Chapter 6: Finding Happiness in Drinking Plain Water

“Not bad.”

He felt a surge of satisfaction and immediately continued placing rubble stones, building steadily as if laying bricks.

This construction ability was truly remarkable—

Once placed, the stones fit together perfectly, as if bonded by cement, forming a solid and stable structure.

“Snap!” “Snap!” “Snap…”

Within just a minute, a ten-centimeter-thick wall had formed, blocking most of the biting cold wind outside.

The cave was small, only about one meter wide and roughly two meters high.

So, after using up a hundred rubble stones, half of the cave’s entrance was sealed off.

Liu Hen promptly returned to the back of the cave and gathered another hundred rubble stones, then went back to the entrance to continue building.

Soon, he blocked off the entire cave entrance, leaving only the uneven gap at the top of the cave open.

This was necessary for ventilation, to prevent oxygen deprivation while sleeping.

“That thin? Doesn’t feel secure enough.”

To be safe, he headed back to the cave’s end to dig again.

[Refined Stone +3]

“Refined Stone?”

Liu Hen paused, took out one to examine it, and found it heavier and denser than rubble stone, with a better texture, likely much sturdier.

Now, nearly all the stones at the back of the cave were of this refined kind.

“It seems the gathering speed hasn’t slowed down; I’ll collect these instead.”

He swung his pickaxe and continued mining.

[Refined Stone +3]
[Refined Stone +3]

Occasionally, a [Space Backpack Full] notification appeared. Apparently, due to limited slots, the mixed iron ore and rubble stones couldn’t be gathered successfully and fell as debris.

Thus, the amount of small stones on the ground steadily increased.

Soon, he collected a hundred refined stones and returned to the cave entrance to continue building.

This time, he built the wall flush against the first stone wall; the refined stones not only merged with the ground but also fused with the original wall.

“Snap!” “Snap!” “Snap…”

As he kept placing stones, the refined stone wall grew taller.

When the refined stones ran out, he returned to the cave’s end to mine more.

Within just four or five minutes, the stone wall’s thickness doubled from ten to twenty centimeters.

The two layers of stone walls fit together perfectly, bonded so firmly their strength rivaled ordinary brick walls back on Earth.

Outside, the cold wind howled fiercely; the temperature had dropped to at least minus thirty degrees Celsius and was still falling.

Yet inside the cramped cave, the firelight shone brightly.

The stone walls not only blocked the cold but also contained the fire’s glow, eliminating concern over attracting danger with the light.

The cave’s temperature had risen to about four or five degrees and continued climbing, like a warm oasis amid the misty night world.

“This should be safe now.”

Liu Hen exhaled deeply, tossed the remaining refined stones aside to free a space in his backpack, and sat by the campfire.

As soon as he sat down, his vision darkened, as if he might faint any moment.

He had truly reached his limit; if he didn’t eat something soon, he felt he would starve to death.

Not daring to delay, he quickly opened the campfire’s [Cooking] function, and indeed found ice cubes among the cookable ingredients.

But there was nothing else.

The cooking interface had four slots, allowing up to four ingredients to be mixed and cooked simultaneously, though without recipes, the results were random.

He could cook with just one ingredient.

Since he only had six fist-sized ice cubes in his backpack, to avoid failure, Liu Hen chose to cook just one ice cube.

The process was very fast, finishing in only ten seconds.

At the moment cooking completed, a new recipe—Boiling Water—appeared on the campfire interface.

Eagerly, Liu Hen claimed it and took out the boiling water.

To his surprise, what he got was a glass cup, similar in size to a disposable cup on Earth, filled with steaming hot water.

The boiling water was crystal clear, continuously steaming, completely unlike the murky hot water sold at the Red Snail Camp.

Indeed, without fire, most survivors couldn’t melt ice cubes themselves and had to buy water from the camp.

A cup of hot water, tasting of earth, sold for one magic crystal—more expensive than tree cakes.

A very few, unwilling to spend crystals, ate ice cubes directly, but those people usually died quickly.

Because solidified water wasn’t clean—who knew if it had been stepped on by poisonous insects or monsters?

Liu Hen eagerly took a sip of the hot water.

It had no strange taste, instead surprisingly sweet and pleasant.

As the steaming water warmed his throat, tears welled in his eyes; drinking water had never felt so blissful.

Having lived thirty-two years on Earth, he had never experienced such hardship; now even a cup of water brought him happiness.

Truly, only in loss does one realize how precious seemingly ordinary things once were.

“Damn, life is so hard… From now on, I will enjoy it thoroughly and stockpile endless food!”

With a magical gift in hand, he was confident he could acquire food—it just took time.

Resolved, he gulped down the whole cup.

When the water was gone, the glass cup vanished into thin air, as if it had been a virtual item conjured by the magical ability just to hold the water.

Liu Hen wasn’t surprised; he hadn’t added any utensils during cooking, so his magical gift had created it for him.

A cup of hot water eased his stomach considerably, but it was far from enough.

He continued cooking and drinking boiling water.

After downing four cups in a row, he stopped, leaving two cups for the next morning, keeping them in his space backpack.

Presumably, the space backpack could keep things warm and fresh.

Items stored inside seemed digitized, with only one visible object and quantity shown in the top-left corner.

In this state, the contents likely wouldn’t change.

With the steaming water inside, the darkening vision vanished.

At least his stomach had something; the water contained nutrients, especially calories, helping him survive a bit longer.

Sleepiness soon overwhelmed him.

“Only two magic crystals left. Tomorrow, I’ll go to Red Snail Camp to trade for food!”

Just before falling asleep, Liu Hen had a sudden thought: “Could I make a living selling boiling water?”

The misty world was abundant with ice cubes, and he could cook boiling water quickly.

But selling it posed a big problem. Selling to camp dwellers was unlikely since their base was underground and they didn’t lack water.

Selling to other survivors was risky; they might not dare to drink it.

Survivors were a contradictory group—greedy yet cautious, fragile yet tenacious, all cunning and deceitful.

To earn magic crystals from them, he would have to take risks.

If other survivors saw him making crystals hand over fist, they’d definitely become jealous.

He currently had little combat power and no real deterrent—he had to be careful.

As for his magical campfire, he dared not sell it for fear of attracting trouble; besides, others probably couldn’t use its functions, only treating it as a normal fire for warmth.

All special functions required connection to his mental data network.

Newly arrived, this night was destined to be restless.

Half asleep, Liu Hen thought he heard something banging against the wall outside.

He opened his eyes slightly, saw the stone wall intact, and went back to sleep.

“Mmm… delicious… mmm…”

In a haze, he instinctively grabbed something, eating heartily—delicious meat disappearing into his belly.

Piece after piece of meat was consumed.

Yet no matter how much he ate, he never felt full.

The food was strange—there were fingers and thighs.

When he finished all the relatively “normal” meat and bit into a skull, his eyes suddenly caught the pale, hateful gaze of Huang Hu, staring at him with venomous hatred.

“Damn it!”

Liu Hen was jolted awake, eyes snapping open.

The cave was pitch dark; the campfire had long gone out.

Only a faint light leaked through the gap at the top of the stone wall.

“…”

Watching the faint light filtering through, he fell silent, still shaken by the nightmare’s image, heart pounding.

After a long moment, he recovered, feeling his stomach burn anew, eyes resolute.

“I will never eat people. I have a magical gift—I will have endless food in the future!”

Once past the early stage, he would never starve again!

Suppressing his terror, he slowly sat up, put all remaining wood into the campfire’s fuel compartment, then packed away the fire and pulled out his all-purpose pickaxe to dig through the wall, preparing to leave.

This built wall would have to be broken down or mined through.

He couldn’t break such a sturdy wall yet, so he had to ‘open the door’ by mining.

Judging by the cave’s temperature inside, the fire had gone out not long ago.

Considering the remaining burn time before sleep, he must have slept for at least thirteen hours.

But perhaps due to hunger, fear, and nightmares, he felt weak and drained.

Soon, he dug a passage wide enough for a person through the stone wall.

Once inside and outside connected, the cave’s temperature dropped rapidly.

The cold wind hit him; he shivered involuntarily.

Yet his gaze was firm as he stepped outside—he wanted to live and go to Red Snail Camp to trade for food.

Outside, it was indeed early night, visibility increased to twenty or thirty meters.

He relieved himself at the cave entrance, then cautiously scanned the surroundings. Finding nothing amiss, he headed toward the workbench about ten meters away.

The workbench was intact, untouched by whatever lurked in the darkness.

Before reaching it, he drank two cups of steaming hot water.

The hot water soothed him considerably.

After freeing some space, he summoned the workbench into his backpack with a thought.

“With two cups of hot water to tide me over, I should survive until Red Snail Camp. Hopefully, I’ll arrive before deep night falls.”

He oriented himself and, alert to his surroundings, strode toward the direction of Red Snail Camp.