Defense 1

[Advanced Tutorial Tasks (Defense 1) Completed]

[Roche-12 Rifle Blueprint Obtained]

[Acquired 200xp]

I took a day off from the violence right after my first deep run into the level two area. In my first life, I have never been exposed to such dangers, and my ordeal had begun to take a toll on my mental health.

Thus, as a break, I decided to take on tasks that did not need me fighting hostile mobs. One of the available ones involved crafting metal barriers and metal spikes, to finally construct defensive structures around the base. The night I saw the centipede, the hostile mobs had gotten too close to my shelter, and I wouldn't want it to happen again.

The tasks had instructed me to craft 76 metal barriers, 4 metal gates and 20 metal spikes, enough to encircle most of the flat space atop the plateau. It only required Low-Grade metal scraps which can be scavenged from the level one area, a place that no longer have any hostile beasts.

Due to how peaceful the place have become, I was able to focus on mining the metal piles and finished the Advanced Tutorial Tasks quickly.

[Roche-12 Rifle

Crafting Material: Roche-12 Rifle Blueprint x1 + Tech-Grade Metal Pipe x8 + High-Grade Metal Scrap x20 + Low-Grade Metal Scraps x60 = Roche-12 Rifle x1]

I obtained yet another rifle blueprint as reward. The system seemed to love giving me guns, but not the bullets. Still, when I saw the description, I couldn't help but be thrilled.

A "semi-automatic rifle" with a "30 round magazine". An overpowered weapon that could help me steam-roll the beasts of the wastelands.

Yet my frustration would return when I saw the crafting materials. To craft the OP weapon, I will have to enter three areas to acquire Tech-Grade Metal which were yet inaccessible for me.

Realizing that I was yet incapable of doing anything about it, I shelved the blueprint and turned to things I could do.

The morning was yet young, and so I decided to create another line of defense below the plateau. I planned to encase the territory within a hundred square meters, surrounding the plateau. This would extend the safe zone and give me more space. If the system has more in store for me, the top of plateau might not be enough.

Metal Barriers, Gates, and Spikes were easy to craft, even easier than metal walls, so I considered it more than feasible.

With a big sigh and high hopes, I started scavenging the remaining metal piles in the level one territory. More than half of which had disappeared and a large empty space had formed. Proving it certain, that the resources do not respawn.

My increased attributes had made scavenging metal piles effortless. It only took four hits for most of the piles, though drop rates remained the same.

It was around noon when I obtained two thousand low-grade metal scraps. Confident that it was enough, I started crafting the barriers. Pressing the craft button was the easiest part, making resource collection harder than crafting the item itself. An illogical process, I was more than happy to exploit.

I crafted 666 barriers and, starting from northwest to northeast, laid them out. Seeing them slowly form a wall was relieving and satisfying. Not only am I defending myself, I am also claiming a territory as my own.

After building half of the barriers, I realized that it was not enough. It could only cover less than half of the radius. The work was heavier than I previously thought. I have intended to finish two advanced tutorial tasks for the day, but it seemed I have to spend even the entire noon for the effort.

I returned to the level one area, and scavenged the remaining metal piles. They became too few that I decided on finishing all of them. This decision made me spend most of the afternoon scavenging in the wastelands. When I finished, only the mounds remain and the invisible barrier that kept me from nearby areas somehow became more obvious.

More than a thousand barriers have been crafted from my gigantic haul. But the afternoon had become late.

<Two hours before sundown> the bot informed.

I ignored it, I was several kilometers away from the mounds and the piles. Furthermore, the erection of the structures would not take a lot of time. Still, when I resumed building the barriers, I did so with a sense of urgency.

Though summoning the crafted structure and building them into existence was almost instant, the metal piles and stone formations that could be found sporadically on the landscape prevented the effort from sailing smoothly. I had to scavenge them first if they block the straight lines I was building the barriers in. It was a factor, I have not taken into account.

<An hour before sundown, I urge you to return to the shelter>

I pressed a button on my helmet that opened the front part of the gear. Without the night-vision feature, I noticed how dark it had become.

Experience told me to take shelter immediately, but I was almost finish. About 90 percent of my intended wall have been finished, and to stop would be anticlimactic. I wanted to finish what I have started, and in the end, greed overcame caution.

I ignored the bot's warning and continued building the barriers. Thirty minutes passed, and the remaining gap was only ten meters. The final corner was within reach.

{Hostile Beasts Nearby} the helmet's HUD informed.

In the distance, I saw a pair of red eyes glow from the dimness. I closed the helmet and the night vision was granted back to me. I spotted a mutated rat around twenty meters away. It had not noticed me.

Twenty meters was a safe distance, I thought. After all, I could just pull out a pistol in an instant. Not wanting to break my momentum, I moved to resume what I was doing.

I built another barrier. The thud was heard.