Ryan initiated the trade request.
The system's trading interface was very user-friendly.
Both players involved in the transaction received a pop-up interface almost simultaneously.
After entering the items for trade and any subsequent requests, both sides confirmed, and the trade was completed.
[Transaction Complete]
[Paid: Bread x2]
[Received: Hunting Knife Blueprint x1 (placed in system backpack)]
[Pending Payment: Hunting Knife x1 (transaction function temporarily frozen until final payment is made)]
Ryan opened his system backpack and took out the blueprint for the hunting knife.
[Would you like to use this blueprint?]
He reached out and clicked on "Yes." and the blueprint instantly vanished, as if it had turned into light and been absorbed into the system panel.
[Unlocked: Hunting Knife Crafting Method]
[Required Materials: Any metal parts x2, Wood x1]
Ryan nodded in satisfaction, stood up, and entered the back of the truck, making his way to the workbench.
After placing the metal materials and wood on the workbench, the system prompt reappeared.
[Would you like to craft the hunting knife?]
After clicking the confirm button, the materials on the workbench instantly disappeared, replaced by a sharp little knife.
However, the blade's luster was dull, it was an ordinary iron knife.
[Item Name: Iron Hunting Knife]
[Type: Melee Weapon]
[Level: C]
[Durability: 100/100]
[Special Effect: Can quickly skin animals to obtain meat resources]
[Note: A basic iron knife made from standard metal materials, weak in terms of bending resistance and rust resistance]
"Oh? It even has a special effect?" Ryan said as he looked at the system panel's description.
Just the special effect alone made this hunting knife quite practical.
Ryan gently ran his finger along the blade.
He murmured, "Looks like I need better metal materials..."
This knife was sharp enough and should hold up in the early stages, after all, having it was better than not having it at all.
Ryan opened the trading panel and delivered the newly crafted hunting knife to Leo.
This transaction was now complete.
Afterward, Ryan closed the system panel.
He had collected a total of 3 metal materials, after crafting one hunting knife, he was left with only 1.
The water filter also required 1 metal material.
He needed to gather more materials.
After finishing the canned chicken, Ryan didn't throw away the empty can, instead, he carefully stored it away.
These scraps might come in handy later.
Feeling full and satisfied, Ryan continued on his journey.
...
Two hours later.
Ryan looked at the system panel and saw that it was finally around 11:00 AM.
The heavy clouds in the sky had dispersed, and sunlight bathed the land.
The previously freezing temperature had finally risen, and it began to warm up.
Ryan stopped the vehicle, planning to bask in the sun and take a break.
He opened the car door and stretched towards the sun, saying, "Ah, driving all morning has really worn me out..."
At this temperature, even players without cold-weather gear could search for supply crates outside.
Ryan felt that it wouldn't be long before he could buy some electronic components.
Along the way, he had collected 4 C-level supply crates, two of which contained fuel.
He added the fuel to the tank, and his little truck was now nearly full.
At the same time, he had also gathered enough metal materials.
He opened the system panel to check all the resources he had.
[Food: Bread x2, Water: Mineral Water x3, Canned Beverage: Cola x2, Plastic Materials x4, Metal Materials x6, Canned Chicken x1, Firewood x2, Flint x1]
Ryan thought for a moment, "Should I craft two more hunting knives, one for myself and one to sell in the marketplace?"
The rules of the survival game had indicated right from the start—
This game world has 48 hours in a day, of which only 12 hours are daylight.
The remaining 36 hours are dark and difficult nights.
Additionally, dangerous monsters will appear.
As a result, weapons have become essential items that every player needs to acquire.
The crowbar given by the system can also be used as a blunt weapon, but it's not very friendly for players who lack strength.
Moreover, its practicality isn't very strong.
Thus, knives will certainly become hot commodities in the early stages.
Now that he had the blueprint for the hunting knife and unlocked its crafting method.
If he could produce them in bulk, he might easily complete the first wave of resource accumulation.
Ryan was quite decisive.
After formulating his plan, he headed straight to the back of the truck to start crafting hunting knives.
[Consumed: Metal Materials x4, Wood x2]
[Obtained: Hunting Knife x2]
Ryan picked up the hunting knives from the workbench and opened the marketplace.
In the marketplace, players had already begun listing many items, creating a dazzling array.
Fortunately, he could use categories and search functions to find exactly what he wanted to buy.
Since there was currently no currency in the game, all transactions were bartered.
Ryan searched the marketplace and found that there were indeed knives available.
But they were all folding knives and fruit knives, items that players had brought into the game from outside.
The prices weren't very high, with most items costing 1 piece of bread or a water source.
Ryan listed his hunting knives on the marketplace.
[Please enter the pricing for your item]
Ryan murmured, "What would be a fair price...?"
After pondering for a moment, two pricing schemes popped into his mind. The first was—
To directly mark it at double the crafting materials.
This way, he could create a loop.
Selling just one hunting knife would allow him to obtain the materials to craft two more.
Here is the translation, sentence by sentence, in a style that aligns with Western dialogue:
This would essentially be a hundred percent profit.
However, Ryan had some concerns.
This marketplace wasn't an anonymous stock market, everyone could see who the sellers were.
Some blueprints for initial items weren't particularly rare, they could be obtained by opening a few more crates.
He wanted to accumulate wealth through the marketplace in the future.
If he fell into the trap of deceiving players for resources early on and established a reputation as a greedy merchant, it could lead to trouble if competitors appeared later.
For his second option, Ryan planned to only charge for the raw materials needed to craft the hunting knife.
That would be equivalent to doing charity!
It would be like helping other players craft equipment for free.
This might seem like a foolish choice to some shortsighted people, as it appeared to hold no real significance.
But Ryan didn't see it that way—helping players without blueprints craft items for free was the best form of advertising!
After all, his ultimate goal was to sell water.
As long as he could produce a few more water filters, he would have enough clean water sources.
That would be a highly profitable business, essentially a no-cost trade.
By building a good reputation among customers, even if new sellers emerged wanting to sell water later, they would surely struggle to compete with him.
Besides, using the workbench, he could craft hunting knives in bulk, and utilizing the marketplace for delivery was easier than he had imagined.
Therefore, it wouldn't consume much of his energy.
Ryan knew he might not find a way to leave this game world anytime soon.
But he was never one to compromise or submit to reality.
Ryan was willing to use his effort and intelligence to accumulate enough resources and guide players in the right direction.
Moreover, he could obtain important information about this survival game through the Admin Work Group.
It felt as if a mission had been bestowed upon Ryan.
After making up his mind, Ryan opened the system panel.
He entered the chat room, and just as he was about to edit a message, he saw the latest news.
And coincidentally, it was someone looking for help crafting hunting knives.
[Charlie: Hey everyone, I've unlocked the hunting knife blueprint! The hunting knife is very practical, it can be used as a weapon and has the special effect of quickly slicing meat!]
[Charlie: I can help craft them, I just need 6 metal materials and 3 wood!]
[Charlie: I'm also buying electronic components, I can trade for them with a hunting knife.]
Ryan chuckled, this was quite the coincidence.
Looking at the prices set by the other player, he couldn't help but comment, "But this Charlie sure is bold with his pricing!"
He initially thought a 100% profit was already quite greedy.
But this guy was asking for three times the materials.
That meant selling one hunting knife would allow him to craft three more.
And this guy was even buying electronic components.
That was something Ryan couldn't tolerate, so he chose to eliminate this competitor before they could pose a threat.
Ryan grinned, "Brother Charlie, competition is part of business, after all, the market is like a battlefield."
"And since you're being so greedy, don't blame me for hitting hard."
With a sly smile on his face, Ryan clicked send on the message he had just edited.