Chapter 58

The information board suddenly appeared.

It's unclear whether the trigger for its appearance was the twelve hours since the event began or if it was due to a certain number of player deaths, but it was certainly there.

The threads that formed initially were scattered and didn't last long, but after about an hour, they regularly split into several main threads.

Claude began discussing the day's plans at breakfast based on these main threads.

"First, because many players scattered on the first day, we now have a rough overall view of this area."

The breakfast everyone was eating consisted of fruits, cooked apples, boiled vegetables, and salad—healthy dishes. Although I wanted some carbohydrates, the game mechanics allowed for hunger recovery even with this meal.

The young beasts were also eating these dishes with apparent enjoyment.

"The overall layout is mountains to the north, a lake to the south, ruins to the east, and an underground dungeon to the west. In the intermediate areas, there are many safety zones where players with slightly higher levels and materials are active."

"Hmm, I'm sleepy."

"The breakfast is delicious. It would be nice if we had some bread, Yun-kun. Can you make bread?"

"Absolutely not, we don't have enough ingredients... but if we had flour, I could probably make noodles with my cooking sense."

Claude's temples were twitching as he looked at me. No, I'm listening. But it's just too long and tedious.

"Listen to me. To the north, there are mainly materials that I, Magi, and Lili need. For the ingredients you need, Yun, the south seems to be more abundant. What do you want to do? Move with us or go solo?"

"I'll go solo to the south, then. But is it okay to leave this log house? We even set up a watch yesterday."

"That's not a problem. The watch is mainly to protect you from other players. The ownership of the log house can't be taken away. If it's destroyed, Lili can just rebuild it."

"Repair, construction, woodworking, anything you need, I can do it, u~n, ne~."

Lili, with Neshias on her head, was munching on the salad. Neshias, looking sleepy, was also eating with its small beak.

"But..."

Here, Magi interjected with a question.

"There aren't many ingredients, right? Yun-kun, what about our lunch?"

That's right. What should we do? We don't have enough ingredients to make a bento...

"We can spend about thirty minutes hunting around and preparing a bento. It's still between seven and eight in the morning."

Claude, who had finished eating quickly, checked his equipment and prepared. He's so sharp even after staying up all night.

"Sure. I think I've distributed potions to everyone, but I'll also give you this."

I took out an enchantment stone I had made on the spot.

"The keyword is speed. Use this to increase your speed when you need to escape."

"Thank you, Yun-kun."

"I'll use it gratefully."

"U~n, m~u, h, a, thank you, Yun-chan."

Lili, finally awake, was looking at us with focused eyes.

After that, the four of us scattered to hunt and discovered new ingredients.

First, the ingredients appeared only in the early morning, a mob called Tobinawatori, which looked exactly like a bird. Surprisingly, it moved more erratically than a Milbird and was a tricky enemy. However, it could be taken down with a single hit if you had the right player skill.

It would notice us and fly away, launching irregular attacks, but I would take it down before it could. An arrow would pierce its body before it noticed us.

It dropped two items: chicken meat and an egg. Very convenient.

In addition to edible ingredients like mushrooms, we also obtained undetermined mountain vegetables, which seemed to be non-toxic.

The ingredients everyone brought back included chicken meat, eggs, mushrooms, mountain vegetables, and the herbs and fruits we had gathered the previous day. Using some of these ingredients, we planned the bento menu.

The menu included herb-roasted chicken, egg rolls, sautéed mushrooms, boiled vegetables, and fruit for dessert. That's about it.

We quickly made four bento boxes plus three for the young beasts and stored them in our inventories while they were still warm. We also brought herb tea as a drink.

"Then, we're off, Mom."

"Yeah, be careful. And Lili, who's your mom!"

I countered Lili's joke, but the two of them just chuckled without confirming or denying it. Ugh... stop calling me mom. It hurts. At least call me big brother.

"Yun-kun, let us know if anything happens!"

"Got it. Let me know if you have any problems."

"Then, we're off."

The three of them, each with their weapons, headed north. They had their bento and wouldn't eat any undetermined poisonous items. They also had plenty of potions and the enchantment stones.

Those three won't make a mistake in their timing. But I'm still worried.

"Completely thinking like a mom!"

I made a self-comment and took a breath. It's okay, I'll focus on my own tasks and head south.

According to Claude's assessment, the enemies weren't too strong, even the unique ones. The really dangerous ones were the mobs in the ruins and dungeons to the east and west. So I could move alone with peace of mind.

After just one day, my sense levels had increased, albeit limitedly.

SP: 16

【Bow Lv24】【Hawk's Eye Lv33】【Speed Boost Lv19】【Discovery Lv16】【Magic Talent Lv35】【Magic Power Lv34】【Enchantment Lv10】【Alchemy Lv10】【Production Sense Lv23】【Taming Lv1】

On hold:

【Synthesis Lv24】【Earth Attribute Talent Lv7】【Alchemy Lv27】【Linguistics Lv10】【Crafting Lv26】【Cooking Lv7】【Swimming Lv8】

The number of senses has increased, making management more difficult. I need to switch between combat and production senses effectively. My bow relies heavily on DEX, so I always feel uneasy without the strong DEX correction from 【Production Sense】.

Today, I'll also equip 【Taming】 to look for a partner.

However, I don't know where to find one, so I'll head southeast for now.

I focused on gathering items while fighting mobs that could be ingredients.

I gathered wild strawberries and grapes, mushrooms, mountain vegetables, and herbs for potions.

When I encountered blue slimes, I got excited. This means I can make blue gelatin and even fruit punch for dessert. I enthusiastically gathered them.

As I moved south along the river, the natural landscape gradually changed.

Rocks were piled up to create a crude water channel leading southeast.

I followed the channel and was amazed by the scene I saw.

"Wow... a field of wheat."

The channel led to a reservoir, and on the nearby hill, there was a pasture. Beyond that, a golden wheat field spread out. I could see players swinging their weapons to harvest the wheat. Further back, there were various plants growing wild, remnants of a cultivated field.

"First, the wheat. If things go well, we can have carbohydrates today."

I approached the wheat and tried to pull it, but it wouldn't budge.

"It won't come out... my wheat plan is in trouble."

The players around me were cutting the wheat with their weapons. I followed their example, took out the knife I received this morning, and cut the wheat from the root.

The sensation of the cut felt good, and I gathered wheat enthusiastically.

The gathered wheat was transformed into flour and straw using the basic cooking skill 【Processing】.

Ten bundles of wheat yielded one kilogram of flour and one bundle of straw. After collecting about thirty bags, I returned to the pasture.

"I'm tired. Maybe I gathered too much."

I sat on a patch of pasture and looked at the circular pattern where I had harvested the wheat. However, it quickly grew back to its original state.

The artificial water channels, the clear cultivated land, and the traces of human habitation, such as ruins and dungeons, suggested that this floating continent might have been inhabited by people.

"Let's push a bit more and gather more ingredients."

Although I might have gathered too much flour, food is always in short supply. The field I was heading to was a mix of poisonous plants, potion ingredients, and vegetables.

When I pulled one, it turned out to be a poisonous plant shaped like a carrot, which caused 【Confusion 3】.

Sometimes, I found actual carrots. The game was designed to make visual judgments fail.

I could identify the items immediately after gathering them, so I knew which were safe and which were dangerous.

Gathering vegetables mixed with poisonous plants took until noon.

I returned to the scenic pasture and checked my inventory.

I had secured a week's worth of food for four people: flour, carrots, potatoes, onions, and cabbage.

Satisfied with my results, I sat in the sunny spot and enjoyed a picnic.

"I'll check the information board too."

I suddenly realized that I lacked knowledge in this situation. I needed to understand the surroundings and my position to avoid any fatal mistakes.

I took out my lunch bento and ate while browsing the information board. I know it's bad manners, but I prioritize efficiency.

The information board had several types of threads.

The thread titles included unique ones like 【Dungeon and Ruins Guide Part 3】【Cute Young Beasts】【Safe Life Together】【Floating Continent Monster Guide】【Travel Diary: Floating Continent Edition】【Trade Board】.

The information about dungeons and ruins included that there were five floors, with the mobs getting stronger on each floor. Defeated mobs randomly dropped treasure chests with undetermined items. There were also various traps.

"The types of traps are damage traps, teleport traps, status effect traps, hunger traps, and food spoilage traps!?"

The last trap was particularly dangerous. If you brought enough food, it could spoil and turn into items that cause damage. Not all food would spoil at once, but getting caught multiple times would make it difficult to progress.

To avoid these traps, you needed senses like 【Discovery】 and 【Sixth Sense】. I have them, and at level 16, I can detect traps up to the fourth floor.

"Safe Life Together... Ah, it's a thread about failures."

Stories like eating delicious fruit and getting poisoned, or a party getting into a fight due to 【Confusion 3】 for over a minute, with three members dying, were painful to read.

The most troublesome were the many stories about confusion status effects and the fact that no one was cooking, relying on fruit to stave off hunger.

The content of the board was exaggerated and funny, and I forgot about my lunch as I read.

"Wow! This is a screenshot of a young beast! You can post them!"

The young beast board was the most exciting. It featured black mini-dragons covered in fluffy feathers, silver baby monkeys eating fruit, and cute bears and elephants playing together, all scaled down.

"I want a partner too."

I couldn't help but think. However, there was one note on the board.

Everyone eats a lot, so bring plenty of food.

"Phew... I'll eat my lunch and keep working in the afternoon... but where's my lunch?"

The lunch I had taken out and left was gone, replaced by a white foal, which was sleeping with its legs folded.