Chapter 4 – Desert Viper

Through observation, Rayne selected a patch of buckthorn forest a hundred meters southwest of the waterhole.

This location seemed relatively safe and suitable for establishing a temporary residence.

To get out of the desert, he would have to stay in the oasis to replenish his food and water, try to restore his body to its best condition, and carry enough supplies.

Just in case, he kept the virtual map open all the time, watching out for any red dots that appeared nearby and avoiding any dangerous animals that might approach him.

Carefully, he quietly walked to the place he chose, made some wooden axes and wooden shovels and started digging a hole in the ground.

Although the terrain is sandstone and there are sand cubes in it, it is a desert after all, but most of it is sandstone and stepped inclined digging is feasible.

A wooden hatch was made to block the entrance and a narrow basement staircase was made by digging underground without fear.

It was almost dug to a depth unaffected by the temperature outside, not hot like a furnace, and even a little cooler, before the basement was extended backwards and forwards.

First three by three, then five by five, seven by seven, nine by nine……and finally digging until fifteen by fifteen, when the wooden levers and shovels in his hands ran out, before he gave up.

When he regained consciousness, he saw a rathis large basement, originally intending to dig a random small basement, just to be able to rest, but as soon as he dug, the old problem reappeared. He could have continued digging if his equipment wasn’t so ineffective.

The virtual backpack contained a large amount of sandstone and sand cubes, which could be used for construction and as materials to craft items.

Sandstone is crushed to make sand, and the sand can be burned to make glass.

Of course, glass cannot be made without a furnace.

After the dungeon was excavated and the accommodation problem was solved, the next task was to obtain food and water.

Food was available in the form of sea buckthorn berries, but these were very sour and it was impossible to rely on them to solve the problem.

Rayne had to feed himsef by hunting, catching animals that came to drink, or catching fish, frogs, turtles, or even snakes from water holes. The problem was that there were two large crocodiles in the water and it was impossible for his to get into the water to hunt, and he didn’t have a fishing rod either.

He had to leave his prey in the water and catch land animals that came to drink with his bow and arrow.

As for the drinking problem, the water pool was not clean, and apart from the surface layer, it was almost all mud underneath.

With so many animals drinking here, there must be a lot of bacteria in it and it must be boiled.

A campfire was easy to make, but to boil the water, he needed a container for it.

Rayne must first go to the waterhole and dig up not too much clay near the waterhole and make it into a clay container to carry and boil.

It is important to note that dangerous animals do patrol and hunt, and it is not safe here.

It is important to be prepared for any eventuality.

Since, as in the game, you can use the cube jumping pads, then you can use them to fight the beasts.

Rayne puts the sandstone cube in his virtual backpack into the shortcut bar so that it becomes a ready-made switch, with weapons, tools and othis props on the shortcut bar, and whatever he wants will appear in his hands.

This allows him to jump in place and place cubes when it’s too late to escape back to the basement, allowing him to stand high enough to avoid their attacks.

If the animals refused to leave, he could attack them from a height with his spear or bow and arrow to take advantage.

Looking at his current supplies he has 27 logs, 16 sticks, 30 long branches and 46 small branches.

The logs can be cut into more wood by using an axe tool, which is necessary for making most items.

The long branches can be sharpened into wooden spears with weapons such as knives, but in this case, it would be more helpful to cut them into twigs to make wooden arrows.

One long branch could be cut into three twigs, and one twig could make a wooden arrow.

In othis words, Rayne could make more than a hundred wooden arrows and not be afraid of not having enough arrows when he faced danger.

After all, the buckthorn forest was nearby, and more twigs could always be gathered.

Of course, there weren’t many stones, and the stone knives had durability, so they couldn’t be used all at once.

The 46 small branches available could be used to make the simplest wooden arrows, which could handle most situations, but otherwise, he could cut long branches.

Keeping a stone knife would also allow him to peel and cut meat and make othis things.

It would take some time to make 46 wooden arrows.

When they were ready, he exited the dungeon, opened the virtual map the whole time, made sure there were no hostile red dots outside, and opened the hatch towards the water hole.

When he came to a point less than 50 meters away from the waterhole, a red dot suddenly appeared nearby, almost 10 meters away, which surprised Rayne.

Checking the virtual map carefully, there were the words [Desert Viper] above the red dot.

According to the location of the red dot on the map, it was right under the buckthorn tree on its way to the waterhole.

It probably came out from inside the nest and was ready to hunt and was detected by the system before being displayed.

There was no way Rayne could retreat; to get water, he had to go to the waterhole and pick up clay.

For the viper, just avoid it.

So raising his wooden spear he moved as far away from the desert viper as possible and tried to make a small circle.

To his surprise, the desert viper moved straight towards Rayne’s location and was soon in front of her.

This should not be the case. Normally, snakes rarely chased after as long as they were avoided.

Could this also be a change brought about by the system? Since Rayne got the game character trait, could it be that if he entered the enemy range he would be attacked?

Seeing the desert viper moving towards her, Rayne took a deep breath and raised his staff to speak softly: “If I don’t go forward, I won’t get no water, if I go forward, life is at stake!”

He was still somewhat afraid of poisonous snakes, after all, there were not enough supplies in the desert area, and once bitten by a poisonous snake, he could only wait for death. Neithis antidote potions nor viper serum could be found here, and with his own little life at stake, he wouldn’t risk it if he could.

Unfortunately, the desert viper was not ready to let go and came at him head-on.

Knowing there was no way to avoid it, Rayne could only grip his staff and stare at the desert viper with a deadly gaze.

Despite his fear, he had a tactic in mind, after all, he had the staff in his hand, and if he restRayned the Desert Viper before it attacked, there was a way to win.

“Hiss~” The Desert Viper inched closer, its head erect and ready to strike.

Rayne stared dead at his opponent, the staff raised high in his hand.

When the Desert Viper suddenly attacked, the staff descended straight down and pressed right on its head.

The Desert Viper’s body quickly wrapped around the spear in an attempt to pull its head out.

Rayne suppressed the spear as hard as he could, even driving it into the ground with one foot, turned to the hard sandstone in his hand and smashed it against the pinched head of the snake.

“Pop!” The sandstone cube landed right where the snake’s head had been, fixing it directly on the ground.

The Desert Viper’s head was instantly crushed and its body twitched a few times before it stopped moving.

[System: You have killed the Desert Viper and gained 5 experience points!]

Seeing the red dot on the virtual map disappear and the system beeping in his ears, Rayne calmed his mind.

So, the cube can still be used like this!

In that case, when surrounded by beasts at a high altitude, use blocks to kill the enemy, wouldn’t that save bows and arrows?