Lan Chi opened his eyes, his vision gradually focusing from blurriness.

  Above his head was not the familiar ceiling, but several rough log beams with cracks stuffed with dry, blackened mud. He sat up abruptly, the hay beneath him emitting a crisp breaking sound.

  "Where is this?"

  His memories were like shattered puzzle pieces—the final image was a fleeting streetlight on his way home from work and the sensation of falling.

  Lan Chi quickly surveyed the wooden cabin, less than ten square meters. The wooden walls had twisted grain patterns like struggling faces. Apart from the haystack he was sitting on and a few tools in the corner that looked ready to fall apart at any moment, the room was completely empty.

  No surveillance cameras, no kidnappers. This illogical change of clothes and environment made Lan Chi instantly realize this was no simple kidnapping or social experiment.

  A chill ran through him. Too confused to dwell on the truth, he got up and walked toward the creaking wooden door, peeking through the gaps in the planks.

  Outside was a dark, dense forest. Sunlight fell in fragmented patches onto a thick layer of fallen leaves. Strangely, aside from the wind, there was no sound of insects or birds in the woods.

  Just as he was about to push the door open, a string of grayish-white text appeared inexplicably on his retina, like a forcibly implanted pop-up:

  [Welcome to participate in this trial]

  [Current Status: Surviving]

  [Shelter Level: 0 (Extremely fragile refuge)]

  [Main Quest: Survive.]

  [Current Objective: Collect Wood ×50, Stone ×10 to upgrade to Level 1 Shelter]

  Lan Chi froze, instinctively waving his hand to brush away the text, but his fingers passed through the illusion.

  "System?" he tested, but only dead silence answered. The cold text floated for a minute before gradually fading, shrinking into a small icon in the upper right corner of his vision.

  This projection was beyond the realm of technology. An absurd yet unavoidable reality lay before him: quests, survival, a system.

  Lan Chi took a deep breath. The smell of damp soil and rotting leaves was incredibly real—a stark contrast to the absurd notification box.

  He turned back and grabbed the stone axe. The rough texture of the wooden handle helped him calm down quickly. Sitting idly in this drafty wooden hut was not a good plan; he decided to complete the task according to the prompts first.

  Pushing the door open, Lan Chi officially stepped into the forest.

  The humus beneath his feet was as thick as a sponge. He selected a small, not-too-sturdy tree and swung the axe with all his might.

  "Bang!"

  The dull sound exploded through the forest.

  The axe vibrated violently, leaving only a shallow white mark on the bark. The recoil numbed Lan Chi's arm.

  Just then, he keenly sensed something was wrong.

  The leaves above him stopped rustling, replaced by heavy breathing.

  Lan Chi looked up, his pupils contracting sharply. The crisscrossing wrinkles on the bark were opening like eyelids. A whole row of compound eyes glowing with green light locked onto him.

  The "vines" moved, transforming into tentacles that shot straight for his face.

  "What the hell is that!?"

  Without time to think, Lan Chi rolled backward, barely dodging the vine whipping toward his face. Splattering humus covered his face.

  He gripped the stone axe tightly and swung it horizontally at the nearby vine.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Pfft.

  Thick green liquid spurted out, and the tree let out a low, muffled groan.

  Seizing the moment as the vines recoiled, Lan Chi flipped back onto his feet. Not wanting to prolong the fight, he grabbed the severed purple-brown piece of wood, turned, and dashed back toward his rickety hut.

  Bam.

  The wooden door slammed shut behind him.

  In his vision, the system interface flickered: [Wood: 2/50].

  Leaning against the door, Lan Chi waited for his heartbeat to calm. Once the pounding in his chest subsided, he looked down at the purple-brown wood block.

  The grain on the wood's surface writhed slightly in the natural light, exuding an unsettling sense of life.

  Lan Chi narrowed his eyes. This wasn't the world he knew. What kind of godforsaken place had he been thrown into?

  Lan Chi pushed open the door again. This time, he avoided the ancient tree covered with compound eyes.

  He tried picking up dead branches from the ground, but as soon as his fingers applied pressure, the weathered wood crumbled to powder, not triggering the system count.

  Lan Chi turned decisively, his gaze locking onto a thin, fallen dead tree. The stone axe came down—no mutation.

  Chopping, bundling, carrying. Every time he accumulated ten wooden strips, he returned to the shelter. Before understanding the forest's details, the primary rule of survival was not to provoke any "living" vegetation.

  Soon, the 50 units the system required were collected. Ten units of stone remained.

  Lan Chi continued searching at the forest edge and soon discovered several bushes bearing strange fruits. The fruits looked like strawberries but were fist-sized, with deep red and emerald green mottled across the peel, looking particularly tempting.

  The system interface simultaneously popped up a prompt:

  [Discovered Wild Fruit: Edible, Plantable.]

  Lan Chi picked the fruits and stuffed them into his clothes. He quickly returned, sorted and stacked the materials in the shelter corner, then turned and walked toward the other side of the woods.

  There was a stream about two meters wide here, with clear water. Lan Chi saw no living creatures but could see stones of various colors at the bottom. He crouched down, reached into the gravel, and pried stones out one by one.

  Lan Chi quickened his movements. He felt this forest was eerie in every way. A watching gaze seemed to always be fixed on him.

  As the last stone was stored, the system displayed a prompt:

  [Resources Collected: Upgrade Conditions Met. Upgrade Immediately?]

  Lan Chi subconsciously answered, "Yes."

  No special effects. The wooden hut emitted dense creaking sounds as the wall gaps closed and joined under the drive of an invisible force. Simultaneously, the rustling sounds in the dense forest behind him suddenly intensified. Heavy footsteps crushing fallen leaves were approaching rapidly.

  Lan Chi turned to retreat into the wooden hut but found the door wouldn't budge—the hinges seemed welded shut.

  [System Notification: Upgrading. Shelter is in "Expansion and Reorganization" status. Entry Prohibited.]

  [Estimated Completion Time: 10 minutes.]

  "Damn it!" Lan Chi froze, panic rising in his heart. He cursed loudly, "Don't mess with me! I'm going to die out here!"

  Lan Chi's heart raced wildly. He stopped wasting energy pulling at the door handle, turned around, gripped the stone axe tightly, and pressed his back against the wall that was in the process of restructuring, lowering his center of gravity.

  He stared intently at the swaying ferns, preparing to endure these fatal ten minutes.

  At that moment, a grayish-brown monster burst out from the grass. It was the size of a hunting dog, its skin covered with brown cracks like old tree bark. Its head had only a vertical eye slit, and the mouth below opened and closed silently, revealing densely packed fine teeth.

  The monster moved.

  The grayish-brown figure streaked into a blur, charging straight at him.

  Lan Chi's scalp tingled. In the instant before impact, he sharply dodged sideways. The monster couldn't stop its momentum and slammed into the wooden door with tremendous force.

  The door shook; the monster was dazed from the collision. Seizing the moment of the monster's stiffness, Lan Chi twisted his waist, gathered strength, and with the momentum, brought the stone axe down heavily on the monster's back!

  Clang!

  The monster flew sideways, rolling several times on the ground. Once steady, it quickly flipped back up and lunged at Lan Chi with a roar.

  Lan Chi grabbed a handful of soil mixed with rotten leaves and accurately threw it at the monster's face.

  The dirt entered the vertical eye slit. The monster's movements stalled as it frantically pawed at its face.

  Lan Chi seized the opportunity, swung the axe with all his strength, and slammed it down into that eye slit!

  Dark red blood splattered. The monster let out a piercing scream, fell to the ground, twitched violently a few times, and then stopped moving altogether.

  The smell of blood permeated the air. Lan Chi collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath. It took him a while to recover.

  [House Upgrade Complete!]

  At that moment, the system notification sounded. Lan Chi only wanted to curse upon hearing it. Suppressing his disgust, he dragged the freshly killed corpse into the shelter.

  After entering, he bolted the door behind him and leaned against it, completely exhausted.

  The originally simple and drafty single room had now expanded into a one-bedroom, one-living-room space of nearly forty square meters. In the center of the outer hall was a new fireplace surrounded by gray stone. The damp dirt floor beneath his feet was now covered with smooth, dry wooden flooring.

  A partition had been added inside, creating an inner room with a log bed. In the living area, sturdy wooden tables and stools were placed, and a simple window had been intentionally cut into the side wall.

  Lan Chi dragged the monster corpse beside the fireplace and followed the system's guidance to disassemble it. He obtained a dark red crystal, a thick brown hide, and several kilograms of meat.

  Night had completely fallen. Lan Chi pushed open the small window and gazed out at the dark, vast sea of trees.

  He had survived. Withdrawing his gaze, too exhausted for reflection, he quickly inventoried his supplies, his mind already calculating the resources needed for the next upgrade.