Chapter 1

Zhang Bei looked at the iceberg before him and sighed silently.

This path was blocked again; he would have to choose a detour.

After three days, Zhang Bei was already certain that he had arrived in the Ice Age.

This era of mass extinction for countless creatures!

That night three days ago, he had just finished writing his graduation thesis.

Just as he was preparing to rest, a voice reached his ears.

【The Chosen One game has begun. Will you participate?】

Zhang Bei originally thought it was a prank by his roommates and agreed without much thought.

With just a nod, he lost consciousness, and when he opened his eyes again, he was already here.

The watch that had appeared on his wrist emitted a sound the moment he woke up.

【Competition begins. Current mission: Survive 100 days in the Ice Age.】

【Optional mission: Hunt and kill a saber-toothed tiger.】

But there was one more thing that made Zhang Bei feel something was different.

That was the appearance of another voice in his brain.

【Critical Hit System is starting up!】

Zhang Bei was relying on the sun to determine his direction when the voice from the watch came again.

【Live streaming platform debugging complete. Everyone, please prepare for the broadcast!】

And accompanying the sound from the watch, a voice also came from Zhang Bei's brain.

【Critical Hit System started successfully. Please check the manual for specific details.】

Zhang Bei stopped his forward progress, leaned against a dead tree behind him, and slowly sat down.

His consciousness sank into his brain.

Appearing deep within Zhang Bei's consciousness was a large screen emitting a golden light.

Looking at the three large characters "Manual" flashing with light on it, he reached out and clicked it.

【System Manual:...】

After reading for a full ten minutes, Zhang Bei finally understood the system's functions.

Every time he receives a reward, he can use popularity points to draw a prize.

He can apply a critical hit multiplier to the reward, ranging from one to one hundred times.

Meanwhile, on Earth, accompanied by a blinding white light, countless translucent screens appeared in the cities.

They were clearly divided into a nine-grid layout.

Each grid was broadcasting the figure of a person.

Gao Xing tapped his legs, which were numb from walking, looked at his girlfriend's enthusiastic expression, and gave a bitter smile.

Damn, it was hard enough to get a day off, and he didn't expect to be dragged out shopping by his girlfriend.

Suddenly, a light screen appeared in front of the two of them. Looking at the nine-grid layout on it, Gao Xing was stunned on the spot.

"Qing, look, is that Brother Bei?"

The girl called Qing fixed her gaze on the screen, at the figure of Zhang Bei leaning against the large tree, and immediately covered her mouth.

"Where is Brother Bei?"

The projection of the small screens didn't seem to follow any specific rules; there were a full five of them in the entire mall.

Countless people's gazes were attracted to them.

Zhang Bei's side was relatively calm, but another figure wasn't so lucky.

Ke Qi shrank his neck, his gaze fixed tightly on the mammoth before him.

This was a unique creature of the Ice Age, which could be considered the predecessor of the modern elephant.

Although this thing was said to be a herbivore, Ke Qi could be certain that it had murderous intent toward him.

The mammoth let out a hiss, its several-ton body turning into a heavy tank as it charged forward.

Ke Qi's expression changed, and his gaze turned toward the glacier to the side.

Without the slightest hesitation, he chose to jump down directly.

The icy, bone-chilling river water assaulted Ke Qi's body, and the current, carrying broken ice, took Ke Qi away from the mammoth's territory.

And Zhang Bei, who had been sitting on the ground, finally stood up.

He hadn't eaten anything for three days; he had to find food next.

If it were before, perhaps there would be no way, but the appearance of the system made him feel a glimmer of possibility.

Zhang Bei's gaze looked into the distance; the current priority was to build a shelter.

Only a suitable shelter could avoid sneak attacks by carnivorous animals at night.

Zhang Bei moved his gaze to the iceberg not far away.

If he wanted to build a shelter, there was no place more suitable than that nearby.

The icebergs here were two connected together, forming a corner.

And the position in the middle could just happen to serve as protection.

Looking at the open space in front of him, Zhang Bei frowned.

Now he was facing a huge problem: tools!

How to build a suitable shelter with his bare hands without tools.

【Congratulations to Chi Haonan for being the first to kill a Short-tailed Crocodile, receiving reward: Level 1 Battle Axe.】

Zhang Bei, who was thinking, was stunned for a moment and looked at the watch on his wrist.

Kill reward?

He narrowed his eyes; this short sentence provided two pieces of information.

First, besides the missions, they could also complete first kills to obtain some rewards.

Second, equipment had levels, so did that mean that they themselves also had levels?

Zhang Bei took a deep breath, his gaze becoming firm.

He stepped on the accumulated snow and stood under the iceberg.

He groped around and found a piece of ice emitting a faint blue glow.

The color of ice can generally be divided into three types.

The first type is nearly transparent; this kind of ice has the softest texture.

The second type is ice with a more turbid color; the hardness of this ice is already similar to stone.

And the third type is the one Zhang Bei found, with a color leaning more toward blue.

These ice blocks take years, or even decades, to form.

As long as it is polished properly, it is very easy to make into tools.

He found an irregular stone in the snow and, leaning against the dead tree, slowly began to polish it.

Time passed second by second, and Zhang Bei nodded with satisfaction as he looked at the ice axe he had polished.

He gripped the ice axe in his hand and chopped fiercely at the dead tree to the side.

Time passed second by second, and the ice surface in front of Zhang Bei was piled with wood.

Estimating that it was enough to make a suitable shelter, he reached out and placed the ice axe to the side.

Suddenly, the watch on his wrist emitted a sound.

"Congratulations to player Zhang Bei for successfully unlocking the logging achievement, reward: one map."

【Critical Hit System is starting up, please choose to invest popularity points.】

Zhang Bei's consciousness came to the depths of his brain, and several options appeared on the huge light screen.

【Invest 100 popularity points: maximum critical hit 10 times.】

【Invest 1,000 popularity points: maximum critical hit 100 times.】

【Invest 10,000 popularity points: maximum critical hit 1,000 times.】

But except for the first option, the others were all black.

He glanced at the top left corner of the screen.

【Current popularity points: 130】

After clicking the option, the numbers from one to ten scrolled wildly on the screen.

Soon, the numbers slowly stopped.

【Critical hit multiplier: 3!】

Above the wood, a white light appeared, slowly condensing into a map that fell down.

Zhang Bei reached out and picked it up; a full three maps!

He narrowed his eyes; he would keep one, and perhaps he could sell the remaining ones?

In this vast, white Ice Age, having a map meant being able to find resources.

And at this moment, everyone watching the live broadcast was confused.

【This is really outrageous, why can he get three maps at once?】

【Holy crap, is this cheating a bit too much?】

【Brother Bei is awesome!】

However, Zhang Bei didn't look at the maps carefully at this time; the current priority was to build a suitable shelter.

He took a deep breath, reached out to carry a piece of wood, and walked toward the foot of the iceberg.

The sky gradually darkened, and a simple wooden house gradually took shape.

As Zhang Bei placed the last piece of wood and fixed it into the ice layer.

The watch on his wrist emitted a sound: "Congratulations to player Zhang Bei for successfully building a shelter, reward: three days of food!"

【Critical Hit System is starting up, please choose to invest popularity points.】

After an afternoon, the current popularity points had already reached over two hundred.

The familiar numbers spun rapidly on the screen.

Suddenly, golden light erupted across the entire screen, and a number with a golden border remained on the screen.