Suppressing the anxiety in her heart, she jogged over quickly.
Picking up the arrow, she drew the bow again.
Recalling the vague archery stances she had seen in TV dramas, she nocked the arrow and pulled the string.
*Whoosh—Clang!*
The arrow still went off course, but this time it struck the tree trunk.
[Archery Proficiency +1.]
Song Xu began to repeat the process over and over again—aiming, drawing the bow, and shooting.
…
[Archery Proficiency: 27/1000.]
*Sizzle sizzle, rustle rustle.*
A sudden noise came from inside the stone pot.
Song Xu hurriedly ran over.
To her surprise, she discovered that in order to heat the food evenly, the pot had begun stirring automatically!
She had not expected that a stone pot looking so crude on the outside would have such a magical function.
A aroma blending the scent of mushrooms and the savory charred fragrance of meat drifted out, with five minutes remaining on the display.
Song Xu continued practicing her archery nearby.
When the time was up, the pot lid began clattering noisily.
Pinching the pot lid, which was practically bouncing off on its own, she lifted it open.
White steam surged into her face.
The mushrooms in the pot had been seared into a purple juice that coated the golden-brown chunks of meat, looking… hard to describe.
[Cooking Successful]
[Obtained: Stir-Fried Earth Dragon Snail Pot x1]
[Deliciousness: ★]
The task list flashed, and she selected to submit the task.
[Task ‘First Cooking Attempt’ completed, rewards issuing]
[Obtained: Points +5, Clean Water 500ml]
[Life Skill ‘Cooking’ unlocked! Current Level: Beginner (0/1000).]
[Unlocked Original Recipe: ‘Stir-Fried Earth Dragon Snail Pot’ cataloged.]
The points column changed to 35.
The inside of the pot was clean as new, but a dish of food and a bottle of clean water had been added to her backpack.
Song Xu looked at the attribute description of that dish.
[Stir-Fried Earth Dragon Snail Pot: Restores 50 Health upon consumption, Stamina recovery speed +15% for 30 minutes.]
[Freshness: 99%]
She gasped.
It could restore 50 Health points!
That was almost equivalent to an extra life.
Song Xu took the dish out of her backpack.
The contents on the plate looked purplish like a dark cuisine, yet they were mouth-wateringly fragrant.
She caressed the spotless white ceramic dish out of curiosity.
Was this… a bonus gift?
Casual breaking off a wooden stick, she impaled a chunk of snail meat and put it into her mouth to give it a taste.
“Mmm…”
The meat was far tenderer and smoother than she had imagined, the charred outer layer blending with the unique fresh sweetness of the mushroom—the flavor was actually quite excellent.
Just as she was about to take another bite, her hand suddenly lightened; the dish along with the plate vanished simultaneously.
At the same time, a small icon indicating Stamina recovery speed +15% appeared beneath her character attributes.
Rubbing her suddenly full belly, Song Xu was filled with regret.
So eating food was just a formality—a single bite was equivalent to eating the whole dish.
Sigh, what a waste.
There were still two portions of snail meat left. She threw one set of ingredients into the cooking pot, covered the lid, and turned on the heat.
She continued practicing her bow.
More than 20 minutes later.
Two steaming portions of snail pot were stored into her Large Stomach Pouch.
Because the mushrooms she used in one of the portions were carefully selected, it actually achieved a two-star rating, and its attributes increased accordingly.
Once placed into the Large Stomach Pouch, the freshness of the dishes would no longer drop.
The cooking pot belonged to the cookware category, so it could also be stored inside the Large Stomach Pouch, saving another slot in her backpack.
Her Archery proficiency was improving too slowly, and it was already almost noon.
Song Xu decided to practice while walking; perhaps she might even run into new available tasks.
The shelter, however, could not be brought along—it would fall apart if dismantled.
She hoped she could make it back before nightfall.
Song Xu stepped into the woodland to the south, where vines intertwined with one another.
*Whoosh~*
*Clang!*
Another arrow missed.
Frightened, the Grey Rock Snail instantly retreated into its shell.
Song Xu walked up, smashed the snail shell with a look of regret, and gathered the meat.
She had examined the snail shell earlier; it could be directly modified into protective gear to wear.
Right now, she had two fitted onto her wrists, and she wanted to get two more to protect her ankles as well.
The clothes she wore were still the set of short-sleeved top and shorts from when she first entered the game, now so dirty that the original white color was completely unrecognizable.
Next to the snail was a cluster of Earth Dragon Mushrooms, which she harvested.
For two full hours, she shot her bow while walking, picking mushrooms and gathering thatch along the way.
It was not until her Stamina dropped close to 20 that she sat down to rest.
Looking at the bow in her hand that had only 1 durability point left and her single remaining arrow, Song Xu sighed.
Her Archery proficiency had just reached 298.
She truly could not bear to spend points to purchase bows and arrows from the mall.
Yet without a bow and arrows, there was no way to grind proficiency.
Looking again at the mushrooms piled almost like a small mountain in her bag, she hesitated for a moment before opening the chat room.
Quite a few players were posting trade messages; some were trading basic materials, exchanging stones and thatch for twig branches and the like.
However, most of them were begging to buy food and water.
One player was lucky enough to encounter a berry bush.
He was selling them at a very high price—eating 1 berry only restored 1 Health point, yet he demanded 20 basic materials in return, drawing a flood of curses.
Song Xu mulled it over. In the area where she landed, she had hardly seen anything with green leaves, yet basic materials were everywhere.
Moreover, these purple mushrooms did not seem to exist where others were located either.
Perhaps this was the game’s way of balancing things out.
Hesitating for a second, she began posting messages:
[Bao Bao’s Mom: Selling mushrooms. Can be eaten raw, 1 mushroom restores 3 Health points. Only trading for bow and arrows. Private message me if interested.]
Instantly, the chat channel erupted.
[South Wind Knows My Mind: Eating mushrooms raw? Restores Health? For real?]
[Tomato Scrambled Without Eggs: Poisonous plants are everywhere in this place. Yesterday a guy chewed a poisonous radish and died from poison. Who dares to eat mushrooms?]
[Donut: Sobbing, I have 5 stones in hand. Can someone give me a piece of bread, just a small piece…]
[God Helps Those Who Help Themselves: My bow broke, does anyone have a bow? I will trade with thatch.]
[Weakling: Mushrooms! I saw a huge patch of red caps with white stalks earlier! But I didn’t dare to eat them!]
Song Xu ignored what they were saying and simply kept repeating her buy-request message.
When she posted the 10th message, a limit prompt popped up stating she had to wait an hour before posting again.
Suddenly, a private message popped out from a player with the ID [Vicious Stepmother].
[Vicious Stepmother: Big sister, save me! I only have 3 Health points left, I’m about to starve to death. Are the mushrooms you mentioned really edible?]
[Bao Bao’s Mom: Yes, I’ve eaten them. Do you want to trade?]
[Vicious Stepmother: I’ll trade. My bow and arrows are brand new, durability is 10 for all.]
[Bao Bao’s Mom: 10 mushrooms for 1 bow, 1 mushroom for 1 arrow. How much do you want to trade?]
[Vicious Stepmother: I’ll give them all to you, give me 20 mushrooms…]
[Bao Bao’s Mom: Sure.]
Immediately following that, a line of glittering small text popped up on the panel:
[Vicious Stepmother requested a trade. Accept?]
Song Xu selected yes.
Then, she snapped twenty mushrooms off from a whole Earth Dragon Mushroom and placed them on the display.
Once the other party placed the bow and arrows, she pressed confirm on the trade.
In the next instant, a new set of bow and arrows was added to her bag.
The private message prompt rang out again:
[Vicious Stepmother: Big sister, are… are you sure these bright purple mushrooms are edible?]
[Bao Bao’s Mom: Absolutely sure!]