3. On the fact that the people who fell with me don't listen to me.
3. On the fact that the people who fell with me don't listen to me.
Now, Asagi and Ranma were paying attention to me. These two knew nothing about this place. They also knew they had no choice but to rely on me, the one who knew the most. Furthermore, it meant they had accepted the love and peace gesture I'd been showing them.
I said to the two of them.
"Think about an Inventory. You've played games, right? You know, in those RPGs, there's an Inventory. The place where you put items."
"Inventory?"
"Inventory, huh..."
At my request, Ranma and Asagi made puzzled expressions, then soon appeared to close their eyes and concentrate. Watching that scene, I barely held back my laughter. Seeing it from the side was a bit funny. It reminded me of socially inept shut-ins muttering "Status Window! Status Window!" to themselves.
That used to be me.
Fuck.
While I was lost in my own funny thoughts and then sinking into self-loathing, Asagi and Ranma, who had tried to open their Inventories, shook their heads with troubled expressions.
"It doesn't work."
"Mine doesn't either."
"Hmm..."
Listening to them, it seemed like I was the only one with the Minecraft interface. Is this a balance patch? Asagi is a superpowered ninja with speed, and Ranma is a physical powerhouse. Did they decide I was at a disadvantage and give me the Minecraft interface?
"It seems like only I can do it."
"You'll be an important key, then."
At my mutterings, Asagi suddenly spoke up like that. Ranma didn't seem to understand what Asagi meant, as he still didn't grasp the situation. For now, a few things had been confirmed. To continue surviving here, it seemed best to learn things slowly, bit by bit. First, there was one thing I had to do right away. I quickly opened my Inventory.
6 Oak Logs, 2 Saplings, 4 Apples, 3 Sticks.
First, I took out the saplings and planted them in the ground. I needed the Oak Trees to grow quickly for survival to be possible. When the saplings suddenly popped out of my hand and planted themselves in the ground, Asagi and Ranma looked at me with surprised expressions. I quickly explained.
"These are items that drop when you break an Oak Tree. They grow into Oak Trees over time. We have to break them again and use the items to survive."
"Wouldn't it take years for this to grow to the size of the tree from earlier?"
Ranma frowned at my explanation. I nodded. Asagi also seemed to agree with Ranma.
"That's only the case in normal circumstances, but not here."
Saplings must be planted on Dirt Blocks, Coarse Dirt, Podzol, or Grass Blocks. There needs to be plenty of space above, and they can grow if there is at least light level 8. Basically, the sun has a brightness level of 15. Trees never grow at night. It didn't even feel like lunchtime yet. It was best to plant the trees as quickly as possible so they could grow.
I explained this part to Ranma and Asagi. Ranma and Asagi frowned again.
"It's definitely a game. A game that didn't exist in our world."
"It's probably a game that only existed in my world."
I nodded at Asagi's words. It would have been funny if Minecraft existed in Ranma's world or Asagi's world. It would have been even funnier if Ranma and Asagi had played Minecraft.
"First, here's the problem."
"What kind of problem is there?"
"When you break an Oak Tree, there's a certain chance that items other than logs might drop."
The Oak saplings I planted on the ground have a 1 in 20 chance of being generated when leaf blocks are destroyed. Since they disappeared all at once, I didn't know the exact probability, but as someone who has played Minecraft, I knew from experience that the drops were almost the same.
Apples are the same. The only food we have right now is apples. If we don't quickly find a way to get other items, we'll have to survive by eating nothing but apples for the rest of our lives, and there's a problem with humans surviving on only apples. Since I realized that reality correction was applied when we hit the tree earlier, we need to secure as many different food ingredients as possible.
I took out the 4 apples and laid them out in front of me. Ranma and Asagi brightened up when they saw the apples. It seemed they judged that since they had food, they wouldn't have to starve.
"These are the apples I got from breaking the tree earlier."
"Only 4 came out?"
"This is actually a huge amount."
I explained to the dissatisfied-looking Ranma. Apples also attempt to drop every time a leaf block is destroyed. The probability is 1 in 200. It's much more trash than the oak saplings. The fact that 4 came out this time means we had heavenly luck.
Sticks are the same. Sticks drop with a 1 in 50 chance. Up to 2 at a time. The fact that we have 3 means either 1 dropped once and 2 dropped once, or they dropped 1 at a time 3 times.
Ranma made a fed-up expression after hearing my explanation.
"So you're saying we got really lucky."
"Yeah. As for the apples, Asagi-ssi and I will have one each. You have 2."
I handed out the apples right there on the spot. Asagi furrowed her brows when I handed her only one. It seemed she wasn't happy about receiving less than Ranma. Ranma opened his eyes wide and asked me.
"Why do I get 2?"
"You have to use your strength."
I replied like that and pointed to the oak saplings planted on the ground. Basically, in the game, if a player is nearby, oak saplings attempt to grow 3 times per minute in real-time. They determine the light level, whether there is enough space around them, and their size. The tree Ranma just broke was a basic small oak tree. Whether it grows into a small oak or a large oak is random.
Originally, Minecraft time passes exactly 72 times faster than reality. The saying "3 times per minute" means that in real-time, after 72 minutes have passed since I planted the tree, it makes 3 growth attempts.
This place is on top of a lump of dirt floating in the air. There was nothing but empty space above, so there was plenty of room for the oak trees to grow. What does that mean? It means if we're lucky, the oak saplings I planted could grow into mature trees within today.
When I explained, Asagi, who had been in a bad mood after receiving only one apple, also nodded. Ranma seemed to quite like the fact that Asagi and I were relying on him, as he grinned and scratched the bridge of his nose.
"This is embarrassing~"
I chuckled at Ranma's words and had to explain what we needed to do from now on.
"Basically, it seems like only I can use the Inventory, so I'll manage all the material items. Is that okay with you?"
"That can't be helped. It's the most rational thing to do."
"I agree too."
As Asagi nodded and affirmed my words, Ranma quickly nodded as well. I let out a sigh of relief inwardly. If Ranma had claimed ownership of the items, many difficulties would have blossomed when proceeding with work from now on. I am the worst at fighting here. No, I'm just an ordinary person who happens to have the Inventory. The moment Asagi or Ranma threatened me with force, I might have been killed or worked like a slave.
Gives me goosebumps.
What I have to do now is somehow show a competent side of myself and appeal to Asagi and Ranma that I am an essential existence to them. At the same time, I must also continue to appeal that I am a good person. Even if Ranma or Asagi just kept me in check, I would wither and die. I had to cosplay as a good person as much as possible to increase my chances of survival.
"Then, watch closely. Anyway, there's nothing to do right now until the trees grow."
I urged Asagi and Ranma like that and opened my Inventory. First, I needed to convert all the logs into Oak Planks. The 4-slot space at the top of the Inventory is where you can make basic items. When I put the Oak Logs there, a hologram appeared showing that 4 planks would be made per log. Anyway, the only things you can do with logs are turn them into planks like this or burn them to make charcoal... and to make charcoal from oak logs, you have to make a Furnace. Furnaces are made with Cobblestone, and we might have to spend a huge amount of time to get Cobblestone.
For now, there was plenty of time to worry about complex problems later. First, making a Crafting Table was the top priority. I took 4 of the 24 Oak Planks that automatically entered my Inventory and filled one in each of the 4 slots I could craft with, and it was immediately possible to make a Crafting Table. Time is gold right now. I quickly made the Crafting Table and installed it on the floating dirt lump. I installed it as close to the edge as possible because having a relaxed movement path seemed better for my mental health. Behind me, Asagi and Ranma made interested expressions as I started laying out items.
First, what we need to do is make a Wooden Axe. Since the only material we can supply right now is wood, there's no point in making a pickaxe. The Crafting Table is not my basic 2x2 4-slot grid, but a 3x3 9-slot one. All items in Minecraft are made at the Crafting Table.
Using 2 sticks and 3 planks, I made one Wooden Axe, and used all the remaining 17 planks to make Oak Slabs. 30 slabs were made, and 2 unused planks remained.
I approached the two and laid these items out on the floor.
"Something has increased?"
"We have to craft items as much as possible like this."
"But what's the point of these right now?"
Ranma lifted an Oak Slab and made a puzzled expression. I laughed. That is the core of Sky Block.
"We have to expand the land."
I took the Oak Slabs from Ranma and 'crawled' toward the edge of the dirt lump. Because this is reality. If it were Minecraft, I would never fall if I just pressed the Shift key, but not now. If I misstep, it's instant death. If I die, there's no way for them to survive either. Because only I can use the Inventory. As I crawled toward the edge, Asagi and Ranma were surprised and tried to stop me.
"It's dangerous!"
"Are you crazy!?"
I didn't listen to them and kept crawling. This couldn't be helped. We need to expand the space to guarantee the safest survival possible. This is inside a game, but it's reality. Simply put, if we roll off the side while sleep-talking and fall off the dirt lump, it would be the most pathetic death ever.
I took a deep breath, arrived at the edge, and took out one slab. Then, I carefully attached it to the side of the dirt lump. As if it were fixed in space, the slab was stuck to the dirt lump. I hit it hard, but it didn't budge. Only then did I let out a sigh of relief.
"We have to expand the land so we can survive like this."
"..."
As I explained while lying prone, looking at Asagi and Ranma, they couldn't continue speaking. It seemed they had only just realized that the situation they were in was a really shitty one.
"And dirt is extremely important."
"Dirt?"
"Yeah. The dirt we're stepping on right now."
"Why?"
"Because getting dirt is fucking hard."
I said that, and then punched the dirt right next to where I had just installed the Oak Slab. It didn't hurt this time, probably because it was covered in soft grass. Good. I can 'mine' dirt too.
"Dirt is the only place where trees can grow for us."
"..."
"We have to mine dirt to expand the space. I'm sorry, but it'll be hard to sleep on the grass after today."
At my words, Ranma and Asagi's faces became serious. It seemed they were also prepared for the hard road ahead. Actually, the one I'm worried about is myself. They are superhumans, but I'm an ordinary person. It was clear that if I slept and woke up at night, my whole body would ache as if I had been beaten up.
By the way, since there was no way to make cobblestone, the problem of not being able to make charcoal was serious. We wouldn't be able to make torches. The only fortunate thing is that slabs are only half the thickness of regular blocks, and monsters don't spawn on slabs installed lower than the general terrain.
At least in theory.
If reality correction was applied, it wouldn't be strange if monsters popped out anytime, anywhere, though.
Please, just not monsters....
I prayed. It was true that monsters were dangerous with reality correction applied, but monsters were also essential; whether it's a Skeleton, Spider, or Zombie, if we can just kill them, they give us materials.
But the problem is that those fucking Creepers also pop out.
In Sky Block, a Creeper is no different from a disaster.