SOLAK Chapter 8

“[Recipe: Charcoal-Grilled Pork Chop] Want to trade?”

“[Recipe: Slow-Cooked Meat Porridge]?”

“[Recipe: Five-Spice Potatoes] How about this one?”

…

Most of the private messages bombarding He Huan were like that—cooking recipes. She didn’t even bother opening them, skipping straight past to the handful of equipment recipes instead.

Unfortunately, those recipes were all for clothes and shoes. Not a single weapon among them.

After weighing her options, He Huan finally chose to accept a coat and a pair of shoes.

The deals went quickly. She cheerfully traded two portions of fresh leopard meat each and secured the two recipes.

Both required Level 2 to learn, which she had just reached. The instant she received them, she didn’t hesitate—she learned them on the spot.

[Beastskin Boots: Made from animal hides. Provides warmth and increases travel speed. Materials required: Hide ×2, Coarse Thread ×1]

[Fur Coat: Made from animal hides. Provides warmth and defense. Materials required: Hide ×3, Coarse Thread ×2]

She had nine pieces of hide at hand—but no coarse thread. That was going to be a problem.

After confirming what she lacked, He Huan decided to toss some leopard meat onto the trading platform and see if she could exchange for three spools of coarse thread. But before she could open the platform, a message arrived.

The sender was none other than the seller of the beastskin boots recipe, Li Changping.

“Boss He, do you have any coarse thread?” He got straight to the point.

He Huan blinked. That was oddly specific—and ironic, since she was actually out of coarse thread.

After staring at his message for a few seconds, she finally replied with a single: “?”

As if waiting for that very cue, his next message came instantly: “Boss He, I’ve got three coarse threads. If you help me craft a pair of beastskin boots, I’ll give them all to you.”

He Huan frowned. “So you’re saying I provide the hides, the labor, and even one of your threads… all so I can give you a pair of boots, while only getting two threads in return? That’s your offer?”

Her bluntness left Li Changping scrambling. “I know it sounds a bit much, but… Boss He, I really don’t have any hides…”

“So, what, I look like a charity handout to you?”

Li Changping: …

When no further reply came, He Huan assumed he’d backed off. She turned her attention back to the trading platform, searching for sellers of coarse thread.

Thread was rare, after all—it only came from treasure chests. And only a handful of residents had even found one this early.

Hides, however, were rarer still. They could only be stripped from wild beasts, and very few residents were strong enough to hunt them.

Her plan was simple: trade two or three chunks of fresh leopard meat for three threads. The rest she could exchange for other rare materials.

But before she could act, Li Changping messaged again.

“Boss He, I know how the Angel Fountain was obtained. I’ll trade that info, plus three coarse threads, for a pair of boots. Deal?”

The Angel Fountain?

He Huan’s mind snapped back to the Taishan Mutual Aid Society’s flashy announcement earlier. That fountain’s properties had been hard to forget.

She’d only been in this world for a few hours. Everything she knew came from the forums and regional chat, cross-checked with items circulating in the trading platform. Not once had she gotten an inside lead from another resident.

And if Li Changping really did know something about the Fountain…

She thought only a moment before replying.

“Four threads. And the info.”

“Deal.”

The answer came instantly, as though he was terrified she’d change her mind. The four threads arrived in her inventory almost at once.

True to her word, He Huan got to work. She crafted two pairs of beastskin boots and a fur coat.

While working on the coat, something unexpected happened—

[Insight Triggered!]

“Insight” was a rare phenomenon during crafting. When triggered, the resulting item would gain special enhancements.

Sure enough, the finished coat glowed faintly.

[Fur Coat: Excellent (Green). Defense +5, Warmth +5. In battle, 50% chance to reflect 10% of damage.]

The boots, however, came out ordinary.

[Beastskin Boots: Common (White). Defense +3, Speed +2.]

She handed one pair to Li Changping as promised.

After checking the stats himself, he was satisfied and finally delivered his information:

“At this stage, the best chests you can find out there are Bronze Chests. The highest-tier items they drop are green. The Taishan Mutual Aid Society’s blue Angel Fountain didn’t come from one.”

He Huan’s brow arched.

If she remembered right, Zhou Yuanshan had loudly proclaimed in regional chat: Bronze Chests had an 80% chance to drop green, 20% chance to drop blue.

So… was that a lie?

Li Changping seemed to read her thoughts. “Zhou Yuanshan isn’t exactly lying. But really—Bronze Chests are already rare. The odds of getting a green or blue from them are even lower. Nobody can prove him wrong.”

“And how do I know you’re telling the truth?” she pressed.

He dodged. “It’s tied to the skill I drew from my newbie pack. Can’t explain further.”

Then he circled back: “Anyway, right now, all blue-tier items come from dungeons. Our region only has one dungeon confirmed, in Mist Zone No. 3. The Taishan Mutual Aid Society is guarding it.

“The dungeon opens at daybreak and closes at nightfall. Only four hours of exploration time per day. And so far, none of their members have cleared it yet.

“That Angel Fountain? Almost certainly from there. And I’d bet they’ve got more blue-tier items hidden.”

He stopped there, though He Huan suspected he wasn’t telling her everything. Still, she gave him the boots, and he immediately sent a friend request. She neither accepted nor rejected, letting it sit.

She didn’t fully trust his intel, but she marked it as a critical lead.

If the chance came, she absolutely had to investigate Mist Zone No. 3.

Another puzzle nagged at her—the two blocks of black soil she’d acquired earlier. If blue-tier items really didn’t come from chests… had those too emerged from the dungeon?

No clear answers came, so she shelved the thought.

The rest of the evening she lingered on the platform, hoping for more good trades. By 10 p.m., she’d gathered some rare materials—glass, metals—but no new recipes.

The night grew colder. Inside her wooden hut, the temperature was sliding toward zero. Outside, it was already minus seven or eight.

She dumped the rest of her chopped wood into the fire, ensuring it would last another forty hours.

The “bed” in her Level 1 hut was nothing but a thin layer of straw. Useless against the night chill.

Thankfully, she still had an old blanket from her inheritance, plus the massive leopard hide she’d skinned earlier. Spreading the hide beneath her, blanket pulled tight, she finally lay down by the fire.

For the first time since her arrival, she sank into a deep, dreamless sleep.

Her mercenary instincts usually kept her half-alert, ready to spring awake at the faintest sound. But this time, exhaustion pulled her under completely.

When she finally opened her eyes, it took her a long moment to even remember where she was, staring blankly at the crude straw roof above.

[Time: 07:37]

[Phase: Silent Midnight. (The most dangerous period of the night. Remaining inside a shelter until dawn is highly recommended.)]

She rubbed her wristband awake, eyes landing on the glowing display.

She was startled to realize she’d slept straight through the night. That had never once happened back in her old world.

But her body felt restored—strong, sharp, fully recovered.

After a quick wash-up, she sat down to breakfast: yesterday’s roasted leopard meat, white bread, and clean water.

And right then—a notification sound chimed in her ear…