Natsuyū checked his body carefully.
He felt nothing — no drain on his stamina the way Kushida had described when she used her power.
The law of conservation of energy, rendered null once again.
Sir Newton’s coffin lid is going to fly right off.
“So my ability runs at a higher tier than Kushida’s and the others.
I can use it at zero cost — no more worrying about running out of ammunition.”
Provided he kept the materials coming.
[Congratulations on unlocking the achievement “Wait, is that a Crafting Table?!” — shout the incantation “I am a hardworking little Pal~” to claim your rewards: Wooden Axe Recipe, Wooden Pickaxe Recipe, Basic Backpack Recipe, EXP +10.]
[Basic Achievement Tree — new advancement unlocked:
…Wait, is that a Crafting Table?!
→ Stone Age!
(Craft a Wooden Pickaxe) → ?]
No wooden sword?
No leather armour?
Natsuyū was mildly irritated.
This system had clearly been nerfed.
Back in his past life, reading web novels at Todai, he’d have had a word or two for a cut-down system like this.
But his attention quickly landed on one thing: Basic Backpack Recipe.
A backpack?!
With a backpack came equipment slots.
And once the equipment slots unlocked, he could earn EXP, level up, and allocate attribute points.
He needed to say the incantation.
Immediately.
Every second of hesitation was an insult to the equipment slots and his stat-point future.
He glanced at the distant figure of Yukino, feeling cheerful — and shouted:
“I am a hardworking little Pal~ strong and able to work~”
He’d gone and started singing without thinking.
[You have received: Wooden Axe Recipe, Wooden Pickaxe Recipe, Basic Backpack Recipe, EXP +10.]
Knowledge poured into his mind again, as natural as breathing:
Wooden Axe: 1 Wood + 1 Stick.
Craft at crafting table.
Speeds up tree-felling.
Wooden Pickaxe: 2 Wood + 1 Stick.
Craft at crafting table.
Used to collect stone.
Basic Backpack: 4 Hay + 4 Sticks.
Craft at crafting table.
Provides 8 stackable backpack slots.
Items stored weigh nothing.
Cannot store living creatures.
He paused.
Wait — something feels off.
A 8-slot stackable backpack — wasn’t that a Don’t Starve item?
This Minecraft system was not pure-blooded.
It had Don’t Starve elements mixed in.
He looked up at the sky.
Shadow creatures.
The shimmering gate.
“Find something to eat before dark.” This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
Is this actually the world of Don’t Starve Together?
[Natsuyū: Level 2 (EXP 5/20)
Free Attribute Points: 0.1]
Well.
Whatever this place was — stat point first.
He allocated it to Physique, as always.
The warm current rose through him.
His whole body went light, every cell sharpened and brightened, humming with a pleased energy.
This is better than any chemical high.
The rush faded after a moment.
He checked his panel.
[Natsuyū: Level 2 (EXP 5/20)
Physique: 1.1 (Athletic physique)
Soul: 1.3 (High mental fortitude)
Charisma: 1.3 (All creatures: Hostile)
(Average healthy adult baseline = 1)
Abilities: Resource Gathering, Tool Crafting (tap for details).]
Athletic physique — that’s actual beast-mode territory.
Natsuyū opened and closed his fist a few times, feeling like his whole body was thrumming.
At this rate he could deck a bull.
Well — a Minotaur at least.
“1.1 is already athlete-tier.
Which means my 1.3 Soul and 1.3 Charisma are both genuinely valuable.”
“I really am a mentally tough, good-looking guy.”
Natsuyū had always had a clear sense that he was good-looking.
No delusions about it — just facts.
He indulged in exactly two seconds of self-satisfaction, then looked left at the oak tree and the grass around it.
Wood from the oaks.
✓
Hay was everywhere on the ground.
✓
Sticks?
In Don’t Starve, sticks grew out of the ground as separate pickups.
But he hadn’t spotted any.
Wait.
He looked up at the branches of the oak — full, lush, tips just beginning to yellow.
Those are sticks.
He smiled.
“Right then — let’s get to work.”
He grabbed a clump of grass and pulled.
With his boosted Physique, barely any effort was needed — the tuft came right up.
A small bald patch appeared in the ground.
In an instant, the green clump dried and yellowed, becoming a neat bundle.
Hay x1 obtained.
He climbed the oak, grabbed a branch, and snapped it off.
The broken branch immediately took on a clean, forked shape, about arm’s length long.
Stick x1 obtained.
He collected a batch of sticks and hay, then went back to punching trees.
Thud thud thud thud thud— He lost himself in it completely, deep in the rhythm of gathering.
Footsteps approached.
He kept going — glanced back, saw it was Yukino, kept going.
Yukino stood there watching him go absolutely wild at the trees, surrounded by a carpet of resources and tree stumps, and then — with her own eyes — watched the tree in front of him suddenly collapse into three neat logs.
The scene was so far beyond common sense that Yukino’s brain simply stalled out.
Natsuyū finished, sidestepped the falling wood, turned around: “You done scouting?”
“Yes.”
Yukino didn’t ask questions about his ability.
She got straight to business:
“We need to go deeper in.
Do you need help carrying the wood?
There’s too much for one person.”
“It’s fine — take a breather.”
He’d noticed the flush across Yukino’s pale cheeks from the exertion, the faint shimmer of effort still rising from her — like a perfectly ripe peach, fresh from the cold water.
“I’ll sort this.
Recover your energy.
We move deeper in a few minutes.”
“Alright.”
Yukino didn’t push it.
She found a rock to sit on and watched Natsuyū haul resources over to the square crafting table.
Was he about to do carpentry now?
Could that block actually produce weapons?
She watched with quiet, curious eyes.
He set sticks and logs against the crafting table.
The wood warped and shifted of its own accord, sawdust flying — and a wooden pickaxe half as tall as a person materialised in a flash.
“…Oh?”
Yukino couldn’t quite hold back the small sound.
That’s not scientific.
But then again — she could turn into a cat.
Maybe not-scientific was something she’d have to accept.
She glanced away and started playing with her hair as if she hadn’t reacted at all.
When Natsuyū turned back, Yukino was already composed, watching with genuine interest.
She saw him produce a wooden pickaxe (x1), wooden axes (x2), and then — using hay and sticks — a clearly textile-looking shoulder bag that bore no resemblance whatsoever to its raw materials.
She didn’t make another small-fry noise of surprise.
She was a superhuman capable of turning into a cat.
A little thing like this wasn’t going to faze her.
Then she watched Natsuyū take a one-metre log and stuff it into the forty-centimetre bag.
Completely inside.
Her lips parted slightly.
“…Oh?”
Natsuyū turned around again.
Yukino, too surprised to reach for her hair in time, made direct eye contact with him.
“…”
To be continued…