Chapter Bonanza (3/5)

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Realizing how poor he was made Nan Liujing even more desperate to gather supplies. He opened the trading section and quickly searched for all food-related listings on the market.

On Day 6 of survival, the players’ diet still consisted mainly of seafood. Occasionally, if they were lucky, they could open a treasure chest to find food and improve their meals. From what Nan Liujing could see so far, the treasure chests seemed to contain only whole-wheat buns. As for beverages, wooden crates only contained purified water, while oak barrels had a very small chance of yielding drinks like juice or alcohol.

The extremely meager diet pushed the players to the brink of collapse. Many had lost several pounds in less than a week, and those who were already in poor health have developed symptoms such as decreased stamina, hair loss, mouth ulcers, constipation, and bloating due to malnutrition.

Players who haven’t yet built makeshift shelters have been sleeping out in the open for several days. As temperatures drop day by day, both their physical and mental health are in a precarious state.

Both their bodies and minds crave a more substantial diet, and at the same time, some players have indeed risked their lives to bring food back from Resource Island.

Under these circumstances, it’s no surprise that items in the trading zone—other than seafood and whole-grain bread—are commanding high prices.

【Sweet Grass x1, edible, sweet at the root—a bit of sweetness is needed in this monotonous survival life! Trade for 4 wooden planks.】

【Pomelo x1, guaranteed sweet pomelo—if it’s not sweet, cut me down and I won’t fight back. Trade for 20 iron nails.】

【Wild Egg x1, found in the grass. Not sure if it’s unfertilized—feel free to try hatching it. Trade for 500ml of purified water.】

【Honey x1, 100g per unit. You’ll need to provide your own container. Alternatively, DM me to trade for honeycomb to extract yourself. Trade for food of equal value—no whole-grain bread or seafood.】

At these prices, regular players definitely can’t afford them—and wouldn’t want to spend that much anyway. They need to save up materials to build shelters; right now, nothing takes priority over that.

The sellers know full well that the vast majority of casual players can’t afford their food, but they don’t care. They aren’t making money off ordinary players’ resources anyway—they’re targeting those at the top of the pyramid: the “high-level players” who, like them, built their shelters early and have made significant gains while exploring the ocean.

As for whether ordinary players might get hungry and beg them to lower their prices? That’s bound to happen—there are countless related posts on the forums.

But would they be so kind as to slash their prices for that?

Ha.

What are you thinking?

Nan Liujing wasn’t about to turn into a ruthless profiteer, but he had no intention of playing the saint in a survival game either. After all, gathering supplies wasn’t easy for him—he’d taken risks, expended stamina and precious stamina potions, and even had a “friendly” sparring match with a zombie, ending up covered in dirt.

He went through all that trouble to gather these resources—and now you want him to sell them off cheap? He might as well just go and kill himself.

After a moment’s thought, Nan Liujing reset his search criteria to look only for fruit-related listings, then weighed factors like star rating, quantity, and weight to make his own decision.

Currently, the cheapest fruit on the market was the Snakeberry, selling for just 3 base materials per unit. The item description noted that the Snakeberry had a sour and astringent taste and could cause mild diarrhea upon consumption—meaning it had a negative effect—so its low price was understandable.

Although players are desperate for vitamins, most have no interest in spending resources on a “laxative,” so the snakeberries are selling very slowly.

The most expensive fruit is an orange. Its item description states that this variety is rich in vitamin C and can effectively prevent sepsis. The seller is confidently asking for a high price of 20 base materials, yet the listing has remained unchanged to this day.

In contrast, some fruits priced between 5 and 8 base materials are selling steadily. Nan Liujing picked up an apple and weighed it lightly in his hand, and estimated it weighed half a jin—in terms of weight, it was no worse than the other items on sale.

Besides, his three-star apples were definitely worth eating.

“Let’s set the price at 7 base materials—for good luck.” That was Nan Liujing’s lucky number.

He decided not to sell the raspberries; berries don’t fetch a high price. Nan Liujing planned to keep some for his own consumption and turn the rest into jam to extend their shelf life as much as possible.

As for coconuts, he didn’t have many on hand. Market prices for coconuts generally range from 10 to 15 materials. Rather than trading them for materials, Nan Liujing preferred to exchange coconuts for more valuable supplies. 

Before listing the apples, he first searched the trading area for a few sellers based on his memory.

Xu Jia, the “Deep Thinker” strategy guru, had not only honey on his shelf but also bee pupae, roses, lavender, pansies, and other edible flowers. Nan Liujing casually scrolled down, and when he reached the very bottom, he paused slightly, sitting up straight involuntarily.

【Dew Grass x1, exchange for food of equal value; contact me privately for specific ratios. No seafood or whole-grain bread.】

【Dew Grass】

【Magical Plant】

【A slender, emerald-green magical plant that requires a large amount of water during its growth period to mature. Its outer layer effectively prevents other plants from being affected by its sap, which fills the plant and causes it to swell into the shape of a dewdrop. The sap is edible and has a sweet, refreshing taste.】

【Suggested Price: 300 Sol】

【Condition: Fresh】

“So, this is what it’s called…” Nan Liujing fell silent for a moment, then gasped as if in pain. “Continuously dropping temperatures, the association bought dew grass, grass… a natural disaster.”

This is bad. He had virtually no supplies stockpiled to counter a natural disaster. No, based solely on the item description for dew grass, he couldn’t confirm the type of natural disaster just yet.

Don’t panic, stay calm, and gather some more intel. At least during the third main quest, every day will be a “Peaceful Day”—the system quests wouldn’t lie. Even if there is a natural disaster, it won’t happen until after the third main quest is over.

They still have some time.

After collecting himself, Nan Liujing carefully noted the appearance of dew grass, then clicked into Xu Jia’s private chat to start typing.

Unknown Island – Nan Liujing: ‌‌, I have 【Apple ★★★】, can I trade it for honey?

Perhaps the other party was just processing the trade details, as the reply came quickly.

Coral Island – Xu Jia: A three-star apple? This is the first time I’ve seen one. How is it different from the half-star ones?

Should he call it a professional habit? Xu Jia’s first reply immediately veered off-topic.

Nan Liujing understood completely; he, too, tended to nitpick over every detail and setting when playing games. Xu Jia had once selflessly shared walkthroughs and summary posts that had been a huge help to Nan Liujing, so he was more than happy to return the favor.

Unknown Island – Nan Liujing: It’s bigger than a half-star Apple, tastes better, and has a higher suggested retail price.

Coral Island – Xu Jia: No change in the edible effects?

Nan Liujing nodded. Sure enough, that was exactly what he was focusing on.

Unknown Island – Nan Liujing: No.

Coral Island – Xu Jia: That’s interesting.

Unknown Island – Nan Liujing: Hmm.

In this survival game with such high realism, it’s hard to imagine that any of its settings would be meaningless. It’s more likely that its true purpose lies in the future, and current players simply don’t have the means to access it yet.

Unknown Island – Nan Liujing: So can I trade for honey? 

Coral Island – Xu Jia: Of course. My honey is half-star. How about trading 3 honey for one apple?

That would be 300g of honey, which weighs about the same as his apples. Although there’s a difference in star rating, that’s not the main point right now. At this stage, honey is definitely a luxury item, rarer than ordinary fruit—it’s precious “sugar.” 

Xu Jia likely brought up this price to thank Nan Liujing for sharing the star-rating intel. Nan Liujing didn’t want to take too much advantage of the other party, so in addition to the two apples, he threw in a handful of raspberries.

Traded for 6 units of honey, stored in a clean, sealed glass jar.

These glass jars hold 1 liter each. If possible, Nan Liujing would have preferred to fill them to the brim, but unfortunately, Xu Jia wasn’t willing to part with any more honey—he wanted to trade it for other supplies. 

【Honey☆】

【Category: Food】

【Sweet honey from the honeycombs of the Double-Sting Bees. Mild and nourishing, it’s very soothing for the throat. Consuming it restores 30 Stamina.】

【Suggested Price: 320 Sol】

【Status: Fresh】

Nan Liujing didn’t trade for dew grass; what he needed even more were dew grass seeds. However, he hadn’t yet found a way to extract seeds from the plant, and if the dew grass rotted before he could do so, it would be a waste.

Every item was hard-earned, and Nan Liujing didn’t want to take that risk.

Soon, he found the vendor selling waterfowl eggs and traded 5 apples and 2 coconuts for 6 wild duck eggs and 3 goose eggs.

Nan Liujing inspected all the eggs with his flashlight; they were all fertilized, but he had no intention of trying to hatch them.

First, he wasn’t a bird—he had no feathers—and he couldn’t control the incubation temperature. Second, even if he managed to hatch them by some stroke of luck, he had nowhere to raise them.

Whether ducklings or goslings, they’re all a handful once they can fly—in every sense of the word.

He planned to eat all the eggs he traded for, using them to supplement his protein intake. He really couldn’t go without protein. It had only been a few days since he entered the game, and even though he exercised plenty every day, he felt like his muscles were wasting away. He was constantly on edge, suspecting that the definition of his abs was fading.

In addition to this, he traded some wooden planks for twelve sealed glass jars available in the trading zone. This was his third time buying them; the sellers were different each time, yet the jars he received were always identical. He suspected the system was raiding the same factory.0

He planned to use these sealed glass jars to make raspberry and apple jam, candied apples, and canned apples.

To do this, he also needed to buy sugar in the trading area.

There were indeed people selling white sugar from Blue Star City in wooden crates, but the quantity was limited, and the prices were a bit high. Nan Liujing planned to negotiate with them using the fruits he had on hand; if he couldn’t get enough white sugar, he might also sun-dry some apples and raspberries.

In short, everything was done to extend the shelf life of the food.

Now that he had a hunch about the nature of the coming natural disaster, Nan Liujing’s urgency to gather supplies grew even stronger. For the impending disaster, food was absolutely the top priority!

Oh, and materials.

Nan Liujing suddenly remembered something and quickly revised the custom-made simple water collector listing on his shelf, completely removing all restrictions.

Previously, to quickly gather enough materials to build a basic farmhouse, he had limited trades to wooden planks, iron nails, and palm leaves. Now, however, he imposed no restrictions whatsoever, even explicitly stating that stones and clay would be accepted with priority.

Next, Nan Liujing listed 40 apples for sale, specifying that each transaction must include 7 stones/clay or 5 iron nails.

Since iron nails can only be obtained by opening treasure chests or dismantling them, they are harder to collect than other basic materials, so Nan Liujing is willing to relax the restrictions somewhat.

As for prioritizing stone and clay, it’s simply because Nan Liujing has postponed the construction of fences in his warehouse. His current top priority is building a fireplace.

As for the slime farm… We’ll see.