Matrix Survival: One random treasure chest per day

Chapter 153 New Game Features

On the seventh day, at 11:45 a.m., Li Zheng entered the fifth room of the day.

"Whoosh!" He raised his eyebrows happily, watching the two armored beasts charging towards him with their heads down, and casually swung two guns at them.

Poof.

The energy blast hit its mark precisely, and the armored beast with the hood didn't even have time to react before it was reduced to two half-headed corpses and rolled away.

They only stopped when they were right in front of Li Zheng.

"break down!"

Disassembling the Ironclad Beast yielded: ...

Li Zheng was in a great mood when he gave the order, because the armored beast with a hood that he encountered this time was the last type of bronze 5+ material he needed.

Humming a cheerful tune, Li Zheng adjusted the order of potion preparation, muttering to himself, "From now on, I'll ask Fengshan for a verbal agreement every day. This luck is simply unbeatable!"

The materials that were missing were all gathered this morning!
Almost every time you enter a room, you can obtain a new material.

To be honest, Li Zheng didn't think he was lucky enough to have all his wishes come true.

After all, when he was playing those mobile games with gacha mechanics on Earth, he only dared to play those with a guaranteed drop rate...

"After drinking these three vials of potion, all four attributes will be at the maximum level of Bronze. There are also twenty-five vials of Silver 1+ potion after that, which can break through to Silver level in terms of bone and cell vitality. Not bad."

Instead of rushing to the next room, Li Zheng sat down on the spot and drank one tube after making each one.

"Damn it, making a single dose of a silver-grade potion consumes the energy of an entire black iron-grade power core."

Gulu.

"So next time I craft a gold-grade weapon using a black iron-grade dynamic core, will it immediately warn me that there's not enough energy?"

Li Zheng originally thought that with the number of Black Iron-grade dynamic cores he possessed approaching four hundred, he was already extremely wealthy.

Now that I look at myself, I'm still broke...

"Let's take it one step at a time. If all else fails, we can just dismantle a few more refrigerators. Each one we dismantle gives us a silver-level active core."

Furthermore, there's a chance to encounter a culture dish while searching for food storage rooms; dismantling it will yield a dynamic core.

"Sigh, ten exploration opportunities a day aren't enough!"

He drank the medicine while inwardly complaining.

While others were worrying about how to improve exploration safety, Li Zheng was already complaining that he wasn't exploring enough, which was affecting resource acquisition.

When the bone strength successfully broke through to the Silver 1+ limit, Old Pu suddenly gave a prompt.

[Successfully broke through to Silver level, sub-entity limit increased by one. Separate now?]

This notification left Li Zheng completely bewildered: "You must be mistaken! I only improved my bone strength, how did I break through to the Silver rank!"

[No mistake, you have indeed advanced to Silver rank.]

Have you heard of the "barrel theory"?

The capacity of a wooden barrel depends on its shortest stave.

So, the bucket is made of ten planks, the longest of which is two meters long and the shortest is one meter long.

How tall is the bucket?

Li Zheng was immediately confused: "According to you, if I focus on improving one attribute, wouldn't I be able to reach the Platinum level, or even higher, in the shortest amount of time?"

That's the theoretical answer.

"What's the point of that!" Li Zheng squinted and complained, "It only improves one attribute, and the shortcomings are obvious, okay?"

Severe imbalance in academic performance can even harm oneself; isn't that suicidal?

Q: Can bronze-level weapons damage silver-level creatures?

If so, why?

"Huh? Are you testing me? Bronze-level weapons can certainly damage silver-level creatures, but because silver-level creatures are physically stronger, they are more difficult to kill... Hmm?"

Li Zheng suddenly understood: "So that's how it is. I was wondering why there was such a big difference in strength between the two Platinum-level BOSSes."

So, it turns out that the cave guardian only reached platinum level in one attribute?

Bingo!

Congratulations! You've taken a step forward in the matrix training team and are about to break away from the masses. Keep up the good work!

Oh ho ho ho hiccup~

"Stop talking nonsense, separate a sub-body for me, and then..." Li Zheng ignored Lao Pu's sarcasm and decisively changed the subject, "Rent it to Zhan Zhouzhou."

"But before that, we need to do some preparatory work."

Li Zheng opened the trading hall and exchanged an iron ingot for paper and pen, then began to bury himself in writing.

As I wrote, I mentally reviewed the basic spear techniques.

Five minutes later, he hastily finished the spear technique manual, read it through, and couldn't help but nod in satisfaction.

"Aside from being a bit hasty, it's packed with useful information."

Li Zheng sent the female warrior Zhan via private message, along with her gun skills and the attributes of the old Puzi body.

A moment later, the other end replied: "Wait a minute!"

This wait lasted for twenty minutes.

A system prompt pops up:

You have a new designated trade.

Li Zheng was speechless: "Damn it, this girl just finished writing, just like me!"

Instead of rushing into the transaction, Li Zheng first confirmed the confidentiality agreement with her, and only completed the transaction after she agreed.

With the booklet in hand, Li Zheng stroked it with delight: "Finally, I've got the Zhan Family Sword Manual! Let me see it..."

He opened it, then closed it again, barely suppressing the urge to tear this eyesore to shreds. Li Zheng looked up at the sky.

Is this considered karma in this lifetime?

Opening the booklet again, I saw pages filled with tiny print, densely packed together, almost overlapping.

If that were all, Li Zheng wouldn't have reacted so strongly.

It's mainly Zhan Zhouzhou's calligraphy...

It's a long story!

Li Zheng thought his article on spear techniques was sloppy enough, but the female warrior Zhan was even more ruthless!
Even more illegible than sloppy handwriting...

A billion times!
"How the hell am I supposed to understand this? If you don't want to do the deal, just say so! It's not like you can't back out! Is it really necessary to be so disgusting?" Li Zheng felt extremely wronged. After finishing the article on gun techniques, he checked it to make sure everyone could understand it before sending it over.

At this moment, Li Zheng noticed a new private message from Zhan Zhouzhou:
"Wait half an hour, I'll give you a readable one."

Li Zheng was instantly moved to tears, and then he relisted the old Puzi font for rent.

Yes, the moment he saw the Zhan family's sword technique clearly, he forcibly withdrew the old Puzi body.

After all, this is a priceless lease, and forced repossession will not cause any loss to oneself.

Half an hour later, Li Zheng received the message that Zhan Zhouzhou had sent again. He took it out and was shocked again.

This time, the font is so elegant it looks like a printed textbook, with a very clean layout that is pleasing to the eye.

Most importantly, this booklet is five times thicker than the previous one!
In addition to the text, there are also more than twenty illustrations!
“???” Li Zheng sent three question marks to Zhan Zhouzhou.

The other party replied: "Equivalent exchange: your gun skills and memory release device information can only be exchanged for my family's swordplay performance."

"!?!?!"

Zhan Zhouzhou replied, "This time, I'm giving you my family's practical sword techniques. All the moves and techniques are illustrated, and there are also many annotations left by our ancestors."

"!!?"

Zhan further explained: "Performing sword techniques isn't entirely useless. As long as you can understand them, you can easily become a swordsman with proficiency by relying on those skills."

The last page of the practical swordsmanship manual contains my insights from breaking through my specialization, which can be considered an extra value compensation for the Eye of Prey.

Li Zheng replied, "You weren't just planning to show me your swordsmanship from the beginning, were you?"

Zhan Zhouzhou said matter-of-factly, "That's right, your spear skills are too basic. You're already at a huge disadvantage when it comes to swordsmanship that's used for demonstrations."

Actually, Zhan Zhouzhou had another very important reason that she didn't tell Li Zheng.

That means if you want to learn her family's practical swordsmanship, you have to be a member of the Zhan family.

In other words...

According to normal channels, Li Zheng would first have to marry into the family and undergo a period of testing that could last from several years to several decades before he could receive the true teachings.

However, by then, even if Li Zheng is a martial arts genius, he will find it difficult to master the skill due to a decline in his physical condition.

In the end, it was only their child who benefited.

Of course, the reason why Zhan Zhouzhou disregarded this family rule, traded practical sword techniques, and even taught them to Li Zheng without reservation, was not because she suddenly took a liking to him.

The main reason is that the Eye of Prey is too tempting, and she simply can't refuse it. Moreover, in accordance with her principle of "equivalent exchange," performing swordsmanship is nothing compared to the Eye of Prey!

It's no exaggeration to say that if Li Zheng had a slightly darker mindset and took out the Eye of Preer, there would be plenty of women lining up to offer themselves to him.

Zhan Zhouzhou was of course not included in this category. As a descendant of the Zhan family, her inherent pride would not allow her to do so.

But Li Zheng was willing to provide her with such an important prop for nothing, which made her feel that it wouldn't be wrong to give him her family's secret techniques in return.

"Then I should thank you, right?" Li Zheng complained, and was about to take the opportunity to criticize Zhan Zhouzhou when several system announcements interrupted him.

[Game upgrade, new features unlocked.]

[I. The chat lobby now features a "group chat" function, which can only be created by players in the same channel. Each player can create one group chat for free.]

The basic player capacity within the same group chat is twenty people.

[II. The new "Live Streaming" feature has been launched, allowing every player to apply to become a streamer.]

After passing system verification, players will obtain the "streamer" identity.

The number of live streamer slots to be allocated this time is 5,000.

All players who have obtained "streamer" status must abide by the basic code of conduct. Any violation during a live stream will result in immediate disqualification from streamer status!

[III. Adding more new items.]

IV. Added more new types of rooms to explore.

[V. More new gameplay features have been added; please experience the details in the exploration section.]

[VI. Increased Survival Difficulty: All players must remain conscious in the same room for no more than 72 hours.]

If the time limit is exceeded: the player will be penalized.

[VII. Add a "Four Seasons" transformation to the matrix. Each season lasts for ten days and has different effects. Players are encouraged to explore the details on their own.]

Current season: Spring.

Next season: Summer.

Players are advised to prepare for even more extreme environments.

8. All interpretation rights within the matrix belong to the matrix game terminal.

Suck the hell back any questions, complaints, or grievances!

……

As is customary, the world channel is sure to be bustling with activity after the system announcement.

A barrage of global news flashed by, dazzling the viewer.

Most of the content was cursing the matrix terminal, complaining about how difficult their lives were already, and how it was making survival even more difficult.

Some people were also interested in the "live streaming" function. Li Zheng saw two celebrity streamers he had heard of before posting on the world channel that they had submitted their streamer applications and were also promoting their streams, welcoming all players to follow them.

"Liu Feier, Zhou Shufen?" Li Zheng spotted these two names amidst the vast sea of ​​information in the world.

He watched very few live streams, only knowing that Liu Feier had a great figure and Zhou Shufen was very popular. A new icon appeared in the lower right corner of the chat lobby.

It looks like a simple large camera.

After clicking, the pop-up interface is still empty, indicating that no one has obtained the status of a streamer yet.

There's a small "主" (Master) character in the corner; this is the application channel to become a live streamer.

Out of curiosity, Li Zheng clicked on it casually.

Anyway, the application information still needs to be reviewed, so I'll just join in the fun.

[You have applied to become a live streamer; your application is currently under review.]

……

[You have become a broadcaster, ID: 0001]

Li Zheng: "???"

Damn it?

What's the situation?
I just clicked randomly and it was approved immediately?
And look at this number...

Or was he the first player to obtain streamer status?

Funny?
[Shall we start the live stream now?]

"Go to hell! I'm not opening it!"

Li Zheng casually declined to start a live stream, then refreshed the page and found that someone had already started a live stream.

Among them are the two female anchors I just noticed: Liu Feier and Zhou Shufen.

Each live stream is a small window with a real-time preview of the video, without any delay.

Li Zheng looked around but found no other buttons, so he clicked into Liu Feier's live stream.

The next second, the window enlarged, taking up half of the field of view.

"It's quite popular. More than 4,000 people watched it as soon as it started." Li Zheng glanced around and found it to be very similar to the live streaming rooms he remembered, with features like bullet comments and tipping.

"You can even give a tip?"

Once opened, the donation section will directly display all the items he currently owns. After clicking and confirming, you can send the donation to the streamer.

"I wonder if the matrix live streaming room should share revenue with the system."

He casually tossed in two iron ingots, and a donation message flashed on the screen.

Name + Props + Quantity

However, there is no fan value, and no ranking list.

"Uh... I'm not watching anymore, I feel a bit dizzy."

Liu Feier had clearly done some simple cleaning for the live stream, and even changed into a deep V-neck top, revealing a particularly long and deep "scar".

Li Zheng opened other live streams and watched for a while, only to find that most of them were just rambling on and on, with no useful content at all.

"What was the system thinking? Was this ridiculous thing developed just to be funny?" Li Zheng's lips twitched, and he prepared to turn off the live streaming function.

Just then, he suddenly saw a familiar face: Liu Jiale!
Unlike other people who chat casually during their live streams, judging from the real-time preview, Liu Jiale's live stream content is exploratory.

The live stream was divided into two parts, one large and one small. The large part was Liu Jiale's first-person perspective, while the smaller part was a third-person perspective shot from the side.

That's why Li Zheng didn't even notice him at first.

"Perhaps I now know the true purpose of this feature."

Without clicking on it, Li Zheng muttered to himself and closed the live stream.

[Player Ye Yuan invites you to join the group chat. Do you agree?]

"agree."

The notification had been there for a while, but Li Zheng was busy studying the live streaming function and hadn't noticed it.

As soon as he joined, Li Zheng saw the message sent by Ye Yuan.

Ye Yuan: "What are you planning to do with those three mud-baked chickens?"

Lu Li: "What else can we do? If they keep causing trouble, we'll find a way to kill them."

Ye Yuan: "You're going?"

Lu Li: "Ha, I'll go, provided I run into them."

He was unaware that Ye Kai had the Hunter's Compass, and he did not participate in the entire process when everyone gathered to kill Lin Feng.

It wasn't until the next day that they found out they had been collectively killed by Li Zheng and his gang.

Yan Guang: "That show-off Liu Jiale actually opened a live stream, and the whole exploration process was seen by others."

Ye Kai: "I also discovered that although we can't see the decomposed information, we can basically determine the rank from the appearance of those creatures."

Chu Xiao: "There is no privacy at all, all our trump cards have been exposed, this is unwise."

Ye Yuan: "How is it unwise? Can't other people use the content of his live stream as a reference? I just saw someone named Xu Ying give him two Silver Cores in one go."

Xiao Siyuan: "Among the players watching the live stream, there are also players with red names, and the number is definitely not small."

If the daily earnings are low, it's fine, but if you acquire some valuable items, you might attract unwanted attention.

Zhan Zhouzhou: "It's alright. Liu Jiale is quite strong. Ordinary people are no match for him."

Li Chun: "There are risks involved. No way! I'll go and try to persuade Brother Lele."

Fengshan: "Damn! What's that crazy woman doing here?"

[Player Fengshan has left the group chat.]

After thinking for a moment, Li Zheng said, "The live streaming function is definitely not just a tool for chatting idly and scamming for tips."

The real function...

Zhan Zhouzhou, have you applied for streamer status?

Zhan Zhouzhou: "Yeah, I just joined in the fun, and it got approved. Number 0002."

Li Zheng: "..."

He was somewhat surprised, not expecting Zhan Zhouzhou to join in the fun, and that her number was right after his own.

That's absolutely amazing.

Because the 5,000 streamer slots are already full, countless people on the world channel are complaining that their applications were rejected.

As it turned out, their application, which they had joined in for fun, was approved, and their numbers were even among the top.

"and many more……"

Li Zheng suddenly realized something was wrong: "There must have been a lot of people applying to be live streamers before me, so why were Zhan Zhouzhou and I approved first?"

He felt that there must be some common ground between the two.

I reopened the live stream lobby and checked Liu Jiale's streamer ID.

0004!

"Just as I thought!" Li Zheng's eyes showed a thoughtful expression.

"Only two thousand people are currently broadcasting; the majority haven't started yet." Li Zheng looked at each number one by one.

"Among the top 100 streamers, only Liu Jiale is the only one!"

These top 100 streamers may be somewhat different from the others.

And this difference...

"proficient!"

Li Zheng's eyes shone brightly: "I am proficient in spearmanship, Zhan Zhouzhou is skilled in swordsmanship, and Liu Jiale is skilled in knife techniques!"
If I'm not mistaken, the top 100 special spots should all be for players who are proficient in various skills.

Li Zheng opened the private chat page and asked Xiao Siyuan, "Old Xiao, is your dagger mastery progress maxed out?"

Preys' Eye suppresses the sub-body; the other party cannot see Li Zheng's information, but he knows everything about the person who possesses the sub-body.

Therefore, his statement was somewhat of a cover-up.

Old Xiao didn't mind and quickly replied, "I just got it this morning, what's up?"

"Confirm one thing."

Li Zheng shared his idea with Xiao Siyuan, and thirty seconds later, Xiao Siyuan replied with a message.

"Application approved, number 0047"

"As expected!" Li Zheng looked at Lao Xiao's information and compared it with the many complaints on the world channel. He was basically certain that the first hundred numbers were prepared specifically for players like them.

After reaching the conclusion, Li Zheng was somewhat surprised because Xiao Siyuan's number had already reached 47.

This means that at least forty-seven skilled players have now become streamers!

"I didn't expect there to be so many players who are proficient in this skill at this stage!" Li Zheng estimated that most of them, like Zhan Zhouzhou and the others, already possessed some kind of special skill when they were on Earth.

There probably aren't many players like Xiao Siyuan who had practiced before but weren't very good at it, and then became proficient through practice after entering the game.

And you might be the only one who has mastered it through the memory releaser!
When the group chat was reopened, Ye Yuan had steered the conversation off-topic, asking about the progress of Yan Guang and Feng Shan's relationship.

Li Zheng interrupted the discussion without hesitation by sending a message: "The most important function of the live streaming feature has been figured out."

This is likely a way for the system to improve the overall strength of all players in response to the increased difficulty of the game.

"Old Xiao and I have tried it, and we're pretty sure the top 100 streamers are all players with special skills. The livestream is the perfect medium for us to spread those skills!"

Ye Yuan: "Special skills? You mean you've practiced martial arts?"

Xiao Siyuan: "It doesn't necessarily have to be martial arts. For example, I practiced short-sword fighting techniques used in the military."

Ye Kai: "Does that include sports like Taekwondo?"

Xiao Siyuan: "Who knows? Unless a player who has practiced Taekwondo comes forward to say something."

Li Chun: "But family martial arts like Sister Zhan's must be a closely guarded secret, right?"

Li Zheng: "That's right, and it's not just Zhan Zhouzhou, even Liu Jiale's swordsmanship is something that cannot be passed on to outsiders."

Xiao Siyuan: "I don't really have any fighting skills, but if I have time tonight, I'll try starting a live stream."

That's just how Lao Xiao is. Li Zheng wasn't surprised and said in the same way, "When I practice shooting tonight, I'll also do a live stream for fun."

He also has to practice tonight, so it wouldn't be bad to do a live stream for fun.

Zhan Zhouzhou did not express his opinion, it was unclear whether he was busy or not prepared to teach his family's performance swordsmanship.

Having roughly figured out the purpose of the two new features, Li Zheng closed all the interfaces.

Only then did he notice a countdown timer in the upper left corner of the interface, corresponding to the stay limit.

In the upper right corner, a clock displaying the four seasons shows: Spring.

"Oh?"

Li Zheng suddenly realized that the temperature in his room had dropped slightly.

It's probably only twelve or thirteen degrees.

Moreover, the air was filled with a faint, refreshing scent, which was very pleasant.

"The gaming experience is getting richer and richer, which is good."

Li Zheng really liked this feeling and looked at the metal doors in the room.

Spring has arrived, all things are reviving, and it's mating season for animals again.

Behind this door lies a chaotic herd of silver beasts; going in now will result in a fierce attack.

Risk level: Low.

(End of this chapter)