"Ha... so tired..."

After completing a set of training moves related to the great sword from his memories, Xie Wen, who was only slightly sweating, immediately plunged the salted fish sword into the ground and quickly sat down.

Although his physical fitness had inexplicably improved after the crossover, the inertia formed by years of inactivity was not so easy to correct. So, even though his body didn’t feel particularly tired, Xie Wen just didn’t want to move.

Of course, this lazy state didn’t last long for Xie Wen; after all, compared to his life, the mere state of "fatigue" was something he could overcome. After a brief moment of laziness, Xie Wen picked up the salted fish sword again and began to train diligently.

As he gradually became more familiar with his body and the weapon, Xie Wen started to achieve the smooth connection of moves he remembered from his past. However, he also understood that this alone was not enough. Not to mention that practice and actual combat were not the same, even with his enhanced child body, he couldn’t compare to those professional hunters.

Based on his mental memory, Xie Wen estimated that he would probably struggle to take down a blue bear beast; this was under the assumption that he wouldn’t be flustered during his first actual combat. If he got even slightly nervous and encountered a small monster like a wild boar, he could very well be done for.

Given the current situation, it was unlikely that there would be any cat cart to take him back to camp before he kicked the bucket.

Thinking of this, Xie Wen trained even harder until he was utterly exhausted and had no strength left to swing his sword. Only then did he lie down on the beach, gasping for air.

"Ha... ha... oh no... I might have overdone it..."

Just as Xie Wen felt proud of his efforts, he suddenly realized that in a situation where he hadn’t confirmed the safety of his surroundings, he shouldn’t have completely exhausted his stamina. If a crab or shield crab popped out from somewhere, he wouldn’t have any ability to resist at all.

The thought of possibly dying in such a ridiculous way sent a shiver down Xie Wen’s spine, and he forced his weakened limbs to crawl up from the beach, leaning on the salted fish sword as he made his way toward the jungle...

Compared to that, he would rather be gored by a wild boar that suddenly charged out from who knows where.

Wait, I still have the portable grilled meat!

Halfway through, Xie Wen suddenly remembered the items in his other-dimensional waist pouch. In the game, grilled meat could increase stamina limits, and while he didn’t expect it to work exactly like in the game, it should at least help recover some stamina, right?

He pulled out a piece of portable grilled meat from his waist pouch and looked around.

The grilled meat wasn’t very large, about the size of one and a half of his palms. In terms of texture, it didn’t feel much different from ordinary grilled meat that had cooled down. Xie Wen held it under his nose and sniffed... it smelled pretty good.

Not detecting any moldy or rotten smell, Xie Wen finally stuffed the portable grilled meat into his mouth.

Whether it was because it was categorized as an item or due to Xie Wen's optimized hunter physique, which naturally had an extra boost for eating speed, he finished the chewy grilled meat in just a few bites, and it actually tasted quite good.

"What the heck... the effect is this good?"

With a piece of portable grilled meat in his belly, the originally weak Xie Wen immediately perked up. Although he hadn’t fully recovered, at least he could move normally now.

It seemed that these items might be much more useful than he had imagined. Moreover...

"I'm really getting more and more curious about what my current situation is..."

Xie Wen patted his belly, which didn’t feel very full, and murmured.

After recovering some stamina, Xie Wen didn’t continue his training. It was better to wait until he found a safe place to rest before pushing himself to the limits again.

So, Xie Wen dragged his fresh sword, Bai Nagi, to the edge of the jungle, found a rock to sit on, and placed the weapon within easy reach just in case. Then he took out the hunting knife used for material gathering from his waist pouch.

"It seems... nothing special."

He swung the primitive-style hunting knife a couple of times but found nothing remarkable, so he put it back in the pouch and pulled out the fishing rod.

This fishing rod, aside from being particularly sturdy, didn’t seem to have any other special features.

That was good enough; at least he wouldn’t have to worry about the rod breaking when fishing. As for whether it would snap the line, that was still unclear.

Next, Xie Wen took out the infinite whetstone and did some maintenance on his weapon. However, since the fresh sword, Bai Nagi, had no wear and tear, he couldn’t see any difference before and after sharpening it.

After putting away the whetstone, Xie Wen hesitated a bit between the grilling rack and the hunter’s manual but ultimately decided to check the hunter’s manual first.

After all, there was still some portable grilled meat left in his pouch, and with his cooking skills that could be described as "more water when there's too much flour, more flour when there's too much water," it was better to leave the grilling to the chef cat.

The hunter's manual wasn’t large, just a little bigger than the palm of Xie Wen's small hands, similar to the small comic books he had read before, although he couldn’t determine if it was the standard 64-page size.

The cover of the manual featured a monster pattern in a very Monster Hunter style, and judging by the color and shape, it should be the male and female fire dragons, the hardworking models of Monster Hunter.

When Xie Wen opened the manual, the front page featured a uniquely styled text that read, "May the guiding azure star shine for you..."

Hmm, even though it was completely unfamiliar script, Xie Wen understood its meaning.

"The Azure Star..." Xie Wen frowned.

Players in the game were superficially called "The White Wind of the New World" and "The Guiding Azure Star," but in reality, they were just laborers doing dirty and exhausting work.

Moreover, given his current situation, the Azure Star was nowhere to be seen, while the ominous star above his head was shining brightly.

Turning the page, the first page revealed a map, a map that was completely consistent with the style of the one in the game, and just like in the game, this map was dynamic.

Since he had speculated about entering the game and obtaining a character template, Xie Wen wasn’t particularly surprised but instead carefully examined the dynamic map.

Xie Wen didn’t even need to touch it; he could zoom in and out of the map just by controlling it with his thoughts.

However, large areas of the map were covered in dark fog, with only a small section in the lower left corner visible, clearly showing the terrain of the ocean, beach, and jungle edge. At the boundary between the beach and the jungle was an arrow representing Xie Wen himself.

In addition, there was a light yellow cat head moving within the black fog of the map. When Xie Wen focused his attention on it, not only would it zoom in on the nearby area of the map, but it would also display the name "Sanji" below that cat head.

"Whoa... how user-friendly!"

Xie Wen then tried to test the limit size of this dynamic map but soon found that it couldn’t shrink any further. At the bottom of the map, there was also a progress bar indicating only 0.7% exploration.

So, does this mean I have to explore the entire island to unlock the new map? Or like in the game, do I need to deal with the monster leader occupying this area?

Xie Wen instinctively scratched his head.

But no matter which situation it was, even without this map hint, he would have to explore the entire island anyway, as he wanted to find a human settlement as soon as possible.

After not finding anything new, Xie Wen turned to the next page. The back of the map was blank, while the new page was a grayish area with a faint lock icon in the middle, indicating that this page had not yet met the unlocking conditions.

However, Xie Wen could vaguely see a horizontal tree diagram behind that gray area, and he was quite familiar with that icon—it was the classic weapon list interface from Monster Hunter.

Wait a minute, I still have the final form of the fresh sword, Bai Nagi, in my hand. Why is the weapon interface locked?

Xie Wen scratched his head in confusion...

Maybe I have to find the village and talk to the weapon blacksmith to unlock it?

With no clues at all, Xie Wen could only continue speculating according to the game's logic.

He flipped a few more pages, and the following pages were similar to the weapon interface, with even less information. They were all locked, and Xie Wen couldn’t see anything through that gray layer, so he had no idea what these pages represented, nor any direction for unlocking them.

So, the purpose of the fresh sword, Bai Nagi, is to let me see the weapon interface in advance?

Xie Wen couldn’t help but smile wryly as he flipped back to the front, noticing that the gray of the weapon interface indeed needed to fade a little bit...

It seems that I really have to find the village first?

Xie Wen closed the hunter’s manual, his expression not too disappointed. Just the dynamic map alone was already a big gain, and there was no need to rush for the other things.

Thanks to the unexpected surprise brought by the hunter's manual, Xie Wen, who wasn’t skilled in cooking, decided to try out his portable grilling rack.

He reached into his waist pouch and pulled out a grilling rack that was about half his height, which was quite unscientific for such a small pouch, then he placed a piece of raw meat on it.

As soon as the raw meat was set on the rack, flames ignited beneath it automatically, and Xie Wen even faintly heard a familiar tune playing in his ears.

"Oh wow!"

Just as Xie Wen was excitedly about to turn the grilling rack for a quick self-service barbecue like in the game, a piercing cry suddenly came from the nearby woods, calling out,

"Stop! Meat grilled like that has no soul!!!"