The strongest life skills player

Chapter 12 is 2 years late.

Seeing Lao Lei's puzzled look, Chen Huai's heart sank. Yet another place that defied his common sense about games.

The existence of dungeons is common knowledge in the game's setting; they are the last beacon for wasteland survivors.

Although the number and space of dungeons are limited and cannot accommodate all humans to hide together, this also leads to the division in the game into pre-war people and wastelanders who come out of the dungeons.

However, the Federation's highest directive is that within a hundred years of the war, we must return to the surface and rebuild our home for the human community. Even the wastelanders cannot forget this; it is their hope.

He suppressed his surging confusion, keeping his voice as calm as possible:

"Underground cities are giant shelters built before the nuclear war. They contain a wealth of resources and production technology. If we find just one such underground city, it will be enough to support dozens of wild grass camps to live a prosperous life."

Old Lei scratched his greasy hair, a look of confusion flashing in his cloudy eyes.

"Sir, you're not talking about... those iron shells built before the nuclear war, are you? But why would those adults who came out of those underground cities care about our lives?"

"I've heard from the older generation that about two hundred years ago, the underground cities in the wasteland were opened up. It's said that the scale of it was huge! They brought a lot of supplies left over from before the war and immediately started building temporary relief points. They distributed food and even studied crops suitable for planting in the wasteland, such as hardy things like yams... That's where they spread the word."

Old Lei's tone carried a hint of wistful reminiscence, but it was quickly replaced by a deeper numbness.

"But not long after, those adults suddenly started to reduce their interaction with wastelanders like us, and began to build high walls to isolate us, no."

He casually waved towards the northwest sky, indicating:

"It is said that this is how Falling Star City was originally established."

"Fallen Star City... was originally an underground city built before the war? Two hundred years ago?!"

Chen Huai said incredulously.

He seemed to finally understand where the problem lay.

What year is it?

Chen Huai asked directly.

At this point, he no longer cared about concealing his identity; the core issue he needed to uncover seemed to be right before his eyes.

"It's the year 653 of the Federal Calendar."

Although he felt that Chen Huai's question was a bit too strange, the honest and simple-minded Lao Lei still answered directly.

653 years!

The nuclear war broke out in the year 353 of the Federation calendar, but the game's setting is that the time when players return to the surface from the dungeon should be 100 years after the nuclear war, which should be the year 453 of the Federation calendar.

So, he actually traveled directly to the game world two hundred years in the future?!

No wonder he couldn't get out of the normal game spawn point. It turns out that the player spawn points were all opened up two hundred years ago, and dozens of dungeons have now become dozens of large cities in the wasteland.

What's the point of playing anymore?!

As you can tell from the game's title, "Dungeon: Home Reboot," all resources and technology were stored in the dungeon. Now that the city is gone, he's using the resources to rebuild his home.

I wonder if there will be any progress requirements in the game...

Although Lao Lei's description was crude and extremely limited in information, combined with his understanding of human nature and his initial knowledge of the logic of survival in the wasteland, a cold and cruel picture quickly took shape in his mind:

The underground city possesses advanced pre-war technology and vast reserves of resources, which, in the post-nuclear wasteland, are the ultimate source of power and the guarantee of survival.

When the initial enthusiasm for relief fades, faced with the boundless despair of the wasteland and the massive number of displaced people, the decision-makers of the dungeon will inevitably face a choice.

Should they selflessly distribute their resources to all survivors to drive the economic development of the wastelanders, or concentrate their resources to prioritize their own safety and development?

After all, this involves more than just distributing resources; cultivating wastelanders could also threaten their dominance.

Yes, resource and technological disparities inevitably lead to class divisions.

Those who possess the legacy of the underground city naturally become the "new aristocracy".

They possess knowledge, power, and resources for survival.

Meanwhile, the refugees outside the wall could only rely on the most primitive labor and scavenging to struggle on the brink of life and death.

This gap will solidify over time and form a new order that protects its own interests.

Those inside the wall will no longer be willing to redistribute wealth; their goal is to consolidate their position, grow stronger, and they may even view the migrants outside the wall as potential labor, a threat, or... background noise that is not worth paying attention to at all.

They built high walls to separate the adults who came up from the underground city from the wastelanders, protecting their vested interests and isolating them from external threats.

The essence of human nature.

The whispers between Zhou Yan and Da Tian in the shadows last night flashed through Chen Huai's mind—the greed that could breed murderous intent for such a vague and intangible benefit.

In extreme environments, the instinct for survival and the desire for possession can be amplified to an extreme.

Expecting a group that possesses absolute power to selflessly support and help others in the long term is a fantasy that goes against the fundamental logic of human nature.

The idealistic brilliance of continuing human civilization in the game's setting has probably long been replaced by naked egoism and a new feudal system in the face of the cruel reality of the wasteland.

But what will he do if the dungeon is gone?

"Since we're here, let's make the best of it."

Chen Huai steadied himself.

Whether he was trapped in a game or traveled to a wasteland two hundred years in the future, at least he was still alive.

To live on this real land.

The most urgent task is to improve our strength.

Don't be fooled by his current status as a level two superhuman, swaggering around the Wild Grass Camp like a savior. That's only because it's the lowest level refugee settlement in the wasteland.

Against true wasteland predators, this strength is as fragile as paper.

Not to mention the strange beasts that roam the wild, even in those towns there are probably many superhumans stronger than him.

Even in this wild grass camp with only a hundred or so people, once a conflict breaks out, the ferocity of these wastelanders is far beyond what the rigid NPCs in past games could match.

Poison arrows? Traps? Overwhelming numbers?

If they all swarm him, even with his current level and attributes, he might not be able to escape unscathed.

Although he lost his base as a player and the various resources and skills he relied on for survival through system rewards, he still had the game panel.

However, nothing much happened all day. Perhaps it was because there was no crisis today and the work was too simple, so he was unable to trigger any missions like he did last night.

Looking up, the crooked wooden gate of the Wild Grass Camp was already in sight.

It seems that passively waiting won't work; he needs to actively find something to do.