Chapter Nine: Amidst the Trees

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Just as the old village chief had said, the village was practically deserted. Despite its considerable size, it held no more than a few dozen inhabitants and looked terribly run-down.

Most of them were elderly, infirm, or otherwise unable to work.

Xiao Jie wandered around the village, searching for anyone who might have a task for him. When he reached the rear mountain, he spotted a middle-aged man with one arm missing, gazing sorrowfully at the trees covering the hills.

Although there was no quest marker above the man’s head, Xiao Jie had a feeling there was definitely something to be found here.

“Uncle, I’m looking for work. Is there anything I can do for you?”

The man eyed Xiao Jie warily, but the moment he noticed his outfit, his expression brightened.

Wang Daniu (Lumberjack): “You’re one of the Returnees, aren’t you? I’ve heard of your kind. You’ve come at just the right time. I’m the village lumberjack. A few days ago, I was bitten by a venomous snake. I survived, but my hand was ruined. The village is in urgent need of firewood, yet I can no longer do the work myself. If you’re willing, help me chop some wood.

“It’s tiring work, but I certainly won’t make you do it for nothing. I’ll pay you ten copper coins for every bundle. What do you say? Interested?”

A dialogue box appeared before him—

[System Notification: Wang Daniu has issued you the quest “Chopping Firewood.” Accept?]

Chopping firewood? It didn’t sound too difficult.

Ten copper coins per bundle meant that a hundred bundles would earn him a thousand copper coins—more than enough to buy equipment in the early stages.

Xiao Jie accepted without hesitation.

“Here, borrow this for now.”

System Notification: Temporary profession acquired—Lumberjack.

System Notification: Temporary item acquired—Rusty Woodcutter’s Hatchet.

[Rusty Woodcutter’s Hatchet (One-Handed Axe)
Attack: 12 Chopping.
Weapon Effect: Woodcutter’s Edge. Deals 20% increased damage to tree-type monsters.
Item Description: A rusty hatchet used for chopping wood rather than killing people. Crude as a weapon, but still better than fighting bare-handed.]

It even came with a weapon. Not bad, not bad.

Wang Daniu (Lumberjack): “Come here, lad. I’ll teach you the basics of chopping firewood.

“See those trees on the slope behind the mountain? Chop wood there. Be careful not to go too far, or you may run into danger.

“Also, choose dead branches. Fresh branches won’t burn. And don’t chop down overly thick trees—this is gathering firewood, not felling timber. It doesn’t matter how thick the wood is, so long as it burns.

“Once you’ve gathered fifty branches, bind them into a bundle with the mountain vines nearby. If a bundle is short even a single branch, I’ll deduct it from your wages. Understand?”

System Notification: You have learned “Chopping Firewood (Beginner).” Your skill book has been updated.

Xiao Jie could not help but grin. According to what the man in the black windbreaker had said, life skills could also be carried into reality. He had technically learned a new skill—though he doubted this one would be of much use outside the game.

“I understand, Uncle. Go get some rest. Leave the rest to me.”

After Wang Daniu left, Xiao Jie began chopping firewood on the hillside.

The work was not difficult. First, he had to determine whether a tree was dead. The lush green ones were obviously off-limits, so he focused on the withered, yellowing trees.

Perhaps because the soil was so barren, dead trees were scattered everywhere across the mountain, while healthy green ones were few and far between.

After that, all he had to do was swing his hatchet at the dead branches. Gathering resources by hacking at trees was a feature found in countless survival games, so Xiao Jie was entirely familiar with it.

Work progress notifications continually appeared in the lower-right corner.

Crack! Chopping failed.

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Crack! Chopping failed.

Crack! Chopping succeeded. Dry Wood +1.

Crack! Chopping failed.

Crack! Chopping failed disastrously. Hatchet durability -1.

Crack! Chopping succeeded. Dry Wood +1.

The notifications seemed to have no discernible pattern at all, appearing completely at random. Sometimes a single swing brought down a piece of dry wood; other times, several strikes in a row resulted only in failure.

Occasionally, the message indicating a loss of durability appeared as well.

Fortunately, the hatchet had a full fifty points of durability, so it would not be a problem for the time being.

After working for more than ten minutes, Xiao Jie had gathered enough dry wood for one bundle. He cut a mountain vine and tied the bundle together. That meant ten copper coins were now his.

Ha! This work was incredibly simple. A thousand copper coins were practically within reach.

After working for more than an hour, Xiao Jie had chopped enough wood for five bundles. The process was somewhat tedious, but the thought of buying equipment with money—and learning skills once he had even more—filled him with energy.

There was no need to aim too high just yet. Immortal arts and divine abilities could wait. First, he would acquire an internal cultivation manual and develop some inner force, just to experience what it felt like to be a martial arts master. Then he would learn some light-body techniques and enjoy the thrill of leaping across rooftops and walking over snow without leaving a trace.

After that, perhaps a saber technique or swordsmanship…

Xiao Jie tied up the dry wood in his bag once more and continued hacking at the trees.

But after chopping only a few branches this time, he noticed that his character’s chopping speed had slowed.

He hurriedly checked his status and discovered that, at some point, his stamina bar had been completely drained.

Xiao Jie found this strange. Stamina was supposed to recover continuously. Unless he engaged in strenuous activity, the bar should never have emptied completely.

He sat down on a rock to rest. As he watched his stamina slowly recover, he noticed that the recovery rate was clearly much slower than before. Moreover, his stamina stopped increasing after recovering only halfway.

A ghostly face icon had also appeared above his head.

[Hunger: Your satiety is too low. Maximum stamina reduced by 50%; stamina recovery rate reduced by 75%.]

What the hell was this?

Xiao Jie hurriedly investigated and discovered that the game had a satiety system after all. The maximum value was one hundred. Falling below thirty triggered the “Hunger” debuff, while rising above eighty activated the “Well Fed” buff.

Xiao Jie had not eaten anything when he left the village to fight monsters yesterday, and he had spent half the day chopping wood today. Naturally, he had triggered the Hunger effect.

Seriously? Xiao Jie had not expected the game to be this detailed. Players even had to eat. He wondered whether Wang Daniu would provide meals.

When he descended the hillside, he found Wang Daniu sitting on a tree stump, resting with a deeply troubled expression.

Xiao Jie handed over the wood he had chopped and received fifty copper coins. Then he asked, “Uncle, here’s the firewood I gathered. Do you have anything to eat? I’m starving. Let me eat my fill, and then I’ll continue chopping.”

Wang Daniu (Lumberjack): “You youngsters don’t do much work, yet you have no shortage of demands. This isn’t a charity hall. Where would free food come from? Go take a look at the village tavern. They sell steamed buns and sesame cakes there.”

Xiao Jie went to the tavern and found that it did indeed offer all kinds of food.

Steamed Bun (Satiety +10), 5 copper coins each.

Sesame Cake (Satiety +20), 10 copper coins each.

Dried Mountain Boar Meat (Satiety +50), 25 copper coins per piece.

Secret-Recipe Roast Chicken (Satiety +50; Additional Buff: Deep Satisfaction), 50 copper coins each.

Old White-Dry Liquor (Satiety +5; Additional Effect: Giddy), 15 copper coins per jug.

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Du Kang Wine (Satiety +5; Additional Buff: Exhilarated), 40 copper coins per jug…

Xiao Jie had no interest in the more expensive options. He bought six of the cheapest steamed buns and stuffed them down in one sitting, raising his satiety to ninety. Watching his purse shrink by more than half made his heart ache.

It was not that he begrudged the few copper coins. He had simply realized that, when calculating the profits from chopping firewood, he had forgotten to account for food expenses.

The more he worked, the faster he got hungry. The original profit of ten copper coins per bundle was already meager; after subtracting the cost of meals, saving up a thousand copper coins would be far more difficult than he had imagined.

Before long, however, Xiao Jie discovered that food was not the only thing draining his money.

He returned to the mountain and continued chopping, keeping an eye on how quickly his satiety decreased. Fortunately, it did not fall too rapidly. With the Well Fed buff active, his stamina recovered extremely quickly, allowing him to chop away without restraint. For a time, his efficiency at gathering wood even increased.

He had probably become hungry so quickly today because he had gone monster hunting yesterday without eating.

Under normal circumstances, ninety points of satiety should have lasted him several hours.

Yet after working for only a little over half an hour, another red notification suddenly appeared in the lower-right corner.

[System Notification: Your hatchet’s durability is too low to use.]

Xiao Jie opened his inventory and saw that its durability had indeed fallen to 1/50.

An ominous feeling arose in his heart. Surely he would not have to pay for repairs himself, would he?

Unfortunately, his worst fears came true. When he found Wang Daniu and told him the hatchet had broken, the man’s expression turned unpleasant.

Wang Daniu (Lumberjack): “Listen, lad, of course you’re responsible for repairing the hatchet. It was perfectly fine when I handed it to you. You broke it by using it recklessly, so you can’t blame me. Just look at me—my hand is ruined. I hired you to chop wood only because I needed someone in an emergency. The village pays me ten copper coins per bundle, and I’ve given every last one to you. If I also had to pay for repairs, wouldn’t I be losing money? Where in the world would that make sense?”

Wang Daniu sounded so pitiful that Xiao Jie had no way to argue.

Fortunately, he had just sold two more bundles of wood for twenty copper coins. Including the twenty-six copper coins he had received from the bandits earlier, he now had sixty-six in total. That should be enough.

He went straight to the blacksmith’s shop, but the burly, bearded blacksmith was nowhere to be seen. Only his dark, portly apprentice was there, hammering away at the unfinished blade of an iron sword.

Xiao Jie thought that repairing a hatchet was hardly a major job. The apprentice would do just as well—and perhaps even charge less.

“Hello. Could you repair this hatchet for me?”

Wang Kai (Blacksmith’s Apprentice): “No problem. Let me take a look. Hmm… fifty copper coins, and I’ll have it fixed.”

Fifty copper coins!

Xiao Jie was speechless. He had earned only seventy copper coins in total that morning, then spent thirty on six steamed buns. If he paid another fifty to repair the hatchet, he would actually be operating at a loss.

Fortunately, he still had the twenty-six copper coins dropped by the bandits earlier. Otherwise, he would not even have been able to afford the repair.

What kind of outrageous game was this?

Xiao Jie did not agree immediately. Instead, he began to think.

Since the game had deliberately designed a system where players could earn money through labor, surely it would not leave them without any way forward.

No matter what, the system could not possibly be running at a loss.

Besides, he had not forgotten the game’s exceptionally high degree of freedom. Perhaps repair fees could be bargained down.

“Brother, could you make it a little cheaper? Life isn’t easy for a Returnee like me.”

Wang Kai (Blacksmith’s Apprentice): “You’re a Returnee? You think I’m not? This price is already cheap. If you went to an NPC for repairs, you wouldn’t get it done for less than fifty copper coins.”

His words left Xiao Jie momentarily stunned. Then, all at once, he understood.

“Wait… you’re a player too?”