Surviving the Maze of National Destiny: Hints from the Chinese Characters I Understand

The live stream viewer followed Lin Mo as he leaped into the house.

This is a square room, 10 meters by 10 meters, and it is very spacious.

Scattered on the ground were some pebbles and clods of earth, and some unidentified weeds grew along the corner of the wall.

[Bitter root grass: It won't kill you, it'll just give you diarrhea for a day.]

[Red Leaf Grass: I heard that eating it will allow you to see Grandma, why don't you try it for me?]

[A puddle of water (250 ml): What a disappointment! It's drinkable, so it's not poisonous.]

[A campfire: You can obtain 1 fire element using the game's dismantling function.]

Lin Mo looked back and saw that the spot he had just crossed was covered by weeds and was difficult to spot.

Lin Mo used a twig to pry aside the weeds, which in turn triggered a mechanism. "Click!"

The sound of metal snapping together startled Lin Mo, and the branch in his hand was snapped in two, sending a chill down his spine.

If this thing gets stuck in your leg, it might hurt a bit.

[Crude Bear Trap: Highly effective at capturing level 1 dungeon creatures, making escape impossible; provides decent restraint against level 2 dungeon creatures; offers only temporary control against level 3 dungeon creatures; and is practically useless against level 4 dungeon creatures (the same applies to humans).]

The crude animal trap can be used as a storage device for supplies, or it can be broken down into 1 unit of refined iron.

Lin Mo reassembled the animal trap that had been closed and placed it at the door to ensure his safety inside the house, just in case other players came in.

It's important to know that nearly 200 countries around the world have sent a number of explorers. Even if each country sends an average of 20 explorers, that adds up to several thousand people.

Lin Mo is on the first floor, so the probability of encountering him is very low, but it's always good to be cautious.

If you reach levels 5-10, the chances of encountering explorers from other countries are quite high in this maze.

After setting up the animal trap, Lin Mo went to the corner of the room. On the ground, there were two large stone slabs with a concave curve and a puddle of clear water inside. In the corner next to them, there were two fist-sized potatoes, weighing exactly 1 jin (500 grams).

【extract!】

Lin Mo used the game system's extraction function to store the water and potatoes in his storage space.

With Lin Mo's successful extraction, he used his consciousness to check the storage space. The supplies were already inside. This storage space was about 1 cubic meter and would increase as the explorer's life level increased.

One cubic meter is enough for now.

[Have you carefully inspected your belongings? Would you like to return them?]

Whether or not the supplies are returned to the country is up to the explorers to decide. After all, not everything is edible, and poisonous items can be returned, which could lead to deaths.

"Return the potatoes and water." Lin Mo returned the supplies he was sure were edible, unaware of how many people were watching his live stream on empty stomachs.

As the supplies were successfully retrieved, a notification popped up in red and bold in live stream room number 66.

[Maze Game: Explorer No. 66 successfully returned 70 jin of potatoes and 35 jin of water to his country.]

[Author No. 1: The Dragon Kingdom Material Return Center has received the returned materials. The current materials in the Dragon Kingdom are being publicly announced nationwide, and distribution takes place nationwide every morning at 8:00 AM.]

[Confirmation Officer #2: In one hour, we will release the list of prohibited users in this live stream. Users with the following IP addresses will not be able to receive Lin Mo's supplies. They are...]

The live stream audience was stunned. Holy crap, those who had been nagging Lin Mo were now being barred from receiving the supplies he was returning?

[Chinese netizens: Support! We're compatriots, why resort to such harsh words?]

[A netizen from China: If you don't want it, then don't want it. What good is such a small amount of potatoes and water to me? I still maintain that it's better to be with Sister Xue. This was a mistake from the start, and now I can't even say it?]

[A netizen from China commented: "You can say that, as long as you have a reasonable argument and evidence, but starting with insults is not the same thing."]

[A netizen from the Rising Sun Kingdom commented: "Damn, this kid's luck is too good! He got survival supplies in the very first room? That's insane!"]

[A netizen from the Great Cold Country: Wow, this is the first time I've ever seen someone so lucky.]

[A netizen from India: Good luck won't last forever. Just wait and see, he might kick the bucket in the next room.]

[Chinese netizens: Seriously? Seriously? You guys really think Lin Mo got lucky? That kicking down the door and jumping right in, just barely avoiding the bear trap, I don't think that was luck at all.]

[Chinese netizens: Holy crap, don't tell me, don't tell me! Could it be that Lin Mo, the great master, obtained crucial information through the divine script's hint?]

[Dragon Kingdom Web Novel: The maze game has been open for a year, and various countries have launched in-depth research and waged war against divine scripts. Maybe Lin Mo is a master of divine scripts, hmm! He must be!]

[A netizen from the Free Nation: Are you trying to make us laugh to death? When it comes to research on divine scripts, who can compare to us in the Free Nation? We have the world's best talent, and they're making slow progress. What makes you Chinese think you can?]

[Chinese netizens: Just because I'm your father, you dog son, stop barking and get lost!]

Lin Mo couldn't see the chat in the live stream. He just sat quietly by the campfire and threw two potatoes in to roast.

Once the potatoes are roasted, store them in the storage space so you can enjoy fragrant roasted potatoes anytime. Then, decompose the campfire into fire element materials for future use. Perfect!

While waiting for the potatoes to bake, Lin Mo could observe where to go next.

Each room has a different layout. Some rooms have six directions, some five, and some four. The enclosed room where Lin Mo is is has no downward or upward passages, only four directions.

Lin Mo first looked in the direction behind him, the direction he had come from. The warning had changed; the outside was no longer a safe corridor, but rather:

[This direction leads to an underground pool. The water is plentiful but undrinkable. Seven level 1 man-eating crocodiles are lurking there, waiting for a destined person.]

Goodness, thank goodness I had a hint, otherwise I would have been a victim if I had gone in. And most importantly, this water is undrinkable; if an explorer who was dying of thirst had been in danger, they probably would have been poisoned.

[The path ahead leads to a large room containing a level 1 neutral creature, an alpaca. It won't attack you unless you initiate a fight. Its spit is poisonous and can paralyze you for one hour, so you mustn't provoke it.]

[In the room on the left, there is a young Firebird with level 1 Life Strength. This creature was recently abandoned by its mother and is somewhat rebellious; it's not to be trifled with. Defeating it will grant you 1 Fire Elemental and a small amount of Life Essence (which helps increase your Life Level). The bird meat is inedible and corrosive.]

[The path to the right leads to a small mine where you can find 2 units of refined iron and a crafting blueprint for a regular steel knife. Deep inside the mine, a level 1 giant worm is daydreaming. This creature isn't friendly to humans, but it moves slowly. If you make a little noise, it might not wake up.]

Lin Mo's eyes lit up immediately. "Blueprints for a common steel knife."

In the maze, the quality of equipment is divided into: rough, common, fine, perfect, epic, legendary, and holy.

That animal trap was the worst quality, but this steel knife is pretty good.

A handy self-defense weapon is an important guarantee for survival.

Lin Mo began to assess the risks.

This giant worm is at the same level as me (Level 1), but the maze game system indicates that the worm is very slow, meaning that even if I wake it up, I will still have a chance to escape.

Secondly, it is quite difficult for a level 1 creature to kill another level 1 creature instantly, so your survival rate should be higher.

Finally, I also have a bear trap, which I'll install in the mine tunnels. If the other side steps on it, I might have a chance to kill them.

Even if you miss stepping on it, you can still run away; at most, you'll lose a trap.

In summary: The first thing to do upon entering the mine is to quickly read the directional cues around you, prioritize finding a safe escape route, then set up bear traps, search for refined iron and blueprints, and, if it is safe to do so, wake up the giant worms and attempt to kill them. If the bear traps fail, retreat immediately.

"Perfect!"

Lin Mo waited for a while longer, and the aroma of roasted potatoes wafted over. The outer shell was golden brown, revealing the powdery interior. He resisted the urge to eat it and put it into his spatial storage.

Items stored in your personal space will remain in their original condition; roasted potatoes will always be delicious whenever you take them out.

Focus your attention on the campfire. "Extract!"

[You have successfully extracted one Fire Elemental from the campfire. (Fire Elementals are a basic material for crafting many tools, and you can never have too many.)]

Lin Mo looked to his right, took a deep breath, and checked his health level: 98%, no problem.

"Small mine, I'm coming for you!"

Lin Mo took out the animal trap and went straight inside.