Chapter 1: Doomsday System!

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

In a dilapidated hut with a moss-coated floor, a young man lay still on the ground.

Ed opened his eyes abruptly as the unfamiliar environment filled his sight.

“Where is this?”

This was the first thought that had formed in Ed’s mind.

He looked around in confusion. Everything around him was made of wood, and each part of it exuded a rotting stench.

He stood up groggily before walking to the door.

As he pushed it open, the scene he found convinced him he was dreaming.

There were trees all around, completely surrounding the wooden house that Ed had found himself in.

Moreover, these trees seemed unusual, different from the ones he was used to. They were way too thick.

They were in extremely monstrous positions, resembling malicious spirits harboring killing intent.

Ed was suddenly struck by the feeling that these trees could be animated, but as soon as the thought emerged, he dismissed it.

How could plants be malicious?

As he looked around, a stone axe attracted his attention.

The tool had been placed on a root disc. It looked like it had been there for a long time.

Ed walked over, picking it up. It had a handle made of wood, and a blade that seemed to have been carved of raw stone. The base of the handle was fixed with a piece of cloth. From the looks of it, Ed surmised that it was quite old.

The weight of the stone axe felt just right in his grip, seemingly tailored to his strength. He wondered if it had been custom-made.

[ Worn-out stone axe: This is the only logging tool you have at the moment. ]

As Ed came into contact with the stone axe, information about it had suddenly appeared in his mind.

Cautiously putting it down, he walked over to a cart.

The cart was two meters long, its two handles clearly showing the deteriorating effects of time. It looked worn-out.

[ Worn-out cart: The main tool for transporting wood. ]

Attempting to push the cart, Ed was immediately struck with the impression that it was incredibly heavy.

One would have to have a certain amount of strength in order to push this.

As Ed was still in his daze, an ancient-sounding voice that seemed to split the sky boomed.

“Magic has awakened, and doomsday has descended. Under the moonlight, the trees grow wildly.

“The trees around you are not as beautiful as they seem. They will be your nightmare.

“What you must do to survive in this world is to keep cutting wood.

“Whether you are high-ranking officials, arms dealers who control life and death, pure and beautiful celebrities, or even ordinary people with boring routines, you will all stand on the same starting line. There will be no exceptions.

“Survivors, welcome to the apocalyptic world.”

As the last sentence fell, the earlier calm returned.

It was a while before Ed came back to his senses.

He now had an understanding of where he had found himself.

This was a world where trees grew madly. As night falls, their growth would be deliriously expedited under the light of the moon. If they did not start to cut them down, the trees would be relentless as they absorbed all nutrients. In the end, humans may also find themselves becoming their nutrients.

The small wooden house that he had just left was a place where resources could be traded. These resources could be used in synthesizing various items, the importance of which boils down to nothing more than providing increased efficiency in logging.

A key detail was that every month, a random resource point would be generated, containing a large cache of supplies. Survivors present would receive notification regarding this.

Moreover, humans were not the only inhabitants of this world. Beasts and monsters also stalk the land.

Yet what was more terrifying than beasts and monsters, were people!

That’s right, there were others who had arrived in this world with Ed.

In this world, there were no laws or restrictions. The only rule here was logging!

The precedent was to survive. To survive, humans would use all means.

To survive, it was commonplace to kill and steal.

The methods do not matter as long as one survived.

Of course, it was also a must to chop wood.

Failing this, one would simply become nourishment for the trees.

A light struck Ed abruptly between his eyebrows.

Ed did not resist. From the introduction of the ancient voice just now, he knew that this would be something like a guidebook.

A blue panel appeared in Ed’s mind. He just needed to control it telepathically.

On the left was a chat interface, a section designed for communication with the world.

On the right was an interface for trade.

Using his mind, Ed opened the chat interface.

To no surprise, it was already in an uproar.

“Where is this place? I want to go home!”

“What is an apocalyptic world? Why are there so many trees here?”

“…”

The chat interface was in a panic-induced frenzy.

Ed retracted his gaze, closing the interface.

He opened the second option, the trading interface.

It was also divided into two parts.

Ed first selected the forging interface.

A translucent panel appeared in front of him.

[ Bonfire: Wood 0/10, Wood Chips 0/4 ]

[ Small Water Storage: Wood 0/2, Cloth 0/4, Leaf 0/4 ]

[ Inferior Hoe: Wood 0/8, Metal Fragments 0/8, Iron Nails 0/4 ]

[ Inferior Stone Axe: Wood 0/12, Stone 0/4, Cloth 0/8 ]

[ Inferior Water Collector: Leaf 0/10, Cloth 0/4 ]

It seemed that the only things that Ed could make were low-quality items.

Ed turned his gaze to the stone axe in his hand. It seemed to be of low quality.

He didn’t need to ponder about the blank space below. It was definitely for new blueprints he would have to unlock.

As long as he placed the appropriate materials in the compartments, he would obtain the corresponding items. It was a great convenience for the survivors.

There was no need to assemble them step by step. As long as they had what was required, they could get what they wanted.

Closing the forging interface, Ed opened up another interface.

This interface was mostly blank save for one line of large red text, which seemed to be especially eye-catching.

[ Supply Cache Countdown: 29 days, 23 hours, 54 minutes, and 13 seconds. ]

After he had seen it, Ed closed this interface. It was just something to remind him of time. He didn’t have to spend too long looking at it.

Recovering his thoughts, Ed looked toward the trees before him and felt a headache setting in.

Relying only on his small axe, with so many trees, how long would he need to chop them all?

“Whew!”

Ed imitated the way he had seen people on TV chop wood.

Raising the stone axe, he swung into a tree.

Five minutes passed.

Exhausted, Ed threw the stone axe onto the ground.

He was speechless.

After chopping for so long, he had barely made a small incision in the wood. He didn’t know how much longer it would take him to make his way through the whole tree.

Just as he was feeling depressed, a cold mechanical voice sounded in his mind.

[ Ding! The doomsday system has been successfully activated! ]