One second, Yu Zhiye felt himself falling through emptiness. The next, his foot stepped on solid ground.
Yu Zhiye immediately tensed up and looked around vigilantly.
He found himself in a barren little world shrouded in gloomy lighting.
Right in front of him was a dry fishpond circled by various-shaped stones.
Arcing over the small pond was a decrepit wooden bridge that led over to a dingy hut built from wooden walls that got propped up like a house of cards.
To the left of that shack stood what appears to be an old shed. It was hard to tell if the dark red splotches on that were faded paint or blood…
Yu Zhiye smacked his lips. “Man, hope this place isn’t haunted...”
He peered up at the dome of gray fog barricading the world like a cage then looked over his shoulder.
Right behind him was a portal hosted by a stone archway. Exit confirmed.
He knows where to run if shit hits the fan.
“But the system-granted survival cheat shouldn’t throw me right into a hell mode trial right from the get-go, right? This place should be… safe?”
Yu Zhiye gathered up his courage and walked forward.
Creeeak… The old bridge groaned as soon as he stepped on it.
Every step forward felt like his foot might fall right through the planks.
But he passed over to the other side safe and sound.
Right ahead was the shack that didn’t even have a door.
Looking inside, the first thing Yu Zhiye noticed was the weird altar directly facing the doorway.
And hovering inches above the center of this altar was a fist-sized, luminescent cube that lit up the shack with a dim purple glow.
Aside from that, Yu Zhiye noted an old fishing pole resting by the corner next to a back exit and a weathered hammock suspended diagonally in another corner.
“No danger in sight...”
Yu Zhiye squatted down by the doorway and peeked into the dark ceiling inside. Nothing. No jump-scares waiting.
“Phew. Just scaring myself. Like I said, how can the cheat handed over on a silver platter be life-threatening? Haha…”
Yu Zhiye bravely stepped inside the shack and made his way over to the altar.
Obviously, the purple cube was the center of everything. What else can he explore?
“Hmm… looks like a repeat command block from that game, but mini-sized and with a glow-up?”
Yu Zhiye looked at that subtly-pulsing cube and didn’t hesitate to reach out for it.
His hand seemed to pass right through some invisible film that caged the altar and the next moment, he grasped the cube.
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Right at the moment of contact, his consciousness got sucked away into the cube!
A tick later, Yu Zhiye found himself staring down at the little world from above!
A circular plot of land. Shack at the center. Shed to the west. Fishpond and portal at south end. Empty barren land in the east and north.
“This is... like the bird’s-eye view in those city-building games? And...”
When his consciousness focused on a certain construct, a word balloon popped up over each.
[Shack (Lv. 1)]
Resting in the shack grants a well-rested buff.
[Upgrade]
x16 wood, x8 cobblestone, 5 core energy
[Fishpond (Lv. 1)]
Fill it with water to turn it into a fish habitat.
[Fish Available]
None
[Upgrade]
x8 wood, x16 cobblestone, x32 sand, 5 core energy
[Shed (Lv. 1)]
Only resources deposited here can be used for construction.
[Resource Bank]
[Upgrade]
x16 wood, x16 sand, 5 core energy
“Cool. Cool. So my cheat is what… a base-management simulator? Most likely a fish farm of some sort? Sweet!”
For Yu Zhiye, this sort of slice-of-life game didn’t exactly top his list during his former life.
But since he’s now thrown into a survival game... this sort of pocket space hideout was absolutely beast!
What more can he ask for?
Safety? Check. Sustainability? Very much possible.
Too bad it looks like there isn’t any resource generator for now. But who can say about the future?
After exploring around and discovering nothing else of interest, Yu Zhiye finally thought about an important issue.
“Now... how do I escape this god-mode?”
Just when he thought about moving back to the shack, his consciousness zoomed down onto the shack, giving him an X-ray view into the interior.
Yu Zhiye immediately saw himself standing beside the altar stiff like a statue.
“Well, what a strange feeling to look at myself from a third-person perspective...”
Yu Zhiye wasn’t too bothered and focused on the on the purple cube.
[Main Core (Lv. 1)]
The core of this pocket dimension that stores all energy collected.
[Core Energy Units] x0
[Upgrade] x10 core energy
“Huh. Looks like core energy will be the main currency this base runs on? But how do I gather that?”
Yu Zhiye turned his focus to the various props in the shack.
“Uh… perhaps it has something to do with these? Hmm… I wonder if I can….”
Meeting his expectations, descriptions bubbled up!
[Mysterious Fishing Rod]
An old wooden rod bound to a mysterious core.
[Durability] 384/384
[Effect]
Fishing Zone Detection
Fish Attraction
Entity Reeler
Equipped: +1 LCK
+1 CE/fish
“A fishing rod that boosts the hidden luck stat when equipped?! Now, that’s good stuff!”
“And it seems fishing is a route for gathering core energy? Now it makes sense why there’s a fishing rod. Next we have...”
[Mysterious Altar]
An altar that has gained mysterious properties by bounding to a mysterious core and taking root in this dimension.
[Effect]
Soul-Recognition Barrier
Indestructible
+1 CE/day
“Oh, this altar’s actually a daily energy generator. Sweet!”
“It’s got an interesting barrier as well. Soul recognition? Guess that’s the high-end alternate of facial recognition. Cool. Cool. Finally...”
[Hammock]
An old bed that can’t bear much weight.
“Oh, just a common prop. Nothing special. Well, it looks comfy at least.”
There wasn’t much else to explore at this point.
Yu Zhiye focused on the core once more. “Could that be the way out? Let’s give it a try…”
A thought later and his consciousness zoomed towards the core…
A tick after, Yu Zhiye felt his soul get knocked back into his body and stumbled back a step.
“Uh… what a strange out-of-body experience.”
Yu Zhiye wiggled his fingers to make sure there was nothing wrong.
“This will take some getting used to, but all good.”
After giving the mysterious core one last glance, Yu Zhiye headed over to the corner to grab the fishing rod.
That went into his inventory hotbar with zero issues. When he tapped on it, a tooltip showed up.
[Fishing Rod (Blue)]
Curse of Vanishing I
Luck of the Sea I
“The description is a bit simpler? Looks like the mysterious core runs on a different system?”
Yu Zhiye wasn’t too sure about what’s happening behind the scenes, but there’s no need to delve too deeply into it... for now.
“Just focus on surviving what gets thrown my way.”
Yu Zhiye then selected the bag of chips in his inventory hotbar. A thought later, it appeared in his hand.
He didn’t hesitate to toss that down to the corner.
Why waste a hotbar slot when he has such a large storage space?
“Well, time to head back out.”
Yu Zhiye stuffed his hands in his jean’s pockets and turned to leave.
He’s done exploring his cheat. Time to explore the world outside.