Chapter 12: Leaving the Resource Island

“Okay, Teacher.”

Feeling that it sounded too cold, she immediately followed up with another message.

“I’ll send it over to you right away!”

Wen Ruyan sat on her electric scooter with her legs crossed, letting out a deep breath as she stared at the messages she had sent.

The conversation was finally over! Sending those few messages had taken every ounce of her courage.

If she hadn’t run out of spare containers and desperately needed water, she would never have chosen to interact with anyone.

After all, while she seemed aloof, distant, and unsociable on the outside, she was actually just socially anxious.

She immediately clicked send. Watching the fish tanks disappear, she couldn’t help but remember.

That day at home, she had been preparing to convert the fish tanks into display cabinets for her figurines, only to be swept away to this hellhole by a flash of white light in the blink of an eye.

If her very first treasure chest hadn’t yielded a Game Backpack, she would have thrown these two cumbersome things away long ago!

She hadn’t expected them to be so useful now.

Wen Ruyan pulled herself out of her thoughts and adjusted her mindset. Since she was here, she might as well make the best of it.

She was all alone in the world. If she really died in this Survival Game, at least she would save money on a grave.

Mo Yubai walked to a deeper part of the river before choosing to accept the fish tanks.

Splash! Splash!

Two giant fish tanks, both taller than Mo Yubai, crashed onto the water’s surface one after the other.

She grabbed one of the fish tanks and pushed down hard, causing it to tilt slightly and slowly sink to the riverbed.

Ding-dong!

Mo Yubai opened her game panel. It was the notification sound for her starred contacts; Ou Ou had finally replied to her message.

“Ahhh! Sister Mo, you’re amazing! You’re my light! My savior!

I was just stressing over not wanting to waste water on washing up. I didn’t even wash my face properly yesterday!”

Watching the sinking fish tank, Mo Yubai accepted the various containers sent by Zhu Ou. As she filled them with water, she said helplessly:

“You actually washed up yesterday? I just went straight to bed. I couldn’t get any food or water from the treasure chests. Thank goodness I found this river today, or else I don’t know how long I would have had to stay dirty.”

“Huh? Sister Mo, if you can’t get food, just tell me! I got a ton of food from chests again today. Let me send some to you!”

Mo Yubai was so shocked by the food Zhu Ou sent that her grip slipped, and her iron pot fell into the water, hitting the fish tank with a loud clank.

Mo Yubai quickly retrieved the iron pot and carefully inspected the fish tank.

Fortunately, there weren’t any cracks. It seemed the quality of these fish tanks was quite good.

Having accepted Zhu Ou’s gift of instant noodles x2, fire noodles x3, crab roe noodles x1, lotus root powder x2, river snail rice noodles x1, malatang x1, bread x2, and steamed buns x4,

Mo Yubai deeply felt the massive gap between herself and a lucky star!

Should she change her name to Lucky? Would that make her a bit luckier?

Forget it. The other girl’s surname was Zhu, so she could be called Zhu Ou^[1]. Her own surname was Mo. If she changed her name, she would be Mo Xingyun.

Mo Xingyun sounded exactly like “not lucky”! That would never do!

She was already unlucky enough. She couldn’t walk around with a name that practically screamed misfortune!

Stopping her stray thoughts, Mo Yubai turned her gaze back to the fish tank in the water. It was actually full already?

She put one into her backpack and chose to send the other!

After leaving the deep water area, Mo Yubai walked to the riverbank, filled all of Zhu Ou’s containers with water, and sent them over.

“Ou Ou, I’ve finished filling them. Please accept the transfer. Also, thank you for the food.”

“Got it, Sister Mo! Love you!”

“Ahem! I have some things to take care of, so I’ll go offline first. Let’s chat tonight.”

“Sure, Sister Mo! Talk tonight!”

Mo Yubai closed the chat interface in a slight panic. Did students nowadays really talk like this?!

Once she calmed herself down, she turned her attention back to the river.

The river was crystal clear, with water plants swaying gently, but there wasn’t a single fish in sight. She must have scared the school of fish away when she was filling the tanks earlier.

She looked at the sky. Time was running out, so she decided not to wander too far.

First, she would wash the wild grapes, berries, and wild green onions in her backpack and store them away!

Then, she would take off her clothes to wipe down her body, at least to wash off the smell of green onions she had rubbed on herself earlier!

After a quick wash, Mo Yubai continued along the river to see if she could find any other good things before she had to leave.

Before she had walked very far, she spotted a school of fish. Not bad! Even if her name wasn’t Lucky, she was still quite lucky today!

It seemed she should talk to Zhu Ou more often in the future to absorb some of her good luck!

With her pant legs rolled up and her bare feet standing in the shallow water near the bank, Mo Yubai held the Bird-head Staff, focusing intently on the movement of the fish in the water.

With a sudden thrust, the bird head smoothly and accurately pierced a fish’s belly. She lifted the fish and immediately used Appraisal on it.

(Three-gold Fish: A common fish on the Elven Continent, named for the three gold lines on its back.

It requires high water quality and is generally found in the upper reaches of rivers. It is highly agile, with tender, sweet flesh that can be eaten raw.)

After confirming that the fish was not only non-toxic but also tender and delicious, Mo Yubai began spearing fish with even greater focus.

As night slowly fell, Mo Yubai was still focused on catching fish!

However, the temperature was dropping rapidly. Her feet had turned red from being soaked in the cold water, and her movements began to slow down.

Suddenly, a flash of light swept by. Ripples still spread across the river’s surface, but the girl was gone.

Mo Yubai stood frozen, still holding the Bird-head Staff aloft, staring blankly at the highway beneath her feet.

“Did time really pass that quickly? It’s already 8:00 PM??”

Putting away the Bird-head Staff and rolling down her pant legs, her bare feet stepped onto the highway. Only now did she feel the bone-chilling cold.

She quickly took out her cotton socks and shoes to put them on, then pulled out the trench coat she had worn yesterday and draped it over herself. Only then did she feel a hint of warmth.

She lit a bonfire, set up her iron pot and spatula over the flames, and poured in half a pot of Shuilan Tree Sap.

Standing up, she grabbed a wooden bucket at random, took out the fish she had just speared with the Bird-head Staff, and skillfully performed the entire process of scaling, gutting, and cleaning it.

Next, she took out the cleaver she had traded from Ou Ou and sliced the cleaned fish. The translucent slices of fish meat slid into the pot one by one.

She tore open a packet of instant noodle seasoning and set the steamed buns sponsored by Ou Ou to steam.

She chopped up the washed wild green onions to sprinkle on top right before serving, adjusted the heat, and let it simmer gently.

Sitting on her Electric Tricycle, Mo Yubai took advantage of the time the fish soup was cooking to take stock of her harvest for the day.

Crabs x7, wild green onions x39, berries x14, wild grape bunches x12, Three-gold Fish x12, White Jade Fruit x10, Mutated White Jade Fruit (Red) x1, Mutated White Jade Fruit (Green) x1, Shuilan Tree Sap x5, Space Stone x1, Forging Stone x16, Water Purifier Blueprint x1, cups (water) x16, wooden buckets (water) x32, plastic basins (water) x14, plastic bottles (water) x122, bathtubs (water) x2, fish tank (water) x1, instant noodles…

She had harvested quite a lot today. Fortunately, she had found a Space Stone, or else she wouldn’t have been able to bring all this back, and it would have gone to waste!

She took out the Water Purifier Blueprint and the Workbench from her backpack, placing the blueprint onto the workbench.

The workbench showed that it required plastic x15, Iron Block x20, and Activated Carbon x5.

She didn’t have enough Activated Carbon. Besides, she didn’t have a bowl to eat from later. She couldn’t just eat straight out of the pot, could she?

Mo Yubai opened the game panel once more. The chat lobby was as lively as ever, with messages constantly scrolling by.