Alas, except for the simple description, there’s nothing else about how it works.
There’s nothing Yu Zhiye can do except speculate.
Worker NPCs? Hero summoning? Enslavement?
Contracted souls really can point to so many cliché tropes...
So, he didn’t dwell on that for long.
“Whatever. Once I build it, I’ll figure everything out. Now, let’s take a look at the other changes that happened.”
First up was the center of it all.
[Main Core (Lv.3)]
The core of this pocket dimension that stores all energy collected.
[Core Energy Units]
x1
[Upgrade]
x50 core energy
“The upgrade cost doubled. Pretty straightforward. Looks like costs will snowball and this might be the leveling pattern from now on.”
But since costs will snowball, how can the benefits not?
Moving down was the alter holding the core.
[Mysterious Altar]
An altar that has gained mysterious properties by bounding to a mysterious core and taking root in this dimension.
[Effect]
Soul-Recognition Barrier
Indestructible
+4 CE/day
“Sweet! The daily passive income doubled again! I can definitely live on this and hold off on fishing temporarily.”
Not because he didn’t want to. It’s just that fishing under the hot sun turned him into a bottomless abyss for water.
Now that there’s no more free water spawning, he must start thinking about survival and conserve water where he can.
At least, until he finds a stable water source.
“But where to find such a thing in this desert? Can’t expect an oasis to deliver itself to their doorstep, right?”
Yeah. Impossible.
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Right now, his sole lead was trading emeralds for water buckets.
Alas… the schedule of the trade hub instance was still a mystery, and whether it comes back or not was still up for debate!
“But if it doesn’t, we’re most likely screwed unless…”
This reminded Yu Zhiye: how did those shipwrecked sailors in the diary get enough water to survive?
It wasn’t mentioned, but this might be a possible lifeline!
But let’s not get his hopes up.
Instead of banking on an unknown fate, it was better to grasp whatever resources were available nearby.
That’s another reason why he must go mining.
Even if he can’t find emeralds, collecting coal and other ores will allow him to exchange for emeralds!
But if there were any other ways, that would be even better…
As fate would have it, Yu Zhiye discovered just that once his sight fell on the pair of resource generating barrels!
[Mysterious Barrel]
A barrel that has gained mysterious properties by bounding to a mysterious core and taking root in this dimension.
[Effect]
Indestructible
Basic Resource Production
[Resource Type Selection]
[Wood] [Cobblestone] [Sand] [Emerald]
There’s a new selection entry: emerald!
“Sweet stars above! This generator can actually produce emerald! Won’t that mean I don’t have to worry about game currency from now on?!”
What does this mean? This was essentially his own money printer!
It meant financial freedom! It meant purchasing those high-tier anime powers was within reach!
On top of that, perhaps he will soon become another big shot rich enough to send chat messages daily!
“Okay, okay, calm down… no need to get excited just yet. I still need to test the cost-effectiveness of this emerald generator to see if it’s actually viable.”
After all, he can’t expect to get x8 emerald just like wood, can he?
“Uh huh. Let’s not get my hopes up. Just give it a try and we’ll know.”
His last core energy point got invested into the new barrel and Yu Zhiye became broke again.
“Looks like I gotta wait for the daily passive income to kick in tomorrow…”
Speaking of tomorrow…
“The plan was to go on an adventure for the first time, but…”
Fishing for points to generate emeralds was an extremely tempting idea! Especially since fishing on the job felt so, sooo good… damn it!
“Amitabha! Distracting thoughts, be gone!”
Yu Zhiye stopped thinking with his lower half and instead conducted a logical analysis of the pros and cons.
Go fishing again? That meant breaking a promise. How will that affect the relationship with his party? Is it worth it?
“Those two have potential. With enough time and investment, they might even become a mining company that’ll supply all my construction and various needs…”
Cobblestone… chests...
Emerald, diamond, and perhaps the gems after that might need their help to collect!
“I can’t let our relationship sour unless... the pros outweigh the cons.”
The benefits? 6 to 10 extra points for a day? That actually wasn’t that much more than his daily passive income!
“Not enough. Especially considering the water cost. Unless the core upgrade changed…”
Yu Zhiye double-checked the lucky fishing rod he loved carrying around.
[Mysterious Fishing Rod]
An old wooden rod bound to a mysterious core.
[Durability] 384/384
[Effect]
Fishing Zone Detection
Fish Magnet
Entity Reeler
Equipped: +1 LCK
+1 CE/fish
Sadly, nothing much has changed, aside from the fact that the Fish Attraction effect upgraded to Fish Magnet.
In the inventory, that translated to…
[Fishing Rod (Blue)]
Curse of Vanishing I
Luck of the Sea I
Mending
Lure I
“A new Lure I enchantment. That enchantment should decrease the time it takes for a fish to bite when fishing.”
Essentially: increasing the number of catches! This was a momentous upgrade—one that’ll snowball!
“With this, I’ll definitely earn closer to, if not more than 10 points from fishing every day! Missing a day will definitely slow down the snowballing advancement of my pocket dimension!”
This fact really made Yu Zhiye struggle against his inner demons!
What to do? What to do?! Fishing sounds so tempting, ahhhh!
Especially since there’s a new soul hall that still needs points to be built!
“If my life is a story, I wonder what the readers would want? A slice-of-life hermit story or a main character that goes on dangerous adventures to make the story less boring?”