Chapter 34: New System Rewards

Chapter 34: New System Reward

The hammock was hung quite low, with its center sagging less than half a meter from the ground. Xu Yi lay down on it with ease, wanting to see if it could support his weight.

"Not bad, it's very sturdy. It can easily hold my weight."

Xu Yi stepped off the hammock, feeling quite satisfied with the work he and Su Keke had accomplished.

"Keke, do you want to try lying on it?"

Su Keke nodded. She felt the hammock was somewhat similar to the swings they used to weave back in their village.

"Okay, it looks like fun!"

Xu Yi picked up Su Keke and placed her onto the hammock. After trying it out, she began to sway.

"It can also be used as a swing, though the range of motion is a bit limited." As he said this, Xu Yi gave the hammock a gentle push.

"Daddy, what is 'range of motion'?" Su Keke asked, her eyes filled with curiosity and a thirst for knowledge.

"Range of motion is a physics term. It refers to the width or distance an object covers while vibrating or swaying."

"Look, the distance my hand is moving back and forth—that is the width of the swing, which is what we call the range of motion."

Xu Yi explained it to her, providing a few more examples and keeping his language as simple and easy to understand as possible. Under his guidance, Su Keke grasped the meaning of the term. The live-stream audience was impressed by his impromptu teaching.

The snake meat began to emit the fragrant scent of roasted meat, though Xu Yi decided to roast it a bit longer to ensure it was thoroughly cooked. Since it was not yet dark, he picked up his stone hatchet and began chopping a log intended for making a water bucket.

The log was over a meter long and quite thick, making it slow to burn; very little of it had been consumed by the fire the previous night. Now, with the stone hatchet, he didn't need to use fire to shape it; he could directly chop the ends flat and trim it to the desired height. Later, he would use hot coals to burn out the center, slowly turning it into a bucket.

[Player 1, don't use so much force! If you break that one-of-a-kind stone hatchet, you won't even have a place to cry.]
[Exactly, you're hacking away too fiercely! None of the other challengers have a tool like that!]
[Isn't it a bit wasteful to ruin a rare stone hatchet just for a wooden bucket?]
[You guys act as if only you have brains. You're seriously underestimating the hardness of the stone.]
[If you're going to be this timid, why bother with the challenge? Might as well just quit and go home.]

After hacking for a while, Xu Yi pushed the fire aside so the snake meat could cool down.

"Hoeing under the midday sun," Su Keke recited, lying on the hammock. She was currently reciting ancient poems; she knew sixty of them, which was quite impressive. Since Xu Yi was busy, she found something to occupy herself.

"Keke, come have dinner," Xu Yi called out.

"Coming!" she replied. Hearing that dinner was ready, she quickly sat up and hopped off the hammock.

"We can make two wooden bowls tonight; that will make eating much more convenient." There were trees nearby as thick as a thigh that he could cut down to craft bowls for himself and Keke. He had originally intended to make pottery, but he hadn't found any suitable clay yet, so he had to rely on wood. While the axe hadn't been great for carving, the new stone hatchet made things much easier. With his chisel and some charcoal, crafting two bowls would be simple enough.

After dividing the snake meat, Xu Yi took a bite. The meat was tender and juicy, with a slight gamey and smoky flavor.

"Ding! Consumed venomous white-bellied viper. Resistance to poison has increased."

It really was a venomous snake, and a highly toxic one at that? Xu Yi felt a secret sense of relief; he was glad he had his X-ray vision and had used a branch to pin the viper's head. Otherwise, he likely would have been attacked, and there was no doubt that a single bite would have been fatal.

Also, what did it mean that his poison resistance had increased? Did it mean he could withstand attacks from toxic creatures? After all, it wasn't just snakes; there were spiders, scorpions, venomous bees, ants, caterpillars, and so on. Furthermore, by how much had it increased, and what level of toxins could he now handle?

The system's reward felt too vague. He felt like the system was just going through the motions. It would be better if it were like the X-ray vision or the stone tool crafting skill—simple, direct, and clear.

The reward for eating animals was too broad; it only gave a general direction without any specific metrics. Couldn't it just say his base poison resistance was 5 and he had gained +1? Why couldn't it be that simple and straightforward?

*System, is it because my clearance level isn't high enough? If it's not high enough, just tell me! And while you're at it, tell me how to increase my clearance level, won't you?*

Unfortunately, the system provided no explanation or response. A frustrated Xu Yi took a big bite of the snake meat to vent his dissatisfaction. The meat was fine, but it was missing something.

"This meat lacks any saltiness; it's honestly a bit unsatisfying." Xu Yi looked at the tracking ball with a sense of gloom. It would be great if he and Keke were sent to an island; they could acquire so many more survival resources. In this jungle, finding salt wasn't easy. He would either need to find a salt mine or a salt flat, where plants often had the ability to excrete salt, allowing it to be collected. Some animals also secreted salt, but collecting it was no simple task—you’d have to raise them to get it.

[Player 1, you're pushing it! Be grateful you have something to eat, and you're complaining about the taste?]
[Player 1, you've gotten arrogant. You said it tasted good earlier. It's only the fifth day and you're already demanding flavor?]
[Many people are still starving; you should be content!]
[Humans literally cannot survive without salt. If you're deficient, you get weak. Isn't it normal to think about it?]
[Their meat intake is high enough that they definitely aren't lacking in sodium. However, having higher standards is how you live a better life.]

Xu Yi didn't care about the debate in the chat room. What mattered to him was what kind of food would be waiting for him when he entered the deeper jungle tomorrow. Since he had found a white-bellied viper on the edge of the jungle, he would surely encounter other animals deeper inside.

Would he run into predators? Jungle wolves, leopards, black bears, tigers? Maybe even dinosaurs? If he encountered something like that, could he and Su Keke handle it? Could they escape?