Endless Game, but I Win by Scavenging and Lying Low

Before VIP: 3,000 words daily according to the rankings; after VIP: 6,000 words daily

Starting the story with 100,000 words in reserve; I'll report progress in real time. Current count: 3,000

[Synopsis]

"For this global livestreamed sharing session on the Infinite Game, we've specially invited the lock-picking expert who strikes terror into the hearts of monsters to share her tips for clearing the game!"

Faced with the eager gazes of billions of people watching on their screens, Xin Yan thought long and hard.

"Uh... Does scavenging for junk count?"

The interviewer glanced at the weapon behind Xin Yan, cobbled together from all kinds of garbage, and slowly typed a question mark: ?

You mean... that pile of scrap metal behind you?

-

Yes, that's right.

Xin Yan had been called the Junk Queen since childhood.

Orphaned at a young age, she was forced to rely on her seriously ill grandmother, scraping by with her knack for turning junk into useful things. In the game, Xin Yan drew the identity [Locksmith], with the identity skill [Key], mainly used to open treasure chests in the game.

She wanted to get a life-saving item, but things never went her way. Without exception, every item she opened had one and only one attribute, namely

[Junk]

"..."

Xin Yan fell silent.

How could she not be the Junk Queen, yet somehow be even more of one?!

So, to stay alive, she was forced to return to her old trade: repurposing junk.

She turned the pile of scrap metal in her hands into...

another pile of seemingly useless scrap metal.

The other players: ?

That's it, another one's gone crazy!

-

As it turned out, clearing dungeons couldn't help you move up in the world. Her grandmother suddenly became bedridden, and the cost of treatment was exorbitant.

At that moment, an unexpected message became Xin Yan's lifeline:

[Hiring mercenaries to protect an employer in a dungeon: 10,000 for each minor monster killed, 200,000 for each clue provided, and a five-hundred-million bounty for a perfect clear of a five-star dungeon!]

But on the game forum, everyone laughed at the poster's wishful thinking: [Come on, no one's taking that job no matter how much you offer. Five-star dungeons are one-way trips. You might get the money, but you'll be dead before you can spend it!]

Xin Yan didn't understand. No matter how scary monsters were, could they really be scarier than being poor?!

So she entered the game right away, shielded her employer, and wielded a weapon made from junk that could slice through iron like butter!

After finishing her first job, Xin Yan seemed to have unlocked her full potential, officially beginning her career as a dungeon scavenger.

Other players entering the game: Look for clues, fight monsters, escape alive.

Xin Yan entering the game: Pry the metal plating off treasure chests; sneak out at midnight to rummage through monsters' trash cans; before leaving, haul away everything in the game in a giant woven sack...

The monster waking up the next morning to find its home stripped bare: ?

Not only that, she turned her predatory gaze toward every living thing in the game:

Beat up NPCs, intimidate players, hunt down monsters, resell clues, auction off items...

She left nothing behind, not even the fur off a beast!

Her greed was simply appalling!

Before long, a legend began circulating on the forums:

Never mess with a woman whose entire outfit is made of junk!

She really will kill you!

-

The only thing Xin Yan couldn't figure out was that she'd called her employer over to collect the payment, but there was a suspicious blush on his face. He cautiously asked her, "Um... would you like to give me a chance?"

Looking at her employer's handsome face, Xin Yan froze.

Her inner thoughts: This is bad. Is he trying to get out of paying me?!

"Reader's Guide"

1. A satisfying story with a strong female lead. The heroine is bizarrely poor (not really), and she's always coming up with wild schemes.

2. The male lead appears in the second dungeon and is present in most of the later ones, but the story mainly focuses on the heroine's escape dungeons.

3. Lots of twists, with a touch of horror.

Upcoming Story: Escape Game, but My Enemies Are Everywhere

[System: The global escape game has been loaded. Current surviving players: 799,832,001]

Tao Ye stood frozen, a half-eaten fried dough stick in her mouth.

As a newly hired magician at a circus, Tao Ye never imagined that a global escape game would descend on her very first day on the job.

Her skill was the magic trick she had performed on stage just a second earlier: "Switcheroo"

[Skill: Switcheroo. Activate this skill in front of a crowd to swap an item in your hand with an item held by someone else. Note: If you are noticed while using it, a death penalty will be triggered.]

[Newbie Dungeon: Sweet Amusement Park]

During the final escape, the BOSS charged forward, swinging an axe. Everyone scattered in every direction. Seeing that things were getting dicey, Tao Ye was the only one who took the opportunity to approach.

The next second, in full view of everyone, the bloodied axe in the BOSS's hand became the fried dough stick in Tao Ye's, while the bloodied axe became Tao Ye's weapon.

BOSS: ?

The few remaining players: ?

Tao Ye: "Magic. It's all magic."

Under everyone's horrified stares, she quietly added ordering a custom heart-shaped peach mask to her to-do list.

Two months later, the global escape game forum exploded:

★ [Shocking! Speedrun Record for Witch's Castle Broken!]

Poster: That lunatic in the heart-shaped peach mask swapped a lollipop for the hellfire torch, and the witch got so mad she blew herself up, aaah!

★ [Let's Talk About the Genius Who Made the BOSS Lay Eggs]

Post 1: She actually switched the Gluttony Demon's stomach with a hen's! Now the dungeon is full of eggs rolling everywhere.

Post 2: The best part is that the little demon hatched from an egg and called her Mom!

★ [Hidden BOSS Spotted in the Bonus Round!]

Poster: [Tears of blood.jpg] I reached for an S-rank item and got sunflower seeds!

Post 1: Oh, Sister Peach Heart? That's normal.

Post 2: Oh, Sister Peach Heart? That's normal.

And also...

★ [Damn Peach-Hearted Thief, Give Me Back My Underwear!!!]

Poster: That was a priceless treasure, a token of love from my benefactor... I mean, a priceless treasure!

Tao Ye: I really didn't do it on purpose this time!! [Furiously hitting the unsend button]

-

Later, when all of humanity was cheering over the System's collapse, an anonymous post suddenly went viral:

[My Crush Turns Out to Be the Forum's Most Wanted Criminal]

Poster: I personally put my benefactor on a trending thread, and now she's running all over the world in a mask to hide from me. What do I do?! Help! Waiting for an answer online!

Post 1: Suggestion: Change your ID to "I Won't Change My Name Until I Get My Underwear Back."

Post 2: I'm dying. Sister Peach Heart grabbed the underwear and ran off overnight.

"Reader's Guide"

1. Here's another heroine who's great at stirring up trouble!

2. The male lead appears in the very first dungeon and is present in most of the others too. He gets a fair amount of screen time, but the story mainly focuses on the heroine's escape dungeons.

Theme: We all have a bright future ahead of us