January 4th, Sunny
Daily Tasks:
Daily logging
Other daily tasks begin.
Every single day requires doing tasks, collecting materials, and thinking about earning points, only to realize that spending points is actually much faster.
With no internet, no other humans, and no animals, a deserted island is truly boring. The only thing Lin Zhaoyang could be grateful for was having 999 to keep him company all the time.
Poke, poke, poke.
[Zhaoyang! Why do you keep poking the foggy wall?]
“It’s soft. Pretty fun, actually.”
Lin Zhaoyang looked at his fingers sinking into the surface, then glanced at the points required to unlock this wall.
He wasn’t just playing around; he was just considering whether or not to unlock this wall. He only had two sets of clothes, one initial outfit and one of his own. According to the prompts, the materials for making clothes were right behind this wall.
“Why doesn’t the shop let you buy clothes? You can buy everything else.”
Lin Zhaoyang rubbed his chin in thought. He had flipped through the shop catalog several times and never once saw any clothes for sale.
999 sat on Lin Zhaoyang’s shoulder, striking a matching contemplative pose.
[Well, about that, the wear-and-tear rate for clothes is very high. Making them for players gives players endless tasks to do, and when players sell them, it also increases player interaction.]
“Oh, so it’s about earning points.”
Hearing 999’s explanation, Lin Zhaoyang nodded and then unlocked the area.
Just like that, two hundred points were spent.
After the white foggy wall dissipated, a pile of plants was revealed: flax, cotton, Isatis tinctoria, Strobilanthes cusia, madder, and climbing fern.
Each material grew in its own patch of land. As Lin Zhaoyang stepped closer, he could see their names. Although Lin Zhaoyang didn’t recognize most of them, he had 999.
Materials in the game refreshed every day, though the quantity wasn’t particularly large.
[Online co-op can only be unlocked after the eleventh day, and you can also sell items through live streaming, but the time required is the same.]
“That’s fine. I can make them for myself, and I’ll look a bit cooler when co-op starts.”
“I can even make a set for you.”
[Really? Really? Is that like… matching sibling outfits?] (Note: Replaced punctuation inside bracket speech) [Really? Really? Is that like matching sibling outfits?]
Lin Zhaoyang thought about it for a moment. He was 22 years old, and from the sound of his voice, 999 was a kid, so they should probably be:
“Father-and-son outfits!”
[Your system has gone offline. Please do not contact me anymore.]
999 grabbed Lin Zhaoyang’s hand and gnawed on it. Although it wouldn’t actually cause any damage, it was a way to vent his anger.
He turned into the appearance of a little kid, using a cute child’s voice to chat with his host and sleep with his host, only for the host to treat him like a son. He was mad.
“Hahaha, matching outfits it is. Matching outfits. I’m going to harvest cotton.”
“And those dyeing materials, I want to make green clothes for myself. What color do you like?”
[Shouldn’t matching outfits be exactly the same? I want green too. ^^]
Lin Zhaoyang nodded and got to work, tossing the gathered items into a plastic bucket. Inside the bucket was still his mineral water.
Well, yes, it was the exact same bucket he used to bathe in. At night he used it for bathing, and during the day he brought it out to carry things.
As Lin Zhaoyang walked by, he casually harvested everything in his path, not even caring what it actually was. All the materials ended up gathered together in the bucket anyway.
[Actually, you could harvest bamboo to make a bamboo backpack.]
999’s child-like voice was filled with earnestness. You could even carry that on your back.
“Next time.”
Lin Zhaoyang hauled his bucket back. He only made things when he actually needed them, and his stamina stat frequently made him feel like this game life had very little hope.
The all-purpose workbench could make anything; clothes were no exception.
“999, give me your measurements.”
“Wait, can you even wear clothes I make? I can’t even see you.”
At most, Lin Zhaoyang only knew that 999’s gender was male; everything else was a complete mystery. Even though they chatted every day, he didn’t know a single detail about his actual appearance.
[My head wasn’t clear earlier. Minors aren’t allowed to participate in this game, so you can only make adult clothes. I can just make a set for yourself based on your style.]
999 was usually used to acting spoiled and cute, and he felt like playing the role of a little kid had actually made him act foolish. He genuinely hadn’t thought about it earlier.
It wasn’t until Lin Zhaoyang was about to make him clothes at the workbench that it finally hit him: this game didn’t have any children’s sizes at all.
“The game even has age restrictions?”
“Alright, then I’m going to make myself a set of clothes with a bamboo pattern.”
Clothes weren’t just limited to dyeing; players could also choose simple patterns right from the start. Basically, these were things already found on the player’s island. If you wanted more options, you had to spend points.
Lin Zhaoyang only needed to place the materials into the workbench. Acting like a magic synthesizer, placing the items inside along with some points would spit out complete finished goods for the player.
Lin Zhaoyang put in the cotton, selected the bamboo pattern, and then chose random.
Though he had talked big about dyeing them green, after discovering that patterns were available, he ended up making two sets of short-sleeved bamboo outfits, one black and one white.
The white set had a few bamboo stalks cascading down the left shoulder of the shirt, and bamboo on the left leg of the pants only.
The black set had two overlapping bamboo stalks in the bottom right corner of the shirt, and bamboo on the right leg of the pants only.
“This random feature is actually pretty well-matched on the left and right.”
[So, what was the point of you harvesting dye?]
999 had been resting on top of the workbench the entire time. He couldn’t see the player’s clothing-crafting interface. After waiting expectantly for ages, it turned out the green color wasn’t even needed since the bamboo pattern came with its own styling.
“I’ll pack it away and use it next time.”
Lin Zhaoyang felt zero guilt. Setting it up in his wooden cabin as decoration wouldn’t be bad either, especially since the inside was completely empty.