In the dead of night, the outside was pitch black, and the temperature had dropped significantly.
If someone had crossed over wearing just a short-sleeve shirt and didn't have a campfire now, they'd be feeling quite cold.
Chen Shu sat inside the treehouse, close to the fire, eating dinner while watching the World Channel.
"Why has the temperature dropped so quickly? It's a bit chilly."
"Chilly? I'm about to freeze to death. I was taking a shower before crossing over, wearing nothing, and I'm still naked now."
"So... your little brother..."
"Oh, him? He's flapping in the wind."
"Pfft, bro, don't make me laugh."
"Seriously, I'm not lying. Want me to send a photo?"
"Better not. I've seen too many toothpicks; I'm afraid of getting a stye."
"So cold, someone help me. I'll give you ten million when we get back."
"My advice is to burn that ten million; it should keep you warm for a while."
"Are you here to joke too?"
"..."
The channel quickly filled with various trade requests for warmth and fire, each offering higher prices than the last.
Warmth resources became absolute hard currency on the first cold night.
His remaining five pieces of flint were quickly snapped up, ultimately earning him a bag of salt, three buckets of instant noodles, a set of utensils, a bag of nutrient soil, a sun hat, a pair of shoes, and nearly a thousand pieces of wood.
Counting the nutrient soil from previous trades, he now had two bags weighing about forty pounds each.
You can never have too much of this stuff; the more, the better.
As for why he had so much wood, 800 pieces came from one person. Initially, he didn't want to trade, but the offer was too generous to refuse.
The rest were from other trades. In Chen Shu's view, whether it was salt, instant noodles, or a sun hat, none were as important as flint.
He could survive without those things, but without fire, it would be tough for others.
Not even a day had passed, and Chen Shu already showed the potential of a shrewd trader.
After storing everything away, Chen Shu turned his attention back to the World Channel. Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
He had to admit, the Chat Channel was quite entertaining, full of silly netizens.
Chen Shu quite enjoyed this atmosphere; at least he didn't have to face the unknown cold and fear alone.
The silly netizens' humor in adversity somewhat dispelled the loneliness and chill of the night.
He wrapped his thin short-sleeve shirt tighter around himself and moved closer to the fire.
Though the inside of the treehouse was better than outside, cold air still seeped in through the entrance.
The makeshift door didn't completely block the cold wind; there were still some gaps.
There was nothing he could do; he could only make this kind of door for now, which was better than nothing.
As he gnawed on a chicken leg, Chen Shu's gaze inadvertently fell on the wood beside him, and an idea struck him.
He quickly got up, grabbed the wood, and blocked the gaps at the bottom of the door.
Surprisingly, it worked a bit.
As long as he didn't stand up, he could hardly feel any wind.
Looking at everything inside the treehouse, he felt a primitive sense of satisfaction. Despite the harsh conditions, at least he wouldn't go hungry, could make a fire for warmth, and had a shelter to fend off fierce beasts and the cold wind.
Before he knew it, he'd finished an entire roast chicken.
In the past, he wouldn't have been able to eat so much, but after walking so much today and eating so little, he was already hungry. A whole roast chicken was no problem.
After finishing dinner, Chen Shu realized he didn't have a bed in the empty room. He couldn't just sleep on the ground at night.
He went to the Control Console and pulled up the blueprint for a wooden bed. Fortunately, it only required wood.
He had plenty of wood.
After three minutes, the wooden bed was finally made, and he chose to place it horizontally on the right side of the treehouse, just avoiding the fire.
The bed was quite simple; calling it an elevated wooden plank wouldn't be an exaggeration.
Since he made a bed, other furniture couldn't be left out, so he made a chair and a table.
Because they were all mortise and tenon structures, they only consumed wood. They looked simple but were exceptionally sturdy.
With the three pieces of furniture in place, the treehouse felt much fuller, not as empty as before.
Meanwhile, his ranking on the Treehouse Construction Leaderboard improved significantly.
The rest of the furniture required other materials, which he didn't have at the moment.
Suddenly, he thought the Exchange might have some, so he opened it with hopeful anticipation and input "Iron Ingot."
To his surprise, there were some!
But the price was a bit high, clearly waiting for a sucker.
Chen Shu shook his head and decided not to buy for now. He also checked materials like copper wire and iron nails, finding anything metal-related was expensive.
On second thought, it made sense.
Currently, there seemed to be only two ways to obtain metal: either by finding it in a Treasure Chest or by dismantling a Treasure Chest.
His iron nails and copper sheets were obtained by dismantling a Treasure Chest, and he hadn't seen any iron ingots yet.
Anything related to Treasure Chests naturally couldn't be cheap.
Temporarily abandoning the idea of exchanging for iron ingots, Chen Shu turned his attention to other items.
Today was the first day of the "game," but quite a few people had encountered Treasure Chests.
The proportion was low, but the sheer number of people made up for it.
Most people who found items they couldn't use immediately put them up for sale in the Exchange. They didn't have long-term plans, only wanting to trade for resources they could use right away, like food.
Only by filling their stomachs could they have the energy to explore this world.
Chen Shu took advantage of this mindset, trading flint for some rare resources.
Seeds, salt, and nutrient soil would definitely be worth a lot in the future. These people surely knew that, but out of necessity, they could only choose to trade them away.
It was just luck that he happened to pick up a dozen pieces of flint today. If it had been a day later, he probably wouldn't have been able to trade for these things.
After experiencing tonight's cold, those people would surely find a way to start a fire tomorrow, even if it meant using friction. By then, flint might not be as valuable.
He continued browsing the Exchange, choosing to trade for anything he might need, offering purple scale fruit, wood ear, and mushrooms in return.
The former was because he had too many and they were easy to find, while the latter two were simply difficult to cook.
He wasn't picky; if the other party was willing to trade, he would, and if not, so be it. As for how they would eat them after trading, that wasn't his concern.
Time passed unknowingly, and the number of people talking in the Chat Channel noticeably decreased. It seemed most people had fallen asleep.
Even if they were cold and hungry, exhaustion would force them to rest.
But Chen Shu couldn't sleep; he was waiting for midnight to see what identity he would randomly get.
He couldn't sleep without seeing the final result.