Chapter 8: You Can Actually Eat In Game?!
[Manual: Active Matter Extractor Instruction Manual]
[1. Active Matter is the main raw material for synthesizing clones, including but not limited to, minerals needed to form the human body, 20 common amino acids, and 2 rare amino acids.]
[2. The Active Matter Extractor uses animal corpses as raw materials. Among them, Phylum Chordata Mammalia primates have the best extraction efficacy with an extraction rate of up to 90%. Efficiency level drops accordingly, with Invertebrate Phylum having the lowest extraction efficacy of less than 10%.]
[3. The extraction rate is also related to the degree of damage to the corpse.]
Since he completed his mission to recruit players, his rewards arrived at the same time with more instructions.
Inside Shelter 404, Chu Guang looked at the instruction manual projected on his retina. He eyed the block of iron that looked like a coffin beside the conveyor belt.
According to the instructions, the thing in front of him was a device used to produce Active Matter.
From what Chu Guang read, it seemed as though its function was to recover materials from corpses. Looking at the description in the manual, mutants' bodies seemed to be within the scope of recovery.
With a rough idea of how to operate the Active Matter Extractor, Chu Guang dragged it into the elevator with a trolley he found somewhere.
He decided to bring it to the level above ground as he didn’t want to bring corpses back into the shelter…
As for how he would power it… That was a problem for another day. He would eventually have to find a way to do so.
As the elevator slowly rose, it eventually eased to a halt. When the gates opened and he dragged the trolley out, Little Seven’s voice rang through the building.
"Master!"
"What now?"
"Something bad happened... A big black bird is attacking your players on the north side of the nursing home!"
A big black bird?
Chu Guang was taken aback as his expression sank. Dropping whatever he was doing, he rushed out of the nursing home.
...
"Damn! Night Ten is really good."
"He’s really good at rolling on the ground! Did you learn that from Dark Souls?"
"Fuck off, I was attacked! Don't just stand there! Hurry up and help me!"
In the woods north of the nursing home, a black bird stood on a tree branch ten meters in the air. Its sharp gaze was locked onto the players on the ground as it bent its legs with its wings folded back. It was ready to lunge at them.
After hearing movement from where Night Ten was, the others quickly rushed over with axes in hand.
The bird did not immediately start a second round of attacks. It might have been a little cautious of the crowd that appeared, but it stopped to wait for a better opportunity to strike.
Gale reached down to pick up the black feather on the ground. Examining it, it muttered softly, "Looks like it's a crow."
"A crow? This big?!" Glancing at the claw marks on the trunk next to him, Night Ten stepped back and muttered with lingering fear.
"It should be a mutant... Mutants produced by gamma rays or something similar. I've seen that mentioned on the official website." Ample Time stared at the bird cautiously, not daring to relax for a moment.
Night Ten couldn’t help but ask, "There’s stuff on the official website?! Isn't it just an application page?"
"That was a few days ago... The official website was updated yesterday with new features. Haven't you seen it?" Gale replied.
"Let’s talk about that later. What should we do now? We can’t just keep staring at it, right?" Night Ten took another nervous step back. Of the four, Gale was the closest to the bird at the moment. With all of them staring at each other, they were stuck in a stalemate.
Suddenly, a swishing sound passed over their head and slammed straight towards the bird.
"Ka!"
Although the stone failed to hit its target, the huge bird was shocked. With a flap of its wings, it leaped to another branch. Faltering slightly, the bird tried to stabilize itself when it saw someone else picking up a stone on the ground.
The stone flew at it again, and a surge of anger rose in its chest. It was the first time anyone dared to attack it within its territory.
Its bent legs straightened as it leaped into the air before diving at Chu Guang. Its sharp claws stretched out like hooks.
Unfortunately, it was still an animal at the end of the day. Even if it grew another head from the mutation, it wouldn’t be able to understand the sneer on Chu Guang’s face.
Throwing away the stones, Chu Guang skillfully held the sharpened water pipe he stuck into the ground earlier. With a fierce thrust, there was no time for the bird to dodge.
Though it flapped its wings in surprise the moment Chu Guang picked up the unseen weapon, it was almost impossible to stop the pipe.
Like a javelin, it plunged into the bird’s chest.
"Kaaaa!"
A shrill scream echoed in the forest as bloody feathers flew around in the air.
Looking at the enormous bird struggling to fly away, Chu Guang quietly stepped forward and picked up the bloody water pipe from the ground. "That isn’t a crow. Its official name is a Falcon and it probably existed two hundred years ago."
The players stared at him in amazement and were stunned by his smooth movement.
Damn…
So strong!
What they didn't know was that among the majority of the survivors who were capable of venturing out alone in the wasteland, what Chu Guang did was nothing more than basic skills.
In the past five months, Chu Guang didn’t try to learn anything else other than throwing a javelin. He could hit any target within 10 meters.
If he hadn’t trained his skills, he wouldn't have been able to stand there and show off his abilities.
"Falcon?! Are falcons always this big?" Gale was surprised. It truly shifted his perspective of birds.
Ample Time gulped and mumbled, "Did it become so big because of the gamma radiation?"
"It's not just gamma radiation. Viruses, bacteria, genetic weapons... All kinds of factors have contributed to everything we see today. Of course, mutants are just one of the threats we face. Most of the time, people are the most dangerous creatures out here.”
Chu Guang looked at the pine tree in front of them before he continued, "That falcon probably made a nest there. It’s no wonder that it tried to attack you despite being outnumbered."
Ordinarily, birds would rarely try to provoke creatures larger than themselves. Their diet was mainly mutant cockroaches, mice, and squirrels.
Although the bird flew away, it didn't fly far; likely waiting for the rest of its life to drain away on a nearby tree.
Even though the pipe wasn’t too effective when it came to piercing through the creature, it left a massive hole in its body. There was no way for the bird to close the wound and live. Never mind a bird, if a person was stabbed, it would be difficult to close the wound.
Night Ten lowered his head in shame. "Sorry... I only focused on chopping wood. I didn't notice..."
"Don't be sorry," Chu Guang looked up, "Bird eggs are great."
It seemed as though they would be having a sumptuous dinner that day.
...
Chu Guang's assumption was quickly confirmed. Under a crooked tree, he found the dead black bird. After bleeding it out with a dagger and plucking off its feathers, Chu Guang threw it into an iron pan filled with water and put it on a stove made from bricks.
He stuffed dry branches and dead leaves under it and lit a match he bought in the settlement.
After the water started to boil, Chu Guang took the blanched bird out and skewered it with steel bars to grill over the fire. Naturally, they also cooked the eggs from the nest.
There was no salt or seasoning, but even without them, it was much better than green wheat paste.
"Can we… Can we even eat this?!” Looking at the grilled mutant bird, Night Ten was suspicious. However, he couldn’t help but swallow a mouthful of saliva after savoring the meaty aroma.
“Damn! You can actually eat in this game!”
It was definitely an unexpected surprise for food lovers. It also made him feel that their hard work that morning was worth it.
"You can eat it after it’s fully cooked. I’ll tell you if something can’t be eaten,” Chu Guang said as he slowly turned the meat.
There weren’t many opportunities to eat meat in the wasteland. Even if he could catch any, they would spoil without proper preservation. Salt was far more scarce than electricity in their world. It was especially so for survivors living inland in cities like Clearwater City.
It wasn’t realistic to be able to preserve meat with salt and as for something like a refrigerator, Chu Guang only heard of one being in the mayor’s castle. He heard about it, but he hadn’t actually seen it.
Of course, the survivors managed to invent other methods to preserve food.
On Brown’s Farm, another survivor settlement nearby, produced tobacco leaves rich in aromatic compounds such as tar and aldol, which could extend the shelf life of food for several months even if it was smoked without salt.
"Administrator, if I may ask… How much wood do we need?" Waiting for the food to be cooked was a torment. In order to divert his attention from the food, Ample Time took the initiative to ask a question.
Chu Guang replied casually, "As much as possible." The players looked at each other, showing very little enthusiasm.
Chu Guang didn't pay much attention at first, but he suddenly thought of something. Players weren’t like him! They were outsiders who could leave anytime they liked! They had no need to survive with him. Even if he told them the importance of storing wood, they would never really understand what he meant. Their identity as a player meant that they had a different perspective altogether. Even if they didn't mind the work, it would be difficult for them to keep working for him when they weren’t given rewards.
Since he gave out a task, there should also be adequate rewards…
"Let me think..." Chu Guang touched his chin, lost in thought.
"At four o'clock in the afternoon, we’ll take a look at today’s harvest. If the wood collected is as thick as an arm, every meter collected will give you one contribution point. If it’s as thick as a thigh, every meter will give you two…”
Shockingly enough, before Chu Guang could finish, the four players who looked bored out of their minds earlier holding their bowls leaped to their feet.
"Administrator, I don’t think I’m that hungry!"
"Me too!"
"It will take some time for the meat to cook anyway! I’ll go chop down a few more trees!”
"I just feel like chopping something!”
The fuck?! I haven’t even said what those contribution points would be used for!
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