Chapter 46 Survival on a Deserted Island 8

Chapter 46: Survival on the Deserted Island: Day 8

At night, Su Han focused on cutting the venison into palm-sized pieces and evenly applying salt to them. She didn't stop until she had used up all the coarse salt.

Since there was no wooden basin to hold the venison, she had to use a bamboo basket as a substitute. The numerous pieces of venison were stacked crisscrossed, yet they looked surprisingly neat and organized. Su Han felt a strange sense of satisfaction.

Next, she tanned the three newly acquired rabbit fur again and hung them on a wooden rack to dry.

When she grew tired, she leaned against the wall to rest, planning for the next day, considering what situations might arise in the game, and what supplies she still needed to stockpile.

Slowly, she grew drowsy, and she couldn't help but close her eyes.

She slept soundly through the night.

The next day, the system's mechanical voice finally announced, "Day 4 of the game, light rain is falling across the island."

As soon as the words were spoken, the sound of light rain could be heard outside the cave.

Zhong Rui, munching on some venison, first glanced at the wooden rack laden with rabbit fur, then looked at the venison being cured in the bamboo basket, and finally decided to make a few more wooden racks.

Su Han woke up slowly and saw a piece of rye bread and a bottle of milk in front of her. She stuffed the rye bread into her mouth and placed the milk in the wicker basket.

Zhong Rui couldn't help but glance sideways, "Not bad skills." It's quite enjoyable to eat and drink like this every day.

Su Han casually replied, "Yours are pretty good too."

However, less than ten seconds into the casual chat, she brought up serious business again, "What should we do with the remaining venison?"

Her expression was nothing short of utterly distressed.

Zhong Rui kept a straight face.

#Every day is a battle against food spoilage#

#His hunting skills are overwhelming, it's driving me crazy#

#He casually bagged so much game again, what can he do? Wasting it would be a crime!#

After a long while, Zhong Rui slowly said, "If we truly can't finish it all, we can trade it with others for firewood."

With light rain falling from the sky, animals became more elusive, and some might even stay in their burrows. The difficulty for players to obtain food increased, and it was likely that they wouldn't be able to get enough.

Chopping firewood was a straightforward, labor-intensive task. Spending a little time to earn roasted venison seemed like a fair trade.

For them, trading the venison they couldn't possibly finish for firewood to stockpile was also a good deal.

"Then let's trade for firewood," Su Han agreed. "The chance of triggering talent skills isn't that great. It's only the 4th day of the game, and there are a hundred players in total, with quite a few who haven't triggered a single chance yet."

"Most players are broke and can't offer much, so only firewood is worth trading for."

"You head out, and I'll stay back to build the racks, alright?" Zhong Rui sought his companion's opinion.

"Alright," Su Han agreed straightforwardly.

Ten pieces of venison were roasted, wrapped in leaves, and stuffed into the backpack. Su Han threw the backpack over her shoulder and dashed out without a second thought.

At this moment, the camp was sparsely populated, and many items had been cleared away, making it look somewhat desolate.

Su Han walked around and quickly realized—many people had gone out to avoid the rain, looking for materials to build tents, or... to find another place to settle.

At the beginning of the game, players were busy hunting and searching for drinking water. After returning at night, they would simply lie down and sleep, not thinking much of it. However, as time went on, players with strong adaptability and good talent skills gradually emerged, and the wealth gap between them slowly widened.

Some people didn’t have enough food to eat every day, while others had more than enough to eat and drink, leading to rising tensions. After going out to hunt, they would return to find their stockpile stolen and their food reserves gone; after gathering materials to build a tent, they would be robbed as soon as they returned; seeing others enjoying good food and drink, jealousy became hard to suppress...

Eventually, the tensions escalated on the 4th day—no one wanted to get drenched in the rain, and no one wanted to build a tent only to have it taken over by others. As a result, more and more people chose to leave, departing the camp in groups.

Thus, the camp became the scene she now witnessed.

As she wandered, another person couldn’t stand the constant drizzle. He quickly gathered all his belongings, took everything he owned, and left the camp with his companions at a brisk pace.

After some thought, Su Han headed to the woods.

The light rain kept falling. Although it obstructed vision and affected mobility, with some grit, one could still push through.

Players with limited resources had no other choice. No matter if it was windy, rainy, or even hailing outside, they had to go out and hunt, or else they might starve to death.

Su Han walked for a while and finally heard the sound of chopping wood amidst the patter of rain. Her face brightened with joy, and she quickly headed in the direction of the sound.

Soon, she saw a team of two. One was cutting trees, while the other was cutting thatch. They worked in sync, seemingly planning to build a thatched hut.

Su Han kept her distance, trying not to provoke any hostility, and then called out, “Deer meat for firewood, interested in a trade?”

Su Han was skilled in cooking and had plenty of food, often trading with other players. As a result, she had become a familiar face among all the survivors on the D16 server.

So, they didn’t doubt Su Han’s ability to pay. After a moment of thought, the woodcutter shook his head, “We need to hurry and build the thatched hut, so we don’t have time to chop firewood for a trade right now.”

Who knows what debuffs might come from being soaked in the rain for too long!

Though disappointed, Su Han had no choice but to leave.

To her surprise, she ran into three more groups in a row. Some said they didn’t need it, since they could hunt on their own; others said they were busy with other tasks and had no time; and others said the price wasn’t high enough and wanted more.

Su Han was speechless.

It seemed like everyone had enough to eat and drink, except for her, who was in a hurry to trade away the deer meat.

Forget it! Su Han was starting to get annoyed. Of course, the most important thing was that she still had some firewood left from her previous stockpile, enough to last for three days.

Based on past experience, even if the system announced abnormal weather, there would be many scenarios, and the environment would keep changing. The rain starting on the 4th day suggested a three-day cycle of changes.

Therefore, Su Han decided to wait until the 7th day when the rain stopped, and then she would burn trees to make charcoal.

Having made up her mind, she walked back through the rain. As she approached the cave, she suddenly noticed that the trap she had dug earlier had been triggered. Upon closer inspection, there was a dumb rabbit inside, foolishly digging at the dirt, trying to escape.

Su Han felt a pang of melancholy—there was still so much deer meat at home that hadn’t been eaten... She gave the silly rabbit a regretful glance and muttered to herself, “Drink more rainwater and live a few more days. I’ll come back for you in a couple of days.”

Then she turned and left.

Inside the cave, Zhong Rui was building wooden racks. Seeing his companion return empty-handed, he was quite surprised, “What, couldn’t trade the deer meat?”

“They’re busy building tents, afraid of getting debuffs from being soaked in the rain, so they didn’t have time for me,” Su Han explained briefly, then calmly added, “It’s fine. Once the rain stops, I can make charcoal myself.”

She patted her clothes and found an empty spot to sit, waiting for the wind to dry her clothes.

The sound of wood being cut echoed in her ears, and Su Han, feeling drowsy, leaned against the wall and fell asleep. When she woke up again, it was already dark outside, with only the flickering flames of the fire illuminating the cave.

Su Han was about to stand up when she suddenly realized something was wrong—her head was throbbing, her body felt weak, and her vision was blurry. It was clear that she had caught a fever from being out in the rain.

But... a fever?! It had been so many years since she last had one! Su Han’s face was a picture of disbelief, as if she’d been struck by lightning.

Zhong Rui seemed to sense his companion's inner doubts and casually remarked, "This is a game. The system sets how long you can stay in the rain before getting sick, and you have to follow the rules."

Su Han had a sudden realization. Looking at the word "fever" in her status bar, her emotions were mixed.

Experience: 14/30, indicating that she couldn't achieve victory in this round of the game, nor could she remove the negative status. Without any suitable medicine, she had no choice but to endure. As for the vitality potion Zhong Rui had, she didn't even consider it.

After thinking it over, Su Han felt more and more exhausted, her mind in complete disarray.

"Don't worry, I've got you. Get some rest," Zhong Rui said as he handed her a bamboo tube and some roasted venison.

After eating, Su Han drifted off into a daze and soon fell asleep. Before passing out, she thought to herself, in real life, she’d never catch a fever from something as minor as getting rained on!

The next morning, Su Han woke up slowly and found three more wooden racks in the cave, with salted venison hanging from them.

Moving around, she found that her mobility was back to normal, but the "fever" status had changed to "physically weak: -20 stamina per day, lasting three days."

Su Han let out a sigh of relief.

Outside the cave, the light rain kept falling without a break. She couldn’t help but wonder if others had also gotten sick from the rain. However, without a safe resting place or reliable teammates, falling into a coma was equivalent to being at the mercy of others.

Not far away, her companion looked serious, lost in thought. Su Han smiled, feeling inexplicably reassured.

After a long pause, Zhong Rui broke the silence and said slowly, "We're almost out of clean drinking water. The camp is deserted, and An Rongyue is nowhere to be found. We should find her before we run out of drinking water. If not, we might have to hunt wild deer and drink their blood to survive."

Clearly, he had gone out to scout the situation while Su Han was unconscious.

Without waiting for his companion's response, he continued, "In normal survival, you can collect dew with leaves or dig a pit to let water settle and drink the clear top layer."

"But other options in the game might not be safe. Since drinking deer blood is confirmed safe, it’s better to stick with that."

Seeing her companion’s serious and determined face, Su Han had to speak up. "I found a big grove of sugar maples. There’s plenty of drinking water, and it’s safe to drink."

Zhong Rui was at a loss for words.

When did she find this? Why didn’t she say something sooner? All that worrying for nothing.

Though drinking deer blood could keep them alive and boost stamina, honestly, the taste was pretty bad, and too much could make you feel flushed. If there were other options, he wasn’t necessarily set on drinking deer blood.

"I wanted to see how you’d handle the water situation," Su Han said softly. "If it came down to drinking deer blood to survive, then forget it."

Then, she looked outside the cave and murmured, "Yesterday, many players were working in the rain. I wonder how they’re doing now."

The next second, the system's mechanical voice sounded, "Day 5 of the game, 56 survivors remain."

Judging from the data, nearly half of the players had already been eliminated. What was more terrifying was that these weren’t weaklings with no survival skills, but seasoned players who had undergone numerous trials.

Author's note: Su Han (seriously reflecting): Ever since someone brought back a sika deer, solo play seems to have turned into a team mode again.

Zhong Rui (righteously): I didn’t, I haven’t, don’t talk nonsense.

Zhong Rui, the lone wolf mode can survive, but life is a bit rough.

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A long-awaited bonus chapter, isn’t it a surprise?!

Irregular bonus chapters, don’t wait, the frequency of bonus chapters is even unpredictable to me.

As soon as deer blood and venison appeared, the comments section was already racing with imagination. However, this is a serious survival story ≧﹏≦

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