Chapter 1005 – Attempting Meditation

Xiao Xiao knew full well that the “game” 《Erta Apocalypse》 appeared forgiving on the surface, but was in reality extremely strict when it came to resource management.

A player’s initial psychic power was their most precious starting capital, essentially determining their purchasing power and potential.

Initial psychic power varied from player to player — those on the low end had a pitiful single-digit amount, while even the highest only reached thirty to fifty points.

The conventional methods of recovery and accumulation in the game — eating well, resting safely, engaging in construction activities, improving living comfort — yielded negligible psychic power gains at an agonizingly slow rate.

Because of this, players in her previous life had mockingly dubbed it a “garbage game with painful leveling and zero satisfaction.” If not for its unparalleled sense of true immersion, it probably would have been abandoned long ago.

Most ordinary players, during the game phase, grew accustomed to relying on their initial psychic power to exchange for Gem Coins to buy basic survival supplies, living paycheck-to-paycheck or even overdrawing — resulting in tremendous waste.

Only a rare few players knew that meditation, along with the study of Magic associated with it, was the one true path to efficiently boosting and recovering psychic power!

But this path was equally fraught with thorns.

Meditation required talent, patience, and above all, proper guidance. To truly get started, one had to consume many Meditation Experience Cards.

The higher one’s initial psychic power, the greater their mental potential, meaning faster entry into meditation and easier learning.

Xiao Xiao’s 58 points of initial psychic power placed her firmly among the top echelon of all players — an excellent aptitude by any measure.

In her previous life, due to her lack of information, she had completely squandered this gift. It wasn’t until long after the apocalypse had descended that she stumblingly set foot on the path of meditation, missing the most precious golden development period.

In this life, she swore to seize every last advantage.

Gem Coins absolutely could not be spent recklessly!

The first month after the game’s launch was an unmissable golden development window.

During this period there was no extreme cold or scorching heat, no acid rain or hurricanes — survival costs were very low.

Xiao Xiao made up her mind: during this period, she would not purchase any food within the game whatsoever.

As long as she ate and drank her fill in reality before each game session, storing enough calories, the game’s mechanics would partially sync her real-world physical state into the game, greatly slowing the rate at which her in-game hunger increased.

As long as she calculated the time difference between reality and the game properly and arranged her logout schedule for eating and resting, she could absolutely achieve “zero food consumption” during the game’s early phase.

As for the death penalty?

This game had no traditional levels or experience points. The sole punishment for a player’s death was the erasure of all “construction gains” from that game cycle, along with any cards and items not stored in the card album.

But as long as she didn’t engage in any substantive construction activities and didn’t buy Tool Cards or Food Cards that couldn’t be stored in the album after materialization, death would cost her nothing more than a bit of game time — entirely bearable.

Every single Gem Coin had to be spent where it mattered most: buying Meditation Cards, buying Magic Cards, expanding card album space, upgrading the Card Shop’s level. Everything else was a waste.

Her thoughts now in order, she used the Meditation Experience Card.

The card dissolved into motes of light, and a familiar sensation of cool tranquility instantly enveloped her.

Flames, flowing water, green grass, earth, gentle breezes… various meditation images symbolizing different elements or concepts rotated and surfaced in her consciousness.

Among them, the dancing, warm image of flame with its faint searing heat was the one she remembered most clearly, and the one that made it easiest for her to focus.

“Fire… I really do have the strongest affinity with the fire element.” Xiao Xiao understood clearly. In her previous life, when she used Magic Cards, fire-element Magic Cards had always produced the best results!

She stopped letting her mind wander and poured all her focus into the various meditation images. Her breathing grew long and slow in tandem with the settling of her consciousness.

One hour flew by in the blink of an eye during meditation.

The card’s effect expired, and Xiao Xiao was abruptly pulled from that wondrous state. A powerful feeling of wanting more surged through her.

She immediately checked her status.

【Psychic Power: 3/58】

【Gem Coins: 27】

She converted her recovered psychic power into Gem Coins, bringing her total to 30.

【Consumed 30 Gem Coins. Obtained {Meditation Experience Card — Zero} x3】

【Gem Coin Balance: 0】

Without a moment’s pause, she immediately used one of them and sank back into the world of meditation.

This time, she focused more heavily on the flame meditation image.

After some indeterminate amount of time, she “sensed” an extremely faint yet unmistakably clear “current” appear within the flame meditation image she had been continuously tracing with her mind. These currents flowed slowly but steadily toward the spot between her eyebrows.

“This is… psychic power!”

Xiao Xiao’s heart shook violently, and she nearly broke out of her meditative state. She forced down her excitement and fought to maintain the stillness of her consciousness, wanting to capture this sensation more clearly.

However, that thread of perception darted away like a startled fish, vanishing in a flash.

But in the instant it disappeared, Xiao Xiao was absolutely certain — she had truly touched upon the trace of psychic power in motion!

Though it lasted only a moment, this was undeniably a milestone breakthrough!

Where there was a first time, there would be a second, and a third! As long as she could consistently perceive the existence and flow of psychic power, she wouldn’t be far from truly “looking inward” to see her own mental sea.

She used another Meditation Experience Card — Zero.

After this deep meditation session, her memory of the flame meditation image had reached a considerably profound level.

“A few more times… no, perhaps just one more, and I can try meditating on my own using this image without relying on the Meditation Experience Card — Zero!”

Excitement glimmered in Xiao Xiao’s eyes.

If she could achieve this, it would mean she could break free from her absolute dependence on the Meditation Experience Card — Zero and achieve preliminary “self-sufficient” meditation. This would save her a considerable number of Gem Coins!

Soon, the third Meditation Experience Card’s effect also came to an end.

Xiao Xiao slowly opened her eyes and let out a long breath, feeling her mind clearer and more focused than ever before.

She pulled up her personal information:

【Psychic Power: 9/58】

【Gem Coins: 0】

Even if she converted her psychic power to Gem Coins, it wouldn’t be enough to buy another Meditation Experience Card — Zero. But Xiao Xiao wasn’t disappointed in the least.

She felt she had memorized the flame meditation image well enough to attempt meditating on her own!

Without the Meditation Experience Card’s guidance, Xiao Xiao quickly discovered just how difficult meditating on her own truly was.

The ruined night was far from silent.

The chittering of unknown insects in the distance, the mournful whistle of wind threading through gaps in broken walls, even the occasional faint clatter of tiny pebbles tumbling from above — every sound became abnormally vivid, constantly tugging at her attention.

After maintaining a relatively still seated position for over four hours, her body began to protest as well.

Her lower back and shoulders ached, her buttocks had gone numb from the hard ground beneath her, the circulation in her legs didn’t seem quite right, and worse still, a vague hunger gnawed at her from her stomach.

These physical discomforts were like tiny needles, constantly pricking at her nerves, making it nearly impossible to fully relax and enter a meditative state.