Video game I Can Turn Waste Into Treasure novel Chapter 8

Chapter 8 Hitting the Jackpot

‘When did this show up?’ Andrea wondered, her eyes narrowing as she realized she had completely overlooked the update.

She tapped the icon, and a single blueprint popped up: [Small Wooden Cabin].

[Required Materials: Wood x50, Iron Nails x20. Specs: 1 Room, 45 Square Feet.]

‘How the hell did I miss this?’ she chided herself, feeling a mix of annoyance and relief.

Waking up soaked to the bone for two days straight had been pure misery, and she was lucky she hadn’t come down with a fever yet.

She quickly dismantled a spare crate, salvaged five more nails, and hit the “Build” button.

The island was so tiny that the cabin made the remaining space feel even more cramped, so she positioned the structure dead center for balance.

Fortunately, the system was user-friendly, allowing her to toggle the placement of doors and windows before confirming.

Andrea opted for windows on both sides and doors at the front and back to catch whatever breeze she could.

The layout was tight but functional. She left a twenty square foot porch at the front for her fishing rod and campfire.

The main cabin occupied the center, followed by another twenty-square-foot strip at the back for her oars, a small patch of soil, and the underwater thruster.

The roof was a flat platform with a three-foot railing, accessible by wooden pegs built into the exterior wall.

At least I can use the roof for storage, she thought,’ hauling her supply chests up there to clear the floor.

Stepping back inside and leaning against the solid wood wall, she finally felt a flicker of security.

She didn’t have to worry about rolling into the ocean in her sleep anymore.

The orange glow from the campfire outside filtered through the doorway, acting as a makeshift lamp.

Once settled, Andrea sat down to craft her water purifier.

She opened the workbench and slotted the blueprint and materials into the interface.

[Water Purifier Acquired]

[Water Purifier: Produces 2.5 gallons of drinking water and 2 ounces of salt daily. Requires Energy Cores. One corn lasts 30 days.]

‘It produces salt, too?’ she thought, her eyes widening.

This was a massive win.

Her bottled water was nearly gone after three days of drinking and trading.

Two and a half gallons a day was more than enough for drinking and cooking, and as long as she didn’t wash her clothes every single day, she might even have a surplus.

She hopped onto the Trading Post and swapped some raw materials for two wooden buckets and a ceramic jar.

The buckets were for the water, and the jar was for the salt.

She installed the unit by the door, dropping the intake pipe into the sea. It hummed to life instantly.

She was lucky the rewards from the thruster had included two energy cores; otherwise, she would be staring at a useless piece of high-tech junk.

She remembered asking Bubba where to buy supplies, and he had mentioned “the store.”

But given how little she knew about how this world operated, she had no idea where that was.

‘I guess I’m on my own for now,’ she mused.

With the water situation handled, she pulled out the crossbow she had traded from Gwen.

[Reforge Successful.

[Acquired: Hidden Wrist-Crossbow. Features: Semi-auto, Scoped.]

The weapon had shrunk into a compact device that strapped perfectly to her forearm.

Andrea pulled out the iron arrow she had found earlier.

As expected of system-generated gear, they were a perfect fit.

‘Finally, a weapon I can actually use,’ she thought, feeling a surge of confidence.

She tucked it into her inventory, planning to practice her aim tomorrow.

After dinner, Andrea crafted a few more campfires for the Trading Post.

The demand had leveled off since the initial rush, but she still managed to pull in over a hundred units of various materials.

She made it a point to keep the shop stocked, knowing that basic resources would always be valuable.

Lastly, she traded for two thick quilts, using one as a mattress and the other to cover up with.

The wooden floor was far more level than the uneven ground.

Surrounded by four solid walls and tucked into her blankets, Andrea drifted into the first peaceful sleep she had experienced since this nightmare began.

*****

System: [Bind Spatial Pouch?]

She clicked: [Yes]

The pouch dissolved into a streak of light and surged into her skin. A faint, pale shark emblem appeared on the inside of her wrist.

Startled, Andrea rubbed the mark.

As she focused on it, a void-like space manifested in her mind. It was a silent, dark expanse waiting to be filled.

She tested it out, mentally moving a quilt from the corner of her cabin into the void and then pulling it back out.

It worked just like her system inventory, only with the added miracle of frozen time.

She spent the next hour clearing the clutter off her roof and moving non-essential gear from her inventory into the new space.

Once the island looked clean again, she began organizing the pouch’s interior into neat categories.

While sorting, she noticed a small, separate bag tucked away in a dark corner.

‘Wait, where did this come from?’ she wondered, pulling the bag into her hands.

She pulled the drawstring open and nearly blinked at the glare.

It was packed with gold coins.

There were exactly 200.

‘Holy crap, I hit the jackpot,’ she thought, her pulse racing as she counted them out. ‘I’m actually rich!’

She stashed the loot. Her total balance reached 239 gold and 50 silver.

‘I have no idea what the purchasing power is like here,’ she told herself, trying to keep her excitement in check. ‘I just hope this world doesn’t have runaway inflation.’

With her chores finished, Andrea pulled out her iron pot to simmer some rice for dinner. While she waited, she opened the regional chat.

[Add me! Let’s network. There’s strength in numbers.]

Jason: [Buying water… any amount…]

Andrea watched the messages scroll by, her expression neutral.