Elevator Survival: Master of Every Floor

Speaking of water, it seemed that I didn’t have any at all.

The only food I had now was this pack of chocolate bars, which would come in handy at a critical moment.

I hoped I could find some water on the next floor.

I then took a look at the trading system, where some people had already started selling items – it was all bartering to exchange for things they needed.

Most of the traded items so far were food and water.

The wooden planks I had were also in high demand, as they were needed to upgrade the elevator.

However, I didn’t sell them. I didn’t have enough to upgrade yet, and I didn’t know when I’d enter a floor with lots of wood again.

“Luckily I ate a lot this morning.”

I patted my stomach gratefully. This morning I had downed three steamer buns and a bowl of soybean soup, otherwise I wouldn’t have made it to work on time.

It seemed choosing to eat heartily didn’t turn out to be a mistake after all.

What I had in my stomach could last me a day no problem.

The screen showed the time as 2pm now.

To conserve my strength, I lay down on the chair-made bed.

“So stuffy.”

I took off my jacket and put it under me as I lay down for a bit. These clothes were the only items that came with me into this world. Things like my phone and keys didn’t make it in. I guessed it was the same for everyone else.

After my strength recovered, I went back to organizing the wooden planks. Space was limited in the elevator, so saving every bit helped. After stacking all the planks neatly, there was a little more room.

“System?”

“Beep. Master, please speak.”

“Is your only function to predict information about each floor?”

“Beep. This system also has reward missions. Master’s first mission is to upgrade the elevator to Level 2. The reward is a steel crossbow and 20 steel arrows.”

I nodded after hearing this. The system was pretty awesome.

“Let’s see what everyone else is up to.”

I pulled up a chair in front of the screen and opened the chatroom.

What happened next was an opening thunderbolt.

【Dear uncles, I didn’t eat last night and am so hungry now. Is anyone willing to trade some food with me? I’ll take anything. I can trade my underwear!】

【I’ll do it! Don’t fight over it! I want to brew some tea!】

【??? Brother, you’re into some freaky stuff!】

【Everyone knows food is critical now. No one would be stupid enough to trade for something like that.】

Out of curiosity, I clicked on the girl’s profile pic. As expected, she had posted a trade offering her underwear for any food.

Just as I thought no one would go for something like that, the trade listing disappeared.

I was frozen in shock.

“Madness.”

In the chatroom:

【Bros, anyone got water? I can trade food for it. I have extra food but no water.】

【I’ll trade, just post the listing.】

【Holy crap, I started a fire!!】

【????】

【???】

【?????】

I was also puzzled. Firstly, how did he start a fire; and secondly, what good did making a fire do!

The elevator was already stuffy enough, lighting a fire would surely choke you to death.

Sure enough, someone quickly voiced doubts.

【Bro, the elevator is barely ventilated already. Why would you light a fire? Trying to kill yourself?】

【What else could I do? I found two turtles in the floor and haven’t eaten in a day. I’m starving to death!】

【Just curious how you started the fire. Did you find matches?】

【No, I rubbed sticks together. Luckily I found some wood and paper. Gotta stop talking now. I’m choking from the smoke. Gotta hurry and cook these turtles then put out the fire!】

……….

Damn, what a hardcore dude!

Hope he gets to eat those turtles.

“It’s already 7pm. Time to sleep, still need to explore the floor at midnight.”

I then napped on the chairs for a bit.

………….

“Beep. The floor Master is about to enter is the Forest Floor. There is a wooden treasure chest in the center, containing one bottle of clean drinking water, a 1L iron can, one gold coin, and 5 hundred-year pine trees. Master can try sawing them down if you have a saw. Note there is one venomous snake in the chest. Its bite will kill you in 3 seconds. You can try killing it if you have a weapon.”

The system woke me up.

Looks like difficulty was ramping up for this floor, but it was just one snake. If I didn’t have a weapon I might be afraid.

But now I knew where the snake was, so I had nothing to fear.

【Ding dong! Elevator descending, please brace yourself.】

Another sensation of weightlessness lasted nearly a minute before the elevator slowly came to a stop.

I decisively hit the open door button and went in gripping my knife.

The only threat here was that snake, so I headed straight for the wooden chest in the center.

As I carefully opened the chest, my right hand wielding the chopper was ready to strike.

A flash of white, and the snake that jumped out trying to ambush me was chopped in two.

Though cut in half, the snake wasn’t dead yet. Both ends kept struggling violently.

Only after I cleaved its head in two did the snake finally stop posing a threat.

After taking out the contents of the chest, I looked around.

No need to even think about those five pine trees. With just this chopper, it’d probably take me a whole day to cut one down.

“Sounds like running water?”

After walking around a bit, I surprisingly heard the sound of flowing water.

How did this floor create it? Where was the water coming from and where was it flowing to?

I soon came upon the water source.

It was a stream, running along the edge of the floor. Unfortunately no fish could be seen in it.

After filling up my can, I carried it and the wooden chest back to the elevator.

The chest was also made of wood, and had some iron in it too.

Bringing it back would be perfect for upgrading the elevator.

After tossing everything into the elevator, I looked at the snake I chopped in two and decided to take it as well.

“Might be useful for someone.”

I shrugged. Whatever, I’ll just list it in the trading market. Maybe that hardcore dude who lit a fire would buy it.

Lin Feng: 【Anyone need food? I just killed a snake. You can clean and prep it yourself. I want iron. Trade listing posted.】

I thought for a bit and priced the snake at 5 kg of iron.

It wasn’t very big after all, pricing it too high meant no one could afford it now.

【Snake? Is it fresh? If I eat it raw, will I get poisoned? I have no fire to cook it and am starving to death!】

【Friend upstairs, eating it raw won’t poison you. Just clean it properly. Only risk is parasites.】

【That’s right, wasn’t there a dude who started a fire by rubbing sticks? So jealous, can you sell me an ember so I can start a fire in my floor? That way there’s no smoke.】

【Good point, bro who made fire, are you selling embers!】

【Stop it, I ran into zombies when I entered the floor. Fuck, one scratched me and now I’m having trouble breathing. I think I’m done for. I put out the fire so no ember left.】

【Shit, there are zombies in these floors too?】

【Bro, since you’re a goner, sell all your stuff cheap! It can be your good deed before dying.】

【Yeah, no use keeping it if you’re dead anyway. We’re all just trying to survive and help each other out.】

…….

Soon, everyone was urging the man to sell his things cheap since he was going to die anyway. No one cared if he lived or died.

…………