Global Raft Survival

(Brain storage area)

(The female lead is not a saint, but she doesn't kill indiscriminately. The small group is tentatively set at 4 women and 2 men. The male lead appears in the middle of the story; the female lead is clear-headed, while the male lead is a "mom-type" who is love-struck and handles logistics. No need to worry about the female lead being strong while the male lead is stronger.)

(Enjoy the read, Pirate Simulator initiated!)

Above her head was a vast, cloudless blue sky. Ling Chu sat on a raft with an area of only four square meters, with bottomless seawater beneath her.

The surroundings were vast and silent. Only her raft floated on the endless sea. As the waves lapped against it, her pant legs were soaked, sticking stickily to her skin and sending a cool sensation through her.

Ling Chu was bewildered. She had been working overtime at the company; how did she end up at sea in the blink of an eye?

Had she been kidnapped?

Ling Chu found it even harder to fathom. Who would have the spare time to kidnap a fragile college student like her? It couldn't possibly be to inherit her debts.

As if to answer her questions, a virtual light screen appeared in the bottom right corner, with lines of text scrolling and refreshing.

[Public Channel 666]

"What the hell, where is this??"

"I was a second away from a pentakill, how did I end up in the ocean the next second?"

"Am I dreaming? Someone pinch me!"

"Is everyone here alive? Why can't I see a single person?"

"Help, I'm seasick, ugh, ugh, ugh—"

"Can you even call this piece of junk a boat? My dog's kennel is bigger than this!"

"Seasickness is nothing; I have Deep Sea Phobia. I think I just saw a giant shadow swim under the boat!"

"God bless me, I don't want to die!!!"

Ling Chu let out a soft sigh of relief. It turned out she wasn't the only one brought to this godforsaken place.

Accompanied by the wailing in the chat channel, another emotionless mechanical voice rang out in Ling Chu's mind.

[Congratulations on entering the Sea Survival Game. You are player number 29786510.]

[Five billion players have entered the game, and the Grand Voyage has officially begun! Please remember the following Navigation Convention.]

[You will spend your future life at sea. You can collect resources by salvaging floating objects, fishing, landing on islands, and other means to upgrade your ship and survive as best you can.]

[During the Novice Protection Period, players are prohibited from attacking each other; otherwise, they will be punished by the system.]

[The Novice Protection Period lasts for three days. The game difficulty is significantly reduced. Please cherish your time and collect supplies as quickly as possible.]

[You only have one life; please cherish it.]

[The "Sea Storm" will begin after the Novice Protection Period ends.]

[Friendly reminder: The storm will destroy all ships with a Durability Value below 5. Please strive to collect resources, upgrade your ships, and ensure your survival.]

[The Novice Blind Box Gift Pack has been sent to your ship. Please check it. Have a pleasant voyage!]

With a "clatter," a small wooden box fell from the sky and landed at Ling Chu's feet.

The packaging of the wooden box was printed with a large question mark; this must be the Novice Blind Box the system had just mentioned.

Besides the blind box, Ling Chu discovered an old-looking fishing rod and a somewhat rusty iron grappling hook on the raft.

With a thought, their attribute panels floated before her eyes.

[Old Fishing Rod]

[Grade: Inferior]

[A novice starter item that everyone has. Can be used for fishing.]

[Old Grappling Hook]

[Grade: Inferior]

[A novice starter item that everyone has. Can be used to collect floating objects at sea.]

[Wrecked Raft]

[Durability Value: 1 (May fall apart at any moment)]

[Speed: 0 (You expect a broken raft to have speed? Just drift with the wind, kid!)]

[Warehouse Capacity: 0/10 slots]

[Durability: 100/100]

[Upgrade requires Wood*20, Cloth*10, Seagrass*10, Iron Ore*1, Dim Pearl*1.

(Current materials insufficient, cannot upgrade)]

After reading the raft's attributes, Ling Chu roughly understood her current situation.

A total of five billion players worldwide had been sent into this so-called Sea Survival Game. Everyone started with only a wrecked raft, with no food or Freshwater, and had to face a Sea Storm in three days.

A person could barely survive for seven days without food, but the Sea Storm in three days would completely destroy this small raft, burying the players in the ocean. Therefore, to survive, the first priority was to upgrade this broken raft.

If you can't find it by searching the book title, try searching for the author; perhaps it just changed its name!

Ling Chu never liked to complain or blame others; when she confirmed that she was powerless to change the facts, the wisest decision was to force herself to adapt quickly.

Survival of the fittest, natural selection.

Ling Chu understood this principle well, so while the Public Channel was still filled with shouting and complaining, she had already begun to collect resources.

She wrapped one end of the grappling hook rope around her wrist, aimed at a piece of wood about five meters directly in front of her, and used her wrist to swing the iron hook. Utilizing the inertia of the hook itself, she sent it whistling through the air.

The first attempt missed, grazing the edge of the wood as the hook sank into the sea.

Ling Chu pulled the rope to retrieve the hook.

She had underestimated the speed at which the hook was thrown, and the floating debris also drifted forward slowly with the current. Learning from her mistake, she shortened her lead time on the second throw, and the hook landed precisely in the center of the wood.

A perfect hit!

Ling Chu pulled the rope, dragging the wood to her side, and discovered a piece of green Seagrass wrapped around the bottom of the plank.

[You have obtained Wood*1, Seagrass*1]

Buy one, get one free!

The floating debris she collected was automatically stored in the Raft's warehouse, and at the same time, the Raft's capacity became 2/500.

Ling Chu dared not stop, immediately setting her sights on the next piece of debris.

[Wood+1]

[Cloth+1]

[Seagrass+1]

After three hours of tireless hooking, Ling Chu had become adept at using the grappling hook. Aside from her wrist feeling a bit sore, she could hit her target almost ten times out of ten.

She glanced at her haul: she had already hooked 23 pieces of Wood, 11 pieces of Cloth, and 10 pieces of Seagrass.

She had enough Wood, Cloth, and Seagrass to upgrade the Raft, but she still didn't know how to obtain iron ore or that Dim Pearl.

She glanced at the Public Channel by chance and found that everyone had already started discussing the Newbie Blind Box.

"What kind of trash blind box is this? I only pulled five pieces of wood???"

"I pulled two bottles of Mineral Water. Thank goodness, I was about to die of thirst."

"Five pieces of wood+1"

"Five pieces of wood+2"

"Five pieces of wood+10086"

"You've really learned the gacha tricks of pay-to-win online games!"

"It's like they didn't give us anything at all. Even if it's a newbie benefit, they shouldn't be this perfunctory!"

"Don't blame the system if you have bad luck. Look at the artifact this lucky dog pulled!"

Amidst the many complaints and rants, an occasional discordant voice would pop up, boastfully posting the attributes of the items they had just pulled.

[Shark Tooth Dagger]

[Quality: Common]

[A dagger made from a shark's tooth. Relatively sharp; deals double damage to sharks.]

This blind box could actually drop weapons?

Ling Chu continued to scroll through the channel. Players who pulled weapons were in the minority; most people pulled basic supplies like Wood and Cloth.

Some people pulled food and Freshwater, while others pulled practical tools like a Telescope or Flint. One incredibly lucky player even pulled 100 Dim Pearls.

Upgrading the Raft required a Dim Pearl, and Ling Chu still didn't know how to obtain one. This item was clearly much more valuable than basic supplies like Wood.

The player who pulled the pearls immediately began selling them on the Public Channel: "Selling extra pearls, 200 Wood/Cloth/Seaweed for 1."

"200 Wood for 1 pearl?? You might as well go rob someone!"

"I just caught a Large Oyster with my newbie fishing rod. After prying the shell open, there was a pearl inside. If you want pearls, everyone go fishing!"

"Is our newbie fishing rod different? Why have I sat here for almost an hour and not a single fish has bitten the hook!"

"Me too. Not only did I not catch a fish, I almost slipped and fell into the sea."

"Common sense: you need bait to fish. I tore off a small piece of the Wheat Bread I pulled from my blind box, tied it to the hook, and caught a fish very quickly."

"Is there a possibility that I chose to fish precisely because I have nothing to eat?"

"No food for bait means no fish, and no fish means no food. What kind of terrifying logical loop is this!"

"Selling a 150g piece of Wheat Bread for 200 Wood. First come, first served."

"Brother above, you're even more ruthless than the guy selling pearls!"

"I, Wang Aotian, would rather starve to death than trade for a single bite of your food!!"

"Trading Newbie Blind Box for 5 pieces of Wheat Bread!"

"Why is the guy above selling his Newbie Blind Box?"

"My luck is too bad. Opening five pieces of wood is less practical than trading for some bread."

Everyone had just entered the game and was facing the dilemma of having no Freshwater or food, so those who had pulled surplus food began to gouge prices.

Ling Chu had been hooking debris for a long time and felt a bit hungry, but it hadn't reached an unbearable point yet. Unless it was a last resort, she wouldn't use resources to trade for food; that would be purely working for someone else's benefit.

She picked up the Newbie Blind Box on her raft. Compared to pulling five pieces of wood, trading the blind box for Wheat Bread might be the smart move, but Ling Chu still wanted to gamble on her luck.