Nan Liujing stood in front of Victor, clunk, clunk, clunk, pulling out the baked apples.

The baked apples he’d made yesterday were long since cold—even after being kept in his backpack, they were ice-cold to the core. They didn’t look as appetizing as freshly baked ones, but fortunately, their status bar still read “Fresh,” which didn’t affect the selling price.

Nan Liujing pulled out a full 109 baked apples, each with a suggested retail price of 500 Sol.

After a moment’s hesitation, he also pulled out 20 smoked herring fillets. With a suggested retail price of 600 sol—higher than the baked apples—these were Nan Liujing’s highest-priced items. 

Victor’s catalog is full of great items; if he wants to snap them all up, he’ll have to shell out a lot of money. It may seem like a big loss, but it’s definitely worth every penny.

Pulling out the last smoked salmon fillet, Nan Liujing said, “That’s it. You’re buying all of these, right?”

“…Wow.” Victor blinked and took a deep breath. “I have to say, I’ve been to many islands, but you’re the first person at this stage who can whip up so many dishes. Is this a specialty of your island?” 

Nan Liujing choked slightly, then replied without missing a beat, “Yes, cooking is my hobby.”

“A hobby, not a profession? I think you’re very talented.” Victor picked up a baked apple, then glanced at the smoked salmon fillet, nodding, “The quality is excellent—I can smell the enticing aroma. I think I could eat it all myself and still sell it for a good price.” 

Nan Liujing added a caveat: “Be careful about freshness—baked apples don’t have a long shelf life.” He certainly didn’t want someone showing up later demanding a refund. 

Victor laughed: “Haha, thanks for the reminder. But don’t worry—as a competent businessman, I certainly won’t let merchandise go bad on my hands.” 

“Do you sell them quickly? These might last a few days.”

“Oh, actually, yes. I just have a fridge with amazing food preservation capabilities.” Victor shrugged. 

Damn. Nan Liujing was genuinely envious: “You can actually get your hands on one of those? Could you bring one next time? I’ll buy it.” 

Victor said, “I’ll try my best, if the profit margin on this deal is good enough.” He stuffed all the baked apples and smoked salmon fillets into a small, flat fanny pack strung from his belt and added casually, “That’s 66,500 sol in total. Cash or check?” 

“They even have checks in this game world?” Nan Liujing thought to himself, but said aloud, “Cash—but don’t rush me. I’d like to buy a few things from you first. How about we settle the bill together later?”

“Great, I like customers like you.” Victor handed the catalog back with a beaming smile. “What was that saying? ‘Earn it here, spend it here—don’t take a single coin home.’”

“Haha,” Nan Liujing laughed along, eagerly flipping through the catalog to calculate the prices.

Bathroom Construction Permit (One-Time Use), priced at 10,000 Sol, limited to 1 per customer. Proof of Dwarven Friendship, priced at 10,000 Sol, limited to 1 per customer.

Random Sea Chart, priced at 3,000 Sol, limited to 3 per purchase.

This was an item he absolutely had to have, and it set him back 29,000 Sol.

With 37,500 Sol remaining, Nan Liujing flipped through the catalog from cover to cover twice, selecting a few more items at reasonable prices. 

Marine Ranch Construction Permit (one-time use), priced at 10,000 Sol, limited to 1 per purchase. New Home Furniture Bundle, priced at 5,000 Sol, limited to 3 per purchase.

Cast Iron Enamel Pot Set, priced at 15,000 Sol, limited to 3 per purchase. 

He still had 7,500 Sol left—what else could he buy? 

After pondering for a while, Nan Liujing settled on a rather unique item: the Slime Maker, priced at 7,000 Sol, limited to 1 per customer.

【Slime Maker】

【Category: Item】

【An alchemical item crafted by the Great Alchemist Bazel, serving as a powerful rebuttal to those who claim “alchemy cannot create life.” Beyond that, however, this alchemical item is incredibly useful in its own right. Please refer to the instruction manual for usage.】

【Price: 7,000 Sol.】 

All in all, it’s really bizarre. Nan Liujing never would have dreamed that slimes—those monsters—could be mass-produced by machines. This item wasn’t even his first choice to begin with, but what can he do? He does have a blueprint for a slime farm, after all. 

You could call it a stroke of luck.

Since that’s the case, why not just start a slime farming business? Who knows, there might be a pleasant surprise?

Nan Liujing went wild, circling items in the product catalog with his pen, then handed it back to Victor. When Victor saw some of the huge circles, the smile on his face was broad. 

“I’ll take these. Please calculate the total for me.”

“Thank you for your business. The total is 66,000 Sol.” The merchant’s tone grew cheerful as he pulled several sheets of parchment and a disposable spatial card from his waist pouch. “Here are the items you purchased. Please confirm.” 

He took them to inspect them. When he saw the slime-making machine, he paused and pointed at the spatial card, saying, “Excuse me, this kind of thing?” 

“Of course we have it. The instructions are written on the machine itself; you’ll see them as soon as you take it out.”

“Okay, I’ve got it,” Nan Liujing said. “100 Sol in change—cash or check?”

Even though it was only 500 sol, it was still a huge pile of gold coins. Nan Liujing thought for a moment; crouching down to pick up the coins one by one would be a hassle, and counting them would be a hassle.

“Check.”

He scribbled down the amount and the figures, tore off the slip, and handed it to Nan Liujing. “Please confirm the amount.” 

“Mm-hmm.” Nan Liujing took the check.

【Check】

【Category: Currency】

【A check worth 500 Sol that can be cashed at any bank or used directly in transactions.】

【Congratulations! By completing a transaction involving at least 100 units and totaling no less than 10,000 Sol, you have unlocked the achievement: “Merchant’s New Customer.”】

【Merchant’s New Client: Mysterious traveling merchants will visit you more frequently.】

【You have unlocked the career advancement path, and your career trajectory is being mapped out.】

【Upon verification, you possess the following agricultural-type shelters: 1 Basic Farmhouse, 2 Substandard Farmlands, 26 Growing Crops, and 2 Ocean Affinity points. You have completed a transaction with the indigenous people worth at least 60,000 Sol, and all items in the transaction were crafted by you personally. Your career path has been confirmed as—Farmer.】

【You have unlocked the class change quest. Upon completing the quest, you will officially unlock the class.】 

After seeing Victor off, Nan Liujing finally had a chance to take out her tablet.

In the quest interface, the previously blank 【Side Quests】 section finally had an entry.

【Class Change Quest: Farmer】

【Quest Objective: Own at least 6 farm plots, raise at least 2 animals, and earn at least 100,000 Sol by selling the agricultural products, dishes, and processed goods you’ve produced or crafted.】

【Quest Reward: Unlock the class.】

【Note: Upon unlocking the class, the player will receive class bonuses, attribute boosts, and exclusive class skills.】

“The class system has finally appeared.” Isn’t the class he triggered a bit on-the-nose? No matter how you look at it, the Farmer class seems like a lifestyle class with absolutely no combat capability.

“Isn’t switching to a lifestyle class a bit of a niche choice in a survival game?”

He had originally hoped to switch to a combat class to make up for his lack of talent, but now it looks like he’s completely committed to the path of a lifestyle player.

After a brief moment of hesitation, Nan Liujing quickly came to terms with it: “Oh well, I never really liked all that fighting and killing anyway.”

He’d never been the type to enjoy those “Combat! Thrilling!” games anyway—he didn’t even like the most challenging, mindless hack-and-slash games, so now he could say he’d gotten exactly what he wanted.

Completely forgetting that a zombie had met its end at his blade not long ago, Nan Liujing set down his tablet and happily began inspecting his loot. Victor was truly a cash cow. Although Nan Liujing wasn’t sure if the items he sold were marked up, trading over a hundred baked apples and 20 pieces of smoked salmon fillets was an absolute steal for so many items that could only be obtained from treasure chests.

He hesitated for a moment, then decided to use the 【Proof of Dwarven Friendship】 right away, summoning a dwarven automaton.

The mechanism crafted by the dwarves was also a little dwarf, reaching up to Nan Liujing’s waist. It had huge feet, a big head, and a wooden nose, with its facial features entirely painted on.

The dwarf automaton’s mouth clicked a few times, making a sound like oil being applied: “Please, give me your orders, my master’s friend.” Nan Liujing bent down, handed it the bathroom construction permit, and asked earnestly, “Can you help me build this?”

The dwarf automaton ran its fingers over the permit, then unfolded it with great solemnity and held it up in front of its face. Nan Liujing wondered if the eyes it had drawn with a black permanent marker could actually see anything.

“I, I can,” the dwarf automaton said, nodding comically. “I need a, a location, and a little, a little oil.”

So it really was lacking lubrication after all.

Nan Liujing was at a loss for words. He went back, rummaged through the warehouse, and then ran back over with a bottle of olive oil: “I’ve got some oil here—will olive oil work?”

The dwarf automaton clearly looked a bit disgusted, but it had no choice: “A-all right.”

So, under the dwarf automaton’s halting guidance, Nan Liujing dripped a little olive oil onto several of its joints. The effect was remarkable—the dwarf automaton’s speech finally stopped stuttering.

“Please take me to the construction site of your choice, my master’s friend.” 

“Follow me.”

Nan Liujing led the dwarf automaton back to the farmhouse. Of course, the bathroom had to be built indoors—otherwise, what would be the point? Was he supposed to run outside with an umbrella and a pot over his head every time it rained, snowed, or hailed just to use the bathroom?

“Let’s put it here.” After looking around the cramped farmhouse, Nan Liujing settled on the northeast corner.

The eastern side already held his bed and a makeshift water collector that served as a nightstand; there was still enough room to fit a bathroom as well—after all, he could simply add a door to the east wall.

The bathroom was an additional space that didn’t take up any of the farmhouse’s original area; instead, like a storage shed, it was built next to the farmhouse, sharing a common wall. Unlike a storage shed, however, the bathroom’s door opened onto the shared wall, allowing Nan Liujing to enter and exit the bathroom directly from inside the farmhouse. 

The automaton stood at the spot Nan Liujing had chosen and nodded: “Got it. I’ll get started.”

With that, it unfolded its cylindrical belly and pulled out a large handful of electric saws.

“Zzzzzzzz—” Accompanied by a deafening roar loud enough to tear eardrums, the automaton deftly sawed a hole in the farmhouse wall. Nan Liujing, covering his ears and cowering, fled the farmhouse in a panic, thus missing the sight of the machine reaching into its belly to pull out a huge pile of building materials. 

The Dwarf Automaton is the most indispensable assistant to Dwarf master builders; not only can it perform labor, but it’s also a mobile warehouse with incredible storage capacity. Nan Liujing, who had fled the house, rubbed his ears, still shaken: “That construction noise was really scary.”

He’d better not go back until the bathroom is finished. Nan Liujing found an open spot, sat down, and took stock of the remaining items.

【Marine Pasture Construction Permit (One-Time)】

【Category: Permit】

【This permit authorizes the legal construction of a 4x4m marine ranch in shallow waters for the purpose of raising marine life.】

【Crafting Materials: Wooden Planks x40, Palm Leaves x40.】

This is the item in Victor’s catalog—aside from the bathroom—that excites Nan Liujing the most. With this, obtaining marine resources becomes much easier, eliminating the need to rely on fishing, which is too unpredictable.

If he could raise fish suitable for smoking—like cod or salmon—that would be even better; he’d have a never-ending supply of smoked fish.

As the saying goes, “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.” Trading food for an ocean ranch is like trading an egg for the hen that lays it—Nan Liujing thought it was well worth it.

In fact, he considers himself incredibly lucky to have acquired it!

Come to think of it, if it weren’t for his “Hoarder” talent—which reduces stamina consumption—and if he hadn’t actively built a good relationship with the newspaper bird to obtain “Heart of the Rising Sun” tokens and coupons, he wouldn’t have had more disposable stamina than other players, nor would he have been able to gather so many resources from the Resource Island in a single trip.

He simply wouldn’t have been able to gather enough goods to sell to merchants, earn enough Sol, or come up with the items he’d previously obtained from treasure chests.

370 sol—that’s barely enough to buy a bag of popping candy from Victor. “Life players are awesome.”

Nan Liujing smiled.

Oh, right—he also had to thank his brave self from yesterday for taking the plunge; otherwise, even if he’d been sobbing his eyes out over Victor’s catalog today, he’d never have been able to scrape together that much money.

Unless he were a mermaid whose tears turned into diamonds and pearls. 

Seriously, won’t that make someone blind?

Although he wanted to set up the Ocean Ranch right away, Nan Liujing didn’t have enough palm leaves, so he could store them in the warehouse for now.

There are also 3 nautical charts—this is what gave Nan Liujing the confidence to take that risk. He now has 5 nautical charts in total, and the 10 Stamina Potions he bought with a coupon yesterday were delivered this morning, so Nan Liujing can go out and explore to his heart’s content. 

The coupon also came with a bag of butter cookies—a pure bonus. Nan Liujing plans to eat them one of these days to see if he can get a recipe out of them. 

Both the furniture bundle and the cast-iron enamel pot set are meant for indoor use. Nan Liujing didn’t want to go inside and be bothered by the construction noise from the dwarves’ traps, so he put them away for now and walked to the back of the farmhouse to build a slime pasture.

Although he isn’t sure about slimes’ habits, raising them is bound to produce some odors, so placing the farm downwind behind the farmhouse will make the smell less noticeable.

The Slime Pasture is a 4×4-meter semi-open structure, enclosed by waist-high fencing with a small gate that opens and closes for entry and exit. The rear half of the pasture consists of a one-person-high wooden shed lined with hay, with clean stone bricks beneath the hay.

Nan Liujing found an empty spot under the shed and set down the slime generator.

Plop.

A boxy machine appeared under the shed. It looked like a vending machine, but had a large hopper on each side. A round light bulb protruded from the main body, resembling an antenna that attracts signals. The instructions for use were engraved on the machine itself.

【Slime Maker Instructions】

【1. Each use of this product consumes 10 stamina points.】

【2. The left funnel is the input port; the right funnel is the output port.】

【3. Place any natural substance you can think of into the input chute. Once a certain amount has been added, a red light will turn on, the machine will start up, and it will begin producing slime.】

【4. After a short while, the slime will be ready. A green light will turn on. Give the machine a firm tap to power it, and the slime will pop out of the output chute.】1

“Any substance found in nature will work?” Nan Liujing rubbed his chin and slowly turned his head toward the ocean behind him. 

Hmm…

Why not give it a try?