Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Perhaps the next survivor to be discovered by a beast would be Ed.
It seemed that in the forest, potential dangers could emerge at any time.
A place to live, and any form of protection against the wilderness. These were things that Ed lacked at the moment. He wanted to build these immediately, but without their forging blueprints, it would be difficult.
However, Ed was not in a hurry.
With the bonfire and the grill, as long as he supplied them with wood, he would have a constant fire source. That would provide him with some sense of security. After all, wild beasts were naturally afraid of things like fire that emitted heat and light. This was a law that had been unchanged ever since ancient times. Of course, he couldn’t be sure that all beasts here would be subject to that.
From this moment on, every night, he would light a torch and patrol his surroundings before daring to fall asleep.
He would also maintain a firm grip on his axe every time he slept. That way, if he encountered any danger, he could react immediately. After all, aside from cutting wood, this axe also had an insane amount of attack power. It would be a good tool for self-defense.
After his preparations, Ed fell asleep.
…
Daybreak arrived.
Opening his eyes, Ed found that the strange moon hanging in the sky had disappeared, replaced by a blazing ball of light. Seeing that he had gotten up, Little Treasure immediately ran to his shoulder, rubbing its head against his neck.
Just as he was about to pat the little squirrel, he noticed that it had stopped moving. He slowly turned his neck to find that Little Treasure had fallen back asleep, lying on his shoulder.
He carefully placed it on the ground before going to check on the growth of the apple tree and corn.
The apple tree had not stopped growing throughout the night. The green apples hanging from its branches were now much bigger than they were yesterday.
Even though he had understood the power of the gold-quality soil, he could not help but feel surprised. He understood it was meant to be fast, but he had never seen something grow at such a rapid rate. It was simply amazing.
After gawking at the apple tree, he went toward the cornfield.
They had also grown to about 1.5 meters tall. Their green leaves fluttered in the air, causing the comforting smell of spring to blow in his face.
Ed could clearly see that similar-looking buds had appeared one after another, the initial stages of corn. His estimations about the time it would take for them to mature had not been far off, but it was very fast regardless.
He then checked on the situation of the forest chickens, making sure that everything was okay.
He would not leave this place for the next few days.
As he now had enough necessities, there was currently no real need to go into the forest. Moreover, if he wanted to capture chickens now, he would have to wander deeper into the forest. Ed did not have such plans at the moment. After reading about the tiger that had probably attacked a survivor last night, he was hesitant to explore.
It was not that he was timid, rather, he was reasonable. He only had one life. He couldn’t afford to lose it.
Therefore, he did not make any plans to go deeper into the forest.
Ed was not bold enough to stake his life.
In the next two days, Ed waited for the apple tree and corn to mature. As he did, he watched the happenings in the chat interface, reading as other people posted about their experiences.
When he was bored, he would play around with Little Treasure. When they grew hungry, they would eat chickens, or apples, and drink water.
The two days were very comfortable.
Of course, it was impossible that he would forget about signing in. In any case, the system reminded him daily anyway, so he continued to sign in. However, the things that he had obtained from signing in over the two days had not been as good as before. He had only gotten some precious resources, and not much else.
The leisurely time passed quickly.
In the blink of an eye, three days had passed.
Ed stood before the apple tree, gazing at the red apples hanging among the leaves.
He smiled.
The apple tree had borne fruit! The corn he had planted was just about to bear fruit too, which was all great news.
After harvesting this batch of fruits, he could begin trading with others.
This was a big deal!
A serious glint flickered faintly in his eyes as he pictured this. It was time to get to work.
Thirty minutes passed as Ed finished picking all the corn and apples.
Placing them all in a big wooden basket, he counted them carefully. There were eighty-five apples and sixty-five ears of corn.
What a fortune!
These apples seemed different than usual, and looked much bigger. He ate one, only to find that it tasted better than any other apple he had tried before.
He had been watching the chat for days.
Some of the other survivors had gotten apples, but only one or two. Besides, he was willing to bet that the ones he had tasted much better than the ones in their hands. It would be easy to trade them. He also had corn that no one else seemed to have, which would be a very powerful bargaining chip.
Moreover, he had also gathered that most people were currently venturing into the forest during the day to look for food. Some had eaten poisonous mushrooms, only to immediately develop stomachaches and a series of other symptoms.
Without food, they would not have the strength to cut wood. Without cutting wood, they would have no resources.
The final result of all this led to death.
As such, all survivors would fight for food, not to mention fruits that could both fill their stomachs and replenish their thirst.
So far, wood was still being used as the most common bargaining tool. In this dense forest, there would be no shortage of wood, and so it was obvious that most would not accept it.
Given their current situation, it was the simplest resource to obtain. Consequently, it was obvious that no one would be willing to give up food in exchange for it.
After finishing the apple, Ed turned his attention to the corn on the grill.
He was looking forward to seeing if there would be any difference between this corn grown in gold-quality soil compared to the corn he had eaten before.
Little Treasure also rubbed its paws together in anticipation. After staying so long with Ed, it could almost be considered to be half-human now. In essence, it had copied Ed’s characteristics.
For example, in regards to food, Little Treasure would now refuse to eat anything that was uncooked.
Ed thought to himself that this peculiar little squirrel seemed to have a very high IQ.