Chapter 10

As the sun rose from the horizon, a new day had arrived.

Zhang Heng opened his eyes in the cave and found that Ed was already sitting up. "Good morning, Zhang."

"Morning," Zhang Heng replied.

"Goodness, I wish we could have a hot cup of coffee, fried eggs, sausages, and toast right now," the former army captain sighed. "But given our current situation, we can't ask for too much, can we? Unfortunately, coconuts don't provide enough calories. A green coconut can only give about 200 calories, and we need about 2000 calories a day even if we don't exercise. We also need to expand our diet to get more diverse nutrients. Since we're by the sea, I think we can make use of that."

"What should I do?" Zhang Heng asked.

"Don't rush. Living in the city has made your stomach very delicate. Even if I tell you how to get food from the sea, without a way to heat it, a crab could make you dehydrated from diarrhea. So we need fire. The water source you found also needs to be heated before drinking. Boiling it for three minutes will kill most bacteria. So let me teach you how to start a fire first."

Ed paused and began to explain patiently, "The most important thing in starting a fire is to choose the right wood. Fast-growing softwoods are the best. The fire drill and baseboard can come from the same tree. Scrape off the bark and dry it in the sun..."

Zhang Heng listened attentively, but when he tried it himself, he found it wasn't as easy as he thought.

He spent the entire morning trying to start a fire.

But he failed repeatedly. His hands were rubbed raw from the fire drill, and he winced in pain. Without time to go out and find food, he and Ed had to go hungry after finishing the few coconuts they had stored.

What was even more disheartening was the enormous effort with no results.

"Zhang, you can't expect to go from a beginner to an expert in just one day," Ed consoled him. "Everything is always the hardest at the beginning."

"You're right, but failure still feels frustrating," Zhang Heng said, tossing aside the broken fire drill in frustration.

"Failure is also a valuable experience. Our ancestors evolved from failures tens of thousands of years ago," Ed said supportively. "You're a smart student, Zhang. Don't rush. There's still time for you to learn and grow. Now, tell me, what did you learn from this failure?"

"The wood isn't working. My hands are almost rubbed raw, and I can't produce any sparks. I need to try other types of wood," Zhang Heng said.

However, the weather took a turn for the worse. By dusk, the island was hit by strong winds, and dark clouds quickly gathered overhead. Zhang Heng didn't have time to gather his materials, and the wood he had stripped and left to dry on the rock wall was soaked by the rain.

This meant that his entire day's effort was wasted.

Zhang Heng lay in the cave, staring blankly at the ceiling. "Ed, I don't think your motivational words are working right now."

"Then give up," Ed said calmly.

"Huh?"

"But only until the rain stops. It's important to vent your negative emotions so you can focus better later."

"Are you always this positive and optimistic, Ed?"

"Maybe because I've been in worse situations during my trek through the Amazon. Thinking about those difficulties, I have no reason to give up now," Ed said.

"Experience shapes who we are today," Zhang Heng murmured, recalling the bartender's words and feeling like he was grasping something.

"The rain won't stop until it gets dark. Get some sleep. We have a lot of work to do tomorrow," Ed said, lying down first.

The two spent the night hungry.

...

The next morning, Zhang Heng woke up before dawn, mainly because he was hungry. He ran to the coconut trees and picked a few coconuts to eat. Most of the low-hanging coconuts were already picked, and the remaining ones were higher up, making them hard to reach with stones. Zhang Heng knew he didn't have much time left. He needed to start a fire quickly, or he wouldn't be able to proceed with the other tasks.

So this time, he decided to take a slight risk. After bringing breakfast back to Ed, he ventured a bit deeper into the forest behind the beach.

The results were promising. He found a type of wood suitable for starting a fire and also spotted what looked like wild chickens. Unfortunately, these small creatures were very agile and flew away before he could get close. For now, Zhang Heng had no way to catch them.

He broke off a branch and brought it back to the beach. Following the method from the previous day, he finally managed to produce some smoky wood shavings by the afternoon. Using the knowledge Ed had taught him, he placed the shavings on a tinder made from candle nut leaves and carefully blew on them to make them glow, igniting the tinder below.

A moment later, the two on the island finally had a long-awaited flame.

"Great job! Now we can avoid the risk of infection!" Ed said happily.

Zhang Heng had never thought he would be so excited to see a fire. Just as he was about to say something, he heard a third voice.

["Fire successfully started. New skill acquired—Survival in the Wild LV0. Game points +3. Personal character panel activated. You can now view your status..."]

The voice sounded familiar. Zhang Heng thought hard and realized it was the same voice he had heard when he was unconscious.

"Ed, did you hear anything just now?" Zhang Heng asked.

Ed looked puzzled. "Should I have heard something?" He then became concerned. "Zhang, are you having hallucinations from dehydration?"

"......"

Zhang Heng wondered if he was being delirious from the sun, as a card-like object appeared before his eyes.

Name: Zhang Heng

Gender: Male

Age: 19

Player ID: 07958

Number of game rounds experienced: 0

Current game points: 3

Skills: Piano LV1, Language Proficiency LV1 (two languages at conversational level)

Evaluation: This player is unremarkable, with no notable strengths or specialties. Expected to fail within the first three rounds of the game.

Zhang Heng was speechless. Ignoring the harsh evaluation, why did he only have two skills?

Well, he saw a small line of text below the skills section—LV0 skills are not displayed.

With his amateur ninth-level piano skills, he only got a pitiful LV1? This game's definition of skills was too strict. Starting a fire by hand in the wild was something not even one in a hundred people could do, and it barely reached the edge of LV0.

This game seemed more difficult than he had imagined.

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