39. For one chicken per person.
39. For one chicken per person.
I had no choice but to wake up in the middle of a good sleep because of the sunlight.
That was to be expected, since I was currently sleeping outside with my bed set up, without even a hut.
Since I was up, I immediately sat up and looked toward the fence. The chicken was flapping its wings leisurely. A sigh of relief escaped me automatically. Thank goodness. It hadn't disappeared.
If the chicken had disappeared after I went through all that hell yesterday, I might have genuinely cried.
Looking around, no one else was awake yet. Unlike me, who was bothered by the sunlight outside, Asagi and Ranma were likely sleeping inside the hut. Since Ranma also got his own bed this time, he was probably enjoying a comfortable sleep for the first time in a while.
Hmm.
Should I build the ceiling for the Monster Farm mk.2 while I'm at it?
That seemed better. I had to make sure Endermen wouldn't spawn before tonight, so that even if I left the Monster Farm alone at night, no Enderman would appear to steal my Dirt Blocks.
When you've made up your mind to do something, it's best to move immediately.
Thinking that, I got up from the bed and moved toward the nearby chest. The Oak Logs I had collected so far were neatly organized there. Since monsters could spawn on top of the ceiling, it seemed like a good idea to make the ceiling out of Slabs as well. No, I absolutely had to make it out of Slabs. If an Enderman spawned on the ceiling, it would mean all my hard work was for nothing.
First, I crafted enough Oak Slabs. Four sets would be more than enough to build the ceiling with plenty left over. Slabs were a material I'd always need, so I didn't need to worry about having leftovers; there were plenty of uses for them. If I could make a Furnace later, I could use them as fuel. It was impossible to get Coal here. I could make Charcoal by smelting Oak Logs, but wasting Charcoal as Furnace fuel would be a damn shame. With Charcoal, I could make a Campfire, and Campfires burn forever. Wait, no, do I need firewood because of the reality adjustment?
In that case, I could just put in Sticks. Sticks were one of those materials I had more than enough of from chopping down Oak Trees, so they were useless anyway.
First, I broke the fence only in the direction where the chicken was kept, out of the fence I had connected yesterday. Since the fence was installed like a straight corridor from the Monster Farm, it wasn't a problem to get to the Monster Farm as long as I made a hole for the chicken to come out. Naturally, the chicken wouldn't follow me, so I lured it with Wheat Seeds. From now on, until another Chicken Jockey spawned, I was in a situation where I had to walk around luring the chicken with Wheat Seeds like this. The difficulty level is damn high.
Since it was a sunny morning, there wasn't a single monster spawned in the Monster Farm mk.2. That was because I had killed all the monsters and returned just before sunrise. I installed a small fence for the precious chicken to stay in the very center of the farm, put the chicken inside, and then started working to build the ceiling.
Building the ceiling was easy. First, I stacked Planks three blocks high, then placed a Slab on the underside of the top-most Plank, which set the coordinate of the ceiling's top to 0.5. In this state, if I destroyed all the Planks I had used to climb up, I'd have a Slab floating in mid-air.
From here on, it was just a matter of connecting Slabs to finish the ceiling. Since the Monster Farm itself wasn't that big, the only annoying part was floating the first Slab in the air; after that, it was smooth sailing. To make sure I didn't mindlessly slip and fall while building, I installed guardrails on the scaffolding and built from the outside in, so the ceiling was finished quickly.
The sunlight was blocked by the ceiling, but the light level didn't drop that much. Naturally, monsters wouldn't spawn. However, since I had built the ceiling, the Zombies and Skeletons that spawned in the Monster Farm from now on would be able to survive during the day without burning up unless we killed them.
Now, it had become a situation where I absolutely had to kill every single monster that spawned here.
Since I didn't need Spider Webs that much for the time being, it seemed like a good idea to build a device to prevent Spiders from spawning. That was simple, too.
Spiders need a 3x3x2 space to satisfy their spawning conditions. So what then? If I place Slabs on the floor at 2-block intervals horizontally and vertically, Spiders won't spawn. This is even easier.
By the time I finished all the work, it was just before sunset. Even if it became night and the light level dropped to 0, monsters wouldn't spawn here because I was standing here. Once I left this place and walked to the trap with the Trapdoor, that's when the monsters would start spawning.
Since I was done with everything I had to do here, all that was left was to take the chicken and leave. Since chickens have a habit of avoiding cliffs, as long as I lured it well with Wheat Seeds, I didn't have to worry about it falling off a cliff while following me. Just as I was breaking the fence with an axe to get the chicken out, I saw Asagi running over in a hurry, perhaps having woken up before Ranma.
"The chicken! Is the chicken okay!?"
...I guess the fact that I woke up early to renovate the Monster Farm didn't even cross her mind. I couldn't help but feel resentful that Asagi ignored me and only cared about the chicken.
"I'm keeping it by my side and taking care of it, so don't worry. I'll be keeping this chicken with me until the next Chicken Jockey spawns. You don't need to worry."
My words came out a bit blunt naturally. Perhaps she noticed my mood from my tone. Only then did Asagi start asking about how I was doing. It's so obvious! It's painfully obvious that she didn't even worry about someone like me, but I just listened quietly.
"You woke up really early, too. Was it uncomfortable sleeping?"
"I woke up because the sunlight was too strong. I think I need to make some kind of makeshift hut today."
Certainly, since I'm with the chicken... No, wait. Come to think of it, I should build a proper hut for myself while I'm at it.
I stopped answering Asagi and fell into thought. There's no rule that says the chicken must be kept inside a fence. Couldn't I use the current fence to temporarily store the chicken while I'm active during the day, and just bring the chicken itself into the hut so we're together in the hut when I sleep? That would be more secure, right?
Why didn't I think of this?
No, wait. The damn chicken will keep clucking, so won't I be unable to sleep because it's noisy?
No. If I don't keep it by my side just because I might not be able to sleep, when the chicken could despawn, that's proof that I'm too comfortable. Get a grip, Kim Byeong-sun!
As I suddenly stopped talking and fell into thought, Asagi asked.
"What are you thinking about so deeply?"
"I'm contemplating how to manage the chicken from now on to effectively prevent it from despawning."
"That's a very good contemplation. You could spend all day on such a contemplation and it wouldn't be enough. As expected of my comrade. It's so reassuring that I can set my mind at ease."
This was the first time I'd seen Asagi so blatantly emphasize that chicken meat was important.
As expected, we've been surviving here for about a week, eating nothing but apples, carrots, and bread every day. It was practically the same as not having tasted meat for a week. I had been preparing for the Chicken Jockey, and I knew that if I succeeded in duplicating Dirt Blocks, I could build an animal spawning pen and be able to eat meat, but Asagi and Ranma might have thought they'd have to keep eating only bread, carrots, and apples until we escaped from here.
Since I showed them a chicken that could become chicken meat, it's no wonder they'd go crazy over it.
"I will take responsibility and put chicken meat into Asagi-ssi's mouth."
"What!? Th...that..."
Perhaps my words sounded strange, but Asagi was startled by what I said and blushed a little. What is this? Doesn't Asagi hate me? No, wait, rather than hate, was it that she was physiologically repulsed by me? Because of the smell?
...Isn't being physiologically repulsed even worse?
No. Let's not think about it anymore. Thinking about it any further will only weaken my mental state. Byeong-sun. You can do it. You have to hold onto your sanity and work so you can escape from here and return to the original world!
I thought that and steeled my resolve. Asagi didn't know what to do, but eventually, she cleared her throat and pointed to the Monster Farm I had worked on a little.
"A ceiling has appeared, and the floor has changed a bit, too."
"Because of that ceiling, Endermen won't spawn, and because of the Slabs on the floor, Spiders won't spawn."
"Oh! Is that possible with that method?"
At my explanation, Asagi burst into exclamations. Spiders were an incredibly important monster back when we needed wool, but now that we've made beds for me, Asagi, and Ranma, they aren't that important anymore. You could say their significance has dropped drastically. We'll need a lot of beds later when we get Villagers, but before that, it'll be possible to spawn sheep and graze them. I have no more use for Spiders now.
"Are we going to hunt monsters today, too?"
"Yes. From today, I intend to use both Monster Farms."
I nodded. Now, I'm going to use all the Monster Farms. This place, the Monster Farm mk.2, will be for me as the lure and Asagi, who has fast hunting speed. And the Corridor-style Monster Farm will be for Ranma. Since I have to do the looting, I'll have to take the chicken into the corridor-style one, but it's fully possible.
I really hope I can get one Chicken Jockey and 5 Iron Ingots soon so I can move on to the next step.
Although I'll probably have to perform a Rain Ritual.