While Everyone Panicked, I Upgraded My Raft

Chapter 30: Chapter 30: New Survival Mode

And Rowan Rhodes wasn’t the only one constantly selling goods on the trading hall.

Celia Lynch’s raft was currently Level 4. She had hoped to complete her raft’s construction before leveling it up, giving herself more confidence. However, watching more and more people reach Level 5 on the leaderboards, and seeing her own abundant resources, she decided to follow suit.

It was worth noting that every time the raft leveled up, new Equipment would be unlocked. She was also doing it for the new Equipment. She hoped there would be items suited for the extreme heat. After all, the mineral water she was putting up in the trading hall came from wooden chests, and the quantity was limited.

Once her raft reached Level 5, her eyes immediately locked onto the Seawater Desalinator. Only one thought remained in her mind: to build it. Moments later, Celia’s Seawater Desalinator was completed and began distilling and collecting water. Her heart was filled with joy. Now, she could sell water to even more people in need.

At that moment, Celia’s sharp eyes noticed plastic appearing in the waters. Didn’t this mean she could make plenty of mineral water bottles? At the same time, she absentmindedly checked the requirements to upgrade from Level 5 to Level 6. Upon seeing them, she let out a long breath. A top-tier player was truly a top-tier player! But still, she wasn’t doing too badly right now either!

Celia quickly began salvaging. With plentiful food and drink resources, she barely needed to worry about her condition. She could just replenish it whenever needed. And so, while producing mineral water, Celia listed her surplus mineral water and other resources suited for the extreme heat on the trading hall.

***

Zelda Parrish was wholeheartedly focused on making Sleeve Arrows. One advantage Sleeve Arrows had over the Bow and Arrow was that they required far less accuracy, allowing many players to easily get the hang of them. Because of this, Sleeve Arrows sold well, and naturally, she earned a lot.

Zelda really enjoyed this kind of Equipment Manufacturing. Not only did it yield more resources, but her Skill proficiency was also steadily increasing, which would help her level up. Originally, her idea was to release Equipment at critical moments to easily secure high prices. Now, her mindset had changed. Her target audience should be the general player base. She might earn a little less per piece of Equipment, but the sheer volume made up for it!

She genuinely had quite a lot of resources now. Just looking at them put her in a good mood. Of course, the reason she didn’t fish for marine resources was that her sea area Level wasn’t high—it was only F-level. The probability of getting wooden chests was low, as was the probability of obtaining food and mineral water. She had to rely on herself.

Fortunately, she had her craft, and she had also set up a dense array of fishing nets around her raft. The fishing nets gathered resources much faster than she could manually.

As she thought about this, another batch of Sleeve Arrows was completed. Zelda listed the Sleeve Arrows along with their corresponding supplementary Arrows. For a few of them, she specifically requested food in exchange. She didn’t lack water or resources; the only thing she was short on was food! Sure, she had stockpiled plenty of Shark Meat and Fish Meat, but... they tasted awful.

As it turned out, not long after listing them, she successfully traded for food. After eating and replenishing her condition, she dove right back into weapon Manufacturing. Earning resources? She wasn’t tired at all!

***

Skye Schuyler had just finished off two Abyssal Wurms. Looking at the mess on her raft, she let out a long sigh and immediately took out Wooden Boards to start repairing the damage. Once the repairs were done, she quickly took out a Hot Stone, crafted a torch, and placed it at the front of the raft. She thought her luck was genuinely quite good—two Abyssal Wurms had actually dropped a Hot Stone.

If possible, she would have liked to keep fighting, but she truly couldn’t handle it anymore. She was already physically weak; one Abyssal Wurm was manageable, but when dealing with two, she was almost dragged into the water. Would she survive if she were dragged into the water? Of course not! So, she decided not to take chances with her life.

She planned to make good use of her Cooking Skill. She had discovered that food made using her Skill actually carried special Effects. For example, a Coconut could be made into coconut milk jelly and coconut candy. Using these two products, she had successfully acquired a large amount of resources, allowing her raft to safely reach Level 4. It had to be said that after reaching Level 4, looking at her significantly expanded raft filled her with a sense of security.

Now that the Hot Stone was set up, she could peacefully focus on making food. After trading her previous batches of coconut milk jelly and coconut candy for resources, she had started trading for raw ingredients. By obtaining raw ingredients, she could make even more food with special Effects. Earlier, when she noticed someone selling a Mango in the trading hall, she hurried to trade her coconut milk jelly for it.

Now, a large Mango sat in front of her. She wondered what kind of Effect a food made from a Mango would have. At the moment, the simplest thing Skye could think of was dried mango. Peeling, slicing, and drying. Throughout this process, Skye actively used her Cooking Skill. A short while later, slices of dried mango were finished.

[Dried Mango: Grants a night vision Effect. Duration: 6 hours.]

Sure enough, it had a special Effect, and it seemed quite useful for the pitch-black night. At the very least, when the Abyssal Wurms attacked, she wouldn’t have to wait until they were right next to the raft to spot them.

Skye smiled and began listing them on the trading hall—some for resources, others in exchange for more Mangoes. Although her primary goal was to earn more resources, she also hoped that the special foods she made could help other players. The more players stayed alive, or the stronger they became, the better her craft could support her own survival.

***

Owen Caldwell looked at the Hot Stone he had traded several sunshades for and let out a long breath. Dealing with the Abyssal Wurm just now had nearly cost him his life. If he hadn’t been lucky enough to have a Sleeve Arrow in his hand when he was entangled, allowing him to kill the Abyssal Wurm, he most likely would have died.

Though he wasn’t dead, his entire waist had been burned, and his Life Value had plummeted to rock bottom. Fortunately, the sunshades he sold earlier had netted him enough food and water. After frantically replenishing himself and treating his wounds with a bandage, he had finally stabilized. Despite the pain wracking his body, he forced himself up and resumed manufacturing sunshades.

This was the capital he needed to survive. At this very moment, he was incredibly grateful for his woodworking Skill, which gave him a foothold in the game. One by one, sunshades took shape in his hands, which he then listed on the trading hall in exchange for one resource after another. He only hoped that after surviving the extreme heat disaster, he would still be able to make a living through his craftsmanship.

***

Faye Sinclair fired her Sleeve Arrows in rapid succession. Though her attacks were haphazard, she still managed to finish off the Abyssal Wurm. The moment she defeated it, she went straight to the trading hall. Spotting some small arrows compatible with her Sleeve Arrow, she immediately traded for them. Only after restocking her Sleeve Arrow did Faye feel at ease.

Soon after, her gaze landed on the Rough Insect Skin dropped by the Abyssal Wurm. As a tailor, she could tell that this Rough Insect Skin was very suitable for making clothes. Since she had the tailor Skill, she had to see if this insect skin could be made into clothing with special Effects. If she succeeded and the item proved useful during this extreme heat disaster, she truly wouldn’t have to worry anymore. After all, there was quite a lot of Rough Insect Skin listed on the trading hall right now.

Taking out the needle and thread she had specially made, Faye activated her Skill and began processing the Rough Insect Skin. The night was dark, so Faye relied on the faint glow of the campfire and her own instincts to tailor the material. She was older, and if she wanted to survive in this Sea Survival Game, she could only rely on this skill of hers. She was thankful that she had this ability. She had to strive to live! She had to wait for the day she could reunite with her daughter.

Fueled by this thought and determination, a short-sleeved shirt took shape in Faye’s hands a moment later.

[Insect Skin Short Sleeves: Possesses a heat-resistant Effect, ignores high temperatures, and maintains a comfortable body temperature.]

The moment she saw the Effect, Faye’s eyes lit up. Although these Insect Skin Short Sleeves, like the Heat-resistant Suit she previously made, only had a heat-resistant Effect, they had no time limit. This meant that as long as the sleeves weren’t ruined or worn out, the Effect would persist indefinitely. Rough Insect Skin was truly excellent material!

Faye didn’t immediately list them on the trading hall; instead, she advertised her Insect Skin Short Sleeves on the world channel. After advertising, Faye asked for a relatively high price. Yet, the moment she listed it on the trading hall, it was snatched up instantly. Beaming with joy as she received the resources, Faye went back to tinkering and manufacturing more Insect Skin Short Sleeves.

***

...

***

More and more players were utilizing their Skills in this manner to exchange for resources on the trading hall.

The players had unlocked a new mode of survival.

They didn’t know how the other districts were faring. All they knew was that right now, their District 122 was doing pretty damn well!