He Ni opened the raft details page.
The upgraded Cai Hong Hao now required more materials for expansion:【Upgrade Materials: Wood x130, Fiber x25, Iron Nail x25, Rough Rope x25, Resin x7】
【Durability: 200/200 (Perfect)】
Compared to the initial raft, the amount of materials needed had increased quite a bit.
But if her guess was correct, expanding the raft was crucial, so spending extra materials was worth it.
Taking a deep breath, He Ni calmed herself and opened the Base Material Gift Pack:【Received Wood x5, Fiber x2, Iron Nail x2, Resin x1】
The gift pack wasn’t rich, but it was better than nothing—and the resin was a rare commodity.
After trading for three consecutive days, she had only managed to accumulate eleven pieces.
She folded the rewards away, finally having time to carefully examine the raft beneath her.
The raft had grown larger after the expansion, roughly 3 meters by 3 meters.
Although it lacked the small wooden boat’s canopy and sides, the sense of security had definitely improved by more than a bit.
Not to mention, the raft’s durability had doubled, and daily durability loss dropped to just 3 points!
With this, she didn’t have to worry about it falling apart from waves or everyday wear anytime soon.
Next, before her Beginner Period ended, only one task remained—acquire a weapon.
During these three days, perhaps due to Novice Protection, no monsters had appeared, but tomorrow night was uncertain.
It was necessary to prepare fully in advance.
He Ni opened the Trading Hall.
The weapons for sale had clearly increased, but since the Beginner Period was about to end, prices were still high:【Long-handled fishing spear: Price negotiable】
【Crowbar: 10 liters of drinking water】
【Wooden-handled iron axe: 1 antibiotic】
Her top priority was the long-handled fishing spear.
It sounded like it could both fight monsters and catch fish.
She clicked the seller’s avatar and messaged directly.
The reply came instantly:【Summer Limited: You’re the coconut seller, right? I’ll trade my spear for 10 coconuts, deal?】
Coconuts seemed to be a dime a dozen; everyone was asking for either 10 or 20.
He Ni countered:【He Ni: I’ll trade you 500ml of coconut juice. If that’s okay, let’s make an agreement.】
Summer Limited flatly refused and raised the trade ratio, demanding at least 5 coconuts.
He Ni suddenly thought she could hold off on buying a weapon a little longer.
With so much wood in her backpack, using a thick piece as a weapon wasn’t a bad idea.
Swinging a hefty piece of wood around would definitely disorient any snails or monsters.
Haggling all day was exhausting.
As night fell, she leaned against the Stone Fire Basin, giving up on bargaining with Summer Limited and contacted another player selling a crowbar.
After dark, whether for relaxation, trading, or gathering intel, the virtual screen was indispensable.
This player responded promptly:【Bowl of Instant Noodles: One crowbar for one coconut, how about that?】
That price…
He Ni’s eyes lit up.
Now that was a sincere trade offer.
She quickly replied:【He Ni: I don’t have any whole coconuts left right now. Would 500g of coconut meat and 500ml of coconut juice work?】
Though the price was reasonable, she couldn’t help bargaining a little.
And she wasn’t lying; the only things left to trade were coconut juice and meat.
Just as she expected a counteroffer, “Bowl of Instant Noodles” immediately sent a trade agreement.
He Ni was genuinely stunned for a second, even thinking she could have said less.
But since they were so straightforward, she felt it would be unfair to hesitate.
Shaking off the thought, He Ni swiftly accepted the agreement.
A blank drinking water bottle appeared, she filled it with coconut juice, and the trade was completed:
【Received Crowbar x1】
No critical hit, but her weapon problem was solved, and she was very happy.
She immediately grabbed the crowbar and swung it around:【Crowbar: A rough tool forged from pig iron, with a wedge-shaped hooked tip capable of forcefully breaking obstacles】
【Durability: 200】
【Attack Power: 1】
【Special Trait: Durability -3 per use under harsh environments (Extreme Cold/Acid Rain)】
The crowbar was about 1.5 meters long, 3-4 centimeters thick, with a sharp iron hook at the tip.
It was easier to grip and swing than a piece of wood.
It also had “attack power” that wood lacked.
Clearly, the damage dealt by weapons compared to ordinary items was vastly different.
Ti…
He Ni glanced at the words Extreme Cold and Acid Rain, feeling a chill in her heart.
She recalled what Little Snail had said about “stacking additional disasters” — that must have referred to these extreme weather events.
Surviving at sea was already tough; if Extreme Cold or Acid Rain struck, the player death rate would surely spike.
And if there was Extreme Cold and Acid Rain, then Storms and Typhoons might come next.
Stockpiling cold-resistant supplies and upgrading the raft into a higher-level boat that could shield against rain and cold was urgent.
After all, no one knew when extreme weather might hit.
Her briefly eased mind tensed up again.
That night, she scrambled to patch things together until after 1 a.m., her body entering a [Severely Fatigued] state before finally collapsing onto the raft to sleep.
On the morning of June 4th, the World Channel was as lively as on the very first day of the game.
The Beginner Period had ended, signaling the true challenges for players had officially arrived.
He Ni, like the others, was both nervous and excited.
She wasn’t excited that the Beginner Period was over, but because in just one hour, at 6:00 a.m., she would have accumulated 20 Energy Points, enough to modify her raft.
After quickly eating some grilled fish and drinking a few sips of coconut juice in five minutes, she stood up full of energy and scanned the surrounding sea.
But the initial excitement quickly faded into mild frustration.
After the Beginner Period ended, the floating resources on the sea had clearly decreased.
The day before yesterday she had woken to find two coconuts; yesterday there were three.
Today, only 26 nautical miles from Abandoned Stone Island, within a 10-meter radius, there wasn’t a single coconut—only one coconut leaf.
Valuable resources like wood and foam boxes had also sharply dwindled.
Squinting for a while, she finally spotted a piece of wood floating about nine meters to the southwest.
Fishing.
The rest were just broken plastic bags, straws, tissue wrappers, torn cardboard, plastic bottles, branches, and bits of dry grass—trash.
Using 15 stamina, she retrieved the wood and coconut leaf, then seeing no other valuable debris, she sat down obediently to make the most of the precious daytime before 6:00.
Unlike before, without Novice Protection, she dared not relax even during the day.
The crowbar remained at her feet, ready in case monsters appeared, so she could fight at any moment.
She fished for over forty minutes.
Surprisingly, even without the 50% Beginner Period gathering bonus, she caught something every cast.
Spending 75 stamina, plus some critical drop bonuses, she acquired: plastic bags x6, torn raincoats x2, discarded electrical wires x2, ripped sweatpants x2, broken sacks x2, a shower gel bottle x1, iron bucket x1, plastic flower bouquet x1, old carpet x1, old yoga mat x1, cat plush toy x1…
And a few disgustingly nasty clumps of rag.
He Ni forced her trademark fake smile, now used to her luck.
She even had a feeling: if the first day’s fishing yielded only junk by chance, then from the second day on, her [Scavenger] talent was probably influencing her fishing categories.
If she ever got the chance to set foot on the island, would she only be good enough to pick up garbage there too?
Other players shop for treasures; she scavenged for trash.
He Ni internally wailed, “Please don’t let that happen!!!”
Time passed quickly while fishing.
Soon, the virtual screen’s upper-left time jumped to 6:00.
He Ni immediately jumped up and looked to the sky:【Energy Points: 20】
Now she could upgrade the raft!
After waiting four whole days, she couldn’t wait even a second.
She crouched down, pressed her hands on the raft, and as the prompt to upgrade appeared on the screen, she clicked confirm.
The next moment, the raft beneath her hummed and trembled.
White mist suddenly surged from nowhere, blurring her vision, and all she could hear was clanging and banging.
It sounded like countless skilled craftsmen were wielding tools, hammering and fixing her raft.
The fog was thick, and He Ni was inside it, unable to see a thing.
Fishing and hook-throwing paused, but the virtual screen remained lit.
She blinked and sat lightly on the Stone Fire Basin, temporarily folding up her sun umbrella, gripping the crowbar tightly and listening carefully.
After about half an hour, the mist suddenly cleared, and everything around had changed drastically.
He Ni was still a little dazed, staring at the raft for a long moment.
The main structure was unchanged, but a simple sunshade had been added in the center.
Though crude, it was sufficient for sun and rain protection.
Ah, although it was still a level 1 raft, her little raft now had a shaded area just like Da Yuanyuan’s level 2 Wupeng boat!
A few seconds later, her frozen brainwaves recovered, and she quickly slipped into the sunshade.
Without even inspecting the simple shelter, she caught out of the corner of her eye the fishing net hanging off the side of the raft, drifting with the waves.
Her old torn fishing nets, which she had thrown onto a plastic bucket, were gone, replaced by a fishing net evenly spread between two corners of the raft’s edge.
Not only were the broken fishing nets gone, but the plastic bucket filled with trash and the plastic bags were now mostly empty.
He Ni hurriedly checked her backpack: the quantities of wood, iron nails, resin, and other materials had all drastically decreased.
Putting together the tarp and coconut leaves on top of the sunshade, she understood clearly.
When she used her talent to upgrade the raft, the system had consumed a large amount of materials without asking.
But this upgrade…
He Ni looked up at the top of the sunshade, completely blocking out light.
Moving the sun umbrella aside, she was surprised to find that the sunshade’s effectiveness rivaled that of the sun umbrella.
Just with this sunshade, the materials she lost weren’t wasted at all.
The raft’s description had also changed:【Cai Hong Hao: Level 1 Raft – Drifting Garbage Station (Upgradeable)】
【Description: A reinforced raft skillfully modified by a Scavenger! It can barely withstand harsh environments and improves resource gathering efficiency. Durability -1/day】
【Special Features: Reduces extreme weather effects, adds simple automated gathering】
【Environment Score: -20 (Comparable to ruins and debris, can be improved)】
【Defense Score: 2 (No real resistance, can be improved)】
【Function Score: 4 (Only usable for landing, can be improved)】
【Expandable Facilities: (2/4)】
【Upgrade Materials (Advanced): Wood x180, Iron Nail x50, Rough Rope x50, Fiber x50, Waterproof Tarp x20, Resin x20】
【Durability: 500/500】
【Status: Perfect】
Resisting harsh environments and adding simple automated gathering!
He Ni’s eyes shone brightly.
Spending those 20 Energy Points was totally worth it!