Wang Yu had built a shelter surrounded by four massive boulders. There were gaps between them, which he had already plugged from the inside with moss, but he couldn't guarantee that they were completely sealed.
He stepped outside the shelter and inspected the joints between the four boulders. If it really rained heavily for seven consecutive days, water would surely accumulate on the ground. Wang Yu didn't know how deep it would get, but he wanted to make sure that even if water pooled outside the shelter, it wouldn't seep inside.
If water accumulated outside the shelter, it would inevitably seep in through the joints between the boulders. So Wang Yu decided to waterproof the places where the four boulders met.
Outside the shelter, Wang Yu found a patch of ground with plenty of soil. He took out his entrenching tool and tin bucket and began digging.
He shoveled the soil into the bucket, then carried it to the joints between the boulders and dumped it there.
Once he had piled the soil more than a meter high along the joints, he tamped it all down.
Wang Yu spent a full hour on the job.
Afterward, he went to the pile of rocks behind the shelter and started gathering moss.
Moss was still the best material for waterproofing.
Using the tin bucket again, Wang Yu loaded in the moss he had gathered and carried it back to the shelter.
He spread moss over the soil piles, which were more than a meter high, at the joints between the boulders. This would help keep the rain from washing the soil away as well as make it waterproof.
Farther up, Wang Yu plugged every gap he could find between the four boulders with moss.
He had sealed every gap on the outside of the shelter as tightly as he could.
It was better to do a little extra now. If the shelter started leaking after seven days of heavy rain, it would be too late to fix. If water got into the structure, the shelter would turn into a pool.
The area outside the shelter was fairly open. With the measures he'd taken, even a meter or two of standing water shouldn't be a problem.
Wang Yu could only hope the shelter's waterproofing would hold and keep the water out.
To be safe, he also planned for the possibility that the first floor might flood. If water seeped in and made it unlivable, he would have to move up to the second floor, though that seemed highly unlikely.
After waterproofing the outside of the shelter, Wang Yu checked the time. It was already past three in the afternoon, which meant he could use Dice to Increase the number of his items again.
Wang Yu took out his edible salt. He needed salt with every meal, so he wanted to increase his supply.
He tied two 200g packets of edible salt together.
He rolled the dice.
Three dots.
Wang Yu rolled a three. Three phantom images of large bags of edible salt floated above the dice.
Then Wang Yu retrieved the salt. He now had eight 200g packets, totaling three jin and two liang—enough to last him more than half a year.
He put all eight packets in his backpack and didn't take a break. Heavy rain was due at midnight, and he still had something important to do: gather firewood.
He had stored plenty of wood, but it had all come from freshly cut trees, so it wouldn't burn very well. Wang Yu still needed to mix in some dry firewood.
He had never gathered dry firewood in large quantities near the shelter. Now, while he still had the chance, he needed to collect everything nearby.
After seven days of heavy rain, the firewood probably wouldn't burn at all. In the Polar Night World, with no sun to dry it, it would be useless from then on.
Wang Yu bundled up all the dry firewood he gathered and stacked it in the small storage room on the shelter's first floor.
At nine that night, Wang Yu could use Dice to Increase his items again.
Wang Yu went to the creek and stopped beside a large stone slab nearby. It was huge, more than six meters long and five meters wide, and about two meters thick.
Its shape wasn't especially regular or smooth, but overall, it was a large stone slab.
After circling the slab once, Wang Yu decided to use the dice to increase its number.
He rolled the dice.
Three dots.
Wang Yu rolled a three again.
Seeing three phantom images of the large stone slab floating above the dice, Wang Yu closed his hand around it. He didn't hurry back to the shelter.
He wanted to check on his twelve animal traps.
Wang Yu soon finished checking all twelve traps.
[Wild Rat Meat 360g] [Wild Rat Skin*1] [63 Copper Coins]
The twelve animal traps had caught two Wild Rats.
He had caught two Wild Rats again today. Wang Yu had obtained 360g*2 of Wild Rat Meat, two Wild Rat Skins, and 126 Copper Coins.
Heavy rain was on the way. After checking each trap, Wang Yu packed it up. Once the downpour started, the creek would surely flood, and the traps could be swept away.
After collecting all the traps, Wang Yu hurried back to the shelter.
Over the past seven days, these twelve traps had caught a total of 20 Wild Rats for him. It had been quite a haul.
Back at the shelter, Wang Yu stood on a boulder and held up his oil lamp to inspect the four massive rocks. Then he decided to place a large stone slab on top of them to roof the shelter.
"Boom!"
With a deafening crash, the large stone slab settled over the shelter.
At last, the shelter had a roof.
Fortunately, nothing went wrong when he lowered the slab into place.
Wang Yu inspected the new roof. The large slab rested securely on the four boulders, and the gaps between them were nothing to worry about.
Then Wang Yu went to the opening in the boulder and pulled the small ladder up onto it. Now he could enter his safe shelter.
The only way in or out was through the opening above the gap, a hole 1.6 meters high, 0.7 meters wide, and 1.1 meters deep.
It was easy enough for Wang Yu to get through, but he couldn't carry large items with him. That was why he had gathered the firewood before putting the roof on. Otherwise, it would have been difficult to haul it into the shelter.
Wang Yu squeezed through the opening and climbed down the large ladder into the shelter.
With a large stone slab covering the shelter, the whole place felt much safer.
It was time for dinner. After lighting a fire in the fireplace, Wang Yu decided to have fish soup.
He still had one last portion of Pincer Fish Meat, weighing 213g. He had shot the fish with his crossbow, and tonight he would use the meat to make soup.
He took out the fish meat and started cooking.
While Wang Yu was making soup, he received a message from Qiu Bo.
[Qiu Bo: You there?]
[Wang Yu: Yeah.]
[Qiu Bo: I finished chopping down my Big Tree today. I'll trade you my small hacksaw for your entrenching tool, like we agreed.]
[Wang Yu: Okay.]
A trade request arrived soon afterward.
[Ding! Player Qiu Bo has offered you Small Hacksaw*1]
Wang Yu listed the entrenching tool he had previously traded to Qiu Bo for trade.
After clicking confirm, a small hacksaw appeared in Wang Yu's hand.
Wang Yu might not have any use for the small hacksaw now, but Qiu Bo's had been a huge help to him. Qiu Bo clearly wanted an entrenching tool, and Wang Yu had four, so he traded one to him.
Then Qiu Bo sent another message.
[Qiu Bo: Brother, you're a good guy. Interested in teaming up? Now that we have a 'Game Map,' we can team up if we're close to each other.]
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