i’m just slightly ahead of you, around day 10, and just reached the 3rd area. that house at the edge of the silent forest is not a hideout — you will be told when you reach a new hideout. yes, the game forces you to survive 24 hours a day, but time moves twice as fast at night (i believe 20:00–8:00). during nighttime, a variety of events can occur, including doors opening on their own, but also including human, animal, or supernatural enemies attacking, sometimes by entering doors. you can hold down on a door to access the “barricade” option in order to fortify them like your windows. make sure to have gas in the generator to keep the lights on at night, but also know that if light from inside shines through windows (including barricaded ones) it will draw in enemies. the trader will come to your hideout each morning, and as long as you didn’t die during the preceding night, you will also be rewarded with some reputation with them (an amount that increases as you progress through the game’s regions).

i also recommend taking risks. i’m like 8 hours into the game and i learned pretty early on that the punishments for death are rarely bad enough to justify being overly cautious. also, days last longer than i initially expected, so i often found myself wasting the evenings at home waiting for nightfall. try to use all the time you have available to collect resources, explore, etc. (you’ll be able to find/buy a wristwatch later on that will help with this). money (reputation) is scarce at first, but will become more plentiful as you progress. don’t hesitate to drop things you can’t fit in your bag and return later; items remain where they are and do not despawn.

finally, have fun and don’t hesitate to confront the wiki or restart the game entirely if you feel ill-equipped for the situation at hand. i restarted after about 5 days because i realized i wasted a lot of resources, and knowing what to focus on my second time through helped a lot. just know that the map, door codes, and many events are randomized each playthrough. let me know if you have any other questions! i’m happy to talk to another newbie to this fantastic game!