Chapter 14: The Period of Calm

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In the early morning, Li Gang awoke from his sleep.

Since the game began, three days had passed in the blink of an eye.

Out of habit, he opened his personal information panel. The four basic stats showed no change, nor had his combat power shifted at all—everything remained exactly as it was three days ago.

He hadn’t used any enhancement boosters during these three days. Instead, he exercised daily, hoping that this regimen might improve his basic stats.

Yet, aside from the muscle soreness that came from his recent workouts, his four base stats remained utterly unchanged.

This made him realize that even though the gods had permanently lifted the cap on their basic stats, increasing those values was no simple task.

He then habitually opened the tracking function and saw no one approaching his location. Relieved, he checked the global tracking feature once more; the results were the same as the previous two days.

Three days had passed since the game began, but the number of participants hadn’t decreased. The situation was the same as before the game started—only twelve people had been eliminated.

After closing the virtual display, Li Gang, feeling a bit sore, went to make breakfast.

Three days ago, he had spent a long time pondering alone.

Li Gang decided there was no need to leave for now—after all, the world outside was unfamiliar and strange.

Moreover, he resolved not to enhance any of his stats immediately, but instead to spend ten days methodically strengthening his body to see if he could further improve his basic attributes.

If, after ten days, his stats remained unchanged, he would then consider using the booster.

So, three days ago, he left his home and headed for the largest fitness center in YD County, YC City. After stocking up on plenty of food, he began a planned workout routine using the gym's equipment.

When tired, he would read novels or play single-player games.

He knew that, after a while, the power grid would shut down completely, and anything requiring electricity would become unusable.

Li Gang had no idea how to generate electricity himself, and saw no point in learning about it now. He figured it was better to use as much as possible before the power went out.

After breakfast, he started another day of training.

And so, day after day, this routine continued.

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Another three days quickly passed.

Yesterday, his body still ached, but today he found himself gradually adapting, with no further soreness.

When Li Gang checked his stats panel today, he was delighted to discover that his previously stagnant numbers had finally changed:

Stamina: 72, Mental Strength: 67, Strength: 72, Speed: 60, Combat Power: 40.

Now, Stamina had increased by 3 to 75; Mental Strength by 1 to 68; Strength by 2 to 74; Speed by 1 to 61; and, astonishingly, Combat Power had jumped by 10, reaching 50.

The rise in Stamina was expected—he had, after all, been focused on physical training these past days.

That his physical attributes had improved in just six days was hardly surprising.

This progress confirmed his decision to hold off on enhancements; after so many years of living idly and gaming in internet cafes, his health had been far below average.

Li Gang was still young—only twenty-two, fresh out of university. With proper training, significant improvement was inevitable. The boost in his basic stats validated his approach.

"Xiao Bai, are the four basic stats connected? If one improves, does it influence the others?" Li Gang asked the AI assistant in his mind.

"Li Gang, that’s correct," replied Xiao Bai, her gentle, youthful voice echoing in his mind. "A change in one stat will affect the other three. At first, the effect is noticeable, but as one stat grows beyond the rest, its influence diminishes greatly."

"Seriously? Why didn’t you tell me this before?" Li Gang complained inwardly.

"You never asked," Xiao Bai replied. "I only answer the questions you pose, provided you have permission to know the answer. Unless certain settings by the gods are triggered, I won’t proactively offer information. You need to think more for yourself."

Li Gang didn’t pursue the issue further; after days together, he’d come to understand that the black wristband’s AI, for all its sophistication, lacked true consciousness.

Everything about Xiao Bai was pre-programmed by the gods; there was no need to argue with her.

Now, Li Gang had formed a preliminary plan for using his enhancement boosters.

The plan was simple: once any of his four basic stats surpassed the average human level, he would use the booster on that particular stat—the first to break through.

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Li Gang’s reasoning was straightforward—simple, even naive.

The stat to break through first would surely be the one in which his natural talent was greatest. In this apocalyptic game, being well-rounded would make survival easier, but facing the constant risk of being hunted by other players, making one specialty even stronger might be the key to escaping danger.

Judging from his current stats, it seemed that his stamina and strength were his strongest suits.

Li Gang, being an avid gamer and reader of various novels, knew well that being a jack-of-all-trades often meant mediocrity—unless you were the protagonist, or a genius.

In competitive games, he preferred to build either full tank or full damage; the former survived and absorbed damage better, while the latter could eliminate opponents in a single burst. A mixed build often left one neither sturdy nor powerful—an awkward compromise.

For now, he had no intention of hunting others, planning instead to lay low and survive alone for a few years.

After closing his stats panel, he habitually checked the global tracking function and saw that, as before, the number of participants remained unchanged.

Nearly a week had passed since the game began, and not a single person had been eliminated. This surprised Li Gang, but upon reflection, he found it reasonable.

To the gods, this was just a game, but for Li Gang and the other survivors, death was final—they were all flesh and blood.

Without a truly compelling incentive, no one would risk hunting others lightly.

Perhaps everyone’s motives for inaction were different—some were still learning the rules and quietly growing stronger, some were simply afraid and, like Li Gang, preferred to bide their time.

A few days ago, Li Gang had discovered the tracking feature’s alert function. He remembered arguing with Xiao Bai for quite a while over why such an important function had never been mentioned to him.

That quarrel had taught him that Xiao Bai possessed no self-awareness—she was just a highly advanced AI, and there was no point in getting upset with her.

The alert function could be set so that, if a stranger approached within a certain range, the smart bracelet would automatically warn him.

Li Gang hadn’t known about this at first, which was why he’d checked the tracker so frequently, even waking at night to look.

During that time, he hadn’t slept well at all.