Yukino’s thank-you came out stiff and awkward.
After she said it, she felt slightly embarrassed and fixed her gaze pointedly on the stone, deliberately avoiding him.
The sharp remark Natsuyū had been bracing for never came.
Instead — gratitude.
He looked down at the Yukino crouching beside him, chiselling away, and asked with genuine puzzlement:
“What are you thanking me for?”
Yukino kept her expression calm.
She felt his gaze and held herself very still, continued picking up stone blocks with perfect composure, and said with a graceful smile:
“You’ve clearly said the incantation out loud before this — several times, to unlock the resource gathering ability you demonstrated earlier.
But I didn’t know about any of it.
Sakuraba Ema and the others didn’t mention it either, which means you kept it hidden.”
“Your reason for hiding it was probably embarrassment.
If I were in your position, I would never have let anyone know about something like that.”
She paused — and her voice softened without her quite meaning it:
“But just now, you exposed your embarrassing secret for the sake of our safety.
So — thank you.”
“I’ll keep this a secret.
I won’t let Sakuraba Ema or the others find out.
You have my word.”
Her voice went quieter still:
“Natsuyū-kun — you really are kind.”
Natsuyū was genuinely surprised.
He was moved, and a little amused, and he looked at this unexpectedly sincere girl — crouching there, earnest and slightly pink — with new eyes:
“Yukino — that version of you right now is actually quite cute.”
Yukino stacked another stone block, tilted her head up, and said with complete self-assurance: “I’m always cute.”
“Ha.”
Both of them laughed — one short, quiet breath each.
Yukino reined her smile in immediately and looked at him evenly: “Please don’t get the wrong idea.
I have no interest in romance.”
“Yes, yes.”
Yukino fixed him with a measured stare.
She had the persistent feeling he was looking at her the way an adult looks at a young, troublesome junior.
Was that just her imagination?
Natsuyū’s appreciation of Yukino ticked up a quiet notch, and he went back to work — chipping steadily at the rock.
With each ten-centimetre cube that broke free, the whole boulder shrank perceptibly.
About five minutes later, the rock was gone entirely, leaving only a shallow depression in the soil and a flurry of panicked beetles scrambling for the shadows.
The wooden pickaxe’s tip had been worn blunt — durability down — but it hadn’t affected the yield at all.
Rule-based abilities — operating on a higher plane.
Yukino placed the last stone block on the growing stack behind them and dusted off her pale palms, looking at the result with satisfaction:
A small wall of stone blocks, neatly piled.
Natsuyū dismissed the pickaxe, and together they loaded the stone into the backpack.
Stone x40 obtained.
Stone’s per-slot stack limit was 40 — identical to Don’t Starve’s setting.
Yukino, seeing the work was done, stood up properly rather than keep crouching — she had her image to maintain — and asked with curious eyes: “Can you unlock a new ability now?”
“Stone axe and pickaxe.
Let’s go.”
A thought, and several stone blocks dropped to the ground.
He pressed both hands to them.
Crack crack—
The stone split with a grinding sound, then warped and fused together.
In seconds, a stone crafting table materialised under Yukino’s fascinated stare.
Natsuyū took out fresh stone, set it on the table, thought for a moment, and added sticks:
A stone handle would grind against skin and chip too easily — no flexibility, brittle despite the hardness.
Wood handles are the right call.
A few seconds later:
Two stone axes.
One stone pickaxe.
Done.
[Congratulations on unlocking the achievement “Levelled Up!” — shout the incantation “I’m already going full speed — AAAAAAH~” to claim your rewards: Wall Crafting, Roof Crafting, Door Crafting, Furniture Crafting, EXP +15.]
[Basic Achievement Tree — new advancement unlocked:
…Levelled Up!
→ Going Hard!
(Smelt one iron ingot) → ?]
This incantation has a personal vendetta against Levi Ackerman.
Natsuyū rolled his eyes slightly, then zeroed in on the EXP reward.
Fifteen this time — not the fixed ten he’d been getting.
The rate wasn’t as locked as he’d assumed.
Good news.
The levelling speed wouldn’t crater as the EXP bar kept growing.
He glanced at Yukino.
She was watching him with bright, expectant eyes.
Natsuyū sighed.
“You should probably look away.”
Yukino curved the corner of her mouth slightly, met his eyes, and made another promise: “I’ll keep your secret.
And I absolutely will not laugh.”
Natsuyū had stopped caring, honestly.
Once you stopped minding something yourself, no one else could really use it against you.
The only people who’d keep bringing up your embarrassing moments were people who’d started paying special attention to you in the first place.
Yukino was nowhere near that stage.
He breathed in, dropped his voice slightly — and belted out:
“I’m already going full speed — AAAAAAH~”
“Pfft—”
Natsuyū gave her a flat look.
She had both hands over her mouth. This story is hosted at g.com.
She was absolutely smiling.
“I’d like to believe, as a basic principle of human decency, that people keep their word.
Would you agree, Yukino-who-doesn’t-keep-her-word?”
“Ahem — ahem.” She strangled the laugh and rallied, eyes still curved, voice light and genuinely pleased: “I wasn’t laughing at you.
I just — your voice sounded… very wholesome.
Endearing, honestly.”
Translation: no brain cells.
Got it.
Natsuyū narrowed his eyes at her, decided to let it go, and checked his panel.
[You have received: Wall Crafting, Roof Crafting, Door Crafting, Furniture Crafting, EXP +15.]
Walls.
Roof.
Doors.
Furniture.
All unlocked.
With wood or stone, he could now build a proper shelter out here in the wilderness.
Once he smelted iron — which was next on the achievement tree — he’d be looking at iron-tier construction as well.
Different crafting tables for each material tier.
The building ability was now online.
[Natsuyū: Level 3 (EXP 10/25)
Free Attribute Points: 0.1]
As always: all into Physique.
The warm current surged.
Natsuyū exhaled inwardly:
Good.
Shen Lan — show me my panel.
[Natsuyū: Level 3 (EXP 10/25)
Physique: 1.2 (Recon Corps physique)
Soul: 1.3 (High mental fortitude)
Charisma: 1.3 (All creatures: Hostile)
(Average healthy adult baseline = 1)
Abilities: Resource Gathering, Tool Crafting, Structure Crafting (tap for details).]
Recon Corps territory.
Getting there.
Earlier, swinging a wooden pickaxe for five full minutes hadn’t tired him out — partly because he hadn’t been hitting hard, but also: wooden pickaxes aren’t light.
The un-upgraded Natsuyū would have been exhausted.
1.2 Physique was no joke, and 1.3 would probably let him genuinely try his luck against a wild bull.
Getting closer every level.
Right now, he could probably down about one-and-a-half Minotaurs.
Progress.
Everything was in order.
Even if they ran into a monster, he had a fighting chance.
Time to push deeper.