Chapter 29 - “Life Skills Player 2”

Last time, on Apocalypse Lord: Yun Ling goes on a foraging spree, various players discover life skills.

This chapter has been brought to you by me and Smash10101.

Chapter 29 – Life Skills Player 2

On the way back to camp, Zhang Hong Bo had a heavy heart, and no smile on his face.

Today, his luck had been very bad.

They first encountered a monster group, as many as seventeen, and then they encountered the boss. Their group ran for their lives, and managed to escape.

Later, they killed some monsters that were alone. The drop rate was very bad, and the amount of copper coins was pitiful.

Zhang Hong Bo touched the pitiful 8 copper coins in his pocket, his expression worried — there were two in his family. Each day, they had to pay 10 copper coins to stay overnight. Now, he only had 8. What to do tonight?

He must not get thrown out!

If they left, they wouldn’t be able to come back!

Thinking about it, Zhang Hong Bo gritted his teeth. Wasn’t it just a lack of copper coins? At worst, he would go out alone to hunt after returning to camp.

It was safe to team up with others, but they had to split the drops. It was very hard to save up copper coins.

Hunting alone was different. While there was risk, killing just one or two monsters was enough to pay the overnight fee.

Just as he made up his mind, the system suddenly notified, [Welcome back to “Rising Cloud Village.]

“Strange, usually, isn’t it [Welcome back to ‘ Rising Cloud Camp’]? Why did the name change? Right, is the territory a bit bigger than before?” Someone muttered.

Zhang Hong Bo was full of worry, and did not have time to ponder the difference between Rising Cloud Camp and Rising Cloud Village.

After the team leader announced “disband,” he walked with heavy steps.

“Hong Bo, come quick and help me collect money!!”

From afar, Zhang Hong Bo heard the strong roar of his grandfather.

Collect money? Collect what money?

Zhang Hong Bo was puzzled. When he came close, he found several people he did not know standing around. They were looking interestedly at his grandfather weaving straw, or whispering in low voices.

What were they doing?

Zhang Hong Bo was confused.

Old Zhang’s fingers flew. Soon, he made a new pair of straw sandals.

Immediately, someone came with 30 copper coins, and then hugged the straw sandals, leaving happily.

Zhang Hong Bo, “???”

Looking at the dozens of copper coins that he easily got, he was dazed and thought he was dreaming.

“They say that this is equipment, and wearing it, they will have increased agility.” Old Zhang was happy. “As long as I can weave the straw sandals, they are willing to pay to buy.”

There was a deathly silence.

A long time later, Zhang Hong Bo slowly said, “Grandfather, I will not go hunting anymore, I will stay and learn to weave straw sandals from you.”

**

The sun was westward in the sky.

Yun Ling returned to camp with a bag full of materials.

Unexpectedly, when she entered the territory, she heard people shouting, “Cheap and useful straw sandals, 30 copper coins per pair!”

“Bamboo shield, selling bamboo shield! Inexpensive, lowers damage received by 3 points, just 100 copper coins for one!”

“Wood spear, 50 copper coins for one, no other price. If you need, come and buy.”

It seemed the players had unlocked life skills, Yun Ling realized.

Then, she thought of a problem — straw sandals, bamboo shields, and wood spears would sell well. Would this affect the business of the Woodworking Workshop, and the Tailor Shop?

She did not worry for the early stages of the game. There were only a few life players, their production was limited, the equipment scarce, and could not keep up with demand.

After a while, as more equipment came from monster drops, and there were more life players, low level equipment would not be so easy to sell.

But at that thought, she likely would be hiring intermediate woodworking/sewing NPCs and advanced woodworking/sewing NPCs to create high level equipment.

There were many substitutes for low level equipment. But the medium and high level equipment was not so simple.

At this, Yun Ling put away her thoughts, and went into the warehouse to unload her materials.

She cleaned out her linen backpack. Then she opened the window, and started to take care of matters of the territory.

[NPC “Ray” is visiting. Will you hire them?]

[NPC “Austin” is visiting. Will you hire them?]

Yun Ling clicked to look.

[Name: Ray]

Level: 2

Attributes: Strength 7, Agility 5, Stamina 10, Intelligence 5, Spirit 5.

Combat Skills: B-rank Damage Reduction

Life Skills: Elementary Foraging

Employment Price: 650 copper coins.

[Name: Austin]

Level: 0

Attributes: Strength 4, Agility 5, Stamina 4, Intelligence 4, Spirit 4.

Combat Skills: C-rank Stick

Life Skills: None

Employment Price: 50 copper coins.

Ray was a warrior/tank, level 2. With both a B-rank skill and foraging.

Austin was an assassin, the attributes and combat skills ordinary.

Yun Ling confirmed hiring “Lei” and gave the name “Guard B.” She planned to take him out tomorrow, and the two could collect materials together.

She opened the territory attribute window, and wanted to unlock new buildings. After browsing for a while, she suddenly froze.

Defense Shield: Defensive building, can stop incoming enemies. Requires 100 copper coins to build. (Note: Territory has to be “village” or above in order to unlock.)

After the 10 days of the beginners protection period, the territory could be attacked at any moment. At such a time, the defensive shield was needed to protect the territory.

If an attack occurred, and the HP of the defensive shield dropped by 25%, the system would notify the residents.

When the HP fell to 50%, there would be a second warning. When the HP fell to 75%, there would be a third warning. When the HP was zero, and the defensive shield broke, the system would notify the players to evacuate in time.

In other words, after 10 days, the defensive shield was a necessary building for the territory.

“Oops!” Yun Ling suddenly realized. “I just remember that functional buildings will take up slots, and forgot that defensive buildings are also buildings.”

She had to unlock the defense shield. She had to click “yes.”

In the next moment, -100 copper coins.

At the same time, a transparent hemisphere appeared in the sky above the territory.

[Name: Defensive Shield]

生命值：5000/5000

HP: 5000/5000

Use Effect: Block incoming enemies

Base Recover Speed: 1 HP/minute.

Note: Recover can be sped up by spending copper coins.

The territory attribute window showed —

[Unlockable Buildings: 7]

[Existing Buildings: 6]

Yun Ling had a headache. There were not enough building slots. Should she unlock the restaurant next, or the blacksmith shop?

**

Each evening, the territory was very lively.

“High quality sandalwood furniture! Do not miss it!” One stall owner shouted.

A player at the side wondered. “What time is this that you are still selling sandalwood? Isn’t it better to sell equipment and game materials?”

“What do you know?” the stall owner snorted. “In the morning, several high level players bought wood houses. Their houses are empty. Do they not have to buy some furniture to fill their rooms?”

“Sandalwood is high quality, and their best choice.”

The other person was speechless and convinced.

A true high level player — Lu Chuan passed by without even looking at the sandalwood. He stood in front of another stall. “How are you selling the storage boxes?”

The stall owner finally got a customer and feared a high price would scare him off. “1 copper coin per box.”

Lu Chuan picked it up to look closely. “Where did you get this?”

The stall owner answered, “From the shops.”

“Why did you think to bring these back to the territory?” Lu Chuan said.

The stall owner grimaced. “The food and drink were all taken away. The shops only have such useless things left. I felt that I did not move them now, I won’t be able to get these in the future.”

Not all players were like Yun Ling and Lu Chuan, able to move around the world.

Twenty minutes of walking distance to the camp was about the limit for ordinary people.

The surrounding shops were repeatedly searched. Would anything be left over?

The stall owner dragged these things back to the territory because he was giving up. In his view, as long as he could sell one or two, it was better than nothing.

Lu Chuan put down the storage box. “I want ten.”

Ten boxes were 10 copper coins. Enough to pay for two nights!

He had never thought that someone was willing to buy the rubbish.

The stall owner was overjoyed and said, “Yes, I will get them now.”

The storage boxes could be placed on top of each other like a cabinet. They saved space and they had a large capacity. They were perfect for holding all kinds of things.

Putting the 10 storage boxes into the linen backpack, Lu Chuan continued to wander.

Behind him, the stall owner was envious. “He was willing to spend copper coins to buy storage boxes … this person must be very rich.”

**

At the same time, Yun Ling was also shopping. “The silk blanket is not bad. How about it?”

The other was a girl of sixteen or so with a wary gaze. “What price do you want?”

“5 copper coins,” Yun Ling said.

The girl was slightly convinced but also hesitant.

Yun Ling glanced at the goods on the ground, and said, “If you give both blankets to me, add that thick fleece blanket, I will give you 5 copper coins, a tent and sleeping bag.”

“Really?” The girl was shocked and joyful.

For players who could not afford to by wood houses, there was nothing better for the night than a tent and sleeping bag.

“Really.” Yun Ling took out the items.

She had picked up the tent and sleeping bag. At first, she had wanted to sell them for money, but later, she put them in the warehouse and forgot about it. It was perfect to use to trade for the silk and fleece blankets.

“Deal!” The girl joyfully agreed.

“They look pretty new, they haven’t been used?” Yun Ling asked.

“No.” The girl said honestly. “The team found a home decor store, and I got the items from the store. If you are worried, you can wash it before use.”

“Yes.”

After exchanging goods and money, Yun Ling stood up to return to her house.

In reality, what she wanted to buy the most were bamboo chairs and a bamboo bed. But after a circle, she did not see anyone selling, so she stopped shopping.

After she went back, she could make a cotton backpack, some bandages, and then it would be time to sleep.

When she reached the wood house, before she entered, she accidentally met Lu Chuan.

“How come you are here?” Yun Ling asked first.

“The house I bought is here.” Lu Chuan pointed at the wood house. “What about you?”

“I live in this one,” Yun Ling said.

The pair just discovered they were neighbors.

“Such a coincidence,” Lu Chuan said.

Then the air grew still.

“Rest early, we have to get up early tomorrow,” Lu Chuan said as he pushed open his own door.

“Wait a moment!” Yun Ling called to him.

Lu Chuan stopped walking and waited for her to speak.

Yun Ling said, “I said before that I planned to upgrade the village in two days, unlock the residences in three days, and the restaurant in five. Something unexpected happened. The restaurant…may not be unlocked any time soon.”

She had to ponder what building she would unlock with her remaining slot.

“No rush.” Lu Chuan did not care. “I do not want to interfere in the development of the territory. I asked about the future development just because I did not want to see a demon configuration of a restaurant, BBQ shop, pastry shop, and bakery.”

Yun Ling:”……”

There were over fifty types of buildings that could be unlocked. Some had similar functions, like the restaurant, BBQ shop, pastry shop, and bakery.

Wasting the rare building slots on buildings that had similar functions was unbalanced development, and a demon configuration.

“If there is nothing else,” Lu Chuan bid farewell to Yun Ling as he stepped into the wood house, “Goodnight.”