["I'm starving to death, someone give me a bit of meat to eat, and I swear I'll love you for life!"]
["Upstairs, you're dreaming! Meat's so precious now, even we don't have enough for ourselves. Who's got any extra to give you? If you gave me a piece of meat, I could love you for life too."]
["Damn! Damn!! There's really something inside the mist, I just saw a pair of eyes! But this grass hut is way too shabby, it doesn't even have walls. I really don't dare sleep tonight!"]
["I want to go home… sob! sob! sob!"]
All kinds of chatter flooded the channel endlessly.
But from all that chatter, Ethan roughly came to a conclusion, if you want to get rich, chop trees first.
Upgrade your shack into a cabin, and you'll be rich among the rich.
Of course, that's easier said than done. If Ethan hadn't just happened to open a treasure chest and gotten a good axe, he'd probably still be shivering inside that grass hut right now.
"Right, I haven't even checked yet what new things were added after upgrading the cabin!"
Ethan summoned the [Upgrade Tree] panel.
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[Upgrade Tree]
• Grass Hut → Wooden Cabin → Stone House →[Locked]
— Grass Hut: Easily loses heat, vulnerable to beast attacks. Primitive shelter, upgrade as soon as possible.
— Wooden Cabin: Can block wind and rain, but still cannot withstand beast impacts.
[Level 1 Workbench: Can craft basic tools: Stone Axe, Bamboo Spear, Torch, Basic Backpack. (Building requirements: Stone 0/20, Wood 49/2)]
[Level 1 Bedroom: No more crude hay pile. A soft wooden straw bed, you deserve it! Good sleep speeds up stamina recovery. (Building requirements: Wood 49/4, Dried Grass 0/20, Vines 9/5)]
— Stone House: Only thick stone walls sealed tight with mud can resist natural disasters. You can also build a fireplace inside, so you can survive the extreme cold one week later. After upgrading, you can build a Medicine Table, Alchemy Furnace, and Fireplace. (Stone House Upgrade Requirements: Stone 0/200, Mud 0/100, Wood 41/50, Vines 9/20, Glass 0/4, Earth Elemental Core 0/4)
— [Locked]: After upgrading to Stone House, the next tier will be viewable.
———
• Base Carrying Weight→Indoor Storage→Backpack→ [Locked]
— Base Carrying Weight: 0/50. Exceeding this weight greatly reduces stamina.
— Indoor Storage: More indoor space. Warehouse capacity: 90/200.
— Backpack: After building a Workbench, you can craft a Basic Backpack, increasing carry weight by 100. (Crafting requirements: Animal Hide 1/2, Linen Thread 0/1)
— [Locked]: After obtaining the Backpack, next tier will be viewable.
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Ethan glanced over the Upgrade Tree.
Inside the cabin, two new buildable things were unlocked, a Workbench and a Bedroom.
Unfortunately, he didn't have enough materials. He planned to trade his leftover flint in the trading channel for some raw materials later, then he could upgrade part of it first.
He also noticed something new in the unlocked Stone House description.
[Stone House: Only thick stone walls sealed tight with mud can resist natural disasters. You can also build a fireplace inside, so you can survive the extreme cold one week later. (Upgrade early, there will be a cold wave in 3 days, and it'll make things more comfortable. After upgrading, you can build a Medicine Table, Alchemy Furnace, and Fireplace.)]
Especially that one line—
"You can also build a fireplace, so you can survive the extreme cold one week later."
That line was basically a warning to Ethan.
In three days there would be a cold wave. And one week later, an even harsher freezing weather would hit, only a Stone House could keep him alive through that.
If other players found out about this message, the prices of wood and stone would probably skyrocket to someth ing ridiculous.
"Looks like I have to stockpile wood and stone as much as possible before everyone else learns the truth."
"Then, whether I sell them or use them myself, I'll make a fortune either way."
Of course, Ethan did consider sharing this information with others.
But after thinking it through, he dismissed the idea. Once the word got out, collecting wood and stone would become ten times harder.
Besides, there were bound to be other merchants in this world doing hoarding and resale too, not necessarily worse than him.
By then, wood and stone would become so expensive that no one could afford them.
Which meant, Ordinary players who might've had a chance to gather enough materials to survive would end up robbed of that chance by profiteers. That wasn't exactly a good thing either.
So Ethan dropped the idea of spreading the news.
He continued to inspect the cabin.
After the upgrade, the interior had become much more spacious.
In one corner, there was now a special rack for stacking items. Ethan sorted all the materials he'd gathered outside and placed them neatly by category.
From today's trip, besides what he'd used up, he'd collected:
[Wood 49, Pine Needles 12, Vines 9, Dead Branches 8]
[Berries 25, Nuts 36, Squirrel Meat 1, Snake Meat 2]
[Squirrel Pelt 1, Venomous Fang 2, Wind Elemental Core 1]
[Water Purifier Blueprint 1]
[Fine Beast Trap 1]
Not bad at all.
After sorting everything, the smell of roasting meat began to fill the air.
Sizzle!
The meat was ready.
Ethan picked up the sizzling roasted snake meat and took a bite.
Fragrant and delicious. The snake meat didn't provide any buffs, but it tasted amazing, tender, springy, with a flavor similar to grilled eel, perfectly balanced between fatty and lean, not greasy at all.
After finishing one skewer, Ethan immediately wanted another.
While he grilled the second batch of snake meat, he started eating the squirrel meat.
Compared to the snake meat, the squirrel meat was way worse.
It had a strong musky odor, just one bite and he knew it must've been from an unneutered male squirrel.
Terrible taste.
Ethan shook his head.
But following his principle of not wasting food, he decided to hang the half-bitten squirrel meat on the trading channel in exchange for upgrade materials.
[Bitten Squirrel Meat: Exchange for 20 Stone, or 20 Dried Grass + 5 Vines]
[System Prompt: Profiteer Attribute +1]
The two materials were for building the Workbench and upgrading the Bedroom.
As for the Basic Backpack, he still lacked animal hide and linen thread.
Ethan didn't mind. After all, having animal hide meant someone had already hunted something.
But no matter what they'd hunted, no one would actually want a piece of half-eaten meat!
[Squirrel Meat -1, Stone +20]
Almost instantly after being listed, the bitten squirrel meat was snatched up in seconds.
And soon, the comments rolled in:
["This half-eaten meat for twenty stone? You're heartless!"]
["No one forced you to buy it! If I had enough stone, I would've snatched it too! You have no idea how precious food is right now. I chased rabbits in the field all day and didn't even catch a single fur strand!"]
["Hah! Keep scolding, I'll just enjoy this fragrant roasted squirrel meat. Brother Ethan's deals are always solid! And it's cooked, too!"]
["It's gone! Already sold out! You guys are way too fast! I wanted some too, Waaah~"]
["So hungry… Gulp!"]
Ethan looked at the comments.
He had to admit, this bunch of silly netizens were as lively as ever.
In the past, a half-eaten piece of squirrel meat would've been left for beggars, and even they might have refused it.
Yet here, in this world, a bitten piece of meat had become a hot commodity.
And people were actually trading away materials they'd spent an entire day mining for it.
"Looks like…"
"Everyone really is starving." (Isn't it obvious?)