You're really something
After relieving himself, Calvin shot Charlotte a sharp look.
"Charlotte, care to explain yourself?"
Charlotte's face turned bright red with embarrassment. She wished she could dig out a whole three-bedroom apartment with her toes on the cube.
"You dumbass! How was I supposed to know you'd suddenly look up? If you hadn't, none of this would've happened!"
"And how is this my fault? What kind of girl squats like that?"
Charlotte pouted, wanting to argue, but realized she had no case.
If Calvin had peeked at her, she would've lost it.
But he didn't.
In that regard, he was still quite the gentleman.
"I'm sorry, dumbass," Charlotte mumbled.
Just as Calvin was about to respond,
a system broadcast rang out:
[Warning: Only 60% of players remain in the current zone. Each team will now receive 5 random cubes.
When player count drops to 50%, the spawn rate for [Food Clouds] and [Cube Clouds] will significantly increase.
New types of clouds will also begin to appear: [Attribute Clouds], [Monster Clouds], [Beast Clouds], and [Hidden Clouds].
Stay alive. Don't fall off your cubes!]
Hearing the announcement,
Calvin didn't care much about monster or beast clouds.
What caught his attention was the reward, free cubes. A flicker of joy flashed in his eyes.
"Calvin! We got cubes! We can finally sleep lying down tonight!"
Charlotte quickly changed the subject.
Then she remembered the water condenser she fished up.
"Calvin, use your talent to copy the blueprint for the condenser and sell it on the trading market!"
As the energetic girl kept blabbing on, Calvin covered her mouth with his hand.
"Quiet! I'm not deaf!"
Charlotte mumbled angrily, glaring at him.
He didn't even wash his hands after relieving!
"What are you looking at? Just consider it interest for spying on me in the bathroom!"
Of course Calvin knew why she was mad.
He hadn't washed his hands after going number one *and* two.
But right now...
Where would he even wash them?
Having tissues was already a luxury!
Those two rolls might need to last a couple of weeks.
As for the used tissues,
they just tossed them off the edge of their platform like everything else.
No idea if there were other players below…
Calvin then claimed the team's five new cubes:
[Received Dirt Cube ×1 – Non-decomposable]
[Received Wooden Plank Cube ×1 – Can be broken down into 10 wood]
[Received Refined Iron Cube ×1 – Can be broken down into 10 refined iron]
[Received Jade Cube ×1 – Can be broken down into 10 jade]
[Received Stone Cube ×1 – Can be broken down into 10 stone]
Even though the breakdowns offered lots of resources, there was no way Calvin would do that now.
Space was so limited. They needed those cubes to expand their platform.
Now they had a total of 7 cubes.
Arranged in a 3×3×1 layout—well, not quite since they were missing two blocks—it gave them 7 square meters of space.
That was three times bigger than the 2 square meters they had before!
About the same area as Calvin's old dorm room back in his student days.
Then, urged by Charlotte,
Calvin copied the water condenser blueprint, discussed pricing with her,
and listed it on the trading platform with a post:
[Water Condenser Blueprint: Produces 1000ml of drinkable water daily.
Requirements: Energy Crystal ×2, Energy Core ×2, Stone ×10 or Stone Cube ×1, Wood ×10 or Wooden Plank Cube ×1.
First come, first served.]
The moment he posted it,
the chatbox below exploded.
Everyone knew, with resources so scarce, water and food were pure gold.
Especially now that every player had received at least 6 cubes, what did that mean?
It meant cubes were losing value compared to water and food!
At first, everyone hoarded cubes to avoid falling off.
But once you had enough space,
cubes became less important.
Not to mention…
If you had enough materials, you could just craft them yourself!
[WTF, a water condenser blueprint?! What did I just see? Someone's actually selling that kind of thing?]
[Bow down to the lucky god! How did they fish up something so rare?!]
[Unbelievable! No one has water to drink right now, and someone actually managed to get their hands on a condenser blueprint!]
[And... they even sold it?! That's either incredibly stupid or they don't need water at all!]
[Come on, water isn't that hard to get. My teammate's talent produces four liters a day, just enough for both of us.]
[So jealous... That kind of talent is super useful! I wish I had a water-related skill too. I've been dying of thirst. My girlfriend and I split 500ml of water yesterday and haven't had anything since.]
[I want to trade, but what exactly are energy crystals and energy cores?]
[Energy cores increase fishing attempts.They're really important. But energy crystals? No clue.]
[I only have energy crystals. Anyone want to trade food for them?]
Calvin saw the chat mentioning energy crystals and tapped on the user's avatar.
He then DM the person:
[Dude, I'll trade a pack of compressed biscuits for your energy crystal.]
[Don't you have any meals or real food?]
[Ready-made meals drop way less frequently. If I get any, I keep them for my team.]
[Alright... Can you throw in a little extra?]
[Half a piece, tops.]
[Deal!]
Calvin traded one full pack and half a pack of compressed biscuits and received an energy crystal in return!
[Energy Crystal obtained!]
At the same time, a super lucky player who got two energy cores, two energy crystals, and the required materials also traded the blueprint with Calvin.
[Energy Crystal ×2 obtained]
[Energy Core ×2 obtained]
[Stone ×10 obtained]
[Wood ×10 obtained]
...
"Things are looking up, Calvin!"
Charlotte didn't even care that Calvin had covered her face with his unwashed, oversized hand.
After all, she was the one who messed up first.
Now her eyes sparkled as she looked at Calvin, dorable beyond words.
Seeing the admiration in Charlotte's eyes, Calvin felt quite pleased.
"With my talent, how could things not get better? Just wait, you little brat. I'll be your sugar daddy soon."
"As if! Hurry up and build that condenser! If I hadn't unlocked the blueprint, you'd be nothing. Hmph!"
Charlotte stuck her tongue out at Calvin.
Calvin took out the blueprint.
But Charlotte suddenly seemed to remember something and quickly shook her head, commanding again:
"Calvin, I thought about it. Let's wait until tomorrow to build it.
I think the blueprint might disappear after use!
If we build the condenser now, we won't have the blueprint tomorrow. What then?"
...
Calvin looked at her like she was an idiot.
"Sigh... so dumb. The phrase 'big boobs, no brains' really is spot-on."
"What do you mean?! Am I wrong? You should save the blueprint, copy it tomorrow, and get two condensers instead.
Each one only gives 1000ml of water a day. Humans need at least 2000ml per day.
If we want to be water-independent and profit from selling it, we'll need at least five blueprints!"
Charlotte said proudly, as if flaunting her genius.
Calvin sighed.
He finally understood what people meant when they said mildly disabled folks go undetected because they can still live independently.
He helplessly spread his hands.
"Charlotte, have you considered... maybe I could just copy the actual condenser instead of the blueprint? And it wouldn't cost any resources."
...
The air went completely silent.
Charlotte's brain short-circuited.
She couldn't believe she had just said something so dumb.
"Th-then… we could sell the copied blueprint…"
"Or maybe, just maybe… I sell the actual condensers for way more."
Seeing Calvin's disappointed look, Charlotte nearly fainted.
A top student like her had just said something so unbelievably stupid.
"Charlotte, you're really something. Your stupidity actually made me laugh."
Calvin then took out the blueprint.
[Water Condenser: Condenses moisture from the air, producing approx. 1000ml of water daily.
Construction Requirements: Stone (10/10), Iron (10/10), Energy Crystal (1/1)
Build now?]
[Build!]
A white light flashed from the blueprint, forming a green-glowing water condenser.
It looked like a stone-and-iron water dispenser with a hollow center likely the part that absorbs moisture.
But one detail stood out.
What does the green light mean?
[Water Condenser built. Moveable. Requires one cube of space.]
"Just like in games. When you can place something, it glows green."
Calvin moved the condenser across various empty cubes. It stayed green.
But if he tried placing it on his own space or Charlotte's, it turned red.
That meant it couldn't be built there.
So Calvin thought for a moment and placed it on a useless dirt cube.
Maybe he could use the dirt for planting in the future?
But right now, there were no shovels or farming tools.
Even so, just like in games, the condenser could still be moved after placement.
Charlotte saw it all and gasped,
"That's so cool, Calvin! Look! I can move it too!"
She started moving the condenser all around to an emerald cube, then a wooden plank cube, then a refined iron cube...
Watching her, Calvin sighed again.
Meanwhile, the condenser that Charlotte had placed back into the dirt cube began working again, producing drop after drop of water.
The two sat around, bored out of their minds, drinking bottled water when thirsty and munching on compressed biscuits to fill their stomachs.
By noon, the sun was blazing high in the sky.
Both of them were drenched in sweat.
Especially since they had been sunburned all day yesterday and didn't shower last night.
Now, under the scorching sun, their old and new sweat mixed into a sour, pungent stench.
Especially that jelly bean-looking girl!
Charlotte's entire body reeked.
Calvin looked at her with obvious disgust.
He couldn't believe it, how could a cute and delicate-looking big loli smell so bad just from not showering?
Truly, looks can be deceiving!
Noticing Calvin's disgusted glance, Charlotte, who was already dizzy from the heat, grew even more irritable.
"What are you looking at? You stink too! And you've got the nerve to look at me like that?"
"I didn't say anything!"
"Oh, so you are disgusted, huh? Fine, I'll make you suffer!"
Charlotte leaned in toward Calvin, determined to suffocate him with her stench.
"You damn troll, Charlotte! Trying to gross me out? Let's see who's worse!"
Calvin wiped the sweat from his neck and deliberately smeared it across her face.
"You nasty loser! You're dead!"
Charlotte retaliated, mimicking him by smearing all the sweat from her face and neck onto Calvin's arm.
Just as the two were caught in their ridiculous, sweat-soaked battle.
Clouds finally rolled in!
[Attribute Cloud: Fishing can yield random attributes, which boost physical stats.
Note: Attributes cannot be traded.]
"Cut it out, jelly bean girl! Time to fish!"
Calvin quickly pulled out his fishing rod and began fishing.
They hadn't gathered enough wood and stone yet, so upgrading wasn't possible for now. But with the energy core ready, it'd be doable once the materials were in place.
"Why isn't it food?"
Charlotte grumbled, rubbing her belly.
Still, she sat down beside Calvin and joined him in fishing.
…
[You gained +1 Attack]
[You gained +1 Defense]
After fishing, the cloud drifted slowly into the distance.
Calvin stared at it, deep in thought.
At this point, his Attack had gone from 11 to 12.
He could feel a noticeable boost in strength.
He glanced at Charlotte's attribute panel too.
Since they were teammates, their stats were visible to each other.
[Name: Charlotte
Teammate: Calvin
Talent: None
Skills: None
HP: 62/70
Attack: 7
Defense: 6
Speed: 5
Status: Slightly hungry, very hot, a little embarrassed]
Looking at her stats, Calvin was speechless.
So weak. Only 70 HP and all her other stats were in the single digits.
Then again, it made sense...
Charlotte was short, didn't like exercising, and loved junk food.
Buy-one-get-one deals every Tuesday at Tustin, Crazy Thursday deals, Scream Wednesday at Pizza Hut...
Every time she had an 8 a.m. class, she rewarded herself with spicy hot pot.
Every time she had a 9 p.m. class, she dragged Calvin along to buy a giant 1000ml milk tea, claiming she deserved a treat after a hard day.
But she had five 8 a.m. classes and three 9 p.m. classes every week!
Every weekend, she would stay up super late and even pulled Calvin into her gaming marathons.
When she got too worked up, she might even game all night.
With her junk food diet, late-night gaming, and fragile student lifestyle, how could her stats not be weak?
"Whoa! This defense buff makes the heat feel more bearable! I don't feel so weak now!
It's just one point, but it really works!"
Charlotte, unaware that Calvin had just roasted her in his mind, exclaimed excitedly.
"Or maybe... your Defense stat is so low that even a single point feels like a miracle."
Calvin replied dryly.