NOVEL NEXT Chapter 7
Tonight was much colder than last night, and the wind blew fiercely across the sea. Even though Yun Mianmian was staying inside the ship, she still felt chilled; she had to wear a set of warm underwear.
Those who hadn't upgraded their wooden rafts and lacked such clothing must have been freezing even more.
She shrank her shoulders, eating a piece of bread as she muttered to herself, "It's already this bad even with the beginner's shield. I wonder what it'll be like after it expires."
In the chat, everyone was complaining.
"I'm going to freeze to death. What a damn game. At least give us blankets."
"Don't even mention blankets. I'm still wearing shorts and a tank top. I'm going to hyperventilate."
"Isn't there supposed to be a beginner's shield? It's so cold, I'm going to freeze to death."
"Will it get even colder in three days? It's supposed to be the end of the world, so will it become an ice age?"
"Shit, please don't let that happen, or people will die."
"Does anyone have spare clothes or blankets? I'll trade you for blueprints."
Yun Mianmian, who was about to sleep, suddenly became alert upon seeing this message.
Generally speaking, blueprints were valuable items, and very few people could create them now.
The person who spoke up was called Nie Yangguang.
Yun Mianmian immediately sent him a private message.
"Hello, I have some warm blankets. What blueprints do you have?"
She had just received a blanket, so she no longer needed the other, and she figured it would be perfect to trade for something she did need.
That was, of course, assuming the blueprint was something she needed.
Nie Yangguang recognized her; she was the girl who sold watermelon earlier.
Nie Yangguang also craved watermelon, but he was saving up wood to upgrade his "Sunshine Bachelor" raft, and he couldn't bear to spend it on food.
He knew that upgrading one's ship was the most important thing in this game. After all, surviving at sea required one to craft a raft capable of sustaining their life, and the better the raft, the better one could survive.
"Nie Yangguang: 'Sofa Bed Blueprint'."
A sofa bed blueprint was indeed a good item, but Nie Yangguang needed something warm right now. He suspected that the weather would change drastically after the new player period, and everyone would be in need of warm clothing and blankets. Exchanging goods would be much more difficult at that time, so he figured he might as well do it now.
Another reason was that even if he could make it, there was no place for it. His ship was too small to accommodate such a large sofa bed.
He could only focus on the present. If he couldn't survive, keeping this item would be pointless.
"How about your blanket?" asked Nie Yangguang.
Yun Mianmian sent him a picture of the plaid wool blanket.
"Okay."
Nie Yangguang was overjoyed at the sight of the blanket.
With this, he wouldn't freeze at night.
He immediately sent the blueprint's details to Yun Mianmian.
The moment she saw the blueprint, Yun Mianmian's heart skipped a beat. Her room was missing a bed, and while she already had pillows and blankets, without a bed, she'd have to sleep on the floor.
This sofa bed was convenient because it could be used as a sofa during the day, taking up no extra space, and stretched out into a bed at night. She could sleep on a proper bed, so her comfort and happiness would naturally increase.
Without hesitation, she decided to exchange it.
The two quickly completed the transaction, and Yun Mianmian received the blueprint for the sofa bed.
【 Sofa bed: Required materials: Wood x 20, nails x 10, foam x 2, thread x 2, fabric x 2. 】
Yun Mianmian checked the materials she had. She lacked both fabric and foam.
She could only go to the chat window to send a message, offering food and water in exchange for either material.
Unfortunately, very few players possessed these items.
It was only the second day of the game, so most players hadn't even upgraded their fishing rods yet. With their own hunger and resource needs unresolved, where could they acquire such other materials?
After trying for a while, Yun Mianmian managed to exchange two pieces of foam, but she still hadn't found any fabric.
Just as she was feeling depressed, Luo Luo sent her a message.
"I just caught a bronze treasure chest, which contained fabric and some other items. I'll send them to you now."
She promptly sent Yun Mianmian the following:
【 Wood x 10, nails x 5, fabric x 3, foam x 2. 】
"Also, I got two mantou and a bottle of water. I'll keep these for myself, but if you need them, I can give them to you as well."
"That's all right," Yun Mianmian replied. "In the future, keep food and upgrade materials for yourself."
She returned the wood and nails to Luo Luo.
"Especially the wood and nails, since they're used to upgrade the wooden raft. You should keep them all. I'm worried that, after the three-day new player protection period, the weather will change, and we'll need to upgrade the raft quickly."
Seeing that Luo Luo was such a reliable player, Yun Mianmian decided to give her some more tips.
Luo Luo's luck didn't seem to be too bad; she had caught a bronze treasure chest using a beginner fishing rod in the middle of the night.
If she hadn't accidentally lost her fishing rod earlier, none of this would have happened. Things should get better from now on.
"Okay, thank you," said Luo Luo.
With the cotton fabric, Yun Mianmian could finally craft a sofa bed. She immediately walked over to her workbench and got to work.
One minute later, a wooden sofa bed appeared in front of her. When fully extended, it measured two and a half meters long by one meter wide, and its bottom frame could be pulled out to transform it into a two-by-two-meter bed. The sponge was soft and bouncy, making it comfortable to lie on.
Yun Mianmian was very pleased with herself.
Even more surprising was that, just as she set up the sofa bed, she heard a System notification:
【 Congratulations on crafting the first functional bed! Reward: Blueprint for a basic water purifier, x2 cushions, x2 throw pillows. 】
Two throw pillows and two cushions appeared on the sofa.
The color and style matched the sofa bed, both a creamy beige.
There was also a blueprint for a water purifier, which made Yun Mianmian incredibly happy.
She took it out to examine it.
[Basic Water Purifier: Can filter two bottles of 500 ml drinking water per day. Required materials: Activated charcoal x 1, cotton cloth x 1, plastic bottle x 1.]
[Activated charcoal needs to be replaced every three days.]
Plastic mineral water bottles were made of plastic, perfect for reuse.
She had cotton cloth, so all she needed was activated charcoal.
Yun Mianmian had no clothes left, so she immediately sent Hu Yuan and Nie Yangguang private messages asking if they had any activated charcoal.
She had already been quite active in the chat today, first requesting wood, then sponge and cotton cloth, and now activated charcoal. If she continued, many people would think she was up to something.
Unfortunately, Hu Yuan had no activated charcoal, but Nie Yangguang had two pieces.
"How about I give you one of my throw pillows for your two pieces of activated charcoal? You can use the pillow as a cushion at night when you sleep—it's very comfortable."
Yun Mianmian had two throw pillows on her sofa, and she only needed one, so she figured she might as well exchange the extra one for something useful.
Nie Yangguang was more than happy to comply.
"Sure, sure, I'll trade with you."
He had no idea what the activated charcoal was for, but he was glad to give her his share.
"But what do you need the activated charcoal for?"
Yun Mianmian pondered for a moment before deciding to tell him the truth. The blueprint for the water purifier would be widely circulated in the future, and Nie Yangguang would know the purpose of the activated charcoal once he obtained one himself. There was no point in lying to him now.
Yun Mianmian found him to be a warmhearted individual and a good person to cooperate with in the future.
"I've just acquired a blueprint for a water purifier, and it requires activated charcoal," she explained.
"No way, that's incredible! Then I can buy water from you if I run out in the future," Nie Yangguang responded with enthusiasm.
Yun Mianmian smiled at his reaction. "Sure."
"Don't tell anyone else about this."
"No problem, I won't say anything if you don't want me to."
"Since you can make a sofa bed and a water purifier, do you have a workbench already?"
"That's right," Yun Mianmian confirmed.
"That's great!" Nie Yangguang exclaimed. "I've only seen one person successfully create a workbench, and I never thought you'd have one too."
"It's possible that you'll succeed tomorrow," Yun Mianmian said.
"Uh-huh, I hope so. Is your sofa bed finished yet?"
"I'm short on materials," Yun Mianmian replied.
"All right, well, I don't have the foam or fabric for mine either," Nie Yangguang said.
Nie Yangguang was impressed by Yun Mianmian's abilities; she had already created a workbench, something no one else had accomplished. He had a premonition that Yun Mianmian would be an influential person, and he needed to establish a good relationship with her now.
"If I manage to succeed, I'll let you know. I don't need it anyway," Yun Mianmian offered.
"Thank you," Yun Mianmian replied.
Nie Yangguang truly was a warmhearted individual.
"Oh, right, do you happen to have any key fragments?" Yun Mianmian asked.
"What do you need those for?" Nie Yangguang asked.
"I have my reasons," Yun Mianmian answered.
"I don't have any, but I know someone who does. I can ask if they'd be willing to trade," Nie Yangguang offered.
"Okay!" she replied.
She was now one piece away from being able to piece together a whole key, and she really wanted to open the locked treasure chest as soon as possible.
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