Chapter 12: Chapter 12: The Warped Jungle 12
To be honest, if not for Perry Yates’s special Talent, and the fact that she had obtained a three-attribute Rare Card and performed Ascension on it to reach four stars, she would have chosen to quit too.
If she only had an ordinary Talent and hadn’t gained anything in the first fifteen days, she would have chosen to leave the game. Then, after returning to the real world, she would have spent every last penny she had to buy a powerful card.
This was what most new players did.
Arriving at the stream, Perry Yates took out her empty bottles, filled them one by one, and put them back into her System Backpack.
Just then, she noticed something white flash past under the water.
Driven by curiosity, Perry Yates moved a stone in front of her. A small red fish, like a startled fawn, darted into the crevice of another stone.
’A fish!’
Perry Yates didn’t hesitate. With a flick of her wrist, she raised her dagger and plunged it into the crevice.
A moment later, she pulled out a small red fish, impaled on her blade.
’It’s a little on the small side, but it should be enough to make some fish soup.’
Looking at the small red fish on her dagger, Perry Yates was already mentally planning how to cook it.
Just then, she noticed something else in the crevice where the fish had been hiding.
After flipping the stone over, a White Card appeared in her line of sight.
’Wait, isn’t the card drop rate supposed to be really low?’
’But I’ve already gotten several cards since the game started.’
’One from the Swamp Monster, two from the python and the two-headed crocodile, and another two from the Prismatic Tiger.’
’And that’s not even counting the Twin Sunflowers I fused or the two item cards.’
Perry Yates could only attribute it to her own good luck, chalking it up to something like a beginner’s protection period.
Looking at the card in her hand, she saw it was a White item card.
’A junk card.’
’Items from cards of this level were usually single-use.’
’But that was only true for other people.’
The card depicted an army-green canteen that looked rather bulky.
Just as Perry Yates was debating whether to use Ascension on the canteen right away, a sudden rustling came from the nearby grass.
Hearing the noise, Perry Yates shot to her feet, her gaze fixed on the direction of the sound.
Soon, two men and a woman emerged from the bushes.
Surprise flickered in their eyes when they saw Perry Yates.
However, they quickly composed themselves.
The only woman in the group approached Perry Yates with a friendly smile and said softly, "Hello, we’re from Drakonia’s Survival Game Management Bureau."
Perry Yates breathed a sigh of relief at the woman’s introduction.
The Survival Game Management Bureau was an official organization established by the government, staffed entirely by veteran players who had survived at least two rounds of the game.
That’s right. Just by clearing two rounds of the game, a player was already considered a veteran.
The game forums said that if you ran into people from the Survival Game Management Bureau, you should try to stick with them. As long as you didn’t cause any trouble, your chances of clearing the game would increase dramatically.
If you performed impressively enough, you might even be recruited.
Of course, this was limited to Drakonia.
Perry Yates looked at the woman before her. She was one-meter-seventy-eight tall, with sharp brows, bright eyes, and well-defined features. It was a striking, bold look, but not in an overbearing way. She perfectly embodied the idea that ’handsome’ is a feeling, not a gender.
The forums had mentioned that fused cards could affect a Fuser’s appearance, which was the very reason Perry Yates had been so reluctant to fuse with the Swamp Monster card.
"My name is Giselle Lowell," she asked. "What’s your name? Are you a new player?"
"I’m Leah Lowell, and yes, I’m a new player."
Perry Yates hadn’t given her real name.
The game had measures to protect every player’s identity. Unless you knew someone in the real world, the faces of any players you met in the game would become blurry after you left.
Giselle Lowell didn’t press the issue, instead asking, "In that case, would you like to travel with us?"
"Oh, yes! Of course."
Perry Yates put on an expression of someone who just got an offer they couldn’t refuse.
She hadn’t forgotten that her number one priority was to get out of the game alive. Everything else was secondary.
Sticking with Giselle Lowell and her group was undoubtedly a good move.
As they spoke, the other two walked over and introduced themselves.
The man with the gentle features was Arthur Ford, and the one with a scholarly air was Martin Sharp.
The three of them together were a stunning sight, enough to put countless pop idols to shame.
Unfortunately, this was no longer an era where looks were everything.
Arthur Ford glanced at the card in Perry Yates’s hand. Seeing it was just a White Card, he looked away, his interest clearly fading.
"Let’s go. The others are waiting for us," Martin Sharp said.
Perry Yates asked in surprise, "There are others?"
Giselle Lowell nodded. "Besides you, there are two others. You’re the only new player, though."
Then she added, "You’re incredibly brave."
Perry Yates accepted the compliment with a bashful look, murmuring, "I don’t really have a choice. My family’s poor."
The other three understood what she meant.
If her family was poor, she wouldn’t have the money to buy an Advanced Card even if she left the game. It was better to take her chances and stay in.
"What kind of card did you fuse with?" Martin Sharp asked.
"A Sunflower card," Perry Yates replied.
’It wasn’t technically a lie. She really had fused with a Sunflower card.’
’It just happened to be a slightly higher-level card that had also mutated.’
After crossing through a patch of dense tall grass, Perry Yates was led to their temporary camp.
Her eyes widened as she took in the sight: an army-green tent, a table, a stove, and a whole array of professional gear.
For a second, she almost suspected this wasn’t a perilous survival game, but a simple camping trip.
"You guys are really well-equipped."
Hearing this, Giselle Lowell smiled sheepishly. "To be honest, the Bureau provides us with all this gear."
Just then, Perry Yates’s gaze fell on a young boy sitting in a corner of the camp, silently staring at the food in a pot.
The boy looked to be no more than thirteen or fourteen. He had a bowl cut, but even that couldn’t hide his delicate, picture-perfect features.
The boy glanced up at the sound of their arrival before his gaze returned to the pot of food, which he continued to stare at intently.
Giselle Lowell and the other two seemed completely unfazed by this, leading Perry Yates into the camp.
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