Chapter 13 New Dungeon
"Heh... Same here." Kenji Hagiwara heard the sarcasm in Fuu-chan's tone and agreed, as he also disliked the game. Even if he was saved by a coincidence caused by the game, it didn't change the fact that the game was reaping the lives of Earth's humans.
Feng Xing Shoubian cracked the eggs into the casserole dish and added some clean green vegetables. He then continued in a casual manner, "Do you think that if it's really done this way, future dungeons will still be the same as yesterday's, or there will be other instances where resources and materials are wasted?"
"Well! It's hard to judge without experiencing it yourself a few times and observing it more!" Kenji Hagiwara looked at the noodles, egg flowers, and vegetables bubbling in the casserole. At the age when he has a good appetite, after deliberately dieting yesterday, he couldn't help but say when he smelled the aroma of the food: "Wow! It looks delicious."
"It's just ordinary instant noodles with an egg, no need to make such a fuss!" Feng Xingshou was a little speechless at his exaggerated expression and words: "When we have the means, I'll steam a few baskets of xiaolongbao for you, then you can act all exaggerated!"
Judging from his demeanor yesterday, he's probably like most foreigners, with xiaolongbao (soup dumplings) being one of his favorite Chinese dishes. However, he has a very outgoing and sociable personality, which provides a lot of emotional value to the person cooking!
Kenji Hagiwara chuckled and said, "If it were really xiaolongbao, I would definitely give it an even more sincere compliment. It's one of my favorite Chinese dishes."
"Hmph! I'll show you the essence of Zhongzhou noodles later, and maybe your favorite will change." She guessed right. Thinking this, she took out a bowl, chopsticks, and a soup spoon from her backpack, handed one to the other person, and asked, "Given the circumstances, is it alright if we just eat like this, without separate portions?"
She didn't want to waste water washing two extra soup bowls when water resources were limited.
He took the bowl and chopsticks and nodded: "Of course, now is not the time to be particular. Besides, Japan does not have such a strict system of separate meals as Europe and the United States. Friends and relatives sometimes share meals when they get together! My family does not separate dishes when we eat. We eat several dishes together as a family."
"Eh! Really?" After hearing this, Feng Xing Shou took a sip of the rich noodle soup and asked curiously, "I've seen Japanese dramas and anime where they serve food separately, so I thought Japan had the same dining habits as Europe and America!"
"O(∩_∩)O Haha~ Although art comes from reality, most of the time, reality is not as exaggerated as art. Only restaurants that cater to single customers will serve individual portions."
The portions are small and expensive, so most Japanese people rarely eat out when they have family members. It's more cost-effective to cook at home..." Kenji Hagiwara noticed her curiosity.
And disregarding the etiquette of not talking while eating, he casually chatted with her about the daily routines and dining habits of ordinary Japanese families, and the two ate while talking...
After finishing their simple breakfast, it was already past six in the morning. So the two packed up again, putting all kinds of supplies and materials, including a portable folding toilet, into their backpacks, filled up the car with gas, and set off again.
While conducting driving lessons, they searched for other treasure chests. By noon, they had found a total of 5 wooden treasure chests, obtaining 50 units of wood and 50 units of fuel. After checking, Hagiwara confirmed that the fuel barrels contained diesel fuel.
The other items included a pack of 10 three-ingredient steamed buns, a box of 7 cups of instant coffee, a jar of 50 grams of tea, 3 boxes of self-heating spicy hot pot, and a box of 5 Sichuan peppercorn chicken legs. Moreover, after using up the fuel in one fuel tank during the trip, they discovered a surprise: one fuel tank could actually break down into 1 unit of plastic.
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After opening the treasure chests yesterday and today...
The two have determined that materials like wood and black iron can be obtained by opening treasure chests, which will automatically disintegrate to yield 10 units of the current chest's level of material.
The discovery of another way to obtain plastic is a welcome development for the two of them, as it's unclear whether there are other avenues for obtaining it; the only possible speculation at present is...
The treasure chests obtained from daily driving can be roughly categorized into fuel, food, and drinks. Monsters at night drop blueprints for household items and crafting materials. In addition to collecting vegetables and other items, the most important treasure chests obtained from daily dungeons are those for car upgrades.
These were things that Kenji Hagiwara analyzed and told Kazesei Mamoru while they were driving, and Kazesei Mamoru only realized them after he said these speculations. He then added, "However, these rules will likely change in the future as the road conditions change and vehicles are upgraded."
"Hopefully it won't be the kind that makes it harder for the survivors." But he was right after all; this officer is really smart! If he hadn't pointed it out, he wouldn't have noticed the hidden rules of these road games.
Kenji Hagiwara wasn't entirely optimistic about this, but he didn't show any negative thoughts on his face. He said with a relaxed expression, "Haha! I also hope it's one of the easier ones."
"By the way, it'll be 12 o'clock soon. Should we still go to the daily dungeon this time?" In reality, with the items they've obtained from opening chests and the amount of diesel they have, there's no need for them to participate in the daily dungeon, since it's not mandatory to do it anyway.
Before she knew about the brutal competition for survival in the race, she could have participated voluntarily. Now that she knows, Feng Xingshou feels uneasy, as if participating would be like squeezing out other people's chances of survival.
However, faced with her obvious resistance, Kenji Hagiwara, a police officer, decisively said, "Of course I'll participate."
"Oh! Right, you still need to complete the daily dungeons to get back!" Feng Xing Shou assumed that this was the reason he insisted on participating. If it weren't for that reason, as a police officer, he would definitely have the same thought!
However, just as she was thinking this, Kenji Hagiwara explained, "I won't be going back for this daily dungeon. The reason I'm participating is because of the issue of the types of resources that are distributed at each stage of the game, which we just mentioned."
Currently, the racing quests after the daily dungeons are the only way to obtain car parts upgrade blueprints, while the monsters on the highway at night require upgrading the car body for defense, and there's also an unknown natural disaster theme waiting later...
These situations require more advanced vehicles to ensure survival. It's a truly twisted concept, making people aware that their only chance of survival is to compete with their own kind.
If you don't want to encounter a situation of 'alternative suicide,' you have to actively compete with others for a chance of survival by participating in daily dungeons and racing games, Feng Jiang! If you don't move forward, you fall behind; if you want to live, you have no choice.
"Hmm!" Feng Xingshou was taken aback by the unusually serious expression on his face since they met. He nodded instinctively, but after a while, he realized that his thoughts might not be a problem among police officers.
Uh... but we can't expect a police officer to knowingly wait to die for the sake of the people! Thinking about this problem is fine, but once I do, it's just as Hagiwara said—the organizers of this road trip game really have a twisted sense of humor!
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Just as Kaze was deeply realizing how evil this game was, because it was only 2 minutes until noon, Kenji Hagiwara simply stopped the car and waited for the daily dungeon that Kaze had mentioned to open, while curiously asking her, "Kaze-chan, what's it like when this daily dungeon opens?"
"It's just a silver
"A gray, circular entrance, about two meters in diameter. We can just go straight in." Feng Xingshou said, looking ahead at the car just like yesterday.
Sure enough, after only a short wait, an entrance to a daily dungeon appeared in front of her, exactly the same as yesterday's. She quickly said to Hagiwara, "It's here, it's this silver-gray round hole."
"Ahem... Sorry, Fuu-chan, I can't see the silver-gray round hole you mentioned." Hagiwara Kenji saw Fuu-chan getting out of the car as she spoke, and followed her out. However, he carefully looked around the road in front and behind, but couldn't find any trace of the entrance to the daily dungeon.
Upon hearing this, Feng Xingshou was taken aback, then realized: "Could it be that because you're not a formal survivor, but an NPC I 'sneaked' out of the daily dungeon, you're not qualified to enter the daily dungeon and therefore can't see the entrance? What's the technical principle behind this?"
"Proton!" Upon hearing this, Kenji Hagiwara immediately thought of the proton that his professor had taught him about in college, which was a hypothesis of human scientists. It had the ability to cover a planet and completely control the five senses of the life forms on that planet.
This means that those affected by protons can only see what the proton manipulator wants them to see and hear... However, these are all speculations by astronomy and physics professors, and there is currently no empirical evidence to prove that protons actually exist. But it seems that this can now be confirmed!
Feng Xingshou had absolutely no knowledge of advanced physics; she didn't even know what an atom was, let alone a proton, so she looked completely bewildered: "Huh! What?"
"It's nothing, I just think that maybe it's not that I can't enter the daily dungeon, but that I can't see the entrance because I'm not a chosen survivor. If you pull me in, we should still be able to get in." Based on the physics professor's speculation about protons.
It should only affect the human retina, hearing, taste, etc. Not being able to see it does not mean it does not exist. So if it is really related to my speculation, I should just not be able to see it, rather than the daily dungeon entrance not existing.
In this situation, I should be able to get in by just following the people I can see. However, it's a bit risky to try this. If I'm wrong, given that I've only just learned where the accelerator and brake are, what each gear in a manual transmission means, and how to drive, it would be very dangerous for me to get into the dungeon on my own.
Just as he was thinking this, upon hearing what he said, Feng Xingshou didn't think much of it and readily reached out his hand to him: "Then I'll try to pull you in. Don't let go along the way! If I find that you can't get in, I'll transfer you through the backpack space, just like yesterday."
“OK!” Hagiwara Kenji had already experienced the feeling of being unaware and time standing still when using the space backpack. Now, hearing what Kazesei Shou said, he agreed without any hesitation, since this would solve his worries.
Just as he had predicted, when he grasped Feng Jiang's chubby hand and pulled him toward a certain direction ahead of the road, the two of them entered a Japanese-style room in less than a second.
However, unlike the situation in the house where Feng Xingshou was yesterday, the room they entered had a distinct smell of smoke, as if something was burning, and it was also quite hot. There was a low square table in the middle of the room.
A middle-aged man lay bleeding from a head wound beside a low square table, with scattered wine glasses and bottles nearby. This scene prompted Feng Xingshou to hurriedly check the injured man's injuries while saying to Hagiwara, "It seems there's a fire here, and someone is injured."
Is this time the dungeon countdown means we have to gather supplies and find an exit before this house completely burns down? What about the injured person? Like last time, I can't reach him.
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