A cold wind blew, and Tang Wen, standing in the doorway, shivered.
'October?'
'Is winter coming?'
He didn't linger. He walked into the room and closed the door tightly.
He put the grain jar back in its place.
The girl, or rather, his sister, was already starting a fire to cook.
The sound of bubbling filled the air as the water boiled. She carefully scooped a handful of golden Maize into her palm, paused, then gently pinched about half of it and put it back in the jar.
Tang Wen, who occasionally cooked porridge himself, estimated in his head that this was about two mouthfuls for him.
She washed the Maize meticulously and put it in the pot.
Tang Wen sat cross-legged on the dry grass and silently called out, 'Panel.'
[Name: Tang Wen]
[Age: 14 years, 9 months]
[Body: 0.3]
[Essence: 0.7]
[Skill: Farming Mastery (719/1000)]
'With stats like these, on a TV show, I'd be dead by the end of the first episode for sure.'
'I need to train my body.'
GRUMBLE...
'Ugh, alright. Training can wait until I've had a proper meal.'
The Maize finished cooking, its light fragrance wafting through the air.
Tang Wen picked up his bowl. The Maize barely covered the bottom.
He glanced at his sister's bowl. He could count the individual grains.
A tightness filled his chest. He lowered his head and said as he ate, "I'll find food as soon as I can. Just stay safe at home."
His sister seemed a little surprised. Her delicate, pretty face stared at him for a few seconds before she nodded. Her voice was crisp but faint. "You have to be careful."
The siblings had a good relationship, but the original Tang Wen wasn't the type to say such things.
His sister didn't have the stamp on her hand. As a frail, young woman, she wasn't allowed to leave the camp.
Otherwise, she'd surely be targeted by Scavengers. It was too dangerous.
After eating, Tang Wen took his only weapon—a crude knife with a handle wrapped in burlap—and walked out the door.
Looking back at the rows of dilapidated huts, he sighed and headed for the west gate, following his memory.
No acquaintances, no neighbors, no social life, and certainly no romantic entanglements... These things were luxuries in the wasteland, things you could only consider after you've had your fill at every meal.
'Good. It'll keep anyone I know from noticing something's off about me.'
Outside the west gate lay a vast field of crops, stretching as far as the eye could see all the way to the distant mountain slopes.
This was the Maize field. The changes to the wasteland environment had affected the plants.
Maize was the grain best suited for the wasteland, a product of natural selection.
It could be harvested three times a year, in every season except winter.
The spring harvest grew more slowly, but the summer and autumn crops grew very quickly.
Countless people in the wasteland relied on it to survive.
His predecessor's parents had been farmers in the camp, renting a plot of land for Farming.
The Flame Queen was merciful. She only required them to hand over seventy percent of their income, letting them keep the rest.
In his memories, his predecessor's parents were grateful for the Queen's mercy right up until their deaths.
It was with the grain saved from this harvest that their parents had prepaid three years of rent before they died, protecting the siblings and allowing them to survive to this day.
As for their deaths, that was normal in the wasteland—as normal as a college graduate being unable to find a job in another world.
"Kid!"
Seeing someone approach the farm, a dark-faced man built like an iron tower walked over. His voice was low. "I told you, winter's here. We don't need you people anymore."
Winter was coming, so the Maize fields didn't need tending. There weren't even chores like weeding or watering.
As for scaring away birds and catching insects, that was a good job only available right before the Maize ripened!
Tang Wen forced a smile. "I can do any kind of work. I don't need grain, just a bite to eat."
"Get lost." He pointed into the distance, his voice calm and devoid of emotion, as practiced as if he'd said it countless times before.
Tang Wen didn't dare to pester him further and retreated with an apologetic smile.
The camp wasn't large. By the time he reached the east gate, his stomach had started to rumble.
The little bit of food he'd eaten this morning was already gone.
Taking a deep breath, Tang Wen strode out into the wilderness.
A Guard on the wall glanced at him before going back to chatting and boasting.
The original Tang Wen once had a dream of becoming a Guard.
Now, Tang Wen just wanted to eat his fill and survive.
'And... Cheng Chaofan?'
RUMBLE...
His stomach growled again, as if in reminder.
Stepping out of the camp gate, Tang Wen was immediately stunned by the scene before him.
The land was a picture of devastation, the earth cracked and fissured. If not for a type of black grass growing everywhere, it would seem as if the land itself were dead.
Black Death Grass. Its roots and stems were poisonous; only the leaves were barely edible.
But the leaves had long since been picked clean by others.
Winter was coming.
For the past two years, every winter, the siblings had to sell off their parents' belongings to trade for enough grain to survive.
But this year, there was nothing left to sell.
Nothing at all.
They had also moved from their original spot near the farm to the worst part of the camp, right by the wall.
Shaking his head, Tang Wen picked up a relatively straight branch and started walking toward the Black Water River.
The Black Water River, as its name suggested, had black water. Here, the current lost the confines of its channel, forming a marsh that nourished a forest.
There were fish in the water.
As he neared the riverbank, Tang Wen slowed his pace.
He saw people in burlap clothes and cloaks scattered throughout the marsh.
They were gaunt and emaciated, like walking corpses.
Tang Wen didn't dare get closer. He wanted to leave, but this was the only place he thought he might be able to get food.
Cautiously, he edged forward.
He periodically squatted down to pick up a small stone.
'Right. If anyone gets close, I can throw rocks first.'
Wasteland Scavengers were terrified of getting injured. Injury meant weakness, and the weak were prey for the strong.
SPLASH, SPLASH, SPLASH!
Someone started running through the water, and then more people started running after him.
A fish!
The person at the front was clutching a black fish with both hands!
Seeing more and more people closing in on him, he started tearing at it desperately with his teeth.
Blood smeared his mouth as he gulped down chunks of fish flesh, before he was tackled from behind.
One after another, they piled on, like a frantic game of human pyramid.
The scene was utter chaos.
"Lord Guards! Lord Guards!"
Someone shouted at the top of their lungs.
Tang Wen froze. 'The Guards get involved in this?'
To his surprise, a squad of Guards really did emerge from the woods. One of them, holding a Crossbow, fired an arrow into the sky.
A sharp sound with a long, trailing whistle cut across the sky.
A Whistling Arrow.
The people chasing the fish stopped in their tracks and scattered.
Only those closest to the center were still brawling in the water, fighting over the large black fish.
SPLASH, SPLASH, SPLASH!
Several Guards in Leather Armor cursed as they waded into the water.
They effortlessly dragged the men out, one by one, and led them away.
Tang Wen recalled something related to this, and his face turned pale.
The reason the Guards got involved was simple. If the fight continued, someone would inevitably die. Then cannibalism would follow, drawing in even more people.
The blood in the water would spread, and the scent would attract the real danger—Mutated Beasts!
This place was too close to the camp. If a pack of Mutated Beasts were drawn here, the Scavengers would certainly flee toward the camp to save their own lives, and that would be a huge problem.
So, it had to be stopped beforehand.
As for taking those men away, it wasn't to save their lives.
It was to squeeze out their last bit of value—to be taken away and used as bait.
As if possessed, Tang Wen followed them from a distance.
After a long walk, the Guards brought the men to a series of stone hollows in the wilderness.
The hollows had been artificially chiseled out, with stone walls on three sides and an entrance on the fourth.
The Guards stripped the Scavengers, slashed them a few times horizontally and vertically as if chopping a winter melon, and then hung them from the highest point of the stone walls like a farmer hanging cured meat. The scent of blood would slowly drift on the wind, attracting nearby Mutated Beasts.
The Guards, and the people of the camp, called this practice "hunting."