Chapter 7

Chapter 007: Class Group

Nine-digit Faction Contribution?

Was that reasonable?

Yet Yan Cang's surprise lasted only a brief moment before he quickly understood.

Clearly, the root lay in the Fate Net.

The rules stated that helping fellow faction trial-takers earned contribution.

And he had created this communication platform covering the entire Huaxia Faction—how immense was the help it provided?

In simple terms, without the Fate Net, even the most refined guide posts would go unnoticed.

In other words, while those posters earned contribution, as the platform's builder, he naturally should receive a corresponding "cut."

Moreover, the value of the Fate Net extended far beyond just the forum.

The private chat function, which allowed contact with friends and family, had a far more tangible effect on stabilizing mentality and improving survival rates than any motivational post.

If not for the cost of consuming "Fate Points" to access the Fate Net, the contribution he had earned now would likely have doubled.

"Thinking about it this way, it's perfectly reasonable." Yan Cang rubbed his chin, his thoughts growing clearer.

Then he thought of Yu Jing, who had painstakingly written several posts, unknowingly working for him as well.

His mood immediately brightened.

In high spirits, Yan Cang turned his attention back to the Fate Net Forum.

This was not like Yu Jing and others searching for "opportunities to earn Faction Contribution."

With the Fate Net—this "super contribution cash machine"—in his hands, he had no need to deliberately scheme over such matters.

What he needed to worry about now was how to improve the chaotic Fate Net Forum.

Yan Cang's gaze fell on the Latest Posts section.

Every second, a flood of new posts refreshed, with many valuable help requests or guide posts instantly buried by countless "spam posts."

"This won't do. I need to think of a way to clean it up." Yan Cang frowned in thought.

"Maybe I should create a subforum system?"

"A Guide Zone, Help Zone, Bounty Zone... and a Chat Zone?"

As this thought struck him, he paused slightly. "As for the Chat Zone, since so many people love to chat, why not just make it a chat room mode?"

"World Channel, Regional Channel, and add one that can be created and joined freely... a Team Channel? Or just keep the original Group Chat Channel."

The inspiration for this chat channel undoubtedly came from the familiar structure of online games.

Drawing from it came naturally.

He even began planning the details: "Limit the World Channel to one message per person per day. Later, we can sell items like Loudspeakers for paid announcements to generate revenue."

"As for the Regional Channel, divide it by geographical location, limiting communication to users within a fixed area."

"As for the number of people, should it be fixed at ten thousand?"

"No." Yan Cang thought it over and rejected the idea.

"Better not fix the number, to avoid people jumping around and pushing others into a different Regional Channel."

That would be quite awkward.

As for how to locate them?

The coordinates of all users connected to the Fate Net were already clear to him, as its creator.

There was no difficulty at all.

Just as he was pondering this, a new post about location caught his eye:

"Has anyone run into other living people? I want to find my mom, but I don't know where she is. If only the Fate Net's private chat could directly send a location!"

Like most other water posts, the content was just that one line in the title.

Clearly, it was just idle chatter.

As for posts about whether anyone had encountered others, there were already quite a few related discussions on the forum.

The answer was rarely, and not worth referencing.

But those four words—"send location"—made Yan Cang's eyes light up.

"This feature is very necessary. I can add it," he silently noted down this improvement.

He planned to implement it all at once in the upcoming "version update."

Having made up his mind.

Just as he was starting to work on optimizing the Fate Net, a prompt suddenly appeared in his consciousness—from one of the brightest and closest Fate Stars to him.

[Ding! Qiao Yue invites you to join the group chat "Class 301 Big Family."]

"Uh..." Yan Cang was taken aback.

Before he could react, Teacher Qiao's message followed closely: "This is our class's group chat. You're the only one missing from the whole class. Hurry up and join! Don't be shy, Classmate Cang."

Qiao Yue was his homeroom teacher, who usually took extra care of him because of his orphan status, and her enthusiasm often left Yan Cang a bit overwhelmed.

He never expected that even after being transported to the Trial Ground, he still couldn't escape it.

"The class group chat actually 'revived' in this place?"

Yan Cang couldn't help but complain, "And what's with that 'don't be shy' nonsense?"

"Does Sister Qiao think I'm antisocial?" He scratched his head.

"Can't be... I mean, I might be a bit quiet, but it's not that bad to be misunderstood like this."

Oh well, overthinking was pointless.

For this class group, Yan Cang definitely planned to join and lurk.

So he immediately accepted the invitation.

The first thing he did after joining the group was check the member count—less than thirty people.

The whole class had forty-six students.

Clearly, Teacher Qiao's claim that "you're the only one missing" was a white lie.

Yan Cang wasn't surprised by this at all, since that was just how Sister Qiao was.

Warm and secretly sly.

He turned his attention to the group, where his classmates were chatting enthusiastically:

"Guys, what did you all have for dinner?"

"I braved it and ate a few bugs raw, the kind that burst juice in your mouth. I'm super tough, right?"

"Eating them raw, bro, that's really hardcore! /Thumbs up"

"I picked some wild berries. Not bad, but they're sour enough to make your teeth fall out."

"I got a few slices of bread from my supply crate. Pretty filling, but too bad it wasn't a weapon, or I'd be eating meat right now."

"I got a bow and arrows, but I can't aim at all..."

"Dammit, how come you all got good stuff? I only got a fountain pen, totally useless!"

"I chewed on some tree bark earlier. Now my mouth is numb, and I'm still a bit hungry..."

...

Yan Cang observed quietly for a while and found that his classmates were really having a rough time.

There were those eating bugs raw, gnawing on tree bark, picking wild berries... and so on.

The best meals came from bread obtained through the "Supply Box."

Of course, it was possible that some people didn't want to dampen everyone's spirits.

But since no one else would step up, he would do it himself!

So, he popped up in the class chat.

"I ate a roasted rabbit—the kind with a slightly long tail."

He spoke truthfully.

Immediately, it drew envy from his classmates.

"How nice! I want to eat roasted rabbit too!"

"Classmate Yan Cang, may I ask what it's like to eat meat?"

?

The question made it sound like he had never eaten meat before.

Oh, in the Trial Ground, he really hadn't.

Yan Cang thought for a moment and decided to give a tactical response:

"Great, very fragrant, and..."

"Very juicy!"

Classmate A: "..."

Classmate B: "..."

Classmate C, who had gotten bread from the Supply Box: "..."

Classmate C was filled with envy and jealousy.

In truth, those few slices of bread were hardly filling at all.

If only he had gotten a weapon instead, then he would surely be eating meat by now.

Just then, a foodie classmate tried to save face: "Everyone, don't envy too much. Rabbit meat is actually quite dry and not tasty at all."

"From dishes like braised rabbit, spicy rabbit head, and kung pao rabbit—all heavy on spice and seasoning—you can tell rabbit meat itself isn't great."

That might be true, but...

A lurking classmate couldn't help but chime in: "I wasn't envious before, but now that you've listed those dishes... I'm so envious!"

Another classmate added the finishing blow: "To that classmate telling us not to be envious, let me ask you one question..."

"Have you eaten meat?"

Bang!

The "foodie" classmate was down for the count.