by their arguing. She felt a dull pain in her stomach. She irritably covered her stomach in annoyance. Her voice clearly impatient said, “Are you two done acting? If you're done, get out of my way. I don't have time to waste with you.” After she said that she was about to get into her car and leave. However, Roderick couldn't guess what Josephine was thinking. He tugged on her arm. “What exactly do you want to do here today?” Josephine held up the accompanying gift in her hand. “Look at the name on it. Don't get your hopes up.” Roderick's eyes widened in shock. “Do you really know Bernard?” “Whether I know him or not is my business. What does it have to do with you? Don't forget, we're already divorced, okay?” Josephine got into the car without looking back. *** In the rearview mirror, Roderick grew smaller and smaller until he was just a blurry speck. Josephine lowered her head and tenderly touched her abdomen. “Baby, let's go home.” Watching the car drift away, Roderick felt a hollow emptiness in his heart, as if he had lost something forever. He used his assistant's WhatsApp to send a message to Josephine. [Josephine, I know you're upset now, but Katie and I are only married in the name. After we get the certificate later, I will come back to accompany you and the child. You wait for me at home obediently.] Josephine replied with a smile. [Roderick, I won't wait for you anymore.] She turned off her phone and got on the plane without hesitation. Everything was over. From now on, she was going to run a brand new life. 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Chapter 1 Island Survival [Welcome to the Island Survival Game.] [Treasure chests will appear in the sea every day from 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM. Players can use fishing rods to pull up chests and get supplies.] [Players between the ages of 16 and 55 are selected. Family members will be grouped together when possible.] [The beginner protection period lasts for three days. If you die in the game, you die for real.] [The game begins.] [Today's weather: cloudy, 60 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit.] A robotic voice announced. Jane Quinn looked around, completely confused. One moment, she was celebrating a fresh start and planning a barbecue dinner, and the next, she was standing on a deserted island. [Please enter your username. If you do not pick one in ten seconds, your real name will be used.] A blank line and a countdown appeared in front of her. [Ten, nine, eight...] Jane thought, 'What the hell is this?' [Seven, six, five...] Jane barely had time to think. She typed "J.Ivy" as her username. [Scanning player information.] A holographic data panel suddenly popped up in front of Jane. [Player: J.Ivy] [Gender: Female] [Level: 1 (EXP: 0/50)] [Constitution: 7 (above average, not bad)] [Attack: 5 (pretty pathetic)] [Defense: 5 (pretty weak)] [Intelligence: 9 (super smart)] [Speed: 6 (barely faster than a turtle)] [Luck: 8 (pretty lucky)] [Magic attributes: Ice Magic: 8; Light Magic: 9] [All base stats are capped at 10, except for level, which can go up to 100.] [Health Points (HP): 70] [Magic Points (MP): 90] Jane thought, 'Player info? Am I actually in a game? And is that luck stat for real? I've always had terrible luck. The one time I won the lottery is the only exception.' The holographic status screen came from a watch on her wrist. Besides the stats panel, there were tabs for the chatroom, trading section, and friends list. In the bottom right, a display read 100,000/100,000 for players. It looked like the games she used to play. The chatroom was already blowing up. BigDaddy: [Where the hell am I? I was just eating dinner.] Pitviper: [I was on the toilet.] MorningStar: [Didn't you hear that voice? This is a survival game.] Sunset: [I don't want to be stuck in this hellhole. I want to go home.] Rocky: [I want to go home, too.] Southshore: [Looks like we can't go back.] Sunrise: [The beginner protection only lasts three days. We must hurry up and gather supplies, or we'll be dead soon.] Seeing the chat rolling, Jane started to feel uneasy inside, too. [J.Ivy, your parents have been detected in the game. Would you like to teleport them into your area?] Jane bit her lip and picked "No." Jane was the heiress of a rich family who'd been switched with another baby at the hospital after birth. The Quinn family, the one that adopted her, was poor. With a spoiled younger brother, Jane had to do the housework from a young age. She was constantly yelled at and even hit, and her life was miserable. Later, the truth came out, and Jane learned that the Quinns themselves had arranged the switch. The Quinns had abused her not because they favored boys but because they'd known she wasn't their daughter. They had switched her with Eve Goodwin, their real daughter, so Eve could lead a better life. Jane wanted to call the police, but Elena Goodwin, Jane's real mother, couldn't let go of the girl she'd raised for twenty years. After Eve's tearful pleas, Elena forgave the Quinns regardless of Jane's feelings, kept Eve by her side, and ended up being even closer to her than to Jane. Eve was the girl Elena had raised as her own for twenty years, a perfect lady skilled in all the arts, whereas Jane, her real daughter that she'd just met, had grown up in a small town, doing farm work. Desmond Goodwin, Jane's real father, and Elena chose Eve without hesitation. They doted on Eve, and Jane was ignored and left to survive on her own. But Eve always pretended to be pure and innocent, but she was secretly scheming. She kept framing Jane, and the more it happened, the less Desmond and Elena liked Jane. To them, Jane was some uncouth, petty girl. Then Eve pulled the trick again, blaming Jane for breaking Elena's favorite antique vase, worth millions. This time Jane was ready. She had bought a recorder and caught Eve on tape. When Eve went to complain, Jane pressed play for everyone to hear. Jane expected the truth to change Desmond and Elena, but Eve started to sob and said, "I was scared because I'm not your real daughter." Desmond and Elena softened and wanted to let it go. Jane was disappointed. She called the police. Desmond and Elena were furious. They thought Jane was cruel and that she called the cops over something so trivial and tried to get Eve thrown in jail. Jane did not actually want Eve jailed. She knew that unless Elena pressed charges over the vase, Eve would be perfectly fine. Jane only wanted to make a clean break from both families, and she wanted to do it in front of the police. If she stayed, Jane had no idea how much more she would have to put up with. With the police's help, Jane formally changed her residency and signed the papers to cut ties with Desmond and Elena. She was about to celebrate with a barbecue when she found herself dumped into a strange game world. A system prompt hovered in front of her, asking if she'd like to teleport her parents to her side. Jane scoffed. She had already severed the relationship. 'Let Eve, their perfect daughter, take care of them instead,' she thought. Jane couldn't stop thinking about her luck stat. 'Even someone as unlucky as me got an 8, so Eve, who's spoiled rotten and adored by everyone, must have a perfect 10,' she thought. That really made her unhappy. [Treasure chests are now spawning. Players, start fishing.] Jane was dazed for a moment before she snapped out of it. She had no time to get sentimental. She didn't even know where she was. That robotic voice sounded legit. They were here to survive, and if she died here, she'd be dead for real. The voice said the beginner protection lasted three days. What came after that could be lethal. All she knew was, right now, she had to grab as many resources as she could before the protection ended. Jane had checked her gear. She only had a ten-slot inventory, a fishing rod, and a shabby thatched hut that would be useless in a heavy storm. If she wanted to survive, she had to build a proper shelter. Jane walked to the shore, baited her hook, and cast her line into the sea. She waited quietly for a long time until she finally felt a tug. Her eyes lit up. She reeled it in fast. It was heavy, but since she'd been doing farm work and had grown strong muscles, she pulled it up easily. What she hauled in was a knee-high wooden crate. She didn't open it yet, only tossed it into her inventory to check later. Right now, she wanted to fish up as many crates as she could. Chapter 2 Opening Wooden Crates and Exploring Jane threw more bait into the sea. This time, she waited almost an hour before she got another crate. After storing it, she noticed it still took only one slot of the inventory, but the number on the crate now showed two. Good thing same items could stack; otherwise, her ten slots would fill up very soon. Time slowly passed. Jane checked her watch and frowned. It was 11:55, only five minutes left before crates stopped appearing. She'd only caught three crates in four hours, and she wasn't sure that would be enough. It was almost noon. Jane started to reel in her line when something tugged hard, shaking her rod wildly. She pulled up quickly. This crate felt much heavier than the others. Jane struggled to haul it in, her rod trembling. She worried it might snap. The crate landed hard on the sand. It was still wooden but heavier than the rest. Jane stored it in her inventory. 'Hope this one has more supplies,' she thought. It was noon. Jane packed up her fishing rod and headed toward the thatched hut. The hut sat on higher ground, probably to keep it from flooding when the tide came. As she got closer, Jane's lips twitched in disbelief. This was no hut. It was just a pile of weeds tied together into a tiny shelter. Inside, there was only a heap of weeds on the floor and holes in the roof. There was no place to hide anything. Jane pulled out all four wooden crates, ready to open them. Inside the first crate, she found a windproof lighter, a knife, and five units of wood. In the second, there were three units of refined iron and five units of plastic. Jane's mood sank. Neither had any food or water. The third crate gave her 34 fluid ounces of water in two bottles and 14 ounces of bread. 'Finally, some real food,' she thought. Then she eagerly opened the last, heavier crate. Inside were a stone axe, two apples, and two sandwiches. A prompt popped up on her holo display: [Stone axe: Attack: 10; Durability: 100/100; Good for chopping down trees.] 'No wonder it was so heavy. It's a weapon,' Jane thought. 'The supplies aren't much, but at least I have enough to get through today.' The system asked, [You have four wooden crates. Do you want to dismantle them?] 'Wait, I can dismantle these?' Jane thought. She tapped "Yes." The four crates were dismantled into 24 pieces of wood. 'So each crate gives six units of wood,' she thought. Now Jane had a windproof lighter, a knife, a stone axe, three refined iron pieces, 29 pieces of wood, five pieces of plastic, two bottles of water, 14 ounces of bread, two apples, and two sandwiches. Jane looked at the rundown shelter, sighed, and patted it. 'How am I supposed to live in this?' she thought. Just then, a system message appeared. [J.Ivy's shelter: level-1 shabby shelter, can't keep out wind or rain] [Next level: level-2 sturdy shelter, can keep out wind and rain] [Materials needed: thatch ×30, wood ×10] 'So I can upgrade it,' Jane thought. 'But where do I find thatch?' She took out a piece of bread and an apple, drank some water, and barely filled her stomach. Jane decided to look for resources. She couldn't wait for the system to deliver crates every day. Besides, since it was still the beginner protection period, it was the best time to explore. With her stone axe in hand, Jane made her way toward the forest near the beach. The place was deep and eerily quiet, and Jane felt a weird sense of danger. She only dared to stay near the edge. In a patch of bushes, she spotted something like thatch and pulled it up. It was thatch. Jane gathered all thatch she could find in the area, ending up with 36 units of thatch and 36 EXP. 'Wait, I get EXP for this?' she wondered, still unsure what EXP and levels were for. Then there were things like Magic Points, Ice Magic, and Light Magic. From her gaming experience, Jane guessed she'd learn Ice and Light spells someday. But right now, she didn't know how to unlock them. Nearby stood seven banyan trees. Jane pulled out her stone axe and started chopping. Each tree took a dozen swings, but she ended up with 35 units of wood and 35 EXP. [Congratulations. You've reached Level 2 and gained one attribute point for each attribute except Luck and Magic attributes, plus five free attribute points (excluding Luck and Magic attributes).] Jane checked her stats panel, and it had changed. [Player: J.Ivy] [Gender: Female] [Level: 2 (EXP: 21/80)] [Constitution: 8 (not bad)] [Attack: 6 (still not much of a punch)] [Defense: 6 (still pretty fragile)] [Intelligence: 10 (awesome)] [Speed: 7 (decent)] [Luck: 8 (pretty lucky)] [Magic attributes: Ice Magic: 8; Light Magic: 9] [All base stats are capped at 10, except for level, which can go up to 100.] [Health Points (HP): 80] [Magic Points (MP): 100] Jane noticed that when her Constitution was 7, her HP was 70. Now that it was 8, her HP had risen to 80. And Intelligence and Magic Points seemed to be linked. Magic Points mattered, but Jane still didn't know how to unlock spells. She put three free attribute points into Constitution and two into Attack. Now her Constitution was 11, her HP jumped to 110, and Attack reached 8. 'Finally, I'm not so weak anymore,' she thought. The axe's durability had dropped to 90/100. "This axe wears out so fast," Jane sighed. Jane ventured a bit deeper into the woods and spotted some long, slender vines. Her eyes lit up. She chopped one down and tested its strength with a tug, nodding in satisfaction. 'These are sturdy enough to weave fish traps,' she thought. 'I can set them in the sea and catch dinner.' Back in the small town, Jane had often gone hungry. She'd learned to weave fish traps from her neighbor Wayne, setting them in the river to catch food. She never imagined that skill would be useful in a survival game. Jane's fingers moved quickly, and soon she had several well-made traps. She glanced at the time. It was already 3:30 PM. She was surprised she'd spent three hours chopping trees and gathering materials. 'Time to head out,' she thought, taking one last look into the forest before turning toward the beach. She walked along the shoreline for about 30 minutes and finally found a spot with rocky outcrops. She placed her traps at different points among the rocks. Then, to her delight, she spotted three coconut trees growing on the beach. Jane loved coconut water, but she always thought bottled drinks couldn't compare to fresh coconut water straight from the fruit. She grabbed her stone axe and worked on the coconut trees. After some effort, she got nine coconuts, nine pieces of wood, and 15 EXP. 'Coconut trees give less wood than regular ones,' she thought. 'But having coconuts is already a win.' Jane checked the time. It was 4:30 PM, and the sky was starting to darken. 'Better head back,' she thought. 'The night out here feels dangerous.' Chapter 3 Upgrading the Shelter Jane returned to her shelter by five o'clock. The sky had turned completely dark. She started a fire using two bundles of thatch, one piece of wood, and her lighter. Warm light instantly filled the hut. Then, using thirty bundles of thatch and ten pieces of wood, she spent ten minutes upgrading the dilapidated hut into a sturdy one. It was still a thatched shelter, but now it wouldn't collapse. [Congratulations, J.Ivy. You have upgraded your shelter to Level 2 and gained 20 EXP.] Jane checked the materials needed for the next upgrade. [Wooden Shelter: Level 3 (protects against ordinary monsters). Upgrade requires: wood ×80, stone ×30.] 'Ordinary monsters,' she thought. 'So monsters will attack players.' She'd already guessed this world was dangerous, but the thought still unsettled her. Her stomach growled loudly. She really needed to grab something to eat. All she'd had today was some bread and an apple. Jane grabbed her axe and cracked open a coconut. She downed the coconut water, scooped out the meat, and then punched two small holes in the shell with her knife. She threaded some leftover vines through the holes, poured in half a bottle of water, and hung the shell over the fire using the vines as a handle. She planned to heat up a sandwich, saving the bread and apple for breakfast. The fire in the game burned intensely hot, and the water boiled almost instantly. Jane took out a sandwich and used only half of the flavor packet. She didn't like salty food much, so she saved the rest to use as seasoning later. She knew that without enough salt, over time, her health would decline. The warm sandwich helped settle her stomach. As she ate, she reviewed her supplies. Things seemed okay, but she couldn't shake the feeling that food and water were running low. She remembered she was still in the beginner protection period. Once that ended, gathering resources would become much harder. That meant she had to keep scavenging tomorrow. After finishing the sandwich, she felt bored. The day's exertion and the quiet surroundings made it easy for her to drift off to sleep. Jane woke up at 7:30 in the morning. She rinsed her mouth with bottled water and ate a piece of bread, which was just enough to ease her hunger. She checked the weather. [Today's weather: Sunny, 66°F to 86°F.] The treasure chests hadn't respawned yet, and Jane began to wonder how the other survivors in her zone were doing. She opened the chatroom and saw the region tab had 999+ unread messages, all from last night. IronWill: [How many chests did you guys get? I only got two.] Teddy: [Same. Just two. And all I got was plastic and wood. I'm starving and dying of thirst. Can anyone share some food or water? Please.] SpringDrizzle: [Same.] FlyingBird: [Me too.] SuccessfulMe: [I only found a piece of bread and a bottle of water. Not enough to survive.] LongWay: [Honestly, just having food is pretty lucky already.] LuckyKing: [Huh? You guys got so little? I got five MREs, ten bottles of water, and ten apples. That should last me two days.] Jane was surprised. 'This guy's luck is unreal,' she thought. 'But is it really smart to let everyone know he's got so much food?' Sure enough, the chat went wild as soon as everyone saw LuckyKing's message. FlyingBird: [Damn, you're lucky.] Teddy: [Hey, LuckyKing, can you spare me some food? I didn't get anything at all. Please, I'm starving here.] LongWay: [I've got my parents with me. They're both in their fifties. Can you help us out? We'll definitely pay you back once we get some food.] LuckyKing didn't reply after that. He probably realized it wasn't a good idea to tell everyone he had so much food. Teddy: [@LuckyKing, come on. Say something. You can't let us die out here.] LongWay: [Yeah. With your luck, you'll probably find more tomorrow. Share a bit. It won't hurt you.] PrettyFace: [We're all from Centlandia. We should help each other when things are tough.] HazySurface: [How can you ask for that? Why should he share what he worked for?] HungryBelly: [Exactly. If you want to survive, find food yourselves. Stop relying on others. This is a survival game. Only the strong survive.] LuckyKing: [Sure, I'm lucky, but I'm not playing saint. If you want something, trade for it. Nothing's free.] Teddy: [Guys, don't you care about your fellow countrymen at all?] UsTogether: [Survival matters now, not solidarity. If you had food, would you give it away? Don't expect others to do what you wouldn't.] Seeing more and more people criticize them, the freeloaders quickly stopped talking. Jane agreed with LuckyKing and the others. She was willing to trade resources, but if anyone expected free handouts, they were out of luck. 'Why should anyone give away what they worked hard to get? Who do they think they are?' she thought. ***** At exactly eight o'clock, Jane sat by the shore. She cast her hook into the sea, waiting for the next round of supplies. Today she pulled up four wooden crates. Inside she found a stone pickaxe, 5 units of refined iron, 5 units of plastic, 5 units of glass, and 3 bottles of water, 21 ounces of bread, and two ham sausages. [Stone Pickaxe: Attack: 10; Durability: 100; Can be used to gather stone.] Jane felt a bit down. She'd gotten even less food than yesterday, so she'd have to stretch her supplies. Still, finding a new tool made her feel a little better. She dismantled the wooden crates and collected 24 pieces of wood. At the moment, Jane's inventory included: a windproof lighter, a knife, a stone axe with 85 durability, a stone pickaxe, 8 units of refined iron, 86 pieces of wood, 4 bundles of thatch, 10 units of plastic... 5 pieces of glass, 4 bottles of water, 28 ounces of bread, 1 apple, 1 sandwich, 8 coconuts, and 2 ham sausages. Back at the shelter, Jane ate some bread and opened up a coconut. She didn't eat anything else. Good thing she didn't have much of an appetite. She left anything she didn't need for the day inside the shelter, taking only her stone axe, stone pickaxe, a bottle of water, and a ham sausage, just in case she got hungry later. Today, Jane headed to the forest again, but instead of yesterday's spot, she chose the area next to where she'd left her fish basket, so she wouldn't have to trek back later. Chapter 4 First Deal The forest here was much thicker. Jane chopped down three banyan trees, collecting 15 pieces of wood and 15 EXP. Then she decided to move on. Today, her goal was to gather stones and explore further. She didn't want to waste too much time chopping trees. She pushed aside the vines blocking her path and continued deeper into the forest. The plants grew denser, some sprinkled with tiny yellow and white flowers she couldn't name. She spotted plenty of mushrooms with bright red caps and white stems. They looked beautiful, but she remembered an old warning: Red cap, white stalk. Eat them and you'll be laid out flat. That kept her from picking any. Still, with all this thick greenery and so many mushrooms around, Jane figured there was probably a water source nearby. She checked the time. It was 3. If she hurried, it would take about an hour to get out of the forest. She needed to collect her fishing traps, and it would take another 30 minutes to get back. She had to leave now. On her way out, Jane was hungry. She washed down a sausage with bottled water in two bites. Once she stepped out of the forest, the whole world seemed to brighten up. The forest had been so gloomy. It really wasn't a place for people. She hurried over to the shallows and took a quick look. Jane's mouth twitched. Unfortunately, out of the five fishing traps she'd set, only two remained. The rest must have been swept away by the wind. She hauled up the two remaining traps and dumped them onto the sand. The haul was disappointingly small. Just two sea snails, a palm-sized fish, and a few handfuls of seaweed. That was all she got. [Would you disassemble them?] Naturally, Jane tapped "Yes." It was a convenient way. [Received: snail meat ×2, 3.5 ounces of fish meat, seaweed ×2.] Jane didn't stick around. She tossed the two fishing traps back into the sea and headed for her shelter. On her way, she spotted a few large rocks. She pulled out her stone pickaxe and started chipping away, getting 15 pieces of stones and 15 EXP. Jane couldn't help but complain inwardly, 'Seriously? Those rocks were huge, but I only get 15 units of stones? That's stingy.' [Congratulations. You've reached Level 3. You've gained one attribute point for each stat except Luck and Magic attributes, plus five free attribute points (excluding Luck and Magic attributes).] After two days of running around, Jane realized Speed was as important as Constitution. Moving faster meant she could explore more places and gather more loot. So this time, she put 3 points into Constitution and 2 into Speed. Her status panel now looked like this: [Player: J.Ivy] [Gender: Female] [Level: 3 (EXP: 6/150)] [Constitution: 15 (very strong)] [Attack: 9 (not too shabby on the attack front)] [Defense: 7 (could be worse)] [Intelligence: 11 (pretty sharp)] [Speed: 10 (very quick)] [Luck: 8 (pretty lucky)] [Magic attributes: Ice Magic: 8; Light Magic: 9] [All base stats are capped at 10, except for level, which can go up to 100.] [Health Points (HP): 150] [Magic Points (MP): 110] With her Constitution now at 15, Jane was amazed. Her body had been completely worn out from the afternoon's work, but suddenly, it was as if all her exhaustion vanished. And with Speed bumped up to 10, Jane raced back to the shelter much faster than before. 'This is unreal,' she thought. Even with her new speed, it was nearly five o'clock when she made it back. Just like always, Jane started a fire with 2 bundles of thatch and 1 piece of wood. She decided to cook the seafood she'd caught. It wouldn't keep for long, and even though her inventory stopped food from spoiling, space was limited. She couldn't carry everything forever, so she figured she should deal with it now. Jane poured the rest of her half bottle of water into yesterday's coconut-shell pot, added 2 pieces of snail meat, 3.5 ounces of fish, and the leftover half packet of seasoning from yesterday. She set the coconut shell over the fire to simmer. When the seafood was nearly done, Jane took out her last sandwich. She saved the seasoning packet for later and dropped the sandwich into the coconut shell to cook with the seafood. Soon, the mouthwatering smell of seafood and sandwich filled the air. Jane was drooling. It smelled so good. Too bad it was her last sandwich. She finished the seafood and sandwich and slurped up every drop of soup. Finally, she was full. With nothing else to do that evening, Jane started sorting through her supplies. After checking everything over, she felt anxious. There wasn't enough food to last another day. If tomorrow's haul was bad, she'd be in trouble. Jane decided to check the trading section to see what was available. [Wood ×10: trade for any food] [Thatch ×10: trade for water] [Glass ×5: trade for at least 7 ounces of food] [Refined iron ×5: trade for any food] [Stone ×10: trade for food] The list went on. Most of the listings were people trying to swap their supplies for food or water. No one was offering food for other items. 'Guess food is really scarce,' Jane thought. Seeing the listings for stones, Jane felt tempted. She'd only managed to get 15 stones all afternoon, and it was hard work. As for food, she still had a few coconuts to trade. Coconuts weren't super filling, but they were packed with energy. Jane traded four coconuts for 20 pieces of stone, 5 pieces of glass, and 5 pieces of refined iron. She wasn't sure what glass or refined iron were for, but she figured they'd be useful later. [You're making a trade. Do you want to stay anonymous?] Jane hit "Yes." Four coconuts wasn't a big deal, but if she traded them openly, people would know she had extra food. She didn't want anyone eyeing her supplies or getting any ideas. She checked the chat, and sure enough, people were talking about the trades. LittleBlossom: [Someone traded a coconut for 10 pieces of my stone. I thought the stone would never sell. Thanks, anonymous buyer.] SpringFeast: [Same. I traded five pieces of glass for a coconut.] Funster: [I traded five pieces of refined iron for a coconut. Coconut water is so good!] Conqueror: [An anonymous buyer? More like a profiteer. Use your brains, guys. Stone is for upgrading your hut, and refined iron and glass are important materials. Trading all that for a coconut? How are you supposed to upgrade your shelter?] Then, a bunch of people thought Jane was ruthless. 'A coconut doesn't even fill one up, and that buyer's swapping it for so much stuff. We're all Centlandians, all in the same boat. Shouldn't we help each other out?' they thought. Chapter 5 Axe Blueprint But someone quickly disagreed. Funster: [For the past two days, all I've gotten from crates is stone and refined iron. The only food I found was a sandwich and a bottle of water. If it weren't for this coconut, I'll be dead. I owe the coconut seller big time.] SpringFeast: [Yeah. Making it through the day is hard enough. Who cares about the future? At least I can eat the coconut, but I can't eat materials.] HungryBelly: [Food is precious right now. It's already generous for someone to offer it up for trade. If you think they're ripping people off, why not put up some filling food yourself? I'm sure everyone would thank you for it.] UsTogether: [@Conqueror, how about trading 5 pieces of refined iron for 5.5 pounds of wheat? Since refined iron is so valuable, I bet you'll agree, right?] Conqueror: [No good deed goes unpunished. Whatever, I'm not wasting my breath on you guys.] UsTogether: [Wait. Don't go. I'm serious about the trade.] No matter how many people tagged Conqueror, he stayed silent. Watching all this go down, Jane felt totally satisfied. She made a mental note of Conqueror's name. She'd never trade anything valuable with him. Jane had 100 pieces of wood and 35 pieces of stone. They were enough to upgrade her wood cabin. She spent 80 pieces of wood and 30 pieces of stone and jumped into the upgrade. About half an hour later, her new wooden cabin was finished. It was much larger than her old thatched hut and looked solidly built. No wonder it could hold up against ordinary monster attacks. [Congratulations, player J.Ivy, for upgrading your shelter to level 3. You've got 50 EXP.] Jane checked the requirements for the next upgrade. [Stone cabin: Level 4 (can withstand attacks from level-1 monsters). Upgrade materials required: stone ×500, wood ×300, glass ×60.] 'That's a huge amount of materials for level four,' she thought. 'Everything is doubling now.' After the upgrade, Jane was low on supplies. Tomorrow was the final day of the beginner protection period, and she wasn't sure what would happen after it ended. She set her alarm for 5:30 AM. She wasn't going to sleep until seven again. Time was tight, and she needed to gather more resources. 'I should have gotten up early this morning too,' Jane thought. 'I went to bed early and wasted all that time.' With that, she let her thoughts fade and fell into a deep sleep. ***** The next morning, Jane woke up at 5:30 to the sound of her alarm. [Today's weather: Cloudy. Temperature between 57°F and 77°F.] She ate some bread for breakfast, drank a little water, and tossed a sausage into her inventory before heading out. By 5:30, it was already bright outside. Jane returned to the forest she had visited on her first afternoon. When she noticed a bunch of vines, she remembered her trip to the Shallow Bay yesterday. The wind had left her with only two fish traps. Worried they might be gone today, she grabbed some vines and stuffed them into her inventory. Making fish traps took too much time, so Jane decided she would work on them tonight when she was free. She kept walking until she came across a pine forest. 'Time to gather more wood,' she thought. Jane took out her stone axe and began chopping. After about ten swings, the pine tree fell. She collected 5 pieces of wood, 1 unit of pine resin, 17.5 ounces of pine nuts, and gained 5 EXP. 'Chopping pine trees gives me resin and nuts too?' she thought. Pine resin was a sticky substance that seeped from pine trees. It worked well for starting fires and could be used as medicine. It helped relieve pain and itching, reduce swelling, detoxify, and stop bleeding. Jane had tasted pine nuts at her relatives' house during the holidays. They were rich and fragrant. The ones from the system were already processed, and it saved her strength. Seeing how much the pine trees were dropping, she felt motivated. She picked up her axe and started chopping again. As her inventory filled with pine resin and pine nuts, Jane couldn't hold back her smile. By 7:50, she decided to stop. Crate fishing was about to begin, and that was her top priority. All morning, she had collected 80 pieces of wood, 16 units of pine resin, 16 portions of pine nuts (each 17.5 ounces), and gained 80 EXP. Jane felt satisfied. Last time she was here, she only gathered 35 pieces of wood, but that was because she spent too much time weaving five fish traps. Now she knew how to plan better. Since making fish traps didn't depend on location, she would save that for the evenings, leaving daylight hours free for gathering supplies. Jane walked to her usual crate fishing spot. Sitting quietly on the beach and waiting for the crates to appear, she was absolutely famished. She had been doing physical work all morning and only had a small 7 ounces pack of bread to keep her going. She took a sip of water, pulled out her last sausage and finished it in a few bites. At least now her stomach finally settled. Jane got lucky today. She caught six crates, and one of them was a black iron crate, clearly better than the usual wooden ones. She went back to her shelter and started opening the crates. The first wooden crate held 5 bottles of water, 5 packs of 7 ounces bread, and 5 sandwiches. 'I'm on a roll today. That's a lot of food,' Jane thought. The second wooden crate contained 10 units of stone, 10 pieces of refined iron, and 10 units of plastic. The third held 5 apples, 5 bananas, and 10 strawberries. The fourth crate had an 80 inches ×80 inches cashmere blanket and an 80 inches ×80 inches mattress. 'A mattress and a blanket?' Jane thought. 'Maybe I don't have to sleep on itchy straw anymore. It always got cold once the fire died at night.' The fifth wooden crate contained 3 sets of women's underwear and a set of women's autumn outfit. 'New clothes,' she thought. 'I've felt so grimy these last few days. Now I can finally change out of these dirty rags.' Jane stared at the last black iron crate, her face full of anticipation. 'The wooden ones were packed,' she thought. 'Don't let me down now.' [1 blueprint, 5 Inventory Expansion Cards.] Jane's hands trembled slightly as she opened the blueprint. [Axe blueprint unlocked.] [Stone axe: Requires stone ×6, wood ×3; Attack: 10; Durability: 100/100] [Iron axe: Requires refined iron ×6, stone ×3; Attack: 15; Durability: 150/150] [Copper axe: Requires bronze ×6, refined iron ×3; Attack: 20; Durability: 200/200] [Silver axe: Requires silver ×6, bronze ×3; Attack: 30; Durability: 300/300] [Gold axe: Requires gold ×6, silver ×3; Attack: 50; Durability: 500/500] 'There are so many types of axes?' Jane thought. She used 6 pieces of refined iron and 3 pieces of stone and crafted an iron axe right away. Chapter 6 Slaying a Level-1 Monster While waiting for the iron axe to finish crafting, Jane grabbed a quick lunch: an apple, three strawberries, and a bag of bread. In less than ten minutes, the iron axe was ready. [Iron axe: Attack: 15; Durability: 150/150] 'Not bad. This should make chopping trees faster,' Jane thought. Next, she checked out the Inventory Expansion Cards. [Inventory Expansion Card: Use to add one slot to your inventory.] Jane used all five cards, so now her inventory had fifteen slots. She could bring way more gear when she headed out without worrying about space. [You've got six chests. Would you like to break them down?] Jane tapped "No." She'd gathered so much stuff lately that her inventory was full, and dumping everything on the ground made her shelter look like a junkyard. These chests would be right for sorting out all her gear. Her supplies were mostly food, tools, and daily necessities. She stored all of it in the chests inside her shelter. Jane only brought an iron axe, a stone pickaxe, a half-empty bottle of water, and two bananas before heading out. 'Bananas are more filling,' she thought as she grabbed them. Jane returned to the spot she'd explored yesterday afternoon, planning to keep searching for water. On an island like this, freshwater was essential. If she found any, she could trade it for other supplies in the trading section. The jungle was so dense that sunlight barely reached the ground, making the whole forest feel dark and gloomy. Jane held a stick in her left hand to push aside the undergrowth, while her right hand gripped the iron axe, ready for anything. She passed quickly by the cluster of red-capped, white-stemmed mushrooms she'd seen last time without stopping. After another ten minutes or so, Jane thought she heard the gentle sound of water flowing nearby. Her eyes brightened. 'Could this be the water source?' she thought. After another seven or eight minutes, she finally spotted a long stream ahead, with thicket and agaves stretching far along both banks. Jane's eyes brightened. Agave was incredibly useful. Every part of it could be used, and there might even be groundhogs there. The wood here was thick, perfect for making fishing spears to catch fish. She cut down a tree with her iron axe but didn't receive any EXP. She guessed only collecting certain items, like wood, stone, or thatch, gave her experience points. She sharpened one end of the branch into several prongs and headed to the stream with her new spear. The water was clear, and she could see fish swimming. She waited for the right moment and jabbed down, but she missed. 'What's wrong with me?' she thought. She used to be skilled at spear fishing back in the small town, but today her timing was off. She tried again, waited for the perfect moment, and jabbed her spear down. This time, she finally got lucky and snagged a bluegill that must have weighed about 4 pounds. [Would you disassemble them?] Jane tapped "Yes" and received 2 pounds of bluegill fillets. She stared at the screen, confused. 'That fish was big, and the system only gave me 2 pounds?' she thought. 'How could it discard everything else?' Jane kept grumbling quietly, but her hands never stopped moving. Over the next half hour, she caught two more fish. After processing them, the system gave her 2 pounds of bluegill fillets and 2 pounds of crappie fillets. She decided to stop. Fish wouldn't keep long, and her inventory was already filling up. She could come back another day. Now she planned to chop some river cane and make containers to carry water back to her shelter. Each slot in her inventory could hold up to 99 items. She already used six slots, so she decided to use five more for water. After over an hour of work, Jane ended up with 495 river cane tubes. She was exhausted and hungry. Sitting by the stream, she put river cane containers filled with water into her inventory while eating bananas. Once she finished them, her stomach finally felt settled. It took nearly another hour to fill all five slots with water using the containers. Jane checked the time. It was already 3:40 PM. 'Time to head back,' she thought. Just then, she spotted a 6-foot-long green viper slithering through the grove ahead. "Holy crap!" Jane blurted out. 'It looks like a green viper, but could they really get that big?' she thought. But then she thought, 'If I could be in this strange game world, why couldn't there be a giant viper?' The snake didn't attack her, and Jane guessed it was because of the beginner protection period. Jane figured the protection wasn't only about keeping players safe for the first three days. The real point was to give them time to gather as many supplies as possible, so they'd have a chance once the protection ended. If she ran into this viper tomorrow, it would probably strike right away. But right now, Jane could prepare to attack it herself. Fortune favored the bold. She decided to go for it. If she backed down today, she'd be defenseless tomorrow. Jane moved quietly closer to the green viper with the iron axe in hand and then swung it down hard onto the snake's body. The viper recoiled in pain, and the strike took away 24 Health Points. Then Jane saw the viper's stats. [Level-1 Green Viper: Highly venomous; Attack: 30, venom drains 5 HP per second; Defense: 20; Health: 200] 'You're kidding,' she thought. '200 HP? That means I have to swing nine more times.' Before the viper could react, Jane took advantage and hacked at it four more times with her axe. Now the viper only had 80 Health Points left. But then the snake finally struck back, lunging forward and biting Jane's left arm. Jane cried out in pain. The bite took away 30 Health Points, but that wasn't a problem. The problem was the viper was venomous. Sure enough, her Health Points dropped by 5 every second. Within seconds, she had already lost over thirty points. Now she was down to 90 Health Points. She couldn't wait any longer. With the viper's fangs still sunk into her left arm, Jane hacked at it twice with her iron axe. The viper whipped its tail against her stomach, and blood rushed into her mouth. 'Three hits, and this is it. The final blow,' Jane thought. The viper collapsed heavily. Jane had only 40 Health Points left, and they were still dropping. [Do you want to disassemble the Level-1 Green Viper?] Jane quickly tapped "Yes." The viper's gall was the only thing she could think of to counter the poison. It was her last hope to survive. [Receive 11 pounds of level-1 viper meat, 1 level-1 viper gall, 2 level-1 viper fangs, 1 level-1 viper hide, 10 level-1 viper scales, 3 Health Potions, 1 Iron Chest, and 50 EXP]. Chapter 7 Moonshot Crossbow [Congratulations, J.Ivy, on reaching Level 4. You've gained one attribute point for each attribute except Luck and Magic attributes, plus five free attribute points (excluding Luck and Magic attributes).] With the level up, Jane's HP instantly refilled, and the bloody bite marks on her arm vanished. 'So leveling up restores my status. I could use this bug in the future,' Jane thought. She figured Attack was still the most important, so she put two free points into Constitution and three into Attack. [Player: J.Ivy] [Gender: Female] [Level: 4 (EXP: 36/300)] [Constitution: 18 (very tough)] [Attack: 13 (Your Attack packs a punch.)] [Defense: 8 (decent)] [Intelligence: 12 (excellent)] [Speed: 11 (very fast)] [Luck: 8 (pretty lucky)] [Magic attributes: Ice Magic: 8; Light Magic: 9] [All base stats are capped at 10, except for level, which can go up to 100.] [Health Points (HP): 180] [Magic Points (MP): 120] But Jane's HP kept ticking down by 5 points. 'Oh, right. I almost forgot. I'm still poisoned,' Jane thought. [Green Viper Gall: Removes Green Viper poison.] Jane let out a relieved breath and swallowed the snake gall. Instantly, the constant 5 damage notifications disappeared, leaving her HP at 160. With the crisis finally over, Jane's legs went weak, and she dropped to the ground. 'That was insane. If it weren't for that snake gall, I'd be dead meat,' she thought. 'Next time I run into anything poisonous, I'm definitely steering clear.' Jane glanced at the iron axe in her hand. 'If I'd been stuck with the stone axe today, I'd be a goner. Good weapons really are a game-changer,' she thought. [Congratulations on being the first to defeat a Level-1 monster. Reward: 1 iron chest and 100 EXP. A global announcement will be made. Do you want to stay anonymous?] Jane chose to stay anonymous. She didn't want everyone to know who she was. [Congratulations to an anonymous player for being the first to defeat a Level-1 monster. Reward: 1 iron chest and 100 EXP.] The message was repeated twice. People started to send messages in the chatroom. GettingSlim: [Damn, that's a pro move. I only managed to kill a normal monster, and someone's already taking down Level-1 monsters.] FlyingBird: [Pro, please let me be your assistant. I'm super sweet.] Firefly: [Get out, FlyingBird.] CabinInWoods: [Even the regular monsters freak me out. I run whenever I see one. Thank goodness. It never chased me.] Bookworm: [I don't even have a weapon.] Dizzy: [Huh? Monsters? You guys actually ran into monsters? I haven't seen a single one.] HungryBelly: [@Dizzy, you haven't gone into the forest?] Dizzy: [Why go to the forest? I fish for chests every day and stay in the shelter.] HungryBelly: [To get supplies. You can't upgrade your shelter with what's in the chests.] Dizzy: [Wait, we have to upgrade the shelter? I thought as long as I had enough to eat, that was enough.] UsTogether: [The shelter is important. Once the protection period ends, monsters will start attacking at night. If you don't upgrade it, you're toast.] Dizzy: [Seriously? You're not messing with me, right?] HungryBelly: [For real. A Level-3 shelter can hold off regular monsters, and a Level-4 shelter can handle Level-1 monsters. So everyone should upgrade their shelters ASAP.] UsTogether: [Yep. Killing monsters gets you supplies and helps you level up fast. You guys should hunt today. Monsters won't attack us, so we get to make the first move. But after today, they'll start attacking.] Dizzy: [Holy crap. The game never told me about it.] Bookworm: [Same. Where are you guys getting your weapons? My two fists are no match for monsters.] UsTogether: [You get them from chests. Grab an axe. It works for fighting too.] Bookworm: [I don't have one.] UsTogether: [Then how are you chopping wood to upgrade your shelter?] Bookworm: [I just open chests and smash them apart for stuff.] UsTogether: [Poor guy.] Bookworm: [Guess I'm screwed.] After taking a short break, Jane started looking through the rest of her haul. Snake meat and snake skin weren't anything special, so she picked up a Health Potion first. [Health Potion: Restores 100 HP.] Jane's eyes brightened. 'This could save my life. I should carry one every time I go out,' she thought. She was 20 HP away from full health, but she wasn't going to use the potion now. 'It restores 100 HP. That's way too much for now,' she thought. After packing everything into her inventory, Jane realized she was out of space. Two iron chests still couldn't fit. Looking at the chests, an idea came to her. 'Maybe I can put all my extra items into the iron chests first, and then store the chests in my inventory,' she wondered. Without hesitation, Jane opened up the iron chests dropped by the viper. [You found 1 Moonshot Crossbow (blue), 30 arrows (blue), 1 pair of Swift Boots (green), 3 MREs, 2 cans of 10 fluid ounces cola.] [Moonshot Crossbow (blue): Attack: 50, Durability: 300/300] [Swift Boots (green): Speed +10, Durability: 200/200] 'I actually got a crossbow and arrows?' Jane thought. After the Green Viper fight, Jane realized her melee range was way too limited. If she wanted to hurt the enemy, she'd have to get close enough to get bitten herself. 'With this Moonshot Crossbow, I can attack from a distance,' Jane thought. 'Much less chance of getting hurt. The downside is there are only thirty arrows. That's nowhere near enough.' Jane put everything from the Level-1 Green Viper into the Iron Chest and placed the chest into her inventory. 'It actually works. That solves the problem,' she thought. With five slots suddenly freed up, she placed the other iron chest, the one system offered, into her inventory too. But it wouldn't stack with the first chest. 'Looks like once a chest is opened, it can't stack anymore,' she thought. 'The system is shrewd.' If opened chests could stack, the Inventory Expansion Cards would be pointless. After resting for about ten minutes, Jane checked the time. It was four o'clock. Time to leave the forest. Thanks to her boosted speed, she got out in around forty minutes. At Shallow Bay, she found only one fishing basket left. Jane pulled up the basket and found it packed with shrimps and a few crabs. [Would you disassemble them?] She tapped "Yes" and received 7 ounces of shrimp meat and 3.5 ounces of crab meat. As Jane reached her shelter's entrance, the sky suddenly darkened. She turned around instinctively and met several pairs of eerie green eyes staring at her from the shadows. Chapter 8 Ice Halo Jane was startled and rushed into her shelter. Using two bundles of thatch and a piece of wood, she quickly built a fire. The cabin brightened, and the sense of danger faded. 'It's so dangerous out there at night,' she thought. She decided she would always get back before dark, never cutting it close again. She thought, 'It gets dark at five, but will that always be the case?' She wasn't about to gamble on that. As usual, Jane poured the leftover bottled water into the coconut shell pot. She added 7 ounces of shrimp, 3.5 ounces of crab meat, and a piece of seaweed. Seaweed was naturally salty, so she didn't need extra seasoning. She took out 2 pounds of crappie fillets, skewered them on a clean stick, and set them over the fire to roast. While they grilled, she sprinkled on some seasoning. Soon the mouthwatering smell of grilled fish filled the air. Jane munched on the grilled crappie fillets and sipped her seafood soup at the same time. The soup, seasoned only with salt, turned out surprisingly tasty. Then she ate two strawberries for dessert. After she was full, Jane opened up the chatroom. WindowBlinds: [Does anyone else feel like we got way more loot today?] HungryBelly: [Yeah. I fished up more crates than yesterday.] LuckyKing: [Same here. I fished up eight crates today, including two iron chests. Furthermore, a wild chicken dropped dead in front of me.] Dreamer: [Damn. How lucky can you get?] Bookworm: [The difference between us is unreal. I've never even laid eyes on an iron chest.] Dreamer: [You're not the only one.] WindowBlinds: [Same.] Dizzy: [Same.] FallenLeaf: [Can't agree more.] LittlePheasant: [Something feels off. Is the system messing with us or planning something?] UsTogether: [I feel the same way. No way the system is being generous for nothing.] Bloom: [Stop being so dramatic. The system probably noticed we were low on supplies and couldn't keep going, so it gave us more.] RedFish: [Yeah. Why would the system treat us badly? It's been giving us supplies all along. Obviously, it wants us to survive.] Seeing this, Jane was surprised too. Everyone seemed to be having a lucky day. That couldn't be a coincidence. Thinking about how today was the last day of the protection period, Jane suddenly felt a sense of crisis. She didn't believe that the system was being generous. She had a hunch the system was cooking up something big. 'What if it suddenly cuts off our supplies starting tomorrow?' she worried. But the chatroom started blowing up. StreamFlow: [@HungryBelly @UsTogether, you two were egging people on to attack monsters. Now I'm hurt and down to 10 Health Points. You guys screwed me over. If it wasn't for you two, I wouldn't have tried fighting those monsters.] HungryBelly: [Dude, I was just giving advice, okay? It was your call whether to go or not. How is this my fault?] FlyingBird: [He's got a point. If you hadn't suggested it, he never would've even thought about it.] StreamFlow: [I don't care. Each of you owes me the contents of a wooden crate.] UsTogether: [Are you kidding? I told you to gather supplies, not to throw yourself at monsters. If you couldn't handle the monsters, that's your problem. Don't blame. We're adults. Take responsibility for your own choices and stop trying to pin it on someone else.] StreamFlow: [You guys nearly got me killed. Shouldn't you make it up to me?] Bloom: [Just give him what he wants. He's not entirely wrong.] RedFish: [Yeah, we're all survivors. If you can help, do it.] UsTogether: [Guess you guys want to play the saint now.] HungryBelly: [Why don't you go ahead and give him your stuff, RedFish?] RedFish: [It has nothing to do with me. You two are the ones who got him hurt, not me.] HungryBelly: [Why should I take responsibility for someone else's choices? He didn't have to go. That was his own decision.] UsTogether: [@StreamFlow, even if you died, that's not my problem. I'm not giving you any supplies. What are you gonna do about it?] StreamFlow: [That's just heartless.] RedFish: [Yeah. How can you treat your fellow countrymen like this?] HungryBelly: [Say whatever you want. It's not like we're losing anything.] StreamFlow: [You little...] The argument went on. Jane snorted. This was why she never bothered posting in the chatroom. If she gave good advice, nobody cared. But if her advice backfired, and someone got screwed over, they'd drag her into their mess and even demand compensation. That was human nature: selfish. In a survival game like this, trying to play the savior is the worst move. Other people's future wasn't her problem. She could barely guarantee your own survival. Jane ignored the chatroom and started sorting through her supplies. She suddenly noticed she still had an unopened iron chest. That got her excited. After all, the loot from the chest that dropped from the Green Viper had been fantastic. 'I wonder what the system's reward will be. It can't be worse than the last one, right?' she thought. [Ice Spellbook ×1, Stellar Staff (green) ×1, auto flush toilet ×1, Attribute Orb ×3, Inventory Expansion Card ×3] [Ice Spellbook: Ice Halo. A single-target control skill. The target gets frozen for three seconds, taking 5 damage each second. Consumes 30 Magic Points, with a 10-second cooldown. Only Ice Magic players can learn this skill.] [Stellar Staff (green): Attack +30. Can cast magic spells. Durability: 300/300] [Auto flush toilet: A magical toilet that doesn't need a water tank or electricity.] [Attribute Orb: Adds 3 points to a random stat.] [Inventory Expansion Card: Use to add one slot to your inventory.] 'These are all top-tier loot. The system really drops good stuff,' Jane thought. She tried to learn the skill from the Ice Spellbook, but a message popped up: [Available after system update.] 'Update? What's that supposed to mean?' Jane thought. She scratched her head, still confused. 'So the Stellar Staff is what lets me use magic skills? Does that mean even if I learn the Ice Spellbook, I still can't cast the spell without the staff? That's so unfair.' Jane was speechless, but seeing the toilet in front of her made her grin. After days of having to bury her business in the sand, this felt like a luxury. 'But where am I supposed to put it?' she wondered. Her cabin was a single room. She couldn't eat, sleep, and take bathroom breaks in the same space. But if she left it outside, it wouldn't be sheltered. 'What if I need to go in the middle of the night? Am I supposed to hold it until morning?' she thought. After thinking it over, Jane decided to put the toilet inside. She was in a survival game. Survival came first. Tomorrow, she could chop down some trees and make a wall to give herself a bit of privacy.
Chapter 1 Island Survival [Welcome to the Island Survival Game.] [Treasure chests will appear in the sea every day from 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM. Players can use fishing rods to pull up chests and get supplies.] [Players between the ages of 16 and 55 are selected. Family members will be grouped together when possible.] [The beginner protection period lasts for three days. If you die in the game, you die for real.] [The game begins.] [Today's weather: cloudy, 60 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit.] A robotic voice announced. Jane Quinn looked around, completely confused. One moment, she was celebrating a fresh start and planning a barbecue dinner, and the next, she was standing on a deserted island. [Please enter your username. If you do not pick one in ten seconds, your real name will be used.] A blank line and a countdown appeared in front of her. [Ten, nine, eight...] Jane thought, 'What the hell is this?' [Seven, six, five...] Jane barely had time to think. She typed "J.Ivy" as her username. [Scanning player information.] A holographic data panel suddenly popped up in front of Jane. [Player: J.Ivy] [Gender: Female] [Level: 1 (EXP: 0/50)] [Constitution: 7 (above average, not bad)] [Attack: 5 (pretty pathetic)] [Defense: 5 (pretty weak)] [Intelligence: 9 (super smart)] [Speed: 6 (barely faster than a turtle)] [Luck: 8 (pretty lucky)] [Magic attributes: Ice Magic: 8; Light Magic: 9] [All base stats are capped at 10, except for level, which can go up to 100.] [Health Points (HP): 70] [Magic Points (MP): 90] Jane thought, 'Player info? Am I actually in a game? And is that luck stat for real? I've always had terrible luck. The one time I won the lottery is the only exception.' The holographic status screen came from a watch on her wrist. Besides the stats panel, there were tabs for the chatroom, trading section, and friends list. In the bottom right, a display read 100,000/100,000 for players. It looked like the games she used to play. The chatroom was already blowing up. BigDaddy: [Where the hell am I? I was just eating dinner.] Pitviper: [I was on the toilet.] MorningStar: [Didn't you hear that voice? This is a survival game.] Sunset: [I don't want to be stuck in this hellhole. I want to go home.] Rocky: [I want to go home, too.] Southshore: [Looks like we can't go back.] Sunrise: [The beginner protection only lasts three days. We must hurry up and gather supplies, or we'll be dead soon.] Seeing the chat rolling, Jane started to feel uneasy inside, too. [J.Ivy, your parents have been detected in the game. Would you like to teleport them into your area?] Jane bit her lip and picked "No." Jane was the heiress of a rich family who'd been switched with another baby at the hospital after birth. The Quinn family, the one that adopted her, was poor. With a spoiled younger brother, Jane had to do the housework from a young age. She was constantly yelled at and even hit, and her life was miserable. Later, the truth came out, and Jane learned that the Quinns themselves had arranged the switch. The Quinns had abused her not because they favored boys but because they'd known she wasn't their daughter. They had switched her with Eve Goodwin, their real daughter, so Eve could lead a better life. Jane wanted to call the police, but Elena Goodwin, Jane's real mother, couldn't let go of the girl she'd raised for twenty years. After Eve's tearful pleas, Elena forgave the Quinns regardless of Jane's feelings, kept Eve by her side, and ended up being even closer to her than to Jane. Eve was the girl Elena had raised as her own for twenty years, a perfect lady skilled in all the arts, whereas Jane, her real daughter that she'd just met, had grown up in a small town, doing farm work. Desmond Goodwin, Jane's real father, and Elena chose Eve without hesitation. They doted on Eve, and Jane was ignored and left to survive on her own. But Eve always pretended to be pure and innocent, but she was secretly scheming. She kept framing Jane, and the more it happened, the less Desmond and Elena liked Jane. To them, Jane was some uncouth, petty girl. Then Eve pulled the trick again, blaming Jane for breaking Elena's favorite antique vase, worth millions. This time Jane was ready. She had bought a recorder and caught Eve on tape. When Eve went to complain, Jane pressed play for everyone to hear. Jane expected the truth to change Desmond and Elena, but Eve started to sob and said, "I was scared because I'm not your real daughter." Desmond and Elena softened and wanted to let it go. Jane was disappointed. She called the police. Desmond and Elena were furious. They thought Jane was cruel and that she called the cops over something so trivial and tried to get Eve thrown in jail. Jane did not actually want Eve jailed. She knew that unless Elena pressed charges over the vase, Eve would be perfectly fine. Jane only wanted to make a clean break from both families, and she wanted to do it in front of the police. If she stayed, Jane had no idea how much more she would have to put up with. With the police's help, Jane formally changed her residency and signed the papers to cut ties with Desmond and Elena. She was about to celebrate with a barbecue when she found herself dumped into a strange game world. A system prompt hovered in front of her, asking if she'd like to teleport her parents to her side. Jane scoffed. She had already severed the relationship. 'Let Eve, their perfect daughter, take care of them instead,' she thought. Jane couldn't stop thinking about her luck stat. 'Even someone as unlucky as me got an 8, so Eve, who's spoiled rotten and adored by everyone, must have a perfect 10,' she thought. That really made her unhappy. [Treasure chests are now spawning. Players, start fishing.] Jane was dazed for a moment before she snapped out of it. She had no time to get sentimental. She didn't even know where she was. That robotic voice sounded legit. They were here to survive, and if she died here, she'd be dead for real. The voice said the beginner protection lasted three days. What came after that could be lethal. All she knew was, right now, she had to grab as many resources as she could before the protection ended. Jane had checked her gear. She only had a ten-slot inventory, a fishing rod, and a shabby thatched hut that would be useless in a heavy storm. If she wanted to survive, she had to build a proper shelter. Jane walked to the shore, baited her hook, and cast her line into the sea. She waited quietly for a long time until she finally felt a tug. Her eyes lit up. She reeled it in fast. It was heavy, but since she'd been doing farm work and had grown strong muscles, she pulled it up easily. What she hauled in was a knee-high wooden crate. She didn't open it yet, only tossed it into her inventory to check later. Right now, she wanted to fish up as many crates as she could. Chapter 2 Opening Wooden Crates and Exploring Jane threw more bait into the sea. This time, she waited almost an hour before she got another crate. After storing it, she noticed it still took only one slot of the inventory, but the number on the crate now showed two. Good thing same items could stack; otherwise, her ten slots would fill up very soon. Time slowly passed. Jane checked her watch and frowned. It was 11:55, only five minutes left before crates stopped appearing. She'd only caught three crates in four hours, and she wasn't sure that would be enough. It was almost noon. Jane started to reel in her line when something tugged hard, shaking her rod wildly. She pulled up quickly. This crate felt much heavier than the others. Jane struggled to haul it in, her rod trembling. She worried it might snap. The crate landed hard on the sand. It was still wooden but heavier than the rest. Jane stored it in her inventory. 'Hope this one has more supplies,' she thought. It was noon. Jane packed up her fishing rod and headed toward the thatched hut. The hut sat on higher ground, probably to keep it from flooding when the tide came. As she got closer, Jane's lips twitched in disbelief. This was no hut. It was just a pile of weeds tied together into a tiny shelter. Inside, there was only a heap of weeds on the floor and holes in the roof. There was no place to hide anything. Jane pulled out all four wooden crates, ready to open them. Inside the first crate, she found a windproof lighter, a knife, and five units of wood. In the second, there were three units of refined iron and five units of plastic. Jane's mood sank. Neither had any food or water. The third crate gave her 34 fluid ounces of water in two bottles and 14 ounces of bread. 'Finally, some real food,' she thought. Then she eagerly opened the last, heavier crate. Inside were a stone axe, two apples, and two sandwiches. A prompt popped up on her holo display: [Stone axe: Attack: 10; Durability: 100/100; Good for chopping down trees.] 'No wonder it was so heavy. It's a weapon,' Jane thought. 'The supplies aren't much, but at least I have enough to get through today.' The system asked, [You have four wooden crates. Do you want to dismantle them?] 'Wait, I can dismantle these?' Jane thought. She tapped "Yes." The four crates were dismantled into 24 pieces of wood. 'So each crate gives six units of wood,' she thought. Now Jane had a windproof lighter, a knife, a stone axe, three refined iron pieces, 29 pieces of wood, five pieces of plastic, two bottles of water, 14 ounces of bread, two apples, and two sandwiches. Jane looked at the rundown shelter, sighed, and patted it. 'How am I supposed to live in this?' she thought. Just then, a system message appeared. [J.Ivy's shelter: level-1 shabby shelter, can't keep out wind or rain] [Next level: level-2 sturdy shelter, can keep out wind and rain] [Materials needed: thatch ×30, wood ×10] 'So I can upgrade it,' Jane thought. 'But where do I find thatch?' She took out a piece of bread and an apple, drank some water, and barely filled her stomach. Jane decided to look for resources. She couldn't wait for the system to deliver crates every day. Besides, since it was still the beginner protection period, it was the best time to explore. With her stone axe in hand, Jane made her way toward the forest near the beach. The place was deep and eerily quiet, and Jane felt a weird sense of danger. She only dared to stay near the edge. In a patch of bushes, she spotted something like thatch and pulled it up. It was thatch. Jane gathered all thatch she could find in the area, ending up with 36 units of thatch and 36 EXP. 'Wait, I get EXP for this?' she wondered, still unsure what EXP and levels were for. Then there were things like Magic Points, Ice Magic, and Light Magic. From her gaming experience, Jane guessed she'd learn Ice and Light spells someday. But right now, she didn't know how to unlock them. Nearby stood seven banyan trees. Jane pulled out her stone axe and started chopping. Each tree took a dozen swings, but she ended up with 35 units of wood and 35 EXP. [Congratulations. You've reached Level 2 and gained one attribute point for each attribute except Luck and Magic attributes, plus five free attribute points (excluding Luck and Magic attributes).] Jane checked her stats panel, and it had changed. [Player: J.Ivy] [Gender: Female] [Level: 2 (EXP: 21/80)] [Constitution: 8 (not bad)] [Attack: 6 (still not much of a punch)] [Defense: 6 (still pretty fragile)] [Intelligence: 10 (awesome)] [Speed: 7 (decent)] [Luck: 8 (pretty lucky)] [Magic attributes: Ice Magic: 8; Light Magic: 9] [All base stats are capped at 10, except for level, which can go up to 100.] [Health Points (HP): 80] [Magic Points (MP): 100] Jane noticed that when her Constitution was 7, her HP was 70. Now that it was 8, her HP had risen to 80. And Intelligence and Magic Points seemed to be linked. Magic Points mattered, but Jane still didn't know how to unlock spells. She put three free attribute points into Constitution and two into Attack. Now her Constitution was 11, her HP jumped to 110, and Attack reached 8. 'Finally, I'm not so weak anymore,' she thought. The axe's durability had dropped to 90/100. "This axe wears out so fast," Jane sighed. Jane ventured a bit deeper into the woods and spotted some long, slender vines. Her eyes lit up. She chopped one down and tested its strength with a tug, nodding in satisfaction. 'These are sturdy enough to weave fish traps,' she thought. 'I can set them in the sea and catch dinner.' Back in the small town, Jane had often gone hungry. She'd learned to weave fish traps from her neighbor Wayne, setting them in the river to catch food. She never imagined that skill would be useful in a survival game. Jane's fingers moved quickly, and soon she had several well-made traps. She glanced at the time. It was already 3:30 PM. She was surprised she'd spent three hours chopping trees and gathering materials. 'Time to head out,' she thought, taking one last look into the forest before turning toward the beach. She walked along the shoreline for about 30 minutes and finally found a spot with rocky outcrops. She placed her traps at different points among the rocks. Then, to her delight, she spotted three coconut trees growing on the beach. Jane loved coconut water, but she always thought bottled drinks couldn't compare to fresh coconut water straight from the fruit. She grabbed her stone axe and worked on the coconut trees. After some effort, she got nine coconuts, nine pieces of wood, and 15 EXP. 'Coconut trees give less wood than regular ones,' she thought. 'But having coconuts is already a win.' Jane checked the time. It was 4:30 PM, and the sky was starting to darken. 'Better head back,' she thought. 'The night out here feels dangerous.' Chapter 3 Upgrading the Shelter Jane returned to her shelter by five o'clock. The sky had turned completely dark. She started a fire using two bundles of thatch, one piece of wood, and her lighter. Warm light instantly filled the hut. Then, using thirty bundles of thatch and ten pieces of wood, she spent ten minutes upgrading the dilapidated hut into a sturdy one. It was still a thatched shelter, but now it wouldn't collapse. [Congratulations, J.Ivy. You have upgraded your shelter to Level 2 and gained 20 EXP.] Jane checked the materials needed for the next upgrade. [Wooden Shelter: Level 3 (protects against ordinary monsters). Upgrade requires: wood ×80, stone ×30.] 'Ordinary monsters,' she thought. 'So monsters will attack players.' She'd already guessed this world was dangerous, but the thought still unsettled her. Her stomach growled loudly. She really needed to grab something to eat. All she'd had today was some bread and an apple. Jane grabbed her axe and cracked open a coconut. She downed the coconut water, scooped out the meat, and then punched two small holes in the shell with her knife. She threaded some leftover vines through the holes, poured in half a bottle of water, and hung the shell over the fire using the vines as a handle. She planned to heat up a sandwich, saving the bread and apple for breakfast. The fire in the game burned intensely hot, and the water boiled almost instantly. Jane took out a sandwich and used only half of the flavor packet. She didn't like salty food much, so she saved the rest to use as seasoning later. She knew that without enough salt, over time, her health would decline. The warm sandwich helped settle her stomach. As she ate, she reviewed her supplies. Things seemed okay, but she couldn't shake the feeling that food and water were running low. She remembered she was still in the beginner protection period. Once that ended, gathering resources would become much harder. That meant she had to keep scavenging tomorrow. After finishing the sandwich, she felt bored. The day's exertion and the quiet surroundings made it easy for her to drift off to sleep. Jane woke up at 7:30 in the morning. She rinsed her mouth with bottled water and ate a piece of bread, which was just enough to ease her hunger. She checked the weather. [Today's weather: Sunny, 66°F to 86°F.] The treasure chests hadn't respawned yet, and Jane began to wonder how the other survivors in her zone were doing. She opened the chatroom and saw the region tab had 999+ unread messages, all from last night. IronWill: [How many chests did you guys get? I only got two.] Teddy: [Same. Just two. And all I got was plastic and wood. I'm starving and dying of thirst. Can anyone share some food or water? Please.] SpringDrizzle: [Same.] FlyingBird: [Me too.] SuccessfulMe: [I only found a piece of bread and a bottle of water. Not enough to survive.] LongWay: [Honestly, just having food is pretty lucky already.] LuckyKing: [Huh? You guys got so little? I got five MREs, ten bottles of water, and ten apples. That should last me two days.] Jane was surprised. 'This guy's luck is unreal,' she thought. 'But is it really smart to let everyone know he's got so much food?' Sure enough, the chat went wild as soon as everyone saw LuckyKing's message. FlyingBird: [Damn, you're lucky.] Teddy: [Hey, LuckyKing, can you spare me some food? I didn't get anything at all. Please, I'm starving here.] LongWay: [I've got my parents with me. They're both in their fifties. Can you help us out? We'll definitely pay you back once we get some food.] LuckyKing didn't reply after that. He probably realized it wasn't a good idea to tell everyone he had so much food. Teddy: [@LuckyKing, come on. Say something. You can't let us die out here.] LongWay: [Yeah. With your luck, you'll probably find more tomorrow. Share a bit. It won't hurt you.] PrettyFace: [We're all from Centlandia. We should help each other when things are tough.] HazySurface: [How can you ask for that? Why should he share what he worked for?] HungryBelly: [Exactly. If you want to survive, find food yourselves. Stop relying on others. This is a survival game. Only the strong survive.] LuckyKing: [Sure, I'm lucky, but I'm not playing saint. If you want something, trade for it. Nothing's free.] Teddy: [Guys, don't you care about your fellow countrymen at all?] UsTogether: [Survival matters now, not solidarity. If you had food, would you give it away? Don't expect others to do what you wouldn't.] Seeing more and more people criticize them, the freeloaders quickly stopped talking. Jane agreed with LuckyKing and the others. She was willing to trade resources, but if anyone expected free handouts, they were out of luck. 'Why should anyone give away what they worked hard to get? Who do they think they are?' she thought. ***** At exactly eight o'clock, Jane sat by the shore. She cast her hook into the sea, waiting for the next round of supplies. Today she pulled up four wooden crates. Inside she found a stone pickaxe, 5 units of refined iron, 5 units of plastic, 5 units of glass, and 3 bottles of water, 21 ounces of bread, and two ham sausages. [Stone Pickaxe: Attack: 10; Durability: 100; Can be used to gather stone.] Jane felt a bit down. She'd gotten even less food than yesterday, so she'd have to stretch her supplies. Still, finding a new tool made her feel a little better. She dismantled the wooden crates and collected 24 pieces of wood. At the moment, Jane's inventory included: a windproof lighter, a knife, a stone axe with 85 durability, a stone pickaxe, 8 units of refined iron, 86 pieces of wood, 4 bundles of thatch, 10 units of plastic... 5 pieces of glass, 4 bottles of water, 28 ounces of bread, 1 apple, 1 sandwich, 8 coconuts, and 2 ham sausages. Back at the shelter, Jane ate some bread and opened up a coconut. She didn't eat anything else. Good thing she didn't have much of an appetite. She left anything she didn't need for the day inside the shelter, taking only her stone axe, stone pickaxe, a bottle of water, and a ham sausage, just in case she got hungry later. Today, Jane headed to the forest again, but instead of yesterday's spot, she chose the area next to where she'd left her fish basket, so she wouldn't have to trek back later. Chapter 4 First Deal The forest here was much thicker. Jane chopped down three banyan trees, collecting 15 pieces of wood and 15 EXP. Then she decided to move on. Today, her goal was to gather stones and explore further. She didn't want to waste too much time chopping trees. She pushed aside the vines blocking her path and continued deeper into the forest. The plants grew denser, some sprinkled with tiny yellow and white flowers she couldn't name. She spotted plenty of mushrooms with bright red caps and white stems. They looked beautiful, but she remembered an old warning: Red cap, white stalk. Eat them and you'll be laid out flat. That kept her from picking any. Still, with all this thick greenery and so many mushrooms around, Jane figured there was probably a water source nearby. She checked the time. It was 3. If she hurried, it would take about an hour to get out of the forest. She needed to collect her fishing traps, and it would take another 30 minutes to get back. She had to leave now. On her way out, Jane was hungry. She washed down a sausage with bottled water in two bites. Once she stepped out of the forest, the whole world seemed to brighten up. The forest had been so gloomy. It really wasn't a place for people. She hurried over to the shallows and took a quick look. Jane's mouth twitched. Unfortunately, out of the five fishing traps she'd set, only two remained. The rest must have been swept away by the wind. She hauled up the two remaining traps and dumped them onto the sand. The haul was disappointingly small. Just two sea snails, a palm-sized fish, and a few handfuls of seaweed. That was all she got. [Would you disassemble them?] Naturally, Jane tapped "Yes." It was a convenient way. [Received: snail meat ×2, 3.5 ounces of fish meat, seaweed ×2.] Jane didn't stick around. She tossed the two fishing traps back into the sea and headed for her shelter. On her way, she spotted a few large rocks. She pulled out her stone pickaxe and started chipping away, getting 15 pieces of stones and 15 EXP. Jane couldn't help but complain inwardly, 'Seriously? Those rocks were huge, but I only get 15 units of stones? That's stingy.' [Congratulations. You've reached Level 3. You've gained one attribute point for each stat except Luck and Magic attributes, plus five free attribute points (excluding Luck and Magic attributes).] After two days of running around, Jane realized Speed was as important as Constitution. Moving faster meant she could explore more places and gather more loot. So this time, she put 3 points into Constitution and 2 into Speed. Her status panel now looked like this: [Player: J.Ivy] [Gender: Female] [Level: 3 (EXP: 6/150)] [Constitution: 15 (very strong)] [Attack: 9 (not too shabby on the attack front)] [Defense: 7 (could be worse)] [Intelligence: 11 (pretty sharp)] [Speed: 10 (very quick)] [Luck: 8 (pretty lucky)] [Magic attributes: Ice Magic: 8; Light Magic: 9] [All base stats are capped at 10, except for level, which can go up to 100.] [Health Points (HP): 150] [Magic Points (MP): 110] With her Constitution now at 15, Jane was amazed. Her body had been completely worn out from the afternoon's work, but suddenly, it was as if all her exhaustion vanished. And with Speed bumped up to 10, Jane raced back to the shelter much faster than before. 'This is unreal,' she thought. Even with her new speed, it was nearly five o'clock when she made it back. Just like always, Jane started a fire with 2 bundles of thatch and 1 piece of wood. She decided to cook the seafood she'd caught. It wouldn't keep for long, and even though her inventory stopped food from spoiling, space was limited. She couldn't carry everything forever, so she figured she should deal with it now. Jane poured the rest of her half bottle of water into yesterday's coconut-shell pot, added 2 pieces of snail meat, 3.5 ounces of fish, and the leftover half packet of seasoning from yesterday. She set the coconut shell over the fire to simmer. When the seafood was nearly done, Jane took out her last sandwich. She saved the seasoning packet for later and dropped the sandwich into the coconut shell to cook with the seafood. Soon, the mouthwatering smell of seafood and sandwich filled the air. Jane was drooling. It smelled so good. Too bad it was her last sandwich. She finished the seafood and sandwich and slurped up every drop of soup. Finally, she was full. With nothing else to do that evening, Jane started sorting through her supplies. After checking everything over, she felt anxious. There wasn't enough food to last another day. If tomorrow's haul was bad, she'd be in trouble. Jane decided to check the trading section to see what was available. [Wood ×10: trade for any food] [Thatch ×10: trade for water] [Glass ×5: trade for at least 7 ounces of food] [Refined iron ×5: trade for any food] [Stone ×10: trade for food] The list went on. Most of the listings were people trying to swap their supplies for food or water. No one was offering food for other items. 'Guess food is really scarce,' Jane thought. Seeing the listings for stones, Jane felt tempted. She'd only managed to get 15 stones all afternoon, and it was hard work. As for food, she still had a few coconuts to trade. Coconuts weren't super filling, but they were packed with energy. Jane traded four coconuts for 20 pieces of stone, 5 pieces of glass, and 5 pieces of refined iron. She wasn't sure what glass or refined iron were for, but she figured they'd be useful later. [You're making a trade. Do you want to stay anonymous?] Jane hit "Yes." Four coconuts wasn't a big deal, but if she traded them openly, people would know she had extra food. She didn't want anyone eyeing her supplies or getting any ideas. She checked the chat, and sure enough, people were talking about the trades. LittleBlossom: [Someone traded a coconut for 10 pieces of my stone. I thought the stone would never sell. Thanks, anonymous buyer.] SpringFeast: [Same. I traded five pieces of glass for a coconut.] Funster: [I traded five pieces of refined iron for a coconut. Coconut water is so good!] Conqueror: [An anonymous buyer? More like a profiteer. Use your brains, guys. Stone is for upgrading your hut, and refined iron and glass are important materials. Trading all that for a coconut? How are you supposed to upgrade your shelter?] Then, a bunch of people thought Jane was ruthless. 'A coconut doesn't even fill one up, and that buyer's swapping it for so much stuff. We're all Centlandians, all in the same boat. Shouldn't we help each other out?' they thought. Chapter 5 Axe Blueprint But someone quickly disagreed. Funster: [For the past two days, all I've gotten from crates is stone and refined iron. The only food I found was a sandwich and a bottle of water. If it weren't for this coconut, I'll be dead. I owe the coconut seller big time.] SpringFeast: [Yeah. Making it through the day is hard enough. Who cares about the future? At least I can eat the coconut, but I can't eat materials.] HungryBelly: [Food is precious right now. It's already generous for someone to offer it up for trade. If you think they're ripping people off, why not put up some filling food yourself? I'm sure everyone would thank you for it.] UsTogether: [@Conqueror, how about trading 5 pieces of refined iron for 5.5 pounds of wheat? Since refined iron is so valuable, I bet you'll agree, right?] Conqueror: [No good deed goes unpunished. Whatever, I'm not wasting my breath on you guys.] UsTogether: [Wait. Don't go. I'm serious about the trade.] No matter how many people tagged Conqueror, he stayed silent. Watching all this go down, Jane felt totally satisfied. She made a mental note of Conqueror's name. She'd never trade anything valuable with him. Jane had 100 pieces of wood and 35 pieces of stone. They were enough to upgrade her wood cabin. She spent 80 pieces of wood and 30 pieces of stone and jumped into the upgrade. About half an hour later, her new wooden cabin was finished. It was much larger than her old thatched hut and looked solidly built. No wonder it could hold up against ordinary monster attacks. [Congratulations, player J.Ivy, for upgrading your shelter to level 3. You've got 50 EXP.] Jane checked the requirements for the next upgrade. [Stone cabin: Level 4 (can withstand attacks from level-1 monsters). Upgrade materials required: stone ×500, wood ×300, glass ×60.] 'That's a huge amount of materials for level four,' she thought. 'Everything is doubling now.' After the upgrade, Jane was low on supplies. Tomorrow was the final day of the beginner protection period, and she wasn't sure what would happen after it ended. She set her alarm for 5:30 AM. She wasn't going to sleep until seven again. Time was tight, and she needed to gather more resources. 'I should have gotten up early this morning too,' Jane thought. 'I went to bed early and wasted all that time.' With that, she let her thoughts fade and fell into a deep sleep. ***** The next morning, Jane woke up at 5:30 to the sound of her alarm. [Today's weather: Cloudy. Temperature between 57°F and 77°F.] She ate some bread for breakfast, drank a little water, and tossed a sausage into her inventory before heading out. By 5:30, it was already bright outside. Jane returned to the forest she had visited on her first afternoon. When she noticed a bunch of vines, she remembered her trip to the Shallow Bay yesterday. The wind had left her with only two fish traps. Worried they might be gone today, she grabbed some vines and stuffed them into her inventory. Making fish traps took too much time, so Jane decided she would work on them tonight when she was free. She kept walking until she came across a pine forest. 'Time to gather more wood,' she thought. Jane took out her stone axe and began chopping. After about ten swings, the pine tree fell. She collected 5 pieces of wood, 1 unit of pine resin, 17.5 ounces of pine nuts, and gained 5 EXP. 'Chopping pine trees gives me resin and nuts too?' she thought. Pine resin was a sticky substance that seeped from pine trees. It worked well for starting fires and could be used as medicine. It helped relieve pain and itching, reduce swelling, detoxify, and stop bleeding. Jane had tasted pine nuts at her relatives' house during the holidays. They were rich and fragrant. The ones from the system were already processed, and it saved her strength. Seeing how much the pine trees were dropping, she felt motivated. She picked up her axe and started chopping again. As her inventory filled with pine resin and pine nuts, Jane couldn't hold back her smile. By 7:50, she decided to stop. Crate fishing was about to begin, and that was her top priority. All morning, she had collected 80 pieces of wood, 16 units of pine resin, 16 portions of pine nuts (each 17.5 ounces), and gained 80 EXP. Jane felt satisfied. Last time she was here, she only gathered 35 pieces of wood, but that was because she spent too much time weaving five fish traps. Now she knew how to plan better. Since making fish traps didn't depend on location, she would save that for the evenings, leaving daylight hours free for gathering supplies. Jane walked to her usual crate fishing spot. Sitting quietly on the beach and waiting for the crates to appear, she was absolutely famished. She had been doing physical work all morning and only had a small 7 ounces pack of bread to keep her going. She took a sip of water, pulled out her last sausage and finished it in a few bites. At least now her stomach finally settled. Jane got lucky today. She caught six crates, and one of them was a black iron crate, clearly better than the usual wooden ones. She went back to her shelter and started opening the crates. The first wooden crate held 5 bottles of water, 5 packs of 7 ounces bread, and 5 sandwiches. 'I'm on a roll today. That's a lot of food,' Jane thought. The second wooden crate contained 10 units of stone, 10 pieces of refined iron, and 10 units of plastic. The third held 5 apples, 5 bananas, and 10 strawberries. The fourth crate had an 80 inches ×80 inches cashmere blanket and an 80 inches ×80 inches mattress. 'A mattress and a blanket?' Jane thought. 'Maybe I don't have to sleep on itchy straw anymore. It always got cold once the fire died at night.' The fifth wooden crate contained 3 sets of women's underwear and a set of women's autumn outfit. 'New clothes,' she thought. 'I've felt so grimy these last few days. Now I can finally change out of these dirty rags.' Jane stared at the last black iron crate, her face full of anticipation. 'The wooden ones were packed,' she thought. 'Don't let me down now.' [1 blueprint, 5 Inventory Expansion Cards.] Jane's hands trembled slightly as she opened the blueprint. [Axe blueprint unlocked.] [Stone axe: Requires stone ×6, wood ×3; Attack: 10; Durability: 100/100] [Iron axe: Requires refined iron ×6, stone ×3; Attack: 15; Durability: 150/150] [Copper axe: Requires bronze ×6, refined iron ×3; Attack: 20; Durability: 200/200] [Silver axe: Requires silver ×6, bronze ×3; Attack: 30; Durability: 300/300] [Gold axe: Requires gold ×6, silver ×3; Attack: 50; Durability: 500/500] 'There are so many types of axes?' Jane thought. She used 6 pieces of refined iron and 3 pieces of stone and crafted an iron axe right away. Chapter 6 Slaying a Level-1 Monster While waiting for the iron axe to finish crafting, Jane grabbed a quick lunch: an apple, three strawberries, and a bag of bread. In less than ten minutes, the iron axe was ready. [Iron axe: Attack: 15; Durability: 150/150] 'Not bad. This should make chopping trees faster,' Jane thought. Next, she checked out the Inventory Expansion Cards. [Inventory Expansion Card: Use to add one slot to your inventory.] Jane used all five cards, so now her inventory had fifteen slots. She could bring way more gear when she headed out without worrying about space. [You've got six chests. Would you like to break them down?] Jane tapped "No." She'd gathered so much stuff lately that her inventory was full, and dumping everything on the ground made her shelter look like a junkyard. These chests would be right for sorting out all her gear. Her supplies were mostly food, tools, and daily necessities. She stored all of it in the chests inside her shelter. Jane only brought an iron axe, a stone pickaxe, a half-empty bottle of water, and two bananas before heading out. 'Bananas are more filling,' she thought as she grabbed them. Jane returned to the spot she'd explored yesterday afternoon, planning to keep searching for water. On an island like this, freshwater was essential. If she found any, she could trade it for other supplies in the trading section. The jungle was so dense that sunlight barely reached the ground, making the whole forest feel dark and gloomy. Jane held a stick in her left hand to push aside the undergrowth, while her right hand gripped the iron axe, ready for anything. She passed quickly by the cluster of red-capped, white-stemmed mushrooms she'd seen last time without stopping. After another ten minutes or so, Jane thought she heard the gentle sound of water flowing nearby. Her eyes brightened. 'Could this be the water source?' she thought. After another seven or eight minutes, she finally spotted a long stream ahead, with thicket and agaves stretching far along both banks. Jane's eyes brightened. Agave was incredibly useful. Every part of it could be used, and there might even be groundhogs there. The wood here was thick, perfect for making fishing spears to catch fish. She cut down a tree with her iron axe but didn't receive any EXP. She guessed only collecting certain items, like wood, stone, or thatch, gave her experience points. She sharpened one end of the branch into several prongs and headed to the stream with her new spear. The water was clear, and she could see fish swimming. She waited for the right moment and jabbed down, but she missed. 'What's wrong with me?' she thought. She used to be skilled at spear fishing back in the small town, but today her timing was off. She tried again, waited for the perfect moment, and jabbed her spear down. This time, she finally got lucky and snagged a bluegill that must have weighed about 4 pounds. [Would you disassemble them?] Jane tapped "Yes" and received 2 pounds of bluegill fillets. She stared at the screen, confused. 'That fish was big, and the system only gave me 2 pounds?' she thought. 'How could it discard everything else?' Jane kept grumbling quietly, but her hands never stopped moving. Over the next half hour, she caught two more fish. After processing them, the system gave her 2 pounds of bluegill fillets and 2 pounds of crappie fillets. She decided to stop. Fish wouldn't keep long, and her inventory was already filling up. She could come back another day. Now she planned to chop some river cane and make containers to carry water back to her shelter. Each slot in her inventory could hold up to 99 items. She already used six slots, so she decided to use five more for water. After over an hour of work, Jane ended up with 495 river cane tubes. She was exhausted and hungry. Sitting by the stream, she put river cane containers filled with water into her inventory while eating bananas. Once she finished them, her stomach finally felt settled. It took nearly another hour to fill all five slots with water using the containers. Jane checked the time. It was already 3:40 PM. 'Time to head back,' she thought. Just then, she spotted a 6-foot-long green viper slithering through the grove ahead. "Holy crap!" Jane blurted out. 'It looks like a green viper, but could they really get that big?' she thought. But then she thought, 'If I could be in this strange game world, why couldn't there be a giant viper?' The snake didn't attack her, and Jane guessed it was because of the beginner protection period. Jane figured the protection wasn't only about keeping players safe for the first three days. The real point was to give them time to gather as many supplies as possible, so they'd have a chance once the protection ended. If she ran into this viper tomorrow, it would probably strike right away. But right now, Jane could prepare to attack it herself. Fortune favored the bold. She decided to go for it. If she backed down today, she'd be defenseless tomorrow. Jane moved quietly closer to the green viper with the iron axe in hand and then swung it down hard onto the snake's body. The viper recoiled in pain, and the strike took away 24 Health Points. Then Jane saw the viper's stats. [Level-1 Green Viper: Highly venomous; Attack: 30, venom drains 5 HP per second; Defense: 20; Health: 200] 'You're kidding,' she thought. '200 HP? That means I have to swing nine more times.' Before the viper could react, Jane took advantage and hacked at it four more times with her axe. Now the viper only had 80 Health Points left. But then the snake finally struck back, lunging forward and biting Jane's left arm. Jane cried out in pain. The bite took away 30 Health Points, but that wasn't a problem. The problem was the viper was venomous. Sure enough, her Health Points dropped by 5 every second. Within seconds, she had already lost over thirty points. Now she was down to 90 Health Points. She couldn't wait any longer. With the viper's fangs still sunk into her left arm, Jane hacked at it twice with her iron axe. The viper whipped its tail against her stomach, and blood rushed into her mouth. 'Three hits, and this is it. The final blow,' Jane thought. The viper collapsed heavily. Jane had only 40 Health Points left, and they were still dropping. [Do you want to disassemble the Level-1 Green Viper?] Jane quickly tapped "Yes." The viper's gall was the only thing she could think of to counter the poison. It was her last hope to survive. [Receive 11 pounds of level-1 viper meat, 1 level-1 viper gall, 2 level-1 viper fangs, 1 level-1 viper hide, 10 level-1 viper scales, 3 Health Potions, 1 Iron Chest, and 50 EXP]. Chapter 7 Moonshot Crossbow [Congratulations, J.Ivy, on reaching Level 4. You've gained one attribute point for each attribute except Luck and Magic attributes, plus five free attribute points (excluding Luck and Magic attributes).] With the level up, Jane's HP instantly refilled, and the bloody bite marks on her arm vanished. 'So leveling up restores my status. I could use this bug in the future,' Jane thought. She figured Attack was still the most important, so she put two free points into Constitution and three into Attack. [Player: J.Ivy] [Gender: Female] [Level: 4 (EXP: 36/300)] [Constitution: 18 (very tough)] [Attack: 13 (Your Attack packs a punch.)] [Defense: 8 (decent)] [Intelligence: 12 (excellent)] [Speed: 11 (very fast)] [Luck: 8 (pretty lucky)] [Magic attributes: Ice Magic: 8; Light Magic: 9] [All base stats are capped at 10, except for level, which can go up to 100.] [Health Points (HP): 180] [Magic Points (MP): 120] But Jane's HP kept ticking down by 5 points. 'Oh, right. I almost forgot. I'm still poisoned,' Jane thought. [Green Viper Gall: Removes Green Viper poison.] Jane let out a relieved breath and swallowed the snake gall. Instantly, the constant 5 damage notifications disappeared, leaving her HP at 160. With the crisis finally over, Jane's legs went weak, and she dropped to the ground. 'That was insane. If it weren't for that snake gall, I'd be dead meat,' she thought. 'Next time I run into anything poisonous, I'm definitely steering clear.' Jane glanced at the iron axe in her hand. 'If I'd been stuck with the stone axe today, I'd be a goner. Good weapons really are a game-changer,' she thought. [Congratulations on being the first to defeat a Level-1 monster. Reward: 1 iron chest and 100 EXP. A global announcement will be made. Do you want to stay anonymous?] Jane chose to stay anonymous. She didn't want everyone to know who she was. [Congratulations to an anonymous player for being the first to defeat a Level-1 monster. Reward: 1 iron chest and 100 EXP.] The message was repeated twice. People started to send messages in the chatroom. GettingSlim: [Damn, that's a pro move. I only managed to kill a normal monster, and someone's already taking down Level-1 monsters.] FlyingBird: [Pro, please let me be your assistant. I'm super sweet.] Firefly: [Get out, FlyingBird.] CabinInWoods: [Even the regular monsters freak me out. I run whenever I see one. Thank goodness. It never chased me.] Bookworm: [I don't even have a weapon.] Dizzy: [Huh? Monsters? You guys actually ran into monsters? I haven't seen a single one.] HungryBelly: [@Dizzy, you haven't gone into the forest?] Dizzy: [Why go to the forest? I fish for chests every day and stay in the shelter.] HungryBelly: [To get supplies. You can't upgrade your shelter with what's in the chests.] Dizzy: [Wait, we have to upgrade the shelter? I thought as long as I had enough to eat, that was enough.] UsTogether: [The shelter is important. Once the protection period ends, monsters will start attacking at night. If you don't upgrade it, you're toast.] Dizzy: [Seriously? You're not messing with me, right?] HungryBelly: [For real. A Level-3 shelter can hold off regular monsters, and a Level-4 shelter can handle Level-1 monsters. So everyone should upgrade their shelters ASAP.] UsTogether: [Yep. Killing monsters gets you supplies and helps you level up fast. You guys should hunt today. Monsters won't attack us, so we get to make the first move. But after today, they'll start attacking.] Dizzy: [Holy crap. The game never told me about it.] Bookworm: [Same. Where are you guys getting your weapons? My two fists are no match for monsters.] UsTogether: [You get them from chests. Grab an axe. It works for fighting too.] Bookworm: [I don't have one.] UsTogether: [Then how are you chopping wood to upgrade your shelter?] Bookworm: [I just open chests and smash them apart for stuff.] UsTogether: [Poor guy.] Bookworm: [Guess I'm screwed.] After taking a short break, Jane started looking through the rest of her haul. Snake meat and snake skin weren't anything special, so she picked up a Health Potion first. [Health Potion: Restores 100 HP.] Jane's eyes brightened. 'This could save my life. I should carry one every time I go out,' she thought. She was 20 HP away from full health, but she wasn't going to use the potion now. 'It restores 100 HP. That's way too much for now,' she thought. After packing everything into her inventory, Jane realized she was out of space. Two iron chests still couldn't fit. Looking at the chests, an idea came to her. 'Maybe I can put all my extra items into the iron chests first, and then store the chests in my inventory,' she wondered. Without hesitation, Jane opened up the iron chests dropped by the viper. [You found 1 Moonshot Crossbow (blue), 30 arrows (blue), 1 pair of Swift Boots (green), 3 MREs, 2 cans of 10 fluid ounces cola.] [Moonshot Crossbow (blue): Attack: 50, Durability: 300/300] [Swift Boots (green): Speed +10, Durability: 200/200] 'I actually got a crossbow and arrows?' Jane thought. After the Green Viper fight, Jane realized her melee range was way too limited. If she wanted to hurt the enemy, she'd have to get close enough to get bitten herself. 'With this Moonshot Crossbow, I can attack from a distance,' Jane thought. 'Much less chance of getting hurt. The downside is there are only thirty arrows. That's nowhere near enough.' Jane put everything from the Level-1 Green Viper into the Iron Chest and placed the chest into her inventory. 'It actually works. That solves the problem,' she thought. With five slots suddenly freed up, she placed the other iron chest, the one system offered, into her inventory too. But it wouldn't stack with the first chest. 'Looks like once a chest is opened, it can't stack anymore,' she thought. 'The system is shrewd.' If opened chests could stack, the Inventory Expansion Cards would be pointless. After resting for about ten minutes, Jane checked the time. It was four o'clock. Time to leave the forest. Thanks to her boosted speed, she got out in around forty minutes. At Shallow Bay, she found only one fishing basket left. Jane pulled up the basket and found it packed with shrimps and a few crabs. [Would you disassemble them?] She tapped "Yes" and received 7 ounces of shrimp meat and 3.5 ounces of crab meat. As Jane reached her shelter's entrance, the sky suddenly darkened. She turned around instinctively and met several pairs of eerie green eyes staring at her from the shadows. Chapter 8 Ice Halo Jane was startled and rushed into her shelter. Using two bundles of thatch and a piece of wood, she quickly built a fire. The cabin brightened, and the sense of danger faded. 'It's so dangerous out there at night,' she thought. She decided she would always get back before dark, never cutting it close again. She thought, 'It gets dark at five, but will that always be the case?' She wasn't about to gamble on that. As usual, Jane poured the leftover bottled water into the coconut shell pot. She added 7 ounces of shrimp, 3.5 ounces of crab meat, and a piece of seaweed. Seaweed was naturally salty, so she didn't need extra seasoning. She took out 2 pounds of crappie fillets, skewered them on a clean stick, and set them over the fire to roast. While they grilled, she sprinkled on some seasoning. Soon the mouthwatering smell of grilled fish filled the air. Jane munched on the grilled crappie fillets and sipped her seafood soup at the same time. The soup, seasoned only with salt, turned out surprisingly tasty. Then she ate two strawberries for dessert. After she was full, Jane opened up the chatroom. WindowBlinds: [Does anyone else feel like we got way more loot today?] HungryBelly: [Yeah. I fished up more crates than yesterday.] LuckyKing: [Same here. I fished up eight crates today, including two iron chests. Furthermore, a wild chicken dropped dead in front of me.] Dreamer: [Damn. How lucky can you get?] Bookworm: [The difference between us is unreal. I've never even laid eyes on an iron chest.] Dreamer: [You're not the only one.] WindowBlinds: [Same.] Dizzy: [Same.] FallenLeaf: [Can't agree more.] LittlePheasant: [Something feels off. Is the system messing with us or planning something?] UsTogether: [I feel the same way. No way the system is being generous for nothing.] Bloom: [Stop being so dramatic. The system probably noticed we were low on supplies and couldn't keep going, so it gave us more.] RedFish: [Yeah. Why would the system treat us badly? It's been giving us supplies all along. Obviously, it wants us to survive.] Seeing this, Jane was surprised too. Everyone seemed to be having a lucky day. That couldn't be a coincidence. Thinking about how today was the last day of the protection period, Jane suddenly felt a sense of crisis. She didn't believe that the system was being generous. She had a hunch the system was cooking up something big. 'What if it suddenly cuts off our supplies starting tomorrow?' she worried. But the chatroom started blowing up. StreamFlow: [@HungryBelly @UsTogether, you two were egging people on to attack monsters. Now I'm hurt and down to 10 Health Points. You guys screwed me over. If it wasn't for you two, I wouldn't have tried fighting those monsters.] HungryBelly: [Dude, I was just giving advice, okay? It was your call whether to go or not. How is this my fault?] FlyingBird: [He's got a point. If you hadn't suggested it, he never would've even thought about it.] StreamFlow: [I don't care. Each of you owes me the contents of a wooden crate.] UsTogether: [Are you kidding? I told you to gather supplies, not to throw yourself at monsters. If you couldn't handle the monsters, that's your problem. Don't blame. We're adults. Take responsibility for your own choices and stop trying to pin it on someone else.] StreamFlow: [You guys nearly got me killed. Shouldn't you make it up to me?] Bloom: [Just give him what he wants. He's not entirely wrong.] RedFish: [Yeah, we're all survivors. If you can help, do it.] UsTogether: [Guess you guys want to play the saint now.] HungryBelly: [Why don't you go ahead and give him your stuff, RedFish?] RedFish: [It has nothing to do with me. You two are the ones who got him hurt, not me.] HungryBelly: [Why should I take responsibility for someone else's choices? He didn't have to go. That was his own decision.] UsTogether: [@StreamFlow, even if you died, that's not my problem. I'm not giving you any supplies. What are you gonna do about it?] StreamFlow: [That's just heartless.] RedFish: [Yeah. How can you treat your fellow countrymen like this?] HungryBelly: [Say whatever you want. It's not like we're losing anything.] StreamFlow: [You little...] The argument went on. Jane snorted. This was why she never bothered posting in the chatroom. If she gave good advice, nobody cared. But if her advice backfired, and someone got screwed over, they'd drag her into their mess and even demand compensation. That was human nature: selfish. In a survival game like this, trying to play the savior is the worst move. Other people's future wasn't her problem. She could barely guarantee your own survival. Jane ignored the chatroom and started sorting through her supplies. She suddenly noticed she still had an unopened iron chest. That got her excited. After all, the loot from the chest that dropped from the Green Viper had been fantastic. 'I wonder what the system's reward will be. It can't be worse than the last one, right?' she thought. [Ice Spellbook ×1, Stellar Staff (green) ×1, auto flush toilet ×1, Attribute Orb ×3, Inventory Expansion Card ×3] [Ice Spellbook: Ice Halo. A single-target control skill. The target gets frozen for three seconds, taking 5 damage each second. Consumes 30 Magic Points, with a 10-second cooldown. Only Ice Magic players can learn this skill.] [Stellar Staff (green): Attack +30. Can cast magic spells. Durability: 300/300] [Auto flush toilet: A magical toilet that doesn't need a water tank or electricity.] [Attribute Orb: Adds 3 points to a random stat.] [Inventory Expansion Card: Use to add one slot to your inventory.] 'These are all top-tier loot. The system really drops good stuff,' Jane thought. She tried to learn the skill from the Ice Spellbook, but a message popped up: [Available after system update.] 'Update? What's that supposed to mean?' Jane thought. She scratched her head, still confused. 'So the Stellar Staff is what lets me use magic skills? Does that mean even if I learn the Ice Spellbook, I still can't cast the spell without the staff? That's so unfair.' Jane was speechless, but seeing the toilet in front of her made her grin. After days of having to bury her business in the sand, this felt like a luxury. 'But where am I supposed to put it?' she wondered. Her cabin was a single room. She couldn't eat, sleep, and take bathroom breaks in the same space. But if she left it outside, it wouldn't be sheltered. 'What if I need to go in the middle of the night? Am I supposed to hold it until morning?' she thought. After thinking it over, Jane decided to put the toilet inside. She was in a survival game. Survival came first. Tomorrow, she could chop down some trees and make a wall to give herself a bit of privacy.
Chapter 1 Island Survival [Welcome to the Island Survival Game.] [Treasure chests will appear in the sea every day from 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM. Players can use fishing rods to pull up chests and get supplies.] [Players between the ages of 16 and 55 are selected. Family members will be grouped together when possible.] [The beginner protection period lasts for three days. If you die in the game, you die for real.] [The game begins.] [Today's weather: cloudy, 60 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit.] A robotic voice announced. Jane Quinn looked around, completely confused. One moment, she was celebrating a fresh start and planning a barbecue dinner, and the next, she was standing on a deserted island. [Please enter your username. If you do not pick one in ten seconds, your real name will be used.] A blank line and a countdown appeared in front of her. [Ten, nine, eight...] Jane thought, 'What the hell is this?' [Seven, six, five...] Jane barely had time to think. She typed "J.Ivy" as her username. [Scanning player information.] A holographic data panel suddenly popped up in front of Jane. [Player: J.Ivy] [Gender: Female] [Level: 1 (EXP: 0/50)] [Constitution: 7 (above average, not bad)] [Attack: 5 (pretty pathetic)] [Defense: 5 (pretty weak)] [Intelligence: 9 (super smart)] [Speed: 6 (barely faster than a turtle)] [Luck: 8 (pretty lucky)] [Magic attributes: Ice Magic: 8; Light Magic: 9] [All base stats are capped at 10, except for level, which can go up to 100.] [Health Points (HP): 70] [Magic Points (MP): 90] Jane thought, 'Player info? Am I actually in a game? And is that luck stat for real? I've always had terrible luck. The one time I won the lottery is the only exception.' The holographic status screen came from a watch on her wrist. Besides the stats panel, there were tabs for the chatroom, trading section, and friends list. In the bottom right, a display read 100,000/100,000 for players. It looked like the games she used to play. The chatroom was already blowing up. BigDaddy: [Where the hell am I? I was just eating dinner.] Pitviper: [I was on the toilet.] MorningStar: [Didn't you hear that voice? This is a survival game.] Sunset: [I don't want to be stuck in this hellhole. I want to go home.] Rocky: [I want to go home, too.] Southshore: [Looks like we can't go back.] Sunrise: [The beginner protection only lasts three days. We must hurry up and gather supplies, or we'll be dead soon.] Seeing the chat rolling, Jane started to feel uneasy inside, too. [J.Ivy, your parents have been detected in the game. Would you like to teleport them into your area?] Jane bit her lip and picked "No." Jane was the heiress of a rich family who'd been switched with another baby at the hospital after birth. The Quinn family, the one that adopted her, was poor. With a spoiled younger brother, Jane had to do the housework from a young age. She was constantly yelled at and even hit, and her life was miserable. Later, the truth came out, and Jane learned that the Quinns themselves had arranged the switch. The Quinns had abused her not because they favored boys but because they'd known she wasn't their daughter. They had switched her with Eve Goodwin, their real daughter, so Eve could lead a better life. Jane wanted to call the police, but Elena Goodwin, Jane's real mother, couldn't let go of the girl she'd raised for twenty years. After Eve's tearful pleas, Elena forgave the Quinns regardless of Jane's feelings, kept Eve by her side, and ended up being even closer to her than to Jane. Eve was the girl Elena had raised as her own for twenty years, a perfect lady skilled in all the arts, whereas Jane, her real daughter that she'd just met, had grown up in a small town, doing farm work. Desmond Goodwin, Jane's real father, and Elena chose Eve without hesitation. They doted on Eve, and Jane was ignored and left to survive on her own. But Eve always pretended to be pure and innocent, but she was secretly scheming. She kept framing Jane, and the more it happened, the less Desmond and Elena liked Jane. To them, Jane was some uncouth, petty girl. Then Eve pulled the trick again, blaming Jane for breaking Elena's favorite antique vase, worth millions. This time Jane was ready. She had bought a recorder and caught Eve on tape. When Eve went to complain, Jane pressed play for everyone to hear. Jane expected the truth to change Desmond and Elena, but Eve started to sob and said, "I was scared because I'm not your real daughter." Desmond and Elena softened and wanted to let it go. Jane was disappointed. She called the police. Desmond and Elena were furious. They thought Jane was cruel and that she called the cops over something so trivial and tried to get Eve thrown in jail. Jane did not actually want Eve jailed. She knew that unless Elena pressed charges over the vase, Eve would be perfectly fine. Jane only wanted to make a clean break from both families, and she wanted to do it in front of the police. If she stayed, Jane had no idea how much more she would have to put up with. With the police's help, Jane formally changed her residency and signed the papers to cut ties with Desmond and Elena. She was about to celebrate with a barbecue when she found herself dumped into a strange game world. A system prompt hovered in front of her, asking if she'd like to teleport her parents to her side. Jane scoffed. She had already severed the relationship. 'Let Eve, their perfect daughter, take care of them instead,' she thought. Jane couldn't stop thinking about her luck stat. 'Even someone as unlucky as me got an 8, so Eve, who's spoiled rotten and adored by everyone, must have a perfect 10,' she thought. That really made her unhappy. [Treasure chests are now spawning. Players, start fishing.] Jane was dazed for a moment before she snapped out of it. She had no time to get sentimental. She didn't even know where she was. That robotic voice sounded legit. They were here to survive, and if she died here, she'd be dead for real. The voice said the beginner protection lasted three days. What came after that could be lethal. All she knew was, right now, she had to grab as many resources as she could before the protection ended. Jane had checked her gear. She only had a ten-slot inventory, a fishing rod, and a shabby thatched hut that would be useless in a heavy storm. If she wanted to survive, she had to build a proper shelter. Jane walked to the shore, baited her hook, and cast her line into the sea. She waited quietly for a long time until she finally felt a tug. Her eyes lit up. She reeled it in fast. It was heavy, but since she'd been doing farm work and had grown strong muscles, she pulled it up easily. What she hauled in was a knee-high wooden crate. She didn't open it yet, only tossed it into her inventory to check later. Right now, she wanted to fish up as many crates as she could. Chapter 2 Opening Wooden Crates and Exploring Jane threw more bait into the sea. This time, she waited almost an hour before she got another crate. After storing it, she noticed it still took only one slot of the inventory, but the number on the crate now showed two. Good thing same items could stack; otherwise, her ten slots would fill up very soon. Time slowly passed. Jane checked her watch and frowned. It was 11:55, only five minutes left before crates stopped appearing. She'd only caught three crates in four hours, and she wasn't sure that would be enough. It was almost noon. Jane started to reel in her line when something tugged hard, shaking her rod wildly. She pulled up quickly. This crate felt much heavier than the others. Jane struggled to haul it in, her rod trembling. She worried it might snap. The crate landed hard on the sand. It was still wooden but heavier than the rest. Jane stored it in her inventory. 'Hope this one has more supplies,' she thought. It was noon. Jane packed up her fishing rod and headed toward the thatched hut. The hut sat on higher ground, probably to keep it from flooding when the tide came. As she got closer, Jane's lips twitched in disbelief. This was no hut. It was just a pile of weeds tied together into a tiny shelter. Inside, there was only a heap of weeds on the floor and holes in the roof. There was no place to hide anything. Jane pulled out all four wooden crates, ready to open them. Inside the first crate, she found a windproof lighter, a knife, and five units of wood. In the second, there were three units of refined iron and five units of plastic. Jane's mood sank. Neither had any food or water. The third crate gave her 34 fluid ounces of water in two bottles and 14 ounces of bread. 'Finally, some real food,' she thought. Then she eagerly opened the last, heavier crate. Inside were a stone axe, two apples, and two sandwiches. A prompt popped up on her holo display: [Stone axe: Attack: 10; Durability: 100/100; Good for chopping down trees.] 'No wonder it was so heavy. It's a weapon,' Jane thought. 'The supplies aren't much, but at least I have enough to get through today.' The system asked, [You have four wooden crates. Do you want to dismantle them?] 'Wait, I can dismantle these?' Jane thought. She tapped "Yes." The four crates were dismantled into 24 pieces of wood. 'So each crate gives six units of wood,' she thought. Now Jane had a windproof lighter, a knife, a stone axe, three refined iron pieces, 29 pieces of wood, five pieces of plastic, two bottles of water, 14 ounces of bread, two apples, and two sandwiches. Jane looked at the rundown shelter, sighed, and patted it. 'How am I supposed to live in this?' she thought. Just then, a system message appeared. [J.Ivy's shelter: level-1 shabby shelter, can't keep out wind or rain] [Next level: level-2 sturdy shelter, can keep out wind and rain] [Materials needed: thatch ×30, wood ×10] 'So I can upgrade it,' Jane thought. 'But where do I find thatch?' She took out a piece of bread and an apple, drank some water, and barely filled her stomach. Jane decided to look for resources. She couldn't wait for the system to deliver crates every day. Besides, since it was still the beginner protection period, it was the best time to explore. With her stone axe in hand, Jane made her way toward the forest near the beach. The place was deep and eerily quiet, and Jane felt a weird sense of danger. She only dared to stay near the edge. In a patch of bushes, she spotted something like thatch and pulled it up. It was thatch. Jane gathered all thatch she could find in the area, ending up with 36 units of thatch and 36 EXP. 'Wait, I get EXP for this?' she wondered, still unsure what EXP and levels were for. Then there were things like Magic Points, Ice Magic, and Light Magic. From her gaming experience, Jane guessed she'd learn Ice and Light spells someday. But right now, she didn't know how to unlock them. Nearby stood seven banyan trees. Jane pulled out her stone axe and started chopping. Each tree took a dozen swings, but she ended up with 35 units of wood and 35 EXP. [Congratulations. You've reached Level 2 and gained one attribute point for each attribute except Luck and Magic attributes, plus five free attribute points (excluding Luck and Magic attributes).] Jane checked her stats panel, and it had changed. [Player: J.Ivy] [Gender: Female] [Level: 2 (EXP: 21/80)] [Constitution: 8 (not bad)] [Attack: 6 (still not much of a punch)] [Defense: 6 (still pretty fragile)] [Intelligence: 10 (awesome)] [Speed: 7 (decent)] [Luck: 8 (pretty lucky)] [Magic attributes: Ice Magic: 8; Light Magic: 9] [All base stats are capped at 10, except for level, which can go up to 100.] [Health Points (HP): 80] [Magic Points (MP): 100] Jane noticed that when her Constitution was 7, her HP was 70. Now that it was 8, her HP had risen to 80. And Intelligence and Magic Points seemed to be linked. Magic Points mattered, but Jane still didn't know how to unlock spells. She put three free attribute points into Constitution and two into Attack. Now her Constitution was 11, her HP jumped to 110, and Attack reached 8. 'Finally, I'm not so weak anymore,' she thought. The axe's durability had dropped to 90/100. "This axe wears out so fast," Jane sighed. Jane ventured a bit deeper into the woods and spotted some long, slender vines. Her eyes lit up. She chopped one down and tested its strength with a tug, nodding in satisfaction. 'These are sturdy enough to weave fish traps,' she thought. 'I can set them in the sea and catch dinner.' Back in the small town, Jane had often gone hungry. She'd learned to weave fish traps from her neighbor Wayne, setting them in the river to catch food. She never imagined that skill would be useful in a survival game. Jane's fingers moved quickly, and soon she had several well-made traps. She glanced at the time. It was already 3:30 PM. She was surprised she'd spent three hours chopping trees and gathering materials. 'Time to head out,' she thought, taking one last look into the forest before turning toward the beach. She walked along the shoreline for about 30 minutes and finally found a spot with rocky outcrops. She placed her traps at different points among the rocks. Then, to her delight, she spotted three coconut trees growing on the beach. Jane loved coconut water, but she always thought bottled drinks couldn't compare to fresh coconut water straight from the fruit. She grabbed her stone axe and worked on the coconut trees. After some effort, she got nine coconuts, nine pieces of wood, and 15 EXP. 'Coconut trees give less wood than regular ones,' she thought. 'But having coconuts is already a win.' Jane checked the time. It was 4:30 PM, and the sky was starting to darken. 'Better head back,' she thought. 'The night out here feels dangerous.' Chapter 3 Upgrading the Shelter Jane returned to her shelter by five o'clock. The sky had turned completely dark. She started a fire using two bundles of thatch, one piece of wood, and her lighter. Warm light instantly filled the hut. Then, using thirty bundles of thatch and ten pieces of wood, she spent ten minutes upgrading the dilapidated hut into a sturdy one. It was still a thatched shelter, but now it wouldn't collapse. [Congratulations, J.Ivy. You have upgraded your shelter to Level 2 and gained 20 EXP.] Jane checked the materials needed for the next upgrade. [Wooden Shelter: Level 3 (protects against ordinary monsters). Upgrade requires: wood ×80, stone ×30.] 'Ordinary monsters,' she thought. 'So monsters will attack players.' She'd already guessed this world was dangerous, but the thought still unsettled her. Her stomach growled loudly. She really needed to grab something to eat. All she'd had today was some bread and an apple. Jane grabbed her axe and cracked open a coconut. She downed the coconut water, scooped out the meat, and then punched two small holes in the shell with her knife. She threaded some leftover vines through the holes, poured in half a bottle of water, and hung the shell over the fire using the vines as a handle. She planned to heat up a sandwich, saving the bread and apple for breakfast. The fire in the game burned intensely hot, and the water boiled almost instantly. Jane took out a sandwich and used only half of the flavor packet. She didn't like salty food much, so she saved the rest to use as seasoning later. She knew that without enough salt, over time, her health would decline. The warm sandwich helped settle her stomach. As she ate, she reviewed her supplies. Things seemed okay, but she couldn't shake the feeling that food and water were running low. She remembered she was still in the beginner protection period. Once that ended, gathering resources would become much harder. That meant she had to keep scavenging tomorrow. After finishing the sandwich, she felt bored. The day's exertion and the quiet surroundings made it easy for her to drift off to sleep. Jane woke up at 7:30 in the morning. She rinsed her mouth with bottled water and ate a piece of bread, which was just enough to ease her hunger. She checked the weather. [Today's weather: Sunny, 66°F to 86°F.] The treasure chests hadn't respawned yet, and Jane began to wonder how the other survivors in her zone were doing. She opened the chatroom and saw the region tab had 999+ unread messages, all from last night. IronWill: [How many chests did you guys get? I only got two.] Teddy: [Same. Just two. And all I got was plastic and wood. I'm starving and dying of thirst. Can anyone share some food or water? Please.] SpringDrizzle: [Same.] FlyingBird: [Me too.] SuccessfulMe: [I only found a piece of bread and a bottle of water. Not enough to survive.] LongWay: [Honestly, just having food is pretty lucky already.] LuckyKing: [Huh? You guys got so little? I got five MREs, ten bottles of water, and ten apples. That should last me two days.] Jane was surprised. 'This guy's luck is unreal,' she thought. 'But is it really smart to let everyone know he's got so much food?' Sure enough, the chat went wild as soon as everyone saw LuckyKing's message. FlyingBird: [Damn, you're lucky.] Teddy: [Hey, LuckyKing, can you spare me some food? I didn't get anything at all. Please, I'm starving here.] LongWay: [I've got my parents with me. They're both in their fifties. Can you help us out? We'll definitely pay you back once we get some food.] LuckyKing didn't reply after that. He probably realized it wasn't a good idea to tell everyone he had so much food. Teddy: [@LuckyKing, come on. Say something. You can't let us die out here.] LongWay: [Yeah. With your luck, you'll probably find more tomorrow. Share a bit. It won't hurt you.] PrettyFace: [We're all from Centlandia. We should help each other when things are tough.] HazySurface: [How can you ask for that? Why should he share what he worked for?] HungryBelly: [Exactly. If you want to survive, find food yourselves. Stop relying on others. This is a survival game. Only the strong survive.] LuckyKing: [Sure, I'm lucky, but I'm not playing saint. If you want something, trade for it. Nothing's free.] Teddy: [Guys, don't you care about your fellow countrymen at all?] UsTogether: [Survival matters now, not solidarity. If you had food, would you give it away? Don't expect others to do what you wouldn't.] Seeing more and more people criticize them, the freeloaders quickly stopped talking. Jane agreed with LuckyKing and the others. She was willing to trade resources, but if anyone expected free handouts, they were out of luck. 'Why should anyone give away what they worked hard to get? Who do they think they are?' she thought. ***** At exactly eight o'clock, Jane sat by the shore. She cast her hook into the sea, waiting for the next round of supplies. Today she pulled up four wooden crates. Inside she found a stone pickaxe, 5 units of refined iron, 5 units of plastic, 5 units of glass, and 3 bottles of water, 21 ounces of bread, and two ham sausages. [Stone Pickaxe: Attack: 10; Durability: 100; Can be used to gather stone.] Jane felt a bit down. She'd gotten even less food than yesterday, so she'd have to stretch her supplies. Still, finding a new tool made her feel a little better. She dismantled the wooden crates and collected 24 pieces of wood. At the moment, Jane's inventory included: a windproof lighter, a knife, a stone axe with 85 durability, a stone pickaxe, 8 units of refined iron, 86 pieces of wood, 4 bundles of thatch, 10 units of plastic... 5 pieces of glass, 4 bottles of water, 28 ounces of bread, 1 apple, 1 sandwich, 8 coconuts, and 2 ham sausages. Back at the shelter, Jane ate some bread and opened up a coconut. She didn't eat anything else. Good thing she didn't have much of an appetite. She left anything she didn't need for the day inside the shelter, taking only her stone axe, stone pickaxe, a bottle of water, and a ham sausage, just in case she got hungry later. Today, Jane headed to the forest again, but instead of yesterday's spot, she chose the area next to where she'd left her fish basket, so she wouldn't have to trek back later. Chapter 4 First Deal The forest here was much thicker. Jane chopped down three banyan trees, collecting 15 pieces of wood and 15 EXP. Then she decided to move on. Today, her goal was to gather stones and explore further. She didn't want to waste too much time chopping trees. She pushed aside the vines blocking her path and continued deeper into the forest. The plants grew denser, some sprinkled with tiny yellow and white flowers she couldn't name. She spotted plenty of mushrooms with bright red caps and white stems. They looked beautiful, but she remembered an old warning: Red cap, white stalk. Eat them and you'll be laid out flat. That kept her from picking any. Still, with all this thick greenery and so many mushrooms around, Jane figured there was probably a water source nearby. She checked the time. It was 3. If she hurried, it would take about an hour to get out of the forest. She needed to collect her fishing traps, and it would take another 30 minutes to get back. She had to leave now. On her way out, Jane was hungry. She washed down a sausage with bottled water in two bites. Once she stepped out of the forest, the whole world seemed to brighten up. The forest had been so gloomy. It really wasn't a place for people. She hurried over to the shallows and took a quick look. Jane's mouth twitched. Unfortunately, out of the five fishing traps she'd set, only two remained. The rest must have been swept away by the wind. She hauled up the two remaining traps and dumped them onto the sand. The haul was disappointingly small. Just two sea snails, a palm-sized fish, and a few handfuls of seaweed. That was all she got. [Would you disassemble them?] Naturally, Jane tapped "Yes." It was a convenient way. [Received: snail meat ×2, 3.5 ounces of fish meat, seaweed ×2.] Jane didn't stick around. She tossed the two fishing traps back into the sea and headed for her shelter. On her way, she spotted a few large rocks. She pulled out her stone pickaxe and started chipping away, getting 15 pieces of stones and 15 EXP. Jane couldn't help but complain inwardly, 'Seriously? Those rocks were huge, but I only get 15 units of stones? That's stingy.' [Congratulations. You've reached Level 3. You've gained one attribute point for each stat except Luck and Magic attributes, plus five free attribute points (excluding Luck and Magic attributes).] After two days of running around, Jane realized Speed was as important as Constitution. Moving faster meant she could explore more places and gather more loot. So this time, she put 3 points into Constitution and 2 into Speed. Her status panel now looked like this: [Player: J.Ivy] [Gender: Female] [Level: 3 (EXP: 6/150)] [Constitution: 15 (very strong)] [Attack: 9 (not too shabby on the attack front)] [Defense: 7 (could be worse)] [Intelligence: 11 (pretty sharp)] [Speed: 10 (very quick)] [Luck: 8 (pretty lucky)] [Magic attributes: Ice Magic: 8; Light Magic: 9] [All base stats are capped at 10, except for level, which can go up to 100.] [Health Points (HP): 150] [Magic Points (MP): 110] With her Constitution now at 15, Jane was amazed. Her body had been completely worn out from the afternoon's work, but suddenly, it was as if all her exhaustion vanished. And with Speed bumped up to 10, Jane raced back to the shelter much faster than before. 'This is unreal,' she thought. Even with her new speed, it was nearly five o'clock when she made it back. Just like always, Jane started a fire with 2 bundles of thatch and 1 piece of wood. She decided to cook the seafood she'd caught. It wouldn't keep for long, and even though her inventory stopped food from spoiling, space was limited. She couldn't carry everything forever, so she figured she should deal with it now. Jane poured the rest of her half bottle of water into yesterday's coconut-shell pot, added 2 pieces of snail meat, 3.5 ounces of fish, and the leftover half packet of seasoning from yesterday. She set the coconut shell over the fire to simmer. When the seafood was nearly done, Jane took out her last sandwich. She saved the seasoning packet for later and dropped the sandwich into the coconut shell to cook with the seafood. Soon, the mouthwatering smell of seafood and sandwich filled the air. Jane was drooling. It smelled so good. Too bad it was her last sandwich. She finished the seafood and sandwich and slurped up every drop of soup. Finally, she was full. With nothing else to do that evening, Jane started sorting through her supplies. After checking everything over, she felt anxious. There wasn't enough food to last another day. If tomorrow's haul was bad, she'd be in trouble. Jane decided to check the trading section to see what was available. [Wood ×10: trade for any food] [Thatch ×10: trade for water] [Glass ×5: trade for at least 7 ounces of food] [Refined iron ×5: trade for any food] [Stone ×10: trade for food] The list went on. Most of the listings were people trying to swap their supplies for food or water. No one was offering food for other items. 'Guess food is really scarce,' Jane thought. Seeing the listings for stones, Jane felt tempted. She'd only managed to get 15 stones all afternoon, and it was hard work. As for food, she still had a few coconuts to trade. Coconuts weren't super filling, but they were packed with energy. Jane traded four coconuts for 20 pieces of stone, 5 pieces of glass, and 5 pieces of refined iron. She wasn't sure what glass or refined iron were for, but she figured they'd be useful later. [You're making a trade. Do you want to stay anonymous?] Jane hit "Yes." Four coconuts wasn't a big deal, but if she traded them openly, people would know she had extra food. She didn't want anyone eyeing her supplies or getting any ideas. She checked the chat, and sure enough, people were talking about the trades. LittleBlossom: [Someone traded a coconut for 10 pieces of my stone. I thought the stone would never sell. Thanks, anonymous buyer.] SpringFeast: [Same. I traded five pieces of glass for a coconut.] Funster: [I traded five pieces of refined iron for a coconut. Coconut water is so good!] Conqueror: [An anonymous buyer? More like a profiteer. Use your brains, guys. Stone is for upgrading your hut, and refined iron and glass are important materials. Trading all that for a coconut? How are you supposed to upgrade your shelter?] Then, a bunch of people thought Jane was ruthless. 'A coconut doesn't even fill one up, and that buyer's swapping it for so much stuff. We're all Centlandians, all in the same boat. Shouldn't we help each other out?' they thought. Chapter 5 Axe Blueprint But someone quickly disagreed. Funster: [For the past two days, all I've gotten from crates is stone and refined iron. The only food I found was a sandwich and a bottle of water. If it weren't for this coconut, I'll be dead. I owe the coconut seller big time.] SpringFeast: [Yeah. Making it through the day is hard enough. Who cares about the future? At least I can eat the coconut, but I can't eat materials.] HungryBelly: [Food is precious right now. It's already generous for someone to offer it up for trade. If you think they're ripping people off, why not put up some filling food yourself? I'm sure everyone would thank you for it.] UsTogether: [@Conqueror, how about trading 5 pieces of refined iron for 5.5 pounds of wheat? Since refined iron is so valuable, I bet you'll agree, right?] Conqueror: [No good deed goes unpunished. Whatever, I'm not wasting my breath on you guys.] UsTogether: [Wait. Don't go. I'm serious about the trade.] No matter how many people tagged Conqueror, he stayed silent. Watching all this go down, Jane felt totally satisfied. She made a mental note of Conqueror's name. She'd never trade anything valuable with him. Jane had 100 pieces of wood and 35 pieces of stone. They were enough to upgrade her wood cabin. She spent 80 pieces of wood and 30 pieces of stone and jumped into the upgrade. About half an hour later, her new wooden cabin was finished. It was much larger than her old thatched hut and looked solidly built. No wonder it could hold up against ordinary monster attacks. [Congratulations, player J.Ivy, for upgrading your shelter to level 3. You've got 50 EXP.] Jane checked the requirements for the next upgrade. [Stone cabin: Level 4 (can withstand attacks from level-1 monsters). Upgrade materials required: stone ×500, wood ×300, glass ×60.] 'That's a huge amount of materials for level four,' she thought. 'Everything is doubling now.' After the upgrade, Jane was low on supplies. Tomorrow was the final day of the beginner protection period, and she wasn't sure what would happen after it ended. She set her alarm for 5:30 AM. She wasn't going to sleep until seven again. Time was tight, and she needed to gather more resources. 'I should have gotten up early this morning too,' Jane thought. 'I went to bed early and wasted all that time.' With that, she let her thoughts fade and fell into a deep sleep. ***** The next morning, Jane woke up at 5:30 to the sound of her alarm. [Today's weather: Cloudy. Temperature between 57°F and 77°F.] She ate some bread for breakfast, drank a little water, and tossed a sausage into her inventory before heading out. By 5:30, it was already bright outside. Jane returned to the forest she had visited on her first afternoon. When she noticed a bunch of vines, she remembered her trip to the Shallow Bay yesterday. The wind had left her with only two fish traps. Worried they might be gone today, she grabbed some vines and stuffed them into her inventory. Making fish traps took too much time, so Jane decided she would work on them tonight when she was free. She kept walking until she came across a pine forest. 'Time to gather more wood,' she thought. Jane took out her stone axe and began chopping. After about ten swings, the pine tree fell. She collected 5 pieces of wood, 1 unit of pine resin, 17.5 ounces of pine nuts, and gained 5 EXP. 'Chopping pine trees gives me resin and nuts too?' she thought. Pine resin was a sticky substance that seeped from pine trees. It worked well for starting fires and could be used as medicine. It helped relieve pain and itching, reduce swelling, detoxify, and stop bleeding. Jane had tasted pine nuts at her relatives' house during the holidays. They were rich and fragrant. The ones from the system were already processed, and it saved her strength. Seeing how much the pine trees were dropping, she felt motivated. She picked up her axe and started chopping again. As her inventory filled with pine resin and pine nuts, Jane couldn't hold back her smile. By 7:50, she decided to stop. Crate fishing was about to begin, and that was her top priority. All morning, she had collected 80 pieces of wood, 16 units of pine resin, 16 portions of pine nuts (each 17.5 ounces), and gained 80 EXP. Jane felt satisfied. Last time she was here, she only gathered 35 pieces of wood, but that was because she spent too much time weaving five fish traps. Now she knew how to plan better. Since making fish traps didn't depend on location, she would save that for the evenings, leaving daylight hours free for gathering supplies. Jane walked to her usual crate fishing spot. Sitting quietly on the beach and waiting for the crates to appear, she was absolutely famished. She had been doing physical work all morning and only had a small 7 ounces pack of bread to keep her going. She took a sip of water, pulled out her last sausage and finished it in a few bites. At least now her stomach finally settled. Jane got lucky today. She caught six crates, and one of them was a black iron crate, clearly better than the usual wooden ones. She went back to her shelter and started opening the crates. The first wooden crate held 5 bottles of water, 5 packs of 7 ounces bread, and 5 sandwiches. 'I'm on a roll today. That's a lot of food,' Jane thought. The second wooden crate contained 10 units of stone, 10 pieces of refined iron, and 10 units of plastic. The third held 5 apples, 5 bananas, and 10 strawberries. The fourth crate had an 80 inches ×80 inches cashmere blanket and an 80 inches ×80 inches mattress. 'A mattress and a blanket?' Jane thought. 'Maybe I don't have to sleep on itchy straw anymore. It always got cold once the fire died at night.' The fifth wooden crate contained 3 sets of women's underwear and a set of women's autumn outfit. 'New clothes,' she thought. 'I've felt so grimy these last few days. Now I can finally change out of these dirty rags.' Jane stared at the last black iron crate, her face full of anticipation. 'The wooden ones were packed,' she thought. 'Don't let me down now.' [1 blueprint, 5 Inventory Expansion Cards.] Jane's hands trembled slightly as she opened the blueprint. [Axe blueprint unlocked.] [Stone axe: Requires stone ×6, wood ×3; Attack: 10; Durability: 100/100] [Iron axe: Requires refined iron ×6, stone ×3; Attack: 15; Durability: 150/150] [Copper axe: Requires bronze ×6, refined iron ×3; Attack: 20; Durability: 200/200] [Silver axe: Requires silver ×6, bronze ×3; Attack: 30; Durability: 300/300] [Gold axe: Requires gold ×6, silver ×3; Attack: 50; Durability: 500/500] 'There are so many types of axes?' Jane thought. She used 6 pieces of refined iron and 3 pieces of stone and crafted an iron axe right away. Chapter 6 Slaying a Level-1 Monster While waiting for the iron axe to finish crafting, Jane grabbed a quick lunch: an apple, three strawberries, and a bag of bread. In less than ten minutes, the iron axe was ready. [Iron axe: Attack: 15; Durability: 150/150] 'Not bad. This should make chopping trees faster,' Jane thought. Next, she checked out the Inventory Expansion Cards. [Inventory Expansion Card: Use to add one slot to your inventory.] Jane used all five cards, so now her inventory had fifteen slots. She could bring way more gear when she headed out without worrying about space. [You've got six chests. Would you like to break them down?] Jane tapped "No." She'd gathered so much stuff lately that her inventory was full, and dumping everything on the ground made her shelter look like a junkyard. These chests would be right for sorting out all her gear. Her supplies were mostly food, tools, and daily necessities. She stored all of it in the chests inside her shelter. Jane only brought an iron axe, a stone pickaxe, a half-empty bottle of water, and two bananas before heading out. 'Bananas are more filling,' she thought as she grabbed them. Jane returned to the spot she'd explored yesterday afternoon, planning to keep searching for water. On an island like this, freshwater was essential. If she found any, she could trade it for other supplies in the trading section. The jungle was so dense that sunlight barely reached the ground, making the whole forest feel dark and gloomy. Jane held a stick in her left hand to push aside the undergrowth, while her right hand gripped the iron axe, ready for anything. She passed quickly by the cluster of red-capped, white-stemmed mushrooms she'd seen last time without stopping. After another ten minutes or so, Jane thought she heard the gentle sound of water flowing nearby. Her eyes brightened. 'Could this be the water source?' she thought. After another seven or eight minutes, she finally spotted a long stream ahead, with thicket and agaves stretching far along both banks. Jane's eyes brightened. Agave was incredibly useful. Every part of it could be used, and there might even be groundhogs there. The wood here was thick, perfect for making fishing spears to catch fish. She cut down a tree with her iron axe but didn't receive any EXP. She guessed only collecting certain items, like wood, stone, or thatch, gave her experience points. She sharpened one end of the branch into several prongs and headed to the stream with her new spear. The water was clear, and she could see fish swimming. She waited for the right moment and jabbed down, but she missed. 'What's wrong with me?' she thought. She used to be skilled at spear fishing back in the small town, but today her timing was off. She tried again, waited for the perfect moment, and jabbed her spear down. This time, she finally got lucky and snagged a bluegill that must have weighed about 4 pounds. [Would you disassemble them?] Jane tapped "Yes" and received 2 pounds of bluegill fillets. She stared at the screen, confused. 'That fish was big, and the system only gave me 2 pounds?' she thought. 'How could it discard everything else?' Jane kept grumbling quietly, but her hands never stopped moving. Over the next half hour, she caught two more fish. After processing them, the system gave her 2 pounds of bluegill fillets and 2 pounds of crappie fillets. She decided to stop. Fish wouldn't keep long, and her inventory was already filling up. She could come back another day. Now she planned to chop some river cane and make containers to carry water back to her shelter. Each slot in her inventory could hold up to 99 items. She already used six slots, so she decided to use five more for water. After over an hour of work, Jane ended up with 495 river cane tubes. She was exhausted and hungry. Sitting by the stream, she put river cane containers filled with water into her inventory while eating bananas. Once she finished them, her stomach finally felt settled. It took nearly another hour to fill all five slots with water using the containers. Jane checked the time. It was already 3:40 PM. 'Time to head back,' she thought. Just then, she spotted a 6-foot-long green viper slithering through the grove ahead. "Holy crap!" Jane blurted out. 'It looks like a green viper, but could they really get that big?' she thought. But then she thought, 'If I could be in this strange game world, why couldn't there be a giant viper?' The snake didn't attack her, and Jane guessed it was because of the beginner protection period. Jane figured the protection wasn't only about keeping players safe for the first three days. The real point was to give them time to gather as many supplies as possible, so they'd have a chance once the protection ended. If she ran into this viper tomorrow, it would probably strike right away. But right now, Jane could prepare to attack it herself. Fortune favored the bold. She decided to go for it. If she backed down today, she'd be defenseless tomorrow. Jane moved quietly closer to the green viper with the iron axe in hand and then swung it down hard onto the snake's body. The viper recoiled in pain, and the strike took away 24 Health Points. Then Jane saw the viper's stats. [Level-1 Green Viper: Highly venomous; Attack: 30, venom drains 5 HP per second; Defense: 20; Health: 200] 'You're kidding,' she thought. '200 HP? That means I have to swing nine more times.' Before the viper could react, Jane took advantage and hacked at it four more times with her axe. Now the viper only had 80 Health Points left. But then the snake finally struck back, lunging forward and biting Jane's left arm. Jane cried out in pain. The bite took away 30 Health Points, but that wasn't a problem. The problem was the viper was venomous. Sure enough, her Health Points dropped by 5 every second. Within seconds, she had already lost over thirty points. Now she was down to 90 Health Points. She couldn't wait any longer. With the viper's fangs still sunk into her left arm, Jane hacked at it twice with her iron axe. The viper whipped its tail against her stomach, and blood rushed into her mouth. 'Three hits, and this is it. The final blow,' Jane thought. The viper collapsed heavily. Jane had only 40 Health Points left, and they were still dropping. [Do you want to disassemble the Level-1 Green Viper?] Jane quickly tapped "Yes." The viper's gall was the only thing she could think of to counter the poison. It was her last hope to survive. [Receive 11 pounds of level-1 viper meat, 1 level-1 viper gall, 2 level-1 viper fangs, 1 level-1 viper hide, 10 level-1 viper scales, 3 Health Potions, 1 Iron Chest, and 50 EXP]. Chapter 7 Moonshot Crossbow [Congratulations, J.Ivy, on reaching Level 4. You've gained one attribute point for each attribute except Luck and Magic attributes, plus five free attribute points (excluding Luck and Magic attributes).] With the level up, Jane's HP instantly refilled, and the bloody bite marks on her arm vanished. 'So leveling up restores my status. I could use this bug in the future,' Jane thought. She figured Attack was still the most important, so she put two free points into Constitution and three into Attack. [Player: J.Ivy] [Gender: Female] [Level: 4 (EXP: 36/300)] [Constitution: 18 (very tough)] [Attack: 13 (Your Attack packs a punch.)] [Defense: 8 (decent)] [Intelligence: 12 (excellent)] [Speed: 11 (very fast)] [Luck: 8 (pretty lucky)] [Magic attributes: Ice Magic: 8; Light Magic: 9] [All base stats are capped at 10, except for level, which can go up to 100.] [Health Points (HP): 180] [Magic Points (MP): 120] But Jane's HP kept ticking down by 5 points. 'Oh, right. I almost forgot. I'm still poisoned,' Jane thought. [Green Viper Gall: Removes Green Viper poison.] Jane let out a relieved breath and swallowed the snake gall. Instantly, the constant 5 damage notifications disappeared, leaving her HP at 160. With the crisis finally over, Jane's legs went weak, and she dropped to the ground. 'That was insane. If it weren't for that snake gall, I'd be dead meat,' she thought. 'Next time I run into anything poisonous, I'm definitely steering clear.' Jane glanced at the iron axe in her hand. 'If I'd been stuck with the stone axe today, I'd be a goner. Good weapons really are a game-changer,' she thought. [Congratulations on being the first to defeat a Level-1 monster. Reward: 1 iron chest and 100 EXP. A global announcement will be made. Do you want to stay anonymous?] Jane chose to stay anonymous. She didn't want everyone to know who she was. [Congratulations to an anonymous player for being the first to defeat a Level-1 monster. Reward: 1 iron chest and 100 EXP.] The message was repeated twice. People started to send messages in the chatroom. GettingSlim: [Damn, that's a pro move. I only managed to kill a normal monster, and someone's already taking down Level-1 monsters.] FlyingBird: [Pro, please let me be your assistant. I'm super sweet.] Firefly: [Get out, FlyingBird.] CabinInWoods: [Even the regular monsters freak me out. I run whenever I see one. Thank goodness. It never chased me.] Bookworm: [I don't even have a weapon.] Dizzy: [Huh? Monsters? You guys actually ran into monsters? I haven't seen a single one.] HungryBelly: [@Dizzy, you haven't gone into the forest?] Dizzy: [Why go to the forest? I fish for chests every day and stay in the shelter.] HungryBelly: [To get supplies. You can't upgrade your shelter with what's in the chests.] Dizzy: [Wait, we have to upgrade the shelter? I thought as long as I had enough to eat, that was enough.] UsTogether: [The shelter is important. Once the protection period ends, monsters will start attacking at night. If you don't upgrade it, you're toast.] Dizzy: [Seriously? You're not messing with me, right?] HungryBelly: [For real. A Level-3 shelter can hold off regular monsters, and a Level-4 shelter can handle Level-1 monsters. So everyone should upgrade their shelters ASAP.] UsTogether: [Yep. Killing monsters gets you supplies and helps you level up fast. You guys should hunt today. Monsters won't attack us, so we get to make the first move. But after today, they'll start attacking.] Dizzy: [Holy crap. The game never told me about it.] Bookworm: [Same. Where are you guys getting your weapons? My two fists are no match for monsters.] UsTogether: [You get them from chests. Grab an axe. It works for fighting too.] Bookworm: [I don't have one.] UsTogether: [Then how are you chopping wood to upgrade your shelter?] Bookworm: [I just open chests and smash them apart for stuff.] UsTogether: [Poor guy.] Bookworm: [Guess I'm screwed.] After taking a short break, Jane started looking through the rest of her haul. Snake meat and snake skin weren't anything special, so she picked up a Health Potion first. [Health Potion: Restores 100 HP.] Jane's eyes brightened. 'This could save my life. I should carry one every time I go out,' she thought. She was 20 HP away from full health, but she wasn't going to use the potion now. 'It restores 100 HP. That's way too much for now,' she thought. After packing everything into her inventory, Jane realized she was out of space. Two iron chests still couldn't fit. Looking at the chests, an idea came to her. 'Maybe I can put all my extra items into the iron chests first, and then store the chests in my inventory,' she wondered. Without hesitation, Jane opened up the iron chests dropped by the viper. [You found 1 Moonshot Crossbow (blue), 30 arrows (blue), 1 pair of Swift Boots (green), 3 MREs, 2 cans of 10 fluid ounces cola.] [Moonshot Crossbow (blue): Attack: 50, Durability: 300/300] [Swift Boots (green): Speed +10, Durability: 200/200] 'I actually got a crossbow and arrows?' Jane thought. After the Green Viper fight, Jane realized her melee range was way too limited. If she wanted to hurt the enemy, she'd have to get close enough to get bitten herself. 'With this Moonshot Crossbow, I can attack from a distance,' Jane thought. 'Much less chance of getting hurt. The downside is there are only thirty arrows. That's nowhere near enough.' Jane put everything from the Level-1 Green Viper into the Iron Chest and placed the chest into her inventory. 'It actually works. That solves the problem,' she thought. With five slots suddenly freed up, she placed the other iron chest, the one system offered, into her inventory too. But it wouldn't stack with the first chest. 'Looks like once a chest is opened, it can't stack anymore,' she thought. 'The system is shrewd.' If opened chests could stack, the Inventory Expansion Cards would be pointless. After resting for about ten minutes, Jane checked the time. It was four o'clock. Time to leave the forest. Thanks to her boosted speed, she got out in around forty minutes. At Shallow Bay, she found only one fishing basket left. Jane pulled up the basket and found it packed with shrimps and a few crabs. [Would you disassemble them?] She tapped "Yes" and received 7 ounces of shrimp meat and 3.5 ounces of crab meat. As Jane reached her shelter's entrance, the sky suddenly darkened. She turned around instinctively and met several pairs of eerie green eyes staring at her from the shadows. Chapter 8 Ice Halo Jane was startled and rushed into her shelter. Using two bundles of thatch and a piece of wood, she quickly built a fire. The cabin brightened, and the sense of danger faded. 'It's so dangerous out there at night,' she thought. She decided she would always get back before dark, never cutting it close again. She thought, 'It gets dark at five, but will that always be the case?' She wasn't about to gamble on that. As usual, Jane poured the leftover bottled water into the coconut shell pot. She added 7 ounces of shrimp, 3.5 ounces of crab meat, and a piece of seaweed. Seaweed was naturally salty, so she didn't need extra seasoning. She took out 2 pounds of crappie fillets, skewered them on a clean stick, and set them over the fire to roast. While they grilled, she sprinkled on some seasoning. Soon the mouthwatering smell of grilled fish filled the air. Jane munched on the grilled crappie fillets and sipped her seafood soup at the same time. The soup, seasoned only with salt, turned out surprisingly tasty. Then she ate two strawberries for dessert. After she was full, Jane opened up the chatroom. WindowBlinds: [Does anyone else feel like we got way more loot today?] HungryBelly: [Yeah. I fished up more crates than yesterday.] LuckyKing: [Same here. I fished up eight crates today, including two iron chests. Furthermore, a wild chicken dropped dead in front of me.] Dreamer: [Damn. How lucky can you get?] Bookworm: [The difference between us is unreal. I've never even laid eyes on an iron chest.] Dreamer: [You're not the only one.] WindowBlinds: [Same.] Dizzy: [Same.] FallenLeaf: [Can't agree more.] LittlePheasant: [Something feels off. Is the system messing with us or planning something?] UsTogether: [I feel the same way. No way the system is being generous for nothing.] Bloom: [Stop being so dramatic. The system probably noticed we were low on supplies and couldn't keep going, so it gave us more.] RedFish: [Yeah. Why would the system treat us badly? It's been giving us supplies all along. Obviously, it wants us to survive.] Seeing this, Jane was surprised too. Everyone seemed to be having a lucky day. That couldn't be a coincidence. Thinking about how today was the last day of the protection period, Jane suddenly felt a sense of crisis. She didn't believe that the system was being generous. She had a hunch the system was cooking up something big. 'What if it suddenly cuts off our supplies starting tomorrow?' she worried. But the chatroom started blowing up. StreamFlow: [@HungryBelly @UsTogether, you two were egging people on to attack monsters. Now I'm hurt and down to 10 Health Points. You guys screwed me over. If it wasn't for you two, I wouldn't have tried fighting those monsters.] HungryBelly: [Dude, I was just giving advice, okay? It was your call whether to go or not. How is this my fault?] FlyingBird: [He's got a point. If you hadn't suggested it, he never would've even thought about it.] StreamFlow: [I don't care. Each of you owes me the contents of a wooden crate.] UsTogether: [Are you kidding? I told you to gather supplies, not to throw yourself at monsters. If you couldn't handle the monsters, that's your problem. Don't blame. We're adults. Take responsibility for your own choices and stop trying to pin it on someone else.] StreamFlow: [You guys nearly got me killed. Shouldn't you make it up to me?] Bloom: [Just give him what he wants. He's not entirely wrong.] RedFish: [Yeah, we're all survivors. If you can help, do it.] UsTogether: [Guess you guys want to play the saint now.] HungryBelly: [Why don't you go ahead and give him your stuff, RedFish?] RedFish: [It has nothing to do with me. You two are the ones who got him hurt, not me.] HungryBelly: [Why should I take responsibility for someone else's choices? He didn't have to go. That was his own decision.] UsTogether: [@StreamFlow, even if you died, that's not my problem. I'm not giving you any supplies. What are you gonna do about it?] StreamFlow: [That's just heartless.] RedFish: [Yeah. How can you treat your fellow countrymen like this?] HungryBelly: [Say whatever you want. It's not like we're losing anything.] StreamFlow: [You little...] The argument went on. Jane snorted. This was why she never bothered posting in the chatroom. If she gave good advice, nobody cared. But if her advice backfired, and someone got screwed over, they'd drag her into their mess and even demand compensation. That was human nature: selfish. In a survival game like this, trying to play the savior is the worst move. Other people's future wasn't her problem. She could barely guarantee your own survival. Jane ignored the chatroom and started sorting through her supplies. She suddenly noticed she still had an unopened iron chest. That got her excited. After all, the loot from the chest that dropped from the Green Viper had been fantastic. 'I wonder what the system's reward will be. It can't be worse than the last one, right?' she thought. [Ice Spellbook ×1, Stellar Staff (green) ×1, auto flush toilet ×1, Attribute Orb ×3, Inventory Expansion Card ×3] [Ice Spellbook: Ice Halo. A single-target control skill. The target gets frozen for three seconds, taking 5 damage each second. Consumes 30 Magic Points, with a 10-second cooldown. Only Ice Magic players can learn this skill.] [Stellar Staff (green): Attack +30. Can cast magic spells. Durability: 300/300] [Auto flush toilet: A magical toilet that doesn't need a water tank or electricity.] [Attribute Orb: Adds 3 points to a random stat.] [Inventory Expansion Card: Use to add one slot to your inventory.] 'These are all top-tier loot. The system really drops good stuff,' Jane thought. She tried to learn the skill from the Ice Spellbook, but a message popped up: [Available after system update.] 'Update? What's that supposed to mean?' Jane thought. She scratched her head, still confused. 'So the Stellar Staff is what lets me use magic skills? Does that mean even if I learn the Ice Spellbook, I still can't cast the spell without the staff? That's so unfair.' Jane was speechless, but seeing the toilet in front of her made her grin. After days of having to bury her business in the sand, this felt like a luxury. 'But where am I supposed to put it?' she wondered. Her cabin was a single room. She couldn't eat, sleep, and take bathroom breaks in the same space. But if she left it outside, it wouldn't be sheltered. 'What if I need to go in the middle of the night? Am I supposed to hold it until morning?' she thought. After thinking it over, Jane decided to put the toilet inside. She was in a survival game. Survival came first. Tomorrow, she could chop down some trees and make a wall to give herself a bit of privacy.