Song Ci’an’s reply was simple and professional.
[Song Ci’an: It’s best if your camp is close to essential resources like water and food. However, don’t build it too close—you need to consider whether medium or large animals might also be roaming around those resources.]
By the time Xia Qiu ran out of the Dark Forest, it was already near sunset. Let alone choosing a campsite, she didn’t even know her current location on the map. She could see Song Ci’an’s location through her personal profile, but she couldn’t see her own.
"Can I only see other people’s locations?" she wondered.
Since Song Ci’an seemed to be free, Xia Qiu took the opportunity to ask a few more questions.
[Xia Qiu: Thanks for letting me know! I also wanted to ask, can you see my location in the friends list? I noticed that I can see yours, but I can’t see my own.]
A minute later, Song Ci’an replied.
[Song Ci’an: You can see my location because I’ve already unlocked Qiushui Island. I can’t see your location, probably because you haven’t fully explored your current area yet, so it hasn’t been recorded on the map.]
[Song Ci’an: Maps can be shared between friends. When you unlock an area for the first time, this option will appear in the friends list settings. Once you do, you’ll be able to see the Qiushui Island I shared on your map.]
[Song Ci’an: To unlock an area, you need to explore it entirely. The simplest way is just to walk through it. Walking along the outer perimeter counts too; you can slowly explore the interior later.]
Xia Qiu felt slightly numb.
[Xia Qiu: Is Qiushui Island small?]
[Song Ci’an: Not exactly. I was basically running the entire way, and it took me a whole afternoon to finish covering it.]
"Running across an entire island in one afternoon... what a niche human phrase," she thought.
After thanking her, Xia Qiu hurriedly ended the conversation. The little bit of passion that had just ignited within her was now completely chilled. Her Spirit Value was slowly dropping, but she didn’t feel any discomfort for the time being. As exhaustion washed over her, she didn’t dare to sleep. She could only stand up and pace around the campfire to keep herself awake.
The constant RUSTLE RUSTLE in her ears never stopped, likely because of that "Restless" status effect.
To keep herself awake, Xia Qiu opened her backpack again to organize her resources. Another piece of short wood had been consumed, which pained her heart!
Taking out the Hero’s Badge she had obtained from a chest earlier, Xia Qiu held the circular badge up to the campfire to examine it. After a long while, she still couldn’t figure out its purpose. All the other rewards had descriptions, but this Hero’s Badge showed nothing, whether she held it in her hand or placed it in her backpack. It seemed like a useless souvenir. It didn’t even have an equip option and merely took up a slot in her inventory.
Time quickly slipped into the latter half of the night. The vast majority of people were finding it hard to hold on. Having just arrived, they had spent more than half the day in a tense and stressful atmosphere, only to suffer from inexplicable mental pollution at night. Ordinary people simply couldn’t endure it.
Xia Qiu’s hunger value had fallen below fifty, and her Spirit Value had dropped by more than twenty points. With only three pieces of short wood left in her backpack, she really couldn’t bear to use them. After rummaging around, she finally took out five Empty Pinecones.
[Empty Pinecone: It was once plump and abundant, but now only endless emptiness remains. Perhaps... perhaps it has some other use?]
This intriguing description was the reason Xia Qiu had allowed these seemingly useless Empty Pinecones to take up inventory slots. Although the description didn’t specify what they could do, games rarely had completely pointless items.
Perhaps due to some special processing by the system backpack, the pinecone felt dry and prickly to the touch. Looking at the weakening campfire, Xia Qiu didn’t hesitate any longer and tossed two Empty Pinecones into the flames.
Soon, a unique, plant-like fragrance spread through the air. Finding the scent pleasant, Xia Qiu took two deep breaths. Instantly, she felt refreshed, and even the annoying RUSTLE RUSTLE in her ears weakened considerably. This story is hosted at novelping dot com.
Xia Qiu hurriedly opened her personal profile. Sure enough, another buff had appeared in her status bar alongside "Restless."
[Status: Restless (You heard it... Deducts 1 HP) / Lingering Fragrance of Life (You have smelled a gift from the Mother of Forest. This tranquil scent makes you feel like a weary bird returning to its nest. Current Spirit Value recovers by 0.5 per minute. Once the maximum limit is reached, you will gain the buff "Dancing with Trees.")]
Although the description of Lingering Fragrance of Life didn’t specify what the "Dancing with Trees" buff actually did, the Spirit Value recovery alone was enough to make Xia Qiu wildly applaud herself in her heart.
"Who said these Empty Pinecones were useless? They’re incredibly useful! Pioneer missed out on a fortune by not trading for these pinecones!" she thought.
In the spirit of reciprocity, Xia Qiu tapped open Song Ci’an’s chat window.
[Xia Qiu: Sister, sister! I just discovered a huge treasure!]
[Xia Qiu: I picked up some pinecones this afternoon. After taking out the pine nuts, the Empty Pinecones can be added to the campfire as fuel. Smelling the scent recovers 0.5 Spirit Value per minute—it’s on par with a delicious roasted river fish!]
[Xia Qiu: If you ever build a permanent campfire in the future and need pinecones, you can trade with me~]
Even though it was already past three in the morning, Song Ci’an was still awake and replied quickly.
[Song Ci’an: Thank you for letting me know. Shall I call you Qiu? You can call me Ci’an.]
[Song Ci’an: I actually haven’t found any pinecones. I’ll have to trouble you to trade some to me once I build a campfire.]
Although Xia Qiu had bad luck, she was an accurate judge of character. There was no reason not to get along with a friendly and powerful top-tier player like Song Ci’an.
After happily chatting for a bit longer, Xia Qiu politely said goodnight. Tossing another Empty Pinecone and two large leaves into the campfire as fuel, she curled up within the radiating warmth of the firelight and closed her eyes.
"There will definitely be a tough battle after dawn," she thought. "It’s best to settle on a campsite location before the novice period ends. And food, water..."
The dual exhaustion of mind and body pulled Xia Qiu into a deep slumber before she could think much further. When she woke up again, she was startled by the system’s voice.
[Friendly Reminder: There are 10 minutes until sunrise. Players, please prepare to begin a new day.]
[When the light of day spills across the land and dispels the gloom of night, the Desolate Continent will once again welcome hope.]
[Heroes from the Otherworld, please step back into the wilderness and seek out the world’s last trace of vitality.]
Xia Qiu stared blankly for a full half-minute before she remembered where she was. As she made out the pale, fish-belly white sky in the distance, a sense of dismay welled up within her.
So none of this was a dream. She had really survived a day in this perilous survival game. Her throat was so dry it felt like it was on fire. No longer caring about conserving her drinking water, Xia Qiu pulled out her thermos and took a huge gulp. Get faster updates on g.com.
She forgot about washing her face and brushing her teeth; she just didn’t have the means right now.
"I’ll just have to deal with being a little dirty. It’s not like anyone else can see me anyway," she reasoned.
The system time displayed 05:53. Sunrise was at six o’clock. Following the logic that the days were gradually growing shorter, tonight’s sunset would be earlier, and tomorrow morning’s sunrise would be delayed.
Xia Qiu silently memorized these two crucial timepoints and turned to check her campfire. The flames were already extremely weak and looked like they were about to go out. This gave the now fully-awake Xia Qiu a lingering sense of dread. It seemed that until she could accurately gauge the burn time of each fuel type, it was better to add extra fuel than risk the fire going out while she slept. Who knew what consequences a dead fire in the dark night would bring? Perhaps she would never wake up again.
The moment six o’clock arrived, the slightly grayish sky instantly switched to broad daylight. On her personal profile panel, Xia Qiu saw that the "Restless" and "Lingering Fragrance of Life" statuses had disappeared. In their place was that mysterious buff: "Dancing with Trees."
[Status: Dancing with Trees (Upon entering any dense forest area, resource gathering yields a 20%-40% bonus. Gathering pinecones yields a 50% bonus. Equipping the title "Pinecone Thief" will immediately cancel this buff.)]
Looking at the last line in the status bar, Xia Qiu felt targeted. Pinecone Thief was a unique title. Wasn’t that final sentence just a special note meant exclusively for her?
Once the firelight in the campfire completely died out, the stone-ringed fire pit suddenly spat out three pitch-black items. Xia Qiu carefully poked them with the tip of her finger. Only after confirming they weren’t scalding did she dare pick them up.
[Obtained: Charcoal x3]
[Charcoal: A durable fuel that provides less smoke and longer-lasting warmth (Durability: 1000 points. Consumes 50 durability points per hour when lit. Special environments will accelerate durability consumption.)]
Last night, Xia Qiu had used a total of three pieces of short wood. It seemed that each piece of short wood steadily produced one piece of charcoal. Moreover, compared to short wood which lacked a durability indicator, the charcoal’s durability was visibly clear. However, pure charcoal burned with almost no open flame in oxygen, so whether it could serve as an alternative light source remained to be tested.
Putting the charcoal away, Xia Qiu stood around the still-warm campfire, worrying. Compared to a torch, its only disadvantage was that it couldn’t be moved. As she reached out and touched the stones of the campfire, two lines of system prompts popped up.
[Add Fuel and Tinder (Flint x1, Any Metal Ore x1, Any Combustible Material x1, Fuel x2)]
[Dismantle (Dismantling will return Stone x5)]
It was one thing for the other materials not to be refunded, but these stones looked perfectly fine. Being penalized half of them for dismantling was something Xia Qiu found hard to accept.
"What a shady game! It’s even more corrupt than the boss at my last company!" she cursed internally.
But she couldn’t just hastily set up her permanent camp here. Although it wasn’t far from the Dark Forest, it was hard to say whether there was a water source nearby. If it was far from a river, fetching water would be a hassle. Hardening her resolve, Xia Qiu selected "Dismantle," only for another prompt to pop up.
[Friendly Reminder: Dismantling failed. Lacking dismantling tools.]
For the resource-strapped Xia Qiu, this prompt practically made her vision go dark with sheer frustration. Did she really have to craft a dismantling tool just for five stones? But the system hadn’t even hinted at what counted as a dismantling tool.
Last night, she had unlocked the crafting blueprint for a Refined Stone Hammer. However, crafting the Refined Stone Hammer required a Basic Workbench, and crafting a Basic Workbench required long wood and wooden boards...
"Stupid game! If you don’t want people to live, just say it!" she fumed.
In a fit of rage, Xia Qiu... merely threw a brief fit. Standing up indignantly, she stomped toward the dense forest.
"It’s just five stones. I’ll just leave them behind!" she thought.