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Athena Ravencroft could clearly feel that her whole body was burning up, but her mood was as cold as an ice cellar.
It was mimicking her!
Her heart was pounding like a drum, biting her lip to keep from screaming. It felt like there was a boulder crushing her chest, making it hard to breathe.
However, the bear wasn't always facing her direction, just repeatedly standing up, learning to smile. Eventually, it even learned to wave.
Looking from afar, it resembled a person in the darkness.
It wasn't until the bear got bored, casually dropping the package on the ground and walking away, that Athena dared to move, remaining still in the grass.
She couldn't tell if this guy was playing with her as prey or genuinely hadn't noticed her.
But this time she escaped unscathed.
"..."
After lying motionless for over ten minutes, she glanced at the white package from afar and decided to return to the thatched hut.
Darkness will fall at 7 p.m.! Players, please return to the shelter as soon as possible.
Athena paced around the shelter, feeling restless.
If she didn't drive away this damn bear, she wouldn't be able to move freely.
But given the vast difference in strength, she felt helpless.
She was definitely a unique case in the newbie tutorial.
Feeling increasingly agitated, she sat back on the bed, trying a few rounds of deep breathing to gradually calm herself down.
I remember this guy is afraid of fire?
Great, a weakness, which means there's hope.
Taking out her only possessions: a half-empty bottle of mineral water, an axe, a sickle, and the last compressed biscuit. She opened the shop and chose to sell her sickle to the system.
Would you like to sell the sickle for 10 copper coins?
Yes / No ?
With her current resources, food and water couldn't be touched.
Although the sickle could speed up grass cutting, she could still do it by hand. Though much less efficiently, at least there was a way to get weeds. The axe couldn't be sold. Without it, she couldn't chop trees for wood.
Although food and water were precious to her, selling them to the system store would only yield two copper coins, which she ultimately gave up on.
After much deliberation, she reluctantly sold the sickle.
Without hesitation, Athena clicked the button. Clicking "yes," Athena successfully obtained 10 copper coins.
Sure enough, on her game interface, there were ten extra copper coins. She quickly navigated through the myriad of items in the store, heading straight for the fire attribute section.
[ Fire Enhancer (Basic) ] This is a fire enhancer that can instantly increase the intensity of your fire. Even if you only give it a little material, it can become very large, regardless of whether the material is exhausted, lasting for two minutes!
It's powerful but also a burden. Are you sure you want to spend copper coins to buy it?
If you want to set the mountains on fire, then your choice is correct. Price: 8 copper coins
This was what Athena wanted to buy, but it required fire first.
She clicked to confirm the purchase and successfully obtained the fire enhancer.
Only after holding it in her hand did she realize it was a spherical bead the size of a marble, with a pattern of flames burning and surging inside.
The soreness from selling the sickle had finally eased a bit. She opened the search interface again, looking for fire-starting devices, only to find that they were even more expensive. The cheapest one cost 1 small gold coin.
This was clearly unaffordable for most players. She finally understood why it was considered junk.
There was no other way. She could only resort to the second plan, though she really didn't want to.
She quietly waited for the darkness to arrive.
Darkness is encroaching upon the world: 10, 9, 8... 0
As darkness fell, the candle on the left instantly ignited.
[ Light Candle ] Feature 2 At the moment darkness arrives, it automatically reignites to fend off the darkness for you
This was Athena's second plan. Without a lighter, it meant she had to burn precious candles even during the day and be careful not to extinguish them along the way.
Until the moment she encountered the bear, she would ignite and use the fire enhancer. But there were too many variables. The bear was extremely averse to fire, but that didn't mean it couldn't deal with her, a human.
Who knew if it would anger it instead, causing it to charge at her at full speed. Moreover, when she went out today, she found that the wind here wasn't small. Protecting the candle from extinguishing was too difficult.
There was no other way. She had to resort to the third plan.
"Buying lighters!"
--> Buying lighters! Private message me!
This was her third plan. It was only the second day, and many people hadn't yet realized the value of such items. If it weren't for her urgent need for fire, she wouldn't have thought of this. Plus, everyone had light candles, so they temporarily didn't need to worry about a fire source.
There would always be one or two people who would take the bait.
She believed that some people had already discovered the value of lighters, but they wouldn't publicize it because it wasn't beneficial to anyone.
Probably many people, like her, were quietly collecting them, just not as openly as she was.
Yesterday and today, she had a total of 6 opportunities to speak.
At the same time, she posted her profile picture on the exchange and tried hard to squeeze out a smile to make herself look harmless.
[ Compressed Biscuit ] Price Lighter + Flintstone Details I have surplus food, but the birthplace is too cold, can't make fire, don't want to waste light candles anymore, seeking to buy a lighter.
Because it was night now, everyone could only stay in the shelter, and most people were online. Even though messages were scrolling quickly, many people saw her message.
If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.
Soon, someone added her as a friend, and she accepted some of them.
-- Miss beautiful, you also know lighters are valuable. Why do you have to do this? If others find out, it's not good for both of us.
She directly set the other party's messages to do not disturb. She was almost dying, why would she care about those things? Ridiculous!
She dismissed a few more idle people who were bothering her. Only two people were left willing to sell lighters.
-- Little sister, you are pretty girl... This lighter isn't something I can't give you. I have plenty, but the price can be negotiated online or maybe some small benefits.
Athena didn't rush to reply to this person; she left him aside for now.
The other one.
-- You want a lighter? The price is too low. --> Add half a bottle of water -- No
Athena gritted her teeth, feeling helpless.
--> I have upgraded shelter materials, that special kind of weed. I can give you 25 portions. If that's still not enough, then the deal will have to be terminated.
The other party clearly knew the value of lighters, so there was no need to beat around the bush.
Lighters were undoubtedly precious now, but that was only a concern for 7 days later. Without enough supplies to last through those 7 days, having wealth would be meaningless.
The other party hesitated for a long time. The conditions she offered were actually quite good; just collecting so many building materials during the day was outstanding.
-- Your reasons sound too fake. Add one more piece of intelligence
As expected, the other party agreed, but still wanted her to add one more piece of intelligence.
-- Fine, after the transaction, I'll send the intelligence to you.
Athena adjusted the selling price of her item in the system store. Not long after the adjustment, it showed that the transaction was successful.
In her hand appeared a lighter, but it wasn't full, only half full. Athena fulfilled the agreement and sent a message to the other party, but it wasn't the information the other party wanted.
--> A purple flower, with jagged leaves. If cut, it poses a danger to life, and the wound will emit black liquid.
Tit for tat.
She tried lighting the lighter, watching the bright flames, feeling a sense of relief in her heart.
"Ah, just sold the sickle, now went for materials, damn bear!"
Drive away? No, just kill it.
"Speaking of which, I've grown up so big and haven't even tasted bear meat yet."
Ignoring whether the materials were exhausted, tsk tsk, she liked it. Silently picking up the dried weeds from the ground, she placed them on the flame enhancer.
Then she bound them with vines onto a fist-sized rock.
Never thought the skill she learned of throwing lead balls in the past would come in handy now.
Life is indeed unpredictable.
"I'll use the moment the lighter ignites the dry grass to throw it out, the target being the bear!"
So... what is the chance for me to kill the bear with fire?
The bear has an 80% chance of getting severe injury and a 60% chance of death!
As expected.
Athena picked up the axe beside her again, practicing how to chop. With each repetition, she became more skilled.
She drank one-third of the last bottle of water, leaving the rest for tomorrow.
With the last two copper coins, she bought a pair of grass shoes from the system store for one copper coin. Unlike others who were trembling with fear, Athena ensured her sleep was protected every day she spent here.
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The next morning, suppressing her excitement, she gulped down a big mouthful of water, almost choking herself.
As usual, she performed her set of radio exercises.
With the shiny axe in hand, she stepped out of the door. It was still the same grassland as yesterday, and Athena didn't plan to chop trees to consume her energy.
She leaned the axe against a tree and held the lighter she made in one hand, and her own crafted flame enhancer in the other. Not only that, she also imitated the actions of the bear from yesterday here.
Standing up and smiling towards one side, then standing up and smiling towards the other side, and not forgetting to wave.
When she felt like her face was about to freeze with a smile, she saw a suspicious figure hiding in the bushes beside her, moving towards her.
That huge body couldn't be concealed by the grass.
Athena didn't dare to step back, fearing it would trigger the animal's hunting instinct.
She stood in place, quickly ignited the dry grass with the lighter, but because she was staring ahead the whole time, feeling the flames rise, she swiftly threw it out into the distance.
The flame enhancer activated in mid-air, and only a huge fireball was seen falling towards that direction. The bear wanted to run, its mouth still emitting loud threatening and terrifying roars.
But the fireball didn't care about these.
Hit!
Its extremely low flame resistance was fully displayed at this moment, its body instantly ignited. Its screams gradually became more tragic, shaking its head wildly, and started madly rushing towards her.
The big black eyes flickered with ferocity, its heavy body engulfed in flames, making it even more eerie and terrifying.
Its strength was immense and fierce, forcing Athena to retreat. In case of a sudden counterattack from the bear, she deliberately chose to stand beside a tree.
With her agility higher than usual, she picked up the axe and began to play a game of hide-and-seek with this severely injured bear, occasionally delivering a fierce blow from one side, causing the wounds to bleed profusely.
She couldn't afford to be injured. Once she was injured, death awaited her.
Finally exhausting all its patience, the bear viciously rammed into the tree, causing it to tremble violently and break with a loud crack.
Athena's pupils contracted as she tightened her grip on the axe even more tightly. She knew this bear was just fighting its last stand. If she could dodge this final blow, victory would be hers.
The bear started its final charge, launching a desperate counterattack towards Athena.
Athena somehow produced a plastic bag from somewhere and fiercely threw it towards the bear. Inside the plastic bag was her last remaining water and the salt she bought with her last copper coin, mixed into saltwater.
The plastic bag quickly melted in the fire, and the saltwater inside splashed onto the bear's body in an instant. It let out a miserable cry, and its charge veered off course.
Athena swiftly dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding this final attack. She only felt a wave of intense heat rush past her.
The bear collapsed to the ground, motionless. Flames still burned on its body, and Athena looked on coldly.
She picked up a large rock and hurled it viciously at the bear. As expected, the bear made a sudden lunge but missed everything.
She waited until the flames extinguished, until the once mighty king of the mountain had no more movement or strength left. Then, Athena approached, wielding her axe, and delivered a fierce blow to its neck.
Congratulations! You have slain the bear! First kill of a Level 5 monster achieved! Title obtained: Hunter! You have 3 attribute points to allocate freely! Congratulations! You have received the following rewards: 2 green packages!
Completion of the newbie tutorial. The spatial backpack is now officially open!
Three days left until the first wave of cold strikes! Five days left until the first wave of monster attacks!