Chapter 3: Building the First House
"Huff… huff…"
Sweat rolled down Arin's forehead as he swung the crude stone axe at the tree trunk. Each strike sent small vibrations through his hands, his arms heating up from the effort. The hot, sticky feeling of labor made him grimace, but at the same time, there was a thrill in the simplicity.
When he finally cut down a tree, the block shrank and floated for a moment before slipping neatly into his inventory. Curious, Arin tapped at the strange screen.
Click.
Instantly, the wood appeared in his hand.
"Oh?" His eyes widened. "It's so light…"
The block was roughly the size of his palm, its texture smooth and faintly glowing, the color a shade lighter than the tree he had cut. It didn't weigh anything—like holding a feather—but when he placed it down on the ground, it expanded instantly back into its original cubic form.
"Whoa!" Arin pressed his hands against the block, trying to shove it. Not even a single inch of movement. His muscles strained, veins bulging, but the wall stood unmoving.
"Huff… huff… Solid. Heh, this world is really something else." His lips curled into a grin. "For a gamer like me, this is basically heaven."
Excited, he pulled more blocks out and started placing them together. One after another, the walls of a crude shelter began rising before his eyes.
First wall—done.
Second wall—done.
By the time he finished four walls, ten minutes had passed, and he stood in front of a wooden box made of forty blocks.
Arin admired it with pride, wiping the sweat from his chin. "Not bad, not bad! Look at this masterpiece."
He pressed his palm against the wall again, marveling at the sturdiness. "Damn, it's solid as a rock. I could punch this all day and it wouldn't even crack. Amazing!"
But just as he was celebrating, a cold voice rang in his head.
[System: You should have first converted the wood into planks.]
Arin froze. His grin stiffened. Then—smack! He slapped his forehead so hard it echoed.
"Damn! How could I forget that!?" His face twisted, glaring upward as if the system had a face he could punch. "Why didn't you tell me earlier?!"
[System: You skipped the tutorial.]
Arin's jaw clenched. He bit down hard on his lip, his teeth grinding audibly. "This… damn… system…"
His fingers twitched with the urge to punch something, but after a long breath he shook his head. "No, calm down, calm down. Don't waste your energy."
He forced a grin. "Alright, System, tell me—how do I make planks?"
In front of him, a floating panel appeared with two cubic slots.
[Place one wood block on the left. The output will appear on the right.]
Arin carefully tapped the interface. A block of wood vanished from his inventory, and instantly a smaller plank materialized in the right slot.
"Ohhh…" Arin picked it up. "So this is a plank, huh?"
[Conversion complete. One wood equals two planks.]
"Only two?!" Arin groaned. "Man, this better be worth it…"
[System: For someone as brainless as you, I will tell you what to do next. Create a crafting table.]
Arin froze mid-motion. His eyebrow twitched. "What… did you just say?" His voice dropped dangerously low, the corner of his mouth twitching.
[System: …Create a crafting table.]
"You shut it, you damn smart-mouthed system!" He clenched his fist and snarled like a frustrated gamer. "Fine, tell me—how do I make this so-called table?"
[Place forty planks in the left slot. The result will be one crafting table.]
"…Forty?!" His jaw nearly hit the ground. "Do you think I'm rich!? I just wasted forty blocks on this dumb wooden cage!"
Still fuming, Arin charged out and began chopping trees like a man possessed. Each swing of the axe sent more sweat down his face, his shirt clinging to his back. By the time he was done, fifteen trees had fallen, filling his inventory with sixty wood blocks.
"Hahaha! Look at this haul!" He threw his arms out proudly. "I've collected so much wood, I could open a damn furniture store!"
With a grin, he placed twenty wood blocks into the slot.
Ding.
Forty planks appeared.
Then he shoved those forty planks into the slot again.
Ding.
A solid cubic table appeared in his inventory, glowing faintly.
Arin stared at it with wide eyes, his lips curling upward. "Finally! My first real crafted item!"