Wasteland: I Awakened A Plant System-Chapter 14: Archery Skill Book

He randomly accepted a few friend requests.

[Brijbhushan: Bro, how about trading water for the stones you have?]

[Vikram: My trade clearly states that I want an Arrow Blueprint. What about yours?]

[Brijbhushan: Don’t be so rigid. You won’t lose anything by trading water for your stones.]

Vikram pondered for a moment. Although he didn’t need water, he still wanted to know why the other party was trading water for stones, since water was normally more valuable than stones.

[Vikram: Okay. How do you want to trade?]

[Brijbhushan: Alright, I’ll take a loss. 30 liters of water for your 30 stones.]

Was Brijbhushan’s Shelter near a lake? This kind of trade would be completely advantageous for Vikram.

[Vikram: Send the trade request first.]

[Trader: Brijbhushan, Trade Item: Water? (Boiled), Required Item: Stones]

"As expected, something’s fishy."

"What does the question mark after ’Water’ mean?"

"Did the Survival Platform fail to analyze the components?"

An uneasy suspicion appeared in Vikram’s mind.

To verify this suspicion, Vikram summoned the Plant Life System and pointed it at the water marked with a question mark.

[Acid Rain (Boiled): Contains various toxic substances. Consumption may be fatal.]

"This bastard... he’s actually boiling acid rain and selling it to others."

Vikram and Brijbhushan didn’t know each other at all, yet the man had immediately tried to sell him fatal acid rain.

Fortunately, Vikram had been cautious and checked it with the system before completing the trade.

Otherwise, not only would he have lost his stones, but if he had actually drunk that acid rain, his survival journey might have ended right there.

[Vikram: Acid rain? How dare you, you dog!]

[Vikram: Everyone is struggling to resist the disaster and survive, yet you’re going around selling this kind of thing at a time like this?]

Brijbhushan didn’t know how the other party had discovered it was acid rain, but he immediately stopped pretending.

[Brijbhushan: Hmph, survival of the fittest. I sell these things, and if they don’t find out, they’re just stupid for being scammed.]

[Brijbhushan: Besides, this acid rain has been boiled. At most, drinking it will only upset their stomach. It’ll teach them a lesson.]

He spoke nonchalantly, treating scamming others as something completely natural.

[Brijbhushan: You’re lucky you escaped this time, kid. Cherish it. I warn you—don’t interfere with my business, or I’ll make you die a miserable death.]

Just as Brijbhushan was about to continue cursing, he discovered that he had already been blacklisted.

He immediately turned to find the next unfortunate target to trade acid rain with.

Unexpectedly, Vikram was faster. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

The moment he blacklisted him, Vikram posted several screenshots of their conversation in the regional chat channel.

[Vikram: Everyone, please be aware of this ID—Brijbhushan. He just tried to trick me into trading boiled acid rain disguised as drinking water.]

[Vikram: Image, Image]

"No way, even at a time like this, there are still people like that."

"It’s precisely at times like these that more people try to take advantage of others."

"Without rules, criminals will run wild. This situation will definitely become more common."

"I found this person’s ID. I’ve already blacklisted him. Everyone should be careful."

"Wait, I traded with this ID yesterday too. It was also water, but it had a question mark after it. I thought it was nothing. Was it actually acid rain? Luckily I didn’t drink it."

"Damn it, everyone will ignore this ID from now on. Let’s see how long he can survive without the trading market."

Seeing the chat channel filled with messages cursing him and declaring that no one would trade with him anymore, Brijbhushan could no longer sit still.

[Brijbhushan: Everyone, don’t be fooled by Vikram’s lies. I never even added him as a friend. Those chat records might be fabricated.]

"Are you crazy? Do you think this is Earth where you can photoshop chat records?"

"I was a little doubtful before, but your explanation just convinced me even more that you did it."

Brijbhushan’s excuse was so weak that it not only failed to solve the problem but made things worse.

Many Survivors immediately added him as a friend just to curse him directly.

Helpless, Brijbhushan had no choice but to close the chat channel and lie low for a while.

"Vikram!!!"

The name was squeezed out from between Brijbhushan’s clenched teeth.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the chat channel, Anjali pointed at the message Vikram had posted in the regional channel and asked, "Is he the Vikram you mentioned?"

At that moment, a graceful girl wearing denim shorts and a T-shirt walked over.

She glanced at the message her best friend was pointing at, nodded, and said angrily, "He’s that scoundrel. He infuriates me."

"But looking at the message he posted earlier, he doesn’t seem as bad as you described."

"Hmph. He’s just a hypocrite—two-faced."

Seeing her best friend still fuming, the girl decided not to mention Vikram again to avoid irritating her further. After all, her best friend had been very good to her.

She had even sacrificed something important for her.

But in her opinion, this Vikram wasn’t truly a bad person—at most just a somewhat shameless guy with a mischievous mind but no real malice.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Vikram continued searching for an Arrow Blueprint after posting the warning message.

After a lot of effort, he finally managed to obtain the blueprint for 20 stones.

He had originally thought that posting a trade request would make things faster.

However, everyone who contacted him wanted stones and didn’t even bother looking at his requirement for an Arrow Blueprint.

They simply piled up what they believed were useful items, hoping to exchange them for stones.

Even though Vikram clearly stated that he only wanted an Arrow Blueprint and nothing else, it was useless.

The fear of death sharpened people’s survival instincts. The moment they saw someone trading stones, they stopped caring about anything else.

Once he finally obtained the blueprint, he crafted the arrows.

[Production Successful: Obtained Arrow ×10]

Vikram cut a small piece of rabbit meat and placed it against the wall as a target.

Then he raised the bow and tested his aim.

"Whoosh."

The arrow shot forward quickly.

"Thud."

A dull sound echoed as the arrow struck the wall.

"As expected... I missed."

"Being able to draw a bow and actually hitting the target are two completely different things."

"The acid rain will end soon. It’s already too late to start practicing properly now."

He checked the items in his bag, but nothing seemed useful for improving his archery.

"Do I really have to spend Plant Essence?"

Vikram began calculating his current Plant Essence.

At the end of the previous day, he had 120 Plant Essence remaining.

During the first day, he had planted several new plants and still maintained a daily net gain of 20 Plant Essence, bringing his total to: 140 Plant Essence

On the second day, the newly planted plants matured.

The additional Plant Essence income from the matured plants increased his daily gain significantly.

That day’s settlement looked like this:

Treehouse: +50

Thornvine Cluster (3 vines): +30

Guardian Sprout: +12

Warrior Sprout: +12

Lightfly Vine: +13

Aquaheart Root: +15

Spikevine: +3

Treehouse Core Maintenance: −50

Total Generation: +85 Plant Essence

So his Plant Essence again sharply rose to 225 Plant Essence.

Then he consumed the Physique Fruit, which granted +20 Plant Essence, bringing his total to: 245 Plant Essence

After that, Vikram began reinforcing the warehouse using several small system operations.

First, he applied the Moisture-Control Moss Layer: Plant Essence −25

Next, he installed the Reinforced Door: Plant Essence −10

Then he reinforced the structure using Stone Pillars and an Iron Framework: Plant Essence −20

The Ventilation System only required physical materials and no Plant Essence.

After completing these improvements, his remaining Plant Essence was: 190 Plant Essence

Opening the system store, which he had not used for quite some time, Vikram painfully exchanged for the Basic Archery Skill Book.

After purchasing it, his Plant Essence dropped sharply again from 190 Plant Essence to 130 Plant Essence.

"Use Skill Book!"

The skill book that had just appeared in his hand suddenly transformed into pure golden particles of light and surged into Vikram’s brain.

As the light merged into him, Vikram’s perception became exceptionally sharp.

He could clearly feel every heartbeat, every breath, and even the sound of blood flowing through his body.

The techniques and knowledge contained in the skill book began flashing through his mind, as if he had always possessed them.

Every movement, every detail, felt completely natural—like something he had practiced thousands of times before.

[Congratulations, Host. You have learned the Basic Archery Skill. Plant Essence +30]

"This skill book is quite comfortable to use."

Seeing the Plant Essence +30 notification made Vikram feel even more satisfied.

"I remember now. Skill books and Gene Primal Awaken Potions also add Plant Essence when used."

"Probably because they’re related to plant-based abilities or biological enhancement."

"If I had learned something like sword mastery, I probably wouldn’t gain Plant Essence."

"How is this like some online shop cashback reward after leaving a review? It would be better if you just sold the skill books cheaper."

Seeing that the system ignored his complaints, Vikram stopped asking questions and immediately tested the skill that had cost him a full 30 Plant Essence.

"Swish, swish, swish."

"Almost a hundred percent hit rate within twenty meters... this is amazing!"

Although the hit rate began to decline after twenty meters, such accuracy was more than enough for hunting.

What more could he expect from a basic skill book? It would be unreasonable to demand more.

He soon ended his practice.

Tonight’s dinner was grilled rabbit loin, celebrating the fact that the acid rain was finally coming to an end.

With mountain spring water beside him, Vikram slowly enjoyed the delicious roasted meat while quietly waiting for the day to pass.

Even though he hadn’t gone anywhere for the past seven days and had stayed inside his Territory and Treehouse, he had still accomplished quite a lot.

Most of his time had been spent excavating the Warehouse, and now it was almost perfectly completed.