Chapter 68: The Virtuous Cycle Begins

Chapter 68: Chapter 68: The Virtuous Cycle Begins

Seeing that the situation in District 122 had stabilized, Rowan Rhodes placed an ample amount of the purchased honeycomb coal into the Charcoal Stove and prepared for bed. It had to be said, snuggling up in a warm room was an incredibly comfortable feeling. Before she knew it, Rowan fell into a deep, restful sleep that lasted through the night.

Meanwhile, the players in District 122 were hard at work. Some stayed up all night producing honeycomb coal and charcoal, while others went to sleep first, only to force themselves out of their warm beds in the middle of the night to start crafting. In short, they were going all out to make money!

In the blink of an eye, dawn arrived.

When Rowan woke from her slumber, only a few pieces of honeycomb coal remained in the Charcoal Stove. Suppressing a yawn, she put on her new Equipment, bundling herself up tightly from head to toe.

As she stepped out the door, she noticed a smattering of white frost clinging to the leaves and vines of her planted potatoes and sweet potatoes. Rowan quickly added fuel to the nearby Charcoal Stove and began harvesting the crops. Upon activating her C-level Collection Skill, the yielded amount was significantly higher than under normal circumstances. She set aside a portion of the harvest for replanting and traded the rest to Skye Schuyler. Immediately after, Rowan headed up to the third floor.

The temperature on the third floor was even lower than the second, with snowflakes continuously drifting down from the sky. Yesterday it had only been a light snow, but today the flakes were much larger—dense and heavy like goose feathers. However, the moment this heavy snowfall landed on the raft, it melted into rainwater. The Charcoal Stove Rowan had placed on the third floor was certainly doing its job.

Rowan added honeycomb coal to the Charcoal Stoves in both the Seed Bed and the tree planting areas before turning her attention to the pasture.

In the pasture, the hens and goats were hiding inside their respective sheds. After all, with Charcoal Stoves placed directly inside their shelters, it was far cozier indoors than out in the biting cold. Checking on their condition, Rowan glanced at the control panel. The data charts for both the hens and the goats indicated that there were products ready to be collected: eggs from the hens, and wool and goat’s milk from the goats. However, there was a specific note attached to the wool collection.

[The weather is freezing. Please ensure the goats are kept warm after shearing, otherwise there is a risk of death.]

Seeing this, Rowan collected the items without hesitation. Combining them with the previous day’s harvest, she handed the eggs over to Jaina Harmon, the wool to Faye Sinclair, and the goat’s milk to Skye Schuyler.

After taking care of these chores, Rowan made her way down to the first floor. She added enough honeycomb coal to the various Charcoal Stoves to keep the temperature pleasantly warm, then headed over to the work area.

The work area was fully stocked with a variety of manufactured Equipment. She had set these to produce before going to sleep. Now that she had electricity, crafting advanced Equipment using the Workbench and Furnace was much easier. The only downside was the prompt flashing before her.

[Workbench and Furnace Durability low. Please repair!]

Rowan quickly grabbed the necessary resources and fed them into the machines, restoring the Workbench and Furnace to their optimal condition.

It was safe to say this would become the new norm for the raft moving forward. The more Equipment one used, the more massive amounts of resources were required. As a result, all players had to continuously gather resources without a single day of rest. In the later stages, as Equipment Levels increased, the higher Durability loss would demand even more materials. If someone didn’t have enough, they would have to fight others for them. It was an inevitable part of progression.

With these thoughts in mind, Rowan continued loading resources into the Workbench and Furnace to keep production running. While the Workbench and Furnace hummed along, Rowan opened the backend of the Sea Survival Shop. As soon as she logged in, she saw that the resident players from various districts had sent over the Equipment she needed—and even some items that weren’t originally in her plans.

[District 1938 Jaina Harmon: Basic Blood Regeneration Ointment *238]

[District 5423 Ian Sinclair: Flaming Fire Bow and Arrow *250, temperature control equipment *120]

[District 2744 Finn York: Iron-made Sled *10, Wooden Sled *120]

[District 122 Zelda Parrish: Flaming Fire Bow and Arrow *200, temperature control equipment *100, Wooden Sled *50]

[District 122 Owen Caldwell: Charcoal Stove *100, small hand stove *200, Firebox *50]

[District 122 Faye Sinclair: Insect Skin Warm-up Suit *300, Hot Water Bag *300, wool gloves *20, wool scarf *10, wool hat *5]

[District 122 Skye Schuyler: Mashed Potatoes *100, Baked Sweet Potato *50]

[...]

Both the variety and quantity of the cold-weather gear today had exceeded yesterday’s haul. After confirming the receipt of all the items, Rowan shifted her attention to the world channel and trading hall of District 122.

[District 122: (97403 / 100000)]

It was glaringly obvious that nearly four hundred people had died since the first day the extreme cold disaster struck. Judging by the timestamps of the deaths Rowan had monitored yesterday, the vast majority of these players had fallen victim to Frost Phosphorus Shrimp attacks. Thanks to Celia Lynch’s warning from the previous night until this morning, the player count had still dropped, but not by much—only a few dozen casualties.

Rather than dwelling on the death toll, the world channel was currently buzzing with discussions about how much profit everyone had made.

"UGH, after a grueling night, I finally earned some Trading Coins back. It somewhat makes up for not being able to fish for resources in the sea."

"I’m going to recover my stats a bit and then continue crafting."

"I listed my items ages ago. Why haven’t they been bought yet?"

"That’s normal! There are only a few top players buying, and their Trading Coins and resources are limited. We probably have to wait for them to sell their stock before they can buy more!"

"Yeah, they’ve already made their move. There are honeycomb coal and charcoal for sale in the Sea Survival Shop right now. We just have to wait for their funds to roll back in."

"The prices in the Sea Survival Shop are twice as high as their purchasing price! If only I were a resident player!"

"If you want to become a resident player, you’d better grind your Skills."

"We’re all grinding!"

"I just went to check and suddenly realized that no matter what the item is, it sells out so fast!"

"Naturally. They’re catering to a market of at least several hundred million people. How could it not be fast?"

"..."

While discussions flooded the world channel, the trading hall was absolutely overflowing with honeycomb coal and charcoal. Naturally, the prices were uniform across the board. This was a strategy the players had agreed upon among themselves. By setting a fixed price, they could prevent others from lowballing them.

Zelda Parrish, Owen Caldwell, Faye Sinclair, and the others understood their intentions. They purchased the goods in batches in the exact order they appeared on the market, then listed them in the Sea Survival Shop. The process was a bit tedious, but Zelda and the rest were thoroughly enjoying it. After all, making money this way was far too satisfying. They didn’t have to engage in any hard labor; with just a few flicks of their fingers, they could rake in massive amounts of Trading Coins.

In reality, it wasn’t just them—resident players from other districts shared the exact same mindset. The more Trading Coins and resources they held, the more profit they could generate. And while these resident players reaped the benefits, the ordinary players in their respective districts also profited indirectly through them.

Watching the activities of the players in District 122 and reviewing the listing status of the two hundred resident players, Rowan let out a long exhale. This was a virtuous cycle. It had expanded from District 122 out to the districts where the other resident players were located, and it still had the potential to grow even further. Districts without resident players would at least be able to acquire a little bit of "life-saving rations" through the Sea Survival Shop.

While she was lost in thought, the time reached 7:00 AM.

Today’s batch of goods was once again listed in the Sea Survival Shop.