NOVEL NEXT Chapter 2
【 Creating a wooden raft requires ten pieces of wood and two iron nails. 】
Yun Mianmian just so happened to have these items.
Upon clicking "craft," the wood moved on its own, and in less than a minute, a simple wooden raft appeared before her eyes.
Yun Mianmian opened the quest window and saw that, as expected, it had been completed.
There were three clickable spots on the raft.
Yun Mianmian touched one of them, then sat down and examined the raft's information.
【 Name: A Shabby Wooden Raft (can be renamed) 】
【 Level: Basic Wooden Raft (can be upgraded) 】
【 Rating: 2/10 points 】
【 Expansion Requirements: Wood x 100, Iron Nails x 20 】
【 The rating of the raft is extremely important to players. The higher the rating, the safer the raft, and the more rewards you can earn. Please upgrade your raft as soon as possible. 】
Yun Mianmian renamed the raft "The Auspicious Clouds."
Though it was just a small wooden raft for now, perhaps someday it could become a luxurious cruise ship.
As soon as it struck 10 P.M., the raft began to float on the sea, and Yun Mianmian swiftly drifted away from the broken-down island she'd started on. Soon, all that surrounded her was endless water.
The sensation of floating at sea, unable to touch land, inevitably made one anxious.
Luckily, Yun Mianmian's adaptability was relatively strong.
However, the others weren't so lucky.
Many people were eliminated before they could even finish building their rafts.
Before, she had seen the chat box display 100,000/100,000.
Now it was 99,683/100,000.
In merely two hours, so many people had already died?
"I almost didn't finish my raft in time—I was scared to death! The ones who said they couldn't get enough wood seem to have already met their doom. I think they're all done for."
"Talk about cruel—if I hadn't opened a treasure chest that gave me ten pieces of wood, and if the starter pack hadn't come with iron nails, I'd probably be done for too."
"You can dismantle treasure chests to get wood, and most people's starter packs came with iron nails. And even if you didn't have any, you could've just used what you had to barter with others. Those who couldn't make rafts simply don't have the brains; even if they managed to survive now, they'll still bite the dust eventually."
"Not everyone can stay calm in such situations! Many people were scared—you can't expect them to think so rationally!"
"We're all adults here, not children. If you can't handle this tiny test, you might as well just jump in the ocean."
"How dare you say that! That's going too far!"
Everyone in the chat erupted into a heated argument.
Yun Mianmian sighed. Survival of the fittest indeed seemed to be the law of this world.
The person wasn't entirely wrong. Since they were already in a survival game, clinging to fantasies would get them nowhere.
She opened her inventory and counted her resources. Including the items she'd acquired from opening the chests, her inventory was full.
She took out her schoolbag, which she had brought from her original world. Inside the bag were a pack of paper towels, a portable charger, her phone, a sun umbrella, pepper spray, lip gloss, compact powder, car keys, wallet, a pack of chewing gum, and a chocolate bar.
There were quite a few things in her bag; she saw many people in the chat saying they had been teleported with nothing.
The portable charger could serve as a flashlight; fully charged, it should last for a while if used sparingly.
However, her phone was already rendered useless; it wouldn't even turn on.
She placed these miscellaneous items back into the schoolbag, which took up only one inventory space.
The two violet rice breads were packaged, so she could put them into her schoolbag, saving another grid space. Her grid spaces were still running low.
She had the following resources left: [4 × bottled water, 5 × wood, 3 × nails, 2 × steamed buns, 5 × fishing line, 1 × set of thermal underwear, 1 × packet of napa cabbage seeds]
Yun Mianmian needed to hurry and expand her cloud base to ensure she could survive until the day her family arrived.
The later it got, the stronger the ocean breeze. Yun Mianmian put on the thermal underwear to prevent catching a cold.
Perhaps it was because she was still in the beginner's protective period, but as long as she completed the System's mandatory tasks, she wouldn't die.
But it would be hard to say afterward. Yun Mianmian decided that she must upgrade the Auspicious Clouds within three days.
She picked up the wooden box she had set aside earlier and disassembled it, obtaining five pieces of wood.
This way, she had ten pieces of wood again.
But it was still far from the requirement for upgrading.
She thought for a while. While she didn't have enough materials, she did have plenty of food and water. Perhaps someone would be willing to exchange materials for food.
Although everyone didn't have much wood, their need for food and water was even greater.
With this thought, Yun Mianmian opened the chat window once more.
"Anyone hungry? Does anyone have any food to spare?"
"I'm starving too. I'm so hungry that my chest is practically touching my stomach, and I don't have any water."
"If someone gives me a bottle of water now, I'll repay them in the future."
"Wood for water, two pieces of wood for a bottle of water."
"Two pieces of wood for a bottle of water? How precious is water, and you're only offering two pieces of wood? Who would trade with you?"
"There's only one chest per day, and it's not guaranteed to contain water. Even if it's enough for myself, there might not be enough to trade."
"There seems to be something on the sea surface. Did any of you see it? It's so scary."
Yun Mianmian still had four bottles of water, which was enough for her to drink. She could offer two bottles in exchange for other goods, hoping to get a medium fishing rod blueprint or ten pieces of wood for each bottle of water.
However, her most urgent task was to level up, so she only needed enough food and water to survive.
She would take advantage of everyone's thirst to get a good price.
She glanced at the marketplace, which was still closed; the system hadn't started yet.
In that case, she could only conduct private transactions.
Yun Mianmian thought for a moment before sending a message.
"1 bottle of water = 20 pieces of wood or 10 iron nails."
Just as she sent the message, she felt something float before her eyes. With the black darkness, she couldn't see clearly, so she took out her power bank, turned on the flashlight, and saw that it was a box.
Above the box were the words: [Old Wooden Box]. Yun Mianmian's eyes lit up at the sight of it. A treasure chest had floated right up to her.
Would the things inside the water bite her hand off?
Yun Mianmian stared at the box, slightly hesitant. But when she remembered that today was a fortuitous day, and that she was still within the new player protection period, she felt there should be no danger.
Before she could speak another word, she had already snatched up the box. The things inside the water had just emerged, and her hands were already back above the surface.
The wooden box was still damp, but she didn't have time to care about that right now. She shook off the water, placed it on her raft, and opened it.
[Fortuitous Day!]
[Obtained: Intermediate Fishing Pole Blueprint × 1, Wood × 10, Iron Nail × 5, Green Onion Oil Cake × 1]
Someone must have been listening when she'd wished for a blueprint, because one had fallen right into her hands!
This was fantastic; it was worth the risk of picking up the box.
Now she had fifteen pieces of wood and eight iron nails. After disassembling the box, she'd have twenty pieces of wood.
She was one step closer to her goal.
And with this blueprint, she could upgrade her fishing pole! Once upgraded, she could catch more treasure chests.
Yun Mianmian eagerly took out the blueprint to upgrade her fishing pole. As soon as she clicked "OK," her pole magically transformed, becoming bigger, thicker, and more luxurious.
The fishing rod's color also changed, making it look even more incredible.
【 Intermediate Fishing Rod (Upgradeable): Features an integrated anti-slip handle for a comfortable grip, anti-slip and wear-resistant, enabling more powerful casting. 】
【 Can catch three treasure chests per day. Higher-level fishing rods can catch better chests! 】
【 Upgrade Requirements: Blueprint for Advanced Fishing Rod, 20x Fishing Lines 】
A better treasure chest! And she could catch three a day!
She had thought she might get one extra chest after upgrading, but unexpectedly, she got two! This was fantastic!
Yun Mianmian immediately sat up and began to fish.
It was already so late, so she might not catch anything, but she couldn't wait until tomorrow.
Besides, it was almost midnight. Her luck had been great today, but tomorrow might not be as lucky.
After tossing the bait into the water, she kept her eyes glued on the surface, but it was too dark to see anything clearly. She didn't want to use the portable charger for illumination, remembering that she'd felt something when she caught the first chest. Surely she'd know when she got another bite without having to look.
After several minutes, Yun Mianmian finally sensed something biting.
This time, the chest was much heavier, and it took a lot of strength to reel it in.
【 Obtained Bronze Treasure Chest. 】
Yun Mianmian's eyes widened as she stared at the chest in front of her.
A bronze treasure chest—wasn't that better than a wooden one?
She immediately opened it.
【 What a lucky day! 】
【 Acquired: Wood x 15, Iron Nail x 5, Floral Blanket, Bottled Water x 5, Fresh Strawberries, Milk x 1. 】
So many items! The blanket, strawberries, and milk were all new.
She took them out happily and sniffed the strawberries; they indeed smelled sweet and fresh, so clean that she couldn't resist taking a bite.
Juicy, sweet strawberry juice exploded in her mouth, filling it with an exquisite strawberry flavor.
Delicious!
These tasted better than the milk strawberries and Donodan strawberries she'd had in her past life. They were sweet with a hint of refreshing tartness, juicy and satisfying, making her feel relaxed and comfortable, as if she wasn't even tired anymore.
Yun Mianmian treasured these items, knowing they were valuable goods. The blanket would come in handy when she slept, and most importantly, there was no shortage of wood and nails.
Yun Mianmian packed everything into her backpack, remembering she still had one more chance to fish up a treasure chest, so she quickly went to do that.
However, this time, no matter how long she waited, no treasure chest appeared. She recalled that she had just sent a trade request in the chat, so she opened the chat window to check.
"I'm willing to trade wood for water, but twenty pieces of wood is too much. How about ten pieces for a bottle of water?"
"Everyone used up most of their wood just building rafts, so nobody's going to have twenty pieces."
"That's right, I only have two left."
"I agree, ten pieces of wood for a bottle of water sounds fair."
"But everyone is short on drinking water, so only people who have extra will be able to trade for wood."
Even though many people echoed these sentiments, Yun Mianmian had no intention of lowering her price.
Right now, everyone was short on drinking water. Wood could be easily obtained by dismantling chests, but water wasn't guaranteed to be inside.
Just as she was preparing to close the chat window, she saw someone send her a private message.
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