"【The usual rules: park your brains at the door.】"
"【Still the usual rules: if you curse the villains in the text, don't curse the author, okay? I'll help you pick out the villains in the text and send them flying.】"
"(New year, new story. I wish everyone a pleasant read!)"
Meng Qingyin's phone was infected with a virus.
However, aside from joining a strange chat group, her phone was otherwise normal.
The group name was also very odd, something called "Highway Survival Management Group."
But she remembered never playing a game like that.
Even stranger, she wanted to leave the group but couldn't.
No one in the group was talking. Meng Qingyin wanted to send a message to ask what was going on, but she was prompted that she was muted.
She couldn't send messages, and she couldn't leave the group.
Meng Qingyin simply tossed her phone aside and immersed herself in her work.
By the time she finished overtime and dragged her exhausted body home, it was already 9:30 PM.
After eating in the company cafeteria, Meng Qingyin washed up and lay on her bed, scrolling through short videos. This was one of her few joyful moments of the day.
She skillfully found the electronic sycophant blogger she followed, listening to his fawning yet extremely comforting remarks. Meng Qingyin, a busy worker, finally showed a satisfied smile.
Leaving a comment saying, "Loyal minister deserves reward," she was about to exit.
Just as her thumb was about to touch the screen, a message suddenly popped up at the top, flashing by, accompanied by a "ding-dong" sound.
Then, a small green bubble icon popped up in the upper left corner of her phone.
Meng Qingyin clicked on it and found that it was a message from the 【Highway Survival Management Group】.
"【White Fox: So excited! One more day until the game links with the residents of this planet! Just thinking about their panicked faces makes me thrilled!】"
"【Cang Lang: Don't rush. It won't officially link until 8 PM tomorrow night. Then we'll have a good show to watch.】"
"【Hyena: Too bad the novice period for the first three days is too easy, so boring.】"
"【Cang Lang: Residents can enter the game with the items they have on hand. I hope they can seize this opportunity.】"
"【White Fox: Let's wait and see what all sorts of strange garbage these residents will bring into the game. I really can't wait!】"
"【Honey Badger: 8 PM is when most residents of this planet are eating or entertaining themselves. What do you expect them to bring into the game? Just their cutlery. Large items like cars, even if you hold the steering wheel, cannot be brought into the game.】"
"【White Fox: That's why I'm excited! Entering a survival game with chopsticks, spoons, or even playing cards is practically a terrible start! Just thinking about it is thrilling.】"
The chat ended abruptly there.
Meng Qingyin wanted to send a message to inquire, but she was still muted and couldn't send messages at all.
The few people just now didn't seem to realize she was also in the group; they spoke without any reservations.
But their conversation left her completely confused.
Game link?
Highway Survival?
She occasionally read survival novels, but she never imagined a novel would become reality.
She was skeptical of the group's conversation, thinking it was just a prank.
A survival game was absurd enough.
However, the inexplicably joined chat group, her constant muted status, and the conversations of those people were like a small pebble, causing a ripple in her calm heart.
They said it would officially link at 8 PM tomorrow night...
Whether it was true or false, she thought she should prepare in advance. If it was false, taking a day off would be a good opportunity for her to rest.
If it was true...
Then the next day would be crucial.
Thinking this, Meng Qingyin immediately opened her company software and requested a day off, stating the reason: a senior family member had passed away, and she needed to return home for the funeral.
She was an orphan, raised in an orphanage since childhood, and had no family.
The reason she gave for her leave was simply because it was a reason her supervisor couldn't easily refuse.
She still remembered when she first started working, she once worked overtime for three consecutive days. On the fourth day, she fell ill with a high fever of 40 degrees Celsius, almost delirious.
She called her supervisor to ask for leave to go to the hospital, and her supervisor replied with a shocking statement: "Next time you get sick, tell me in advance. Your sudden leave seriously delays our team's work progress!"
She was an intern, doing only errands and printing. She didn't understand how she could delay the team's progress.
But after that incident, she deeply realized that her supervisor was an idiot, perhaps her brain had been kicked by a donkey when she was a child.
Therefore, she used the reason of a senior family member passing away.
And since she was asking for leave in advance, her idiotic supervisor probably wouldn't make things too difficult for her.
Sure enough, the leave request was approved quickly.
However, Meng Qingyin noticed there was also a note: "Next time, don't mention such things at night; it's bad luck."
Meng Qingyin couldn't help but laugh in anger. It turned out people really do laugh when they're speechless.
Uttering a national expletive, she decisively closed the software, out of sight, out of mind, and prepared to sleep.
But with something on her mind, she couldn't fall asleep at all.
Meng Qingyin decisively opened her phone again, went into Tomato Novels, and started reading various survival novels.
She knew too little about this. If it truly was a survival game, making more preparations would give her a greater chance of survival.
She read for three hours straight.
It wasn't until 1 AM that her eyes became unbearably sore, and only then did she put down her phone and force herself to sleep.
...
Meng Qingyin set her alarm for 7 AM.
When the alarm rang, she slowly opened her eyes, which still had red streaks.
Three seconds later, her consciousness returned.
Meng Qingyin sprang up from the bed, quickly washed up, and ate breakfast.
Today, she needed to buy some wilderness survival supplies.
From their conversation, it wasn't hard to tell that when the game linked at 8 PM tonight, the items they were holding would also enter the game.
However, cars were an exception.
Meng Qingyin guessed it might be because cars were too large and weren't considered "held" in hand.
This implied that it had to be "held" in the strict sense of the word.
She needed to spend today buying a temporary wilderness survival kit.
Time was tight; buying online would definitely be too late, so she had to go to a specialized store.
After searching for a well-rated wilderness survival supply store on the navigation app, Meng Qingyin directly took a taxi there.
Half an hour later, the taxi stopped at the store entrance. Meng Qingyin paid and got out, stepping inside the store.
The store was quite deserted. As soon as Meng Qingyin entered, the chubby owner greeted her with a smile: "Madam, what would you like to buy?"