Chapter 8: Upgrading the Treehouse
After a morning of trading, Ye Da suddenly had 150 units of inferior wood, 3 units of flax, and 2 units of nails. With these materials, he could now upgrade his tree hollow into an ordinary treehouse.
When he opened his personal attributes…
[Ding!]
[Treehouse upgrade conditions met. Upgrade now?]
“Yes!”
Although Ye Da was eager to upgrade his tree hollow straight into a mobile treehouse, the sheer amount of materials required was daunting—just the inferior wood alone would need ten thousand units, not to mention all the other resources.
So Ye Da decided to play it safe and upgrade to an ordinary treehouse first.
[Broken Tree Hollow → Ordinary Treehouse]
Whoosh! The moment Ye Da selected the upgrade, a dazzling golden light spread out beneath his feet. As the brilliance expanded, the interior of the tree hollow rapidly transformed. The once uneven ground became smooth, the messy wood was neatly stacked to one side, and even the campfire now sat in a cement-built hearth, shielding it from the wind and preventing flames from spreading.
Most importantly, where the giant bear had clawed open a gap in the tree, a sturdy wooden door now stood.
[Upgrade Successful]
[Next Level: Ordinary Stone House.]
What was needed to upgrade to an ordinary stone house?
After Ye Da gazed at his treehouse for a moment, the analysis glasses provided the answer.
[Name: Treehouse (Mist World Level 1 Shelter)]
[Ordinary advancement: 100 units of inferior stone, 10 units of inferior wood, 1 unit of inferior mud, 2 units of glass. Can be advanced to an ordinary stone house. (Upgrading will allow construction of a fireplace and a basic workbench.)]
Both the name and level had changed. Previously, it was called Tree Hollow, with the suffix Mist World Basic Shelter. Now, after Ye Da upgraded it to an ordinary treehouse, “basic” in the suffix had become “level 1.”
However…
Originally, upgrading from tree hollow to treehouse offered three choices: ordinary, refined, and top-grade. But now, when Ye Da wanted to upgrade to a stone house, there was only one option left.
It seemed the house upgrade path could only progress in a single direction.
If Ye Da wanted a top-grade stone house, he’d first have to upgrade the treehouse to top-grade. Yet, once he chose that path, every subsequent upgrade would demand enormous quantities of materials.
Even so…
Ye Da still longed to have a top-grade treehouse before considering a stone house.
There was just one reason:
Only the top-grade treehouse had a special feature—it was mobile!
Neither the ordinary nor the refined treehouse could do this.
In this strange world, no one knew what might happen next. If disaster struck—torrential rains or floods—this place was nothing like Earth. Here, venturing out at night was as good as courting death.
So, a mobile treehouse became all the more crucial!
Upgrade! He must upgrade!
With this new goal, Ye Da was once again brimming with motivation.
But just as he was fired up and ready to throw himself into work, his stomach betrayed him with a loud growl of hunger.
Well…
First, food. He had to eat before he could press on.
Ye Da’s gaze fell on the newly acquired Jumping Mushroom. The question was, how should one actually cook such a gigantic thing?
Fortunately, the analysis glasses were up to the task and quickly provided an answer.
[Jumping Mushroom: Five hallucinogenic poison sacs are hidden among the gills under the cap. Must be removed. The stalk is edible if peeled.]
Oh? This Jumping Mushroom was a hidden menace, much like fugu!
Ye Da flipped the knee-high mushroom over and poked his fingers into the folds under the cap. Soon, he found a round, squishy water sac. He grasped it by the root and pulled it out.
A blue-green water sac the size of an egg came out easily. It looked a bit like a gall bladder, soft to the touch, like a water balloon.
Ye Da didn’t throw the poison sac away. He chopped off a section of bamboo, placed the poison in it, and decided to test it on a small animal someday. Who knew—it might make a unique weapon.
He moved his fingers methodically through each gill, and soon all five poison sacs were removed. They weren’t hard to extract; a gentle tug and they came free.
The real issue was that an ordinary person would never know about these hidden dangers. If someone, unaware, simply sliced open the mushroom or roasted it over a fire, the sac could easily burst and contaminate the entire mushroom.
The outcome would be…
Red cap and white stalk—eat it and you’ll all end up lying on your backs.
After removing the poison sacs, Ye Da chopped the Jumping Mushroom in two, separating cap and stalk.
The cap was edible; the stalk needed to be peeled.
Peeling the stalk took a great deal of effort—it was thick and tough—but at last, Ye Da managed to strip it off in one piece.
When he saw the intact white skin, he thought it looked just like a piece of clothing. On a whim, he cut three holes in it and slipped it over himself.
It actually fit!
And, surprisingly, the mushroom skin was quite cooling—perfect for warding off the heat of the campfire. That afternoon, he planned to visit the bamboo grove; with this “garment,” he wouldn’t have to worry about being bitten half to death by mosquitoes again.
He still had a whole patch of itchy bites that hadn’t healed—a torment.
After peeling and cleaning the giant mushroom, Ye Da was presented with a new dilemma.
No pot!
Did that mean he’d have to roast the Jumping Mushroom directly?
Wait—not necessarily. He could make skewers! With plenty of bamboo on hand, he could whittle some sticks.
Alternating chunks of bear meat and mushroom on a skewer, roasting them together—the mushrooms would soak up the savory juices, and the mushroom would help balance the richness of the bear meat.
Perfect!
What a clever fellow he was!
Without delay, Ye Da laid several pieces of inferior wood flat on the ground to form a makeshift bamboo cutting board. He chopped the Jumping Mushroom into bite-sized chunks, did the same with the bear meat, and skewered them.
Without a grill, Ye Da had to stick the red-and-white skewers into the ground beside the campfire at a slant, letting them roast slowly.
Slow roasting was just as well—less chance of burning them. Besides, he was busy making more skewers and couldn’t keep a constant eye on the fire. Let the flames do their work.
He discovered that the Jumping Mushroom didn’t keep well, especially after being chopped. The cut surfaces quickly turned green—probably oxidizing.
There was far more mushroom than he could possibly eat.
Maybe he could trade some for other materials?
Ye Da opened the trading market and typed in a message…