No matter which world you live in, if you want to live well, you can't do without money and assets.
During the earlier trades, the most used items besides food and water were some basic axes and torches.
These supplies could now be considered a form of currency, with wood being a universal commodity.
Who would have thought that one day, you could trade wood for anything in the world?
She had only traded for a few things and arranged her home a bit, but surprisingly, over an hour had already passed.
"Huh, it's almost two in the afternoon. Has the hail outside stopped? It's gotten a lot quieter."
This time, she chose to sit on her swinging chair and check the regional channel.
[The hail is just tiny specks now. All you hardworking and brave people, hurry up and go fish for treasure chests.]
[Already on it. Feels like the chest spawn rate is even higher than before. Braving the gales and hail, I've already fished up two more chests than usual. ٩(๑>◡
[I'd call the guy above me a warrior. I'm not daring to go out right now, anyway. I'll wait a bit longer. It won't be too late once the strong winds die down.]
[Is anyone willing to do a direct trade and sell me a bottle of water? I'm seriously dying of thirst.]
[Buddy, it's raining outside. Just tilt your head back, open your mouth, and catch some. You won't be thirsty anymore.]
[Don't you dare do that, you'll get diarrhea. Stripping naked, clinging to the fence, risking getting blown away at any moment while sticking your ass out to take a dump is already hard enough. What's even harder is that the fucking wind will blow it right back at you!]
[Hahaha... Dude above, say no more. I'm afraid if I open my mouth to laugh, your shit will blow into my face.]
[Thanks, brother. You've convinced me that resisting the urge to drink rainwater is the right choice. If that happened, I'd rather die of thirst!]
Faye Yardley found this hilarious. 'What a bunch of characters.'
'And they'd have to endure the relentless assault of the hail while doing all that.'
She wasn't short on water herself, but selling it required containers, and she couldn't be bothered to provide them.
If she had others provide the containers, she'd have to wait around to receive them, fill them with water, and then complete the trade. Just thinking about it felt like too much trouble.
Although she wanted to become a rich woman in this game world, if it meant being a rich woman who worked herself to death, she'd rather not.
She currently had 27 bottles of mineral water. She decided to list 7 of them for trade, limited to one per person, at 20 wood per bottle. 'That's not being a profiteer, right?'
'Sigh, I'm just too kind. I can't bring myself to be ruthless.'
Just as she posted the trade, Zachary Pierce sent her a friend Gift.
After accepting it, she received 300 wood.
Faye Yardley thought that was quite a lot. After all, even if she wanted to sell her small wooden boat at this stage, no one would probably want to buy it.
And at this stage, wood was still more important.
"Got it. Thanks, Mr. Pierce."
She checked her current total wood count. Good, it was over a thousand now. But upgrading to Level Five required 2,000 wood, so she was still quite a ways off.
The 7 bottles of mineral water she had just listed were also instantly snapped up.
The transaction fee was naturally paid by the buyers, so her earnings were pure profit.
After some thought, she realized that to upgrade her raft sooner, she still had to find a way to gather more wood.
"System, switch to the regional channel."
[Faye Yardley: Trade 4 iron blocks and 10 wood for one Basic Iron Axe, or 3 Oil and 10 wood for one torch. The offers are posted on the trading market. If interested, search there. Orders will be fulfilled based on the time they were placed. A total of 100 Iron Axes and 100 torches are available for trade.]
[Isn't the person above being a bit of a rip-off? You've basically doubled the material cost for a Basic Iron Axe.]
[To the person above me, if you think Miss Yardley is a rip-off, you don't have to trade. She's just posting an ad, and you're here complaining about her prices. Why don't you go check the prices others are charging on the trading market before you speak?]
[Goes without saying. Her prices must be low, and now the other sellers are getting anxious.]
[The quantity is a bit low. Gorgeous Yardley, please add some more!]
[By the way, I get that torches can drive away the cold at night, but what are Iron Axes used for?]
[Those who know, know. The fact that you have to ask means you haven't reached that stage yet.]
[Fuck, I hate people who speak in riddles. I'm gonna snap one up and save it for later!]
Faye Yardley hadn't expected the trades to go so smoothly. She had posted the offers, made one announcement, and in less than 30 seconds, all the items had been claimed. The trades were all pending completion, however, because while she had received the materials, she hadn't delivered the corresponding items yet.
For each torch, besides the 1 wood transaction fee, the materials cost 2 wood. This meant she could earn 7 wood per torch. 100 torches would net her 700 wood.
For each Basic Iron Axe, after deducting the 1 wood transaction fee and 1 wood for materials, she was making a killing with 8 wood in profit. Delivering 100 Iron Axes would earn her 800 wood.
Adding this to the more than 1,000 wood she already had, she instantly met the requirement for the Level Five raft upgrade.
So, she input the materials for 100 torches into her workbench, started the crafting process, and then called on the system to upgrade her raft.
[Raft Upgrade - Level Five: Wood Required 2657/2000. Upgrade conditions met. Proceed with upgrade?]
"Yes."
[Congratulations to player Faye Yardley for being the first on the server to upgrade her raft to Level Five. A server-wide broadcast is imminent. Do you wish to remain anonymous?]
"Yes, anonymous."
[Server-wide Announcement: Congratulations to player XXX from Veridia for being the first to upgrade their raft to Level Five! Special Reward: Reputation +500, Free Attribute Points +2]
[Server-wide Announcement: Congratulations to player XXX from Veridia for being the first to upgrade their raft to Level Five! Special Reward: Reputation +500, Free Attribute Points +2]
[Server-wide Announcement: Congratulations to player XXX from Veridia for being the first to upgrade their raft to Level Five! Special Reward: Reputation +500, Free Attribute Points +2]
The golden, pinned announcement, repeated three times in a row, instantly sent every player in the global game into an uproar.
Even more infuriating was the situation for those who had chosen to upgrade just a second or two after Faye Yardley.
Among them was Logan Langdon from the same region. He had been thinking to himself that he would surely be the first in his region to reach Level Five, but he never expected someone to beat him to it.
What was even more detestable was that this time there was a server-wide announcement and rewards.
So why weren't there any server-wide announcements for upgrading to levels two, three, and four? There hadn't even been a single reward.
That was precisely why he hadn't rushed to upgrade his raft earlier.
Now, he just wanted to know who the hell had beaten him to it!
Naturally, the regional channel exploded again.
Faye Yardley chuckled. 'Excellent, excellent. Even the number of people rushing her to deliver their items had decreased.'
Crafting 100 torches would take about fifteen minutes, so she still had time. She decided to check her raft's information first.
A Level 5 raft had an area of 250 square meters, a direct expansion of 150 square meters over a Level 4 raft.
Now she had to figure out how to best arrange this new extra space. The raft could be configured into any shape according to her wishes; she could even make it a polygon or a circle without any issue.
She didn't want to change the end with her original 10x10 house and its rain canopy.
On the other side of this square, she attached a 10x15 rectangle, making the raft's new shape roughly a T-shape.
She reconfigured the raft's wooden fence again. Once the wind and rain subsided, she could place planter pots on the large rectangular section, giving herself a dedicated planting area.