After careful consideration, Ji He decided to upgrade her space first.

There was no other choice. The space was still too small. If she didn’t upgrade it, there wouldn’t be enough room to store supplies even if she bought them.

After getting off the train, she took the subway straight to the nearest beach.

At this time, there weren’t too many people playing by the sea. Ji He picked the least crowded spot, took a plastic bag out of her pocket, removed her shoes, wrapped them up, and placed them in her bag. Only then did she roll up her pant legs and step into the water.

She walked forward until the seawater reached her knees before she began absorbing energy.

Of course, she didn’t just stand there stupidly. Instead, she paced back and forth while collecting, pretending to play in the water so that no one would notice anything unusual.

She walked in the sea like this for more than two hours before the space finally notified her that the upgrade was complete.

Ji He immediately focused her consciousness inside the space. The black soil in the planting area on the left had expanded, now about one and a half times its previous size.

Next to it, a miniature ocean had appeared, roughly the size of a basketball court. A golden stretch of sand lined the shore.

Could she raise seafood in her space now?!

Excited, Ji He examined the space for a while. After confirming there were no other changes, she checked the display board.

The updated information showed that her daily stay limit in the space had increased to two hours.

The materials needed for the next upgrade were fresh water and soil.

Ji He’s heart skipped a beat—would the next upgrade create a lake? Or maybe a stream?

She actually preferred a continuously flowing stream. That way, she wouldn’t have to worry about running out of water. But she figured that was unlikely.

After checking the planting space, she turned to the storage area. This time, the storage space had also expanded significantly—it had doubled, reaching about 100 square meters.

For her, this was almost enough. Even if she had a larger space, she didn’t have the money to fill it up.

Ji He glanced at her phone. There were still a few hours before her evening train home. Not wanting to waste time, she searched for the nearest reservoir, preparing to do something a little sneaky.

This city had several reservoirs. Before long, she found one that was relatively close and completely free to access.

She quickly dried her feet, put on her shoes, and headed straight for the subway station.

Since she didn’t know how long this upgrade would take, she didn’t want to waste time on the road. She bought ten buns from a roadside stall and ate them as she walked.

The ones she couldn’t finish, she could store in her space.

The subway arrived quickly, and there weren’t too many passengers. Ji He soon found a seat, pulled out her phone, and logged into an online shopping platform. She added her desired items to the cart and then began comparing prices.

The subway reached her stop in no time. Ji He got off and looked around to determine her direction.

The reservoir wasn’t directly accessible from the station—she still had some distance to walk. Once she got her bearings, she started running toward it.

Her plan was sound: running would save time and serve as exercise—killing two birds with one stone.

Unfortunately, her physical endurance didn’t keep up. In the sweltering afternoon heat, she was drenched in sweat after running for only a short while. Her T-shirt was soaked, sweat rolled down her forehead, and her heavy breathing sounded like an old bellows. Ji He had no choice but to slow down and walk.

Her stamina was terrible—worse than her previous body’s. Wasn’t this supposed to be a teenager’s body?

She followed the main road, occasionally checking directions on her phone. As she walked, the number of people around her gradually increased, and street vendors started setting up their stalls.

Ji He bought a grilled egg and ate it as she walked. It was delicious—unlike tasteless boiled eggs, this one was full of flavor. She finished it in just a few bites and soon spotted the reservoir.

The afternoon heat was unbearable, but as soon as she got close to the water, a cool breeze brushed past her, immediately easing her discomfort.

This reservoir was a free tourist spot, so there were quite a few visitors.

Ji He wanted to find some shade but couldn’t, so she simply sat cross-legged in a less crowded area. She dipped her left hand into the water to absorb fresh water while using her right hand to browse the online shopping platform.

Earlier, she had already added many things to her cart but hadn’t compared them carefully. Now that she had time, she checked the reviews and selected a few reasonably priced items to place an order.

Since she wasn’t sure how much money she had left, she skipped instant foods and snacks for now. Rice and clothing she planned to buy from wholesale markets instead.

So, she started by purchasing daily necessities online.

These items had fast shipping and ample stock, making online shopping much more cost-effective than going to the supermarket.

She bought large, budget-friendly versions of essentials like shampoo, body wash, sunscreen, mosquito repellent, soap, laundry detergent, sanitary pads, toilet paper, towels, toothbrushes, toothpaste, dish soap, and a thermos.

Altogether, she spent 15,000 yuan.

She messaged each seller to expedite shipping before closing her phone and looking out at the water.

She wasn’t sure if spending all her savings on supplies was the right decision, but she couldn’t afford to take chances. With this weak body, she wouldn’t be able to compete for resources if an apocalypse really came.

After more than three hours, the space finally notified her that she had collected enough fresh water.

Ji He pulled her hand out of the water, massaged her numb legs, and stood up. It was already past 6 PM. She still needed to find a secluded spot to collect soil.

That part was much faster. There were plenty of deserted areas around the reservoir. At this time of day, hardly anyone was around. In less than an hour, she had gathered all the soil required for the upgrade.

With that, her space had reached Level 3.

Not only had the ocean and farmland expanded again, but a small lake and a mountain had also appeared.

Well, calling it a mountain was a stretch—it was more like a low hill, completely bare.

But that didn’t dampen Ji He’s excitement. Even though there was no stream, a lake was still great! She could raise fish in it. Even if no disaster struck, she could start an aquaculture business and make money.

As for the small hill, she had already thought of a use for it—she could plant fruit trees there. Since her time in the space was limited each day, she couldn’t spend all of it farming manually. She needed to set aside time for emergencies.

After checking the changes in the planting space, she turned her attention to the bulletin board to see what materials were needed to upgrade from Level 3 to Level 4.

But as soon as she saw the requirements, her good mood was cut in half.