Chapter 10 Trekking Through the Marshlands

Buyer: "Ah... this! How much can I get for it? Please, could you give me a little more?"

Ye Da: "I can't grill that much at once, but you can grill it yourself. I can give you the equivalent of one hundred skewers of bear meat and Jumping Mushrooms. What do you say?"

Buyer: "I don't have any fire. Otherwise, I'd have no problem grilling it myself."

Ye Da: "I sell fire starters too, but they're expensive. One batch costs ten units of inferior linen. Do you want one?"

Buyer: "So expensive? Are you sure you’re not just robbing me?"

Ye Da: "The Survival in the Mist rules say that bonfires provide warmth and dispel the mist. So make sure to start your fire before nightfall! If you don't buy now, I'll have to raise the price tonight—my fire starters are limited, and then only the highest bidder will get one."

Buyer: "..."

The other party sent a string of ellipses.

But even so...

Ye Da soon received a private trade invitation.

[10 units of inferior linen: exchange for 1 fire starter]
[10 units of inferior nails: exchange for 50 bear and mushroom skewers]

Ye Da traded one match, a large piece of bear meat, and half a mushroom cap to the other person.

The buyer hesitated for a moment after seeing the trade contents, but ultimately accepted.

[Trade successful]

Buyer: "I didn't expect you to be so generous! You could have just taken more, but you actually gave me two big pieces of meat and a matchstick."

Ye Da replied mischievously, "Pleasure doing business!"

Although the Jumping Mushrooms were juicy, after eating so many, Ye Da found himself a bit thirsty.

So he traded one skewer for a bottle of mineral water.

It was a 500ml glass bottle, but there were no labels on it—perhaps a local specialty of this world!

Ye Da took a big gulp and found the water here surprisingly delicious.

At least, better than any bottled water back home.

By the time he’d sold all his grilled meat, it was already noon.

He'd nearly exhausted himself collecting those two thousand units of inferior wood!

But seeing the twenty units of quality timber stacked in his treehouse, Ye Da felt it was all worth it.

Of course...

This premium timber was synthesized from the inferior wood.

Every one hundred units of inferior wood could be refined into ten units of regular wood, and every ten units of regular wood could be refined into one unit of premium timber.

Only eighty more units of premium timber, and Ye Da would be able to upgrade his treehouse into a mobile treehouse.

It was a tall order.

But it filled him with anticipation!

After all...

Ye Da had managed to gather a fifth of the materials in just a single morning; at most, he believed he’d have everything needed for the top-tier treehouse within three days!

If only Dali were here—he’d be able to share the good news.

Unfortunately...

Ye Da checked his phone, but there was still no word from Dali.

[Ding!]
[Thirty minutes until sunrise.]

Oh, is it time to head outside again?

Seeing the prompt flash across the screen, Ye Da instinctively opened the weather forecast.

[Beginner Protection Period: Day 1, Afternoon]
[Weather: Mist turning to clear skies]
[The afternoon will be sunny; the sun won’t set until after 5:30 PM. You have a full five hours available for exploration—cherish this time.]
[PS: Players are strongly encouraged to collect fuel and fire starters. If you cannot upgrade your treehouse before nightfall, at least upgrade to a wooden door and light a bonfire to resist the unspeakable things lurking in the mist.]

The forecast had indeed changed.

The afternoon exploration window was much longer.

However...

Learning from his experience that morning, Ye Da decided to return home early in the afternoon and not be greedy for any extra half-hour or hour.

Otherwise, if he got caught outside and couldn't make it back, it would be a miserable end.

He still had so many unused materials—if someone else benefited from them after he was gone, he’d never rest in peace!

"I've been so focused on making money, I need to hurry up and craft those swamp shoes and bamboo raft!"

With half an hour left before he could set out, Ye Da raced against the clock to make the swamp shoes. Luckily, the bamboo he'd chopped earlier was thick and plentiful.

Even after he'd whittled quite a bit for skewers, a third of the bamboo remained—enough for two pairs of bamboo raft swamp shoes.

He sawed the bamboo, roasted and split the strips, then bent them into shapes resembling skis.

There wasn’t much technique involved; the key was to increase surface resistance.

The larger the bamboo strips, the better. All he needed was to secure them to his feet.

As Ye Da finished crafting the swamp shoes, the sun came out. Through the small window in his wooden door, he could see the mist outside quickly dissipating.

It was time to go.

Before departing, Ye Da dug a deep pit beside the bonfire, lined it with charcoal, tossed in the agave hearts he’d harvested in the morning, and covered them with soil.

The agave hearts needed to roast for about four hours to be thoroughly cooked.

By placing them in the embers now, they’d be ready to eat when he returned that evening.

Taking advantage of the clearing mist, Ye Da hurried out to gather some dead branches to keep the bonfire burning and preserve his fire starter.

Although he had plenty of matches, each one was valuable.

He couldn’t afford to waste them; every penny saved was a penny earned.

...

At the swamp.

Ye Da, carrying his bamboo raft swamp shoes—which looked like skis—arrived at the edge of the marsh. It was easy to tell where the swamp began: any area with lush grass marked its boundary.

What humans see as a muddy hell is, for plants, a fertile paradise!

Sitting at the edge, Ye Da put on the swamp shoes, then cautiously tested the boundary... not the edge of the law, but the edge of the swamp!

The enormous buoyancy lifted his feet.

It was as if...

He had tiny boats on his feet; stepping down wasn’t easy at all!

The dense bamboo, like a kite, provided great resistance against the sucking mud, balancing buoyancy and drag.

Ye Da’s swamp shoes—success!

Bear Grylls hadn’t lied to him after all!

Tap!

Tap tap tap!

Ye Da, wearing his swamp-walking contraptions, strode across the marsh as if walking on water.

"I found it!"

There it was—a wooden treasure chest, quietly resting in the swamp, hidden among the lush green grass.

[Swamp: Only 19 minutes and 31 seconds until the chest refreshes.]

Just in time!

Ye Da had come straight to the marsh as soon as he left home, and there were barely twenty minutes left before the chest would refresh. If he’d decided to haul bamboo back first, he would have missed it!

With a thud, Ye Da carried the chest back to solid ground and opened it.

[Ding!]
[Congratulations, player! Lucky effect triggered!]
[Basic survival supplies in the chest doubled, equipment receives additional attributes!]