Chapter 13 (1/2)

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation  Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Zhang Heng looked at his character panel, and found that his skills had increased from two to three. But the mean evaluation at the bottom remained unchanged.

Since the lad in the shorts taught him how to make bow and arrows, Zhang Heng had another activity added to his days. He had carved out an area on the beach just for archery practice.

Using the knowledge imparted to him by Ed and the lad in shorts, Zhang Heng managed to overcome his plight finding food and water, and moved out of that bird-droppings filled cave into the clay house he had built with his worn hands.

Just as his life was improving, a new crisis soon emerged.

Ed had told him that the biggest enemy of a person who had mastered the skill of surviving the wilderness was not the ever-changing and unpredictable nature, but yourself.

Once a person’s survival needs have been fulfilled, chances are, the person would fall into a vacant state; having lost all direction and motivation, being the only person on the island would soon bring on an overwhelming sense of loneliness.

Zhang Heng must find tasks to keep his mind and body constantly occupied so that he would not have the time to think about the fact that he was all alone on a deserted island.

When he was with the lad, Zhang Heng took into consideration that he needed to survive for another four hundred days and more, and set a new target for himself.

He decided to explore the heart of the island.

So far, his area of activity had been limited to the periphery of the island. The furthest he has been was to the virgin forest to look for firewood where he saw the fowl and some animal bones, which confirmed the presence of predators.

From then on, he had been very careful to limit his area of activity, staying away from that stretch of forest. After all, the resources on the beach were enough to keep him alive.

But now, in order to battle this terrible sense of loneliness, Zhang Heng needed a goal that would keep him going—exploring the center of the island and see what was there.

With this end in mind, Zhang Heng began to allow himself to be invested in it, and work hard towards the goal.

Taking into account that there were predators in the forest, he would first need to learn to protect himself.

His second companion had taught him to make two long-ranged weapons—the bow and arrows, and the sling.

The latter was easier, but the most difficult to use. The angle and timing at which the stone was flung had to be precise. If the sling was released a little too early or a little too late, you would find that the stone was miles away from hitting the target.

Hitting the target four or five times out of a hundred was not going to be easy.

On the other hand, bow and arrows are much more accurate and easier to control. With Zhang Heng already equipped with the basics of archery—the tips about posture, strength, and breathing technique that his coach had taught him, the only thing that he lacked was practice.

This was not something that could be done lackadaisically; it required the grind of time. In the real world, even though Zhang Heng had forty-eight hours a day, there was so much to do that he could not spend too much time on a pastime. Now, on this island where he was the only human being, the thing he did not lack most was time.

Going from the recurve bow he bought in the market to the handmade primitive bow was not considered a drop in expenditure.

Compared to the store-bought bow, the handmade bow’s accuracy, and durability of the was a bit troubling. Drawing the bow also required much more strength and the tree bark that he used had a risk of breaking after being used more than a hundred times. The average lifespan was about 150 arrows.

The target he had set for himself was 300 arrows per day, which meant that he needed to change the bow strings twice.