CH 4

Chapter 4 Arctic World(4)

His words… does this imply that he found something?

The two looked at each other and Ah Kai spoke honestly, “We all agreed on sharing information, and here’s our end of the deal.”

He took out the flint mentioned earlier and placed it in the middle of the three.

“This is a flint. I think it goes without saying that its value in this world is considerable, right?”

He noticed that He Junmin was a little surprised at seeing the flint, but then he nodded cautiously.

After a day of exploration, they also discovered that exposure to low temperatures for a long time would give them a 【frostbite】debuff which would cause them to continuously lose stat points.

Medicine alone would not be sufficient, they needed to restore their body temperature to eliminate the negative status.

Initially, many tried to solve the problem through exercise.

However, they soon discovered that although the【frostbite】debuff disappeared, their stamina had decreased significantly.

Some people also picked up firewood, wanting to make a fire, but in the end, they found that without modern tools, they simply couldn’t handle the pile of wood and ended up losing a lot of their mental points.

In short, this was a very troublesome issue.

This is where the importance of Flint comes in.

“It’s not easy to find, but its value lies in its reusability, unlike those one-time use items.”

Saying this, Ah Kai looked back at Qian Yue cautiously.

The latter wasn’t asleep, but she also was not focused on their conversation. Instead, she was staring directly at the door as if on guard against something.

As Qian Yue noticed Ah Kai’s movements from her peripheral vision, her attention was slightly pulled back to the indoors. Their gazes met.

How could Qian Yue not know what Ah Kai was thinking? She rolled her eyes speechlessly, “Are you serious, Ah sir? You’re afraid of someone eavesdropping even though you’re talking loudly? Why don’t you talk outside?”

[T/N: Ah sir is used to addressing a policeman, in this context, it would imply mocking-disbelief of policeman-like behavior]

“…” Ah Kai pursed his lips and eventually did not say a word, but changed his sitting position to block Qian Yue’s view, giving her a feeling of being excluded.

He lowered his voice and said, “There is an Item Merchant behind the village who carries many items that can’t be found on the market. We bought this flint there…”

Ah…

Qian Yue rubbed her ears. Sometimes having good hearing can also be a nuisance.

“I heard that the items sold there are limited each day…and the items sold each day are not repeated. If there are any unwanted items, they can also be sold there and exchanged for money to fill up their inventory.”

The group whispered to each other, and Ah Kai briefly mentioned the situation in the village and how amazing the item merchant was, successfully arousing Qian Yue’s curiosity.

The item merchant, as the name suggests, is the official item merchant, or a walking item store.

If this were in a normal online game, it would be a surefire pay-to-win haven, a walking money-making machine, and a paradise for RMB players.

He Qunjun seemed to be somewhat interested and quickly asked about the location of the item merchant, but Ah Kai shook his head and said he wasn’t sure.

“It is said that this item merchant moves around on his own, and no one knows where he will appear.”

Jian Lecheng said, “We can go out and look for him tomorrow.”

After ending this topic, everyone’s attention returned to the matter that He Qunjun had mentioned earlier.

“Can we talk about it now?”

He Qunjun chuckled.

Looking at the expressions of the two, He Qunjun seemed to hesitate about how to start. “It’s not really a special method.”

Then he threw out a bombshell, “It’s just that I happened to discover a place where we can farm monsters.”

Farm monsters?

Upon hearing these words, Qianyue’s ears perked up, similarly, the expressions of Ah Kai and Jian Lecheng also changed subtlely, and their gazes towards He Junmin became scrutinizing.

He Junmin had anticipated everyone’s reaction and sighed, “I know what you’re thinking. Let me finish.”

“I didn’t say it earlier because I was afraid you’d think I had ulterior motives.”

“Although I haven’t tested it myself, I guarantee that the location is really good and easy to defend.”

Qian Yue, who had been eavesdropping openly on the side, couldn’t help but give He Junmin another glance.

Although Jian Lecheng was skeptical, after hearing the latter half of He Junmin’s words, he became somewhat indecisive, “What do you mean you haven’t tested it? Weren’t there two of you who went there?

What happened to the other person? Why didn’t he come back with you?”

He Junmin pursed his lips, “Zhu Ding had already separated from me at that time. I couldn’t handle the monsters alone. I searched for him for a while but couldn’t find him. I thought he had already come back.”

Zhu Ding was the teammate who had gone into the forest with He Junmin before. Unfortunately, not long after they entered, they got separated because of a wolf pack chase.

Ah Kai asked with a strange expression, “Then how do you know that place is suitable for monster farming?”

He Junmin helplessly said, “After playing online games for so many years, I still have some experience.”

Ah Kai wanted to ask more, but at this moment, He Junmin took out something from his backpack and waved it in front of the two, successfully interrupting their conversation.

“This is a synthesis stone. I hunted all day to get one to drop.”

Upon hearing the words “synthesis stone,” both of them stared wide-eyed, even Qian Yue couldn’t help but turn her head to take a look.

As long as one has a blueprint, one synthesis stone could combine to make one to three items. On average, the synthesis stone represented three items!

Seeing their reaction, a smile crept up He Junmin’s face, and he carefully put the item away.

He said, “Unless someone unexpected happens, synthesis stones should be the material with the lowest drop rate.”

But if you want to use a blueprint to make items, the synthesis stone is indispensable.

Jian Lecheng tentatively asked, “So, you mean?”

He Junmin replied, “Our professions complement each other perfectly, so I wanted to ask if you guys would be willing to cooperate with me in hunting?”

“You probably felt it after our outing today, the known ways of obtaining items are very limited.”

“Hunting is tiring, but the results are obvious.”

“Besides synthesis stones, wolves also drop items such as meat and fur, and there should be blueprints too. If I get the last hit, the drop rate can also increase.”

Jian Lecheng asked, “What about blueprints? I can only get one at most per day.”

He Junmin had already thought of an answer to this question, “We can hoard them for now, or exchange them with others. As long as we have materials on hand, we don’t have to worry about running out of items.”

“Plus, I got seasoning today, and the item description shows that with this item, you can make food without blueprints— it just won’t be as effective.”

Now that the conversation had come to this point, it was impossible for Jian Lecheng to not be interested.

He could tell that He Junmin was sincere in wanting to cooperate with them, otherwise, he wouldn’t have mentioned all the items he had obtained.

But out of caution, Jian Lecheng didn’t immediately agree.

He Junmin continued calmly, “If you think it’s appropriate, we can go to the forest together tomorrow and take a look.”

After thinking for two seconds, Jian Lecheng suddenly slapped his thigh and said, “Okay, let’s do it your way.”

There was no better idea for now, so it was better to follow along and see.

He Junmin looked at Ah Kai, “What about you?”

“I’ll think about it and give you an answer before daybreak,” Ah Kai replied.

“Okay,” He Junmin wasn’t in a hurry. He turned to Qian Yue and asked kindly, “Do you want to come with us tomorrow?”

“Me?”

Qian Yue did not expect the topic to suddenly turn to her, but she shook her head without hesitation.

“I’m not going.”

Jian Lecheng persuaded, “Come with us. With more people, the chances of success in hunting are higher— oh, by the way, what profession are you?”

Shouldn’t it mean that our target is bigger? Qianyue silently criticized in her heart. This He Junmin looked very suspicious, and she didn’t want to be a lamb.

[T/N: lamb here refers to being a sacrificial lamb, a bait.]

She glanced at Jian Lecheng, “Why bother with this nonsense? Isn’t it better to just lay down and sleep?”

Qian Yue’s hint was very subtle, but Jian Lecheng not only did not get it but also instinctively continued, “Didn’t you sleep all day today? If you keep sleeping like this…”

Qian Yue interrupted him irritably, “If I slept today, I can’t sleep tomorrow? If you ate today, then you can just starve tomorrow?”

He Junmin was left speechless by her response.

He Qunjun suddenly spoke up: “It’s okay, no need to force yourself if you don’t want to.”

He paused and kindly reminded her, “But if you keep going like this, your items will eventually run out.”

Qian Yue replied indifferently, “What’s the rush? Didn’t they say that as long as we survive for ten days, we can clear the instance?”

Everyone, “…”

The atmosphere became awkward for a moment, but Qian Yue— as a conversation terminator— was completely oblivious to it.

She even asked, “Don’t you all need to sleep?”

This was asked with all sincerity.

Since the game had set up the concept of “mental points,” it meant that sleep and rest were very necessary. If one did not sleep for a long time, they could very likely suffer from debuffs.

But the three of them had not even considered this, and even thought she was a weirdo!

— After finally obtaining the closed beta chance, everyone wanted to live as long as possible and have an adventurous game experience as much as possible. Who would waste that time sleeping?

Jian Lecheng was retaliated earlier so now he stopped speaking out for Qian Yue.

“Forget it, let’s not bother with her. We meant well, but since she’s an ingrate, let it go.”

Qian Yue glanced at him and asked, “Who are you calling an ingrate?”

Jian Lecheng blurted out, “You!”

After he spoke, he realized what he had done and became angry. “Are you crazy?!”

Qian Yue couldn’t be bothered with him and yawned as she got up from the ground. “Are you going to sit at the door forever?”

Jian Lecheng rolled his eyes. “Mind your own business, we’ll sit here as long as we want! Go sleep!”

“Telling me what to do?”

Qian Yue laughed icily and walked up to him, lifting him up and kicking him out the door.

“Ah!”

“Jian Lecheng!”

The two quickly looked outside and intended to pull him back in, but when they looked up, they found countless pairs of eyes emitting green light on the vast snowy plain!

Qian Yue chuckled, “Weren’t you planning to kill wolves? Go on then.”

“Telling me what to do? Let me teach you how to be a decent person!”

Jian Lecheng mumbled with a mouthful of snow, initially stunned, then it turned into rage. He not even a few seconds later, he was crying and yelling as he ran back inside.

“Duck! You’re not human!”

Qian Yue said, “If you keep making noise, I’ll beat you up again.”

Jian Lecheng immediately shut up.