[Enjoyed a delicious wild mushroom dish in the wilds of North America and perfectly neutralized its toxins. Happiness Points +2]
Just as he'd thought, eating was an almost guaranteed daily source of happiness.
The newly acquired points were quickly converted into a vast ocean of knowledge that flooded his mind.
[Successfully exchanged for the Wild Plant Encyclopedia. Remaining Happiness Points: 1]
"Phew... It's still early. I'll go out and look around again!"
He moved the wild apple soup, which had been boiling for a while, to the side to cool. He set it down with the leftover lichen and some unknown fat white grubs. He hadn't yet figured out how to prepare those two ingredients.
After all, with nighttime temperatures in Alaska dropping to over ten degrees below zero, he didn't have to worry about the ingredients spoiling overnight.
Especially the lichen. After a full day of air-drying in the sun, it already resembled dried wood ear mushrooms. It wasn't completely desiccated yet, but that was no cause for concern.
After bundling up, he switched on his Hat Lamp. Grabbing the leaf basket he had woven and his Engineer Shovel, he set off, traveling light.
He didn't plan on going far; just a look around the vicinity of his shelter would do. With his newfound knowledge, he was bound to make some good finds.
As soon as he crawled out of his tent and stood up, he idly swept his Hat Lamp in a circle, curious to see how effective his new Wild Plant Encyclopedia would be.
And as he did, his gaze froze.
In the spruce forest about a hundred meters from his shelter, a clump of cedar trees caught his attention. Their shape was clearly different, but they were about the same height as the spruce.
From a distance, they shared the same height and color, and even their leaves were similarly shaped.
But on closer inspection, one could see the growth angle of their leaves and branches was completely different.
The spruce trees were conical, their overall shape resembling a pagoda.
The cedar, however, looked more like a low-poly tree from an open-world game. The leaves on each branch grew in flat sprays, and from certain angles, it looked as if they were clipping through the model.
Before, he had never noticed such an obvious difference. He hadn't even realized a different species was growing right there in the spruce forest.
Never mind from a hundred meters away—he probably couldn't have told the difference even if he had walked right past them.
"It really is cedar. This is a lifesaver."
He gathered a large bundle of cedar boughs and carried them back to his shelter. Much like spruce, they had a unique scent and were a natural insect repellent. Spread on the ground, they could also provide insulation and keep out the cold.
Most importantly, water boiled with them could be used to wash his hair!
'Cedar boughs are rich in flavonoids, volatile oils, and tannins. They not only slow male pattern baldness and promote hair growth, but also have antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and oil-controlling properties, while stimulating blood circulation in the scalp.'
He didn't even have to think about it; the information on the benefits of cedar boughs surfaced in his mind automatically.
He never would have imagined that while he was racking his brain for a way to wash his hair, the solution had been right there all along.
'Spruce tips also contain flavonoids and are rich in vitamin C. A decoction made from both them and the cedar boughs could not only wash my hair and control oil, but also condition it, protect my scalp, and even promote hair growth. If this were to be broadcast on the show, it would cause a huge sensation, right?'
He glanced at the still-steaming apple water, and after a moment's hesitation, he abandoned the impulse to wash his hair that night.
Running to the river for water in the pitch-black of night was just too risky.
It wouldn't be too late to consider nighttime excursions once he had some means of self-defense.
'Washing my hair every three days... The happiness from that would be off the charts, wouldn't it?'
Thinking about his prize for the morning, Lin Chen swallowed hard. It was as if he could already feel the blissful sensation of his head becoming a few pounds lighter.
'If I can wash my hair, then I can bathe too. A proper bath is definitely out of the question, and I could at most just splash water on myself. But even that seems unrealistic with the small amount of water the soup pot holds.'
Temporarily abandoning the idea of a bath, he turned and ducked out of the tent again to continue wandering around the campsite.
However, the visibility at night was too poor to properly identify plants in the dense undergrowth. Not wanting to stray too far from camp for safety reasons, he soon returned, having only gathered some more firewood.
...
"Time to wash my hair!!!"
The sun had yet to rise, but Lin Chen, possessed by his obsession, could lie still no longer. He shot up into a sitting position.
To ensure he could sleep soundly without needing a midnight bathroom break, he hadn't even drunk any of the wild apple water the previous night.
After thirty hours with hardly any water, he could no longer contain his thirst. He picked up the soup pot—long since cold and now chilling to the touch—brought it to his lips, and started to chug.
GULP... GULP... GULP...
"Ahhh!!"
"*Burp~*"
With its perfect tartness and soul-chilling coolness, you could have easily mistaken it for a pot of iced lemonade if not for the apple slices floating on top.
"Heh, interesting. I never thought that boiling such sour, unripe wild apples would taste so much like lemonade, but with a hint of apple aroma. I recommend everyone watching give it a try at home. Just boil some lemon, lime, and green apple. If you're worried about bitterness, scrape off the white pith of the lemon peel. If you like it sweet, you can add sugar to your liking."
The moment the words left his mouth, a notification popped up.
[Enjoyed iced wild apple water after enduring over thirty hours without water in the wilds of North America. Happiness Points +3]
'This counts too?'
The unexpected reward caught him off guard, but the lingering tartness in his mouth urged him to continue drinking the sour, thirst-quenching iced water.
But the wild apple water, having been left out overnight, was almost painfully cold. If he hadn't placed it near the fire the previous night, it would likely be a solid pot of ice by now.
It was obviously impossible to chug down such icy water on an empty stomach.
Resigned, he had to cradle the pot in his hands, sipping from it as he walked toward the river.
Just as he reached the bank of the Yukon River, his ears twitched. He suddenly heard the familiar thrum of rotor blades on the horizon.
He looked up.
A black dot was rapidly approaching his position.
'Oh, right. It's the morning of the fourth day. The spare batteries the film crew gave me must be almost dead.'
There was no clearing nearby large enough for the helicopter to land, so the film crew staff—cameraman and doctor included—had to descend via a rope ladder.
The deafening roar and hurricane-force downdraft whipped the nearby trees back and forth. Startled by the sudden chaos, numerous dark shapes hidden in the grass scattered and fled.
"Holy shit!"
Lin Chen stared, dumbfounded, at the grassy riverbank. In just a fleeting glance, he spotted no fewer than ten wild rabbits, some unknown creatures a size larger than them, and even several deer and mountain goats!
'So all these critters have been wandering around right under my nose every day, and I've been too blind to see a single one?'