Starting With a Reef [Global Survival]

The shimmering toolbench sat inside the thatched hut, making the space feel a little less empty.
It actually looked more like a wooden desk.
But it had a control panel on top. Yun Luohe placed her hand on it, and the panel lit up.
Toolbench Lv.1 (Upgradeable)
She could see various options: Basic Tool Crafting, Blueprint Crafting, Decompose or Synthesize Materials.
Yun Luohe opened the first option and saw a wide selection of tools.

For example, various basic furniture: wooden table, wooden chair, wooden bed, wooden box, stone table, stone stool…
Basic equipment: stone axe, stone hoe, stone pickaxe, iron axe, iron hoe, long knife, sickle, short knife…
Blueprint Crafting was for creating advanced items using specific blueprints.
Yun Luohe didn’t have any blueprints yet, so there was nothing she could research.
Lastly, there was Decomposition and Synthesis.

For instance, leaves could be decomposed into fiber.
Wooden boxes could be broken down into wood.
Ten pieces of wood could be synthesized into hardwood planks.
Sand and clay could be synthesized into bricks.
…
All of this was only possible through the toolbench.
Of course, Yun Luohe’s Trash Can skill occasionally produced similar effects.

Now that she had the toolbench, everything would definitely become much more convenient.
She wanted to make a wooden bed, so she wouldn’t have to sleep directly on the ground at night anymore.
However, the bed required iron nails.
Although Yun Luohe didn’t have any iron nails, she could make them from iron ore.

One iron ore could produce ten iron nails.
The materials for the wooden bed were: wood ×10, iron nails ×10.
She had just enough to make one bed.
Her only dilemma now was whether to save the materials for future upgrades.
Receiving two upgrade rewards had ignited her enthusiasm to level up quickly.

But the next upgrade required many more materials—she was still far from having enough.
And who knew when the upgrading would end? Even if she reached Level 3 tomorrow, she’d still have to keep stockpiling supplies.
Might as well make herself a little more comfortable first.
So Yun Luohe turned the iron ore into iron nails and started crafting the wooden bed.

Once it was complete, Yun Luohe placed the quilt and pillow on top and nodded in satisfaction.
It finally felt like she had a home.
She sat down to try it out. It was surprisingly comfortable.
Still, she couldn’t go to sleep yet.
She needed to craft the hoe.
To make a stone hoe, she needed: flint ×2, wood ×5.

There happened to be two pieces of flint in her inventory.
Yun Luohe placed the materials on the toolbench, selected the appropriate tool, and clicked "Craft."
A cloud of white mist enveloped the materials on the toolbench, and a countdown appeared above them—30 minutes.

With the hoe, she could start planting vegetables first thing tomorrow morning.
She took the burned-up wood out, chipped off a glowing red ember, placed it in a coconut shell, and tucked it into her backpack.
She’d take it out again when it was time to light another fire.
After that, she went to pull up her fishing net.
There was already something inside.

Yun Luohe hauled it up and saw that it was a giant rock, heavy and solid.
If her fishing net hadn’t been upgraded, it probably would’ve been damaged by that stone.
She suddenly thought of Mu Zitang’s broken net. Without it, he wouldn’t be able to fish up any more supplies. Even if he had Steamed Buns, he’d still be unable to develop—surviving on the reef would be a huge challenge.

Maybe she could help him again. The trash she had traded from him had brought her quite a few benefits.
Yun Luohe: “Is your fishing net badly damaged? Let me take a look.”
Mu Zitang hadn’t gone to sleep yet. His reef was soaked, and he couldn’t lie down. He could only crouch on the reef, questioning his life choices.

Seeing Yun Luohe’s message, he was a little surprised.
Still, he took a screenshot and sent it.
TatteredFishingNet: Largehole, unusable. Repairmaterials: fiber×3
Only three fibers. No big deal.
Yun Luohe happened to have some fiber on hand.

“I can help you repair your fishing net, but in the future, I’ll choose some items from whatever you fish up.”
Mu Zitang: “Really?!”
Mu Zitang never expected Yun Luohe would be willing to help him again. Had she seen the message he sent in the chat channel?

The Steamed Bun could only keep him alive for a day or two. Without a fishing net, he wouldn’t be able to gather more supplies, couldn’t upgrade, and would have no source of food. He still wouldn’t survive.
Actually, a lot of people had added him, and he had asked many of them for help, but most only offered words of comfort or bizarre suggestions. Very few were truly willing to lend a hand.
Someone gave him half a bottle of water, and Yun Luohe had traded a Steamed Bun for his trash.
He had just posted in the chat channel again.

He said that if anyone was willing to help repair his fishing net, he would repay them no matter what. Whatever he fished up, he’d let that person pick first.
In the end, players mocked him, saying the junk he fished up wasn’t worth picking—no one would want it even if he gave it away.
Mu Zitang was deeply discouraged, especially because part of him agreed with what they said.

Because he really had fished up nothing but garbage…
But he still didn’t want to just wait to die.
He wanted to live.
Mu Zitang quickly said, “As long as you help me fix the fishing net, you can have whatever you want from the supplies I fish up.”

Yun Luohe said, “Alright, it’s a deal.” She sent him the fiber directly.
Mu Zitang was so moved he was about to cry.
“As long as I can survive, I’ll do whatever you tell me from now on!” Mu Zitang promised earnestly.

Yun Luohe said, “It’s getting late. Your Reef hasn’t been upgraded yet—hurry and repair the fishing net and see if you can fish up some supplies.”
“Okay!” Even if Yun Luohe hadn’t said anything, Mu Zitang was already anxious.
The sun rose again.

Sunlight streamed through the gaps in the thatched roof. Yun Luohe practically jumped out of bed the moment she opened her eyes.
She had a lot to do today.
The first thing she did was pick up the Trash Can and switch it to ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) the Scrap-for-Cash skill.

There was still plenty of trash she could use.
She threw in a Rotten Vegetable Leaf to test the result.
Scrap-for-Cash Successful. Detected local universal currency: Ocean Stone. All recycled trash will now be converted according to Ocean Stone value.

Obtained: Ocean Stone ×1
So that’s how it worked.
That meant whatever she threw in today would give her Ocean Stones.

That way, she could quickly build up her Ocean Stone count.
Once she had enough, she could switch back to the Trash Recycle skill.
Yun Luohe threw all the trash she currently had into the Trash Can, one by one.

After ten rounds of recycling, she had earned 16 Ocean Stones in total.
This included two empty Mineral Water bottles she had finished drinking.
Some items gave 2 to 3 Ocean Stones when thrown in.

It was time for a lottery draw.
This was the moment Yun Luohe had been waiting for.
Lottery Start!

Reward: Iron Sickle ×1
She hadn’t expected to get an Iron Sickle!
Iron Sickle: Silver in color and very sharp. Very convenient for cutting grass and harvesting crops. Be careful when using it.

What a surprise!
Yun Luohe had been needing a sickle to clear weeds.
An iron sickle was much better than a stone knife—it would normally require three iron ores to make one of these.

No need to say anything else—off to weed and plant!
Yun Luohe first cleared all the weeds from the patch of land behind the thatched hut.
Weeding also gave her fiber!

Two birds with one stone.
After clearing all the weeds, she had collected five pieces of fiber.
Now she could start planting vegetables.

But Yun Luohe didn’t have many seeds—only three in total.
Cabbage Seed: Suitable for spring planting. Can be harvested four days after planting. Must be watered daily or it won’t grow.
Black Seed: Round, black seed. Unknown plant type. Unknown if it will grow.

Sprouted Apple Tree Seed: Fruit tree seed suitable for planting in spring and autumn. Starts bearing fruit 15 days after planting, and bears fruit once a week thereafter.
Apple trees would grow tall, so she needed to choose a good spot—somewhere open and out of the way, so the tree wouldn’t block paths once it matured.
And within half a meter of the tree, there should be no other items, leaving enough space for it to grow.

After choosing the spot, Yun Luohe used the hoe to dig two holes and planted the two seeds.
Finally, she watered both the fruit tree and the seedbed.
Mission accomplished.

Four days later, she’d be able to harvest cabbage—soon, she’d be eating her own homegrown cabbage. Just thinking about it felt unreal.
Though she’d probably only be able to boil it in plain water, even that would be great. Vegetables she grew herself were bound to taste sweet.
Feeling cheerful, Yun Luohe took out her fishing net, ready to start gathering supplies.

While waiting, she ate a Meat Floss Rice Ball and opened the light screen.
She had been busy since waking up and hadn’t even checked her messages.
Once she opened it, she saw several unread messages.

Du Ruan-tian: I fished up a Stove Blueprint! I can make a stove now—do you want one?
Mu Zitang: Half of today’s haul is still trash. Take a look and see if there’s anything you want.