I Have a Lot of Hair, real name Li Fan, is a young master from the third star ring of Dalibik.
When the First Server released login devices for the top three star rings, he didn’t manage to get one. He had no choice but to play on the Second Server, joining the very lower rings and wasteland dwellers he looked down upon the most.
Ever since Jiang Ye had him forced offline, Li Fan queued for ages to get back into the game.
To catch up with his friends’ progress, Li Fan didn’t waste time on killing rabbits. He chose the shortcut.
When his Private Chat inquiry about the price didn’t get an immediate reply, Li Fan grew impatient and sent a voice message.
I Have a Lot of Hair: “You there? How much is it, hurry up.”
A-Xing, who had just finished negotiating with Jiang Ye, replied without missing a beat, quoting the price: “Hey, bro, this seafood is 9,980 gold coins a serving.”
Li Fan wasn’t short on money, but he wouldn’t be taken for a fool either.
He snapped, “You’re selling a game item for 9,980? Why don’t you just go out and rob someone?!”
A-Xing didn’t get angry, just smiled and explained, “Hair Bro, here’s the thing. Right now, I’m the only one selling seafood in the whole game. And if you buy it, you save all the time you’d waste killing rabbits. Isn’t your time valuable? Time is money!”
Li Fan snorted dismissively, confidently stepped forward, and was ready to stab a rabbit with the starting dagger given by the Village chief. Who could have expected to take a flying kick from the rabbit, landing right on his crotch.
This time, even though he’d lowered the pain setting, the psychological trauma still made him tremble.
He immediately transferred 9,980 gold coins to A-Xing: “I’ll buy it. I’ll buy!”
A-Xing handed him a whole herring and a serving of Coconut water, speaking kindly, “Here’s your seafood. The Coconut water is a free gift, it’s really tasty. Come again!”
Li Fan took his stuff and left, successfully leveling up.
Maybe he really thought it was worth it, because not long after, he messaged A-Xing again: “Boss, got any more? My friend wants some too.”
So, just like that, A-Xing and Jiang Ye sold three fish in one go, earning nearly 30,000 gold coins.
Li Fan also craved the Coconut water and, when told by A-Xing it wasn’t for sale, couldn’t resist. To get the gift, he even prepaid for seafood for the next day.
A-Xing and Jiang Ye looked at their suddenly plump wallets and felt a bit dazed for a moment.
Jiang Ye sighed, “If only everyone we met in the future was this foolishly rich...”
A-Xing agreed, “Yeah.”
A few more sales and they’d have enough funds to bail if necessary.
Now that they had some money, Jiang Ye asked A-Xing to help buy a few things in the novice village and send them over via the friends interface, either by remote trade or mail.
Although he didn’t quite understand why, A-Xing obediently followed Jiang Ye’s list and bought everything she needed from the NPCs.
A dagger, a boning knife, a pile of lumber, a cooking pot, some hemp rope and cotton cloth, and other things like salt.
Sending the whole package to Jiang Ye, A-Xing couldn’t hold back his curiosity and finally asked, “Xiao Jiang, what do you want these for?”
Jiang Ye answered with just one word: “Living.”
When you’re alone on an Island, you have to find things to do.
She wasn’t like A-Xing, living happily in the fully equipped novice village. On this birdless, barren island, Jiang Ye was starting to feel like she’d be cooked alive by the sun.
She made up her mind to build herself a small wooden hut for shade and rest.
If she’d really been alone on a deserted island in real life, building a wooden hut would be a lost cause. But she was in a game!
Because this is a game, anything is possible.
Jiang Ye began work the moment she received the items.
She first tried picking up two pieces of lumber and joining them together. At that moment, a popup appeared on her interface.
[System: Do you want to merge these two pieces of lumber?]
Jiang Ye clicked confirm, and the two planks became one, turning into something bigger.
This little surprise proved Jiang Ye’s guess.
Although the holographic game was realistic, it didn’t make you actually live the life of an architect. The point of a game is to let players experience real-life things without sacrificing fun.
In other words, building a house in a holographic game is like playing with blocks.
Jiang Ye worked alone for ages and finally managed to put together a decent-looking hut.
She clapped her hands with satisfaction, wiped the sweat from her forehead with her arm, and looked on gratefully.
Then she realized the problem.
She’d built the house, but it had no foundation.
Jiang Ye had no choice but to tear it down and start again.
She tried to force the planks for the foundation into the earth by hand, but failed. Gripping her teeth, she took a leap, aimed her head at the edge of the plank, and rammed it.
Thunk.
With the help of the Iron Head Technique, the plank sank into the dirt.
When the System notification popped up “Iron Head Technique proficiency +1, level increased,” Jiang Ye was speechless.
From then on, she didn’t need a hammer. Her forehead was the toughest hammer in the world.
Blushing with shame and a bit of irritation, Jiang Ye drove each plank into the ground with her head, then started the hard work of rebuilding the hut.
Practice makes perfect.
Not long after, Jiang Ye looked at the completed wooden hut and happily clapped her hands.
[System: Congratulations to the player for building a wooden hut. Construction mode unlocked, Level +1. Current island development progress is 1. Keep up the good work!]
Jiang Ye opened her backpack to find a new Island Construction Manual inside.
When she clicked it, the manual unfolded like a pop-up book before her, and everything it showed was exactly what she could see now.
An island, a coconut tree, a wooden hut.
Jiang Ye tapped the coconut tree and noticed new text had appeared.
[You can replant the fruit. Maturity time is 48 hours.]
Then she tapped the wooden hut.
[Upgradeable. Spend 9,980 gold coins to receive an “extra sturdy, cozy wooden hut.”]
!!!
This game is doing it on purpose, isn’t it?!
Jiang Ye slammed the Island Construction Manual shut, grinding her teeth like an angry rabbit. She head-butted the coconut tree, picked a coconut, and tried planting it in the dirt.
And it worked.
The buried coconut sprouted a tiny green shoot, marked with a timer: [47:59:59] remaining.
Seeing it worked, Jiang Ye planted the remaining three coconuts from the tree all at once.
Now there was hope for mass coconut production.
With that done, Jiang Ye set her sights on the new fish species she’d obtained.
Anchovy could be made into dried fish or fish sauce. She had no idea how flexible the game would be about it, but since she had nothing else to do, it was worth a try.
She planned to grill the sardine.
She cut down a branch from the coconut tree, whittled one end to a point, then gouged a hole into a plank with a knife. Then, holding the stick and pressing her foot onto the board, she began spinning the stick between her palms.
It took effort and speed, requiring some skill.
Jiang Ye didn’t give up. She tried again and again until she saw a wisp of smoke rising from the tip. The faint gray smoke curled upward like a lively little snake, wriggling through the air. It seemed playful, darting around in the wind, much like Jiang Ye’s mood right then.
This tiny flame meant her standard of living on the island was about to take a big leap.
Even better, the flame could be collected into the backpack and used again, so next time she wouldn’t have to repeat the process.
After all this, Jiang Ye noticed that night was gradually falling in the game.
The distant horizon was painted orange by the sunset. The sun looked like a drop of colored ink falling into the sea from the sky above.
There were a thousand reds at the edge of the sky, and even the blue of the sea glowed warm in the twilight as the waves rolled in. In this endless romance, there seemed to lurk a trace of unknown danger.
Jiang Ye started to feel afraid.
Because she knew, once the sun set completely, what awaited her would be a shadowed sea, a world without even a hint of light.
She hurriedly built a campfire not far from her wooden hut. Only when she watched the sparks bursting upward wildly and the flames ambitiously reaching for the sky did she feel truly secure.
Time in-game didn’t flow the same as in reality, but luckily, the island and novice village ran on the same clock.
Night had fallen in the novice village too.
The village stayed bright, but the wild monster areas were pitch black. Most players didn’t like hunting in that darkness, and even A-Xing told Jiang Ye he’d be logging off for the night.
The world fell silent.
The sky was jet black.
The flickering stars, the distant moon, and her campfire were the only lights in Jiang Ye’s world.
She skewered a sardine on a thin stick and roasted it over the fire.
These blue-backed fish have a stronger fishy smell than most.
As the aroma wafted up, and she heard the sizzling of fish oil dripping into the fire, watching the fireworks of sparks, Jiang Ye suddenly felt the chill and fear in her body begin to melt away, replaced by a comforting warmth.
She sprinkled on some salt and pepper, and as the fragrance grew richer and richer, her fear turned to hunger.
Rubbing her hands, she picked up the grilled sardine and was just about to take a bite when, through the firelight, she locked eyes with a pair of glowing green eyes.
Pupils vertical.
Jiang Ye’s scalp tingled, and the sardine in her hand suddenly lost all appeal.
Snakes!!
Bands of blue and green patterned their bodies.
This was the blue-gray flat-tail Sea snake!
This species is notorious for its venom, well-known even among snakes.
Worst of all, there wasn’t just one in front of her now, but countless.
Those glowing green eyes outnumbered the stars in the sky!