Chapter 103: The Unlucky One in the Survival World (Part 4)

After finishing her roast meat, Zheng Haoyun began crafting burning wooden planks nonstop. She also disassembled the four wooden boxes she'd found that afternoon to make more planks.

While she was busy, she noticed that one of her previously listed roast meats had sold. The exchange item? A floral-patterned padded jacket from Northeast China. The buyer's username was:"Young Master Is Your Dad".

Wow. It was probably something the guy didn't want and decided to dump. Judging by the cocky username, he was probably some hot-headed young man.

But to Zheng Haoyun, it was like striking gold. She immediately put on the jacket and finally didn't have to wrap herself in animal hides anymore.

Encouraged, she roasted two more pieces of meat and listed them on the trade panel, hoping to get cotton pants or cotton boots in exchange—basically trying her luck again, like a blind cat stumbling across a dead mouse.

Checking the in-game time, it was already 7 PM, and the temperature inside her snow shelter had dropped below zero.

Just then, a bold message appeared in the world channel:

"Selling burning wooden planks—an invaluable fire source in the survival world. Prices via DM. Serious offers only!"

Zheng Haoyun sent this message three times, which immediately flushed out a lot of lurkers.

Soon after, someone with the nickname "Miss Big Sis" DMed her:

"Hey there, are you a cute guy? I'm a sexy older sister, 19 years old. Sending you a pic of me—can I have a burning plank, pretty please?"

The "pic" she received was pixelated trash, clearly some attempt to scam a desperate guy with fake seduction. She instantly blocked them.

Then another user named "Free-Floating Fish" messaged:

"Do you still have any? I'm willing to trade a set of men's thermal underwear."

Warm clothing was in high demand, so Zheng Haoyun didn't mind if it was men's—she agreed right away.

Except what she received was a filthy, sweat-stained set of thermal underwear.

She'd been tricked—someone had given her their used, smelly clothes in exchange for a valuable fire source. She made a note of that username for the future.

Then someone named "Mighty Eagle" offered:

"I'll give you 10 wooden planks and two pieces of venison. Deal?"

She checked the user's nationality and grinned—he was from a country notorious for cultural theft. Time to squeeze him dry.

"Not enough. Add more."

"Okay, I'll throw in 3 more wooden planks."

"Deal."

(Mighty Eagle: Something feels off... but I can't quite place it.)

Zheng Haoyun knew that once her buyers got their hands on her burning planks, it wouldn't take long for others to start copying her idea.

So afterward, she stopped charging her fellow countrymen extra, but raised the price for foreigners—especially those from hostile nations, and did so without hesitation.

After ten minutes, she had completely sold out of her burning planks.

Her haul:

120 wooden planks

25 ice bricks

3 fruit seeds

14 pieces of meat

1 crafting table blueprint

In short: a massive success.

As for those who added her as a friend—Zheng Haoyun ignored them all. In a survival world like this, she believed in clean transactions. Making friends only complicates things.

Sure enough, soon after, the world channel became flooded with people undercutting each other by selling burning planks at dirt-cheap prices.

Just then, a familiar name popped up in chat:

"Anyone remember the first person to sell burning planks—'LuckWillTurnAround'? That person is totally heartless. I say we boycott them and let their goods rot in storage!"

Plenty of freebie-hunters jumped on the bandwagon in support.

Then that familiar "Miss Big Sis" piped up again:

"'LuckWillTurnAround', don't hide like a coward. Show yourself and explain! You owe us compensation!"

This troublemaker had to be silenced.

Zheng Haoyun immediately screenshotted their private messages and posted them publicly in the world channel—causing an uproar.

Honestly, if "Miss Big Sis" hadn't kept pushing and provoking, Zheng Haoyun wouldn't have gone that far. She understood how important reputation was for a girl.

But everyone has their limits. She absolutely would not let someone step on her to get ahead.

After handling the situation, she didn't bother checking that user's status again.

Later, that "Miss Big Sis" started getting harassed by a bunch of creepy men and ended up miserable.

Meanwhile, good news arrived—someone had commented on her roast meat listing, offering cotton boots in trade.

Still, Zheng Haoyun played it safe and asked the buyer to send a photo of the item first.

Thankfully, this time the buyer was genuine, and no embarrassing mix-ups occurred like before.

The only thing she hadn't managed to get was a pair of cotton pants. With no valuable goods left to offer, Zheng Haoyun decided to make a pair herself.

She took the drawstring from her old sweatpants, plus the elastic hem from her jacket.

Using those as ties, she connected scraps of animal hide—cutting small slits with her spiritual power and threading them together.

The final product was loose and drafty, with large gaps in the seams, but it was the best she could manage for now.

She glanced at the world channel again—burning planks were now a dead market. No one was buying.

Her private messages were overflowing—mostly with people demanding returns or refunds, which she ignored.

The loudest complaints came from the foreigners she'd gouged, accusing her of nationalist discrimination and demanding to cancel the previous deals based on the current low prices.

She scoffed. That was wishful thinking.

Completely exhausted from the day's work, Zheng Haoyun used eight wooden planks to craft herself a wooden bed, placing it near the fire so she could rest early.

She had big plans for tomorrow—she was going to build a fence around her snow shelter.

And for that, she needed a good night's sleep.