Reading Faye Yardley's message, Zachary Pierce was sure she had a large weapon she couldn't wield.
'That makes sense,' he thought. 'She struggled just to use an Iron Axe and ended up trading it for resources. This weapon must be the same story.'
"What is it? Send it over, let me see."
"Two-Meter_Greatsword.jpg"
Faye Yardley used the last bit of time she had to quickly browse messages from people wanting to trade. She ignored the other offers for now and focused on finding a Space Stone. Her priority was to craft the backpack blueprint. 'What if I need to carry a lot of stuff in the Dungeon? You can never have too many backpacks.'
When she saw the large iron pot and the horseshoe crab shell, Faye Yardley quickly opened her door and set them outside. 'It'd be nice to collect some rainwater with these,' she thought. 'I can't drink it, but I can still use it to wash my face or wipe the floor.'
She also had an iron box that she'd been using as a stool and even a backrest. She could put that outside too, with its lid open to collect rainwater.
She took stock of her backpack. It had a total of 20 slots. Two harpoons, a Basic Iron Axe, a dagger, and a pair of scissors occupied five slots. Since they were weapons, she kept them in the front slots for easy access.
She had been using a wooden box to store odds and ends. Now, she moved some things she didn't need into her shelter, freeing up the box to be used exclusively for food and water. She didn't want to starve or die of thirst in the Dungeon.
She also put two torches into her backpack. Leaving them outside to burn for no reason would be a waste.
The Bandage and Hemostatic Pill were, of course, essential. Neither took up much space, and if she ran out of slots later, she could squeeze them into the box with her food.
She now had 8 slots occupied, leaving 12 free. 'If only I could get a Space Stone before the Dungeon opens,' she mused. 'That would give me another 10 slots.'
Zachary Pierce had sent several urgent messages about the trade, but Faye Yardley hadn't replied. Now that her backpack was mostly organized, she finally sent a message back: "Do you have a Space Stone? You can trade it for the greatsword."
"Is a Space Stone the only thing you'll take?"
Faye Yardley blinked, unsure how to answer for a moment. 'A Space Stone is what I need most right now,' she thought. 'Of course, I need other things too, but those can wait.'
'But he's about to be my teammate,' she realized. 'He's my lifeline!'
So, gritting her teeth, Faye Yardley packed the greatsword—the one she'd just been using as a barbecue grill—into a Gift and sent it to him.
[Dear players, the trial Dungeon will be opening in five minutes. Please prepare yourselves.]
At that moment, her group chat showed 99+ unread messages. 'So that's the biggest difference,' she thought. 'The group chat has no posting limit, but the public channel only allows three posts every twelve hours.'
Faye Yardley glanced at the chat. A lot of the messages were directed at her.
Wade Warren: @Faye Yardley, Group Leader, can you trade me a Basic Iron Axe? Is 50 wood and 10 iron enough?
Leo Sloan: @Faye Yardley, Group Leader, accept my Gift. Please make two torches for me. Same terms as before.
Bonnie Callahan: Can any of you team up with me? I just discovered you can form a team for the Dungeon, but it's limited to two-person squads.
Faye Yardley quickly accepted the Gifts from Wade Warren and Leo Sloan, then rushed to her worktable to craft the Basic Iron Axe and torches they needed before sending the items directly to them.
Just as she finished, the 10-second countdown to enter the Dungeon began.
Faye Yardley gave herself a quick once-over. Seeing nothing amiss, she took a deep breath and prepared to face the unknown trial Dungeon.
3
2
1!
Faye Yardley disappeared from the raft and appeared on the beach of a small island. Next to her was a tall, handsome man.
"Mr. Pierce?" Faye Yardley had just called out his name when she immediately screamed, "Look out!"
As she shouted, she pulled a harpoon from her inventory and hurled it past him.
Zachary Pierce's reflexes were incredibly fast. He had just started to turn but instantly spun back around, a two-meter-long greatsword already in his hands. He brought it down, cleaving a large crab that had just burst from the sand in two.
[Congratulations, players. You have successfully killed a crab. Team Points +1]
Faye Yardley ran over to retrieve her harpoon and found it had pinned a mole-rat to the ground. The creature was still squeaking frantically.
Zachary Pierce strode over, greatsword in hand, and finished it off with a single slice.
Points +3.
Faye Yardley's eyes lit up. She went to loot the corpse. [Decomposable Mole-Rat found. Decompose?]
"Yes, yes, yes!"
[You have obtained Stones +2.]
"Mr. Pierce, hurry and loot the crab's corpse! You'll get materials after you decompose it."
"Okay."
Faye Yardley was incredibly relieved she'd called for backup. If she were on her own... well, it wouldn't be impossible, but... 'It would have been extremely difficult,' she admitted to herself.
Faye, who had just been about to tell herself she would have been fine, instantly took it back. Mobs had begun to pop up one after another in a three-meter radius around them.
'What kind of trial event is this?'
'We have to kill a pile of monsters right at the start.'
'What are people who came in empty-handed supposed to do?'
While Faye gripped her harpoon, her mind racing nervously, Zachary Pierce was already laying waste to everything around them. His two-meter greatsword scythed through the air in powerful, sweeping arcs.
The sound of notifications chimed in her ear: Points +1, +1, +3, +2, +1, +1, +2...
"Watch yourself," he called out. "Don't get caught by my blade. Wait until I clear this wave, then you can go loot the bodies."
"Oh, oh, okay."
At first, Faye was cautious as she looted the corpses. Soon, however, she realized she couldn't loot them fast enough to keep up with how quickly Zachary Pierce was killing the monsters.
She scrambled around, bent over, snatching up loot as fast as she could. Some corpses even despawned before she could get to them! 'That's ridiculous!' she thought.
Eventually, Faye put away her harpoon and broke into a jog, using both hands to loot. Before she knew it, her backpack was almost full.
"Mr. Pierce, do you have any space left in your backpack? Let's finish looting this wave and move further onto the island. We can sort out our loot then." Faye was worried that if they stayed put, the system would spawn another wave of monsters.
"Good idea. My backpack is full," Zachary Pierce confirmed. At this point, unless he decomposed an item that stacked with something he already had, the new materials would just appear on the ground beside him.
"Hey, Mr. Pierce, look! Not far behind you, in the water—is that a treasure box?"
"I'll finish decomposing things here first, then go take a look. You can come over and pick up the stuff I can't fit."
"Okay."
Faye Yardley felt incredibly lucky and, at the same time, extremely farsighted.
'So many monsters. If I were alone, I would've been screaming my head off in terror, and I'd probably be seriously injured by now.'
BEEP BEEP BEEP!
Someone had mentioned Faye Yardley in the group chat again.
Leo Sloan: @Faye Yardley, Group Leader, do you have any more Bandages? I just got swarmed by monsters, and my injured leg is bleeding again. The blood is making them attack even more fiercely! Can I trade an unopened Iron Treasure Box for one?
Wade Warren: The public channel is grayed out now. We can only use the group chat or message friends directly. Thanks for the Iron Axe you traded earlier, Group Leader. It helped a lot.
Faye Yardley checked her inventory: she had three Bandages and two Hemostatic Pills left. After a moment's hesitation, she gritted her teeth and agreed to the trade.