Chapter 10: Cement Mixed with Sawdust

Chapter 10: Chapter 10: Cement Mixed with Sawdust

’Do it!’

’I’ve already made the charcoal. Of course I’m going to build it!’

A minute later, the simple water filter appeared before Seraphina Sinclair.

The device was a cylindrical contraption pieced together from Metal Fragments, its shell giving off a crude, industrial vibe.

’Then again, what kind of high-tech marvel could you expect from so few materials? That would be the truly strange part.’

The surface of the simple water filter was covered in welding marks and uneven seams. It looked like something thrown together in a hurry, yet its structure was surprisingly solid.

For Seraphina Sinclair, as long as it worked, that was good enough.

But she would have to wait until tomorrow to find out if it actually worked.

She walked a lap around the mobile cabin, taking stock of the supplies she had gathered today.

In total, she had acquired eight boxes today: six F-level Supply Boxes, one E-level, and a newbie gift pack.

Seraphina Sinclair’s current inventory consisted of:

Items: foldable military knife x1, Bandage x5, Healing Potion x1 (E-level), Hand-cranked Sunlight Lamp x1, watering can x1 (E-level), lighter x1.

Food: 500g bread x9, 500ml mineral water x13, compressed biscuits x3.

Materials: Stone x10, wood x10, charcoal x2, cloth x5, Earth x6.

Blueprints and Crafted Items: simple water filter blueprint x1, simple water filter x1, simple composting device blueprint x1, simple composting device x1.

’It might not look like much, but this is only the first day.’

Seraphina Sinclair was already quite satisfied. She was a person who was easily contented.

Dinner was bread and mineral water again.

The other survivors chatting in the regional channel were like clockwork. When the time came, they started complaining about how terrible the food in this world was.

"You guys don’t actually think these compressed biscuits are any good, do you? Heh, I wanted to complain at noon, but everyone was talking about the bread. Now’s my chance! This stuff is basically cement mixed with sawdust! I was starving when I choked down the first bite, and now I realize just how delicious my school cafeteria’s food actually was!"

"The compressed biscuits? Haha, someone finally said it! Someone finally said it! And they call this military-grade rations? You could use this stuff as a brick on the battlefield! If I snuck our side’s compressed biscuits to the enemy overnight, a dozen of them would choke to death in one meal, and the squad leader would call me a regular Einstein!"

Seraphina Sinclair’s eyes widened slightly. ’Are they really that bad?’

She still had three packs of compressed biscuits, after all!

And they were the ordinary kind from F-level Supply Boxes, which meant they were no different from anyone else’s.

’Disgusting...’

Seraphina Sinclair frowned, then let out a helpless sigh as her brow relaxed.

’It’s better than starving.’

Seraphina Sinclair hadn’t closed the regional channel. A glance back showed that they were still trashing the compressed biscuits.

"The satiety from this thing is also ridiculous! You chew three bites, and it feels like you’ve eaten three pounds. My stomach feels like it’s full of lead weights, and my burps taste like cement... Uh, wait, this stuff isn’t actually cement, is it?"

"Quit worrying about stupid things. We’re lucky to have anything to eat at all. Just focus on staying alive. Why think so much? When you’re dead, you’ve got nothing."

"It’s only been a day, but this has definitely been the worst day of my year. It kills me to think that I don’t even have a blanket when it’s time to rest..."

"Hey, person above, stop being a baby. If you’re going to be that picky, you might as well die sooner rather than later."

"What’s the point of living, anyway? Suffering... toiling... for nothing... can’t even get a good night’s sleep!"

"Actually, people like the person above are my favorite. They’re always spewing negativity and acting like they want to die. But you don’t actually have to worry about their safety, because they don’t even have the courage to end their own lives."

"So that’s a good thing, I guess?"

Seraphina Sinclair: "???"

’How did the conversation get here?’

’In the few survival novels she’d read, dinnertime on the first day was when all the pros would show off their amazing meals in the regional channel.’

’Why was the vibe in their regional channel so different?’

Much later, Seraphina Sinclair would finally realize that her meals were probably the best at the time. The other survivors’ food was truly nothing to brag about.

And since she was a humble person, the regional channel was left with nothing but this sort of chatter.

When it was time to sleep, Seraphina Sinclair picked a nice spot for herself that hadn’t been damaged by the monsters.

The broken wooden bed was covered in supplies and had been trampled on by Seraphina Sinclair all day. Sleeping on it was out of the question.

This was a perfectly ordinary reason.

In reality, as Seraphina Sinclair saw it, if you didn’t have any bedding, there was no essential difference between sleeping on a broken wooden bed and sleeping on the wooden floor.

In fact, the floor was much larger than the bed, so she could toss and turn as she pleased.

The consequence of tossing and turning as she pleased was that the next morning, Seraphina Sinclair didn’t wake up naturally. She woke up because she rolled over, accidentally pinned her arm, and jolted awake from the pain.

She had overexerted it yesterday, and her entire arm was sore when she woke up today.

Finding humor in her misery, Seraphina Sinclair thought, ’Maybe this means my arm muscles are starting to grow?’

It was not yet eight o’clock. According to the [Basic Rules of The Black Mist World], it was still nighttime.

Seraphina Sinclair poured a little mineral water to wet her eyes, which managed to wake her up a bit. That counted as washing her face. Then she took a mouthful of water and rinsed, which counted as brushing her teeth. 𝘧𝓇ℯℴ𝓂

There was no helping it. This godforsaken place lacked everything, so she had to make do.

She didn’t rush to get on with her tasks for the day. Instead, she stood by the window and observed the world outside.

Outside was no different from last night. The churning black mist obscured almost everything, with the shadow of a behemoth or two occasionally drifting by.

But the Seraphina Sinclair of today was not the Seraphina Sinclair of last night.

To her, these terrifying shadows were more like atmosphere-setting NPCs that spawned on a fixed timer. She even sighed and quipped, "We’re all just working stiffs here. Why make things hard for each other?"

Breakfast was a single loaf of bread again.

As she ate, Seraphina Sinclair did a quick calculation. If she ate one loaf of bread per meal, her current supply would only last until noon on the fourth day.

In other words, if she didn’t find new food by noon on the fourth day, she would have to start living on compressed biscuits.

Seraphina Sinclair stood up, stretched, and gave herself a little pep talk. The moment eight o’clock passed, she picked up the Hand-cranked Sunlight Lamp, ready to collect today’s sunshine.

’Whether the filter works or not will only be revealed this afternoon, but the composting device just needs monster corpses!’

’The sooner I crank, the sooner I can move, and the sooner I can start my compost pile.’

As the Sunlight Lamp grew brighter, the Sunflower’s petals gradually unfurled, and its cartoonish smiling face seemed to become even more vivid.

Seraphina Sinclair noticed that today’s Sunflower seemed to be a size larger than yesterday’s, and the gold in the center of its disc was richer.

She guessed it was the effect of its Growth Rate.

’It gained 30 points of Growth Rate yesterday, so it seems reasonable for that to be reflected in its appearance by growing a size larger.’