Kingdom of Corrosion
Chapter 771 - 349 One Day_2

Chapter 771: Chapter 349 One Day_2

Snow Egg said, "Let’s see how it goes first."

The situation was urgent, and without any dawdling, the team immediately set out.

Lin Wu, armed with a G36, ran towards the exit, wiping out two groups of refreshed zombies. On the 52nd floor, Lin Wu waited for everyone to arrive, leading the way in front, avoiding the Titans one by one. By the time they reached South Pool, the water had been drained, but a Titan was blocking their only way through.

Lin Wu glanced at the timers above Snow Egg and Shana’s heads, only 25 seconds left. After giving Wai an instruction to only follow, Lin Wu dashed out, drawing the Titan away. While the Titan chased Lin Wu, the others seized the opportunity to enter the dried pool, heading towards the portal.

Lin Wu turned to take down a Forest Wolf, and three consecutive shots made the Titan stagger each time; unexpectedly, he had run out of bullets in the magazine. With a 5-round load, Maya had used two and not reloaded. While swapping his magazine, Lin Wu surveyed his surroundings, realizing at least eight Titans were converging on him. Two more shots took down the Titan; he collected the card, and found his route to the South Pool was blocked, so he spun around and fled for his life.

Lin Wu was extremely fast, and after rounding a corner, he capitalized on being out of the Titan’s sight to open an office door and slip inside with Wai, quickly shutting it behind them. Then a Wind Stinger swept through the room, attacking a Frenzy, as he removed the G36, turning left for a headshot, right for another, securing four continuous Lock Head kills against a Frenzy and three zombies. Exhausted from overusing his skills, he immediately fell into unconsciousness, and in the moments before, Lin Wu strained to fall towards the cards dropped by the Frenzy.

Wai sat quietly in front of Lin Wu, occasionally licking his face to check if he was alive or dead.

...

Fortunately, the base had a hospital ward, and it even featured two upgraded sickbeds. As he helped carry the injured, Stone said, "I knew we needed two sickbeds." Knowing that Lin Wu and the others had entered Hardcore Mode, Stone had no other option but to build a hospital ward.

Su Shi asked, "Where’s Lin Wu?"

Maya went back to the small square to check the portal, "Didn’t he come out?"

"No."

Maya said, "He’s trapped."

Stone asked, "How did he get poisoned?"

Maya replied, "Ask Shana." Suddenly realizing, Maya understood that Lin Wu’s social language skills had spared him from a lot of worry and talking.

One of the three battle spoils: an Automatic Turret Upgrade Card, it was a purple card. It could upgrade a single turret into a dual-barreled automatic turret, doubling the rate of fire and the headshot rate.

The second: an M4A1 carbine card.

The third: a Leopard Machine Card, which could be used to construct a Leopard Machine at the base, reducing operating costs by 50%, so one could play twice for the usual cost of one play.

Besides, everyone brought back a basic pack, plus a pile of junk. After discussion, the base built a workshop and first crafted a bow and arrows for Little Knife.

While busy with construction at the base, Maya teleported to the rooftop of building 334 and made her way to the 52nd floor outside, establishing communication with the just-awakened Lin Wu, and getting a basic understanding of his situation. Seeing Maya’s concern, Lin Wu was not pleased, "Why did you come? Now I have to go pick you up."

Maya said, "Is it that hard to accept a kind gesture?"

"Accepting your kindness should be natural."

Maya was satisfied with this answer and asked, "What’s your plan?"

Lin Wu replied, "The Titans have dispersed, you should be the one to ask what the plan is. If we continue to play the 334 instance, we must leave one person inside, otherwise, the instance will reset."

Maya suggested, "Every level down, the difficulty increases by one point. We already have serious injuries. My suggestion is to switch to Normal Mode, use our accumulated resources to sweep through quickly, and clean out the BOSS. Trade efficiency for resources. With our familiarity with 334, we can try it again tomorrow."

Maya continued, "The bigger problem now is the lack of basic pack resources, especially construction material packs. We need to farm the minions to get basic supplies."

Lin Wu pointed out, "With no one choosing Hardcore Mode, Normal instances should have many players. How do we handle other players we encounter? If we don’t kill them, they will compete for supplies, and they might even launch a pre-emptive strike against us. I know you’re too kind, but can you make that decision?"

Maya pondered for a moment, "Or reset 334?"

Lin Wu laughed, "That’s also an option, as the road is familiar. However, the minor monsters are few, and the efficiency of gathering construction materials is low."

Maya added, "But the bullet drop rate is high."

"Alright." Lin Wu knew Maya best; he understood that given Maya’s character, she would not shoot first, which meant they would have to deal with others shooting first.

Lin Wu and Maya fell into the common trap of being too involved to see clearly; they assumed that the armament of other players wouldn’t be too different from theirs, but that was far from true. Otherwise, what would be the difference between Hardcore and Normal Modes? Most bases targeted a two-day development, followed by entering Hardcore Mode in three days as a strategic goal.

...

At two o’clock in the afternoon, everyone left the 334 instance and looked at the base under construction. Lin Wu felt a subtle discomfort, something indescribable. Snow Egg pinpointed the core issue: "It’s not real."

Yes! There was no sense of hunger.

It was already two o’clock in the afternoon, and without feeling hungry or having any appetite felt odd. Of course, hunger wasn’t pleasant, but it did make people pursue food eagerly. Coming back from outdoor work, sitting down together for a meal prepared by those on internal duty, whether the food was good or bad, chatting and laughing comfortably was something to look forward to.

Moreover, sleep was restricted; one had to get a full five hours of sleep each day, and it had to be in one’s own bed.

After playing Hardcore Mode for a while, there was not the slightest anticipation for non-Hardcore modes.