Chapter 14 Frostice Scorpion-tail Rabbit
Qin Zhen checked her inventory — she currently had Stone ×111.
Though she was still quite a ways off from upgrading the Shelter, it was more than enough to build a Stone Stove.
The Stones the System provided were all square-shaped, perfectly suited for construction.
Qin Zhen stacked the Stones layer by layer, eventually forming a cylinder.
She left one side open for the fire.
The top was left uncovered as well — that was where the Wok would sit.
It took about 51 Stones, and a simple stove was complete.
Qin Zhen beamed with satisfaction. Tomorrow she could finally eat a proper stir-fry.
But wait... she didn't have a spatula!
She sighed. Tomorrow she'd head to the bamboo grove and chop down a bamboo stalk to whittle into one.
Since she had already decided to visit the shallow sea area tomorrow, Qin Zhen spent another two hours weaving ten more Fish Traps.
She hadn't gone there today, and the ten Fish Traps she'd woven last night still hadn't been set.
She might as well set all twenty at once tomorrow.
Once she finished, Qin Zhen finally lay down on her bed.
Right — she had also gotten a Pillow from a chest today!
Clutching the Pillow, Qin Zhen rolled around happily.
She had a Mattress, a blanket, a Pillow, a Stone Stove, and a Wok. Could a refrigerator and air conditioner be far behind?
Lost in pleasant daydreams, Qin Zhen drifted off to sleep.
The next morning, 5:30 a.m.
[Today's weather: Clear, 12–20°C]
After eating a bag of Bread and an Apple for breakfast, Qin Zhen headed to the Pine Forest to chop trees.
By eight o'clock, she had obtained Wood ×100, Pine Resin ×20, Pine Nuts 500g ×20, and EXP +100.
This morning brought the same three Wooden Chests as yesterday.
With her hypothesis confirmed, Qin Zhen decided she would stop fishing for Treasure Chests starting tomorrow.
Instead, she would explore the bamboo grove near the shallow sea area directly, and skip coming back at noon to save time.
Opening the three Wooden Chests, she obtained: [Mineral Water 500ml ×3, Bread 200g ×3, Toilet Paper ×3, Refined Iron ×5, Flashlight ×1].
A Flashlight?
Qin Zhen was pleasantly surprised.
With a Flashlight, she wouldn't have to hide inside the cabin to kill monsters tonight.
She could stand right at the doorway — the moment any monster approached, she'd attack with the Lianyue Crossbow.
Back at the Shelter, Qin Zhen prepared to steam some Rice and stir-fry some snake meat.
She didn't particularly want to eat snake meat, but compared to wolf meat or Squirrel Meat, snake meat was at least the least disturbing of the options.
As for crucian carp meat, it was better suited for soup than stir-frying.
Qin Zhen lit the fire, then took out the 1 kg bag of Rice, poured roughly a fifth of it into the Wok, and added some water.
About ten minutes later, the Rice was done.
Qin Zhen took out the Cutlery Set she had obtained earlier and scooped the Rice into a bowl.
The bowl was quite large — just the right size.
Next, Qin Zhen tossed the 1 kg of snake meat into the Wok and stir-fried it, adding some instant noodle seasoning.
The snake meat had its own fat, so it rendered out a bit of oil as it cooked.
Eating her bowl of Rice, Qin Zhen felt so happy she could cry.
She hadn't had Rice in days.
Everything the System produced was top quality.
The Rice grains were plump and fragrant, and the snake meat was tender and flavorful.
Most surprisingly, after eating the snake meat, Qin Zhen felt a surge of warmth spread through her body — a comfortable heat radiating from within.
It felt similar to the sensation she got after leveling up.
Qin Zhen checked her game panel. Her Level hadn't changed, but her Constitution had increased by 2 points.
"What's going on?" she asked.
Qin Zhen was a little baffled. Could it be that monster meat could boost her stats?
[Meat from monsters of Tier 1 and above can increase attributes when consumed.]
"Why didn't you say so earlier?" Qin Zhen said, a little annoyed.
[Host, you never asked.]
Qin Zhen: "..."
"Does all monster meat increase Constitution?"
[Of course not. Depending on the monster's own attributes, the meat it yields can boost different stats. For example, that Tier 1 Bamboo Pit Viper — its Attack Power wasn't particularly high, but it had exceptional vitality, so its meat boosted that attribute.]
[Also, the higher the Level of the monster, the more attributes its meat will add. However, there are limits — roughly 2 points per 1 kg of meat — and eating more beyond that yields diminishing returns.]
So that was how it worked.
After finishing her meal, Qin Zhen grabbed her Fish Traps and headed to the shallow sea area.
The one Fish Trap she had left behind the day before yesterday was long gone.
Qin Zhen set all twenty Fish Traps and came ashore.
She had just noticed that the Coconut Palms on this side had grown back again — did these resources actually respawn?
Qin Zhen took out her axe and chopped them down, obtaining Wood ×9, Coconuts ×9, and EXP +15.
A few Stones had also respawned nearby, and Qin Zhen broke them apart one by one with her Stone Pickaxe.
She obtained Stone ×30 and EXP +30.
It was nearly two o'clock. Qin Zhen decided not to head into the bamboo grove after all, and instead chopped some trees in the nearby area.
She kept at it until around 3:30, then started making her way back to the Shelter.
She obtained Wood ×50 and EXP +50.
Yesterday it had gone dark at 4:30 — she wasn't sure if it would come even earlier today, so it was safer to leave herself plenty of time.
Qin Zhen stood at the doorway of the Wooden Cabin with a Flashlight strapped to her forehead.
Sure enough, at four o'clock the sky went dark.
Another half hour earlier!
If this kept up, would there be no daytime at all in a few more days?
The surrounding temperature dropped sharply.
Qin Zhen hugged her arms and sharpened her gaze.
She hadn't equipped the Starlight Staff — instead, she had equipped the Lianyue Crossbow.
With it equipped, each arrow from the Lianyue Crossbow dealt 63 points of damage.
Thud thud thud.
Four rabbits, their bodies flickering with an icy blue glow, came charging toward the Wooden Cabin.
Three smaller rabbits surrounded a single large one in the center.
The large rabbit was roughly the size of a wolf, its entire body radiating an icy blue light. Most striking of all was its tail.
It was not a rabbit's tail.
It was an icy blue scorpion tail with four segments, tipped with a barbed hook.
Beautiful and magnificent, like a blue crystal.
This was definitely not a Common Monster!
Qin Zhen knew it almost instantly.
This had to be a Tier 1 Monster.
The Tier 1 Bamboo Pit Viper she had encountered before was the same — far larger than an ordinary bamboo pit viper.
This rabbit was enormous, and it had mutated. It was no simple creature!
Even as these thoughts raced through her mind, her hands didn't slow for a moment. The instant the rabbits appeared, she drew the Lianyue Crossbow and fired three arrows in rapid succession.
Because the rabbit was so large, all three arrows hit.
[Frostice Scorpion-tail Rabbit: Tier 1 Monster — Attack Power: 40, with a chance to inflict Frozen status on the target; while Frozen, the target loses 5 HP per second — Defense: 30; HP: 300.]
But at this moment, its HP had been reduced to just 111 by Qin Zhen's arrows.
Holy crap — why did this Frostice Scorpion-tail Rabbit have so much higher Attack Power and HP than the Bamboo Pit Viper, even though they were both Tier 1 Monsters?
Struck by three arrows, the Frostice Scorpion-tail Rabbit flew into a rage and spat a Blue Ice Spike from its mouth.
The three smaller ice rabbits beside it also spat three smaller Ice Spikes.
Qin Zhen's HP dropped by a hundred points in an instant.
Worse still, she had triggered Frozen status!
Fortunately, the Frozen status only lasted one second.
As the four rabbits continued hurling Ice Spikes at her, Qin Zhen quickly moved out of the way, dodging the Frostice Scorpion-tail Rabbit's large Ice Spike.
But she still took two of the smaller Ice Spikes — leaving her with only 85 HP!