Inside the Fisherman Hideout.

  Clap. Clap. Dusting off his hands, Yu Zhiye looked at the cobblestone pile occupying a tenth of the small shed floor.

  “Just eight blocks in game units, but that’s quite a lot of stones in reality.”

  Yu Zhiye turned around and went next door.

  Back in the shack alighted by a purple glow, Yu Zhiye went up to touch the core cube on the altar.

  His consciousness got absorbed and rose back up to god mode...

  First, his focus fell on the shed and got an overview of what’s inside.

  

  [Shed (Lv. 1)]

  Only resources deposited here can be used for construction.

  [Resource Bank]

  

  [Upgrade]

  x16 wood, x16 sand, 5 core energy

  “Hmm. Same unit of measurement as the survival game system. That simplifies things.”

  Next, his consciousness zoomed into the shack and he got an overview of the place.

  A new point of interest were the two piles in the corners.

  

  Those stacked up in the newly-minted food corner.

  Stacked up in another corner were the toiletries: three .

  “Nothing out of the normal about them. Hope they’ll last though…”

  “On the bright side, with all those dropped off, my inventory now has five slots open to more scavenging!”

  “Well… still have to plan around those slots to avoid too much suspicion when food hoarding.”

  Yu Zhiye set aside that plan for later and focused on the cube.

  

  [Main Core (Lv. 1)]

  The core of this pocket dimension that stores all energy collected.

  [Core Energy Units] x1

  [Upgrade] x10 core energy

  “Nice, there’s my one point from the fish I caught!”

  It wasn’t much, but it was a good start. At this rate, it’ll take less than a month to earn enough core energy for most of the current upgrades.

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  “Too bad, resources will still be an issue.”

  “Cobblestone and sand should be straightforward, but… where the heck am I going to get wood?”

  Wood in this desert where even birds don’t shit? This was really hell mode!

  “But there’s a crafting system… this game shouldn’t be so cruel to close this door on us, right?”

  Thinking and thinking… only a few ideas popped in Yu Zhiye’s mind.

  “Perhaps there will be palm wood if an oasis can be found? Maybe wood can be found like stone out there? Or…”

  “Borrow some from the store outside?”

  Once that idea took root, it was hard to get rid of it.

  “Hey, I can try taking apart some things once I get out…”

  Scouting out store for demolishables added to agenda!

  “And while I’m at it, might as well scavenge some more drinks if possible. That’s more critical to survival than food…”

  “Then once all that is done, go fishing and sand gathering.”

  After getting his day all sorted out, Yu Zhiye fished his consciousness out from the main core.

  “Alright, time to get busy.”

  Yu Zhiye headed back out. Into the portal, out from the door, and soon… back in the store.

  Looking at the many aisles and fridges lining the market, Yu Zhiye determined his priority.

  “First, let’s shop around the rest of the aisles and the fridges.”

  Shop around he did.

  Unsurprisingly, most of the shelves were empty.

  Here and there, various edibles peppered the empty lot while other members picked and choose like this was some battle royale game.

  The beverage fridges weren’t any better. A beer here, an energy drink there.

  Water bottles were pretty much gone. So Yu Zhiye grabbed a coke.

  “The infamous toilet bowl cleaner… even if I don’t drink it, it’ll have some use.”

  But that wasn’t enough to solve his thirst bar if he’s gonna stay out there in the desert for the long run.

  Yu Zhiye soon saw another alternative. “Fruits?”

  Ahead was a fruit rack. Right besides it, the high-schooler girl calling herself Xiao Shuling was cheerfully packing up one fresh apple after another.

  His approach didn’t go unnoticed.

  Getting caught in the act, she blinked innocently, cutely stuck her little tongue out at him, then skipped away without a care in the world.

  Yu Zhiye hurried over and saw most of the baskets were empty. Only one basket had half-a-dozen oranges left.

  Maybe they’ll be all gone if he came a step later!

  Smart peeps knows the rule of thumb for survival.

  But he can’t blame others for hoarding. He’s doing the same.

  Of course, the nine inventory slots limit should restrict most from going overboard. But after storing an orange…

  “Oh. A x1 counter! That means fruits can stack!”

  Yu Zhiye cheerfully took four more oranges just for the vitamins. But after that, he reined in his greed.

  “No need to take them all. Not a big fan of fruits anyways. I just don’t want to catch scurvy in a place like this.”

  But that lonely orange sitting there looks so awkward… and that basket says it wants to be his friend!

  Yu Zhiye could only reach out to take the whole basket—or at least, he tried to.

  “Huh? This basket is glued to the rack?”

  So he tried taking the whole rack…

  But it won’t budge an inch.

  “Guess not? Are consumables the only thing I can take from the store?”

  With the hopes that this was an isolated case, Yu Zhiye went around the rest of the store, only to discover…

  Except for the living supplies, everything else was stuck to where they are like some magical force was keeping them there.

  Even the candy trays and merchandising clip strips didn’t budge. Not only that, they seem to be indestructible as well!

  “Uh… is this game in adventure mode where block destruction is disabled?”

  Yu Zhiye rubbed his chin and looked towards the exit. “But there should be no problem picking up sand blocks outside… weird.”

  Well, the whole transmigration thing and survival game was strange. It wasn’t too surprising that there were mysterious forces at play in this novice base.

  “Whatever. No need to dwell on it. Just focus on my survival plan…”

  Store exploration done. Wood acquisition mission: failed. Move on to sand and core energy collection.

  Pushing open the back exit, Yu Zhiye stepped from the world of the cool back out into the world of hot.

  Back here, he could see some large, free-standing rock formations in the distant.

  “It’s good news that it wasn’t all sand out there. Just hope... the game is on peaceful mode…”

  Yu Zhiye didn’t get his hopes up though. He simply made his way back over to the fishing zone he discovered earlier.

  After casting out his line into the quicksand, he stabbed his fishing rod in the sand. “Hopefully, there will be some good catch...”

  But fishing requires patience. The fisherman didn’t stay idle and started scooping up the nearby sand...