However, change wasn’t something that could be achieved in an instant. She had to finish the tasks right in front of her first.
Mo Shao stood up, took out a stone hoe, and walked toward the entrance of the Wilderness while gesturing to Little Ka. “Come on, let’s go do some farming.”
“Sure, let me just wash up.”
“I’ll go wait for you outside then.”
“Mhm.” Little Ka nodded and headed for the bathroom.
It really felt better to come out and breathe some fresh air; studying that magic in the room had given her a massive headache.
However, while studying, she had discovered something new—specifically, the “translation” effect of her Identification ability.
One had to understand that the languages of those magic spells weren't Chinese!
Most of them were various foreign languages, and some were even obscure minor ones. She wouldn't have ended up in this school if she’d known all that back then!
In her past life, she had at most learned a few languages commonly used by the tech side; she hadn't learned a single language from the mystic side at all!
This utility was huge. After all, much of the knowledge found in the Phantom Realm was written in different scripts, many of which had never even been seen before.
In the future, she might be able to use this method to earn some resources, or perhaps pick up valuable items for cheap from others who couldn't read them!
...
While Mo Shao was making her calculations, Little Ka finally arrived in the Wilderness, looking significantly more energetic than yesterday.
As expected, sleep did wonders for the human body. After a brief internal remark, Mo Shao called Little Ka over to start farming.
Her current plan was to plant sixty-four square meters of each plant type—in other words, an eight-by-eight square for each.
Furthermore, she didn't plan on planting them directly on the Wilderness ground, as that would waste the space on the Islands. Those areas were meant for placing buildings to boost Vigor in the future.
She could just dig up some dirt and expand outward. It was as simple as that!
In total, they had six types of crops to plant: Wheat, Potatoes, Carrots, Beetroots, Pumpkins, and Watermelons.
Even though some of these served redundant functions, having more variety would give them more options for their diet later on.
She had also found a bunch of seeds for real-world crops back in the zombie city. She intended to study those and plant them as well when the time came!
Regardless, there was plenty of open space in this Wilderness!
As for the Watermelon seeds, they were obtained from watermelon slices she’d bought from villagers. The Pumpkin seeds came from a cluster of pumpkins she’d found by the roadside.
Originally, she had only kept a few seeds of each to save space. Since these things regrew so quickly anyway, it didn't really matter.
...
Because the growth pattern for pumpkins and watermelons was unique—sprouting a stem and then bearing fruit in any of the four adjacent empty spaces—Mo Shao decided on a specific planting layout to make harvesting easier… as shown below:
[Plant] [Empty] [Empty] [Plant]. Repeating this pattern, they could fit thirty-two plants into sixty-four square meters.
With Little Ka’s help, these six additional tilled plots were quickly set up. All that was left was to wait for them to grow slowly.
During the process, Mo Shao also gave the Wings of Concealment to Little Ka. After all, the girl couldn't fly, and building platforms outward manually was far too slow.
Little Ka possessed the wind attribute naturally. Once she was equipped with a Wind Glider and tinkered with it a bit, it would be practically the same as being able to fly.
Mo Shao already had the Rooster Talisman, making the Wings of Concealment redundant for her. It was better to give them to Little Ka.
Consider it a welcome gift for joining the team.
Little Ka was visibly touched. She hugged Mo Shao and hopped around in excitement for a while, insisting she would definitely repay her in the future.
In any case, a closer relationship was a good thing.
...
After the farming was done, it was naturally time to plant trees. In Minecraft, trees were part of the core logic, after all!
However, she had only managed to obtain three types of saplings from that village: Oak, Birch, and Acacia.
Then, she set up infinite water and used a bucket of lava along with a bucket of water to create a simple stone generator.
With that, basic materials were covered. After some processing, any houses they built in the future wouldn't look too bad…
Then again, she wasn't exactly skilled at architecture. She hadn't studied civil engineering, so if she were to build something…
It would probably just be a series of matchbox houses.
After finishing the immediate arrangements, Mo Shao prepared a few extra plots of land and enclosed them with fences.
This was primarily to prepare for future animal husbandry.
Cows, pigs, sheep, and chickens were all delicious, so she naturally wanted to raise some. She just didn't know when she would encounter them.
It shouldn't take too long, though. Small Minecraft-type Phantom Realms were quite common; with luck, she might even find them on the road.
If all else failed, once she had developed enough in Seven Hills City, she could simply return to her “spawn point” and bring the animals inside.
...
Once those tasks were finished, next was…
“I also need to handle the Halloween matters.” Mo Shao tapped her head, quickly recalling a piece of information—the time had arrived.
“Halloween?” Little Ka blinked, then quickly caught on. “Oh, that’s right, it is today. Is there anything we need to prepare?”
“We need to make some Jack-o'-lanterns and dress up as monsters to scare away the spirits.”
“Are there actually spirits?” Little Ka was clearly a bit frightened. She understood the difference between the spirits Mo Shao was referring to and the ones in Minecraft.
“Yes,” Mo Shao nodded, offering a brief explanation.
“After the apocalypse descended, Halloween causes the souls of those who have died to return to this world. They will even actively seek out living people to possess.”
As for those who died before the apocalypse? Those were truly gone.
“Because of this, the living fear that the spirits of the dead will return to snatch away their lives. That’s why people extinguished their hearths and candles on this day.
“They did it so the souls of the dead couldn’t find the living, and then they dressed up as ghosts and monsters to scare those souls away.”
“Most people nowadays don’t have any resistance related to the soul,” Mo Shao shook her head slightly. This meant many people would likely be possessed.
...
Upon hearing this, Little Ka couldn't help but worry about the future. “Doesn’t that mean massive chaos is about to break out?”
“Not necessarily,” Mo Shao countered before explaining further.
“On Halloween, the spirits of the deceased return to the places they used to live. So, as long as people stay within the Phantom Realm, they can avoid the first wave.”
“And after that?”
“Even if someone is possessed by another soul, it’s not like they can’t find a way to take the body back. These spirits that have only been dead for a few days are quite weak.”
As she spoke, Mo Shao’s expression became slightly strange. Even thinking back on it now, that situation was… utterly bizarre.
At the start, with everyone possessing one person after another, it had been quite comical in a way—though, as someone who had been struggling for survival in the wilderness, she hadn't actually encountered it herself.
“Huh?” Little Ka was stunned by Mo Shao’s words. “Then what’s the point?” Was it just a massive game of ghost-filled bumper cars?
“It’s about who has the fastest reaction time,” Mo Shao shrugged.
“Whoever figures out the Halloween situation first, takes over a body, and then quickly disguises themselves as a monster while carrying a Jack-o'-lantern…
“That person is the ultimate winner of that body.”
It could be described as a warped game of treasure hunting, where the so-called treasure was the right to live and a physical form!
Rate on N.U.
