Discovering a Village

"Strange, there isn't much sugarcane by this river..." Fang Bie casually snapped off a stalk of sugarcane and chewed on it, the sweet, crystalline flavor spreading from his teeth throughout his entire mouth.

Having walked along this river for quite some time without seeing anything special or worth his effort, Fang Bie couldn't help but feel that his choice of route today might have been a mistake.

If he had headed toward the plains instead, he might have already been driving two sheep back home by now; with a few modifications to the fence he had mentioned earlier, he could have easily fashioned a sheep pen.

And since sheep breed when fed wheat, he would soon have a lamb, providing a decent return whether he slaughtered it for mutton or sheared it for wool.

Fang Bie glanced at the sky again; the sun hadn't reached its zenith yet, and he hadn't even spent half his time, so he should still be able to push a bit further.

Since he had already chosen this path, he would see it through to the end; it was impossible to have a harvest every single moment, and taking the losses with the gains was what true life was all about.

Fang Bie continued forward, determined to see if this river could offer him any unexpected surprises, even though he clearly remembered that there wasn't much worth noting along the riverbanks.

However, even though he had returned from that world, his entire base was still in a state of disrepair; theoretically, even digging up some dirt to take back would be useful, so he didn't need to worry about failing to find anything of value.

"If this really is the earliest version, there really isn't anything special by the river besides sugarcane, is there?" After a thorough search, Fang Bie decided he would turn back once a certain time had passed.

He wasn't a child, and he knew that acting out of spite wouldn't get him more items; instead, it would only waste his limited time.

He decided to head back, noting that following the river had one advantage: he wouldn't lose his way home. It was nearing noon, and having spent half his time on the road, he had nothing to show for it but a few stalks of sugarcane.

His previous frustration wasn't without reason; his previous outings had always brought him some important or noteworthy items.

Whether it was the bows and bones obtained from killing Zombies and Skeletons, or the beef and mutton he had acquired, these were all life necessities.

Fang Bie squinted and scanned his surroundings carefully; there really was nothing else. He had already left the forest where he lived and arrived at a grassland dotted with a few trees.

It was only then that Fang Bie remembered why he always felt something was off about this world.

Although the world of MC was incredibly beautiful and dazzling, it was, after all, a data world constructed by imagination, where everything had a fixed limit.

Compared to the bizarre and diverse reality, the world of MC, possessing only basic elements, would only provide a sense of novelty at the beginning; the rest of the time, it was likely nothing but endless emptiness.

Fang Bie knew that the motivation he felt in this world was mostly curiosity and novelty, but that wasn't enough to sustain a person's will to live. If he stayed in such a monotonous and dull world for too long, he would go insane, wouldn't he?

"It seems these portals really are essential items..." Fang Bie muttered to himself. The world itself was exceptionally monotonous, which was probably why portals connecting to other universes existed, right?

He felt as if he had grasped a bit of the true meaning behind the existence of the portals. It was at this moment, while on his way home, that he saw a color in the plains that stood out from the rest.

It was the color of Cobblestone!

Fang Bie turned his head sharply, made a simple mark by the riverbank, and immediately ran toward that direction.

If his eyes didn't deceive him, that appeared to be a building—a structure that only humans could create.

Ordinary materials couldn't possibly show such complex signs of artificial craftsmanship; only people like them could hammer stone into Cobblestone.

Fang Bie sprinted all the way and soon arrived in front of the building, and the other structures on this land also came into his view at this moment.

"Huff! Huff! Huff!" Fang Bie panted heavily; this was the first time he had run this fast since arriving in this world.

He hadn't expected this body to possess such immense strength. The distance from the river to the village was a thousand meters, yet he had covered it in just a few dozen seconds.

His guess was correct; in MC, aside from structures built by the player, the only buildings that could use such special materials were Temples, Dungeons, and Villages.

Fang Bie had considered this possibility from the start, so he had run over quickly primarily to confirm if there were any people in this village.

Just as he expected, upon arriving at the village, he saw individuals in the area who looked different from him—their bodies appearing more like they were composed of blocks—walking through the village.

They saw Fang Bie, who had come from afar, but showed no reaction, as if they had just seen a rock, and their square heads turned back to what they were doing.

Some Villagers were performing simple tasks in the fields, harvesting and clearing, while others were tending to a surging pool of Lava in the Blacksmith.

Still others were tidying up books on shelves in the Library within the village. Aside from their blocky appearance, they were more like robots with simple artificial intelligence.

Fang Bie knew his guess was right; rather than calling them people, it was more accurate to call them moving machines, which explained the origin of Zombie Villagers.

Although this world seemed absurd, everything had an explanation, and Fang Bie felt he had touched upon a bit of its mystery.

However, he didn't linger in the village. Instead, he took out a shovel and cleared a withered, yellow path across the grass. (In versions after 1.9, right-clicking the ground with a shovel creates a path.)

The durability of the shovel in his hand was rapidly depleting; by the time he had cleared the path all the way back to the river, the shovel had less than 10% durability remaining.

The sun was slowly tilting toward the west. Fang Bie touched his somewhat empty stomach; he had walked all morning without realizing it and hadn't replenished any food.

This world had a hunger mechanic. Feeling his stamina dropping rapidly, he quickly took a bowl of Mushroom Stew he had made the night before out of his inventory and shoveled it into his mouth.

Afterward, he took out the Crafting Table from his inventory, placed it gently by the river, and set a chest next to it.

He put all the less important items like dirt and stone into the chest, leaving only basic food, tools, and wood.

"Five wooden planks can craft a boat..." Fang Bie felt his memory was becoming a bit hazy, which was not a good sign. If he lost his memory, how could he craft those complex items?

Fang Bie noted this down in his personal notebook; it seemed he needed to create a crafting guide as soon as possible. He then stepped into the boat and rowed rapidly back the way he came.