6. First Battle.
6. First Battle.
"Is this thing actually going to grow?"
Ranma was huffing and puffing, pointing his finger at the oak sapling. I kept my mouth shut. That bastard Ranma had such exaggerated movements and a voice as loud as a train whistle; listening to him made me feel like my ears were going to bleed.
The sun was gradually setting. It felt like four hours had passed, but the oak sapling showed no signs of growing. I agonized over it. In a little while, the sun would set. We were still starving, having not eaten a single apple yet.
The oak sapling needed to grow quickly so we could take the next step, but it just wouldn't grow.
"Ranma, you haven't eaten your apple yet, right?"
"Of course not. This is the only thing we have to eat right now, how could I just eat it recklessly?"
"I'm going to eat one for now."
I said that, took an apple out of my Inventory, and took a bite right away. An apple growing from an oak tree... it made no sense, but it really tasted like a perfectly ripe apple. It was incredibly delicious. My act of eating the apple lit a fire under the other two. When Ranma saw me eating the apple so deliciously, he flinched and gulped. In fact, not a single person here wasn't hungry. We were all in a situation where we hadn't eaten a single meal all day.
"You should just eat it too. You have two right now, don't you? You can eat one tomorrow, and honestly, by tomorrow, we won't even have to worry about trees or apples anymore."
"We won't have to worry starting tomorrow? What do you mean by that?"
Asagi, who had been sitting a bit away watching me eat the apple, asked. I rubbed my hands together and answered Asagi politely.
"By tomorrow, we'll encounter monsters. Probably zombies, skeletons, and spiders, and if we defeat the skeletons among them, we can get Bones."
"So? What does that have to do with not having to worry about apples or oak trees?"
"I can use the Bones to make Bone Meal. Here in Minecraft, Bones are fertilizer."
"Fertilizer? Does sprinkling fertilizer make an oak tree grow well?"
"If you use Bone Meal, there's a certain chance it will ignore the 72-minute wait and immediately attempt to grow the oak tree."
I answered Asagi's question. Skeletons are very important monsters in Sky Block. Actually, except for Creepers, most are important. Spiders allow for the crafting of various tools through String, and Skeletons drop Bows, Arrows, and Bones. Right now, everything a Skeleton drops was necessary.
The most important one is the Zombie. The basic drop item a Zombie gives is Rotten Flesh. At this point, it's completely useless. If there were no food in the game, you'd have to eat this, but this is reality. If you're at the point where you have to eat Rotten Flesh to survive, it means you've hit rock bottom. It might be better to just die.
The reason Zombies are important is not just because they drop Carrots and Potatoes, but because they have a 0.8% chance to drop an Iron Ingot. In Sky Block, an Iron Ingot is a very important item. Setting aside making iron tools, you can use Iron Ingots to craft a Cauldron. If we have a Cauldron, we can collect rainwater to get water.
To make a Cauldron, you need 7 Iron Ingots. You also need a Bucket, but there's one in the chest right here. It's filled with bubbling Lava.
Once we use that, it becomes possible to get Cobblestone and craft Torches. We won't have to spend all day staring at an oak sapling just to get Wooden Planks.
"Before we encounter monsters, there are a few you need to be careful about, so come closer. It's a meeting."
I called Asagi over as I said that. When I called her, Asagi stood up reluctantly with a look that said, 'How dare a nobody like you call me?' and approached me. Ranma wasn't as wary of me as Asagi, so he was already right next to me.
"First, there are two types of monsters you need to be careful about. Enderman, and Creeper."
"Enderman? Creeper?"
I used my finger to draw rough pictures of an Enderman and a Creeper on the ground. The only appearance of the two I knew was the blocky, square look I had seen on the monitor, so I drew them exactly as I had seen them. Ranma and Asagi's expressions changed strangely. They looked at me one by one, and their gazes were like they were looking at a pitiful person.
"What. Why. Why are you doing that?"
Feeling annoyed by their gazes, I pouted and asked Ranma. I definitely didn't do that to Asagi. I thought Asagi would say my expression was pissy and hit me. As expected, Ranma didn't get angry even though I was annoyed. Instead, he patted my shoulder with a look that said he understood everything.
"How can a person be good at everything? Everyone has things they're good at and things they're bad at. Don't worry about the drawing."
"What do you mean, worry?"
"Ranma is right. I can't trust you yet, but it's certain that thanks to your information, the probability of surviving here has increased significantly. Even if your talent for drawing is disastrous, you are a valuable human being."
"...."
I was struck dumb by Asagi's words. I didn't major in art, but I could draw well enough for people to recognize it. The Enderman and Creeper I saw were only what I saw on the monitor, so they were blocky and perfectly right-angled, just as I thought they should be. That's how these monsters are supposed to look.
I felt wronged.
"No! I'm telling you, they really look like this!"
"Yeah, yeah. It looks well-drawn to me too. So don't worry about it and keep explaining. Time is money."
"That's right. It's... well-drawn. Haha! You have a talent for drawing, don't you?"
These fucking bastards.
I felt like pounding on my chest out of frustration. For something drawn with a finger, it was actually quite well-drawn, but to properly show my drawing skills, I needed paper and a pen. In Minecraft items, that would be a 'Book and Quill'. Since I couldn't get one right now, I had no chance to correct the misunderstanding they were having.
I exercised patience and suppressed my feelings of injustice. Someday, there would definitely be an opportunity to make them realize my drawing skills.
"Anyway. An Enderman is a monster that teleports when attacked and then attacks you. Excluding boss monsters like the Dragon and Wither, you can consider it one of the strongest among regular monsters."
Endermen also appear in the Overworld. And these bastards don't care about day or night. All monsters that appear in the Overworld, except for Endermen, Spiders, and one most fucking annoying monster, burn to death when exposed to sunlight.
There was another point of caution regarding Endermen.
"The fortunate thing is that Endermen don't basically charge at people on sight, but if you make eye contact, they will charge. They will chase you to the ends of the earth and fight until one of you dies. So, if you see an Enderman, you must never make eye contact."
"Hmm. Very good information."
Asagi said that and nodded. Ranma was the same. I could feel that they felt reassured by the way they looked at me. I just wish they wouldn't treat me like a potential sex offender.
I thought that as I continued speaking. The next monster I was about to introduce was the most dangerous one in our situation.
"Creepers... explode."
"Explode?"
"Yes. They explode. If there's a person nearby, a Creeper will puff up its body and then explode. The explosive power is no joke. Furthermore, these two types I've introduced now are the ones that don't disappear and remain even when morning comes and the sun rises."
Creepers are the most useless monsters from our perspective. Creepers drop Gunpowder when they die. They also drop a Music Disc with a certain probability. Gunpowder is used to make TNT and Firework Rockets, or it can be used to make Splash Potions using brewing, but this is really unnecessary. If this were wild survival and not Sky Block, TNT or Firework Rockets would be useful. But this is Sky Block. Just thinking about the ground I'm standing on getting smashed every time a Creeper explodes made me hopeless. Naturally, for the same reason, there's almost no reason to use TNT.
As my explanation continued, Asagi and Ranma's expressions were also tinged with tension. It seemed they were more wary of Creepers than Endermen. I was the same, so that was fine. Actually, it was a good thing. Creepers are one of the worst monsters in our current situation.
"They do have weaknesses. If you kill them from a distance with a Bow and Arrow, they die without exploding, and even if you get close, if you put a certain distance between you before they explode, they won't explode and will try to approach again."
"That's a relief."
"Phew... I thought I would surely die if a Creeper exploded and blew this floor away."
At my words, Ranma and Asagi let out sighs of relief. It seemed they were relieved because it wasn't like there were no ways to deal with them. Still, it was definitely necessary to deeply engrave the caution regarding Creepers.
"Creepers don't make sound when they move. They are monsters whose footsteps you can't hear. Most of the time, they come up behind you without a sound while you're doing something and explode. The bastards!"
"They are very dirty monsters."
"That's right! But there is exactly one situation where a Creeper makes a sound."
"When it's about to explode?"
Asagi guessed correctly. A Creeper makes a sound like a fuse burning when it's about to explode. If you hear that sound, it means it's right before it explodes. I nodded at Asagi's question.
"That's right. So you have to keep your wits about you."
I looked around at Ranma and Asagi. They weren't exactly cooperative with me right now, but if they weren't here, it would be nearly impossible for me to survive here alone.
"If you hear a sizzling sound like a fuse burning from behind, don't think about anything else, just run forward. That's how you survive."
"Understood. I'll do that."
"I shouldn't forget this..."
At my urging, Asagi and Ranma nodded. For now, I was able to finish the monster education for the two of them to some extent. Just then, a shadow suddenly formed over my head.
"Hmm?"
"Oh... oh!"
"It grew! It grew!"
Asagi ignored me, looking bewildered, and was admiring it while looking above my head. Ranma was also looking up and was extremely happy. I quickly looked behind me and smiled brightly.
One of the oak saplings had become a small oak tree.