“Got it. I’ll eat a bit better tonight.”
Lin Zhaoyang was startled by 999’s voice. He had always been on the lighter side and had gotten used to it over time, but he also knew that 999 meant well.
After eating, Lin Zhaoyang began another day of hard work that yielded practically no points.
Although completing any task rewarded him with points, expenses were much higher, leaving him with a constant feeling that he could never save any money.
“999, roughly how many points will it cost me to watch videos of my adoptive parents later?”
[Let me think, probably around a thousand points.]
[However, you won’t be able to watch them if your points are only around a thousand. You always have to keep a balance of at least one thousand points to guarantee your basic livelihood.]
Lin Zhaoyang paused. He didn’t even need to check his points to know he wouldn’t even have a thousand.
“It’s all the mineral water’s fault. Ten points a bottle is way too expensive. I’m going to go pick up stones to build a stove so I can boil my own water.”
This game practically forced players to replenish their hydration in time. If you didn’t drink water, your thirst meter would drop, and once it dropped too low, your health meter would start dropping as well.
A dropping thirst meter was fine, but the moment that health meter started dropping, Lin Zhaoyang would snap awake in a panic and scramble for his mineral water.
[Hey, hey, hey! You definitely can’t boil seawater to drink.]
999 was even more anxious than Lin Zhaoyang himself. Using seawater to wash up was fine, but he shouldn’t even think about drinking it.
“I know. At most, I’m just going to boil water for a bath today. After all, the bathroom is built now, so I finally have a place to wash up. Hehehe.”
Lin Zhaoyang smiled with satisfaction. His little wooden cabin was no longer just an empty shell.
Much like the nature-style toilet, Lin Zhaoyang wasn’t used to a nature-style bathhouse either. Although he knew that besides himself, the only other presence on this island was 999, standing stark naked out in the open during broad daylight was still pretty embarrassing.
The seawater at night was simply too cold. During the day, Lin Zhaoyang and 999 had repeatedly confirmed that before online multiplayer was unlocked, other players couldn’t see his island. For now, that patch of sea essentially served as his private swimming pool.
Even so, after asking and confirming everything, Lin Zhaoyang had still chickened out. For the past three days, he hadn’t taken a proper bath at all. He had only used seawater to wash his hair, hands, and feet.
“999, I’m going back to work.”
Lin Zhaoyang genuinely loved telling 999 about everything he did, giving him the feeling of checking in with someone before heading out, even though 999 was essentially a portable companion he carried everywhere.
[Alright, do you want me to keep you company? It should be fine before multiplayer is unlocked.]
999 felt that Lin Zhaoyang was someone who was slightly afraid of being alone, chatting with him constantly whether he was working or taking a break. He didn’t find it annoying at all, but if he didn’t look at the screen, he wouldn’t know what the other person was talking about.
So, 999 simply floated right beside Lin Zhaoyang all the time, only answering after he finished watching whatever the other person pointed out.
If someone were to take a photograph of the two of them interacting, they would only see a single person, but Lin Zhaoyang knew in his heart that he was being accompanied.
“Yes!”
After bidding his brief greeting, Lin Zhaoyang picked up his wooden pickaxe and set off to mine stones.
He hoped he could take a hot bath before the day ended.
Lin Zhaoyang used his wooden pickaxe to smash mineable stones into materials, and then, like a little ant, he carried the collectable stones back one by one.
The weight of the stones was manageable, but he kept having to stop because of his unfortunate lack of stamina.
Still, he no longer found those pauses boring. He knew 999 was keeping him company right beside him, and whenever his stamina ran low, he would guess whether 999 was standing in the empty space or not.
[Wrong guess. I am right on top of your shoulder.]
“Are you human-shaped? Can a person even sit on my shoulder?”
[I am human-shaped, but I shrink whenever I fly. I can get small enough to rest right in the palm of your hand. Since I am an illusion, I can control my own shape and size, and I don’t weigh anything at all.]
“Alright, alright. You’re amazing.”
999’s childish remarks made Lin Zhaoyang helplessly switch into child-pacifying mode.
“I’ll guess again on my next break.”
“I’ll definitely get it right.”
[Haha, then I’d better find a really good hiding spot.]
It was time for Lin Zhaoyang’s forced rest period once again.
“On my head?”
[Nope, on the hand you’re using to pat your head.]
Lin Zhaoyang brought his right hand up to his eyes to look at it. It was just his bare hand. He couldn’t feel any weight whatsoever.
“Let’s play more later. I’m going back to work.”
Lin Zhaoyang piled all the stones in front of his little wooden cabin, hauling them back and forth multiple times. Once he had enough materials, he immediately started preparing to build the stove.
[Hey, hey, hey! Pick a spot a bit further away from the wooden cabin. Once you light it, the starter stove is super crude. It’ll be fine once it’s upgraded later, though.]
“It’s a whole meter away from the cabin.”
“Putting it too far is inconvenient.”
Actually, he had originally tried to place the stove inside the wooden cabin, but gave up only because the game prompt stated it wasn’t allowed. Won’t it get soaked when it rains later, though?
[A gentle gust of wind later and your little wooden cabin will be gone. I admit it. This game is a bad game. Wooden cabins can actually catch fire.]
“Fine, I’ll put it further away. But with a tiny plot of land like this, letting a stray gust of wind burn down the forest won’t do either.”
[Oh, it won’t do that. It won’t burn resource-gathering items. It only burns player property.]
“Alright, then I’ll put it under the tree. It can provide some shelter when it rains.”
The big tree would just have to suffer a bit. With its dense foliage, it could help shield his stove from the rain, and he decided he wouldn’t chop this tree down.
[That works too. It’s getting late. Hurry up and eat. I’ll keep an eye on you. Let me see what good stuff you’re eating.]