NOVEL NEXT Chapter 3
"I have wood. How many bottles of water do you have?"
Yun Mianmian was taken aback.
Then she replied, "How much wood do you want to exchange?"
She was wary, unwilling to reveal her inventory to the other party.
The person on the other end may have also guessed she wouldn't directly answer, and so sent another message:
"I can give you 30 pieces of wood for two bottles of water. If you agree, we can trade right away."
Yun Mianmian hadn't expected this person to have so much wood to exchange.
Normally, each player could only fish up one treasure chest, plus the wood from the new player gift. After crafting the raft, it would be difficult to have much wood left, but this person could offer thirty pieces, meaning he had more than enough.
Just how much wood did he have?
Yun Mianmian looked carefully at this person's name: Hu Yuan.
It looked a little familiar.
Yun Mianmian remembered. This person seemed to be the one who'd said in the chat earlier that people who couldn't craft a raft would likely die soon even if they managed to survive now.
Many people had called him cold-blooded.
Before, Yun Mianmian had called out in the chat that she would trade twenty pieces of wood for a bottle of water, but not a single person had contacted her to make the trade. Everyone just kept begging her to give them water, hoping to get something for nothing.
Still, some people advised her to keep the water, saying that she'd regret it once she ran out.
Yun Mianmian ignored them all.
Either way, it meant that everyone else either didn't have so much wood or didn't think it was worth it.
Hu Yuan's offer wasn't bad. Thirty pieces for two bottles? Fine.
"Okay, I'll trade with you."
She had just opened five more bottles of water, so giving away two wasn't an issue.
Yun Mianmian traded with Hu Yuan, and soon she saw that her inventory had gained thirty pieces of wood and lost two bottles of water.
"Are you in need of food?" Hu Yuan asked.
Yun Mianmian hesitated. "What do you need?"
"I can trade iron nails for food?"
Just how many resources did this man have?
But why didn't he have any food or water?
Yun Mianmian looked at her own inventory. Although she didn't have much food, she still had enough to eat. She had two steamed buns, two violet rice breads, a scallion pancake, a box of strawberries, and a piece of chocolate. That was more than enough for two days.
She could also open a treasure chest tomorrow.
But she only had thirteen iron nails. If she could exchange a few more here, she'd have enough to upgrade her workbench. She only needed to stockpile some wood tomorrow, and then she'd have all the materials she needed.
Yun Mianmian wanted to exchange with him, but she didn't immediately agree.
"I don't have much food, and do you have a lot of iron nails?"
After a minute, there was no reply from the other party.
Yun Mianmian clicked to view Hu Yuan's profile information.
She could see a blurry male figure and his facial features.
[Player: Hu Yuan
Age: 23]
All other values were hidden.
It seemed that players could only see the name and age of other players.
At that moment, Yun Mianmian's fishing rod jerked.
She pulled it up to take a look.
【 Obtained: Bronze Treasure Chest. 】
【 Fortune Star's Blessing effect activated. 】
【 Obtained: Wood x10, Iron Nail x5, Fishing Line x2, Steamed Bun x2. 】
This chest was pretty good too—all of the items Yun Mianmian needed.
With her current inventory, she now had a total of seventy-five wood, eighteen iron nails, and was very close to her goal!
The wooden treasure chest could also be disassembled into wood.
Oh, right, the bronze treasure chest could also be disassembled.
Yun Mianmian picked up the bronze treasure chest and clicked "disassemble."
【 The bronze treasure chest can be divided into 10 units of bronze or 50 units of wood. Please choose. 】
Yun Mianmian thought it over. Although bronze might be better, she currently needed wood more, so she exchanged it all for wood.
The wooden treasure chests had also yielded five units of wood each.
Now she had a total of 130 units of wood, 18 units of iron nails, and was just around the corner from upgrading her raft!
Yun Mianmian opened the chat.
Hu Yuan had already sent her a message.
"I don't have much, but I need food."
"My treasure chests only have wood and iron nails, no food or water."
Yun Mianmian was surprised; such a thing had never occurred to her.
So many units of wood and iron nails, yet no food or water at all.
"What about the new player gift?" she asked curiously.
Hu Yuan replied promptly, "Same."
Yun Mianmian wasn't sure whether to call Hu Yuan lucky or unfortunate. So much wood and iron nails weren't enough to eat or drink; it was no wonder he sought her out to trade for water.
"Okay, then," Yun Mianmian said, "I have mantou. I can trade with you for iron nails."
"I'll give you ten nails for two steamed buns. Do you have them?"
Yun Mianmian thought to herself, If he can offer me a lot of wood and nails in the future, I might be able to consistently trade goods with him. She wouldn't need to fret over upgrading her raft then.
Not bad, not bad.
However, he wanted to trade ten nails for two of her large steamed buns.
That was not happening.
"I don't need that many nails," Yun Mianmian said. "And two steamed buns is too much. How about this? Five nails for half a steamed bun."
Hu Yuan didn't know how to bargain, so he simply halved his offer.
Yun Mianmian sent a picture of the steamed bun, revealing a large, white, and soft bun before Hu Yuan's eyes. It looked delicious. In fact, all the food in the game looked better than the real world's, and even smelled better.
Perhaps because the image of the steamed bun made him feel hungry, Hu Yuan agreed.
"Okay, let's trade for one steamed bun."
Half a steamed bun wasn't enough to eat.
Yun Mianmian clicked on the trade function, putting the steamed bun up. She quickly received the nails.
After obtaining enough nails, Yun Mianmian didn't waste time chatting; she hurriedly opened her small raft and clicked upgrade.
Then, a whole pile of wood flew up into the air, moving so quickly it was impossible to see how it was done, though the sounds of a hammer hitting a nail and a saw cutting through wood were audible. Before a minute had passed, the raft's upgrade was complete.
The raft, originally only about one meter wide and two meters long, was now a wooden fishing boat six meters long and two meters wide, with fixed oars on both sides. The boat was divided into two parts. Yun Mianmian sat on the spacious side, and the bow had an empty area large enough to store things. The stern had a flat surface half a meter long, upon which someone could stand.
Yun Mianmian's inventory was still sufficient for her needs, but when she filled all the available slots, she could store extra items on the boat.
This vessel was much more comfortable than the raft from before, and it even had a small stool.
The previous raft had been excruciatingly uncomfortable to sit on, and she'd had to contort herself into an awkward position to sleep. With the addition of the stool, she could lie flat and lean against the sides without worrying about falling into the ocean when she rolled over.
Though she still didn't have a bed, compared to the raft, this upgrade was quite satisfactory.
Thankfully, she had chosen to upgrade her raft before going to sleep.
Yun Mianmian opened the information window for the boat.
【 Name: The Auspicious Clouds Ship 】
【 Level: 2-wooden boat (upgradable) 】
【 Rating: ★★★★☆ 8/10 】
Upgrade Requirements: Wood x 300, Iron Nails x 50
The upgraded raft was much more comfortable, and Yun Mianmian already began anticipating the next upgrade. It seemed she had to hurry up and stockpile more wood and nails. She had managed to gather a hundred in such a short time, so it should be possible to get three hundred within two days.
Yun Mianmian felt quite confident.
She glanced at the dark ocean surface and yawned, feeling the chill of the evening wind. She placed a blanket beneath her and covered herself with a set of warm underwear, then used her backpack as a pillow, curled up, and closed her eyes.
After the long day's worth of tiring events, she fell asleep almost instantly.
Though the surface was still a bit hard and uncomfortable, Yun Mianmian quickly fell into deep slumber.
The rocking of the ship on the ocean, along with the gentle sounds of the wind and waves, acted as white noise that allowed her to sleep soundly until sunrise.
The early morning sun rose from the horizon, reaching its zenith above her head. Sunlight spilled onto the ocean's surface, shining directly onto her face and body without any obstruction, warming her thoroughly.
When she opened her eyes, she felt disoriented, as if she were still in a dream. Only after blocking out the light with her hands for a while did she manage to sit up.
Her hair felt hot to the touch.
Stretching, Yun Mianmian squinted, still half-asleep, before realizing she was out at sea.
She glanced at the time; it was already 10 a.m. She had slept for quite a while.
Yun Mianmian took out a bottle of mineral water from her backpack and slowly drank half its contents before feeling fully awake.
The sun was too strong, making her head spin. Yun Mianmian noticed her energy had decreased; it was previously at 65, but now it was at 63. It seemed like this stat changed according to her physical condition.
Yun Mianmian quickly opened an umbrella she found in her backpack.
After a while, her energy returned to full.
Good thing she had an umbrella, or she would have become exhausted from the relentless sun.
Yun Mianmian remembered she hadn't rolled the dice yet today.
Let's see how lucky I am today.
The lucky dice appeared in her hand almost instantly. She tossed it into the air; it spun quickly before landing upright.
It landed on 3!
3: Everything Goes Your Way: Similar to "Everything Comes Up Roses," but you know, more along the lines of your wish coming true...
This was the second-highest number.
The treasure chests she caught today would surely be full of good loot.
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