Meanwhile, outside the perimeter of Hope Village.
"There's a territory ahead—if we get there, we'll be safe." Cao Jingshan, leading the group, raised his voice to remind everyone as he glanced at their dejected faces. Yet, there was little light in his eyes, only the weathered look of someone battered by countless hardships.
It wasn't just him. Many of the survivors here looked the same.
After he spoke, the others began to speak up, one after another.
"But you need money to enter a territory! And who knows if we'll even be allowed in? That crappy territory before wanted a Gold Coin forever to become a Resident, plus a silver coin a day. This territory's price probably won't be any lower—who can afford that?"
"Exactly! Maybe dying is a relief! This damned game—since we got in, there's never been a peaceful day: never enough to eat or warm clothes, barely found somewhere to rest and then demon beasts broke in, so many people got eaten alive by them, and that wasn't the end—today a sudden torrential rain hits and it drains our Life Value. I don't even know how long I can hold on. Maybe it's better to die than to keep enduring this."
"I'm so tired! My Life Value is running low, I might not even make it to the territory."
"I lost a hand, I'm useless now—there's no point in existing."
"If any demon beasts pop up soon, we're in no shape to fight them."
"There's still some distance to the territory! Everyone knows the monsters inside the territory are more numerous and stronger than those in the wild."
"We have too few high-level people! If only they hadn't left!"
"Those people feared we'd drag them down, so they went a different way. Hope there's no territory where they're headed."
"But with their level and their skills, they'll survive easily without a territory—unlike us."
"..."
The endless drizzling rain frayed everyone's nerves, stirring up dark moods deep within.
Everyone was venting, taking the chance to spill out their struggles before death.
This life brought only disasters—they saw no hope anywhere.
Those who could still speak had some strength left—most of the silent ones had no energy to say anything.
"Let's get to the territory first! Think about our families, after all—better to hang on than to die for nothing!" Cao Jingshan gritted his teeth and spoke up. "We're just a step away from a territory—are you willing to give up now?"
Hearing Cao Jingshan, a lot of people felt their vision blur.
Who would be willing? But there's no other way!
Still, Cao Jingshan was right. Since we're almost there, let's push a bit further!
Seeing that everyone's mood seemed to stabilize, Cao Jingshan called out, "Everyone, move faster! Those in the middle, hold up your boards tight, make sure you don't drop them. Those on the outside, keep your weapons close. Once we're inside the territory, demon beasts will be everywhere."
With Cao Jingshan's orders, everyone gripped their things tightly.
The sudden rain, dropping Life Value, caught these wild survivors off guard. Luckily, lots of them bought weapons and can gather wood, so they scrambled to build boards for cover.
With wood boards blocking the rain, their Life Value loss slowed down—otherwise, they never would've lasted so long.
But there's a downside: these makeshift rain shields made from wood have low Durability, so they have to replace them often.
The team crept forward.
After walking a bit, they noticed something was off.
"Looks like the demon beasts in this territory were already cleared!" Someone noticed the difference sharply.
He'd ventured out with the team back at Canglei Village and knew a bit about the monster populations around territories.
The closer you get to a territory, the more demon beasts there are.
But they'd been inside for a while and barely saw any monsters.
"Really?" Someone's eyes lit up. If someone already cleared them out, that means people are here.
That was good news for them!
"But who would come out to clear monsters in this kind of weather? This rain drains Life Value—no one's going to risk their life just for money, right?" Someone voiced doubts, unable to truly believe it.
"Whatever. Let's just go see that territory." Cao Jingshan said firmly—if there was the slightest hope, he wouldn't give up; his wife and daughter were right behind him.
This little twist made most of the group feel a bit of hope.
But in one following team, some people's eyes darted around, exchanging glances and hand signals—they were clearly plotting something bad.
After another stretch, they finally ran into a pack of demon beasts.
"Quack quack quack…" A whole troop of Magic Frogs hopped at them, and as they flicked their tongues, countless poison droplets sprayed their way.
The poison corroded their clothes and after being sprayed, their Life Value started dropping fast.
But when they checked the Level, most of the frogs were around Level 5. The crowd let out a sigh of relief—they had the numbers to deal with them.
Cao Jingshan, acting as the temporary leader, took out his weapon first. "Those with enough Life Value, follow me. Make it quick!"
Immediately, some people raised their weapons and started fighting the Magic Frogs.
[Congratulations, Host, killed lv.5 Magic Frog: gained Poison*5, Experience Points*50, copper coin*50, dropped Anti-poison Clothes*1.]
[Congratulations, Host, killed lv.4 Magic Frog: gained Poison*4, Experience Points*40, copper coin*40.]
[Congratulations, Host, killed lv.4 Magic Frog: gained Poison*4, Experience Points*40, copper coin*40, dropped Anti-poison Clothes*1.]
As Cao Jingshan took down a few Magic Frogs in succession, he noticed the unusually high drop rate and a peculiar look flashed in his eyes.
Back at other places, he'd killed plenty of Level 4 and 5 demon beasts—sometimes they dropped loot, but never at this rate.
The others noticed too, but didn't think much of it—instead, they fought even harder against the demon beasts.
Anti-poison Clothes counted as Equipment, and inside the territory they'd probably fetch a good price. From yesterday to today most of them were low on food, and who knew if Hope Village's food would be expensive? Plus, their weapon Durability was almost used up—they needed to replace their Equipment soon.
Back in Canglei Village, they'd spent most of their money on Equipment. They figured territory-to-territory prices wouldn't be too different. So the more money they saved, the better.
After all, in the Doomsday Game, Equipment is the foundation of survival.
But before they finished clearing the Magic Frogs, a shriek suddenly erupted from the back of the group.