Apocalypse Descends: I Win Effortlessly by Turning Trash into Treasure

Perry Yates didn’t think much of the card. After all, she’d seen more cards than she could count; what strange card hadn’t she encountered?

Compared to the truly bizarre ones, this card was rather run-of-the-mill.

After stowing the card, she didn’t leave right away.

After all, one of the most important reasons she’d been continuously digging through caves was the temperature. This place was cold, with ice everywhere. Even if the ice melted, it would take a long time for the temperature to rise. So, Perry Yates decided to stay put for a while and just take things one day at a time.

With that thought, Perry Yates took out her shelter tent. She then cast Cold Moon Guardian around it to prevent anyone who entered from spotting her immediately.

After finishing all this, Perry Yates stretched languidly. She placed an hourglass to the side, its golden sand slowly trickling downward.

’It’s been so long since I’ve had a proper rest. I’m going to get some real sleep.’

Perry Yates was getting ready to rest, but the other players who entered this game with her weren’t nearly as lucky.

After all, not everyone was like Perry Yates—lacking for neither food nor water, digging continuously just for a cooler place to live.

Many players were still agonizing over their next meal.

Although the Space Backpack was no longer considered a Rare Card among the players of Cerulea, and any average player could get one if they wanted, even a one-star version could hold a fair amount.

But some players always felt that things like food and water could be found within the game. The limited capacity of a Space Backpack, they argued, should be reserved for more valuable items.

While these people wouldn’t bring absolutely no food or water, they usually didn’t pack much—at most enough to last three to five days, just long enough to find a food source in-game.

Of course, there were also the truly hard-headed ones who brought no food at all. They operated on the principle of "let my neighbor hoard food while I hoard weapons, because my neighbor *is* my pantry," maximizing every last inch of their limited Space Backpacks.

Samuel Stark was one of them.

Because money was tight, he could only afford a one-star Space Backpack. As a result, he took maximizing its limited space to an extreme, refusing to pack a single unnecessary item.

And among the many things he deemed "unnecessary" were food and water.

In his view, food and water could be found inside the game, so why waste space? ’Don’t forget,’ he’d argue, ’this game is called *Cave Survival*. It’s about *survival*. Of course there will be supplies for us to live on.’

This thinking had been validated in several games in a row, making him even more convinced he was right. He would even boast about it to others, tolerating no contradiction.

This time, however, he had miscalculated.

Food and water did indeed appear in the caves, but just because they existed didn’t mean you could get them. That came down to luck.

Despite Perry Yates having traversed numerous caves since the game began, she was actually on the unluckier side.

After all, among all those caves, she had only found a single jug of water and not a single bite of food.

If she hadn’t started out with plenty of food and water, she would probably be so hungry by now she’d be reduced to eating dirt. As for fighting monsters in the caves? What a joke. She’d be lucky just to not starve to death.

And Samuel Stark’s luck was even worse than Perry Yates’s. In the string of caves he’d explored, he hadn’t found a single drop of water. Worse, he hadn’t run into any other players, which meant he’d had no opportunity to play robber.

At first, Samuel Stark was still optimistic. He figured this was just a temporary setback. Besides, he had just eaten a full meal and drunk plenty of water right before the game started, so he wasn’t hungry in the slightest.

But after a full day with zero gains, he had only encountered a constant stream of monsters. He had to go all-out just to deal with them, expending immense amounts of energy and stamina with each fight. His body’s reserves were being rapidly depleted.

To make matters worse, the monsters he managed to kill had no edible parts, and he didn’t dare risk eating anything unfamiliar.

It was then that Samuel Stark finally began to panic. A normal person can survive seven days without food, but they’ll die of thirst after just three days without water.

And that’s without any strenuous activity.

These numbers might be different for players, but there was no doubt that even a player couldn’t survive without food and water.

And as his stamina and hydration levels continued to plummet, his combat effectiveness would steadily decline, making his chances of finding food and water even slimmer.

By now, Samuel Stark’s temper was foul. He was starving and parched. The combined hunger and thirst made him feel like he was going insane. He desperately needed to find food and water.

Yet, the more desperate he became, the more he flustered himself, and the less likely he was to find what he needed.

"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Why can’t I find a single person? Are they all dead? Why aren’t they just serving themselves up to me?"

It had only been two days, and Samuel Stark was already so hungry his eyes were practically glowing green.

He’d given up hope of finding anything in the caves. All he wanted now was to find other players, and quickly. To him, finding other players meant an end to his worries about food and drink.

Feeling the parched dryness in his mouth, Samuel Stark licked his cracked lips. He’d gone nearly two days without a drink of water.

Then, as if he’d made up his mind, he pulled out a dagger and sliced open his finger.

Bright red blood welled up from the wound and trickled down.

Seeing this, Samuel Stark didn’t hesitate. He brought the wound to his mouth and greedily sucked at his own blood, hoping to relieve his thirst.

However, blood was no substitute for water. Besides, Samuel Stark wasn’t the type of person who could be truly cruel to himself.

That tiny cut was the extent of his tolerance.

In his mind, it was just a desperate measure to quench his immediate thirst. He was sure he’d find food and water soon.

After resting for a while longer, Samuel Stark got to his feet. His steps were heavy yet determined as he walked toward one of the walls.

It had to be said that aside from his failure to prepare food and water, Samuel Stark had considered almost every other eventuality.

That was why he was one of the few players who made use of items.

Of course, his "items" were different from Perry Yates’s.

Perry Yates’s items were actual game items. Samuel Stark’s "items," on the other hand, were just a catch-all term for the gear he’d brought. They were really just tools, but "items" sounded so much more impressive, didn’t it?

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