'And that's another dud…'

Theo sighed heavily as he dropped his butt down to the stone, staring at a simple notification that pretty much proved he was boxed in this place.

[Bedstone - You need a modern-grade tool to break it!]

'That makes magistone in the direction of the gate, hardstone if I want to break through the underground of the cliffs, and bedstone… bedrock?—to dig below all of that,' Theo thought, only to follow it up with another sigh.

'And that translates to magi-tool, advanced tool, or modern-grade tool, none of which I can craft right now, huh?'

For the third and last time, Theo sighed.

Then, he stood up, shook his head, and then slapped both of his hands against his cheeks.

"It's not like I didn't expect it. I merely wished to ensure I wasn't missing out on an easy way out. And now that I did…"

Theo raised his head and looked up the third and last leg of his freedom steps, in the direction of the surface.

In theory, there was still one way out of this place that appeared to be blocked by nothing but air… and how inaccessible it was.

But contrary to all sorts of staircases Theo could dig out directly in the underground… This last-resort option involved building up instead.

"Even if I can actually create a perfectly stable tower growing as high as that massive, dam-like gate, what if its effects will keep me from crossing above it anyway? Or worse, what if those effects make me stumble and fall from such a great height?"

Theo shook his head before taking in a deep breath, throwing out a full stack of stone out of his inventory, and then using the spare space to stash his axe.

"Now that I've exhausted my options, it's time to do things as intended. But first…"

Rather than rushing back to the point where the main steps and freedom steps crossed, Theo pulled out one of his berries, only to then take his time just staring at it.

'How do I eat it to get the most out of it?'

He had already seen the majority of the berry's meat sizzle out into the air from mere contact with the atmosphere. And while he knew not how such a process worked, he wasn't all that keen to watch it happen again.

'Let's try not to be greedy first,' Theo thought, sitting down on the stone step before bringing the fruit up to his mouth and then taking a careful, measured bite.

Instead of tearing the skin of the fruit open and taking a proper bite, however, Theo just sank his teeth into the fruit's skin before slowly sucking at it, as if he were a toddler desperately suckling on its mother's breast.

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Once again, the rich, refreshing juice flowed into Theo's mouth. This time, however, thanks to the measures Theo took, it just kept flowing into his mouth as opposed to overflowing it in one go, only for the majority of the fruit's meat and juice to just vanish.

Still, even with Theo's best attempt to keep the fruit from spoiling in the air, he only managed to suck on it for a few seconds before the fruit suddenly deflated, only to pretty much collapse right in his hand.

'I guess it's not about being patient either,' Theo took a mental note before taking a few moments to imagine all sorts of other ways of preparing this surprisingly complex berry.

'Cooking is out of the question; the top of the furnace wouldn't get hot enough to work like a stove. That leaves me with the option of trying to cook it directly through its interface or using the furnace's heat to try to dry it out. But…'

Theo shook his head before standing up and starting his long ascent up the last leg of his freedom steps.

"But that's all for later."

Consuming the berry allowed Theo to restore his thirst just above the first threshold while pushing his hunger right to the point between hunger and early starvation.

Still, for how risky it was to gather those berries, Theo didn't dare to waste them on something as rudimentary as appeasing his hunger.

'A man can go seven days without food, but only three without water. And while the first would make them miserable, just a day without a drink would leave anyone utterly useless.'

Still, despite his attempt to stay hydrated, by the time Theo climbed all the way back up to his main steps, he had long since sweated away all the juice he managed to drink from the berry before it vanished.

'Now, time for another test,' Theo thought, pulling another berry up as the mere sight of his thirst meter falling below its first threshold made him too uncomfortable to even think about working.

This time, rather than staying patient, Theo made use of the one ability that college actually taught him—how to chug beers during parties.

And so, with another berry out of his inventory and now in his hand, Theo brought it up above his face, only to lean his head back… and then repeat the same process as before, with the slight change of digging much harder and tearing a lot more of the fruit's skin.

'Chug!'

With just this one directive in his mind, Theo opened up his throat and allowed the fruit's juices to just freely flow down his mouth, sparing no time for something as wasteful as breathing.

Gulp after gulp, Theo continued to chug at the fruit's delicious, refreshing juice, managing to reach the point where he started to squeeze down on it to push even more of it out…

Only for the berry to collapse right within his hands, turning into dust—and because he was still trying to squeeze down on it—causing his hands to clap.

'That was… a lot better than before,' Theo thought, only to wipe his mouth with the torn sleeve of his simple shirt, watching with satisfaction how his thirst meter now moved quite a bit up.

Sadly, the hunger meter wasn't as eager to move, only rising far enough to justify using the berries for food as opposed to Theo growing more and more desperate to find a new source of it.

There were still more ways for the young man to test just how useful those berries were. At least three more methods still existed for him if he made the trip back to his base…

But for now, his meters were at a good-enough level. And with the threat level remaining at the lowest, what could be a better time than to start working on the trap?

"I've been putting it off for long enough," Theo muttered to himself, only to glance up at his inventory where stone blocks once again filled up all the spots not occupied by the loot from the bushes, wood, or Theo's tools.

In other words, he now had absolutely everything he required to complete his trap and then pray that it would work as designed. Adding up how he confirmed there was no other way out of this place... Building the whole thing was just the next logical step on Theo's mental itenary.

And so, after making another quick trip up the trap steps, Theo removed the dirt cover at its top before emerging back to the surface, right as the night appeared to reach its darkest phase.

'That leaves me with just enough time to get the main frame up,' Theo thought… Only for his lips to then twist into a sour smile. 'I only wonder when my lack of sleep will start to catch up to me, though?'