Chapter 5: Offending People
After making sure that her coffin would upgrade alongside her ride, Lin Huai sat in the driver’s seat of the electric tricycle, eager to build up her mileage at top speed.
Right then, Old Hei’s loud, aggressive electronic tune blasted out once more.
[Server Announcement: Player “Bone Ashes Mixed with Rice” from District 44, Zone 444, is the first to upgrade a vehicle to Level 2! Reward: Yellow Talisman Box x1.]
[You useless bunch, step it up! Others are already at Level 2, and you’re still sightseeing?]
Lin Huai let out a quiet sigh. “…Old Hei, do you really have to be so sarcastic every time you open your mouth?”
In this second life, she genuinely had no desire to make unnecessary enemies. She already had more than enough foes to deal with—far more than she could ever finish off.
She assumed Old Hei could not hear her and would ignore her anyway, figuring she was merely muttering to herself.
To her surprise, he actually caught every word!
Old Hei’s familiar, lazy, and impatient voice echoed directly in her ear. “What? Afraid of rubbing people the wrong way?”
“If you’re scared, go jump in the river and drown. If you’re so terrified of making enemies, why fight for first place?”
In all her time playing this game, this was the very first time a system assistant had given her such personal attention. She shook her head in a hurry. “No, no, that’s not what I meant. Why would I be scared? As long as you’re pleased!”
“As long as you look out for me a bit, Old Hei, I don’t care if I offend the whole server!”
Old Hei gave a cold scoff before going quiet. “At least you know how to talk!”
There was no turning back now. The assistant had already stirred up trouble on her behalf, so all she could do was grit her teeth and charge ahead.
With two server-wide announcements back to back, the public chat lobby was completely chaotic.
Lin Huai stopped her tricycle to open the newly acquired yellow talisman box, taking a second to glance at the flood of messages.
Fastest Hand at SF Express: Holy crap, we really have a top-tier boss here! Two announcements in a row—that’s insane!
Snow Mochi: Hmph, so what if it’s Level 2? There’s no way it’s better than my Porsche. By the way, I’ve already finished my twenty kilometers.
Don’t Run a Fever Everywhere: @Bone Ashes Mixed with Rice, Hey Big Shot, why don’t you show off your Level 2 ride? Let the rest of us see what an upgraded vehicle looks like.
Dragon Rising from the Sea: Vehicles are our lifelines on this road. That kind of information is private to each player. No one should share it lightly.
Don’t Run a Fever Everywhere: @Dragon Rising from the Sea, Did I ask you? Stop sticking your nose into other people’s business.
Dragon Rising from the Sea was either bad at arguing or simply disliked petty squabbles, because he did not bother to reply.
Lin Huai looked at the messages from Don’t Run a Fever Everywhere, her brow furrowing in disgust. This person loved being generous with things that didn’t belong to him—totally shameless.
If she had a teleportation scroll right now, she would have zipped straight over to take his life.
Sadly, she did not have one yet. To claim a player’s first blood, she would have to wait for a fork in the road and hope they randomly crossed paths. The odds of that happening were as slim as winning the lottery—hardly worth banking on.
Bone Ashes Mixed with Rice: You want to see my Level 2 vehicle? Then meet me at the crossroads!
Big Brother Han: Whoa, is that a direct challenge from the boss? Old Hei did say that meeting at a crossroad is a matter of life and death, where fate decides everything.
Melancholy Little Potato: I thought an expert like her would be friendly. “Meet me at the crossroads”—are they really going to fight? That’s terrifying!
Snow Mochi: @Melancholy Little Potato, are you blind? Just look at her name. You can tell right away she isn’t someone you mess with.
Don’t Run a Fever Everywhere: @Bone Ashes Mixed with Rice, Come on, it was just a joke! Do you really have to take it so seriously?
Bone Ashes Mixed with Rice: Then take what I said as a joke, too.
[Old Wang’s Building Supplies]: Please, everyone, stop arguing! Does anyone have gasoline? I need three units of fuel. I can trade wood or metal for it!
[Cute and Sparkling]: What’s the point of wood and metal right now? Nobody needs those yet, but gasoline is pure gold. Who would trade that away?
[Old Wang’s Building Supplies]: I’m completely serious about this trade. Can any kind soul please help me out?
[Don’t Run a Fever Everywhere]: Isn’t there a big shot right above you who just triggered two global announcements? She definitely has fuel. Go beg her for it.
[Bone Ashes Mixed with Rice]: @Don’t Run a Fever Everywhere, Do you have to butt in everywhere? What does my inventory have to do with you? If you’re that jealous, come face me at the crossroads.
[Bone Ashes Mixed with Rice]: If you don’t run into me, count your lucky stars. If you do, consider your life over.
[Don’t Run a Fever Everywhere]: Fine! What makes you so smug anyway? Crossroads it is! Just because you got lucky with two announcements doesn’t make you a god. It was pure dumb luck.
[Bone Ashes Mixed with Rice]: Then you’d better pray you have that kind of luck, too. Otherwise… don’t come crying when you’re dead!
Lin Huai had seen far too many keyboard warriors like this. If putting a little fear into him could shut him up, it was well worth the effort.
Clicking her tongue, Lin Huai closed the chat screen and prepared to get moving again.
Suddenly, a notification chimed—someone had sent her a private message.
Keeping one hand on the handlebar to guide the tricycle forward, she glanced down at the floating text.
[Old Wang’s Building Supplies]: Boss, do you happen to have any spare gasoline? I’m genuinely looking to make a fair trade.
[Old Wang’s Building Supplies]: To tell you the truth, I pulled a heavy freight truck from my blind box. The fuel consumption is so ridiculous I feel like driving it straight off a cliff!
[Bone Ashes Mixed with Rice]: You mentioned wood and metal earlier. How much do you have?
Old Wang immediately sent over screenshots showing all his basic resources and spirit-warding items.
[Old Wang’s Building Supplies]: Take a look, Boss. Pick whatever you need, as long as you can spare some gasoline.
Lin Huai looked through the list. The man actually had pretty good luck and had collected a fair number of items.
His spirit-warding supplies were quite limited, and they were all identical to what she already carried, so she had no intention of taking them. If she stripped him of his defenses, having gasoline wouldn’t save him anyway; the monsters would finish him off before the day was out.
She could be cold and ruthless when needed, but she had never brought harm to innocent people.
Besides, the only reason she had turned so hard-hearted in her past life was because Chen Feng had pushed her to the brink. He had used public lies and threats to isolate her, leaving her to face betrayal after betrayal from people she thought were comrades. The only way she had stayed alive was by becoming tougher, colder, and stronger than everyone else.
Starting fresh, she felt a bit out of place among these naive, friendly beginners.
Her tricycle ran on batteries, and even after upgrading to Level 3, it would still rely mostly on electricity, meaning gasoline was useless to her.
Coincidentally, upgrading her vehicle to Level 3 would require wood and metal components. She decided to accept Old Wang’s trade.
Direct trades through private chat worked like sending gifts, which carried a huge risk of getting scammed. Naturally, Lin Huai remained cautious.
[Bone Ashes Mixed with Rice]: Send your materials over first. Once I confirm them, I’ll send the gasoline. Otherwise, we can go through the public trade hall.
Using the trade hall meant listing the gasoline at a fixed price for anyone to buy, which meant Old Wang might easily get beaten to the punch by someone else.
Lin Huai expected him to hesitate, but the man—whose username sounded like a shrewd businessman—did not pause for a second. He transferred the materials over immediately.
That blind trust made Lin Huai freeze for a moment.
Are beginners always this innocent? she wondered.
[Bone Ashes Mixed with Rice]: Aren’t you worried I’ll take your items, block you, and run off?
[Old Wang’s Building Supplies]: Haha, a top player who earned two global announcements wouldn’t pull such a cheap trick, right?
It seemed he wasn’t completely brainless after all.
In exchange for six units of wood and five units of metal, Lin Huai sent him seven units of gasoline.
She had calculated the value based on how rare these items were in her previous life. Lin Huai offered no explanation, but Old Wang seemed sharp enough to realize he was getting a generous deal. He was thrilled and sent back a bowing thank-you sticker.
[Old Wang’s Building Supplies]: Thank you so much! I can finally keep moving now. Boss, if you ever find more gasoline down the road, please keep me in mind. Anything I have is yours to pick from!
