[Welcome, first wave of players, to the Sea Survival Challenge.]
[Game Reminder 1: Cherish your life and take this game seriously. Each player has only one life.]
[Game Reminder 2: The beginner's protection period lasts for seven days. Please upgrade your raft as much as possible during this time.]
[Game Reminder 3: Random treasure chests will appear on the sea daily from 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM. Avoid entering the water at night—it's dangerous!]
[...]
Staring at the endless ocean all around her, with nothing but a flimsy two-by-two-meter raft beneath her feet, Faye Yardley knelt in the center, shivering uncontrollably.
'Didn't someone just push me off a thousand-foot cliff?'
'How did I end up in a sea survival game?'
SOB...
'This is terrifying.'
The incessant system prompts suddenly reminded her of the male-protagonist sea survival novel she had stayed up all night reading before her hiking trip.
The book featured a cannon-fodder sister and a villainous older brother who had the exact same names as her and her own brother, so she couldn't help but curse them out while reading.
She regretted it now as much as she had enjoyed cursing them out then.
'Falling off a cliff isn't a guaranteed survival, and it's the same in this survival game—one wrong move and you're dead!'
"Faye Yardley, get a grip! Now's not the time to be scared. Figuring out how to survive is what matters!"
"And you need to think carefully about who ambushed you, who wanted you dead."
Even though she was talking to herself out loud, it was no use. She couldn't stop her limbs from trembling.
'She desperately wished this was a dream, but she'd never had one this advanced before.'
The cold, emotionless electronic voice, the virtual screen, and the strings of reminders on it all seemed to be mocking her for overestimating herself.
'Calm down, calm down. Anyone who can transmigrate into a book and survive falling off a cliff must be one of the chosen ones. Faye Yardley, don't you dare bring shame upon the countless other transmigrators.'
SOB...
'Still, she couldn't suppress her fear. I don't want to be the chosen one! Does anyone want to take my spot?!'
'Ha, it's just a game. As if anyone can't play...'
SOB SOB SOB...
'I can't!'
Faye Yardley felt like she was about to develop a split personality.
With tears streaming down her face, she forced herself to open her game inventory with a thought. It had ten empty slots, with an item in only one of them.
"Retrieve."
Instantly, a fishing rod appeared in front of Faye Yardley.
'What time is it?'
The moment she thought it, a large time display appeared on the virtual screen before her.
Sea Survival Calendar, Year 1. June 1st, 5:50:27 AM.
It was the very beginning of the game from the book.
Faye Yardley clutched the fishing rod as if it were a lifeline.
"Calm down, calm down! Calm down, dammit!"
"The random treasure chests will appear in ten minutes! Faye Yardley, you can do this! You can definitely do this! You have to!"
After calming down a little, Faye said, "Open Status Panel."
SWISH. The screen's display changed.
Name: Faye Yardley
Gender: Female
Age: 19 (This doesn't seem to be your real age?)
Talent: None
Constitution: 5 (Are you sure you're an adult?)
Strength: 3 (What can you even lift?)
Agility: 7 (You're serious about escaping, aren't you?)
Spirit: 7 (Quite the spitfire, aren't you?)
Luck: 9 (My god, your luck surpasses 99.98% of all people!)
Charm: 8 (You're the one who shines in a crowd.)
Skills: None
Hunger Level: 88 (Max 100. If this hits 0, you starve!)
Seeing the age, Faye Yardley realized she must have transmigrated into a new body. It was completely absurd. But then again, since something as unscientific as transmigrating into a book had already happened, soul transmigration seemed almost normal by comparison.
Besides, on this world of Aquaria she had crossed into, the entire planet's population was being forced into this sea survival game. What was the point of talking about science?
This was a world of mysticism and fantasy, a game world.
Once the initial fear and panic subsided, Faye Yardley's reason returned.
'Anyway, as long as I don't do anything stupid during the protection period, I won't die. So I need to upgrade my raft as much as possible and expand my living space.'
'As for riding the coattails of the novel's male protagonist? You've got to be kidding me. My current brother is the main villain, and I'm just a small-fry character destined to be a stepping stone for one of the heroines.'
'Otherwise, why would a civilized person like her have been cursing up a storm?'
'Whatever. To stop my villainous brother from fighting the protagonist's group just to avenge me, I'll do my best to stay alive.'
'And as for the heroine who uses me as a stepping stone... sorry, but if you dare try to climb over me in this life, I'll break your damn legs and send you to your grave first!'
After all, watching the villainous brother's tragic quest for revenge had made her feel incredibly indignant on his behalf, especially since she also had a brother in real life who doted on her completely.
But there were so many people in the world, and the game was divided into regions: 'Sectors' of one million people each, which were then grouped into larger 'Regions' based on country.
Competition between countries existed from the very beginning, but it was mostly covert. After all, survival was the eternal theme here.
Faye Yardley pounded on her trembling legs, trying to push aside all the chaotic thoughts in her head. Thinking about them did, however, seem to make her less afraid.
'But the treasure chests were about to spawn. With my luck stat so high, I should have no problem fishing up a chest to sustain myself, right? If worse comes to worst, I could just catch some fish, crabs, or lobsters. I could even eat sashimi.'
'Oh, right. The regions were divided by large grid squares in the game. She wondered if she'd have to wait for a major server merge to meet her brother, Ethan Yardley.'
When the game first descended upon Aquaria, massive 100x100 grid-like pillars of light had appeared. Anyone caught within the same grid was guaranteed to be in the same starting region. Otherwise, even if two people were in the same house, they could be separated into different regions if they were caught by different grids.
These different grids were then merged to form a million-person sector, though nobody knew exactly how that process worked.
'After all, she didn't have time to absorb the original owner's memories, so she had no idea where Ethan Yardley was when the game began. Her memories of the book were also a jumble. She forgot most of it right after reading it. Recall it now? Recall what? Her mind was a complete blank.'
Taking yet another deep breath, Faye Yardley casually tossed the fishing line into the sea. Whether she caught anything was all up to fate.
'While waiting for the treasure chests, Faye Yardley finally remembered she could check the regional chat channel. Everyone used their real names, so even though she might run into people with the same name, there was still a chance she could find who she was looking for.'
As she thought of the regional channel, constantly scrolling text appeared on the virtual screen.
[...]
...
[Leo Sloan: Help! Somebody save me! I just fell into the sea and tried to catch a fish with my bare hands, but a big crab clamped onto my calf. It won't stop bleeding. Am I going to bleed to death?]
[David Hughes: Who the fuck is playing this joke on me? Get me out of here right now, or you'll all be sorry!]
[Hailey Miles: Everyone, hurry up and get your fishing rods from your backpacks. It's six o'clock. Leo Sloan, you should try to fish for a treasure chest. Maybe you can get something to stop the bleeding.]
Although the chat channel was constantly scrolling, Faye Yardley's gaze was fixed on one name: Hailey Miles.
The screen scrolled by quickly, and Hailey Miles didn't post again, so her name was soon pushed out of view by other messages.
[Wade Warren: I just finished reading all the game prompts. We're the first wave, all between 18 and 50 years old. Those under 18 and over 50 are the second and final wave. If you have family members in those age groups, we need to upgrade our rafts and strengthen ourselves now, following the game's instructions. That's the only way we'll be ready for our families when they arrive.]
[Kyle Lewis: Mommy, Mommy, where are you? I don't want to play games anymore. Please take me home.]
[Kyle Lewis: Mommy, Mommy, where are you? I don't want to play games anymore. Please take me home.]
[Miles Hughes: Kyle Lewis, will you give it a rest? You're a grown man, stop crying for your mommy. Instead of wasting time on that, you should be getting your fishing rod out of your backpack.]
[Kyle Lewis: Mommy, Mommy, where are you? I don't want to play games anymore. Please take me home.]
[Wade Warren: It's almost six o'clock, time for the treasure chests to respawn. Everyone, get ready. The sun is up, so the temperature is only going to rise. We should use this cool time to pull in a few chests and catch some fish.]
[...]
People were constantly talking in the regional channel. Some offered helpful reminders, while others were crying, wailing, and cursing.
'What a strange collection of freaks and weirdos.'
'Hailey Miles, huh?'
'The grudge from the book could be set aside for now.'
Faye Yardley had gotten over her initial fear and was gradually calming down.
Just as it turned six o'clock, she saw a Wooden Treasure Chest bobbing on the waves, drifting toward her small raft.
She picked up her fishing rod to cast it, only to find it felt like she had already hooked something.
Her spirits surged. She pulled hard on the rod, and just as Faye Yardley felt her strength giving out, a large fish landed on the raft with a SLAP.
'You really can catch fish with an empty hook!'
The moment Faye Yardley's hand touched the fish, a system prompt appeared: [Mackerel discovered. It can be dismantled. Dismantle?]
'Of course I'll dismantle it,' she thought. 'Otherwise I'd have to tear it apart with my bare hands.'
After she selected "Yes," a white light flashed, and a new prompt appeared: [Obtained Clean, Uncontaminated Fish Meat ×3].
'Uncontaminated Fish Meat?'
'So if I had tried to butcher it myself, I might have ended up with contaminated meat? And if I ate contaminated fish, I'd probably become contaminated myself?'
'Why wasn't there any explanation for this in the novel?'
'Could it be that some of the rules changed because I transmigrated into the book?'
'Or maybe it was mentioned, and I just don't remember?'
There was no time to dwell on it; a treasure chest was waiting. Faye Yardley immediately cast her fishing line toward it.
She reeled it in and excitedly hauled the Wooden Treasure Chest onto her raft. Faye Yardley rubbed her hands together, muttering a little chant, "Oh spirits of heaven and earth, may The Supreme Lord grant my wish!"
The chest opened to reveal three orbs of light.
Faye Yardley reached for one of the orbs, and a system prompt appeared: [Obtained wood × 10].
The other two orbs yielded [Obtained Mineral Water ×2, Delicious Little Bread ×5] and [Obtained wood ×5, iron block ×1].
'Great! Food, water, and materials. What a perfect start!'
"System, what do I need to upgrade the raft?"
The void screen immediately displayed the requirements—Raft Upgrade - Level 1: Requires wood × 20 (15/20).
Faye Yardley was instantly filled with motivation. 'Just five more pieces of wood and I can upgrade the raft!'
'It seems upgrading the raft during the safe period is pretty easy after all.'
She stored all the items in her backpack. As for the Wooden Treasure Chest, she kept it beside her. She could lean against it when she got tired, and it gave her a small sense of security.
She took out a bottle of mineral water and drank about a third of it, calming the waves of anxiety and fear that kept surfacing.
She cast her fishing rod out again. 'Whatever I can catch is a resource,' she thought.
From then on, Faye Yardley focused solely on fishing and scanning the nearby water for floating treasure chests.
She had no time to look at the regional channel at all.
'Once the chests stop spawning, there'll be plenty of time to chat and trade for supplies.'
'I know what the priority is right now.'
When she felt a tug on her line, Faye Yardley's eyes lit up, and she began to pull with all her might.
Whatever was on the line was even heavier than the large fish. 'This is killing me!' she thought, lying flat on the raft, terrified she'd be pulled into the sea.
"Whoa! What kind of chest is this? Is it bronze or iron?"
Whatever it was, Faye Yardley was so excited she couldn't stop grinning from ear to ear.
[You have obtained one Iron Treasure Box. Open it?]
'No question. Of course I'll open it!'
Before opening it, however, Faye Yardley recited her little spell: "Heaven protect me, Heaven protect me... Open!"
She opened the Iron Treasure Box. It didn't contain more items than the Wooden Treasure Chest; there were still only three orbs of light.
She picked up an orb and received a notification: [Obtained Backpack Expansion × 10 Diagrams ×1].
'This is great, but it's just a diagram. I still have to gather the materials myself.'
The diagram showed that expanding the backpack required cloth ×2 and Space Stone ×1.
'Great. I don't have either of those things.'
'Now this diagram is just taking up a backpack slot.'
'Maybe I can put the smaller items into the chest and then store the chest in my backpack. That should save a lot of space.'
She quickly grabbed the other two orbs, obtaining [wood ×35] and [High Level Fish Spear Manufacturing Diagram ×1].
Huh?
'I have enough wood! System, quick, upgrade the raft!'
[Upgrade to Level 1 Raft? wood 50/20]
"Yes, yes, yes!"
A white light flashed. The raft was now a 2x5 platform—ten square meters. It had gotten much longer, but its width was still worryingly narrow.
The Iron Treasure Box was quite heavy, so Faye Yardley decided it would work well as a stool or a backrest on the raft. She put the diagrams, mineral water, and Delicious Little Breads into the wooden chest; that way, it would only take up a single slot when she stored it in her backpack.
After that, she became a relentless robot, doing nothing but fishing for fish and chests, constantly casting and reeling in her line.
Not every cast was successful; sometimes, she just reeled in ocean junk.
Sometimes, she'd hook two chests in a row and wouldn't even have time to open them right away. It was a happy problem to have, one that filled her with so much motivation that she temporarily forgot her fear of the open sea.
'Treasure chests, fish, shrimp, crabs—they're all mine!'
...
After working hard for twelve hours, from morning until night, Faye Yardley was utterly exhausted. Besides taking breaks to eat a Delicious Little Bread and drink mineral water to replenish her stamina, she had been completely focused on fishing.
The sun was setting, and darkness would soon fall upon the sea.
Lying on her back as a gentle breeze brushed her face, Faye whispered, "First, let's take stock of today's haul."
In total, she had fished up eight treasure chests, two of which were Iron Treasure Boxes.
She had already opened five, leaving three unopened.
Faye hadn't wasted the empty chests, either. She dismantled all of them. A single Wooden Treasure Chest could be dismantled into 3 units of wood.
That meant as long as she fished up about seven Wooden Treasure Chests, she could upgrade her raft to Level 2 even if the chests themselves didn't contain a single piece of wood.
Her Hunger Level was still at 80, so she was fine not eating for now.
A tally of her opened chests revealed: [Mineral Water x6, Steamed Buns x2, Delicious Cola x1, Delicious Little Bread x1, Instant Noodles x5], [wood x62, iron blocks x15, cloth x4, Cotton x5], [Alfalfa Seeds x3, Vegetable Seeds x2], [Basic Iron Axe Blueprint x1].
It had to be said, the haul from just five chests was quite impressive.
She rolled over, quickly rinsed her hands in the ocean, and then Faye began to chant, "God, please bless me, your faithful follower. May all my wishes come true; may I get whatever I ask for."
[A Wooden Treasure Chest has been discovered. Open it?]
"Open, open, open!"
This time, there were only two orbs of light inside. Faye frowned slightly. 'Did my luck get worse after washing my hands in the seawater?'
After she picked up the orbs of light, the system prompted: [You have obtained Ordinary Fishing Rod x1], [You have obtained Wooden Fence Blueprint x1].
A wooden fence?!
Hahaha!!!!
Faye really felt like kowtowing to all the gods. This was something she desperately needed; she had been so afraid of rolling off the two-meter-wide raft in her sleep. With a fence, her safety would be greatly increased.
There was still one Wooden Treasure Chest and one Iron Treasure Box left. No question about it, when your luck is running high, you open them immediately. No need to repeat the Spell—what if she messed it up this time?
[You have obtained Mineral Water x5, Egg Pancake x1]
[You have obtained Basic Wooden House Blueprint x1, Basic Wooden Bed Blueprint x1]
Wooden House Blueprint: Requires raft level to be Level 3 or higher. Materials required: wood x62/150, stones x0/50, iron blocks x15/10.
"No way. A tycoon like me can't even afford a basic Wooden House? Fine, fine, fine. Let's see who in this region could possibly be richer than me. System, open the regional chat channel, quick."
Faye Yardley stared at the regional chat channel scrolling rapidly on the virtual screen before her. Focusing her eyes, she noticed that posts with more likes were pinned to the top, which would make searching a little easier.
In a regional channel with one million people, even with only a small portion of them talking, the messages still flew by at a dizzying speed.
Messages vanished in the blink of an eye.
Trying to scroll up to read past messages? Haha, what a naive thought. The earlier messages had already been pushed up and away, impossible to scroll back to.
She looked at the messages at the top first.
[Leo Sloan: Has anyone found a Bandage or any medicine? I'll trade everything I've found so far, you can even have the treasure chests I fish up. Please, I'm begging for a Bandage or some kind of styptic.]
[Kyle Lewis: Mommy, Mommy, where are you? Kyle upgraded the raft, did you see?]
Huh?
'Two familiar names have been liked and pinned to the top by so many people. Looks like there are a lot of kind-hearted people out there.'
[Alice-Rae: I've been fishing all day and only got two wooden chests, not a single bottle of water inside. I'm dying of thirst. Can someone give me a bottle of water? I can sing, I can dance too.]
[Bonnie Callahan: It really takes all kinds. Everyone's short on food and water right now, who wants to see someone sing and dance? Anyone want to trade for wood? I can trade the eggs I got and some crab meat I fished up.]
[Hailey Miles: Everyone, if you don't have enough wood, you can dismantle the chests. One wooden chest can be dismantled for wood x3, and an Iron Treasure Box can be dismantled for iron blocks x2. They're useful resources, so don't just throw them away.]
[Phoebe Pierce: Hailey is so beautiful and kind-hearted. It's a shame I didn't know this before; I threw mine into the sea because I thought they were taking up space.]
[Yeah, yeah, feeling the pain +1]
[Feeling the pain +1,000,000]
[Feeling the pain + my social security number]
Hailey Miles's message was quickly liked and pinned to the very top. Watching this, Faye suddenly got furious and slapped her own forehead. "Faye Yardley, you're so stupid! How could you forget to steal Hailey Miles's thunder and farm some reputation for yourself?"
[Faye Yardley: Trading Mineral Water and Instant Noodles for wood, stones, and iron blocks. Also, if my 'brother' sees this, remember to add me as a friend!]
Faye spammed this advertisement three times in a row, using up all her regional chat messages for the day. She was confident someone would see her ad; now, all she had to do was sit and wait for people to message her with trade offers.
"System, what resources do I need to upgrade the raft to Level 3?"
[Raft Upgrade (to Level 3): wood x62/150. Insufficient materials. Unable to upgrade.]
Upgrading the raft only required wood. It seemed the early stages of the game were still simple.
It only took 20 wood to upgrade to Level 2, but upgrading to Level 3 required 150 wood. How much would it take to get to Level 4?
Looking at the regional channel, she saw that the vast majority of people had only found four to five wooden chests all day. The unluckier ones only got one or two.
And this was still the grace period. Once it was over, Faye figured that the people getting only one or two chests might not even be able to fish up a single one all day. They'd probably have to jump into the ocean and catch fish with their bare hands just to get ingredients.
Sure enough, just as she was looking at the raft upgrade information, she heard a continuous DING DING DING of notifications in the background.
Just as she was about to look away from the regional channel, she suddenly spotted a message.
[Zachary Pierce: Does anyone have a spare fishing rod to trade for materials?]
Seeing that his message was about to be scrolled off the screen, Faye immediately clicked on his name and sent a friend request.
Sure enough, his message vanished from the regional channel a moment later. Faye let out a laugh. She remembered this name being mentioned in the novel; he was a character on par with the male protagonist.
And unlike the novel's male lead, Zachary Pierce was supposed to be one of the officials.
The game had just started. Even if the officials had already reacted, it wouldn't be an easy task for them to contact each other and organize.
Her friend request hadn't been accepted yet, but Faye went ahead and sent a message first. She took a photo of the ordinary fishing rod next to the system-issued one and sent it over. The meaning was clear: 'I have what you need. Let's see what you can offer.'
The other party quickly accepted her friend request and sent a message: "What do you want to trade for the fishing rod?"
Faye was very direct in her reply: "I want wood, stones, and iron blocks. Or whatever you think is a fair trade."
Zachary Pierce: "I only have 50 wood and 4 stones. Deal?"
Faye didn't waste any words. The system hadn't enabled a trading function yet, so they could only trade based on trust. She directly sent the ordinary fishing rod she'd gotten using the Red Envelope function in the friend chat.
On the other side, Zachary Pierce fell silent as he looked at the Red Envelope notification...
...
After receiving the fish spear, Zachary Pierce quickly packed the items he had just mentioned into a Red Envelope and sent it to her.
At the same time, he couldn't help but add a reminder, "Don't trust others so easily."
Faye Yardley couldn't help but laugh at his message. 'He can't possibly think I'm some naive girl, can he? If I hadn't read the book and known he was an upright person, I wouldn't have done something so reckless. I was just willing to bet a fish spear on the book's information being correct.'
'As expected, he's the real "good guy."'
"Thanks for the reminder. I know. I only sent it first because it was you."
Zachary Pierce frowned slightly. He didn't recognize her name at all. "You know me?"
Faye Yardley didn't keep him in suspense. "My brother is Ethan Yardley. I've heard him mention you a few times."
She didn't pay Zachary Pierce any more mind after that. She still had a pile of messages to get through.
'When did the trading system appear?'
'I can't seem to remember, but it definitely shows up later on.'
'Probably right after the novice period ends.'
Instant noodles and mineral water were definitely hot commodities right now. So even though people knew she wanted upgrade materials in return, there was still a huge crowd scrambling to trade with her.
Of course, among the flood of messages, plenty were from people hoping to get something for nothing.
She blacklisted all the freeloaders. She had no intention of ever trading with people like that.
She was 38 wood short of upgrading to a Level 3 Raft, but she also needed to craft a wooden fence and build a Wooden House.
'Why does it feel like my wood deficit is just getting bigger and bigger?'
After picking and choosing, she ended up trading away 8 bottles of mineral water, 4 packs of instant noodles, 1 bottle of cola, and 2 steamed buns. In return, she received stones x45, wood x219, iron blocks x20, Crystal x1, and a Space Stone x1. The haul was nothing short of generous.
"System, upgrade raft."
[Raft Upgrade (Level 3): Wood x331/150. Upgrade conditions met. Proceed with upgrade?]
"Yes."
A flash of white light was followed by thirty seconds of CLANGING. As expected, the raft had not only expanded, but she could now also freely adjust its shape.
'A 5x6, thirty-square-meter raft. I still need to set aside 150 wood for the Wooden House, which leaves me with 31 wood for the fence.'
[Wooden Fence: Consume 2 wood to obtain one piece of fence (1 meter long, 0.5 meters high).]
'To completely enclose the Level 3 Raft, I'll need 22 meters of fencing, which will cost 44 wood.'
'It doesn't seem like that much more is needed, but I have to save some food and drinks for myself, too.'
She was just one stone short of being able to build the Wooden House. 'Maybe if the Wooden House occupies one end of the raft, I'll need less fencing.'
She had used up all her channel posts for the day. Her friends list was only populated with people she had just traded with.
After thinking it over, Faye Yardley clicked on Zachary Pierce's profile. "Mr. Pierce, do you have any more stones? I'm one short."
By now, the sky had completely darkened, and Faye Yardley could feel the temperature dropping.
'I desperately need a Wooden House right now.'
With her current physical stats, she was afraid spending a night out in the open would get her sick, which would affect her ability to fish for treasure chests the next day.
When she didn't get a reply, Faye Yardley started browsing the regional channel to see if anyone else was looking to trade.
Something like iron blocks for stones.
A lot of people were talking in the regional channel. It seemed that on this silent sea, where everyone was alone, watching others chat was the only thing to do. Fear was enveloping them all.
[Wade Warren: Everyone, look at the player count in the bottom-left corner of the regional channel. We're already losing people. Has anything unusual happened to any of you?]
Faye Yardley looked and saw that he was right. The perfect one-million-player count was no longer whole. Though the gap didn't look large, over three hundred people had already died on the first day of the novice period. She wanted to know why, too.
'I'm so weak, yet I'm still alive and well. How did other people die?'
'Were they already seriously ill to begin with?'
DING-DONG!
She received a Red Envelope from Zachary Pierce. After opening it, she found stone x1.
"Thank you, Mr. Pierce! If you need anything, just let me know. If I have it, it's yours."
Zachary Pierce: "Don't mention it. Ethan's sister is my sister."
Faye Yardley chuckled to herself. Now was not the time for pleasantries. She immediately used her existing materials to build the Wooden House.
The same white light and CLANGING construction sounds followed, but this time they lasted for a full minute before stopping.
A small 3x4 Wooden House appeared before her.
Even better, she could move the small Wooden House anywhere she wanted on the raft via the system panel.
She placed it against one end of the raft. This way, 7 meters of its perimeter—the 3-meter and 4-meter sides—wouldn't need a fence.
That meant she needed exactly 15 meters of fencing, and she would even have one piece of wood left over.
'So nice!'
Stepping into the Wooden House, she found it completely empty. But however bare it was, the temperature inside was noticeably warmer than outside.
Just then, a DING sounded, and a system prompt appeared. [Tool workbench can be unlocked. Unlock now?]
"Yes."
'That sounds like a good thing. I'll unlock it first and figure it out later.'
A table laden with tools materialized out of thin air in a corner of the room.
'As expected. Game worlds just don't follow logic.'
Walking over to the workbench, Faye Yardley took out the blueprints.
[High Level Fish Spear blueprint and Basic Iron Axe blueprint detected. Learn blueprints?]
"Yes."
After a flash of light, Faye Yardley saw that the workbench could now craft High Level Fish Spears and Basic Iron Axes. They required materials, of course, but this meant she could produce them continuously as long as she had the resources.
She checked the materials for the Basic Iron Axe: iron block x2, wood x1.
Next to the recipe was a green "Craft" button.
Faye Yardley tapped it immediately.
The raw materials were consumed, and a gleaming Basic Iron Axe appeared on the workbench.
She picked it up and swung it a couple of times, only to feel her arm ache. 'Oh, great. Just great. Is the game mocking my stamina and Strength?!'
Looking closely at the Iron Axe, she was surprised to see it even had a durability of 70/70.
She then checked the materials for the High Level Fish Spear: iron block x5, Crystal x1, wood x2. A red prompt to the side indicated "Insufficient Materials."
'It even needs a Crystal? Good thing I have one.'
'Damn it, I'm short on wood again. I don't just need it for the fish spear; I'll need it for a wooden bed later, too.'
'I can't really wield this Iron Axe myself, but I can trade it. I'm not sure about others, but Zachary Pierce will definitely need one, right?'
So, she naturally found his profile and poked him. "Mr. Pierce, [Basic Iron Axe]. Need one?"
He replied instantly. "I do. Name your price."
Faye Yardley thought for a moment before replying, "I'll trade for wood, Crystals, iron blocks, or blueprints for household items. Any trade has to include wood, though."
'It suddenly occurred to me that there should be a one-time Dungeon event during the novice period, and you can form a team for it.'
Faye Yardley sent the Iron Axe over in a Red Envelope and added, "Mr. Pierce, if a Dungeon event happens in the next few days, how about you take me on your team?"
