Alex lies on the ground, cold and bloody, with pain coursing through every inch of his body. Today has been a series of new, brutal experiences: beheading a man, getting shot in the shoulder, stabbed in the chest, falling off a wall, nearly bleeding to death, and being miraculously saved by a shabby-looking yet precious healing herb.

    His eyes, heavy with exhaustion, catch the sight of the herb dissolving in his hand as the last of its green vanishes. For a second, he isn’t even sure if he has hallucinated the note changing, or if it has really happened.

    [Healing Herb]

    At least his next experience is more welcome.

    Alex is dragged into a nearby hut by a group of elderly women and young girls, those too old or too young to fight. They work quickly, stopping his bleeding and patching him up with basic first-aid. He lies on a rough woolen blanket, feeling the relief seep into his bones. As the weight of the battle fades slightly, he decides to check his notifications.

    ...

    He scrolls through the cluttered feed of injuries and slow-healing notifications.

    Finally, the pain, exhaustion, and trauma of the night catch up to him, and Alex falls asleep.

    When he wakes up, his body still aches, but at least he is alive. He checks his status:

    Even though he is mostly healed, his HP won’t fully regenerate because of his injuries. He is still in better shape than he has any right to be, far better than someone who has been shot, stabbed, and thrown off a wall.

    He can’t help but joke to himself, “Didn’t Luffy & Zoro just eat meat and drink alcohol to recover from anything?”

    But this isn’t an Anime, and he isn’t made of rubber.

    As he thinks it over, Alex notices something strange about his contribution points. They’ve skyrocketed overnight. He does some quick mental math.

    He should have 2630. But instead, he has 3530. Where did the extra 900 come from?

    He scrolls through his notifications and finds the answer:

    But Alex has only received 900.

    "Stingy village," Alex mutters.

    Still, he is alive, and that is what matters. But the notification also reminds him, eight remaining players. Which means someone has died last night.

    Alex leaves the hut, his body sore but moving, and goes to find the others. When he steps outside, Eirini and Perlah rush towards him, hugging him tightly, catching him off guard. He hadn’t expected the warm welcome.

    "You’re alive!" Perlah says, relief in her voice.

    They walk him to the village center, where the rest of the group is gathered. Thato grins as Alex approaches. "The devil’s luck, man. I thought for sure you were dead after getting shot, stabbed, and falling off that wall!"

    Alex forces a smile. "Guess I’m harder to kill than I thought," he says, though deep down he knows it isn’t toughness. It is pure luck. Without that healing herb, he’d be dead.

    Thato claps him on the back. "You’re a real warrior, Alex. Glad you made it."

    Alex, still reeling from the night''s events, asks about the missing player.

    "It was Alan," Roja says quietly. "The guy from Scotland. He got shot in the head during the attack, didn’t even have a chance."

    Alan… Alex hasn’t known him well, but it still hits hard. One bullet, and just like that, Alan is gone. It makes Alex realize how close he had been to joining him. If not for the herb, he’d be dead too.

    Roja steps forward then, pulling something out from her inventory. A notification appears as she initiates a trade.

    "My inventory unlocked after the battle," she says, handing Alex two chests. "You earned these."

    Alex receives two chests, one white, one green. His kills have earned him the right to them, and thankfully the others have honored that.

    He opens the white chest first.

    [Chest] S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Nothing special," Alex concludes. "Coins are useless right now."

    Then he opens the green chest.

    [Chest]

    [Solid Marine Saber]

    Alex grins as he straps the saber to his waist. Finally, a real weapon. No more swinging a dull axe around like a madman.

    He fiddles with the system and puts his old axe into his newly unlocked inventory.

    After a few more minutes of talking, the group splits up. Thato, the workhorse, goes straight back to logging trees. Alex just shakes his head in disbelief. “What a beast.”

    As for Alex, he has learned his lesson. No more hoarding points for a stat-boosting potion that would do him no good right now. He nearly died last night, and he needs to prepare. The saber is good, but he has lost his bow in the chaos, and he needs something more if he is going to survive.

    Some things about Alex haven’t changed; he still schemes and strategizes like he always did, but this experience has shaken him. This isn’t a game where you can save, reload, and optimize your way to the best outcome. His life is on the line, and he needs to stay alive, not play the long game.