While Paquerette was doing the navigation, Sandrine opened the server chat.
[Server chat (9,862/10,000)]
It had only been a few hours since they were brought to this survival game, but there were already less people on the server.
"Are they... Dead ?"
Considering Sandrine had encountered a venomous snake, it was perfectly possible. Maybe those people had also encountered danger while opening a chest, or maybe they tried to go into the black fog.
She wasn't the only one to notice the dwindling numbers.
[-Why are there less people ?
-Help, I opened a chest and got bitten by rats, I'm bleeding so much ! Does anyone have a bandage ?
-That answers our question lol
-Hey, that guy just had his profile turn grey ! Did he die ????
-That's scary fr
-I'm lucky, didn't get a monster ! I have something to eat and drink, I'll be the official big boss of this game !
-Forget it, the big boss is that guy who keeps selling weapons on the trade platform]
Surprised, Sandrine immediately clicked on the 'Trade' tab of her game screen. She definitely needed a weapon to deal with the potential dangers of the chests. Maybe she could exchange her fuel for it ?
She wasn't exactly clear about the value of the items yet, it was only the first day after all. After looking for a while, she noticed that food, water, and fuel were the three most expensive things. Even weapons didn't come close ! By the way, that big shot in the trading platform was trying to exchange his weapons for some fuel.
1L for a knife. This was really a good deal !
Sandrine immediately sent the guy a private message.
[84jojo84 : Got 5L of fuel. What can you give me in exchange ?]
The message was very direct. With this, she could gauge if this player was a good guy or not, depending on what he would offer. If he tried to rip her off, she would go sell her fuel elsewhere. Anyway, everybody wanted fuel and there were other weapons on the market.
The answer came quickly.
[AlphaWolf : Yo big boss you're saving my life ! I got a lot of useless stuff but no food or fuel. Here's the list of what I'm not using, choose what you want.]
He directly forwarded the list. Indeed, that guy was lucky in his bad luck. Despite not getting what he needed, the items he found in the chests were not bad at all ! There were a few cooking utensils, pots, pans, fire starters, knives, a machete, a pitchfork, a hunting knife… There really was a lot compared to what Sandrine had found in the chests. But one can't compare a horse rider going 6km per hour with someone driving a car and speeding on the road.
The other players would probably open three to four times more chests than Sandrine.
To be honest, Sandrine wanted everything. But since the guy had shown sincerity, she should reciprocate.
[84jojo84 : I absolutely need an iron pot and a pitchfork. I also would like the machete.]
Sandrine's logic was simple : She needed a pot to cook food and to use as a drinking dish for Paquerette. As for the pitchfork, it would be really useful if she encountered another snake. To finish, a machete would be her main weapon for things that weren't venomous. If she could hunt an edible animal, it would be ideal.
There was a bit of silence on the other side, then the player sent another message.
[AlphaWolf : Got it. This doesn't make up for the 5L of fuel, so I'll add a few cooking utensils, that way we're even. By the way, do you have some food ? If you can give me some, I'll exchange it for this.]
He then sent an image that looked like a screenshot of his game screen.
"We can do that ?"
Curious, Sandrine looked at the picture. This was a sewing kit ! She wasn't a seamstress by any means, but like everyone she knew how to replace buttons and mend holes. In a survival game, having a sewing kit would be vital. Just imagine it, if she received a severe wound, she could stitch it back !
Without hesitation, Sandrine initiated the trade, adding two loaves of bread in exchange for the sewing kit. This was way worth it !
AlphaWolf accepted the trade, and the items appeared in front of her as if by magic.
[AlphaWolf : You're saving my life, thanks so much big boss ! If you have more fuel and food on hand, send me a message. I'll prioritize your trades !
84jojo84 : Got it.]
With a big smile on her face, Sandrine looked at the items she received. AlphaWolf really didn't rip her off, he was very generous ! Not only did she get an iron pot for cooking, the guy even gave her a washbassin, two bowls, and two big spoons. This was in addition to the pitchfork, the machete and the sewing kit.
With this, she had all the essentials for her daily life. Of course, things would be even better if she had enough food and water.
"Great ! Next chest we're taking a break to eat and drink !"
Sandrine looked at the time. It was only 3pm and night would fall at 9pm. They still had six hours to move. Paquerette was obviously thirsty and, even if a single can of beans wouldn't be filling enough for the horse, it could still help her hold on for longer.
They really needed to pick up the pace.
"Girl, let's hurry up ! I got weapons, so we'll sweep through the chests !"
As if she had understood, Paquerette sped up, and then suddenly started trotting. Sandrine on her back was desperately holding on to the mane while screaming, bouncing limply on the mare's back, the spine hurting her butt, and almost falling every second.
"Okay, we don't need to speed up, we don't need to hurry !"
But Paquerette wasn't listening, continuing to trot. In less than 10 minutes, she stopped in front of another chest.
"I'm dying…"
Sandrine slid down slowly, making sure not to hurt her feet. Her butt was really painful now.
"Please, I just want a saddle now ! Can't anyone give me a saddle ?"
Complaining all the way, she walked towards the chest and glanced at Paquerette. The mare was completely relaxed.
"Great, no danger then."
Sandrine didn't hesitate and opened the chest. Inside there was another 1L water bottle and some fabric.
Nothing else.
She sighed and noticed that the bottom was once again filled with straw.
"I'll just take everything, this might be useful later."
After deciding on it, Sandrine kept her word and poured an entire water bottle into the cooking pot to allow Paquerette to drink. When she was done, there was still a bit of water left in the pot, so Sandrine poured it back into the bottle. There was no way she would waste a single drop !
She then poured the entire green bean can into the pot, while she herself was munching on a bread loaf and drinking a bit.
That being done and with both somewhat full, Sandrine once again used the rope to get on Paquerette and then take the chest back, and both were off trotting away.
Even if it was painful, going faster allowed them to encounter more chests. She had first met 2 chests in 2 hours, but now they would find 3 in the same time.
Inside there was nothing impressive, some water, bread, a few cans, and miscellaneous objects. She had once been attacked by rats, but she succeeded in chasing them away with the pitchfork, she killed another venomous snake but without any knowledge about how to butcher it she put the entire thing in her inventory, and she had tried to hunt a rabbit that had come out once, but it was too fast and she lost it.
The result of her first survival day wasn't so bad ! Her backpack showed :
[Ravioli can, cassoulet can, corn can, bread loaf x8, 1L water bottle x8, half empty 1L water bottle, empty 1L water bottle x4, 5L fuel x2, rope x2, fabric x3, wooden chest x9, straw x9, pitchfork, machete, cooking pot, washbassin, bowl x2, big spoon x2, sewing kit, snake corpse]
In order to carry everything, she had to take her vest out of her backpack, but the 20 slots were already fully taken.
Sandrine sighed.
"The backpack is useful, but it's not enough !"
The other players could put their harvest in the trunk of their car, but this wasn't her case. Except for the backpack, she had nowhere else to put her stuff.
At this point, it was already 8pm. There was an hour left before the end of the day, and she could technically keep going, but even if she did, she couldn't harvest the content of the chests. So she asked Paquerette to stop and turned to the 'trade' tab. She had quite a few things she didn't need, so she could probably exchange them for more useful stuff.
She first checked out AlphaWolf. After all, there was no guarantee the other vendors would be as nice as him.
[84jojo84 : Got fuel and a snake corpse.]
She sent a screen capture of both items and waited. A few seconds later, she got an answer.
[AlphaWolf : Snake meat ! I swear, you're saving my life ! But I didn't get anything useful, so trading with me would be a loss. The only thing I got is this.]
Sandrine received a screenshot. It was a small pouch, the same fabric as her backpack, and on it was written 'Backpack extension'. Her heart started beating faster.
She really wanted to trade for it quickly, but she also felt bad taking advantage of the clueless AlphaWolf. Contrary to his nickname, he seemed a bit naive. It felt like taking candy from a baby.
Anyway, the guy was nice, so Sandrine swallowed her envy and truthfully confessed.
[84jojo84 : A backpack is like a game inventory with 20 slots. You can put anything in it and it will be stored without being heavy or taking any space. It's really a great item. Your backpack extension should allow you to carry even more things, it's valuable.]
There was a bit of a silence and then she received another message.
[AlphaWolf : Wow, I didn't know, you totally could have taken advantage of me ! You're a real bro, thanks for being honest !]
Sandrine frowned at the 'bro'. That guy totally believed she was a man.
[AlphaWolf : Anyway, thanks for the honesty, big shot, but I don't need it. I don't have a backpack but even if I did I probably wouldn't use it. I have a very big trunk.]
A big trunk meant a big vehicle, now it made sense why he needed so much fuel. Sandrine scratched her brow, a bit embarrassed. The guy insisted on trading the backpack extension. She really wanted to politely refuse a few times, but a survival game wasn't exactly the place to be socially acceptable.
She took a deep breath and sent another reply.
[84jojo84 : Thanks, I really need it. What do you want to trade it for ?]
[AlphaWolf : Snake meat ! It's been so long since I ate meat ! The only thing I ate the whole day was the bread you gave me ! I don't care about the rest, give me the snake !]
Well, at least he was honest. But the backpack extension was really too valuable, so Sandrine still sent him a 5L barrel of fuel with the snake corpse. It was only fair.
Ignoring the torrent of messages that followed and the protests from AlphaWolf, Sandrine took out the backpack extension she had received and put it next to her backpack. Immediately, the two seemed to fuse. Looking inside the inventory, another line of slots was added.
30 in total. Perfect.
Looking at the time, it had taken her 10 minutes to trade with AlphaWolf, there was still 50 minutes before the night came.
"I have more space in the backpack now, there are 50 minutes left before nightfall, we can try to find one more chest."
Paquerette snorted and immediately picked up the pace, trotting on the road, her hooves hitting the asphalt with a sharp sound.
Sandrine wanted to check out the trade tab while they were on the road, but she still wasn't used to the trot, so she was thrown around like a ragdoll and couldn't do anything else but hang on for dear life.
They eventually found another chest and when the Game screen showed 9pm, the sky went from bright to dark in a second, so fast that Sandrine couldn't get used to it and went blind. Paquerette stopped sharply at the same time, as if she was unable to take one more step.
In the dark of this sudden night, Sandrine started to hear strange noises all around her. Under her thighs, she felt her mare tense up. This situation was terrifying.
"The rules said that we are safe at night 5 meters around our vehicle… Nothing can happen to us…"
Sandrine said it aloud to pacify herself, but involuntary her voice came out as soft and shaking. She had no idea about what was around her, but it felt as eerie as the black fog along the road.
She couldn't stand the darkness anymore. She didn't even dare come off Paquerette's back. Eventually, she turned to the game screen. In the server chat, everyone wanted a light source. Apparently, someone knew how to make fire and had dismantled the wooden chests to make torches. Now, that person was selling those in the trade tab, but the price was outrageous.
Even if Sandrine got a torch, it would only last for a few minutes and she didn't have enough wood to sustain a camp fire. Buying something so expensive but only using it for a little bit didn't sit right with Sandrine.
Just as she was despairing, her gaze fell on the private messages. She had a lot of notifications for the conversation with AlphaWolf. He was probably protesting because she gave him too much. Anyway, she had nothing better to do so she clicked on it. As she had guessed, there was a string of messages saying the fuel was too much and trying to send her gifts. However, over time the messages changed slightly. The last one, sent a few minutes ago, read :
[AlphaWolf : Okay, I get it mister goody-two-shoes, you can't let me take a loss. But the fuel is really too much, so I'll give you something I don't need. Don't refuse, I just found a chest full of them !]
There was also a screenshot of 5 manual lamps, and a gift offer for one of them.
Sandrine really needed some light right now. Moreover, the guy already had 5 of them, so it was okay to take one, right ?
She silently thanked the sky for AlphaWolf. The game was trying to kill her with all the horse stuff, but at least she had one ally.
She thanked him enthusiastically, and accepted the gift offer, receiving the lamp. Without waiting a second, she turned the lever as fast as she could, until her arm hurt, and then pressed the button to turn on the light.
Then she screamed. Because as the darkness was dispersed, she saw the things that had surrounded her.