Su Chen sat to the side, swallowing nervously, unsure of what to do.
He had always disliked letting others stay inside his RV—even an extra second could risk exposing the existence of his system.
That was something that absolutely could not be revealed. If it got out, it would definitely cause a huge uproar.
The two in front of him didn't seem like bad people, though. The guy with glasses looked like a harmless little puppy.
The man in the suit was noticeably bulkier than the glasses guy. Now that Su Chen took a closer look, he was actually quite handsome too, with well-defined features.
This one was definitely Su Chen's fault. He had assumed no one would be out walking around at night—but clearly, that was just his own bias.
This was already the second round of the game. By now, the monsters had likely been distributed evenly between day and night.
The ferocious beasts from the first round had almost all gone into hibernation—it was the middle of winter, after all.
They'd been running wild for so long; it was time for them to rest.
"I've got a decent amount of food in my RV. This was my mistake, so let me give you some as an apology. I really don't know what else I can offer," Su Chen finally said, letting out what he had been holding back.
He figured that once he gave them some food, they'd be on their way.
Su Chen had always been clear about two things he couldn't tolerate: laziness and being a bleeding-heart. Those were mistakes he refused to make.
Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't offer food so proactively.
But this situation was different.
This was a survival game—food meant life.
Most of the people eliminated from the game had died of starvation.
There was no such thing as a comfortable middle-class lifestyle here. Only Su Chen had managed to be self-sufficient and free from food worries.
Most others lived like it was the 70s or 80s—uncertain if they'd eat tomorrow after scraping by today.
If you found food, you ate. If not, you died.
That was the brutal law of nature: survival of the fittest.
Society didn't pity the weak. It never did.
The man in the suit sat on the edge of the bed, and for the first time, a smile appeared on his face.
His expression changed quite a bit, which surprised Su Chen.
He'd always worn a bitter, bossy expression—like he was trying to act like some overbearing CEO.
But the way he treated the guy with glasses… it was like a completely different person.
"Bro, we don't need someone else's charity. We won't take his food," the glasses guy said calmly, having sobered up a bit.
You could tell from his tone—he had no intention of mooching off Su Chen.
He wasn't like those childish players who would shamelessly say, "I'm just a kid—can I have it for free?"
Ever since people had started calling Su Chen a "top dog," more and more players had tried to add him as a friend.
At first, he accepted. After all, he never thought of himself as some kind of big shot—just a regular person.
But as more people added him, the number of freeloaders increased too.
There was a time when he'd open his inbox and scroll down—ten messages, nine of them asking for free stuff.
Especially after he took in that JK girl, tons of guys and girls came knocking, hoping Su Chen would "take care of them."
That set off alarm bells in his head. He even developed a bit of a trauma and turned off friend requests entirely.
He cleaned out his friends list over and over, keeping only those with genuine trade interactions—people who wouldn't bother him.
The glasses guy was now rubbing the back of his head, and his lips had regained some color. He looked much better—stable enough to talk to Su Chen clearly.
He knew that someone as powerful as Su Chen had no reason to help extract a bullet unless he genuinely wanted to. That meant he had no intent to hurt them.
After all, someone like Su Chen, who had a handgun, could kill them both with ease. The two of them wouldn't stand a chance.
"Our car got a flat tire earlier. Do you think you could take a look at it?" the glasses guy asked.
Seeing how luxurious Su Chen's RV was, he figured spare tires probably weren't an issue.
After all, this RV had even been fully resprayed in purple—how could he be lacking something like a tire?
Still, he asked with a bit of hope. If Su Chen didn't want to help, they couldn't do anything about it.
Su Chen remembered that he had recently obtained a full car repair kit. Fixing a flat was no big deal.
Even if he didn't know how to use it, there was a beginner-friendly tutorial—he could learn in no time.
His own tires were run-flat models, which made them a lot more efficient.
He wouldn't have to worry about blowouts due to unexpected road hazards.
If a blowout happened during travel, it could force them to stop—especially dangerous on highways, where any incident could cause major traffic jams.
Although this world was vastly different from the old one, one thing remained the same—there were still lots of cars.
But there wasn't too much to worry about. This world was huge.
Survivors were spread out across vast regions, which lowered the chances of them running into each other—a good thing.
Su Chen thought it over and agreed.
It wasn't a big deal. Just fixing a tire—not like they were asking for anything crazy.
Besides, he was partly at fault in the first place.
Since they'd asked nicely, it wouldn't hurt to help. That way, everything would be square.
"Alright, I'll help you," Su Chen said.
"Yes!"
To his surprise, it was the man in the suit who reacted even more excitedly than the glasses guy.
"Let's head out now. No point wasting time here," he added.
The glasses guy could tell Su Chen didn't really want them lingering in his RV. His expression said it all.
The man in the suit immediately picked up on that, too, and hoisted the glasses guy onto his back without hesitation.
Although the glasses guy was an adult, he was on the skinny side—he didn't look heavy at all.
His shoulders are so broad… so warm…
It was the first time the glasses guy had been this close to him. He felt a strange flutter in his heart.
He wasn't sure if it was normal, or if he was just confused about himself.
The man in the suit, on the other hand, had already made up his mind.
After everything that happened, he was sure of his feelings—it was just hard to put them into words.
Su Chen glanced outside. This might've been the first time he ventured out at night.
The world beyond the RV was pitch black, so he decided to take his weapons with him—just in case.
He slung on his backpack, which held a Uzi submachine gun and a flamethrower.
Su Chen had always thought of the flamethrower as an extremely powerful weapon. The Uzi was pure physical firepower, while the flamethrower was more of a chemical weapon. After all, fire was deadly—that's why wildfires were so feared.
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T/N:
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