The Newbie Period Ended

The countdown ticked down slowly.

5...4...3...2...1...

Ripples spread across the sea.

"Rumble!!!"

The ground shook violently for a moment. She instinctively spread her arms to steady herself.

The next second, the enormous island connected to the walkway Ji Xinghe had planned, joining it tightly.

The Wooden Fence she had installed earlier fit perfectly against Orchard Island.

"Rustle, rustle." Had the master brought its family home? It was so moved, the master treated it so well...

So touching, sob sob.

Seeing Xiao Sha showing off, Xiao Xi lashed out with a vine.

"Rustle..." The branches swayed less and less.

Ji Xinghe watched the two pets interacting and nodded silently. As long as they got along, she could relax.

She opened the Wooden Fence and went over to take a look with the two pets.

After all, there were still Deformed Monsters on Orchard Island. She wouldn't feel at ease without checking it out.

She crossed the not-too-long walkway and pushed open the Wooden Fence, stepping onto the enormous island.

The entrance faced the Mist Heart Orchard she had just explored. Thinking of that, she hurriedly replanted the Mist Heart Fruit tree she had dug up earlier.

This time, there wasn't a single Deformed Monster in sight.

Even the gray mist seemed a little thinner.

Half an hour later, satisfied, she headed back. There hadn't been any Deformed Monsters suddenly appearing along the way, and that was good enough.

As long as none suddenly appeared, everything would be fine.

Back at the Shelter, Ji Xinghe opened the island interface.

"Player 001's West-level Island"

"Area: 134+20 ten thousand square meters"

"Prosperity: 140+1000 (greenery capped)"

"Daily Production: 2 Wow Coins (can be claimed once per day)"

"Upgrade Requirements: Prosperity reaches 500, 500 Wow Coins, Island area expanded to 500 square meters, and all upgrades successfully completed."

She claimed today's production.

Wow Coins +2.

She now had 1,147 Wow Coins in her backpack. To upgrade the island, all she had to do was strengthen the soil to cover 500 square meters.

Ji Xinghe glanced at the Storage Box. There were already 129 units of Foundation Stone in it.

She still needed 237 more Foundation Stones to strengthen the island to 500 square meters.

Thinking of this, she hurriedly opened the treasure chests she'd gotten from killing monsters today.

[Open all Raw Wood Treasure Chests ×6 and Bronze Treasure Chests ×2.]

[Basic Supplies Obtained: Wood ×26, Stone ×20, Refined Iron ×6, Thatch ×18, Fishing Line ×3, Foundation Stone ×2, Soil ×5, Dried Noodles (500g) ×6, Wangwang Biscuits (bag) ×1]

[Special Supplies: Nutrient Solution ×1, Strength Potion, Shield Bracelet ×1]

She put the materials and food in the Storage Box.

She took out the Strength Potion and Shield Bracelet to examine them.

"Strength Potion: After consuming, strength doubles to 300% for five minutes."

"Side Effect: After the strength effect wears off, all Attribute Values decrease by 50% for 12 hours."

Ji Xinghe's eyes lit up. "A Strength Potion? This is a trump card!"

With her current Strength Value of 31.6, tripling it would bring it to 94.8. Two Wood Arrows would deal 249.6 damage, enough to kill an ordinary Level 3 monster with less than 200 HP.

Wouldn't that mean she could one-shot Level 3 monsters?

She carefully stowed the Strength Potion in her backpack. For now, she shouldn't use it unless necessary. A potion that increased her attributes by a percentage could come in handy even later on.

Ji Xinghe was delighted to have gotten a strategic resource.

She rubbed the vine beside her, which was swaying happily, then continued reading the Shield Bracelet's description.

The vine happily looked out the window at the big tree. "Rustle, the Shelter is counting on you to guard it."

The branches swayed gently. "Rustle, rustle..."

Don't worry. With me here, nothing will go wrong.

"Shield Bracelet (Blue): Defensive Equipment"

"Trait: Spirit Defense +5. Automatically generates a shield when taking damage. Shield Value is three times your health."

As soon as she saw this, Ji Xinghe quickly equipped the bracelet.

With the shield from her cloak added, she was now a Survivalist player with two kinds of shields... Hehe.

She dismantled all the empty treasure chests in front of her and checked the Crafting Table. The Wooden Fence would take another hour or so to finish.

Then she'd wash up and eat.

She wasn't going to run again that evening. After all, it was the last night of the newbie period, and she wanted to get to bed early and be well-rested for tomorrow's "Guard the Island" task.

An hour later, Ji Xinghe put the Wooden Fence up for sale, then curled up in bed.

In the Chat Channel.

Little Fist Wangzai: "Hehe, I got one of the big shot's Wooden Fences! (image)"

Ling Ling (The Direction of Respecting the Master): "You actually believed that? She's just trying to fleece you. How naive."

Monster Killer: "If you don't believe it, don't buy it."

On another island, South Brother of Erlong Lake read his friend's message, his eyes filled with envy.

Why was she always getting full-server announcements? Why hadn't an NPC posted a video of her? Why did she have such a hot-selling item as a Wooden Fence? Why did she have so many supplies? He couldn't accept it!

His fingertip paused over the screen. In the end, he gritted his teeth and accepted Ji Xinghe's trade request.

He wasn't as foolish as the idiot above. After all, there was no way the system's tasks could be fake. It was obvious that there'd be danger after the newbie period ended...

Player 12345: "By the way, the newbie protection period ends tomorrow. I'm so nervous."

Tyrannosaurus Warrior: "What's there to be afraid of? If you can live, live. If you can't, then die."

Player 12345: "I know, but I really don't want to die."

As she watched the chat, Ji Xinghe's eyelids slowly drooped.

Steady breathing filled the room. Xiao Xi's vine drew close and gently brushed her cheek.

When Ji Xinghe didn't move, it draped its vine across her chest, feeling her heartbeat rise and fall. Then it, too, fell peacefully asleep.