Carrying a small wooden box and several books, Roger left the lighthouse.
Until he had walked far away, Roger felt as if a gaze from the lighthouse lingered on him.
With a helpless shake of his head, his last request was not just for entertainment.
The entire island was desolate, inhabited only by himself and that old man, and Roger knew nothing about this strange world.
He urgently needed to acquire some information from the outside world, even if it was only a word or two, and he could only obtain this knowledge from books.
The wooden cabin he now lived in might have belonged to that man a long time ago, as the empty bookshelf reminded Roger.
He had specifically expressed interest in history and geography, so most of the few books he received were related to these subjects.
Upon returning to the wooden cabin, Roger placed the few books he had on the bookshelf, but he wasn't in a hurry to start reading them.
At present, the most urgent task was to repair the dilapidated cabin. The weather at sea was unpredictable, and although there had been a storm yesterday, no one knew when the next storm would arrive.
The peculiar behavior of that man had made Roger inwardly alert, and now, even if the man invited him to stay at the lighthouse, Roger probably would not accept.
"This is a big project."
Roger shook his head helplessly, as the number of wooden planks he had was limited and not enough to fully repair the entire cabin.
Climbing up to the roof to inspect it, he found several major leaks. After some consideration, Roger made a decision.
Fixing the leaks was the most important issue.
He took nails and a hammer from the toolbox, and following the previous repair pattern, nailed all the wooden planks he had in his hands into place. For the areas where he did not have enough planks, he resorted to the practice of robbing Peter to pay Paul, removing unimportant parts from inside the cabin and the door to fix the roof.
He worked until sunset and had barely finished, which brought the integrity of the small wooden cabin from 79% to 84%.
The extra part was actually just the planks he had nailed on, and his wall-dismantling actions were clearly not included in the calculation.
"It should… no longer leak."
Wiping off sweat, Roger nodded with satisfaction.
He was sweating profusely, utterly exhausted. He made some food and wolfed it down hungrily.
An overwhelming tiredness swept over him, and after a simple cleanup, he collapsed into bed as the sun set.
There were no large animals on the island, and there was nothing to worry about regarding the man in the lighthouse.
Now that he was weak and the other had a gun, if that person really wanted to do something to him, Roger would not be able to resist.
In a daze, Roger fell asleep.
A night passed without incident.
When he awoke in the early morning, Roger immediately experienced an unprecedented sense of refreshment. His mind was clear, his fatigue from yesterday gone, and his body seemed to possess endless strength.
"Is this the special effect of the wooden bed?"
"It really is a miraculous thing."
Inspired, Roger gained boundless confidence in his future life.
After breakfast, he took his tools and went into the woods behind him; the remaining timber needed his personal touch.
After wandering around the woods for a while, he indeed found several dead trees. These trees were not very big, and after chopping down their rotten roots, Roger dragged the dead wood back to the clearing in front of the cabin with a rope.
With his skills, it was naturally impossible to do any fine processing, so after chopping and sawing, he spent the whole morning producing several irregularly shaped pieces of wood.
After lunch, he took a short rest and didn't continue working, as his physical condition was poor and continuing would be inefficient. So, he decided to flip through the several books he had brought back from the lighthouse instead.
For the entire afternoon, Roger stayed indoors, skimming through the book in his hand, and gained some understanding of the world he now inhabited.
This place should still be Earth as the geographical layout had not changed drastically, but there were significant differences in specific distribution and cultural heritage.
Some countries and regions familiar to him from his past life were missing, replaced by unfamiliar places. This mix of familiarity and estrangement made it more difficult for Roger to understand.
Seeing those familiar names, he would subconsciously try to match them with areas from his former life, but even with the same names, the differences between the two could be substantial.
The country he was now in should have been America from his previous life, but Roger could not figure out the exact location; the technological level was roughly equivalent to around the turn of the millennium in his former world.
As for the specific historical progress, it was vastly different, and Roger had no desire to pay attention to these details. He could not come up with any plausible lies right now, so if anyone asked, he would blame all his problems on memory loss.
Taking advantage of the daylight, Roger hurried to get some work done. His only source of light was a not-very-bright kerosene lamp, which could not be expected to do much on this desolate island.
As darkness fell completely, Roger stopped his work. Seeing the progress of repairs increase to 91%, he showed a satisfied smile.
After dinner, sitting on a tree stump in front of the wooden house, Roger felt an especially strong nostalgia for the leisurely life of his previous world.
While he wasn't particularly wealthy or noble, he was better off than many. He would normally be gearing up for a rich nightlife about now.
But what about now?
Looking at his calloused hands, he shook his head helplessly and went to rest.
Life went on without any change, reading books and repairing the house. After two more days, Roger finally finished fixing up the wooden house completely.
When he drove in the last nail, a warm surge inexplicably flowed through his body, and the mental blueprint of the wooden house emitted a faint glow which he touched with his thoughts.
Rudimentary Seaside Wooden House:
Level: 0
A shabby dwelling that only satisfies basic living needs, with nothing but a bed and no other furniture.
Special Area—Book Room, unlocked.
Additional bonuses: None.
Please upgrade as soon as possible to unlock more functions.
That was all the information.
Roger blinked, "That's it?"
"Where's the newbie gift pack?"
"The lottery system?"
"I worked myself to the bone for three days, and all it gave me was a book room?"
"Is this wooden house aimed at nurturing a scholarly elite? Does it hope that I study and train every day, soon to become the overlord of academics?"
From the outside, the wooden house seemed unchanged, but after circling it a few times, Roger did notice some differences.
To be honest, his repairs had been quite rough, haphazardly done, and messy, but when the completeness reached 100%, the house seemed to have improved itself, appearing much more solid and sensible.
With the last bit of hope, Roger went to the book room.
Here he finally found the biggest difference.
A few books had unexpectedly appeared on the once empty bookshelf.
Suppressing the excitement in his heart, he reached out and pulled one of them off the shelf.