Chapter 2 - I Can See Hints!
A player was trapped in an enclosed space.
There were two choices at the moment.
First, find a random direction to dig in.
Second, sit back and wait for death.
The first choice was to die or live depending on luck.
The second choice might allow him to obtain a little more time.
Without food and water, he would die in a few days.
Klein preferred to take the initiative.
Therefore, he planned to choose a direction to dig in.
"The item... Is rather suitable."
Klein weighed the shovel.
He put the metal ball into his pocket.
He first looked forward.
"Which direction should I choose?"
"I wonder how long it will take before I reach the next catacomb?"
As Klein pondered, he couldn't help but focus his attention on the earthen wall in front of him.
[There's nothing in the catacombs in front of you. You'll be wasting your energy.]
A row of pulsating golden words condensed in front of him.
It was completely different from the game prompt.
It was as though it was floating in the air.
Klein blinked hard and focused his attention once again.
The dissipated words condensed once again.
"This is... A prompt?"
Klein didn't know if it was a game mechanism.
He turned around and looked at the right-hand side.
[The right-hand side is a good choice. There's no danger. With the resources you need, there will be surprises if you search carefully.]
The golden text had already fixed every direction.
Even if Klein changed directions, the mud wall he faced was still known as the right-hand side.
Klein looked elsewhere.
[Digging down, the soil is thin. The resources will be enough for you to eat and drink for a day.]
[Good heavens. In the catacombs above, there's not only food and drink, but there's also a defensive weapon. Unfortunately, you can't climb up.]
[Only fools dig to the left. There's a group of poisonous insects there. Although they're not fatal, it's enough to make you swell up.]
[There's nothing in the catacombs behind. You'll be wasting your energy.]
There were six directions in total.
All of them had golden text prompts.
If the prompts didn't mislead Klein, then it would be best to dig the catacombs above.
Unfortunately, without any tools to climb, it wouldn't be easy to dig.
He took the next best option to dig to the right.
Klein faced the right mud wall.
After pondering for a moment, he opened the chat channel.
Perhaps other people could see the prompts?
He first looked at the world channel before opening the regional channel.
No one mentioned it.
"It seems like only I can see it."
Klein came to a conclusion.
Without a reference, he didn't know if the hint was right.
'I'll give it a try!'
He held the shovel and dropped it.
It was easier to dig than he had imagined.
Under Klein's labor, digging up soil was as easy as drinking water.
Furthermore, it was clearly just a spade, but there was a large piece of soil missing.
The amount didn't match at all.
[System notification: Sand+1]
Klein paused.
The soil that had been dug up just now vanished into thin air.
The metal ball in his pocket vibrated gently.
"Automatically put it into the base? That's right, sand is also a resource."
Klein continued brandishing his shovel, his speed constantly increasing.
[System notification: Sand+1]
[System notification: Sand+1]
[System notification: Sand+1]
..
After the twenty-sixth time, there was no longer any soil blocking the road ahead.
It was pitch-black, and he couldn't see the situation in front of him clearly.
The entrance seemed to be covered by a layer of black film.
'I thought I could use a bug, but it doesn't seem to work.'
Klein had originally planned on only digging and not going in, but now he was observing the entrance of the passageway.
If there was any danger, he would immediately retreat.
"The number of excavations hasn't decreased. I might have to enter the next catacombs before it becomes a 9."
Klein turned his head back. He had just brandished it more than twenty times, but he had dug more than ten meters.
If he were to go back now, he could return to the catacomb from before.
During the excavation process, he wanted to change the direction of the excavation. He dug a few meters to each side of the tunnel, and as though he had encountered a wall of air, the soil was as hard as iron. He could only proceed in the original direction.
He judged that the entire tunnel had been fixed.
He was only allowed to enter the connected catacombs.
"Let's go in and take a look."
Klein bent his body and took a step forward.
His field of vision instantly widened.
The second catacomb was even larger than the first.
It was no longer empty.
There were some dark purple plants in the corner, like seaweed.
In the middle of the catacomb, there was a wooden treasure chest.
Klein quickly approached and observed the wooden chest.
[Wooden Treasure Chest: The lowest-level treasure chest in the catacombs. There are usually small surprises when opening it, but there might also be hidden dangers.]
A note from the game interface.
[There's water and food in this wooden treasure chest. There's no danger.]
The golden prompt text jumped above the treasure chest.
Klein carefully opened the treasure chest.
As mentioned in the question, it was safe and harmless without any unexpected incidents.
[System notification: 400ml Mineral Water+2]
[System notification: 400g Wheat Bread+2]
[System notification: Wooden Treasure Chest+1]
Two bottles of mineral water and two unpackaged bread.
All three items were automatically sucked into the base.
[System notification: The wooden treasure chest can be decomposed into four pieces of wood. Do you wish to decompose?]
[System notification: Two bottles of 400ml mineral water can be decomposed into 800ml water and two plastic bottles. Do you wish to decompose?]
Klein calculated in his mind and muttered, "The wooden treasure chest will be broken down, but the mineral water will not be broken down."
[System notification: Wood+4]
"If I put the item in, will it be convenient to take it out?"
Klein had a thought. "Take out a bottle of mineral water!"
His hand sank.
The mineral water that had been put in fell into his hand.
It was like an interspatial ring.
'With bread and water, even if I don't move, I can live for a few more days.'
According to the golden prompt, there should be something else that can be gathered here...
Klein walked to a corner.
Plants might also be resources that could be gathered!
[Fluorescent Grass: Can not be used. When it gets dark, they will emit fluorescent light, the most common plant in the underground world.]
[Oh, harmless fluorescent grass.]
One came from the game interface.
The other was a golden prompt.
Klein crouched down to gather it.
Half a minute later, he had gathered everything.
[System notification: Fluorescent Grass+6]
[System notification: Fluorescent Grass Seed+2]
The seed was an unexpected harvest.
[Could it be that you didn't notice the small sand dune protruding in the corner?]
Just as Klein was about to get up, another golden notification appeared.
"There is something hidden?"
He focused his eyes and hurriedly picked up the shovel to dig.
[System notification: Sand+1]
[System notification: Sand+1]
Clang!
The shovel had only been brandished twice before it hit a hard object.
[System notification: Iron+2]
Klein was delighted.
This was probably the surprise described in the notification!
With iron, Klein could at least build a decent self-defense weapon.