Starting With a Reef [Global Survival]

[Jam Barrel: Used to make jam. One jin of fresh fruit produces one 250ml bottle of jam.]
[Crafting Materials: Wood ×20, Flint ×2, Sea Stone ×5]
Was that not exactly what she had just been wishing for?
She had just been worrying that the cashew fruits would not stay fresh for long, and now she had the Jam Barrel—perfect for turning them into jam.

And she already had all the materials needed to craft the Jam Barrel. What was there to wait for?
Yun Luohe hurried to gather the materials and place them on the Workbench.
At the same time, Yun Luohe opened her item information interface to check her Cooking Skill proficiency.

Just as expected—
Her experience had increased by 5 points.
Looks like the more high-quality food she made, the faster her level would rise.
She would need to spend more time researching cuisine.
Using better ingredients to make tastier food—there were so many benefits!

Looking at the leopard cat that had been waiting impatiently for quite some time, Yun Luohe felt a bit reluctant to share such good food with it—but they had already made a deal.
Still, Yun Luohe scooped a full bowl of noodles into a coconut shell bowl and placed it down for the cat.
It was a full bowl, and the moment she set it on the ground, it buried its face in and devoured the food.

Yun Luohe said, “Eat up, and later you have to get back to work.”
The leopard cat ate enthusiastically, meowing nonstop. Whether it understood her or not, she could not tell.
“Since we’re living together now, shouldn’t I give you a name?” Yun Luohe mused aloud while eating her noodles.

She had never thought of herself as the owner of the leopard cat. The two of them were more like laborer and boss.
The leopard cat worked for her, and she paid it in food.
“How about I call you Ròubāo? It suits you. You love meat, and you look like a leopard.”
As soon as she said it, the leopard cat lifted its head and let out a meow.

“Then I’ll take that as your agreement. Ròubāo!”
She called out.
Having a cat to eat with was not so bad after all.
This Fish Offal Noodle was seriously delicious.
Reluctantly, she stored the remaining portion from the pot into her backpack.

Right now, she felt full of energy—and her Luck was increased by 1 for the next hour.
She could not waste this golden hour.
Yun Luohe decided to use this time to cast the fishing net a few times.

Even if it was only +1 Luck, it might make a surprising difference.
Her movements while casting the net were extremely practiced. In just ten minutes, she had already hauled something in.
Nice!

Looks like that one point in Luck was actually doing something.
She quickly hauled the fishing net back up.
It was full of shells.

She opened them—and there it was, a white pearl.
[Obtained: Iron Ore ×4, Wood ×10, Fiber ×2, Sand ×1, Broken Hemp Rope ×1, Used Disposable Plastic Bowl ×1, Clay ×4, Sesame Cake ×1]
Hmm…
Did not seem like anything particularly valuable...

Again!
Yun Luohe cast the net again.
She let the net soak and said to Ròubāo, who was sunbathing on the reef nearby:
“Ròubāo, keep an eye on the net. If anything moves, call me.”

“Meow meow...”
“I will make you more food tonight.”
“Mya~~”

Yun Luohe was now communicating with the leopard cat with increasingly little difficulty.
She could understand whether it was agreeing or refusing just by the rise and fall in its tone.
—
The roasted cashew nuts on the stove were done, releasing a fragrant aroma. She quickly picked them out one by one with chopsticks and placed them into a glass jar.

Cashew nuts needed to be sealed and stored in a cool place, with as little exposure to air and moisture as possible. Since she had no refrigerator, Yun Luohe found a shady place and set them down carefully. These needed to be eaten quickly.
They could also be used in dishes—like Cashew Shrimp Stir-Fry, Salt-Baked Cashews, Cashew Chicken Stir-Fry…
In any case, she definitely was not going to let them go to waste.

If she could not eat them all, she could sell them—or worst case, Ròubāo could eat them.
All she needed to do was hoard more materials and keep making things.
The grilled moray eel meat on the rack was also finished. The effect was the same as the last batch she had made.

Yun Luohe planned to list them on the Trading Center.
More players would surely be landing on islands over the next few days. Food that could boost Strength would be in high demand. Many had already left messages asking when Fish Head Soup would be available again.
And grilled moray eel, being so easy to eat, was especially convenient to take along—surely some players would prefer it.

She had just listed the items when she received a message from Wu Jing.
Wu Jing had contacted her through the Rich Lady’s Little Shop.
After all, he did not know the person he was trading with was Yun Luohe herself.

“Are you there?”
“There’s something I wanted to ask you—can your Sailboat be borrowed? My friend wants to use it. You name the price.”
Borrow the Sailboat? Did Wu Jing not have one himself?
If it was his friend, why not lend him his own…

Yun Luohe had not even asked yet—
Wu Jing explained on his own.
“My Sailboat has run into some issues and cannot be loaned. If you are okay with it, ask for whatever you want.”
Yun Luohe had no intention of lending out her Sailboat. She did not have a blueprint for it. This was her only one—and it had taken tough bargaining with Wu Jing to get it. If she lent it and they damaged it, or refused to return it, how would she explore islands?

She was not about to take that kind of risk.
“No.”
“I will tell him.”

“You made food again, right? Do you have a large quantity? I just saw it. I would like to buy more.”
Yun Luohe: “That is all there is. Just go straight to the shop.”
She had set the price at 5 Glass for one portion of grilled fish, or 40 pieces of Wood.

Right now, she needed Wood more than anything.
She had grilled ten portions and listed them all. If they all sold for Wood, she would not need to worry about gathering it for a while.
Wu Jing: “Can we add each other as friends? If you make more food later, you could contact me directly to trade. I can definitely pay the price you want.”

Looked like this player wanted to buy wholesale from her directly—probably also wanted to keep others from getting food that restored Strength.
Yun Luohe, for personal reasons, did not want him to know who she was.
Tall trees attract the wind.

She had low Luck and had always refused to join the Lucky Club. If he found out she could craft both weapons and food, he might get suspicious. If he compared notes with Du Ruan-tian, he would figure out that she was the one partnering with her to sell water purifiers.
So Yun Luohe rejected him bluntly, “Just buy what you want from the shop.”
It was not that she did not want to maintain good relations with Wu Jing or the Lucky Club. It was just—she was doing just fine on her own.

Plus, she had the Survival Mutual Aid Association.
Seeing the seller was completely uncooperative, Wu Jing had no choice but to go buy the grilled fish from the Rich Lady’s Little Shop.
He knew very little about the shop owner—only that it was a woman. Otherwise, why would it be called the Rich Lady’s Little Shop? Beyond that, he knew nothing.

Meanwhile, she knew quite a lot about him.
Of course, that was because he never traded anonymously, and he was loud in the chat channels. In fact, most Lucky Club members were loud.
For example, today—because of Lucky Day—everyone was hauling in great loot, and someone had started a swap meet right in the group chat.

Lucky players were posting screenshots of their catches to trade for what they needed.
Wu Jing had also traded for a few items, including a nice blueprint and a skill book.
As for the items they could not get rid of in the group chat, Lucky players would then post them on the Trading Center.

It was an unspoken rule in the Lucky Club:
Good stuff gets consumed internally first.
Whatever was left after the first pickings—
Even those were things most players would still want.

As for why they did not keep those—
Well, because there was no space.
Inventory slots were limited, and they were already filled with perishable foods and essential items. Any extra items that were difficult to preserve or personally useless just took up space. Better to trade them for what they needed.
Wang Zhifei had just posted a whole batch of item screenshots in the chat channel.

“Anyone need these? Just bring me what I am looking for and you can trade.”
Wang Zhifei had made a bit of a name for himself in Zone 2. These past few days, he had been posting huge batches of materials in the chat, only accepting trades for what he wanted.
Many players waited every day for him to appear.

“Big bro is here! I have been waiting so long for you!”
“Brother Wang, I got two Glass today—been holding onto them just for you!”
“I have Glass too! And Potato Seeds! I’ll trade them all!”
Wang Zhifei: “No rush. Priority trades are for Glass and Blueprints. I have got a lot today—this is just the first wave. I will post another batch later.”
“Awesome! Big harvest today, huh?”

Wang Zhifei: “Hehe, can’t call it a huge harvest, but yeah, I pulled in quite a bit.”
On Lucky Day, players could fish five times for shells. For high-Luck players like these, it really was a great opportunity.
Someone like Yun Luohe, with poor Luck, could cast her net more times—but even after three or five tries, what she got might not compare to what they got in one.

She also saw the group chat, but her mood stayed calm.
This just meant she would likely receive more junk today.
Yun Luohe messaged Mu Zitang.
“Today is Lucky Day. Tell the members of the Association that if they each turn in 10 materials, they will get a Plastic Umbrella tomorrow. And from now on, there will be activities every Lucky Day.”

As for why they would not get it until tomorrow—
Naturally, it was because Yun Luohe did not have time to handle fifty umbrellas today.
By tomorrow afternoon, she probably could.
There was one Lucky Day per week. Holding one activity per week was something she could manage.

Mu Zitang: “Really, Sister Yun? That is such a generous move. The group is going to go wild!”
Yun Luohe: “Yes. Just say it like that for now. And they can stack it with the regular Pure Water exchange.”
Mu Zitang: “Got it! I will go notify everyone right away.”

Even if only half of the players chose to trade 10 materials for a Plastic Umbrella, she would still get at least 400 materials today. Of course, the majority would be useless junk.
Yun Luohe glanced at Ròubāo.
Looks like tonight she needed to give Ròubāo an extra meal. Trash disposal duty was going to get heavy.

As the corners of her mouth lifted slightly, Ròubāo—who had just been stretching—lifted its head and stared at Yun Luohe sensitively.
Yun Luohe quickly looked away and focused on the light screen, pretending to be fully absorbed in what she was doing.
“Meow!”
Ròubāo let out a cry and trotted to Yun Luohe’s feet.

Yun Luohe gave a soft cough. “Is there movement in the ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) fishing net?”
“Meow meow...”
“You want to know what you are eating tonight?”

Ròubāo gave a little nod.
Yun Luohe opened her backpack and checked. “We are having Fish Head Stewed with Tofu. There just happens to be a block of tofu in the backpack.”
Hearing that there would be fish head, Ròubāo was satisfied. It walked back to the reef with calm, steady steps and lay down to sleep again.
Besides eating, its favorite activity was sleeping.

“You totally forgot to watch the fishing net!”
It was getting late. Yun Luohe checked her Cooking EXP—grilling ten portions of moray eel had only given her 2 points.
Too slow.
It was time to start making furniture.

The Jam Barrel was finished, and she brought out the Sofa Blueprint and the Recliner Blueprint.
[Sofa: Two-seat fabric sofa, 1.2 meters wide, 0.7 meters long]
[Crafting Materials: Wood ×15 (higher-quality wood improves appearance and functionality), Cotton Cloth ×3, Cotton ×2]
She only had 12 pieces of Cashew Wood in her backpack. She wanted to use high-quality wood, but it was not enough.

She would have to use normal Wood for now. The Cashew Wood would be saved for later.
She had also stockpiled quite a bit of Cotton Cloth and Cotton, so it was just the right time to use them.
Crafting time: one hour.

Yun Luohe could now go handle other tasks.
Ròubāo had already gathered all the earthworms and stored them in a bottle. She needed to make a breeding box for them.
Technically, a proper breeding pool made of bricks would be ideal—but under the current conditions, she would have to make do with a simple box and upgrade it later.
There were about 50 to 60 earthworms in the bottle. Each one was long and plump—clearly well-fed in their original soil.

If she was going to breed them, she had to prepare fertile soil.
She first spread the high-quality soil she had brought back into the box, then added decayed weeds and animal organs.
Basically, the same method as soil composting.
But she had to be mindful of temperature. If it rose above 40 degrees, she would have to cool it down. If it dropped too low, she had to heat it. During the day it was fine, but at night, she would need to place two Fireplaces next to the box—otherwise the low temperatures would affect earthworm egg production.

The ideal temperature was around 20 degrees. Soil moisture was also crucial—it needed to stay between 65% and 80%.
In-game planting times were different from real-world ones, so earthworm reproduction would likely be several times faster.
At first, she would have to determine harvesting times through observation.

It took Yun Luohe an entire hour to finish setting up the earthworm nest. She even counted them—there were 58 in total. She kept 8 for fishing and carefully placed the remaining 50 into the breeding box.
When the Sofa was complete, Yun Luohe placed it in the wooden house’s living room—right across from the Workbench.
That way, after finishing a job, she could sit right down to rest. While crafting tools, she would not have to just stand and wait—sitting on the Sofa and scrolling through the light screen sounded quite comfortable.
Opening the Reef Center, she saw that the reef’s rating had indeed gone up.

Not by much—only 3 points.
But better than nothing. Every extra point could help push her ranking just a little higher.
Next up was the Recliner.

She could not let the Forge sit idle either.
She began crafting a brand-new set of bow and arrows.
Those Lucky Club players had surely pulled in a ton of good stuff today. She had to trade for some of it.

Her only real leverage right now was weapons.
Water Purifiers, Plastic Umbrellas, and other basic tools were all over the Trading Center, but weapons were still extremely rare.
She had to take advantage of her edge in weapon crafting and produce as many as she could to sell.

First, she listed her current bow and arrows in auction mode.
Once the new ones were done, she would use those to trade with players.
With the materials set up, she left the Forge and headed to the vegetable patch.
The cabbages she had planted earlier were growing well. By the looks of it, they would be ready to harvest tomorrow.

And the black seed had sprouted too.
Previously, Yun Luohe could not tell what kind of plant it was—but now that she had learned the Gathering Skill, she could view its information.
[Chai Hu (Bupleurum): A traditional medicinal herb. Can be harvested in spring and autumn. Once dried, it can be processed into medicine. Bitterness: high; nature: slightly cold. Used for fever and flu relief. Main ingredient in cold and fever medicines.]

It was Chai Hu. Yun Luohe had never seen a fresh Chai Hu plant before, but Xiao Chai Hu Granules were a staple medicine in her home.
Could be used to make flu medicine…
This was good stuff!

But she did not have an Alchemy Station yet.
She was still a few Black Metal Shards short of crafting one—and even if she made it, she lacked the Alchemy Skill.
The Chai Hu had already grown quite lush. She figured it could be harvested in the next couple of days.
Before that, she would need to find a way to craft the Alchemy Station.

The other seeds had also sprouted, but they were far from harvest-ready.
The potatoes had only just sprouted. From the leaves alone, you could not even tell they were potatoes.
The apple tree had just become a tiny seedling, about 40 centimeters tall. The buds were small, green protrusions.

As for the watermelons, soybeans, and sweet potatoes—they had only just broken through the soil.
Yun Luohe watered all of them, then took out more seeds from her backpack.
The Strawberry Seeds had not finished germinating yet—they would probably be ready tomorrow.

But she still had some other seeds in hand: Cabbage Seeds ×1, Cashew Wood Seeds ×2, Tomato Seeds ×1.
[Cashew Wood Seed: The best planting seasons are spring and autumn. Prefers loose, well-drained soil. Flowers 30 days after planting; bears fruit in 40 days.]
[Tomato Seed: Best planted in spring. Grows slower in other seasons and requires more sunlight. Yields harvest 6 to 8 days after spring planting.]

Each type of plant had its own growth habits.
Yun Luohe would have to memorize them all one by one.
First, she dumped out the soil that had been composted with fertilizer a few days ago.

[Soil: The surface layer contains a relatively rich amount of organic matter. High levels of humus accumulation. Fertility: relatively high.]
It had changed!
Though not as good as the premium black soil, it was already much improved.

Yun Luohe happily loosened the soil with her hoe and leveled it out.
She had originally intended to pour the black soil into the vegetable patch as well, but the system notified her that it was imported soil and could not be mixed with the reef’s natural soil.
However, if she used a container to plant in, there was no issue.

Seemed she would have to treat the black soil as nutrient soil specifically for cultivation—or use it for earthworm breeding.
So be it.
The soil in the vegetable patch still needed continued composting.

She planted the two Cashew Wood Seeds behind the wooden cabin. They would not flower until a month later, so the wait would be long. But once they bore fruit, there would be plenty. It was worth the patience.
After finishing that, Yun Luohe returned to the wooden cabin and retrieved the newly crafted bow and arrows.
Then she checked the Trading Center.

She had not expected so many players to be bidding.
Fifteen players in total had submitted offers—and they were all good items.
Among them were high-grade materials and blueprints, and one player even offered two Parchment Fragments and a Black Metal Shard.

It was hard to choose only one.
One of the players’ bids even included a Blueprint for an Incubator!
Yun Luohe looked through everything. What she wanted most was the Incubator Blueprint.

After much deliberation, Yun Luohe decided to choose two players and sell both of her crafted bow sets. After all, she could make more if she wanted, but giving up these items now would really sting.
She remembered who had offered the Incubator—it was Wang Zhifei again!
This guy really had a lot of stuff.

Other bidders included Bai Yuemian and Qin Sisi, and though their materials were not bad, Yun Luohe just did not need them right now.
She first accepted the offer with the Incubator Blueprint, then contacted the second player and completed another trade.
[Obtained: Incubator Blueprint ×1, Black Metal Shard ×2, Parchment Fragment ×2, Egg Yolk Pastry ×2, Spicy Turkey Ramen ×1, Edible Salt ×1, Teapot ×1, Clay ×3, Milk Powder ×1]

She was very excited.
She immediately pulled out the Incubator Blueprint to examine it.
[Incubator (Small): Can hatch up to ten eggs at a time.]
[Usage Instructions: Maintain a temperature of 37.8°C. After ten days, chicks may hatch. If they do not hatch, the egg is either infertile or spoiled.]
[Required Materials: Black Metal Shard ×2, Plastic ×2, Iron Ore ×3]

Black Metal Shards again.
She needed them for the Alchemy Station too. Comparatively, the Alchemy Station had more value—but Yun Luohe decided to build the Incubator first.
After all, she did not have the Alchemy Skill yet, and the Incubator was more urgently needed.

And she already had all the materials needed for it.
She saw the countdown on the Workbench—thirty minutes.
Yun Luohe nodded in satisfaction, then turned to the Forge and refueled it to make another set of bow and arrows.

The remaining bamboo and hemp rope were just enough for one more set.
She would need to gather more materials soon.
Many players had left messages saying they wanted bow and arrows.

Yun Luohe thought for a moment, then pulled out 10 Iron Ore from her backpack and listed it for a targeted trade—specifically for bamboo and hemp rope.
Iron Ore was a hard currency. Trading it for bamboo would work quickly.
She could not be too picky now.

She needed materials as soon as possible to make more bow sets.
Next, Yun Luohe moved all the flowers and plants over.
She roughly counted—over forty plants. Other than their ornamental value, they had no particular use. Though throwing them into the Trash Can would yield Fiber, Yun Luohe did not plan to do that. She had thought of beekeeping.

If there was ever a chance to raise bees, these flowers would be crucial.
Bees needed nectar from flowers—and on a bare reef, you could not raise bees without plants.
Besides, biodiversity was essential for a healthy ecosystem.
It took her three hours to replant all the flowers.

She accidentally snapped a few while moving them—such a shame. But she threw them into the Trash Can, and they were recycled into Fiber. One even gave her Floral Tea and Wildflower Seeds.
[Floral Tea: Fragrant with the scent of fresh blooms. Warms the body, beautifies the complexion, calms the mind.]
[Spring Wildflower Seeds: Seeds that bloom in spring.]
Nice, very nice.

Not every plant gave tea or seeds when recycled, but there was a chance. Raising these flowers was not a waste.
With all the new flowers, the reef felt more vibrant.
And now that the wooden cabin was surrounded by blooming flowers, clusters of blossoms exuded a faint fragrance that refreshed the soul.

Just thinking about seeing this beautiful sight every time she walked past the cabin made her happy.
Living in a beautiful environment even made working more enjoyable.
But what mattered most now—did the reef’s score go up?

Yun Luohe opened the Reef Center.
[Reef Level: Level 4
Area: 100 square meters
Score: 56 points]
It had increased by 12 points!

That was quite something.
Just planting a few flowers had more effect than adding furniture.
Seemed planting trees and flowers really was the best way to boost reef score.

Of course, it could also be that the furniture she had added before was too basic. If she used high-quality wood for crafting, maybe the effect would be different.
Now Yun Luohe was even more confident about tomorrow’s ranking.
Originally she had just brought back those plants on a whim, but now they had proven immensely useful. It lifted her mood.

“Meow meow!”
Ròubāo came running over, meowing as it went.
“Something in the fishing net?”

“Meow!”
Yun Luohe immediately dashed over to the steps.
Her +1 Luck buff had long since ended, but she still managed to pull up another shell.
This time it was a gray pearl.

[Obtained: Wood ×4, Damp Coffee Beans ×1, Beer Bottle ×1, Rotten Sweater ×1, Expired Canned Yellow Peaches ×1, Gravel ×1, Soaked Dog Food ×1]
Great. Lots of stuff. All trash.
Yun Luohe nearly cried.

She could only set it all aside for later batch recycling.
Oh right—the Jam Barrel was done, and she had not even used it yet.
She had been so busy she forgot.

Yun Luohe quickly pulled out the fresh Cashew Wood Fruits.
With her hand on the Jam Barrel, she could view its usage method. As long as she placed one jin of clean, fresh fruit inside, she would get 250ml of jam.
If she wanted a better taste, she could add a bit of extra ingredients.

Yun Luohe guessed that probably meant things like white sugar or honey.
But she had neither, so she would just go ahead as-is.
She washed the cashews clean and placed them in.

She had no way to weigh them, so she went by feel. A little more or less would not matter.
Production time: one day.
Yun Luohe placed the fruit inside and left it alone. She would collect the jam tomorrow.

There was still some time before nightfall.
Yun Luohe rested a bit and browsed the Trading Center for materials she needed.
There were many materials she lacked and little she could collect herself—so she had to rely heavily on the Trading Center.

If she could not find it there, she could ask friends.
After a round of searching, Yun Luohe traded for: Bamboo ×10, Cotton Cloth ×5, Cotton ×4, Cabbage Seeds ×2, Clay ×5, Hemp Rope ×3, Fishing Line ×1, Deep Sea Flint ×15, Shells ×20…
It had cost her a good amount of Iron Ore.

Though she had not wanted to spend Iron Ore, with these materials, she could craft more equipment.
She thought about what else she could still make and sell…
Water Purifiers, Plastic Umbrellas, Daggers, Jam Barrels, Traps, Grills, Sofas…
And one more bow set.

She would go with bow and arrows.
They had the highest value.
She would not make anything else at the Workbench—she needed to focus on making Plastic Umbrellas. Otherwise, she would not be able to finish all 50 by tomorrow.
—

The chat channel was still buzzing about bow and arrows.
“I just checked. So many players bidding on bows—I was dazzled by all the stuff they offered.”
“All the rich players are competing. Us poor folks don’t even get to participate.”
“Tonight’s fish monster battle is going to drop great loot. Everyone wants weapons. If someone’s willing to sell, there are dozens waiting to buy!”
“With a bow, you can shoot down fish monsters as they come—easy kill!”
“Don’t be naive. You think every player is a sharpshooter? Even if you get a bow, if you can’t use it, it’s just dead weight.”
Wang Zhifei saw that message and could only laugh bitterly.

That player was spot on. He had had the bow for two hours already and still could not use it properly. Forget shooting accurately—he could barely operate it. His Strength stat was too low—he could not even draw the string properly.
“A dagger would have been better.”
Maybe he should just sell it.

He opened the Lucky Club group chat. “Anyone want a bow and arrow? I can’t use it—selling it off.”
“Wang Zhifei, weren’t you just bragging about getting a bow? Talking about slaughtering fish monsters tonight—what happened?”
“Don’t tell me… you can’t use it at all?”
“C’mon, it’s just drawing a bow and shooting. How hard can it be?”
Wang Zhifei: “Whatever. I’m selling it. Anyone want it? Otherwise, I’m listing it anonymously on the Trading Center—it’ll definitely get snapped up.”

“Hey! Wait, let me see what kind of bow it is?”
Lin Zhu: “Give it to me. I want it.”
Lin Zhu had only recently joined the group and rarely spoke, so the others did not know him well.
“Alright. DM me.”

“Wait, I want it too! What are you trading for it?”
After all, a bow was a valuable item. More players quickly joined in to try and get it.
Wang Zhifei: “I’m not asking for much—just something roughly equal to what I paid for it.”
He did not want to take a loss.

Just as he said that, Lin Zhu sent him a screenshot of his materials.
Wang Zhifei was stunned. That was… a lot.