Liu Xue turned back to the chat channel to scour for more information.
[What the hell, I'm losing all my hair! I don't know how to cast this fishing rod at all!]
[I'm a fisherman! The material box is only about a meter away from me but I can't cast it far enough either! I've thrown it three times already!]
[The blasted rod is broken!]
[Screw it! Brothers, the distance is only one meter, and swimming is more reliable. I'm going in!]
[Brother above, be careful! Don't jump yet! I thought the same, but I saw a fin nearby! There are f*cking sharks nearby! If you don't want to lose a limb, just pray you're lucky enough to cast, land and reel!]
[What the f*ck, sharks?]
[I stuck my head underwater and saw a big snake too. I don't know if it's poisonous or not! Do I swim or keep trying to fish?]
[Maybe the material box will float to your island itself. Just sit and pray. Buddha's way.]
***
Seeing these messages, Liu Xue felt more grateful towards the system and the automatic fishing rod. His decision to not go into the sea was right.
"Sea snakes and sharks ... without numbers and tools, humans are at the bottom of the food chain," he muttered dryly. "The system is priceless then. If I could get a sci-fi like tool every single day ... a gun or something, I don't have to be wary of the jungle. Instead, its resources are free to plunder."
In a time of survival, Liu Xue believed the human heart was more dangerous than the god-forbidden conditions or any scary wild creature. He had seen his fair share of backstabs and the evil of human nature at school and in the workforce.
"If I accidentally mention the system or its rewards, the jungle, who knows what madman would maybe try to sail to his island and try plundering the resources or even the system for themselves?"
Liu Xue made a firm decision to abstain from [Public Channel] and only periodically check it if he needs any information.
"It would probably be best if I were to focus on his survival rather than remaining distracted with chatting all the time."
With the decision made, he stored the two island foundation stones into the system space. He took a sip of water before turning his attention to the other tabs in the holographic game interface.
Below [Public Channel] were [Private Channels], [Map], [Trading], [Construction], and aforementioned [Storage].
Liu Xue tapped [Map] first. Nothing out of the ordinary appeared in its interface, but a blue square with a pale yellow and green circle in the middle. It was obviously his island and location. He though he could see the island relative to the Bahamian Islands or the Southeastern islands in the Indian and Pacific oceans back on Earth.
"The maps look practically useless for now, but with the system, I can hope for a radar to use along with the map one day."
Next, Liu Xue tapped [Construction]. A simple, standard game UI of the construction process appeared, with the image of the final product on one side, and a list materials required on. There was a small [Expand] button opening a drop-down menu for more information.
'It's like a virtual, condensed version of the crafting table,' Liu Xue thought. 'Cool.'
[Island Expansion - Materials Required]
[Island Foundation Stone x1]
[Stone Axe - Materials Required]
[Stone x1, Wood x1, Hemp Rope x1]
[Wooden Board - Materials Required]
[Wood x3]
***
Liu Xue noted only the first option of [Island Expansion] was brightly lit—the rest all dim—probably because of the lack of resources available on hand, he guessed. He nodded, satisfied with the simple and streamlined process. There was another blue notification in [Public Channel] and Liu Xue could not resist the urge to not click it. Immediately, a stream of text appeared.
[To all the swimming brothers, did you come back alive? Asking for a friend.]
[I'm back, I'm back! Here's to all your friends doing title research - it's so cold in the ocean! I feel frozen.]
[Did you push or pull a box back?]
[I pushed myself closer to death ... Brrr!]
[It's over, it's over! This damn fishing rod won't work ... or I'm too stupid!]
[It's the latter! I finally reeled one in. There's water and bread, thank the lord!]
[Senpai above, trade with me. I'm going to starve. You can take my shirt, my pants, even my underwear! Just give me a slice of bread!]
[F*ck, my little kouhai, you're on your own. Just dip the underwear into the sea, that'll make it easier to chew! I've only got this one slice of bread!]
[I'm a fisherman, I have an idea! Look, check the [Construction] interface on your side. You can upgrade your fishing rod if you combine two broken ones! Someone, trade with me, then I'll lend you it after! Trust me, this is a fisherman's pride!]
***
Liu Xue shook his head. "Naive. The fishing rod is one of the only lifelines when they're stranded at sea, how can it be easily traded away?"
He quickly moved on and tapped on [Trading].
This time, Liu Xue scoffed at the UI for it was exactly the same as trading with Minecraft villagers. Rows of transactions on the left, an input item slot on top, and [Storage] or inventory on the bottom. However, there was an additional search filter, by items and by user names, and an unknown gear which he assumed would accompany more features, so he could not say anything more.
[Piece of Steel x2] —> [Food]
[Remarks: I need food, urgently! Anything will do!]
[Piece of Linen x1] —> [10ml water]
[Remarks: I'm dying of thirst! I wanted to take a sip of the seawater but there were sharks nearby! I'm afraid of falling in QwQ]
[Nothing] —> [Anything]
[Remarks: Female, 25, divorced, private message for measurements <3 !! When I get a reel in a camera I will send you my pictures~~]
[Old Boot x1] —> [Shirt]
[Remarks: Take my boot. It's so cold, I need a bed!]
***
Liu Xue went speechless at some of these transactions. For the other normal transactions, he realized the sky-high demand for food and water, the latter especially. Whilst he has two 500ml bottles of water and he needed a lot of the materials offered up for trade, that liter of water would not last long.
"By the end of the week, I can imagine people will need these island foundation stones, so I should hold it till then. But now, I need materials. I have food and water, temporarily. A shelter and I'd have all three of the survival checkmarks."
Thoughts on completing the three check marks and the jungle conflicted in Liu Xue's mind. He would not consider himself a coward, but a cautious realist instead. The jungle did not give him a good vibe. Trust the gut feeling, he told himself, but the insecurities on not having shelter fought right back.