Starting With a Reef [Global Survival]

She obtained two more shells.
Yun Luohe was overjoyed.
In an instant, she gained twelve Ocean Stones.

She was one step closer to upgrading.
And she was also just one recycling away from a Lottery draw.
She looked around, trying to find any trash.

Then she noticed a small bottle of Mineral Water that still had a little water left inside.
Once the water was finished, the bottle itself would become trash!
Yun Luohe simply drank the remaining water in one gulp and then threw the bottle into the Trash Can.

【Recycling Successful, Obtained Plastic ×1】
【Congratulations, you have accumulated ten trash recycling events and earned one Lottery chance.】
Not bad!
She could draw the Lottery again!

【Starting Lottery】
【Obtained Intermediate Fishing Net Blueprint ×1】
Amazing!
It was actually a blueprint for a fishing net.

Now she could upgrade her fishing net.
Although it would require five units of Fiber, since she couldn't upgrade the Reef just yet, she might as well use them now.
Yun Luohe took out her fishing net and clicked upgrade.

The fishing net was immediately enveloped by a ball of white light, as if two dexterous hands were skillfully repairing it.
After a minute passed.
The fishing net in Yun Luohe’s hands looked brand new.
【Intermediate Fishing Net (Upgradeable): A durable and sturdy fishing net that looks brand new. High strength, wear-resistant, Durability 78.】
【Intermediate Fishing Net: Higher success rate, consumes 15 Stamina Points per use.】
【Upgrade Requirements: Advanced Fishing Net Blueprint, Golden Silkworm Thread ×5】

The Intermediate Fishing Net consumed fewer Stamina Points per use.
With this, even without replenishing Stamina Points, she could use the net six times a day, and the success rate was higher too, which might make it easier to catch better quality shells.
Yun Luohe could not wait to test the new fishing net.

At that moment, someone suddenly added her.
Yun Luohe took a look.
The person adding her was Wu Jing.

He sent a friend request message:
"I’m preparing to establish a Lucky Club and would like to invite some players with good luck. Are you interested?"
...
A Lucky Club?

With her Luck stat, she didn’t seem very suited to join.
Wu Jing must have misunderstood her somehow, maybe because he had seen her post two trade messages.
Actually, it wasn’t surprising that Wu Jing mistook her for someone lucky.

Players with bad luck were usually busy complaining about not catching shells or only getting trash; they wouldn’t even think about using Mineral Water to trade.
Not to mention, Yun Luohe had made two separate trade attempts — meaning she had extra water.
And she had been actively exchanging materials — yesterday she was trading for Wood with trash, and today she was trading for shells.

It made sense: Wood was clearly needed for upgrades, but trash and shells — what were they for?
Wu Jing was very curious about this.
Since he was preparing to set up the Lucky Club, he definitely wanted to recruit players he recognized as having good luck, and Yun Luohe naturally became one of his targets. He sent this same message to several other players.

Most of the others had already accepted his friend request.
Even though it had only been one day since entering the game, Wu Jing had showcased his supplies publicly yesterday, and many people had witnessed it.
Who wouldn’t want to befriend a player with good luck and abundant supplies?

However, Yun Luohe refused.
She thought for a moment and replied:
"I’m not a lucky player. I probably don’t meet the club’s requirements."
If they asked for a Luck stat screenshot after joining and she sent over her measly 12 points, it would be really embarrassing.

It was better not to join at all.
When Wu Jing saw her message, he frowned.
It seemed this player was hiding a lot and didn’t want others to know.

Wu Jing sent another friend request:
"It’s fine if you don’t join the club — let’s just be friends."
Yun Luohe thought about it and decided to accept.
Since he had put it that way, it was fine to add him, and besides, since he had so many supplies, maybe she could trade with him if needed.

When Yun Luohe accepted his request, Wu Jing paused for a moment before sending her another message.
"Hi, I noticed you were trading for shells earlier — do shells have some special use?"
Yun Luohe thought to herself, just as she had expected.

At this point, it would be difficult to make up a lie, and telling the truth was absolutely out of the question.
This was the downside of real-name communication.
No matter what you said in public, it could easily attract other players’ attention.

"Sorry, I can’t say. When it becomes usable, you’ll all naturally find out."
Wu Jing: "Got it, I understand."
He didn’t press her further, which made Yun Luohe have a slightly better impression of him.

She closed the chat and cast her fishing net again.
The new fishing net felt extremely easy to use.
And before long, there was movement.

She pulled up a large shell, and inside was a big, gleaming White Pearl.
The crystal-clear White Pearl shimmered beautifully under the sunlight.
Its radiant luster made Gray Pearls seem completely inferior.

【Obtained: Ocean Stone ×5, Wood ×8, Broken Boots ×1, Rotten Gloves ×1, Mineral Water ×1, Steamed Bun ×2, Scallion Pancake ×1, Rotten Vegetable Leaves ×1】
Items from the White Pearl were so much better!
Only a small part was trash — the majority were urgently needed supplies.

If she rationed carefully, the food would be enough for today and tomorrow.
She still had 25 Stamina Points left — only enough for one more fishing attempt.
First, she decided to throw the trash into the Trash Can.

After recycling the Broken Boots, she obtained Leather ×2; after recycling the Rotten Gloves, she obtained Fiber ×1; after recycling the Rotten Vegetable Leaves, she obtained Fiber ×1 as well.
Her Backpack had long been too full, and now many things were just piled on the Reef.
Yun Luohe had no choice but to organize her supplies again.

【Inventory: Ocean Stone ×20, Wood ×38, Fiber ×10, Plastic ×7, Seaweed ×1, Flour ×1, Flower Cloth ×1, Bottled Mineral Water ×4, Chocolate Cookie ×1, Black Seed ×1, Deep Sea Flint ×1, Ball of Yarn ×2, Portable Tissue Pack ×1, Glass ×1, Leather ×2, Cabbage Seed ×1, 3L Mineral Water ×1, Steamed Bun ×2, Scallion Pancake ×1, Shell ×2】
She could only keep the upgrade materials and food in her Backpack for now, and just leave the other items piled up nearby.
After busying herself for a while, Yun Luohe looked at the time — it was already 2 p.m.

Yun Luohe felt hungry again.
Fortunately, she had just fished up some food that could fill her stomach.
She decided to eat the Scallion Pancake first, then take a nap to see if she could recover some Stamina Points — if she could regain even ten points, she could fish once more.

Before eating, Yun Luohe threw the shells she had saved into the Trash Can.
After recycling two shells, she obtained six Ocean Stones.
【Level 1 Trash Can】
【Seventeen more experience points needed for the next upgrade. Each piece of trash recycled grants experience points.】
【Upon upgrading, the Scrap-for-Cash skill will be unlocked.】

She had no idea what the Scrap-for-Cash skill would actually do, but at this rate, her Baby Trash Can might level up tomorrow.
Thinking about it that way, the worse her luck, the more trash she collected — and the luckier she would eventually become!
Delighted, she squatted down to wash her hands in seawater, then started eating the Scallion Pancake.

The scallion pancake was rich with the aroma of green onions, crispy on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside, and after eating the whole thing, her stomach felt full.
It was delicious, but the next time she would be able to eat something like this was unknown.
Yun Luohe lay down on the stone bed, planning to check the chat channel — just like checking her phone before sleep in the real world.

The chat channel was still lively at this time.
"I finally leveled up! It seems like this Reef can keep growing — I suspect it could eventually become a small island!"
"I’ve been level 2 for a while now, but gathering upgrade materials is really tough — if we were on land, there’d be Fiber and Wood everywhere."
"But you can fish out at sea! I caught two fish today!"
"Awesome, you already have a fishing rod? You actually caught fish... But how are you going to eat them without fire? Even for sashimi, you need a knife to slice it."
"Don’t worry, I’m keeping them alive in seawater — I’ll eat them in a few days."
"Anyone have Flint? I can trade upgrade materials or food for it."
When Yun Luohe saw the word "Flint," she immediately sat up.
She needed Flint too!

Two pieces of Flint could be synthesized into a Fire Starter.
She clicked on the profile of the person who posted the message.
Name: Du Ruan-tian (District 2)
Gender: Female
Age: 23
Personal Signature: Always Happy
Other: Private

If the other person also wanted to combine Flint to create a Fire Starter, maybe they could cooperate.
Although Yun Luohe didn’t want to trade away her Flint, if she could obtain a fire source and preserve it, her goal would be achieved.
Yun Luohe proactively contacted Du Ruan-tian.
"Hello, I have a piece of Flint."

Very soon, Du Ruan-tian added her as a friend.
"Hello hello! Nice to meet you (∩_∩)"
Yun Luohe: "I have one piece of Flint — do you also have one and want to combine them into a Fire Starter?"

Du Ruan-tian: "Yes, yes."
"Would you be willing to trade with me?"
Yun Luohe: "Here’s the situation — I’m willing to trade with you, but after you synthesize the Fire Starter, I’ll need you to provide me with fire for at least three days. As long as you agree, we can trade."
In case the fire source went out or was accidentally lost within three days, Yun Luohe could still get a new fire source from Du Ruan-tian, and after three days, she would likely figure out a way to preserve it or obtain new /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ Flint.

Du Ruan-tian: "That’s no problem! What do you want in exchange?"
Yun Luohe didn’t expect her to agree so readily — she had thought the other girl would find it too troublesome.
Now the question was left to her: should she trade for food or for upgrade materials?

The key was, she had no idea how much material one piece of Flint was worth.
"If I want upgrade materials, how much can you give me?"
Du Ruan-tian: "I need to save some for upgrading myself, so I can't give you too much — how about five Ocean Stones and ten pieces of Wood? Would that be okay?"

Du Ruan-tian had already asked around in the chat channel several times, and although many people added her, they all just wanted to trade away her Flint.
Yun Luohe hesitated — the offered materials weren’t that much, honestly, two bottles of water could probably trade for them.
Comparatively, Flint seemed more valuable than that.

But considering that she would be able to get fire from Du Ruan-tian afterward.
From that perspective, it seemed acceptable.
Seeing that Yun Luohe hadn’t replied, Du Ruan-tian guessed that she had offered too little.

She quickly checked her Backpack.
"How about I throw in an apple too?"
She had five apples, so giving away one wouldn’t matter much.
Yun Luohe: "How about this — do you have any trash you don’t need?"

"Trash?" Du Ruan-tian was stunned.
"Yeah, like rotten wood, broken shoes... Did you fish up anything like that?"
Du Ruan-tian: "Nope, I don’t think I’ve ever fished up any trash."

Yun Luohe: "..."
Alright, it seemed like this girl was a lucky player.
"Then maybe empty Mineral Water bottles, or apple cores — anything useless would be fine."

"I do have those!"
She had three empty Mineral Water bottles, and as for the apple cores, although she had originally planned to save them to see if she could grow an apple tree later, it wouldn’t hurt to give one away since she still had several uneaten apples.
"I can give you three Mineral Water bottles and one apple core."

"Ok." Yun Luohe was very satisfied.
Du Ruan-tian was also very happy and quickly initiated the trade.