Chapter 16: Trading

Chapter 16: Trade

"SmokedFishKingWannabe": For firewood, it's best to chop down trees, but that requires an axe first.

Jiang Ye didn't have an axe.

Pretty much no other player had an axe—nobody had pulled one from the starter pack.

"SmokedFishKingWannabe": Without an axe, the only option is to shake the trees.

In the game, shaking trees had a chance to drop firewood. The firewood would fall from the tree like apples, but the probability was extremely low.

"SmokedFishKingWannabe": Each tree can be shaken once per day, and the firewood drop rate is only about 2%.

Jiang Ye was pleasantly surprised. Just shaking trees to get firewood sounded simple. With a 2% probability, shaking about 50 trees should net him a bundle of firewood.

The little mushroom immediately looked off into the distance. In the direction away from the farm gate was a "forest." That area was also part of the farm, densely planted with many maple, oak, and pine trees—so many they seemed to stretch all the way to the clouds. There were definitely more than 50!

Jiang Ye decided to head over and start shaking trees right away!

Buzz—

The system panel buzzed.

He opened it—a private message from SmokedFishKingWannabe.

"SmokedFishKingWannabe": I sent you 5 flint stones. Don't forget to claim them!

Sure enough, the trade window was lit up, showing 5 flint stones for 0 rupees.

"SmokedFishKingWannabe": Yesterday I scooped up a whole bag of flint, but I didn't get a single bundle of firewood from shaking trees. So this is the best I've got for you.

Jiang Ye was gonna grab the flint after shaking trees, but this nice guy had already sent him 5.

He thought for a sec, stashed the flint in his inventory, and didn't turn down the guy's kindness. Within two seconds, he whipped up a mycelium fishing net and sent it back to SmokedFishKingWannabe as a thank-you gift.

"SmokedFishKingWannabe": !!!

"SmokedFishKingWannabe": Why did you send me a fishing net!

"Mushroom Soup": It's a return gift for the flint stones. Thank you.

"SmokedFishKingWannabe": Flint's a dime a dozen. How's that compare to a fishing net!

For Jiang Ye, fishing nets were just as easy to make—nothing special.

Jiang Ye shot the breeze with SmokedFishKingWannabe for a sec, then had to rush off to shake trees and roast those prawns, so he closed the system panel.

The little mushroom hopped on over to the "forest." Two strands of mycelium shot out and wrapped around the base of a thick trunk.

Shake! Hard!

The little mushroom was truly too small, especially compared to such a massive tree.

Jiang Ye figured if he didn't put his back into it, the tree wouldn't even rustle a leaf, let alone drop firewood.

He gritted his teeth and gave it everything he had!

Crack... snap... CRASH!

The mushroom jumped. What the heck was that racket?

The next second, the massive tree toppled right in front of him, slamming into the ground with a "thump" and turning into...

"Firewood x18"

Jiang Ye: "..." ???

The mycelium went stiff, then after a beat, it scratched the little mushroom's white cap.

What in the world just happened...

Jiang Ye didn't have an axe, so there was no way he should've been able to chop a tree. All the mycelium did was give the tree a hard shake, and boom—18 bundles of firewood.

It made zero sense.

He remembered how that broken chair turned into firewood on day one—same kinda deal.

Jiang Ye held up his mycelium, gave it a good look, and decided to test it again.

The mushroom hopped to another maple and did the same thing—wrapped its mycelium around the trunk and started shaking.

This time, he shook gentler and slower.

The snow-white mycelium wrapped around the thick trunk, glistening in the sun—kinda pretty, actually. As the mycelium tensed up, Jiang Ye finally saw it—a clear liquid oozing out.

The liquid looked like plain water, but it was crazy corrosive. The thick trunk melted on contact.

The mycelium was like a razor-sharp blade—it sliced clean through the trunk in two seconds.

Crack—

CRASH!

Another tree dropped. The second it hit the dirt, it turned into a pile of firewood.

"Firewood x18"

The little mushroom happily scooped the firewood into his inventory. Who'd have guessed? Just like that, easy peasy, he'd scored 36 bundles of firewood.

"What a bonus!"

Jiang Ye glanced over. While he'd been chopping wood, Dorin was still pulling weeds. Knight Snail was grinding away—looked like weeding was way more work than chopping trees!

"Social"

"Mushroom Soup": I got the firewood!

"SmokedFishKingWannabe": Oh man, mushroom, you're so lucky! I shook trees all morning and got nada.

"You Have No Work to Do": Same here. Worse, actually—I shook over 100 trees over two days and got zip. How's that fair?

"You Have No Work to Do": I got a crick in my neck from staring up all day. It's killing me.

"The Cold-Faced Pig-Raising Succubus": Ever tried shaking the trees while looking down?

Jiang Ye saw that, and his mycelium excitedly typed out a reply and hit send.

A business opportunity!

"Mushroom Soup": I have extra firewood, anyone want to buy?

"The Cold-Faced Pig-Raising Succubus": Me!

"Two More Hours Until Sleep": I'll buy it! Sell it to me!

Ding!

Ding—

Ding—

A moment later, Jiang Ye received several private messages. Many people messaged him almost at once, worried Jiang Ye only had one bundle of extra firewood and they'd miss out if they were too slow.

"The Cold-Faced Pig-Raising Succubus": How much for the firewood?

"Mushroom Soup": Hmm... 100.

Jiang Ye thought, firewood costs more than bread—was he overcharging? But he'd heard firewood was pretty rare.

"The Cold-Faced Pig-Raising Succubus": A little steep, let me think it over.

"Mushroom Soup": Okay, sure.

Jiang Ye reconsidered—maybe the price was too high, unless...

"The Cold-Faced Pig-Raising Succubus": I've decided.

"The Cold-Faced Pig-Raising Succubus": Do you have two bundles of firewood? I want two!

So they weren't deciding whether to buy, but how many to buy.

Jiang Ye and The Cold-Faced Pig-Raising Succubus made the trade without a hitch—200 rupees for two bundles of firewood.

Jiang Ye still had plenty of messages to reply to. More people wanted firewood than he expected.

Jiang Ye worked through them one by one.

"Wednesday's a No-Go": Any firewood left? I'm out of rupees, can I trade spices for firewood?

"Blue Iceland": Could you spare some firewood? Thanks! Thanks!

"Le Yi Li": Got slime gel—want to trade for firewood?

"Smoked Fish King": Lemons for firewood?

"I'm an Honest Guy": Got apples—want to trade for firewood?

When he opened his messages, most were trade offers. In the early game, everyone was short on rupees—five people couldn't pool 100 rupees together.

Jiang Ye cherry-picked. He came to play and have fun, not to run a charity. No way he was giving firewood away for free.

"Received: +2100 rupees"

"Spice jar X1"

"Lemons X2"

"Slime gel X1"

Jiang Ye sold 21 bundles and traded for a few odds and ends.

He stashed everything in his item slot. That brought him back up to 2766 rupees—enough to buy more seeds in town and plant them, plus...

Before planning further, Jiang Ye decided to roast the prawns first. Dorin looked like he'd nearly finished weeding and had worked hard—he had to be hungry.

The mushroom took out firewood and a flint from his item slot and set them on the ground.

"Use firewood and flint?"

The mushroom nodded, and in a flash, a simple campfire appeared in front of him. The flames crackled and danced, warming Jiang Ye all over.

Uh-oh, he could smell roasted mushrooms.

The mycelium wiped its mouth and quickly stepped back. Better roast the prawns instead.

Jiang Ye cleaned the prawns—each the size of an adult palm—skewered them on twigs, and set them by the fire. No other steps needed—just wait 3 seconds and...

"Plain Roasted Prawn X1"

"Plain Roasted Prawn X1"

"Plain Roasted Prawn X1"

Plain roasted prawns kept coming out. Jiang Ye just had to grab them off the fire as soon as the prompt popped up. If left too long, they'd burn, turn black, and become inedible.

"Plain Roasted Prawn"

"A sea prawn roasted over an open flame—fresh, savory, low-cal, and high-protein!

+99 fullness

+50 HP

+20 Sanity"

The smell of roasted prawns slowly filled the still-barren farm. Jiang Ye thought, this smells even better than the mushrooms.

"Let's add some seasoning—and the lemons too." He pulled out the stuff he'd just traded for.

Plain roasted prawns had no seasoning, so they were bound to be a bit bland. The mycelium picked up the spice jar and shook it—probably a mix of salt and black pepper. It smelled good without being overpowering.

Jiang Ye sprinkled a little on, testing it out.

"Salt-Roasted Prawn X1"

The plain roasted prawn instantly turned into a salt-roasted one.

"Maybe a little lemon juice too." Jiang Ye kept experimenting.

"Lemon Salt-Baked Prawn X1"

"A fresh, zesty salt-baked prawn—you'll never get sick of it!

+99 fullness

+99 HP"

+35 SAN points"

"This smells way too good." Jiang Ye felt he had some natural talent for cooking. Just by the aroma alone, he knew it would be delicious. As for the taste...

Jiang Ye thought, I can't sneak a bite of this. I need to call Knight Snail over to taste it together.

Mmm! It really is delicious. The shrimp meat is springy, the lemon is refreshing, the saltiness and black pepper complement each other perfectly, and even the shell...

Wait, the taste?

Just as Jiang Ye firmly declared he wouldn't sneak a bite, the mycelium had already grabbed a shrimp, not even peeling the shell, and wolfed it down, crunching away, almost chewing up the little stick the shrimp was skewered on.

Jiang Ye stared at the bare branch in his mycelial "hand" and noticed a shadow looming over him.

Looking up, it was the ever-diligent Knight Snail, Dorin, walking over.