Chapter Twenty-Three: Summit of the Snowy Ridge (Part Two)

Qin Fei reacted swiftly, reaching up to grab a protruding rock on the cliff above him. His feet quickly found footholds, and only then did he steady himself. At that moment, the red climbing rope snapped and dropped from a height of over ten meters, landing with a thud on the ground below.

Qin Fei glanced down at the fallen rope, breathing a sigh of relief tinged with lingering fear. With the rope broken, he had no way to descend the same way he had come…

Ultimately, however, he managed to climb to the top of the cliff without further incident.

Standing atop the precipice, he was immediately greeted by the sight of a heap of airplane wreckage that had long since crashed. Around the debris lay toppled trees, some of which had been charred into blackened logs. The scorched trunks must have been burned in the fire ignited by the crash.

By the light of the moon, Qin Fei circled the area. Only then did he realize that, unknowingly, he had climbed to the summit of Snow Ridge. The peak itself was not large, and the terrain here was identical to that in the game.

It was a solitary summit, surrounded on all sides by sheer cliffs rising over a hundred meters, with no path down. The only means of descent had been the climbing rope Qin Fei used to ascend.

But now that rope was severed.

In one corner of the summit, Qin Fei discovered a cave. It was not very deep, but inside he found a pile of long-extinguished campfire remains and a frozen corpse. Beside the corpse lay a plastic box, which contained several books on firearms.

Qin Fei gathered some branches from outside and tossed them onto the fire pit, reigniting the flames. He then filled a tin can with snow and set it to heat over the fire.

When the water warmed, he soaked his hands in it, waves of heat seeping into his frozen fingers. Qin Fei let out a contented sigh. His hands were swollen and, in some places, the skin was cracked from frostbite.

Soaking frostbitten hands in warm water could not heal the damage entirely, but it did ease the symptoms somewhat.

After being chased by wolves for so long and expending vast amounts of energy climbing the snowy ridge, Qin Fei was utterly exhausted. Once his hands felt a little better, he laid his sleeping bag at the back of the cave and crawled inside to sleep.

[You have survived: 161 days, 23 hours, 6 minutes.]

Qin Fei was jolted awake by the cold the next morning. He had not slept well; the cave walls were thin, and temperatures had plummeted during the night.

Upon waking, he made his way to the crashed plane in the distance, hoping to find something to eat. The day before, he had tossed much of his jerky to distract the wolves, so his pack now contained little food.

The downed aircraft atop Snow Ridge was not a passenger plane like the ones Qin Fei had encountered before—it was a cargo plane.

Inside the cabin, he found nearly a dozen metal cargo containers, their doors sealed shut and keyholes at the center. Qin Fei searched the cabin but could not find any keys. Hungry and desperate, he drew out his hacksaw.

It didn’t take long for him to saw open all the metal crates.

The supplies inside were abundant: food, clothing, tools, even firearms, lamp oil, and medical supplies—everything one might need.

Among the clothing, Qin Fei found a pair of wool earmuffs and a fleece-hooded cloak, the latter complete with a face cover. With both items on, only his eyes were exposed—his head was otherwise snug and warm.

He also found a fisherman’s sweater and a pair of snow-patterned trousers, both far superior in warmth to his previous thermal underwear, so he changed into them immediately.

As for outerwear, nothing in the crates could compare to his bearskin coat, so he kept that. He moved all extra clothing to his new cave, piling it in a corner by his sleeping bag to keep himself warmer at night.

He also selected some firestarters and matches to store in the cave.

The plane’s food stores were equally impressive. He found at least thirty cans, along with boxes of biscuits, candy bars, beef jerky, and other snacks—more than enough to last him the remaining forty days.

Food was no longer a concern. The only problem left was the cave’s lack of warmth.

Being woken by the cold, as he had been that morning, was actually lucky. If a cold snap or blizzard hit at night, he could easily freeze to death.

Most of the cold air came in through the cave entrance; it needed to be blocked off.

Qin Fei found a small shovel in the cargo crates and began piling snow and dirt around the cave mouth. The opening was not large, so after half a day’s work, he had blocked off half of it.

The mixture of snow and soil was mostly wet, which was a good thing. As temperatures dropped at night, the moisture would freeze, forming a hard barrier.

From then on, aside from occasional trips to gather firewood, Qin Fei spent most of his time in the cave. He passed the days reading the books and magazines from his backpack.

At last, he made it to day two hundred.

[You have survived: 200 days, 0 hours, 0 minutes.]

That morning, shortly after waking, the familiar system interface appeared before his eyes.

[Task completed: Survive 200 days in The Long Dark game world...]

[You have received Reward 1: Substitute Doll x1. Real-world cash reward: 1,000,000 yuan, already transferred to your bank account!]

[You have received Reward 2: Return to the real world!]

[Task completed. Initiating return. Teleportation countdown underway...]

As the task ended, the world around Qin Fei was gradually engulfed in white light, growing ever brighter until he could no longer keep his eyes open.

Less than a minute later, the light faded.

When he opened his eyes again, he found himself standing in the corridor outside his own apartment building.

He touched his bearskin coat and glanced at the deerskin trousers he wore. Everything seemed to confirm that what he had experienced was real.

Stunned for a moment, Qin Fei quickly collected himself. With a thought, the familiar system inventory interface appeared before him. In an instant, he returned his animal-skin clothing to the inventory.

In the game, hunting bears and deer was justified by survival, but in the real world, wearing such things would attract unwanted attention. So, he wasted no time putting the clothes away.

Checking his system inventory, he saw not only the supplies he had brought back from the game but also a rag doll.

[Substitute Doll: Consumable item. Can substitute the bearer’s death once.]

The description was brief.

Qin Fei wasn’t sure about the exact activation conditions, but from the wording, it seemed he now had an extra life.

And, somehow, he was also a millionaire.

However, the phone he kept in his system inventory had run out of battery, so he couldn’t check his bank balance yet.

As he was examining his new gains, a system notification suddenly appeared.

[New game world alert: In three days, you will enter the 7 Days to Die game world!]

[New task: Survive for 50 days in the 7 Days to Die game world!]

[Reward 1: Unknown. Reward 2: Return to the real world upon task completion.]

7 Days to Die?

That world swarming with zombies?

Surely this had to be a mistake...?

Staring at the system notification, Qin Fei was filled with despair.

He had thought that, having survived The Long Dark, it was finally over.

He never expected that, only a few days later, he would have to traverse another world once more.