Apocalypse Arrives: I Become a Powerhouse by Scavenging

Staring at the blue screen before her, Moira Lynch was, frankly, a bit dazed.

It wasn’t just her. In fact, all the players were completely dumbfounded right now.

’Isn’t the game supposed to be once a month?’

’It’s obviously not time yet.’

Some people protested, but their objections were clearly useless, as all the players were forcibly teleported into the game.

The moment they landed, every player found themselves enveloped in a golden orb of light.

Upon landing, they also heard the sound of water.

Just as Moira Lynch was about to investigate what was outside the golden orb, the light enveloping them burst.

It was immediately followed by a loud SPLOOSH.

Moira Lynch was plunged into the water.

Realizing there were other players around, Moira Lynch quickly pulled out a mask and put it on. She then took out her Flying Device and rose into the air.

Her clothes were waterproof, so they weren’t soaked, but the damp feeling on her skin still made her a little uncomfortable.

Seeing the figures struggling in the water below, Moira Lynch scanned the crowd for any familiar faces.

After confirming that Shane Rhodes, Kai York, and Hugh Finch weren’t among the people in the water, Moira Lynch piloted her Flying Device over to a nearby tree.

By this time, the other players who had fallen into the water were scrambling for safety. Some, like Moira Lynch, had taken out Flying Devices, while others clumsily grabbed onto nearby objects to keep themselves from sinking.

Just then, a familiar electronic voice sounded in everyone’s ears.

[Dear players, good evening. Welcome to this game session.

In the vast, boundless universe, there is a planet named Aquaria. Here, nearly eighty percent of the land is covered in swamps. However, this unique geography has also nurtured many special delicacies.

Among them, a delicacy called Cheese Grass is especially popular, particularly with the Dindalon race.

The Dindalon are extremely timid by nature, but for Cheese Grass, they become incredibly brave. They will even confront creatures more than ten times their own size without backing down.

This shows just how important Cheese Grass is to the Dindalon.

However, a recent event has caused the Dindalon great distress.

Now that the harvest season has arrived, the Dada Ducks, who are responsible for supplying the Dindalon with Cheese Grass, have refused to do so. They’ve declared that if the Dindalon want any Cheese Grass, they must come and get it themselves.

The journey from the Dindalon’s territory to the Dada Ducks’ territory requires crossing a vast swamp filled with all sorts of dangers. To ensure their own safety, the Dindalon have decided to hire you to bring the Cheese Grass back for them.

Friendly Reminder: The Dada Ducks require the Dindalon to fetch the grass themselves, so you players must disguise yourselves as Dindalon. If your cover is blown, if the Dada Ducks see through your disguise, or if you fail to acquire the Cheese Grass, you will fail the game.

Losers will be disqualified from the game.

You have only three days to bring back the Cheese Grass.

Another friendly reminder, the swamp is very dangerous, so be careful not to get eaten!]

As the system’s voice faded, Moira Lynch felt that something was very off about it this time.

The last sentence, in particular, seemed to be full of glee at their misfortune.

’Is the system drunk or something?’

’Whatever. I should just focus on the mission for now.’

As Moira Lynch thought this, she suddenly felt something appear in her hand.

Opening her palm, she saw a pendant. The design on it was of a cream-colored hamster nibbling on a melon seed.

[Master, the design on the pendant is a Dindalon. This pendant can temporarily transform someone into a Dindalon, but the effect only lasts for a few hours.]

When Patience told her the pendant had a time limit, Moira Lynch instantly dismissed the idea of using it now. ’I’ll wait until I get to the Dada Ducks’ territory.’

’But then again, how do I get to the Dada Ducks’ territory?’

Suddenly, Moira Lynch felt her hand start to itch.

She looked down to see that a white arrow had appeared on the back of her hand.

’It looks like the arrow is pointing toward the Dada Ducks’ territory.’

Recalling the system’s warning, Moira Lynch looked down at the swamp. After a moment of thought, she abandoned the idea of traveling by water. ’After all, who knows what might suddenly pop out of there.’

As if to prove her right, just as she was about to leave on her Flying Device, panicked cries for help erupted from below.

She looked down and saw several players in the water suddenly begin to struggle violently for some unknown reason.

They thrashed their arms, their faces filled with terror. They tried to swim toward the nearest players, as if that would save them.

However, when the other players saw this, they didn’t move to help. Instead, their own faces filled with fear as they began to back away.

Not knowing what was going on, they weren’t about to risk their own lives.

Of course, even if they had known what was happening, they most likely wouldn’t have gone to the rescue.

After struggling for a few moments, the players were suddenly dragged under, as if something was pulling them down. Their figures vanished from the surface of the water.

The whole thing happened so fast it was as if they had never been there at all. Only the spreading ripples on the surface of the water proved they had ever existed.

It was as if everyone was waking from a dream. They all scrambled toward the nearest trees, desperate to get out of the water.

Only then did they truly understand the danger the system had warned them about.

It wasn’t unheard of for people to fail games or even lose their lives for various reasons in the past.

But this was the first time they had lost people right at the very beginning of a game. They didn’t even know what had happened—those players were just gone, their fates unknown.

Of course, those people were almost certainly dead.

From her higher vantage point, Moira Lynch had seen things much more clearly.

The people who had just vanished had been dragged down by some kind of aquatic plant.

"Patience, what was that about those aquatic plants?"

Just a moment ago, she had clearly seen the patch of water below her fill up with green plants, but they vanished as soon as the players were gone.

[Panla Water Grass. It’s a life-form that exists somewhere between plant and animal. It looks like normal water grass, but it has the predatory instincts of an animal.

They hide underwater and wait for their prey to lower its guard. Then they strike, grabbing their victims by the legs and dragging them down.]