I transmigrated to a chaotic world and became the sole player.

The night was as dark as ink, its coldness seeping into the ranks of refugees.

The daytime heat dissipated, replaced by a biting chill. Lu Zhao huddled under the withered locust tree, carefully breaking the half-eaten, hard cake into smaller pieces. He took only a small piece at a time, held it in his mouth, slowly softened it with his saliva, and then swallowed it with difficulty.

With each bite, he stared intently at his attribute panel.

Health Points: 31%... 32%... 33%...

[Stamina: 8%... 9%... 10%...]

The growth was frustratingly slow, but it was definitely recovering! That half-eaten bread and the occasional sip of muddy water became his only sustenance.

"This recovery speed is too slow, it's about the same as a newbie recovering health in a game..." Lu Zhao muttered to himself, "I have to find a way to speed things up."

He remembered what Master Zhao had said when he gave him the cake—"Cherish your life." In this data-driven world, "cherish your life" might have a more concrete meaning. He began to try to adjust his breathing, imitating a certain qigong method from his memory, deep and slow, intending to guide the faint flow of energy.

At first, nothing changed; the numbers on the attribute panel remained unchanged. But he didn't give up, continuing this futile attempt while taking small bites of food. Gradually, a faint warmth spread from his stomach—weak, yet real.

Just as he swallowed the last crumb of biscuit, a new notification suddenly flashed in his vision:

Through continuous survival practice and self-regulation, you have mastered the life skill: Turtle Breathing Technique (Beginner).

【Turtle Breathing Technique (Beginner), Lv1 (1/100)】

[Effect: Slightly increases the natural regeneration rate of stamina and health while at rest. Slightly reduces metabolism and increases tolerance to hunger and cold.]

Become!

Lu Zhao's spirits lifted, and he immediately began to fully activate the newly mastered [Turtle Breathing Technique]. The effect was immediate; although still slow, the recovery speed of his health and stamina was noticeably faster than before! More importantly, the biting cold seemed to have lessened somewhat.

"Sure enough, only proactive and regular behaviors can be recognized as 'skills' by the panel." Lu Zhao realized, "Eating, breathing, resting... these most basic behaviors may all have potential that can be tapped."

He glanced around. In the darkness, the refugees huddled together, warming themselves with each other's body heat, their groans and sobs rising and falling. The health bars above their heads flickered like will-o'-the-wisps in the night, most of them hanging precariously in mid-air.

"If I could see their condition, could I... see more?" Lu Zhao focused his mind and tried to stare at the nearest huddled teenage refugee.

[Refugee Dog, Health: 45%/100% (Hunger, Cold, Mild Frostbite)]

The information was much more detailed than when I saw the old woman during the day! Even negative conditions like "mild frostbite" were shown.

"Status...right, I also have a [Weak] status." Lu Zhao looked at his status bar; the words [Weak (All attribute effects reduced by 20%)] were still glaringly obvious. He tried to "click" or "dispel" it with his mind, but there was no response.

"It seems that the status can't be easily dispelled. Either I have to wait for it to fade naturally, or I need to meet certain conditions, such as... being well-fed and watered, or leveling up?" He thought of the crucial experience points, which were currently 0/100.

Where does experience come from? Fighting monsters? This desolate wilderness is full of refugees and hooligans. Should he follow Zhang Kui's example and bully the weaker ones? Lu Zhao immediately rejected the idea. Not only did it violate his bottom line, but it was also extremely risky. Who knows what kind of punishment would be incurred for attacking "friendly units"?

His gaze returned to the deep shadows of the distant mountains. The shimmering, purplish-red health bars, like beacons in the darkness, held a strange allure for him.

"Those... aren't they the 'monsters'?" Lu Zhao licked his chapped lips, a mixture of fear and barely suppressed excitement in his heart. "Just one, even the weakest one, would that give me experience?"

But thinking about those things now is too far off. The most urgent thing is to survive and get to a place with more opportunities.

In the latter half of the night, Lu Zhao barely slept, partly due to the cold and hunger, and partly because he was repeatedly "using" the [Turtle Breathing Technique], watching the barely perceptible experience points occasionally jump up (Lv1 (3/100)), while being wary of Zhang Kui's possible retaliation.

Fortunately, nothing happened overnight.

As dawn broke, the refugee caravan began to move again, numbly continuing forward. Lu Zhao's [Turtle Breathing Technique] had saved him a lot of energy, restoring his health to 41% and his stamina to 25%. Although still weak, he at least had the ability to move.

He struggled to his feet and blended into the group. Master Zhao saw him and nodded slightly as a greeting. Lu Zhao nodded in return, but his gaze involuntarily swept over each person in the group, trying to read their expressions.

Hunger, cold, and fatigue are almost standard symptoms, with a few also exhibiting signs of illness or injury. The entire group resembles an exhibition hall of negative states.

"If I could find herbs... or more food..." Lu Zhao began to subconsciously observe the vegetation along the roadside. Which plants were common wild vegetables? Which might have medicinal properties? He tried hard to recall the scattered wilderness survival knowledge he had gained in his previous life.

Suddenly, his gaze was drawn to a clump of unassuming little yellow flowers growing in a crevice of the rocks. As he focused his attention, faint green words appeared above the plant:

Dandelion (common)

[Effects: Clears heat and detoxifies; tender leaves are edible, and the roots can be used medicinally.]

"A collection point?!" Lu Zhao's heart skipped a beat. He walked over quickly and carefully plucked a plant.

[Received: Dandelion x 1]

[Gain experience points +1 through practice]

Although I didn't directly learn the gathering skill, I gained experience points! This means that this path is feasible!

He followed suit, consciously searching for similar "collectible" plants along the way. Most were just ordinary weeds without any clues, but occasionally he could find one or two useful ones, such as purslane and plantain.

His strange behavior caught the attention of a middle-aged migrant worker nearby: "Young man, what are you doing digging up these grass roots? They won't fill your stomach."

Lu Zhao looked up and saw that the other person's health bar was only 32%, and their condition was [Severe Hunger]. He thought for a moment and handed over a handful of tender dandelion leaves he had just dug up: "These are a little bit edible, just to fill your stomach. They're a bit bitter, but you can eat them."

The refugee was skeptical, but hunger overcame everything. He took the package, stuffed it into his mouth, chewed a few times, frowned, but still swallowed it. "...It's a bit bitter, thanks."

Lu Zhao didn't say anything and continued his "collecting spree." He didn't know what the point of what he was doing; perhaps it was just an instinct born from a data-driven mindset, wanting to collect anything "interactive" he saw. Or perhaps, he just wanted to do something to combat this despairing numbness.

As the sun rose higher and the temperature increased, the refugees rushed down a nearly dried-up riverbed, digging with their hands through the damp mud and sand, searching for the seeping, muddy water.

Lu Zhao followed, but unlike the others who dug blindly, he carefully observed the riverbed's terrain and vegetation, trying to find a place with more moisture. Suddenly, his gaze settled on a depression at a bend in the riverbed, where the soil was noticeably wetter, and there were even several unusually lush clumps of aquatic plants.

As he concentrated, a prompt appeared beneath the water plants:

Damp mud and sand

There is a relatively high chance of finding usable fresh water.

"This is it!" Lu Zhao's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately started digging with his hands. Sure enough, he didn't dig very deep before the water that seeped out was much clearer than elsewhere. He quickly used his broken water bag to collect it.

[Received: 1 unit of turbid drinking water]

Although the quality was poor, at least it was water! He greedily drank several large gulps, the refreshing taste soothing his almost parched throat. On the panel, the [Dehydrated] status disappeared, and the recovery speed of health and stamina seemed to have increased slightly.

He was enjoying this moment of satisfaction when a sarcastic voice sounded behind him:

"Hey kid, you've got some skills finding water, huh? This place's nice, we grandpas' got our eye on it, get lost!"

Lu Zhao's body stiffened, and he slowly turned his head.

The rogue Zhang Kui, along with his two henchmen, reappeared sometime during the night, staring at him and the small puddle he had just dug with ill intent.

Zhang Kui's health bar had fully recovered (100%), and the fat on his face twitched, revealing a cruel smile.

"It seems yesterday's lesson wasn't profound enough. Today, we need to settle the score properly."