Lord of the Myriad Worlds

Chapter 2: Logging Experience

A small mound of earth buried all the past.

Now only three people remained in the camp.

Li Wei, transformed into George, his sister Penny, and their mother Fila, who was also sick and looked very weak.

A bleak cloud of sorrow hung over them. Fila had already cried herself out, sitting dazedly in the shed as if in some unfathomable state of chaos, which was worrying.

Penny, however, was strong, busily working while directing Li Wei with tasks.

"George, after eating, you need to take the axe and chop down some trees that aren't too thick. We need a sturdier wooden cabin. Father is dead, the wagon is broken, we've even lost our way and can't find the road to Vail Province. For now, we can only stay here, but this isn't necessarily a bad thing—at least we don't have to worry about catching that terrible plague!"

"Cheer up, for Mother's sake!"

"I know."

Li Wei tried speaking very softly. He spoke in Chinese, since he didn't know any other language and couldn't just be mute, but Penny actually understood him. Clearly, some mysterious power was at work.

It was around ten in the morning. Li Wei scooped a bowl of sticky stuff from the blackened pot. Just one look at it made him want to vomit, but his growling stomach left him no choice.Moreover, even this sticky stuff wasn't available in unlimited supply. He ate one bowl, Penny ate one bowl, and only half a bowl remained for Fila.

Although this stuff tasted terrible—coarse like swallowing raw bran—it had some effect, which was clearly reflected in the status panel.

【Health: 50 (Chronic Illness)】

【Stamina: 80 (Mild Hunger, -20)】

【Strength: 5 (Somewhat Weak, -1)】

【Agility: 3 (Somewhat Weak, -1)】

【Defense: 1 (Emaciated -2)】

【Current Status: Chronic illness, mild hunger, emaciation from malnutrition. Your stamina will slowly decline. Expected death in 36 months.】

——

"Not bad at all!"

Li Wei was quite satisfied. He walked around the camp but didn't see the axe Penny mentioned. However, when he lifted the rain cover on the ox cart, he found a fairly sharp, non-rusted axe, along with several other tools: two hoes, a strangely shaped tool resembling a sickle, and finally a short knife with a notch in its blade.

Besides these, in the best-protected central part of the ox cart, were supplies covered with two layers of canvas—a small wooden box and two bags of wheat.

Everything was very dry, completely untouched by the rain.

Li Wei fell silent as he looked. Based on his experience, that cheap father of his probably caught a bad cold, got drenched in the rain all night, and eventually died from fever.

But actually, he could have avoided getting wet. The cart had high-quality canvas that could have been used to build a completely waterproof shed.

However, doing so would have meant these food supplies would definitely not have been preserved.

Sigh!

Li Wei took the axe, thought for a moment, then also picked up the short knife. He carefully covered the supplies on the cart again.

The most important task now was to quickly build a sturdy wooden cabin. Judging by the surrounding vegetation and terrain, this was a place with significant temperature differences between day and night. If another heavy rain came, getting sick would be bad.

Meanwhile, Penny had already chosen a relatively flat spot on the hillside. Holding a tool that resembled a shovel but was clearly more cumbersome, she was clearing weeds and leveling the ground. She worked briskly and efficiently, seeming quite experienced.

By the stream, Li Wei didn't rush to chop trees. Instead, he gathered some relatively flat stones from around and roughly laid them across the stream to form a path, because he didn't want to wade through the water.

Although his status panel didn't have more detailed attribute definitions—things like body temperature, wind speed, satiety level, air pressure, or whether he needed to relieve himself—he didn't dare be careless, because this might not actually be a game.

He had to ensure he wouldn't get injured, that no small detail would cause health problems leading to complete collapse.

At the forest edge, Li Wei first used the short knife to clear an area of weeds and vines, creating enough workspace to prevent being bitten by venomous snakes or insects. This was equally very important.

He didn't want to cause the mission to fail and have this memory erased. Rather than returning to Earth to endure his bleak, miserable life, he'd prefer to be eliminated.

This cautious approach proved correct. While clearing a patch of weeds, a patterned snake only as thick as a finger suddenly struck at him fiercely. Its speed was so fast it made Li Wei despair.

Fortunately, he unconsciously swung the short knife in his hand, flicking the small snake away. Otherwise, it would have been his turn to die from poisoning.

The small snake quickly escaped without a trace, while he was scared into a cold sweat.

After that, he became even more careful. He even picked up a long wooden stick and wildly beat the grass for a while, making sure no snakes were hiding there before continuing his work.

Like this, it took him about over an hour to clear an area of roughly two hundred square meters. His stamina directly dropped to 60 points, his endurance was almost zeroed out, and his stomach was growling again.

Not having enough to eat was the biggest problem.

Sighing, Li Wei rested for a moment, then took the axe and, based on Penny's earlier gestures, selected a tree about fifteen centimeters in diameter.

"Thud!"

The moment the axe heavily struck the tree trunk, both his hands went numb, and he almost lost his grip on the axe—his strength wasn't enough.

So this time Li Wei didn't hesitate. He decisively allocated the remaining two free attribute points to Strength, bringing it to 7 points. Actually, if he were full and without that weak negative buff, his Strength should be 8 points.

The effect was immediate. When he gripped the logging axe with both hands again, he immediately felt a sense of familiarity and mastery, with stronger control.

Even the process of swinging the axe up and down no longer felt unsteady.

"Thud!"

Another sound. Although his hands still felt numb from the impact, the chopping effect improved by nearly half.

Especially because the increased Strength could largely compensate for shortcomings in technique.

Not bad, not bad!

Working in one vigorous effort, Li Wei chopped one side, then the other side, and finally gave a light push with his hand. With a creak, the over-ten-meter-tall tree crashed to the ground.

Almost simultaneously, a line of information silently flashed before his eyes.

【Logging Experience +1】

Haha! Positive feedback!

Li Wei grinned, feeling somewhat proud. But when he looked down at his palms, they already had three blood blisters.

The days of hardship had just begun.

Also, it was due to lack of experience.

He fetched the short knife, carefully cut a small strip from his tattered sackcloth clothing, and meticulously wrapped it around the wooden handle of the axe. It might not be very effective, but better than nothing.

For this challenge, he could only grit his teeth and endure.