Matrix Survival: One random treasure chest per day

Chapter 2, First Room

Danger!

Two bold red characters appeared on the goggles, startling Li Zheng into a cold sweat.

"This... a room I randomly selected is showing as dangerous?!"

Li Zheng took a few steps back, moving further away from the door, and at the same time, he felt a little relieved.

"Luckily, luckily I haven't swiped my card at the door yet, otherwise I would have to bite the bullet and go in now."

"I didn't expect these goggles could even detect information about the next room. Right now, they can only detect the level of danger. Will they be able to detect exactly what's in the room when they're upgraded?"

"Even in the Matrix, items with this kind of function would be considered god-tier, right?"

"Wow, my darling is amazing!"

Li Zheng gave the treasure chest a thumbs up and then turned to look at the other metal doors.

Left side: Empty (displayed in gray)
Right side: Safe (shown in green)

Behind: Safety (displayed in dark blue)

Above: Danger (displayed in orange-red)

Ground: Danger (shown in red)

"Empty? Does that mean there's nothing in this room?"

Li Zheng glanced to the left, then stopped paying attention. "But what does this color mean?"

There are two safe rooms, one displayed in green and the other in dark blue.

In addition, there are two dangerous rooms, which are displayed in different colors.

"I can understand orange-red and red, perhaps they represent different levels of danger, but safe rooms... in games I've played before, blue ones were always better than green ones, but will the settings be the same here?"

Li Zheng didn't dwell on it too much. He swiped his card in the green, safe room, thinking, "Why don't we explore it and find out?"

When you first enter this game world, everything is unknown, and you can only find the answers by exploring it yourself.

There's no rule that says blue is necessarily better than green. Judging by past gaming experience is a bit of a stretch.

"Uzi~"

A sound like a hydraulic press rang out, and the metal door slowly opened, revealing a laser-like thin film behind it.

The film was not transparent, so Li Zheng had no way of observing the contents of the next room.

Just to be on the safe side, Li Zheng first searched the ground for two gray stones, one large and one small, and held them in his hand.

"Let's scout ahead first."

Li Zheng arrived in front of the membrane, threw a small stone in his hand, and it passed right through.

I listened intently for a moment, but no sound came through.

"Tch, they've even blocked out the sound?"

Li Zheng pursed his lips. It seemed that even if someone tried to probe like him, they wouldn't be able to determine whether there was any danger in the room through this method.

After all, not everyone has such a treasure as a detector.

"Next..."

Li Zheng's eyes narrowed for a moment, then he reached out and pierced through the membrane, moving his hand freely from side to side.

"I feel no discomfort."

Nodding, Li Zheng pulled his hand out of the membrane. His palm was still intact, and the process was unimpeded.

"So it seems that as long as a person hasn't completely passed away, it's still possible to go back?"

Li Zheng swiped his ID card reader at the door again, but there was no response.

With that, Li Zheng finished all his probing and went to the membrane to begin his initial exploration.

Before leaving, Li Zheng looked back at the initial room one last time and was surprised to find that the metal door, which had previously displayed "red danger," had now turned "orange-red danger."

"Hmm? The danger level has changed?" Li Zheng's heart skipped a beat, and he put down the stone in his hand.

Sure enough, the danger level of that door changed back to "red danger".

"Is it because stones can also be used as weapons?" Li Zheng bent down to pick up the stone and finally confirmed that this was the case.

Even though the danger level had been lowered, Li Zheng had no intention of going in to take a look. If there was a safe room available, wouldn't he be out of his mind?
Turning around, Li Zheng gripped the stone tightly and stepped into the luminous membrane.

Passing through the membrane was like passing through a beam of light; his vision was completely obscured by the membrane's color. Li Zheng was cautious, noting that one foot was still behind him and hadn't entered.

With his eyes wide open, and after confirming that his last attempt had failed to reveal the contents of the next room, Li Zheng finally gave up and passed through the membrane completely.

After passing through the membrane completely, all the light in front of me disappeared instantly, revealing the room.

Li Zheng didn't look around much, quickly turned around to go back, but bumped headfirst into the thin membrane that he had been able to easily pass through before.

Immediately afterwards, a prompt appeared before his eyes:
[Invalid action]!
"Ah."

Li Zheng didn't mind. He rubbed his sore nose, breathed out a sigh of relief, and muttered to himself, "It's really meticulous. There's not a single flaw."

Turn around again, and a high-tech room comes into view.

The room is somewhat like a capsule dwelling, with walls entirely covered in metal, embedded with some unknown instruments whose indicator lights are flashing in various colors, seemingly still in operation.

The main light source comes from recessed soft lights installed on the walls, ceiling, and floor. These soft lights are covered with a material that resembles plexiglass and is not transparent, so the light is very soft.

This is also why Li Zheng was able to adapt quickly when he entered this place from a relatively dark room.

The ground was empty and clean, and Li Zheng discovered that the stones he had thrown in beforehand were not in the room.

"It seems to be to prevent players from using diversionary tactics to lure away any potential dangers in the room?"

Li Zheng immediately realized the purpose of this setting.

Keep this in mind and continue observing the room.

The room was empty, and most of the instruments didn't even have system prompts, like useless decorations in the scene.

However, there were three instruments in the center of the room, and the system provided some prompts.

The damaged instrument is so badly altered that it's difficult to identify its original form. However, some unconventional methods might still yield some information.

[Supply storage tanks are machines that can preserve supplies for extended periods; there may still be some items inside that haven't been taken.]

[The research data station—if you're observant enough, you might find something useful in this machine.]

The material storage tank, though called a "tank," actually looks more like a refrigerator.

The research data table, on the other hand, is much more refreshing and unconventional.

It's just a metal pillar topped with a touchscreen computer, with an indicator light flashing intermittently to enhance its presence.

After scanning every corner of the room and confirming that neither the system nor the detectors had provided any further information, Li Zhengcai walked up to the "refrigerator".

Upon opening, there was only a long, thin object inside, measuring ten centimeters in length, two centimeters in width, and one centimeter in thickness.

[Energy bars, "Sweep away hunger, be yourself"—while just an advertising slogan, it's not an exaggeration here. Eating one can at least replace half a meal!]
"This advertising slogan... sounds so damn familiar!"

"boom!"

Li Zheng slammed the refrigerator door shut and complained, "A refrigerator with a capacity of at least 180 liters only holds this tiny thing. Are you kidding me?"

With a quick glance, Li Zheng fixed his gaze on the "refrigerator" with ill intent. "I wonder if this thing can be taken away..."

Run your hand over the surface of the "refrigerator" and silently say in your heart: Take it.

[Invalid action.]

"If you don't allow it, how are the vast number of garbage collectors supposed to cope?"

Li Zheng smacked his lips, no longer paying attention to the empty refrigerator, and turned his gaze to the "computer".

Not long after drinking the nutrient solution, the sweet taste still lingered. Li Zheng didn't bother to open the energy bar to taste its saltiness and simply put it into a capsule.

Arriving at the "computer," Li Zheng pressed the button with great anticipation.

"Di."

With a soft click, the computer screen was awakened. The pale blue background was completely empty, without even a "This PC" or "Recycle Bin" icon.

"Isn't it?"

Li Zheng was completely dumbfounded.

The system message said we could find something, right?
Why are there no icons at all?!
What's going on? He wouldn't give up, and started randomly pressing buttons on the screen, not missing a single inch.

Finally, Li Zheng realized with dismay that the computer indeed did not have any hidden software installed.

"...So, this whole room is just for storing a Snickers bar?"

Li Zheng was disgusted.

He turned back to the 'completely altered instrument', trying to find more information.

The instrument is completely unrecognizable and has lost all its original functions. Perhaps you could try disassembling it to obtain some basic materials.

Should the 'completely altered instrument' be disassembled?

"It can actually decompose?" Li Zheng was overjoyed. Sure enough, such a big room couldn't possibly only have one Snickers bar!

"break down!"

Disassembling the 'completely altered instrument' yields: 1 Iron Ingot

The machine in front of them, already in terrible condition, collapsed completely in a flash of white light, turning into a pile of unusable junk.

"Since this damaged instrument can be disassembled, can't the intact equipment be disassembled as well?" Li Zheng's gaze fell on the storage tank and the data table.

Snapped!
The fragile screen shattered instantly, and the pale blue desktop turned into a distorted image.

At the same time, a small object was shaken off from under the computer and landed on the ground with a crisp sound.

"Huh? This is..."

Li Zheng's eyes widened as he stared at the familiar shape of the object.

That's clearly a USB flash drive!
Li Zheng quickly crouched down to pick up the USB drive and looked up. Only then did he realize that there were two ports on the bottom of the computer. Because of the height difference, he hadn't noticed them before.

"So that's what 'careful' meant in the hint?" Li Zheng never expected that such a high-class matrix game would resort to such a low-level trick.

Too lazy to continue complaining, Li Zheng looked at the USB drive in his hand, or rather, the "blueprints".

[Small water purifier blueprints, black iron grade, suitable for study.]
[A small water purifier that can convert wastewater into potable purified water.]
[Materials required for crafting: Part *1, Iron Ingot *3, Copper Ingot *1]

Unlike the one-time-use blueprints for "ordinary detectors", learnable blueprints require learning before a finished product can be made.

Li Zheng held the USB drive in his hand and played with it for a while, then figured out a problem.

"How do I learn this thing? It can't be..."

Looking at the computer that had completely stopped working, Li Zheng was exasperated. "I can't possibly learn through this computer, can I?"

Holding the USB drive, I silently recited "study" in my mind, and sure enough, I received a system notification.

Please refer to the research materials desk to study the blueprints.

Done!

You were right!

"We have no choice but to give it a try..."

Li Zheng got up full of anticipation and fiddled with the broken computer, eventually coming to a conclusion...

This machine... is no longer in service!

"Seriously? It breaks down after just a light touch? Is the quality really that bad?"

Li Zheng was not giving up and tried to change the awkward situation.

"Let's see if we can fix it first."

"repair!"

no response.

"System, fix it for me!"

Still no response...

"..."

Over the next few minutes, Li Zheng tried various methods to repair the computer, but none of them worked, so he eventually gave up.

"I should have smashed the storage tank first..."

boom!
boom!
boom!
Since it's already broken and I can't take it with me, I might as well dismantle it and get some materials.

Even the smallest mosquito leg is still meat in your mouth.

Soon, Li Zheng stopped what he was doing and looked at the broken computer.

A notification popped up in front of me.

Should the damaged research data stand be disassembled?

"As expected, it can be broken down as long as it's smashed!" This result gave Li Zheng some comfort; at least his reckless actions just now were not in vain.

It would be really embarrassing if it got broken and couldn't be disassembled.

Disassembling the damaged research data station yields: 1 Technology Core, 1 Iron Ingot, 1 Copper Ingot, and 1 Broken Power Core Type I.

Core technology!

There weren't many items that were broken down, but this prop instantly caught Li Zheng's eye.

"Upgrading a regular detector requires a core technology, and I didn't expect to get it in just the first room."

"good."

Li Zheng smiled with satisfaction, then his gaze shifted to the supply storage tanks beside him, and his smile gradually turned wicked.

Touching the refrigerator, Li Zheng tried again to see if it could decompose even when it was in good condition.

[Invalid action.]

Li Zheng: "Fortunately, it means my initial judgment was correct."

There's nothing more to say, let's roll up our sleeves and get to work!
"Bang bang bang..."

After another round of frantic smashing, the stone in his hand shattered several times, leaving only a quarter of its original size, when the prompt finally popped up.

Should the damaged storage containers be dismantled?

"break down!"

Li Zheng shook his right arm, which was still aching from the impact, and casually threw away the remaining stones.

Disassembling the damaged supply storage tank yields: 10 iron ingots, 5 copper ingots, 5 spare parts, 1 broken temperature controller, 1 broken Type III power core, and 100g of B25 grade manganese steel.

"There's a lot more stuff now. It seems that being big has its advantages."

Li Zheng took stock of his gains and found that this one batch alone had gathered half of the upgrade materials for ordinary detectors!
"I wonder if this damaged power core can be repaired. If it can be repaired, we can upgrade the detector by dismantling two more refrigerators."

Everything obtained after the decomposition appeared directly in the capsule dwelling. Li Zheng took out a "glass bead" the size of a baby's fist from it.

The “glass bead” is the “damaged power core type III” that was just removed. The dense spiderweb-like cracks on its surface indicate that it is in a damaged state.

After weighing the items in his hand for a moment, Li Zheng put them into his capsule residence and looked at the five doors in the room.

"Time to explore the next room. We've already explored the green safe room, so let's go to the blue one this time."

Besides the door Li Zheng came through, two of the other five doors in the room were marked as "empty," one above his head and one below him, which saved Li Zheng a lot of trouble.

There are also two red dangerous rooms, located to the left and right of the door we came through.

Even when using stones as weapons, the display turned red, so Li Zheng had no reason to even consider going in and trying it out.

Even if it's a less dangerous room, he wouldn't dare to go in and test it without being fully prepared.

Even if the returns from a dangerous room are much higher than those from a safe room.

The remaining door directly opposite is the blue safe room!
"di"

As the card reader beeped, Li Zheng turned back to look at the indestructible wreckage scattered on the ground and let out a regretful sigh.

What a pity! If I hadn't been so reckless, I might have been the first person to study the blueprints.

This is something I must pay attention to in the future.

Lift your foot and step across the membrane.

(End of this chapter)