Where do people go after they die?
Heaven? Hell? Or the underworld?
At the moment of her death, Shen Xiao thought about many things, but she never imagined that when she opened her eyes again, she would find herself on an island.
Under the azure sky lay an endless expanse of turquoise sea, with white waves crashing against the sandy shore. Behind her stood coconut trees—there was no doubt she was on an island.
Shen Xiao couldn't help but look down at her body. There was no blood, her bones were intact, and even pinching herself caused pain. She had sensation and smell, just like when she was alive. It seemed as though her recent death had been nothing more than a dream, though her heart and nerves were still immersed in the fear of being hit by a car.
"What's going on?" someone whispered beside her, voicing Shen Xiao's thoughts. She turned her head and saw four other people not far away. All four were women, not very old, and they all looked confused.
"I'm not dead?" One of the women touched her chest, as if searching for a wound.
"I clearly remember falling into the water..." Another woman's eyes were still filled with residual fear; drowning to death was indeed unforgettable.
As they all remained confused about what was happening, a man emerged from behind a coconut tree nearby.
The man was around twenty years old, with a rather handsome appearance. Upon seeing that everyone had woken up, he tossed the coconut he was holding onto the sand in front of them and said, "You're finally awake. Let me introduce myself—my name is Yang Hong."
Seeing no one respond, Yang Hong didn't get angry. He continued, "I know you're all confused right now. You were clearly dead, so why are you here? Don't doubt it—you really were dead. But some people who die are lucky enough to get a chance to come back to life. Like us here."
Shen Xiao and the others still didn't speak, but this time, the look in their eyes as they looked at Yang Hong was filled with confusion, as if they were waiting for him to explain what he meant.
Yang Hong didn't beat around the bush and got straight to the point, "Those who get a chance to come back to life will enter various maps and search for resources that can be exchanged for points. Take the island we're on now—this is the map for this round." As he spoke, he pulled a pearl from his pocket. "The pearls found on this island are one of the resources that can be exchanged for points. The points you earn can be used to purchase anything you desire in the virtual mall. As for where the virtual mall is, simply close your eyes and it will appear."
Although Shen Xiao still didn't quite understand what he was saying, she closed her eyes as instructed. After closing her eyes, she saw a floating window appear before her, with the words "Virtual Mall" written on it. She instinctively opened her eyes, and the mall disappeared. She closed her eyes again, and the mall reappeared before her.
After repeating this several times to confirm it wasn't a hallucination, Shen Xiao heard Yang Hong say, "You can open the mall with your mind," so she tried it, and the virtual mall indeed changed, displaying various items and the points needed to purchase them.
The virtual mall offered a wide variety of items, but the most eye-catching was the "Resurrection Pill," which appeared when you opened the mall. Pill description: Revives the user. Shen Xiao checked the required points to purchase it, only to see a string of zeros. Counting them, there were seven zeros.
One million points...
Before she could recover from the shock of the enormous point requirement, Shen Xiao heard someone beside her ask Yang Hong, "Um... how many points can that pearl in your hand be exchanged for?"
"One point." Yang Hong sighed wryly at the shop's stinginess, "And to leave this map, you'll have to deduct 100 points."
"?"
"In other words, if you don't have at least 100 points, you can't leave here." After explaining, Yang Hong said, "I'll go look for food. I suggest you act quickly too. The temperature isn't too high yet, so fluid loss isn't severe. But once the temperature rises, even the slightest movement could cause dehydration."
With that, he headed toward the beach.
After Yang Hong left, the other four exchanged glances. They closed their eyes for a moment but soon opened them again and followed Yang Hong.
Although everyone was still a bit dazed and even doubted whether they were dreaming, they could only choose to do something to alleviate their emotions.
Shen Xiao didn't rush to follow. She opened the virtual mall again. The items inside were varied, and the icon for the resurrection pill at the top looked like a promotional poster for a pirated online game, eye-catching and exaggerated. The window operated by thought was beyond her comprehension.
Opening her eyes again, she saw the endless azure sea, the gentle sea breeze, and the scorching sunlight filtering through the leaves. These sensations of being alive, along with the so-called virtual mall, made Shen Xiao believe a little more in what that person named Yang Hong had said earlier.
There are so many things in this world that cannot be explained. Perhaps the dead truly have a chance to open their eyes again?
She pushed all her doubts and uncertainties to the back of her mind. These things she couldn't understand at the moment were best left unthought. At least, for now, she was still standing and could still breathe.
Yang Hong and the others had gone to the coastal rocks to look for food, and Shen Xiao followed them there. Although she had a higher chance of finding food in the forest behind her, no one knew what might suddenly emerge from the trees. For safety's sake, it was better for her to stay with the group.
The rocky shore by the island was quite large, with jagged rocks and sharp pebbles. Many small creatures clung to these stones, making it easier to find food here. However, compared to the soft sandy beach, it was easy to get cut or twisted here if one wasn't careful.
For example, just as she arrived, she heard a woman cry out in pain. It turned out that the woman had come without shoes or socks and had accidentally stepped on a sharp rock. She was now leaning against a rock, lifting her leg to check the injury.
"Are you okay?" someone nearby asked the woman with concern.
"I think I'm fine, just a little scrape," the woman said nonchalantly, dipping her foot into the water. Shen Xiao, who was passing by, said to her, "I think you should put your shoes back on. After a scrape, there's a chance of infection, and there's no hospital on this island."
Upon hearing this, the woman's expression grew serious. She thanked Shen Xiao and immediately went back to put on her shoes before entering the water.
Shen Xiao, seeing this, looked down at her own shoes. The clothes she was wearing were the ones she had worn before her death—sneakers and autumn-style sportswear. She hoped these clothes would be sufficient for surviving on the deserted island.
After searching for food among the reefs for a while, Shen Xiao realised that using her hands alone wasn't enough. She decided to pick a banana leaf from nearby. The banana leaf was wide and could be rolled into a cone-shaped container like a rice dumpling. Then, by folding the leaf outward and pinching the folded part with her fingers, it could be temporarily used as a container.
The most abundant creatures in the reef area were mussels and snails. The mussels were slightly larger, but only about the size of a thumb; as for the snails, they were not much larger than the stir-fried snails sold at night markets. In a cluster, only a few were slightly larger, but it was only a little.
Though small, Shen Xiao did not despise them at all. Accumulating small amounts, these were her source of protein.
After putting in a lot of effort to collect over thirty snails and mussels from this reef, Shen Xiao was about to move to another location to continue searching when she luckily discovered a large conch in the shaded area of the reef.
As she picked up the large conch, Yang Hong's voice came from beside her, "It seems you're quite lucky."
Shen Xiao smiled politely, "It's okay."
Yang Hong saw her distant attitude and didn't push it, "I have enough food for lunch, so I'll go start a fire first."
"Do you need help?" Shen Xiao asked. The fire was for everyone to use, so she naturally wanted to contribute.
"No, I can handle it myself," Yang Hong said.
A girl nearby heard Yang Hong say he was going to start a fire and volunteered to help gather firewood.
After the two left, Shen Xiao and the other four continued searching for food. However, there was still too little in the reef area. After several trips back and forth, they didn't find much.
As the temperature continued to rise, the four gave up searching and returned to the nearby forest. In the forest, Yang Hong had already started a fire. Shen Xiao specifically checked but saw no signs of friction-based fire-making.
"You started the fire so quickly?" The others were also surprised.
"Yang Hong has a lighter." The girl who had gone with Yang Hong to collect firewood flashed a peculiar look in her eyes.
"Then we won't have to worry about fire anymore." Everyone was clearly delighted by this. Soon, someone asked Yang Hong where he had gotten the lighter and why he knew so much.
Perhaps because he was surrounded by girls, Yang Hong didn't hide anything. "Because I've already lived through two maps, and this is my third map. The lighter was exchanged for points. Once you have points, you can also exchange them for whatever you want."
"Two maps?" Everyone's curiosity was piqued, and since they really wanted to know what was going on, they all looked at Yang Hong eagerly, hoping he would explain.
"Yes. I was a bit luckier than you. After I died, my first map was set in ancient times. Though I had nothing, I managed to earn some points using the chemistry knowledge I learned in my previous life. The second map was a bit harder; I was sent to a map where a war had broken out. I survived by hiding in a basement." When Yang Hong mentioned the previous map, a flash of fear crossed his eyes. "War is too brutal. At the time, there were seven of us, and only I survived until the end of the war. Everyone else died."
"Died..." Everyone present had died once before, and the fear of death still lingered like a dark cloud over their hearts. Hearing Yang Hong mention this, they all fell into silence.
"Dying in the map means you're truly dead." Yang Hong added, his words seeming directed at both the others and himself.
The heavy topic caused the girls, who had been chatting and laughing moments ago, to grow somber.
Yang Hong glanced at them but did not try to console them. First, he felt no obligation to do so, and second, he simply didn't want to. He was struggling to survive himself and couldn't spare the energy for such sentimentality. Moreover, the sooner one understood their own situation, the easier it would be to survive.
The atmosphere around the fire grew tense. Shen Xiao recalled the scene of her car accident, causing her heart to race. Not wanting to dwell on such emotions, she shook her head and began working to distract herself.
Yang Hong, who had been observing the women, quickly noticed her actions. Though her expression wasn't pleasant, she wasn't overly consumed by her emotions, and his brows relaxed slightly.
The island was small, and having a rational teammate meant that, as the only man here, he would have an easier time.