Chapter 197: To Live Well, You Must Start by Chopping Down Trees (Requesting Subscriptions, Monthly Pass)

In a residential complex in the Imperial Capital, Zhang Yi was discussing tactics with Song Ren and Wang Yifan in a voice channel.

Just moments ago, they had finally seen hope in defeating Yhorm the Giant in Death Mode.

It had been quite some time since Death Mode was released. So far, only top-tier bosses like Gwyn had remained unconquered.

Most other bosses had already been defeated—and even thoroughly exploited—by veteran players.

This was exactly what Chen Xu had anticipated. The AI used in Death Mode wasn’t as “intelligent” as imagined, and patterns could still be detected.

Accordingly, strategies had been developed one after another, although they did demand a certain level of skill from players.

But now, even ordinary players, with proper coordination, could defeat Death Mode bosses—it was no longer impossible.

"You've been at it for so long and only took half his health? Why not just try Chen Xu’s new game!" Wang Han stared speechlessly at the screen, exasperated by Zhang Yi’s gameplay.

All that shouting, and she’d actually thought they’d succeeded.

"That was already Yhorm’s second phase! We were just too excited and messed up. We’ll definitely beat him today. As for Chen Xu’s new game, it’s not going anywhere. Besides, Old Song leaves tomorrow—we can’t let him go with regrets!" Zhang Yi replied.

"What kind of talk is that, Old Zhang? I’m just going on a business trip, not dying! And I checked the description for Don’t Starve—it supports cross-play between mobile and PC, right? I’ll play it tomorrow on the high-speed train!" Song Ren’s voice came through the speaker.

"Fine, you two keep playing. I’ll go check if Don’t Starve is any good. But seriously, with your coordination… good luck!"

Without waiting for Zhang Yi to respond, Wang Han walked back to her room, logged into her Nebula Games Platform account, and purchased and downloaded Don’t Starve.

The game file wasn’t large—by the time she finished reading the description, it had already finished downloading.

She clicked the game icon and launched it.

First, a CG animation played.

Unlike the exquisite CGI in Dark Souls, Don’t Starve’s animation resembled a simple, hand-drawn cartoon.

Set to an eerie yet oddly cheerful background audio, the camera followed a crow-like bird flying toward a mansion in the wilderness.

At a window in the mansion, a disheveled cartoon character was conducting an experiment. His name appeared beside him: Wilson.

But in the next moment, the experiment failed, and Wilson slumped onto the sofa with a dejected expression.

Just then, a strange voice emerged from the radio beside him.

‘Looks like you’ve run into some trouble.’

‘I have some knowledge I can share with you.’

‘If you believe you’re ready.’

Hearing the voice, Wilson perked up instantly and nodded eagerly.

In the next moment, a flood of knowledge poured into Wilson’s mind.

Empowered by these memories, Wilson resumed his experiment.

Piece by piece, he assembled components until, finally, he cut his hand and let blood drip onto the machine.

A strange device materialized before him.

‘Very good. Now, activate its mechanism.’

But Wilson hesitated.

The voice from the radio suddenly roared.

‘Hurry! Activate it!’

Wilson pulled the switch—and instantly, a pair of dark hands seized his ankles and dragged him underground.

At the same time, a mysterious shadow appeared outside the house, laughing eerily.

The bizarre art style, paired with the unsettling music, made Wang Han instinctively shrink back.

The atmosphere was just too grim!

"Could this be a horror game?!"

Wang Han felt a flicker of unease.

After the CG animation ended, the game officially began. The UI interface appeared on the screen.

The UI was extremely minimal, with only five options:

Start Game, Load Saves, Workshop, Options, Exit Game.

Load Saves was grayed out since she hadn’t entered the game yet.

She clicked on Workshop and found it completely empty.

With nothing special to see, Wang Han selected Start Game.

【World Generating… Inserting Food】

【World Generating… Inserting Threatening Creatures】

【World Generating… Inserting Shadow】

As the progress bar and messages rolled, it took only about three or four seconds before Wang Han was inside the game.

The visual style matched the previous animation, though it wasn’t as finely detailed as in the CG.

The entire game looked like an oil painting, with cartoonish, line-drawn characters. Surprisingly, everything blended together without feeling jarring.

While Wang Han was still analyzing the graphics, a strange, long-faced magician suddenly appeared in front of Wilson, who had just gotten up from the ground.

‘Hey, friend, you don’t look so good.’

‘Friendly reminder: before night falls, you’d better find something to eat.’

With that, the man vanished into thin air.

At the same time, the game’s camera slowly shifted, and the character’s UI interface appeared.

Inventory, Toolbelt, and in the top-right corner: Day count, Health Value, Sanity, and Hunger.

Based on the descriptions and her own understanding, Wang Han quickly grasped the basics.

Day count, Hunger, Health, and Sanity—these were straightforward: time, fullness, physical condition, and mental state.

Except for time, if any of the others dropped to zero, the character would likely die or start taking continuous damage.

There was also a function tab with various options: 【Tools】, 【Campfire】, 【Survival】…

Clearly, this was the tech tree. Some slots were empty—she wasn’t sure if that was by design or if more functions would unlock later.

Wang Han guided Wilson around, picking up everything she could see and grabbing every usable item.

"This map is huge! Time to craft an axe and start chopping down trees."

After collecting a decent amount of resources, Wang Han realized the map of this mini-game was absurdly large.

According to the Toolbelt description, she could now craft an axe.

And once she had an axe?

Chopping down trees, of course.

After all, to survive, she needed a house—and a house meant building.

She wasn’t sure if bricks existed in this game, and even if they did, she probably couldn’t make them yet. So wood was the only option.

To live well, you must start by chopping down trees.

In a survival game, before you even understand the mechanics, your first move should always be to chop down a few trees—no exceptions.

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