Planning Life

Chapter 10: Planning Life

When the morning light of the tenth day, punctual and harmless like the nine before it, streamed through the hole in the main house's roof and scattered golden patches across Chen An's face, he didn't get up right away. He lay quietly on the straw bed, listening to the chirping of some unknown insect by the well in the yard, feeling the breeze that carried the fresh scent of grass and trees through the cracks.

A strange sense of calm had replaced the bone-deep terror of the first few days and the wild joy of surviving against all odds.

He was still alive. Not just alive, but in this perilous Primordial World, he had secured a foothold of absolute safety. Nine consecutive nights of watching "horror films" live had shifted him from sheer terror to a kind of numbness—he could even "appreciate" the bizarre, bloody battles outside the yard with a near-scientific detachment.

Fear still lingered, but it no longer ruled his emotions. The instinct to survive, along with a deeper, human urge to "build," was quietly rising.

He sat up, his gaze sweeping across the still-dilapidated but now familiar main house, then through the doorway to the patch of yard he had roughly turned over. Under the sunlight, the dark soil gleamed with a moist sheen.

He couldn't just drift along, reacting passively anymore. He had to plan actively, to truly build this small Safe Zone into a home that could sustain him long-term—maybe even permanently.

A clear thought took shape in his mind: survive here for the long haul.

Once that decision was made, his entire mindset shifted. He was no longer a fugitive living in constant dread, but a pioneer managing his own territory. This change in perspective brought a qualitative leap in his drive to act.

He needed a plan—a practical blueprint for survival.

He walked into the yard, picked up a relatively straight stick, and began scratching marks into the flattened dirt at his feet. No paper or pen—the earth was his draft sheet.

Primary Goal: Basic Survival Guarantee (Short-term, complete within 1–3 days)

1. Reinforce Shelter: The hole in the main house's roof was the most urgent threat. Rain would soak everything; cold wind would steal precious heat. It had to be patched. He needed materials: flexible branches, plenty of dry thatch or broad leaves, and maybe some clay as binder.

2. Stable Food Source: The leftover beast meat wouldn't last long. Tilling the garden and planting seeds had to happen immediately—that was the long-term hope. At the same time, he needed to explore getting protein within the Safe Zone. Could he set traps for small animals that occasionally wandered near the boundary? Or were there fish or shrimp in the well?

3. Water Management: The well had plenty of water, but his tools for fetching it were crude. That broken clay pot was inefficient and fragile. He needed to make more durable, larger containers—like wooden buckets or bigger pottery.

Core Task: Tool Upgrades and Productivity Boost (Mid-term, ongoing)

This was the foundation for achieving the primary goal. The current machete and hoe were too crude, inefficient, and badly worn.

1. Make Better Tools: This was the most critical task. He needed: * A sharper, sturdier axe: for felling thicker timber, getting building materials and fuel. * A lighter, more efficient hoe/shovel: for finer tilling and soil preparation. * Chisels and hammers: for working stone and wood, making more complex parts. * A saw? If he could find suitable thin stone flakes or hard beast bones, he might try making a primitive saw for cutting wood.

2. Explore Material Possibilities: * Stone: The yard had various rocks. He needed to test their hardness and toughness to see which suited tool-making. * Wood: Several tree types grew in the yard. How hard and tough were they? Which were good for handles, which for structural parts? * Bone/Horn: If he could get bones or horns from small Demonic Beasts, they'd be excellent for tools and weapons. * Fibrous Plants: Find suitable vines or bark to make rope for binding and traps.

Long-term Vision: Improve Quality of Life and Explore the Unknown (Long-term)

1. Better Living Conditions: Make a real bed, table, chairs, storage chests. Try firing pottery to replace stone bowls and broken pots.

2. Energy Use: Could he harness water power (from the well's drop?) or wind? Even a simple lever or pulley system would save a lot of effort.

3. Information Recording and Research: Use the pen and notebook properly to record weather, crop growth, Demonic Beasts' habits, etc. Try to decipher the mysterious carvings on the courtyard wall.

4. Safe Zone Boundary Testing: Under absolute safety, could he conduct extremely cautious boundary interaction experiments? For example, using a long pole to lure small animals to the edge of the Safe Zone and then catch them?

The planning was done, and the ground was covered with various symbols and lines. Chen An looked at this crude but clear "five-year plan," and a long-lost engineer's fighting spirit surged within him.

He knew that all of this started with one thing—making better tools.

He stood up, picked up the already slightly dull machete, and walked toward the pile of stones of various shapes and materials he had gathered in the corner of the yard. Today, his work wouldn't be blind chopping and digging, but a targeted "material test" and "tool development."

He selected a piece of black flint that looked uniform in texture with a sharp edge, carefully struck it with another stone, trying to flake off pieces to see if he could make a stone blade. He also found a heavy piece of granite and tried to grind it into the rough shape of a stone hammer.

The sounds of striking and grinding rang out for the first time in this silent valley, rhythmic and purposeful. This was no longer the noise of desperate survival—it was the prelude to building civilization.

Chen An was completely absorbed, losing track of time. Sweat dripped from his forehead, falling onto the stones at his feet and evaporating instantly. Blisters formed on his palms again, but he paid them no mind. His eyes shone with focus and the spark of creation.

When the sun sank westward again, several semi-finished items lay before him: a rough but sharp-edged stone knife, a stone hammer taking shape, and a few carefully whittled wooden sticks meant to serve as handles for new tools.

Though still far from success, the first step had been firmly taken.

He looked at the sunset clouds, then at the nascent tools at his feet and the land waiting to be sown. His heart was filled with an unprecedented sense of solidity and anticipation.

Survive. And survive better. That was his first and only goal in this Primordial World.

(End of Chapter 10)