Grateful Hardship

"Tenenenet, tenenenet, tenenenet ..."

The sound of his alarm ringing woke Nakami, who quickly turned it off. He had always set the volume low and put the vibration on to avoid making loud noises. The six hours of sleep had made him hungry, so he immediately went outside to check the fish he had dried the day before.

"This taste.. urgh fine.. At least this is my first attempt of drying something. I should try to get some salts later from shoreline"

Nakami used a stone axe to cut down some big trees. Although the process was slow, it helped improve his skills in cutting small trees. After working for 2 hours, he collected 4 big logs, 20 smaller logs, and 10 meters of fiber rope.

Nakami was happy with what he had gathered. He placed everything next to his hut, planning to improve it later. However, first he had to go to the shoreline to collect food from his traps and gather mud and clay.

Before that, Nakami realized he needed a bigger basket and a stone shovel. The log cart wouldn't work for the mud and clay. He used fibres and twigs to make a meter-sized basket, which was simple with the materials nearby. He quickly made both the basket and the shovel.

"Pheww, now everything's done. Its time to move."

When Nakami reached the shoreline, he found only two fish caught in his traps. Some of the traps were broken, but he quickly fixed them. He left the two fish first and went to find clay. He explored the shore and found a deposit about 10 meters long, enough for his log cart to carry without breaking.

While digging for clay, Nakami discovered pebbles that looked like rock salt. He tasted one and was thrilled to find that it was indeed rock salt. He was overjoyed to have found it without even trying too hard. With everything he gathered, he was able to load a small mountain of clay into his large basket on the log cart.

The journey back to his hut would take longer because the cart was now much heavier. Nakami was extra careful on his journey back to his hut, making sure not to spill any of the clay or rock salt.

On his way back, the sky turned dark and the wind began to blow hard. It was a sign that it was going to rain soon. Nakami tried to reach the hut before the rain started, but he was unsuccessful. The rain was heavy and made it difficult for him to see clearly. Puddles were everywhere, slowing him down as he rushed towards the hut.

10 minutes later, a disaster occurred. The hut collapsed and the area was flooding due to the heavy rain. It was clear that this place would not be suitable for living for a while. Despite the relentless rain, Nakami stood there, staring up at the sky.

"This hecking sucks!"

He was frustrated with himself. He felt that he could have done better, but he didn't.

Nakami looked around to see if anything could be salvaged. Some of his tools were buried in the mud, but he was relieved to seen that the ropes were still intact. He knew that he needed use them for the new shelter later.

Nakami emptied his basket and filled it with wood and all of his tools. He planned to find a new spot to build his shelter, somewhere between a spring and the shoreline. This would cut his travel time in half, as he wouldn't have to walk as far to access water and other resources.

After a half hour of searching, Nakami finally found a spot that he thought would be suitable for his new shelter and base. This time, he wanted to build a log cabin, using larger trees for the pillars. He needed four of them. Although the rain was still coming down, it was getting lighter.

Nakami wanted the pillars for his cabin to be taller than him to make the inside comfortable. The problem was that finding the right sized logs would require him to cut many medium-thick logs. Getting the right sized logs would be physically exhausting and take a lot of time.

However, Nakami was lucky to be near a spring where he could gather sharper stones for a better axe. This would make cutting the logs easier. Plus, he could drink from the spring and refill his water container at the same time.

He went to the spring and came back 10 minutes later with better stones to make axes. He made the stones sharper by using other stones to sharpen them. Now he can make a pair of more effective axes.

The rain stopped and he had 3 hours of daylight left to gather big logs for his cabin. He started cutting down trees and found it took him an hour for the first one and half an hour for the second. He wanted to go faster, but it was tough to chop the trees with just a simple stone axe and his hands were shaking.

"I won't quit!" he declared, slowing down but still determined to chop the trees.

The sun went down and Nakami had gotten everything he needed to build his cabin. He covered his hands with cloth from his shirt sleeves because they were numb, but it wasn't as bad as before. Luckily, there were dry fibers close to some trees that he could use to start a fire.

Making the cabin took a long time and was a lot of work, but Nakami listened to motivational videos to stay encouraged. It was tough to move the big logs and put them on the ground. The walls and roof were made from sticks covered in leaves, just for now.

After a few hours, there was a cabin with walls made of 4 layers of leaves and the entrance was also covered. It was about 2 meters tall and had enough space inside for two people to sleep.

"Hell yeah, I made it.."

Nakami sat by the campfire and relaxed while he waited for the fish he caught to cook. He sprinkled rock salt on the fish to make it taste better. When he was done eating, he put up spikes around the campfire to keep himself safe. He also dug a small ditch to keep rainwater from flooding his cabin.

Nakami was lying on his uncomfortable bed. He felt dirty because he hadn't taken a bath. The room was dark because there were no windows. To help himself feel better, he listened to binaural beats before going to sleep. It didn't matter if it was just a placebo effect or not, the sounds were calming and helped him fall asleep.

Suddenly, his phone lit up with notifications from his YouTube app. He sat up, curious, and checked his phone to see what was waiting for him.

"[Night Owl] and [Beat Believer]"