Chapter 2: What a Hellish Beginning!

Almost at the very moment this thought flashed through his mind, a background story-like narrative surfaced in Zhou Xu’s consciousness.

Their tribe had been attacked by another tribe a week ago. After a brief skirmish, they were defeated and forced to retreat, eventually escaping to this place. The previous tribal chief perished in the assault, and the surviving members, upon arriving here, discovered an ancient altar handed down through generations. They used it to conduct a summoning ritual, calling forth Zhou Xu—the “Chosen One”—to become their new leader and guide them forward.

The existence of the system made everything feel slightly unreal to him, and this sense of unreality unconsciously relaxed his state of mind. As a freshly graduated modern college student, Zhou Xu had spent plenty of time playing games and reading novels. He wasn’t unfamiliar with concepts like transmigration and systems. At first his thoughts were chaotic, but now, having calmed down, things were clear.

He truly hadn’t expected such an event to happen to him. Although he had died in that other world, crossing over and surviving here could be counted a blessing. Yet, facing this utterly unfamiliar world, he couldn’t help but feel a measure of uncertainty.

Taking a deep breath and accepting reality, Zhou Xu knew he had to pull himself together quickly.

[In any case, my first task should be to find a suitable place to set up camp and settle down.]

As he thought this, he surveyed the primitive people kneeling below; a rough estimate suggested there were about twenty or thirty of them.

Back in his dorm, his favorite games were war strategy and management simulations—he had played nearly all available titles. The situation before him bore some resemblance to those games.

As a modern college graduate, he had no real experience surviving in a primitive world, but by treating it like a game, he could at least outline a plan of action.

[If this were a game, the first step would be to ensure access to basic survival resources—namely fresh water and food. Then, with wood and stone, later construction would be much easier…]

However, he had already noticed that the entire area around them was barren wasteland!

[Am I supposed to chew dirt here?]

Clearly needing more information, Zhou Xu’s gaze settled on the man before him.

“Do you have a name? What are you called?”

The terrified man hurriedly replied, “Dashan—Chief, you may call me Dashan.”

[His manner of speaking isn’t quite what I imagined for a primitive man, but this world doesn’t seem like an ordinary prehistoric setting either.]

“Dashan, did you just arrive here? Have you checked the surrounding area?”

What he had thought would be a simple task now seemed daunting, given how poor the environment was. The pressure on Zhou Xu had doubled.

Dashan shook his head directly.

“No, we haven’t. After the other tribe attacked us, we fled here and found the altar. Everyone was too exhausted to go any further.”

At this, Zhou Xu could guess the rest of the story. Dashan’s words also reminded him of the enemy tribe that had attacked them.

If those enemies were still pursuing them, their days would be anything but peaceful.

---

[What a hellish start!]

Unable to resist complaining inwardly, Zhou Xu quickly asked the question that most concerned him.

“Are those tribesmen still chasing you?”

Dashan shook his head again.

“They shouldn’t be. We’ve already fled a considerable distance; chasing us any farther would be risky for them, and their food would run out.”

“Which direction did you come from?”

“Over there.”

Dashan pointed out a direction after a brief consideration.

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure!”

“Good. Gather everyone and follow me.”

With that, Zhou Xu led his tribe members in the opposite direction.

This region, as far as he could see, was nothing but wasteland—not a good place to set up camp. If they had to move anyway, why not put more distance between themselves and the hostile tribe?

He could see the exhaustion in his tribe members, but when his command was issued, they gritted their teeth and followed him, showing little dissatisfaction or complaint.

This reassured Zhou Xu further. Though they worshipped him as their chief, whether he could truly command them was another matter—especially when they were clearly too tired to keep walking.

Given the outcome, Zhou Xu was satisfied.

“I need a few people to scout ahead. Who still has strength left?”

At this, the tribe members looked at each other. It wasn’t that they were unwilling; it was just that they barely had the energy to keep moving, let alone scout ahead.

Seeing this, Dashan stepped forward and suggested, “Chief, why don’t I go?”

Just as Dashan spoke, a hand stretched out from the crowd.

“I’ll scout ahead.”

A lean, grimy man emerged from the group.

“I still have strength. I’ll scout ahead.”

“What is your name?”

“Sparrow.”

---

Zhou Xu’s gaze swept across the tribe once more. Seeing no one else volunteer, he fixed his eyes on Sparrow.

“Very well, Sparrow. I’ll entrust this task to you. Don’t go too far—prioritize your own safety. If you notice anything unusual, report back immediately.”

“Yes!”

With a crisp reply, Sparrow didn’t linger; he jogged ahead to scout.

Dashan was about to follow but was stopped by Zhou Xu.

“Dashan, stay here. I have more questions for you.”

“Yes.”

Having dispatched someone to scout ahead, the main group resumed their march.

Zhou Xu made full use of the travel time, questioning Dashan.

“Is there any food left in the tribe?”

“Everyone should have a little, but not much.”

Facing the Chosen One, Dashan showed no intention of hiding anything; he directly pulled out a few dirty objects from his person.

Zhou Xu glanced at them and realized they were some sort of plant roots, mixed with bits of tree bark.

[No wonder everyone looks starved to the bone. The food pressure is greater than I expected, though that’s probably because the environment is so poor.]

As Zhou Xu pondered this, Sparrow, who had gone ahead to scout, rushed back.

“A forest—there’s a patch of forest ahead!”

“Lead the way!”

Hearing this, Zhou Xu perked up and quickly had Sparrow guide them forward.

The distance wasn’t far; after about ten more minutes, a forest appeared on the horizon.

Finding a forest should have been good news, but as Zhou Xu gazed at it, he frowned.

The “forest” ahead was nothing like the woodlands he remembered—each tree was bare, hardly a leaf to be seen. Their trunks were a withered black, twisted into strange shapes, and the entire grove exuded an eerie atmosphere.

Under normal circumstances, Zhou Xu would never want to approach such a place; but given the surrounding wasteland and their current predicament, it seemed he had no other options.

[Forget it, let’s check it out first.]

“Everyone, stay alert and be careful.”

With this warning, the group moved efficiently to the outskirts of the strange forest.