Chapter 5.
Now that he had a proper shelter and a fence separating him from whatever lurked in the forest, Richard shifted his focus to the trees that were still pressing in on his new compound, specifically the ones that made his log cabin look like it was awkwardly hugging nature rather than standing proudly on its own.
A man couldn't live in such uncomfortable conditions, now could he?
"Now that we've got a shelter down, let's do something about these darn trees," he said, cracking his knuckles as he eyed the nearest trunk with eagerness.
' It's going to take a lot of effort, but I think I've still got it in me.' Richard said in his head, but as he was about to get started, the system interrupted.
[Would host like to convert them to SP directly?]
Richard blinked at the notification, his brain taking a moment to process what the system was actually offering him. "Wait, I can do that?"
[Of course]
[The item is basically yours since it's located on land the host now occupies, and more importantly, it is unable to resist conversion]
[Although, system would like to add that the amount of SP gained will be far lesser than what one would gain from a processed tree]
[SP depends on value after all, and in most cases, a cut down and prepared tree is worth more on the market than an old living one]
'Well what do you know,' Richard thought to himself, a grin spreading across his face as he realized just how convenient this system was turning out to be.
He had been worried about how he'd deal with these trees, cutting them down by hand would have taken hours of exhausting labor, and he didn't even have an axe to begin with, which would mean he'd have to spend his last system point on one.
So the system coming to the rescue like this felt like a small miracle.
"Alright, please convert them to SP," he said, already stepping toward the nearest tree with his hand outstretched.
[May host place his hand on the designated item first]
[System requires direct contact for conversion]
"Oh, okay." Richard nodded and pressed his palm flat against the rough bark of the tree on the left side of his log cabin.
They were other trees but he decided to start with this one in particular.
[Converting target]
In the blink of an eye, the tree vanished in a flash of blue light, leaving behind nothing but a small patch of disturbed dirt where its roots had once been buried, as if the massive trunk had never existed at all.
'It worked!' Richard was genuinely amazed by the results, and more than a little relieved, because now he didn't need to worry about his log cabin looking like it was in an awkward position or having to squeeze past tree trunks every time he wanted to walk around his own home.
He approached the tree on the right side of the cabin, the other offender that had been making the whole setup look unbalanced, placed his hand on its trunk, and watched as it too vanished in another flash of blue light, leaving the space around his home looking significantly cleaner and more open.
Encouraged by his success, Richard went about doing the same thing to the other trees that had been growing inside his new compound, walking from one trunk to the next with his hand out like a child who'd discovered something fun, and soon enough, the entire yard was cleared of obstructions, leaving behind a wide open space that now felt far more like a proper home.
[Tallying total number of SP gained]
[Total converted SP: 10]
'That much? Well I'll be,' Richard thought, genuinely surprised by the outcome, because if he added this number to the single SP he had remaining after building the shelter, that would bring his current inventory to about 11 SP in total, which felt like a small fortune compared to where he had been just an hour ago.
He stood there for a moment, doing the math in his head, and realized that with this much SP, he could technically pay off the loan he owed the system right now and be free of debt. To think it was actually that easy to get rid of such a thing.
Richard pondered the idea but shook his head shortly afterward, because as tempting as it was to be debt free, he had to think about the bigger picture.
'No... maybe not now,' he decided, glancing around at his humble abode.
The cabin was solid and the fence was sturdy, but those were just the basics, the bare minimum required for survival, and there were still plenty of other things he was going to need moving forward if he wanted to do more than just survive in this forest.
"Can I put off paying back the loan right now?" He asked the system, wanting to confirm his options before making any final decisions.
When starting out a new game, Richard always loved to make sure his foundations or like he preferred to say, his base stats were in order, otherwise, he might end up causing his own downfall in the long run.
[Of course host]
[Although host should be aware that you are unable to borrow additional loans until the current one has been paid back in full]
"Thanks for the heads up," Richard nodded in understanding, because that was actually a fair restriction, the system couldn't have him borrowing endlessly without ever settling his debts, otherwise he would just keep digging himself into a deeper and deeper hole with no consequences.
The last thing he needed was something else weighing on his mind, after all, Bridget had already done a good job at that.
'Since I'm in the clear for now, let's make a few more things that'll help me moving forward,' he thought to himself as he opened the system's interface, his fingers already hovering over the blank panel as he considered what to build next.