[Island Entry Cooldown: 24 Hours]
"No way… I can't even sneak into the floating island for free time…" Calvin groaned.
"Sigh, flying the cube is great, but that doesn't mean you can exploit bugs," Charlotte added, pinching the soft flesh at Calvin's waist helplessly.
"You damn scrub, I haven't finished teaching you a lesson! Don't try to change the subject."
Now empowered by her newly acquired S-rank talent, Charlotte boldly flopped into Calvin's arms, scratching him non-stop.
"Alright, alright! I was wrong! Stop scratching me!"
Calvin gently patted her head.
Honestly, after a shower, Charlotte had a surprisingly pleasant scent—despite not using any shampoo or body wash.
Maybe that's just a girl's natural gift?
He quietly sniffed the fragrance in her hair.
Charlotte, unaware of Calvin's impure thoughts, mused,
"After Calvin showered, the smell of sweat disappeared and was replaced by a masculine scent…"
She glanced at him and nestled her face against his chest.
She needed to discipline this foul-mouthed guy but couldn't let him see her blushing…
With both hiding their own thoughts,
At that moment,
A floating island in the distance suddenly sped away at an incredible pace.
Calvin quickly piloted the cube,
"Hey, floating island! Don't run!"
He chased at nearly 100 km/h but could only watch helplessly as the island drifted farther away.
Charlotte's expression turned serious.
This meant they'd have to search for a new floating island again tomorrow.
"Forget it, Calvin. Stop chasing. Let's find a new one tomorrow."
Calvin could only nod reluctantly.
As night fell,
They ate a simple meal,
Then used the recently collected stone to craft 12 stone cubes.
Their current layout was a 9×5 area, a 4×4×4 house, and a 1×4 platform.
Calvin expanded the platform with the new cubes.
Roughly 12 sqm added to the previous 45 sqm, plus 4 sqm inside the house, and another 4 sqm connecting the two.
65 sqm in total! Breaking the 100 mark was within reach!
...
The night passed without incident.
Early the next morning,
Calvin quietly woke up and looked at Charlotte still sleeping on the wooden planks.
"Can I even copy talents? I couldn't even duplicate a fishing rod…"
He stared at Charlotte's lovely face, wondering.
Since she didn't view Calvin as a threat,
He placed his hand gently on her belly.
"Copy!"
[Target is a living organism. Cannot be copied.]
"Damn it, it's not like I'm trying to copy Charlotte herself," Calvin muttered.
Charlotte sleepily opened her eyes and was startled to see Calvin feeling around her stomach.
"You damn scrub, what are you doing?!"
Calvin looked awkward.
Sure, they often hugged and messed around, but he always treated her like a bro…
"Ahem. I was testing your talent," Calvin said sternly.
"Charlotte, your talent's kind of weak, you didn't even notice me sneaking up."
Charlotte spat at him.
"Liar! You just wanted to take advantage of me. I treated you like a trusted teammate, and you go around touching my belly!"
But suddenly, she realized something was wrong with the snake gall she ate yesterday...
She clutched her rear and dashed outside.
"Calvin, don't you dare peek!"
...
Calvin used the opportunity to open his game panel.
"If copying doesn't work like that, then how should I do it?"
He tapped on his attributes,
Then Charlotte's profile appeared.
Name: Charlotte
Teammate: Calvin
Talent: S-rank - Insight Sense
Passive: Speed stat syncs with HP.
Active:
-Combat Sense – Greatly enhances awareness, can predict enemy movements and make better decisions.
-Empathic Sense – Use stamina to read others' thoughts.
Talent can upgrade to foresee the future.
Skills: None
HP: 85 +10 (Two-Headed Snake Leather Armor)
Attack: 7
Defense: 6 +2 (Armor)
Speed: 85 +10 (Synced with HP)
Status: Slightly shy, comfortable
Seeing the word comfortable in her status,
Calvin could easily imagine what Charlotte was doing outside.
That idiot…
Why didn't she just remove a wooden floor panel and build a makeshift toilet?
What if someone sees her out there?
Luckily, they hadn't met many people, only twice in the past few days.
Calvin clicked her talent again,
Then used his copy skill.
"If this doesn't work, I'll just copy the Two-Headed Snake Leather Armor today."
Suddenly,
His eyes lit up.
[Copy successful! Congratulations on acquiring S-rank Talent: Insight Sense.]
...
Calvin immediately felt something mystical, his body became light as a feather.
He could even hear Charlotte outside…
cough cough
He opened his attribute panel with a sharp glint in his eye.
[Name: Calvin
Teammate: Charlotte
Talents:
S-rank: Daily Copy
-Can copy one item per day. Charges accumulate. Every 10th use triggers a random critical copy. The longer the streak, the more powerful the effect!
S-rank: Insight Sense
Skills: None
HP: 100
Attack: 30
Defense: 14
Speed: 100
Status: Slightly thirsty, excited
Seeing the excited in his status, Calvin took out a bottle of water and drank.
Now only "excited" remained.
And who could blame him?
It wasn't because of whatever Charlotte was doing outside.
It was this talent, that thrilled him!
"But Insight Sense consumes stamina… and there's no numerical value shown, so I'll have to estimate it myself…"
He decided to test the mind-reading ability.
[I wonder if that damn scrub will sneak a peek… but even if he did, maybe I wouldn't be mad… maybe.
Sigh… when will that dummy realize how I feel?]
Shock flashed in Calvin's eyes.
What the hell was going on with Charlotte?
What feelings could she possibly have?
And who the hell is this silly fool?"
Are you talking about me?"
A flash of anger crossed Calvin's eyes.
"Fine, fine. Calling me dumb."
[Forget it, whatever. I wonder what he's doing in the room right now? Could he be sniffing the lingering scent of my body inside… Ew, that's actually possible…]
What kind of shameless thought is that…
Calvin couldn't listen any further.
He was afraid Charlotte's mind might blurt out something completely inappropriate.
Isn't that just like me?
Turns out, people's inner worlds are full and mostly full of nonsense…
Calvin thought, speechless.
…
An hour later,
Calvin finally understood how the talent worked.
First, it let him read people's inner thoughts.
He could use it around ten times before it became exhausting. It was helpful for normal situations, but in battle, it could only be used around five times before causing dizziness and fatigue.
Second, there was a perception ability.
When he saw Charlotte earlier, her movements had many afterimages, each heading in different directions.
The clearest one indicated the most probable outcome.
What did that mean?
When Charlotte moved forward, several afterimages formed around her.
If in the next moment she decided to move left,
the afterimage on the left would become more distinct.
And then she really did move left.
After some thought, Calvin decided to tell Charlotte that he had copied her talent.
After all, it was also beneficial to her.
They were teammates, after all.
Charlotte was shocked when she heard this.
"Calvin, your talent copied mine?"
Calvin nodded.
"But… people can only have one talent, right?"
"Maybe it's because I'm your teammate?"
Calvin guessed quietly.
A flicker of disbelief crossed Charlotte's eyes.
Does this mean…
Calvin knows what I'm thinking?
Because her thoughts… were…
Just thinking about it,
Charlotte wished she could jump off the platform right then and there.
This was way too socially devastating.
"You didn't peek into my thoughts, did you?"
Charlotte looked at Calvin with suspicion.
"Of course I did. Just like you did back then. I wanted to see how it worked."
Calvin said casually.
"Argh! I'll kill you!"
"Hey, calm down. I was just testing the talent! Besides, it's normal for girls to have such thoughts. It's not shameful at all, seriously!"
"…"
…
After some squabbling,
they agreed not to read each other's minds unless absolutely necessary, to give each other personal space.
"Alright, smelly fish, you're not allowed to sneak a peek at me anymore."
Charlotte said, blushing.
"Alright, alright, my little grandma. I was just testing the talent, that's all. But anyway, now that we have the same ability, how does it feel for you?"
Seeing Calvin get serious,
Charlotte tilted her head, thinking.
"My body feels much lighter, and my perception has improved a lot…"
As they continued discussing how to use their shared ability,
a cloud approached from the distance.
On it were three green monsters.
The one in front locked eyes with Charlotte, its gaze turning red, drool dripping from its mouth.
"Charlotte, monsters incoming!"
"Run or fight?"
Calvin considered it and chose to fight.
These green-skinned creatures weren't very strong.
Goblin:
HP: 150
ATK: 20
DEF: 20
SPD: 20
Common monsters, fond of interacting with female creatures…
All three had similar stats.
"Ugh, disgusting goblins."
Charlotte frowned, clearly aware that the goblins were targeting her.
That nasty gaze…
Calvin's eyes turned cold as he stepped in front of Charlotte.
The goblins were completely enraged.
Before the cloud and cube even reached the platform,
the lead goblin roared.
"Raargh!"
But in the next moment,
as the platform and cloud got close,
the three goblins clumsily landed on the platform.
Calvin blinked forward and slashed down with his sword!
It took off nearly half the goblin's HP.
Furious, the goblin clawed at Calvin with its green paw
but to its surprise,
Calvin merely stepped back slightly and twisted his body,
slicing off the goblin's right arm in a single strike!
Like slicing tofu,
the goblin's arm fell onto the cloud, blood staining the surface red.
"Your speed… is too slow…"
Charlotte wouldn't be outdone either, she joined in with her red iron sword.
Whenever the goblin lunged at her,
the beautiful, sexy, innocent, pure, and lovely Charlotte,
she would twist her body just in time to dodge!
With their talents boosting them, their speed was unmatched!
The three goblins were played like clowns.
Eventually,
they collapsed onto the ground…
twitched a few times…
and died.
[Acquired Goblin Meat ×30]
[Acquired Goblin Claw:
Increases ATK by 7. Deals double damage to female creatures.]
[Gained the hatred of the Goblin Clan:
Because you humiliated the goblins, the cave goblins are now enraged. If they see you, they'll attack wildly.]
The rewards were absurd.
Double damage to females? That's so goblin-like…
And gaining their hatred? Even more outrageous.
Doesn't this mean a constant stream of goblins will attack us now?
Calvin sighed and thought to himself:
"Good thing Charlotte and I always take night watch."
"That goblin was such a clown. We kill just three and now all goblins hate us?"
"Must be a game mechanic… Whatever. Let's put the meat and claws up for sale."
"Agreed. I'm not eating that disgusting thing."
Charlotte pouted.
After listing the goblin meat and claw,
they traded the meat for some stone and wood.
The more basic materials, the better for platform expansion.
As for the goblin claw, it got exchanged for a blueprint.
The Goblin Claw was exchanged for a blueprint.
[Wooden Bed Blueprint: Required Materials – Wool (0/3), Wood (10/10)]
The moment they saw the wooden bed blueprint, both of their eyes lit up.
Especially Charlotte, her head and chest were practically flattened from sleeping on the hard surface.
Sometimes she'd randomly end up sleeping facedown on the wooden planks, and wake up with sharp pain in her chest the next morning.
And don't even mention lying flat. She'd occasionally use a towel as padding, but without it, the planks were ridiculously hard.
Unfortunately, wool blocks were required.
And so far, they hadn't encountered any sheep.
"Where on earth are we supposed to get sheep?" Charlotte grumbled.
They had finally obtained the blueprint for a wooden bed, only to be held back by the lack of wool.
When they checked the trading market, they discovered that some players were indeed selling wool blocks but the prices were outrageous, costing three to four times more than ordinary blocks.
For example, one wool block was going for two to three stone blocks or four to five wooden plank blocks.
Clearly, these sellers were targeting players desperate for wool but unable to get it themselves in the short term…