My thin clothes could barely block out the cold, so I had to keep moving to stay warm. Thankfully, I found a blanket in the trash someone had tossed after getting off their flight.

As time went on, the hunger grew intense. At 8 p.m., I wandered over to a bakery. The leftover bread behind the glass display case was giving off a warm, buttery smell.

My stomach let out a loud growl.

Relying on my broke-girl instincts, I figured this was the hour when the bakery would start marking things down.

Sure enough, the bread that was originally 30 dollars cost 15 dollars. However, that still was not good enough. I knew that close to closing time, the discounts would be even lower, maybe even free.

Every dollar I saved was another chance to survive. So, I sat in a chair across from the bakery, resting with my eyes half-closed.

Just then, someone used the public game broadcast and anonymously posted, [Come to the bakery in Section A on Level 3! Everything is half off!]

"Half-off bread?!"

"It's in Section A! Hurry!"

"Don't take it all! That's mine!"

Dozens of players rushed in from every direction, frantically charging toward the bakery. In just seconds, the small storefront turned into a mob scene.

In the chaos, I saw people waving cash while others straight-up grabbed bread off the shelves.

The employees panicked as they shouted, "Please line up!"

However, no one listened.

Within minutes, every discounted item, including the loaf I had been eyeing, was cleared out. The people who managed to buy something looked relieved, like they had just survived a disaster, while those who came up empty were slamming their fists and staring in despair.

The area was filled with other players cursing, complaining, and sighing hopelessly.

My hunger bar rose to 30%.

I took a deep breath, pushed down the cramping in my stomach, and shifted my gaze away from the chaotic crowd toward the massive flight information display screen high up in the airport.

Red flight statuses kept scrolling past.

It was time to show my real skills!

In this airport, players could move freely to any location. Even without a ticket, a person could go to the gates.

I quickly scanned the big screen and locked onto several delay notices marked in bold red. Flights delayed over six hours were my actual targets.

Dragging my weak legs, I headed toward a gate. There, I saw that a small group of people had gathered, and the air was thick with frustration and sweat.

Gate 102 had been delayed for 8 hours, and the stranded passengers had the airline staff completely surrounded.

The staff member was a young woman whose face had flushed red because the passengers' spit was practically hitting her.

"Does your airline even know how to do its job?!"

"My kid is starving and crying! Do something!"

"Compensation! We demand compensation! Give it to us now!"

The scene was out of control, and the poor staff member looked like she was about to break down.

'This is my chance,' I thought as I shoved my way into the center of the crowd.

However, I was not there to break up the fight but to position myself in front of the staff.

"Quiet!" I yelled at the top of my lungs.

The crowd went silent, shocked by this sudden turn of events. I pointed at the mother holding a crying child and addressed all the passengers, my voice rising with emotion.

"Look! Just look at how badly this poor kid is crying! Does yelling help the plane take off any faster? The airline messed up, and they need to take responsibility, but what do we need most right now? We need food, a place to rest, and enough strength to stand our ground!"

I turned to the staff who was on the verge of a breakdown and said, "Everyone's emotions are running high. The priority right now is to calm the passengers down. Meal vouchers, hotel vouchers... Hand them out immediately! Let people get some food and get settled, because if this blows up any bigger, can you handle the fallout?"

The staff mumbled pitifully, "I've been telling them the whole time that meal vouchers and hotel vouchers are available, but they won't take them. Everyone needs to line up and collect them with their boarding passes–"

"You're still worried about procedures at a time like this?" I cut her off, pointing at the mom with the baby. "Look how exhausted she is! She's been holding her child for 8 hours, and now she has to stand in line for your meal vouchers?"

I turned to the mother and said, "Ma'am, give me your boarding pass! I'll get it for you."

I extended my hand, being all firm as if I would not allow the lady to refuse my help. The exhausted mother instantly shoved her boarding pass into my palm like it was a lifeline.

Once someone made the first move, the effect was immediate. Several other passengers, who were traveling with children or the elderly, or simply looked drained, hurried over and pushed their boarding passes at me, too.

"Get mine, too!"

"And mine!"

Within seconds, I was clutching over a dozen boarding passes.

I turned to the airline staff and thrust the passes toward her, whispering, "Hurry up and handle the most urgent cases first. It's better than having this hit the news, right? Slip me two extra meal vouchers, and I'll calm down these parents so everyone has a way to back off gracefully."

The staff looked at me with gratitude and quickly typed the information into the system. Soon, she pulled out a stack of meal vouchers, counted out the ones matching the boarding passes I had, then secretly added two more before handing them to me with a thankful look.

'Score!' I silently cheered. My heart was pounding wildly, but I remained calm on the surface.

"Here you go! Take your baby and go get some food!"

"Sir, here's yours!"

I quickly distributed the corresponding meal vouchers and boarding passes back to everyone, moving efficiently. Finally, I tucked those two extra vouchers into my hidden pocket.

I shouted to the crowd, "Everyone, go get your vouchers and grab some food! Rest up and save your energy! We'll deal with them later!"

While the crowd's attention shifted to collecting vouchers, I slipped out, instantly disappearing into the bustling terminal corridor.

In this game, the only way to survive was to see the gaps faster than everyone else.

Just as I left the gate area, I ran into Omari again. He smiled warmly and said, "Player 66, I saw what you did back there. You handled the situation like some big shot from a movie. Are you sure you don't want to team up with us? We might all need to watch each other's backs later on."

In just one day, he had managed to gather four more players around him. However, I still declined his invitation.

I grabbed some food with the mela voucher, temporarily maxing out my hunger bar. However, exhaustion hit me like a wave as my energy level had already dropped below 50%.

It was now 11 p.m., and foot traffic in the airport had noticeably thinned out. Most shops were closing up, the lights had grown dim, and an indescribable atmosphere of dread was starting to creep in.

All the terminal chairs had armrests to prevent people from lying down.

One young player, probably completely wiped out, wrapped himself in a thin jacket and curled up on the floor, trying to sleep. Less than two minutes later, a bright light shone directly in his face.

"Get up! No sleeping here," the security guard said in a flat monotone.

The young player ignored the NPC, rolled over, and kept sleeping. Suddenly, a group of security guards rushed out from the corner and, without warning, forcibly lifted him up and threw him outside the airport doors.

The game's public broadcast announced, "Player 13 has been eliminated for leaving the game zone and now owes one million dollars."

Right after that, players from different areas were eliminated in the same way. The system was pushing us to the edge, using exhaustion and cold to drain every last bit of rationality from the players.

By this point, my energy level was critically low. To avoid getting eliminated, I draped the worn blanket over myself and dozed off sitting in a gate area chair.

When the sun rose the next day, it was a brutal reminder that only one day had passed. My energy level had barely crawled back up to 75%, but my hunger bar rose to 50% again. Even so, I was not in a rush since I still had one meal voucher left.

I took a sip of cold water, ate two sugar packets, and continued hunting in the departure hall.

Suddenly, a player rushed forward and snatched a hot dog right out of a kid's hand. He brushed past me and nearly knocked me over.

The kid started bawling, and security came running. They surrounded the player and threw him into a police car outside the airport.

The system broadcast rang out again. "Player 25 has been eliminated for stealing food from an NPC and has been thrown out of the airport by security. He now has a debt of one million dollars."

I figured out one key rule: doing anything that would alert security was a no-go.

The airport was strangely quiet that day, because not a single flight got delayed. I guessed the system had finally patched whatever loophole I had been exploiting.

All day, I wandered around like a regular traveler, drifting through every shop that offered free samples.

Of course, I ate without buying anything. I watched the staff's faces as I sampled my way through the counters. Once they realized I was only eating and not purchasing, I slipped away immediately.

That was how I got through the entire day.

I used my last meal voucher for dinner, and it replenished my hunger bar. However, my energy level dropped even lower that day, so I refused to sleep in a chair. Instead, I slipped into a dim service corridor and headed for the little treasure I found earlier: an old maintenance room with its door barely closed.

The place was stuffed with junk, but once you shut the door, it became your own little hideaway.

I had just walked into the maintenance room and had not even closed the door all the way when a loud bang echoed through the room.

Someone had kicked the door open.

A tall guy walked in, with two punk-looking dudes trailing behind him.

I shrank back a little, scared.

The tall guy shouted, "Get out. This spot is ours!"

I recognized him. Yesterday at the bakery, he had snatched bread the most aggressively. He even grabbed two loaves straight out of another player's hands.

Knowing I was no match for him, I decided to give up this prime real estate. Just as I reached the doorway of the equipment room, the tall guy suddenly pulled out a knife and pressed it against my throat.

"Hand over whatever money you've got left, and any food too. Or I'll gut you."

The crazed cruelty in their eyes told me they would absolutely do it.

My brain went into overdrive: Fighting back was pointless, and giving up my money meant instant elimination and a million-dollar debt.

'What do I do? What do I do?'

I swallowed hard and said, "Look, let's talk this out. Robbery will get you eliminated by the system."

"Shut up! Hurry it up. I'm running out of patience," he snapped, pushing the blade closer.

I gave up resisting and quickly transferred the 50 dollars in my account to him. After all, only by staying alive in the game did I have any chance of earning that million.

After getting the money, the tall guy shoved me out.

They slammed the door shut, and I heard them laughing inside. "Robbing people totally works. We really have to thank that person for telling us the system doesn't eliminate you for taking players' cash. Now we don't ever have to worry about money again."

Who was this 'person' they were talking about?

You could not rob NPCs, but you could rob or even kill players. Someone clearly knew the rules inside out. This was only the second day, and I had already lost my only 50 dollars.

With no money and no food, was I seriously going to starve to death?

Before long, someone posted anonymously on the game's public chat.

[The 24-hour convenience store in Departure Level B has crackers on sale.]

The equipment room door opened, and the tall guy walked out with his lackeys. I quickly hid to the side and tailed them toward the convenience store.

All three of them used the stolen money to buy crackers.

As the payment confirmation chimed, the system broadcast across the game.

[Players 5, 49, and 61 have been eliminated for overspending. Debt: one million dollars.]

The tall guy wailed, "But that was the money I stole! How is that overspending–"

Before he could finish, he vanished like a flash of light. The other two punks disappeared right after him.

Dozens of bags of crackers and four bags of bread thudded onto the floor. I sprinted over and pulled off my jacket, wrapping all the crackers and bread tightly.

My guess had been right: the system had stated at the start that overspending meant elimination, but each player only had 50 dollars in their account. There was no way anyone could overspend without cheating the limit.

There was only one possibility: if you stole money from other players and spent more than 50 dollars, that counted as overspending.