The two locked eyes.
Yukinoshita Yukino offered an elegant smile, though her voice trembled slightly:
"I~ know~, cough, I am very cute, so please stop staring at me, Mr. Distracted-at-Work."
"Heh, Yukinoshita, the area around your ears is all red."
Yukinoshita Yukino resisted the urge to touch her burning cheeks, still stubbornly retorting, "It's normal for one's face to be red after exercise. Please don't be so easily startled, Mr. Lacking-Common-Sense."
Natsuyu withdrew his gaze, feeling a sense of regret as he shook his head slightly.
Such a fine young lady, a pity she has a mouth.
If only Yukinoshita Yukino were mute, her Charm would definitely increase by a whole level.
"Natsuyu, are you thinking about something rude?" Yukinoshita Yukino sensed the offense, her gaze turning sharp.
"No, I'm thinking about how to improve everyone's situation."
Flat-no, I'm not lying.jpg
Yukinoshita Yukino's eyes were full of distrust, but she had nothing more to say.
To continue would make her seem unreasonably difficult.
Natsuyu stuffed all the resources into his Backpack. The gathered resources were as follows:
Wooden Pickaxe * 1, Wooden Axe * 2, Crafting Table * 1, Cut Grass * 12, Twigs * 20, Logs * 20, Logs * 5, occupying 7/8 of the Backpack slots.
He had also tested that the Stacking Limit for Logs in a single slot was 20, consistent with Don't Starve.
Surprisingly, the axes and pickaxes could also stack, which differed from the games.
He didn't know if the Crafting Table could stack; he'd try that later when he had some free time.
Natsuyu picked up the Backpack; it felt light as air, as if there was nothing inside.
In reality, the weight of the items inside would have crushed a person into paste.
As expected of a rule-based Backpack from a game setting.
When Natsuyu touched the Backpack, he could see the eight unlocked slots and the materials inside on his System Panel.
With a single thought, a meter-long wooden axe appeared in his hand. It felt heavy in his grip, and the blade was sharp.
'Retrieving things from the Backpack is very convenient.'
With another thought, Natsuyu stored the axe back. Curling his lips slightly, he said to Yukinoshita Yukino, "Let's continue exploring."
"Alright."
Yukinoshita Yukino withdrew her curious gaze, stood up, patted the skirt of her JK Uniform, and walked to Natsuyu's side.
Because her sweat had evaporated after exercise, the scent of a girl's beautiful body wafted out. Natsuyu could easily smell the faint, damp fragrance of shower gel on Yukinoshita Yukino.
Yukinoshita Yukino reported her work seriously:
"The surrounding area is forest. I saw birds and the crawling tracks of some strange animals. There might be unknown creatures around, so we must be cautious."
"Okay."
Natsuyu breathed in the scent of Yukinoshita Yukino while looking at her leather shoes and black Over-the-knee Socks, feeling a bit worried.
They had to find a water source soon. Otherwise, with such a high level of physical activity, everyone would start to smell in a few days, which would ruin the mood.
Beautiful girls were better off smelling sweet.
Natsuyu would be extremely repulsed by a smelly beautiful girl.
In the middle of nowhere, there were no clothes to change into. If they had to wash their clothes later, as a man, Natsuyu would inevitably see some "fan service"... cough, it would be quite troublesome.
There was also the issue of drinking water; it was best not to drink raw water directly to prevent parasitic diseases.
The collected Cut Grass was convenient for starting a fire, so they could boil water.
Natsuyu's Physique strength should allow him to start a fire by friction, and if all else failed, there was always Kiana.
As long as Lady Kiana took action, everything would be fine!
Thinking of this, Natsuyu said softly, "Yukinoshita, we need to find a water source first."
Yukinoshita Yukino nodded and analyzed, "A water source is indeed very important; we must find drinking water today. With the vegetation in this forest being so lush and the presence of unknown creatures, there shouldn't be a lack of water. There should be at least one water source."
"I think so too, but wait a moment first."
Natsuyu looked at a large Stone in front of him. With a thought, the heavy wooden pickaxe appeared in his hand.
"If we go deeper, we might encounter Monsters. I need to upgrade my equipment to stone tools first."
"That makes sense."
Yukinoshita Yukino felt that Natsuyu's caution provided a great sense of security.
Natsuyu walked to the front of the Stone and took a deep breath.
[Congratulations on achieving the Achievement "Stone Age!". Please shout the incantation "Successfully connected to the clever Malphite brain network!" loudly to receive the rewards: Crafting Upgrade (Stone), Furnace Crafting, Experience 10.]
[The Basic Achievement Tree has unlocked new achievements:
...Stone Age! — Getting an Upgrade (Craft a Stone Pickaxe) — ?]
If Yukinoshita Yukino hadn't discovered traces of unknown creatures, Natsuyu had originally planned to wait until she was off exploring at a distance to recite the incantation and unlock the achievement while alone.
But now, knowing that danger might be lurking in the shadows, to hold back and not make the most thorough preparations would be to gamble with both their lives.
Natsuyu turned his back to Yukinoshita Yukino, his expression composed as he shouted loudly:
"Successfully connected to the clever Malphite brain network!"
He... he actually said it.
It felt like taking off a mask.
As if streaking on the street, not needing to care about the eyes of the world, being posted online to become the dream of girls tonight...
He actually felt a strange surge of excitement.
Oh no, surely I'm not awakening some weird fetish.
[You have received the rewards: Crafting Upgrade (Stone), Furnace Crafting, Experience 10.]
Natsuyu gained the ability to craft Stone Axes, Stone Pickaxes, and Furnaces.
To his surprise, there was also a Stone Crafting Table.
A wooden Crafting Table could not process Stone.
To craft stone tools, one needed to use a stone Crafting Table. This was surprisingly logical.
The recipes for the Stone Axe and Stone Pickaxe were the same, just replacing wood with Stone.
Beyond that, he could choose to use Twigs for wooden handles or Stone for stone handles, allowing for a lot of autonomy.
The Furnace could be crafted with 8 pieces of Stone.
[Natsuyu: Level 2 (Experience 15/20)]
Once he crafted a Stone Pickaxe, he could level up.
Natsuyu gripped the wooden pickaxe with both hands and began chipping away at the Stone.
Men always have a soft spot for chipping away at things.
You look at a Stone; it's big and round, perfectly suited for quarrying.
After five bangs, a perfectly square piece of Stone, ten centimeters on each side, automatically broke off the rock face.
"You..."
Yukinoshita Yukino walked over, picked up the Stone to help Natsuyu stack the resources, and tilted her lovely face up, her expression a bit confused:
"Was what you just shouted the incantation to activate your ability?"
Natsuyu gave a soft sigh.
He still couldn't escape the biting mockery of Flat-no.
"Yes. Every time I unlock an ability, I have to recite an incantation. It's quite a twisted taste, isn't it?"
Although after shedding his initial shame, he did feel a bit of a thrill from "removing the mask."
But Natsuyu wasn't some streaking pervert; he still felt shame in his heart.
Natsuyu took a deep breath:
No matter how Yukinoshita Yukino mocks me later, I'll just pretend not to care.
Yukinoshita Yukino crouched down, lightly pressing down her short skirt, and looked up at Natsuyu, who seemed to be working seriously but was actually avoiding the confrontation:
"This is the first I've heard of this."
"Thank you."
★ ★ ★
T/N: I went back and fixed the protagonist's name. It should have been Natsuyu, not Xia You.
Also, Flat-no is a pun for Yukino because she's flat as a board.