After gathering everything, Faye Yardley was so exhausted she collapsed onto the sand. She just wanted to lie down right then and there. 'Who knew harvesting so much could be this exhausting?'
Seeing how exhausted Faye Yardley was, Zachary Pierce's lips curled into a slight smile. He held out his hand. "Get up. It's not safe here. If a monster suddenly pops out from under the sand, you'll be in for it."
"Oh, right. Let's just finish grabbing our things and get out of here."
Zachary Pierce said, "I'll open the chest, then. We can store some of the smaller items inside."
"Okay."
Then, as Faye Yardley's curious expression slowly turned to a stunned one, she watched Zachary Pierce open the Wooden Treasure Chest. Inside were only two items: wood x5 and bottled water x1.
"Mr. Pierce, how about from now on, I open any treasure chests we find on the island?"
Zachary Pierce didn't think his luck was that bad compared to his buddies, but one look at Faye Yardley's face told him she was probably a King of Luck who couldn't bear to watch an unlucky schmuck like him open a chest. Besides, they were a team, so it didn't matter who opened it.
"Alright. You can open them from now on."
'I should open the next chest to show Mr. Pierce,' Faye Yardley thought. 'The loot will definitely be better than what he got. He seems confident in his own luck, but seeing is believing.'
But she didn't have time for a demonstration. Zachary Pierce hoisted her up and started running, pulling her toward the island's interior. The area where the monsters had just spawned was beginning to refresh.
Being hauled around like that wasn't exactly pleasant, but when she saw a swarm of monsters even denser than the last, Faye Yardley couldn't bring herself to utter a single word of complaint.
"Seriously? They're this packed together?"
"Stay here for now and be careful. I'm going to take care of this wave."
Faye Yardley's feelings were complicated. 'It's like this,' she thought, 'our team is on a monster-killing spree. I'm responsible for the spree part, and Mr. Pierce is responsible for the killing part.'
'It's nice to be protected, but I still need to get stronger on my own.'
"Mr. Pierce, let one or two slip past you for me!"
"Alright."
With the High Level Fish Spear in hand, Faye Yardley wasn't completely defenseless. Plus, she didn't have to engage in close-quarters combat.
So, when the occasional monster got past him, Faye was flustered at first, but she quickly grew more adept at handling them.
Where she once panicked while fighting a single monster, she could now face a siege of three without batting an eye. Her progress was undeniable.
The only problem was how quickly her stamina drained.
By the time the second wave was completely cleared out, Faye Yardley didn't even feel like harvesting the monster corpses.
Of course, that was out of the question. She took the wooden chest out of her backpack, retrieved a bottle of water, and tossed it to Zachary Pierce. She then opened another for herself and GULP, GULP, GULP, chugged half of it in one go.
The water made her feel alive again, and she immediately started looting the corpses.
Seeing her frantic pace, Zachary Pierce didn't even dare to waste time finishing his own water.
In the end, a large portion of the corpses were mercilessly despawned by the system before they could be harvested.
But now, drenched in sweat, Faye Yardley sat on the rapidly heating sand, too exhausted to even lift a finger.
Zachary Pierce looked at the disheveled Faye Yardley, but he didn't smile. He just felt a pang of heartache. If this had been just two days ago, before their world was engulfed by this so-called survival game, she would have been just an ordinary, happy-go-lucky student.
He walked over, bent down, and scooped her up into his arms. "It's too hot out here. You'll get a sunburn and become dehydrated. I'll carry you over to the shade under that tree."
Faye Yardley just grunted in response. She truly had no strength left.
The old saying "it's nice and cool under a big tree" was a perfect description of the moment. After checking that the surroundings were clear, Zachary Pierce gently set Faye Yardley down, letting her lean against the trunk.
"I'm going to bring back the materials we harvested. Yell if anything happens."
With that, he started to clear out his backpack, needing to make space before he could bring the other materials back.
Faye Yardley just blinked to show she understood. Leaning against the tree, she looked up. The massive canopy blocked the increasingly scorching sun.
'Come to think of it, we entered this Dungeon at eight o'clock at night,' she mused. 'I didn't expect it to be broad daylight in here.'
'As for why there's a giant camphor tree on a tropical island... no point in thinking about that. Game worlds don't have to follow the laws of science.'
Faye Yardley gasped for breath, wishing she could recover faster. 'If only I had a potion to restore my stamina and energy right now...'
"System, do you have any Recovery Potions for sale?"
'Transmigrating into a book isn't a cure-all,' she thought. 'Especially when you've read over two million words of it. I've forgotten most of the early-game details.'
'You can earn points in a Dungeon, so there should be a Point Shop, right?'
[Dear player, the Dungeon Point Shop can be unlocked for 10 points. Would you like to pay to unlock it?]
Faye Yardley looked over at Zachary Pierce, who was still organizing his things. Seeing that he had heard the system prompt too, he gave her a nod of confirmation.
"Yes."
The Point Shop was filled with a dazzling array of items. Naturally, it had potions for restoring both stamina and energy. The price wasn't too steep, either—just 10 points for a bottle.
The points were shared by the team, and since Zachary Pierce had done most of the killing, Faye Yardley looked to him for approval.
Zachary Pierce reached out and patted her on the head. "Go ahead and buy them."
His gaze lingered for a moment on the Small Group Chat Coupon in the Point Shop. It cost a shocking one thousand points, and they only had a total of 769 points after killing two waves of monsters.
Faye Yardley bought two energy recovery potions. She handed one to Zachary Pierce before opening the other and drinking it herself.
She instantly felt her vitality return. Her limbs were still a bit sore, but it was no longer a major issue.
"Mr. Pierce, you earned most of those points, and you're the leader. You should change the distribution setting so that the points go to whoever gets the kill." Faye Yardley got up, dusting herself off. "Right now, it's 700 for you and 69 for me. I feel like I'm freeloading by using this potion."
There were plenty of good things in the Point Shop, and Faye Yardley was naturally green with envy, especially over the Basic Body Refining Pill, which would be the most helpful for her at the moment.
There were also blueprints for a Backpack Expansion (x50), Space Stones, blueprints for a High Level Wooden House, blueprints for a warehouse, and more.
A single Basic Body Refining Pill cost a hundred points; she wasn't sure if she could save up enough before they had to leave the dungeon.
There were so many good items that even Zachary Pierce was dazzled, but he quickly reined himself in. Snapping out of it, he shook his head. "We're a team. We can't divide things like that. Splitting the points evenly is fine."
"I disagree. If you insist, I'll be too embarrassed to team up with you again."
'While getting a free ride is nice, you can't build a partnership on it. Long-term cooperation is the best option.'
"As for all these miscellaneous materials," she said, suddenly having a better idea, "we could use the Gift function between friends, or the exclusive Gift for group members. What do you think?"
Looking at the pile in front of them, she thought, 'What's so wrong with exploiting a little system loophole?'