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[Upgrade Tree]
• Thatched Hut → Wooden House →[Locked]
— Thatched Hut: prone to hypothermia, easily attacked by beasts, primitive shelter. Please upgrade as soon as possible.
— Wooden House: can block wind and rain, but still cannot resist beast rushes. After upgrading you can build a workbench and bedroom. (Upgrade requirement: Wood 0/100)
— [Locked]: after upgrading to Wooden House, you can view the next tier.
———
• Base Carry Weight→Indoor Storage→Backpack→[Locked]
— Base Carry Weight: your carry weight is 4/10. Exceeding this weight will greatly reduce your stamina.
— Indoor Storage: hurry and build the small wooden house and you will get a free indoor storage. (Upgrade requirement: Wood 0/100)
— Basic Backpack: after building a workbench, you can craft a basic backpack, increasing carry weight by 100. (Upgrade requirement: Beast Skin 0/1, Hemp Thread 0/1)
— [Locked]: after obtaining a backpack, you can view the next tier.
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'Base carry weight is only 10, and I am carrying so many things, why is it only 4?'
Ethan checked the weight of various items. Ten bronzes counted as one weight slot, and flints also count as ten-per-set, together taking up 2 weight slots.
The axe in his hand counted as one weight slot.
Total 4 slots.
"Looks like this world's weight system is fairly reasonable, otherwise just chopping a few things would have blown my carry weight instantly."
"As for the other stuff, to upgrade… I have to upgrade the wooden house first."
"So the priority right now should be collecting wood to upgrade the small wooden house."
"If the wooden house can't be upgraded, everything else is empty talk."
'In that case...'
'Let's take half the [Flint] and exchange it for wood; upgrade the small house first.'
[Flint: Exchange for Wood×10, Remaining: 10]
Ethan tossed ten flints up for trade in the Trade Channel.
Get some wood first and upgrade the wooden house.
Anyway, he wasn't afraid of failing to trade. After all he'd seen in the Trade Channel that people had gotten living materials like wood from treasure chests, so he just needed to scavenge materials from wealthier players' stocks.
The remaining ten pairs of flint he'd check tonight for whatever's needed and trade then.
After listing the items for trade, Ethan put the magic book back in his bosom. The mist-free period lasted only four hours in total, he absolutely couldn't waste time.
Of course… to Ethan, listing items in trade channels did not count as wasting time.
After all, only a few players had materials. If he didn't act early, the good stuff might be snatched away. If he waited until night, he'd be out of luck.
'Let's continue exploring the map.'
Even though he had flint, with other supplies still scarce, Ethan naturally couldn't miss any good things.
He re-examined the four directions.
The other three directions still showed no changes.
Only the south, where he'd opened the treasure chest, had a new prompt.
[South: Under a tree 10 meters ahead there is a rusty metal axe, a tool abandoned by cave dwarves. Although somewhat old, it's good for logging.]
[Prairie: There are many small rabbits and grouse, but they are very fast. Unless you have traps, you simply can't catch them.]
Ethan focused on the remaining red exclamation marks.
He currently had no traps on the prairie, nor the tools to make traps, so he didn't consider that option.
Finally, his gaze landed on the [Rusty Metal Axe].
No matter what, equipment is always the most important thing. Ethan decided to get the equipment first.
Following the system prompt's direction, Ethan found the rusty metal axe under a large tree at the edge of the forest.
Thick dead leaves had accumulated under the tree.
He sifted through the layers of dead leaves and finally dug out the rusty metal axe, its color blending with the leaves.
If not for the prompt, he probably would never have found it in his life.
[Rusty Metal Axe: Durability 4/5, can be used to chop trees, twice the efficiency.]
[Broken Stone Axe: Durability 1/5, can be used to chop trees, half the efficiency.]
One is half-effort double-effect, the other is double-effort half-effect, though the words are just reversed, the difference is huge.
To test the gap, Ethan first used the broken stone axe to chop at a nearby dwarf pine.
The dwarf pine barely budged; only after several swings did the dwarf pine show any HP prompt.
[Dwarf Pine: Durability 89/99]
'After chopping for ages it only lost 10 durability?'
'No wonder everyone said the broken stone axe was garbage!'
To cut one dwarf pine it would probably take a hundred swings with that stone axe.
Don't talk about pampered ordinary people, even a draft horse in a production team would find it unacceptable.
Ethan decisively gave up the broken stone axe.
He took out the rusty metal axe he'd just picked up and swung at the dwarf pine.
[Dwarf Pine: Durability 44.5/99]
One swing cut half the HP.
'It really works!'
Ethan's eyes lit up.
Overjoyed, he swung again at the dwarf pine.
[Wood +1]
[Pine Needles +1]
BANG!
The dwarf pine snapped and fell over.
The instant it hit the ground, it transformed into a neatly bundled stack of cut wood.
Each piece was about three meters long, roughly ten centimeters wide, and one to two centimeters thick, looking like planks.
'This is wood?'
Ethan muttered to collect it, and the wood disappeared.
It immediately appeared in the magic book's storage, under [Base Carry Weight 4/10].
"One piece of wood counts as one carry weight?"
"That's a bit unscientific. Ten bronzes counted as one weight slot…"
"Or maybe any item that occupies one slot counts as one weight?"
Ethan decided to go back and test.
As for the flint he'd listed on the Trade Channel, it didn't count toward carry weight, the trade system functioned as a temporary storage.
Of course.
To prevent exploitation of this loophole,
There's a small line on the Trade Channel —
[If a traded item is retrieved, a handling fee of 1% will be charged (Minimum Charge: 1 Wood).]
Indeed, the system sealed most people's attempts to game it with this trick.
But in resource-rich yet urgent situations, it could still be used.
And that 1 Wood handling fee could be considered a storage fee.
———
After cutting over thirty trees, Ethan's carry weight was full.
Although 10 Wood = 1 slot, he'd collected many different item types.
Ten bronzes = 1 slot, ten flints = 1 slot (the ten flints listed in the Trade Channel don't count), two axes = 2 slots, plus the 36 wood he'd just collected, 8 vines, 9 pine needles, his inventory instantly filled.
Ethan ran back, put the items into the hut, then ran back to the woods to keep working.
After chopping the 50th tree, he felt a little exhausted.
In total he'd collected…
[50 Wood, 12 Vines, 12 Pine Needles]
This was with the help of a rusty metal axe; if he'd used the broken stone axe, he probably wouldn't have even managed ten trees.
But upgrading the wooden house required 100 pieces of wood.
'Really a pain!'
During a rest, Ethan opened the Trade Channel in the magic book and checked. His flint had sold 3 sets, remaining quantity 7 sets (he still had 10 sets in his backpack, planning to watch the market before selling).
But he wasn't in a hurry, the time was still early.
At night, when people needed to make fires, they'd appreciate the value of flint.
The amount of wood suddenly increased by thirty, and with the fifty he'd chopped, the total was nearly enough.
Ethan decided to give up large-scale logging.
"Let's go get other resources first!"
Scanning the four directions again, Ethan found the prompts had changed.
[North: gather some dry grass; fifteen meters ahead there are some dwarf pines, can be cut, no danger.]
[West: there's a dead tree with a squirrel hole, filled with pine cones Watch out for the squirrel's claws, but I think you can easily take it down.]
[East: Lots of dry branches, good fuel for your bonfire. But under the branches there's a Gale Snake that ate a frog and is digesting it. You can attack it now, high probability you'll win.]