Everyone's Train Survival Quest: Blessed by Fortune

Zhao Kuo hadn't traveled far this time before spotting a wooden crate on a small platform beside the tracks. *Good luck!* He hurriedly stopped the railcart, grabbing his lantern and crossbow.

Thanks to the pendant's **Luck Value** recovery boost, his luck would fully recharge in about three hours. Until then, the more crates he found, the better.

 But as he tried to load the crate onto the cart, a sharp *whoosh* sliced through the air. Instinctively, he threw himself forward. A tear ripped through his shirt—close, but no blood drawn. 

 Zhao Kuo scrambled to his feet, crossbow raised and lantern sweeping the darkness. By the railcart, a dog-sized monstrosity glared at him with blood-red eyes. It resembled an oversized rat, but its forehead bristled with clusters of tiny, writhing eyes—a nightmare for anyone with trypophobia. 

 Though mentally prepared for horrors, Zhao Kuo's breath hitched. The creature recoiled from the lantern's beam, leaping back into shadows. He kept the light trained on it while retreating to the railcart. 

 The rat-monster hissed, wary of the crossbow. It darted through the dark but hesitated to attack—until primal hunger overrode caution. With a guttural snarl, it lunged. 

 One scratch could mean death, either immediate or from infection. Zhao Kuo steadied himself. Strangely, time seemed to slow. The creature's movements grew predictable. 

 As it leapt, Zhao Kuo's vision sharpened. *Now!* He fired. 

 The bolt struck the monster's neck mid-air, flinging it backward. It crashed to the ground, motionless.

 Adrenaline faded. Sweat drenched him. Weakness gnawed at his limbs. 

 **[Ding! Congratulations! Active skill unlocked: "Potential Focus"!]**

 **[Potential Focus**: Activates heightened concentration, consuming

 **10% stamina and mental energy per second**.] 

 So *that* explained his sudden clarity—and exhaustion. After resting against the railcart, he approached the corpse cautiously, firing extra bolts to confirm its death. 

 Beside the body gleamed several silver coins. *Loot drops?* He pocketed the "subway coins"—uses unknown—then tried retrieving his bolts. 

 **[System: Initiate harvesting?]** 

 Surprised but relieved, Zhao Kuo confirmed.

 **Harvested: 

 - Mutant Rat Meat (500g x3)

 - Mutant Rat Hide x1

 - Bones x3]

 Three pounds of meat! Food secured. But inspecting the meat's properties soured his relief:

 Mutant Rat Meat: Contaminated by unknown elements. Chewy texture with potential risks. 

 **Effect**: -5 Sanity/hour for 3 hours post-consumption. No mental impact if Sanity ≥80.]

 A trade-off. His current stats:

 **[Zhao Kuo (Healthy)**

 - Strength: 7/10

 - Stamina: 8/10 

 - Speed: 6/10

 - Mental: 8/10

 - Sanity: 95/100

 - Luck: ?

 - Luck Value: 78% 

 - Skills: Potential Focus] 

 Sanity had dipped from the creature's grotesque appearance. He skewered the meat on a bolt, slung it over his shoulder. The hide felt surprisingly supple—future cold-proof gear? Bones' purpose remained unclear but likely useful. Hunger gnawed. His rice paddy wasn't ripe yet. Cooking was mandatory. 

 He pulled up the crafting menu. Basic items like **[Campfire** required no blueprints: 

**[Campfire**: Cooks food, provides warmth. Fuel: **Planks**]

 **[Materials**: Planks x5, Glass x3, Iron Sheets x3, Parts x10] 

 Expensive, but necessary. With resources dwindling (Glass now depleted), he built it. A virtual furnace materialized at the cart's rear, flames flickering. 

 **Fuel Cost**: 2 Planks/hour. A luxury, but the first hour was free. Zhao Kuo roasted the meat on an iron sheet over the flames. Sanity slowly ticked up (+2). 

 As the meat sizzled, he inventoried: 

 - Planks x37

 - Iron Sheets x5

 - Parts x15

 - Glass x0

 - Silver Ore x1

 - Mutant Rat Meat x3

 - Mutant Rat Hide x1

 - Bones x3 

 Glass shortages loomed. Two hours until the next crate—he'd need luck.

The mutated rat meat finished cooking quickly. Though its appearance was unappealing, the faint aroma wafting through the air made Zhao Kuo's mouth water. *Who cares about losing a little Sanity? Maybe someday I'll get to chop off one of Cthulhu's tentacles to try—deep-fried, preferably.* The thought of crispy fried octopus legs nearly made him drool.

He took a bite of the meat. Without seasoning, it wasn't exactly delicious—gamey and stubbornly metallic—but the texture was surprisingly tender. The system hadn't lied. As he swallowed, a green **debuff icon** appeared in his status bar, and his Sanity began ticking down slowly.

Ravenous, Zhao Kuo devoured all 500 grams of meat in minutes. Feeling revitalized, he returned to the railcart's controls and absentmindedly opened the chat channel. The mindless chatter was a rare distraction during the monotonous journey. *If only the system had audiobooks...* 

 Then a message caught his eye:

 **Gu Shan**: *"Found a map. The nearest station is roughly 350 km from my spawn point. Free intel—DM for details."*

 *350 kilometers?* Given the game's cruel design, everyone's distance was likely similar, varying by a few kilometers. Zhao Kuo did the math: at the railcart's base speed, that meant **12 hours of pedaling daily**. A death sentence for most, especially without reliable food or water.

 Chaos erupted in the regional chat:

 - "12 HOURS A DAY?! My legs'll fall off!" 

 - "I'm done. Only 40 km in, and my legs are numb. See you in hell, boys!" 

 - "Screw it, time to... *relax*."

 - "Bold move in this hellhole. Need tissues?"

 - "Got any tissues? I'll trade resources!"

 - "Psych! Just kidding, lol!"

 - "Wait, there's a girl here? How old? Where? I'll come find you~"

 The conversation spiraled into nonsense. Zhao Kuo smirked. With his **Glider-boosted speed of 13 km/h** and decent stamina, 350 km was manageable. But for others? *Day 3 will be a massacre.*

 A private message flashed—**Luo Ping'an**: 

 "Gu Shan's telling the truth. Others report distances between 330–368 km. Also... Gu Shan wants my last Glider. He's offering **equipment** and resources. Interested?"

 *Equipment?* Zhao Kuo's pulse quickened. Without his crossbow earlier, that mutant rat might've killed him. "Send specs," he replied. 

 **[Lucky One's Pistol]**

 **[A corrupted masterpiece. 10% base chance to fire, dealing massive damage to physical entities.]** 

 **[No ammo needed. Auto-reloads 1 round every 2 minutes (max 5).]** 

 **[Each trigger pull consumes 1 round, +5% success rate per attempt. Resets on hit.]** 

 *Gambling trash... unless you're lucky.* Zhao Kuo's eyes narrowed. But with his **93% Luck Value**, this was a diamond in the rough. 

 He messaged back: "Deal. Sending the silver ore."

 Luo Ping'an hesitated: "You *sure*? This thing's a gamble."

 "Trust me."

 The pistol materialized—a sleek silver artifact etched with intricate, otherworldly patterns. Zhao Kuo grinned. With **93% Luck Value** stacked on the pistol's 10% base chance, the math was clear: **guaranteed hit**. 

 He aimed into the tunnel's void and pulled the trigger. 

 ***BOOM!*** 

 The deafening shot echoed through the darkness. His **Luck Value** dropped to **73%**, but triumph surged. *Worth every point.* 

 Gu Shan's resources flowed to Luo Ping'an, while Zhao Kuo kept the pistol. Later, he DM'd Gu Shan: "Map details?" 

 The reply was terse: "Survive first. Talk later." 

 Zhao Kuo leaned back, the pistol glinting in the dim light. *Let the others panic. With this and my luck, that station's as good as mine.*

Continuing his journey, Zhao Kuo kept pondering the distance. Based on current information, the spawn point was roughly 350 kilometers from the station, though 370 kilometers couldn't be ruled out. His original plan to cover 120 kilometers daily now seemed insufficient. He needed to either pedal longer or find ways to speed up the railcart. But aside from the sliding panels, were there other methods? 

After scrolling through chat logs for hours, Zhao Kuo still found no answers. Of course—speed-boosting items would be extremely rare at this stage. Even if someone had them, they'd never share. Even Luo Ping'an hadn't revealed the use of silver ore back then. 

His sanity had dropped to 89 from eating mutated rat meat, leaving him slightly tense but otherwise normal. He wondered what would happen if it dropped further. 

Two hours later, the railcart advanced another 30 kilometers through sheer persistence. Rubbing his sore legs, Zhao Kuo cautiously approached a wooden crate beside the tracks. The previous mutated rat incident had made him more vigilant. Fortunately, nothing happened, and he safely loaded the crate. 

With four treasure chests now onboard and his Luck Meter fully recharged to 100%, anticipation surged through him. Without hesitation, he began opening them. 

**First Chest:** 

- [Iron Sheets x10] 

- [Components x3] 

- [Glass x2] 

- [Instant Noodles x1] 

- **[Rare Item: Primary Chassis Blueprint x1]** 

Zhao Kuo's eyes lit up. The blueprint showed a complete carriage design—no more dragging a bare wooden plank! 

Not wasting time, he opened the second chest while his Luck Meter held: 

- [Wood Planks x15] 

- [Components x10] 

- [Chocolate x1] 

- **[Rare Item: Sroka's Notebook x1]** 

*A notebook? Special equipment?* He examined the thick, black leather-bound journal, puzzled. 

The third chest yielded no materials or food—just another blueprint: 

- **[Rare Item: Toilet Paper Manufacturing Diagram (Permanent) x1]** 

*Toilet paper...* Zhao Kuo chuckled and opened the fourth chest. This product would sell fast. One wood plank could make a pack, but production cooled down for 24 hours after 30 packs. He immediately crafted three packs and listed them on the trading platform: **1 pack for 5 basic materials (wood, iron, components, glass)**. 

**Public Chat Exploded:** 

"FINALLY! Snagged a pack! Girls, this is ESSENTIAL—you know why!" 

"Who got the blueprint? They're gonna dominate!" 

"Reselling for 15 materials! Suck it, cheapskates!" 

"Bro, 5 materials? I'll show you something ~special~" 

"PLEASE MAKE MORE! I'll trade WATER!" 

Seeing the water offer, Zhao Kuo ignored the fourth chest's contents and opened DMs: 

**Zhao Kuo:** "You'll trade water for toilet paper?" 

**Tang Yingying** replied instantly: "50ml per pack? Long-term deal?" 

*50ml was generous—water was far scarcer than toilet paper.* But Zhao Kuo haggled: "100ml." 

On the other end, Tang Yingying glared at her **water condenser (100ml/hour)**. *Ugh! If I weren't bleeding down there...* She counteroffered: "60ml! And I'll buy extra..." *(Yuck, even I'm cringing at myself.)* 

Zhao Kuo smirked. Only someone with a steady water source would offer this. "Deal. But prioritize supplying me water—I'll pay in materials." 

**Deal struck.** He finally checked the fourth chest: 

- [Wood Planks x3] 

- [Components x2] 

- [Leather x1] 

- **[Special Item: Satchel Blueprint x1]** 

The satchel required 3 components and 1 leather to craft, offering 5 storage slots with instant access. A game-changer. 

But his main focus was the **Primary Chassis Blueprint**: 

- **Materials Needed: Wood x30, Components x50, Iron Sheets x20, Glass x15** 

His stash fell short except for wood. *Time to grind.*