Chapter 7: Really Take the Risk?

Chapter 7: Chapter 7: Really Take the Risk?

It was 6:30 PM, and she had no idea when night would fall in the game. Enduring the pain, she stuffed the jumble of things into her fishing net and hauled it back to her shelter.

Once back at her shelter, she immediately rinsed her wound with purified water. She tore off the hem of her shirt and fashioned a simple bandage.

Now that she had a chisel and a hammer, she tried to use them to modify the rock face.

[Do you wish to use the chisel and hammer to modify the boulder? This modification will cost 80 Physical Strength and take five hours.]

"Modify!"

[Your current Physical Strength is 42/100. Insufficient Physical Strength. Modification failed.]

Shi Zhile regretted suggesting they add the Physical Strength mechanic.

While her Physical Strength recovered quickly, it was also depleted just as fast.

What’s more, her Physical Strength was constantly being drained whenever she was on her feet. It would only regenerate when she sat down to rest or went to sleep.

She needed to recover her Physical Strength, so she found a rock to sit on and took out all her treasure chests.

Including the ones she hadn’t opened earlier, she now had a total of four.

She was injured, and the wound had been soaked in seawater. To be safe, she needed some medicine.

Resources were scarce, and she hadn’t unlocked a medicine crafting station yet. The only way to get medicine was by opening treasure chests.

"Open them all." As she spoke, the four treasure chests opened in succession.

[Wood x99, Purified Water x10]

[Stone x99, Bread x3]

[Eight-Treasure Porridge x1, Travel Toiletry Kit x1]

[Beachcombing Set x1, Fishing Umbrella x1]

’What could she say? Her luck was both good and bad.’

If she said her luck was good, well, she’d fished up torn underwear eight out of ten times.

But she couldn’t call it bad, either—after all, none of the four chests had been empty.

She cleared some space in her backpack, put the stone, wood, water, and food inside, and then sent the 100 stone she owed Jiang Yuxing.

For the sake of a good ongoing relationship, she threw in two extra small stones.

Just as she was about to put the empty chests away, a system prompt appeared.

[Four treasure chests detected. Each can be dismantled into Wood x4 and Iron Nails x5. Dismantle?]

’It didn’t mention a Physical Strength cost. Does that mean it’s free?’

Shi Zhile wanted to give it a try. After all, her shelter was looking pretty shabby.

"Dismantle."

The chests broke apart right where they were, and wood and nails CLATTERED to the ground.

[You have obtained Wood x16 and Iron Nails x20.]

[Congratulations, you have unlocked a new item: Iron Nail! (When combined with wood, I can create furniture. Surely I don’t need to teach you what you can make, right? ...Fine, I’ll teach you. Go to the newly opened Mission Hall and accept the unlockable missions.)]

Shi Zhile ignored the sassy description and went to check the Mission Hall.

The Mission Hall was split into two sections: "Unlocked" and "Locked."

In the Unlocked section, Shi Zhile saw an option to create a wooden door.

[Wooden Door Materials: Wood x30, Iron Nails x20, Hammer x1. Create?]

She didn’t hesitate and chose to create it immediately.

[Please select an installation location for the wooden door.]

Shi Zhile pointed to the gap between the boulder and the stone wall. The next second, a white mist rose from the spot she had indicated.

The sound of wood clattering came from within the white mist, soon changing to a steady BANG, BANG, BANG of hammering.

About five or six minutes later, the white mist faded, revealing the newly created wooden door.

It was a primitive door, pieced together from thick wooden planks. Since the stone wall was only half a person’s height, the system had automatically used up all the stone in her backpack to raise the wall to match the door’s height.

Now the walls were as tall as the door, forming a proper high-walled compound that looked very secure.

Shi Zhile walked over, closed the door, and slid the wooden bolt into place. For good measure, she propped a large rock against it.

After she was done, she checked her stats. Her Physical Strength was at 50, which meant creating the door had only consumed materials, not Physical Strength.

The sky was growing dark. Shi Zhile took out her flint, placed the firewood she’d gathered on an empty patch of ground, and then added the dried, tattered underwear.

She struck the flint several times before a spark caught and a flame ignited.

[Fire: Just a plain old fire? (Wrong! My effects change depending on what’s burning. Cooking food is the least of my talents. Currently, I can repel insects and sterilize. I also grant damage immunity within a one-meter radius. Note: One pair of underwear provides 24 hours of immunity.)]

’Damage immunity... from underwear?’

’What the fuck!’

’Is that even possible?’

She had mixed feelings, which only became more complicated when she looked at the dozens of pairs of tattered underwear in her fishing net.

All she could do was thank her lucky stars she hadn’t thrown them out.

’The net also held socks, shoes, and plastic bags. If underwear grants immunity, maybe these other things have special effects too?’

This was a matter of personal safety. Even though she was so hungry her stomach was touching her spine, she couldn’t afford to be idle.

She sorted through the "trash" in her fishing net, spreading it all out on the ground to dry.

Once that was done, she ringed the fire with small stones. She found a thin stone slab in a corner, gave it a quick rinse with water, and placed it over the flames to heat up.

The only meat she had in her backpack was two ocean fish, which she placed on the slab to cook.

With no oil or salt, the fire brought out the simple, primal aroma of the fish.

Shi Zhile ate straight off the stone slab, using two clean twigs as chopsticks.

While she ate, she opened the chat channel. In contrast to the panic from earlier in the day, most people were now showing off their fishing hauls.

There were all kinds of fish half the size of a person, and countless shrimp and crabs.

The more she saw, the more her mouth watered. She wished she could climb through the screen and snatch their fishing rods.

Seeing no other useful information, she sent out a message asking for medicine, then opened her private messages.

[Jiang Yuxing: Want some fish?]

[Yes. Are they free?]

[Gulu Gulu: Can I trade you fish for stone? How about one yellow croaker for one stone?]

[Volcano Eruption: Bro, you got any giant rocks? I’ll trade you magma for them.]

He’d attached a description of the magma.

[Magma: A perpetually burning magma with an extremely high temperature. Can be used to smelt iron ore and refine medicine. It’s a natural fire starter; fires lit with it can only be extinguished by rain.]

Shi Zhile’s interest was immediately piqued. ’Isn’t eternally burning magma basically a space heater that doesn’t need electricity?’

’Of course, I don’t need it in the summer. But in winter... I can’t even imagine how warm it would be to have a little of that indoors.’

She replied, [How do you store the magma?]

He replied almost instantly:

[A stone vat or a stone basin works. The heating effect on this thing is insane, man. I’m over here sweating buckets. I don’t need a ton of stone, just find me one big enough for a person to lie down on. You tell me how much magma you want, and I’ll give it to you.]

She’d used up all her large stones building the wall. There was some rubble outside, but if she wanted a proper boulder, she’d have to go due west of her shelter.

The route through the forest was shorter, but it meant crossing a large swamp. That was too dangerous at night; she’d have to be on high alert, which would slow her down considerably.

The path along the seashore was longer but much easier to traverse. A round trip would take about half an hour.

First, she checked her stats. Her Physical Strength had regenerated to 73/100, which was more than enough for the trip.

The only problem was that it was getting dark. Whichever path she took, there was no guarantee she’d make it back before nightfall.

Besides, she had no idea what dangers the night might hold.

’She had a fire starter now. Was the magma really worth taking such a risk?’