How long would it take to pick 100 kilograms of mushrooms?
Chu Guang wasn't actually sure himself; he generally wouldn't touch those things.
His food was always self-procured; unless absolutely necessary, he would never choose fungi as sustenance.
Meanwhile, Crow stepped out of the shelter with a gloomy face, and as soon as she set foot on the open space in front of the sanatorium, she was stunned by the sight before her.
"This, has the map been updated?!"
A completely new scene!
Around the sanatorium, there was a three-meter-high concrete wall. Concrete blocks and rubble on the inner side of the wall formed a slope.
Makeshift shelters had been made on top of the wall using engine hoods taken from abandoned cars and aluminum strips found in the Wasteland.
It looked quite cyberpunk.
Not just the Enclosing wall, but in front of the sanatorium, two small brick and wood buildings of different sizes stood erect.
Wooden signs hung at the entrance of the houses, one labeled weapon shop and the other labeled bathhouse.
Not logging on for three days felt like a century had passed.
The changes from this update were too big.
Crow was bewildered.
After a while, she found the gate of the Enclosing wall, and as she approached it, she saw two players standing next to it, busy hammering and nailing pointed stakes into a row.
"What are you guys doing?" Crow asked curiously as she approached.
The two players didn't even lift their heads, humming to their busy work, clearly enjoying themselves.
Yarr I gotta pee: "We're making fences and shelters, got the task from the carpentry hut! It only needs two people, you're too late!"
Ward's foot odor who Levin: "That's right! Fortifying a shelter, you can earn 50 contribution points and 5 Silver coins! If we're attacked, we'll push the fence to the gate, and even if they break through the wooden doors, we'll use the shelters to encircle them and then shoot from a distance! Really useful!"
"But do we need to make it so complicated? Doesn't it say on the Task board that all we need is two wooden stakes laid across?"
"You don't know crap! This is a wooden anti-tank hedgehog based on the ones from World War II! When we can, we'll wrap it in barbed wire. No scrappy Looters nor green-skinned brutes would be able to breach our gate without becoming sitting ducks."
"Keep dreaming, it's just a lousy fence. I almost believed you."
While talking, the two players seemed to start arguing about the practicality of the defense structure.
Crow watched with a perplexed face and listened with complete confusion.
Silver coins?
Is it the currency recently updated?
And what's this about receiving tasks from a wooden hut? Weren't tasks always looked up on plastic signs before?
Crow pondered in her mind.
Looks like this update had some significant changes...
Nevertheless, she had to hurry up and complete the punishment task to regain her Resident status. She didn't want to miss out on this version only to have a new update roll in.
Thinking this, Crow decided to go find a container for the mushrooms.
However, just as she was going to pick up a plastic bucket, she found that the garbage inside the sanatorium had already been collected and stored in a wooden shed.
As she walked over, she saw a player sitting with legs crossed at a Table, with a notebook on it and an oil pen hanging nearby.
When the player saw the approaching Crow, they looked up with surprise.
"Hey? You're alive?"
Crow paused.
"You know me?"
The player said with a cheeky smile.
"Of course, who wouldn't? Since the start of the game, you're the only one who died for nothing."
Furious and wanting to hit someone but feeling like she would not win, Crow gave the player a fierce glare.
"Move aside, I need a bucket."
"Small bucket, 1 Copper Coin, big bucket, 2 Copper coins."
"What?" Crow's eyes widened, "You're charging for this junk?"
The nerve!
"Miss, it's not my rule. I'm just working here," the player made a helpless expression, spinning the oil pen, "If you have a complaint, go talk to the NPCs."
"But how am I supposed to have money right after reviving?" Crow said, laughingly frustrated, "Could you let it slide this once, bro? I'll return it after I use it."
"No can do, not following rules will get me punished. We can only sell these trash buckets, not rent them out," the player was straightforward, shaking his head like a tambourine, "Didn't everyone get 5 bronze coins with the update? It's not expensive, just buy one."
Crow was stunned.
"Ah?! Money was given out? Why didn't I receive anything?"
The player was obviously clueless too and scratched his head.
"Umm... maybe it's a favorability issue?"
"Did you offend any NPCs?"
Hearing about losing favorability, Crow almost cried of frustration.
Damn it!
She was already being punished, and now her favorability had to drop too?
Just then, a voice like heaven's melody came from behind.
"I'll pay for her."
Crow swiftly turned around and saw a short figure about one and a half meters tall, carrying a stack of thick Hyena Fur Coats, walking up to the warehouse's Table and dropping the load with a thud.
"Heave-ho, a total of 2 coats, mark it down!"
"Just a second."
As the player flipped open the notebook and started to write with the oil pen.
[...date...time, "Tailor" Teng Teng completed 2 Hyena Fur Coats.]
After taking up the tailoring profession, just complete a certain number of orders every day to not only ensure a base salary but also earn 2 Silver coins as a bonus for each quality coat completed.
Of course, players could also purchase beast skin, fiber, and other materials from the warehouse, produce the coats themselves, and then sell them to other players or back to the warehouse.
Equivalent to being a self-employed individual.
The profit from a coat made this way was about 1 to 5 silver coins, varying with quality. And if it was exceptionally well-crafted, once everyone had some money, perhaps a player would pay a high price for it.
Teng Teng planned to hone his skills a little more, save some money to buy a piece of land, and open a clothing store right in front of the sanatorium's main entrance.
Wouldn't running his own store be more profitable than working for an NPC?
"Teng Teng..."
Snapping back to reality, Crow grabbed Teng Teng's arm, her eyes brimming with grateful tears.
She hadn't expected that the only person to reach out to her after she ventured out would be Teng Teng, with whom she'd once had a falling out.
Embarrassed by her stare, Teng Teng's face turned red, and he awkwardly pulled his hand back.
"...Don't look at me like that, it's just one copper coin, not that much. Besides, you can pay me back later if it's such a big deal!"
"I am sorry, it was my fault before. You are really kind!"
"...Well, I didn't hold a grudge against you. Just do your best, alright? I've got to make clothes, so I'm off."
Leaving a copper coin on the table, Teng Teng, with a basket full of beast skins, turned to leave, but Crow eagerly took it from him and said.
"Let me help you!"
"No need, no need. Go about your business, you can leave me be."
Teng Teng was flustered, reaching to take the things back, but couldn't reach due to his height, deftly dodged by Crow.
Holding the basket high, the warmhearted Crow giggled and said.
"How can I do that? You're such a little thing; I can't let you carry all this. Where's your workstation? I'll take them there for you."
"..."
Why is this guy so annoying?
Teng Teng's forehead creased with annoyance, and his shoulders shook slightly.
His fists, clenched!
...
Woodworking cabin.
Brother Mosquito, sitting on a stool with a straw in his mouth, skillfully secured two wooden slats with tools and sandwiched an elastic alloy sheet he had picked up from the Wasteland in the middle.
After stringing it with a bowstring made from tanned mutated hyena tendons, an improvised wooden bow was completed.
"Done."
Another order was completed, another 2 silver coins earned.
Mosquito hung the finished wooden bow on a rack nearby, waiting for other players to come and choose.
Strictly speaking, to make a real hunting bow, these simple steps were far from enough.
Mosquito had heard that even the moisture content of the wood used for the bow's handle was quite important for a good hunting bow.
But that said, for players without firearms, these were already quite decent. Within thirty paces, killing a mutated hyena was not an issue.
Of course, that was if you hit it.
Anyway, he himself couldn't do it.
"Twenty wooden bows, able to pierce a mutated hyena's skull within 20 meters... This order might take all the way to the day after tomorrow."
Mosquito muttered, glancing at the jars at the corner of the table.
Inside those jars was saltpeter he had extracted from nitrate soil; next to that, a jar of gypsum powder with sulfuric acid, and under the shelf, a bucket full of black, hard charcoal lumps.
He had planned to concoct some black powder today, but the rewards offered for the Manager's orders were just too tempting.
Earning a guaranteed wage for making five wooden bows a day, plus a commission of 2 silver coins per bow.
"Forget it, making money comes first..."
It wasn't great to routinely perform chemical experiments in the woodworking cabin anyway.
He planned to save up some money to buy a plot of land, get some cement and bricks, build a small house, and sell the weapons he designed.
That would be way more interesting than woodworking!
Just then, the door of the woodworking cabin was pushed open, and Fang Chang, who had bought a bow from him earlier, strode in.
"I need another 20 arrows!"
"You burned through them that fast?" Mosquito, taken aback by the blood-covered Fang Chang, said, "You do know those things are reusable, right?"
"I know, but are you sure they can still be used?" Fang Chang, looking gloomy, placed the quiver on the table.
It was filled with a multitude of broken arrows and detached arrowheads.
He sat down with a sigh, and continued to air his grievances, "These quality issues are truly heartfelt!"
Mosquito picked up the quiver, examined an arrow, and stroked his chin.
"Um... Let's think rationally. The fact that the arrowheads remain in the prey's body should be seen as a plus. But just like you said, the loss rate is a bit high for hunting. I'll think of a way to improve them."
The arrowheads were made from sharpened metal pieces, fixed to wooden shafts with resin, indeed not top quality.
"Please!"
"You're welcome. It's my job, after all."
Mosquito counted out 20 arrows from a shelf and handed them to Fang Chang.
One arrow cost 2 copper coins, so 20 arrows cost 4 silver. Fang Chang, without hesitating, pulled 4 silver coins out of his pocket and slapped them on the table with confidence.
He had traded for them with his freshly hunted game.
"Thanks, brother."
"No problem, happy hunting," Mosquito grinned, waving goodbye to Fang Chang as he left, "Oh, and you might want to try my new weapon. I guarantee it's really useful."
Hearing this, Fang Chang nearly tripped over the door frame.
"Cough, definitely next time!"
That would be like testing it with his life on the line!
Thinking back to "Hell's Sprinkler" that Mosquito had previously designed, Fang Chang, steadying himself on the door frame without looking back, bolted with his quiver as if fleeing for his life.
Mosquito touched his nose, puzzled.
"Is it really that exaggerated?"
He had originally planned to outfit his "Hellfire 0.1" with a close-combat bayonet.