Shopping! So Satisfying!

Lan Qingyou knew the potion she had made was terrible, but it did not deserve this much ridicule.

Reforge it in the furnace, my ass.

Was there a possibility that the "master" who made this potion had just come out of the furnace herself?

Too much potion in it, huh? Then just reduce the amount!

The Small Screen's appraisal had nearly shattered Lan Qingyou's defenses. She picked up the potion, poured out a third of the test tube, and appraised it again. Sure enough, it no longer said there was too much potion.

Hmm, was a standard potion supposed to be 10 milliliters?

Looking at the test tube, now only two-thirds full, Lan Qingyou made her guess.

But no matter what, the fact that the Small Screen could appraise it meant that this potion was a success.

Though crudely made, it was still a success.

So she immediately began a shopping spree at the Trading Post.

Test tubes went without saying. As for everything else, if it was cheap and might help with her alchemy, she bought it on sight.

She did not have much material. Everything she had gathered yesterday during the day and throughout the night totaled just over five hundred units.

But that was more than enough to buy these cheap, useful items.

A ten-unit liquor dispenser for portioning potions. Buy!

A five-unit Wooden Water Ladle for scooping water. Buy!

Three units of Wooden Soup Spoons, one unit of bamboo dustpans, one unit of Bamboo Baskets, one unit of Soap...

Buy, buy, buy, buy, buy!!!

While prices were still low, Lan Qingyou snapped up quite a few things. She even bought two boxes of test tubes.

"Oh? There's even a book! Basic Semiotics for ten units of Wood!?"

"Got it! I have to get it!!!"

Only after using up more than half of her five hundred or so basic units did she leave shopping mode and turn to look at the pile of items beside the Desk.

After all, the warehouse only had ten slots. Though identical items could stack, it still could not hold this much stuff.

Thoroughly satisfied, Lan Qingyou floated up and sorted everything one by one.

The larger items either went against the walls or were hung up, while the smaller ones were gathered into the Material Treasure Chest.

The entire room instantly felt much more lived-in.

"Ah-ha—"

After finishing, Lan Qingyou yawned and stretched. Seeing the horizon blazing red, she realized it was almost dawn.

She had just bought a bar of Soap, and she already had a towel. She might as well take a bath first.

The moment she thought of bathing, Lan Qingyou suddenly felt itchy all over.

So she immediately got moving before the sky had fully brightened.

After all, there was not enough water in the Water Bucket for a bath. There was not even enough to wipe herself down.

That left only one option: bathing in the creek while no one was around.

Of course, the most important point was that there was nowhere in the Shelter for her to bathe at all.

Still, although The Sun had already risen, she had to remain alert for potential threats and monster attacks.

Daytime did not mean absolute safety, after all.

The icy Creek Water splashed over her body, making the drowsy Lan Qingyou shudder.

But she had no time to fuss. She washed herself from head to toe as quickly as possible, rubbed herself down fiercely with Soap, rinsed off once more, and immediately flew back to the Shelter.

She tossed her Hospital Gown into a Wooden Barrel to soak, carried the crucible, Hurricane Lamp, and Alarm Clock that had cooled considerably by the entrance into the room, locked the World and District chat screens, then threw herself onto the Mattress and fell into a deep sleep without even waiting for her hair to dry.

She had been awake for an entire day and night. Even with a Mental Power stat as high as 8, she could barely hold on.

She slept for a full ten hours, only waking after four in the afternoon.

And... she woke because she was hungry.

She had been too excited while brewing last night to eat anything at all, and by morning, she had been too sleepy to do anything but sleep after her bath.

After putting on that Dress and checking her remaining food, Lan Qingyou took out a piece of Sourdough Bread. As she gnawed on it, she reviewed the chat logs on the Desk.

The World Channel was as lively as ever.

But people who had recovered from the shock and confusion of the first day had begun a massive search for their relatives.

Many left messages, hoping to find their family and see whether they were still alive.

After one day and two nights, the World Channel's original population of more than 22.65844 billion had dwindled to just over 22.658 million.

In other words, roughly 440,000 people had died in the past thirty-some hours.

And that was during the so-called Novice Protection Period. Without it, who knew how many more would have died?

Forget the whole world—even District 666 had lost quite a few people. From morning to afternoon, after more than half a day, only 9,971 remained.

Several more had died.

But whether those deaths had been accidents or caused by other people was impossible to know.

"You might not believe this, but when I woke up, I found that someone had actually bought a book I listed on the Trading Post."

"Huh? A book? Are you sure?"

"Definitely. Sold it for ten units."

"Holy shit, for real?"

"For real. Someone named Lan Qingyou bought it. I checked, and she bought a bunch of other stuff too—odds and ends of all kinds."

Since every transaction left a record, anyone could see who had bought what.

"Lan Qingyou, huh? Let me see..."

"Damn, she's even a cute girl. What's with her? Buying so much stuff—does she think she has too many materials?"

"Who knows."

"Bro, what book did you sell?"

"A book called Basic Semiotics. Sold it for ten units."

"Doesn't she think she can learn from it, does she?"

"Come on. Maybe she just likes studying."

"Studying in a survival world like this? That's ridiculously surreal."

"I read that book. I thought it was some kind of skill book at first, but you can't learn anything from it. I threw it on the Trading Post just to try my luck. Didn't think it would actually sell."

"Hahahaha, I think it's great. As long as there's life, there's learning. I happen to have a book too—I'll list it and see."

"I'll list mine too. Not ten units, though. Five will do. Maybe that dumb bitch will buy it."

"Then I'm in too. Three units is fine."

"I'm so jealous. I found a book yesterday too, but I couldn't read it, so I threw it away. If I'd known it could be traded for materials, I would've kept it."

"Cough, cough, cough..."

After reading those people's conversation from the morning, Lan Qingyou could not help coughing out loud.

Damn! There was actually such a good thing!?

She had been worried about not having books to learn this world's knowledge from, and these people were practically delivering them to her doorstep.

So she did not stand on ceremony. She put down her Sourdough Bread and started shopping again.

After a round of purchases, she had several more books and two more boxes of test tubes.

Basic Drawing, Correct Usage of Salt, Four Elements Four Properties, Mushroom General Knowledge... all kinds of things.

Sure enough, shopping was satisfying!

Looking at the books in her hands, Lan Qingyou had no intention of holding herself back. Her grin was practically splitting her face.

Naturally, her shopping spree drew some people's attention.

"Holy crap! That Lan Qingyou showed up. She really bought the books!"

"No way, Ah Zhen, you're serious?"

"Can that knowledge actually be learned?"

"Who the hell knows? Why don't you buy one and try?"

"Try it and die. I'm not wasting valuable materials on something this pointless. With another four or five days of gathering, I can upgrade my Shelter to Level 2 before the Novice Protection Period ends."