Chapter 9 — Chapter 9

Spend money?
There’s no way I’m spending money.
Spending money in a game is impossible for me in this lifetime.
Having been a despicable game planner in her past life, forced by her heartless boss to always find new ways to make players spend money, Jiang Ye knew that as soon as she spent money once, it would become a bottomless pit.
What’s more, they were asking for 9,980 gold coins.
She wasn’t some sucker like Li Fan, able to throw money around like nothing. That exchange rate was nearly ten thousand star coins. Jiang Ye would have to be an idiot to waste money on building a house.
She angrily flipped off the system reminder in front of her, then dutifully salvaged all the collapsed lumber, hoping to start building the wooden hut from scratch.
[System: The lumber you are using is damaged.]
Jiang Ye refused to believe it and picked up another intact piece of lumber.
[System: The lumber you are using is damaged.]
What the hell!
This crappy game is definitely doing this on purpose!
Enraged, Jiang Ye turned all the lumber into firewood, lit a fire, bundled up in cloth, and sat by the campfire to keep warm.
The game was so realistic that when she parted her lips to breathe, a faint wisp of white vapor curled into the air.
The temperature difference between day and night on this Island was utterly ridiculous.
Jiang Ye wrapped the cloth tightly around herself and opened her friends list.
A-Xing hadn’t logged on yet, only Yuchi Xi’s name was lit.
Not wanting to bother this not-so-close friend, Jiang Ye closed the window and braced herself to keep enduring.
At first, the campfire burning before her was still somewhat useful, taking the edge off her icy suffering. But as time slowly passed and night got deeper, Jiang Ye realized the fire had turned into little more than a symbol, burning like hope, but no longer keeping her warm.
Her whole body was nearly frozen stiff.
[System: Detected that the surrounding environment has entered a low temperature state. Stamina consumption has entered an accelerated phase.]
Jiang Ye gulped a mouthful of coconut water. She immediately felt a chill from head to toe, lightheaded, her scalp tingled, and she nearly fainted.
She couldn’t take it any longer and sent a message to Yuchi Xi.
A Leaf Boat: “Are you there?”
Yuchi Xi was a night owl and replied instantly, “Here. What’s up, expert?”
Jiang Ye didn’t even have time to question the weird address. She just rushed to type, shivering, “Yuchi, could you help me buy some thick clothes at the novice village? Preferably the cheapest ones.”
Yuchi Xi hesitated, “Expert, it’s nighttime and all the shops in the novice village are closed.”
Jiang Ye: “Dammit dammit dammit.”
Yuchi Xi, not understanding the curse, replied in confusion, “What’s wrong with ‘dammit’?”
Jiang Ye begged, “Yuchi, do you have any warm clothes?”
Yuchi Xi shook their head, “Nope. It’s summer right now.”
Damn this summer!
Jiang Ye thanked him, hung up, and even her sneezes seemed to freeze into little lumps of ice.
She strongly suspected the game planners had it out for her bug-exploiting ways and were messing with her, maybe even sitting in front of the computer right now, making programmers work overtime to change the weather data just to freeze her like the North Pole.
[System: Warning! Player’s Stamina is now below 5! If you do not take measures to keep warm, you will enter a hibernation state!]
Jiang Ye gave up.
“Hibernation it is then. At least when I close my eyes and open them again, it’ll be morning.”
[System: Friendly reminder, hibernation time is 24 hours of in-game time.]
...
Which meant, if Jiang Ye entered hibernation now, she’d wake up right in the middle of another freezing night.
Then she’d go right back into hibernation from the cold, trapped in an endless loop.
No matter how much coconut water she chugged now, the Stamina boost from the item couldn’t keep up with the crazy drop from the cold.
Plus, coconut water was way too cold.
It hurt her teeth.
With no way out, there was only one option left before her: Spend money to upgrade the house.
She opened the Island Construction Manual and tapped on the 3D layout of the collapsed wooden hut. A bold +1 button popped up.
[System: Are you sure you want to spend 9,980 gold coins to upgrade your damaged wooden hut?]
Those four numbers were like four knives, stabbing straight from Jiang Ye’s eyes into her chest.
Her heart was bleeding.
Jiang Ye hesitated for a long time and sent a message to A-Xing.
After all, even though A-Xing had said to leave all gold coins with her, Jiang Ye felt that this money should rightfully be split with him.
She was stingy, yes, but she liked her accounts to be clear.
Jiang Ye explained the situation to A-Xing, then stated that from now on, they’d split future earnings seventy-thirty, seventy for her, thirty to A-Xing. As for the 9,980 gold coins spent today, she’d find a way to make it up.
She didn’t want to owe anyone.
After sorting this out, Jiang Ye gritted her teeth and pressed the flashing, seductive +1 button.
At the lightest tap, a burst of brightness exploded across the Island.
White light spread out, accompanied by the clanging of construction sound effects. After a cloud of smoke, a brand new house appeared before Jiang Ye.
At the same time, the gold coin count at the bottom of her backpack dropped sharply.
Jiang Ye, who seconds ago had been happy, looked at her depleted funds, then the brand new luxurious wooden hut, and suddenly lost her joy.
If this were Monopoly, spending money to upgrade a house would be fine since the money could come back.
But now, she was the only one on the Island. What good was spending this money?
Hmph!
Jiang Ye was certain she’d fallen victim to the masterminds behind the game.
Grinding her teeth in anger, she stalked over to the wooden hut and shoved open the door.
Hanging on the plain-looking wooden hut’s door was a cute silver wind chime that sounded clear and melodious when pushed open.
Inside was a cozy living room. The decor was classic display-home style but the furniture was complete, including a computer, sofa, coffee table, and even a fireplace against the wall.
Jiang Ye couldn’t help thinking how odd it was for a so-called ancient-style game to have a TV in the house.
But thinking more, she wondered, was this a bug? Or had the game constructed it all based on her subconscious idea of home?... But could a program do that?
Seeing the house’s design and decor modes, Jiang Ye speculated that maybe, in this game, players could realize any concept for homes they purchased. Whether ancient, modern, or cyberpunk—so long as they had money and materials, maybe they could decorate their huts however they wanted inside.
Going farther in, she found the bedroom and bathroom, with a small single bed made up with soft bedding, and crisp white sheets, hotel-style.
Amazingly, this little hut even had its own kitchen, with a basic stove and cookware, everything neat and in place for cooking.
Jiang Ye could hardly believe it.
She walked backwards out, closed the door, and stood outside, looking at the wooden hut.
From outside, the hut really did take up only a tiny plot.
But when she pushed the door open, it was like another world existed within, as if extra space had overlapped inside it.
Small as a sparrow but with all its vital organs.
Jiang Ye sat on the sofa.
Though the all-white interior made her feel like she was in a room where someone had died, the warmth and the rush of heat through her body reminded her that she was alive.
Unwilling as she was to admit it, Jiang Ye had to honestly concede that these 9,980 gold coins were actually well spent.
She could even redesign and recolor everything in the house.
But it would all cost money.
Jiang Ye didn’t mind the Syrian-style room, so she couldn’t be bothered to spend any more.
Compared to spending money, the bigger priority now was to find a way to earn back those 9,980 gold coins.
After thinking for a while, Jiang Ye decided to try a desperate measure.
She opened the live stream interface and pressed the button.
[System: Please confirm once again if you wish to become a Streamer?]