Chapter 44: Chapter 44: Creating a Safe House
Translator: 549690339
Song Jian stared in amazement at the dilapidated newsstand on the sidewalk in the distance. The small booth, occupying only five or six square meters, had a worn-out exterior, with even a fist-sized hole on its roof, giving it a shabby appearance;
“This guy chose this place as his safehouse. 1 suppose it’s because he didn’t need much stone and wood to transform this decaying newsstand,” Song Jian thought to himself;
Li Jie stood in the green beam of light, on the verge of tears. As he watched hundreds of monsters flocking around him, he felt like he was about to wet his pants from fear.
Being only a level three player, he had allocated all his skill points into the passive skill [Hot Weapons (Submachine Gun) (Basic)]. When he first entered the game, his novice weapon was a white-grade submachine gun that could load thirty-five bullets at a time.
This novice weapon allowed Li Jie to level up faster than other players. A submachine gun was highly convenient for new players; with a little practice, it could effectively deal with several sunlight-weakened mutant zombies. Li Jie’s starting experience was much better than Song Jian’s;
Nevertheless, once he entered the game for the second time, the main storyline mission to create a safehouse gave him a headache. Before long, he found a system trading shop in an abandoned convenience store. Though the tools for sale were expensive and he couldn’t afford them, even after selling all of his belongings;
For the past few days, Li Jie had been grinding the game, selling all the loot he had acquired to the shops at a cheap price. Two days ago, he finally gathered enough Doomsday Coins to buy a stone ax and a pickaxe;
Only when he began collecting materials did he realize just how much of a rip-off these two tools were. Their durability depleted at an alarming rate, comparable to the speed at which the Chinese A-Share index plummeted during a stock market crash. After a full day of gathering materials, both tools were worn out and he didn’t get much wood or stone;
A single-story shop in the city required hundreds of materials for renovation, far beyond Li Jie’s capability. If he were to choose one for his safehouse, he’d have to spend a long time in the game, something he couldn’t bear.
When Li Jie was about to give up, he saw a dilapidated newsstand by the side of the street. This discovery raised his spirits; after a quick check, he found that the wood and stone he had gathered were enough to transform the newsstand into a safehouse, even with some materials leftover. Joy washed over him as he hastily chose to renovate the newsstand into a safehouse.
Although he knew full well that his safehouse would be of the lowest grade, Li Jie had no other choice if he wanted to complete the main quest quickly;
“Its proximity to the streets will make it easier to farm monsters and level up,” Li Jie consoled himself;
However, he soon regretted his foolish decision when the display of an abnormal phenomenon began during the renovation process;
A beam of light piercing the sky seemed to be beckoning the surrounding monsters: “Come here! There’s something to eat!”
As expected, monsters within a one-kilometer radius swarmed towards his location before the beam had even started to dissipate;
Since he was unable to leave the beam, he had no choice but to watch helplessly as hundreds of monsters surrounded him, leaving no room for escape, not even for a mosquito to fly out;
“I’m dead for sure this time!” Despair spread across Li Jie’s face;
Under the influence of the green light beam, the newsstand gradually disintegrated, its particles turning into sparkling, translucent crystals. This disintegration spread from the roof downward, completely breaking down the newsstand into tiny, sandy particles that floated in mid-air within a short time;
These particles then evenly fell to the ground, forming a circle with a diameter of six or seven meters on the ground.
Planks of wood and stones flew out of Li Jie’s inventory, instantly changing their shapes in mid-air. A wooden house over two meters tall soon materialized before Li Jie’s eyes;
This small wooden house was barely larger than the sand circle, with less than a one-meter distance between them. It looked quite crude;
“This… this is my safehouse?” Li Jie stared dumbfounded at the wooden house, feeling like it was even less sturdy than the original newsstand;
System: Safehouse construction completed. Total defense level: 300;
System: You can continue building defensive structures in your safehouse. Currently available are: Wooden Spike Trap, Wooden Wall, Automatic Defense Arrow Tower … At the present safehouse level 1, you can only build Wooden Spike Traps (3);
System: You can continue upgrading your safehouse with the required materials. As the safehouse level increases, the safe area will expand, granting access to more defensive structures. You currently lack the necessary materials to upgrade the safehouse further;
Li Jie heard the system notification in his ear. Seeing that the safehouse was almost finished and the green beam of light was fading away, he nervously shouted, “1 need to build Wooden Spike Traps!”
With Li Jie’s remaining materials, he could only create three Wooden Spike Traps. Soon, three red circles with a diameter of half a meter appeared before Li Jie, and he could place them anywhere he desired;
Song Jian was fixedly watching the safehouse construction process in the distance. Many details that did not appear in missions would be revealed during this phase, giving Song Jian more confidence in building his safehouse;
“So, while creating a safehouse, all the monsters within a kilometer are automatically attracted to the safehouse. All 1 have to do is hide inside and kill them. It’s actually a lot more convenient. But this means that the requirements for the safehouse will increase proportionately. This guy’s safehouse probably won’t last long,” thought Song Jian;
When Song Jian saw Li Jie setting up Wooden Spike Traps, his eyes lit up and he seemed deep in thought;
The green beam of light grew thinner, and the monsters outside became restless. Some reckless creatures had already started hitting the beam with their bodies, roaring angrily as they did;
“Damn it, there’s no way 1 can hold them off!” Li Jie’s face turned pale; “If only I had known, I would’ve gathered more materials…”
System: Safehouse construction complete! Congratulations, you now have a small nest of your own in the game! From now on, you can leave the game in your safehouse, and your character will be under system protection when offline;
Boom-
With a soft sound, the almost transparent green beam shattered into countless glistening fragments. Roaring, the nearest monster charged towards Li Jie;
