Treasure Chest

Ling Chu frowned. Some sea urchins exploded...

No wonder the system rules had described them that way, and no wonder Pompom Sea Urchins had a slightly higher cleanliness rating than sea stars. Some of them were explosive.

After discovering this, Ling Chu was extra careful whenever she gathered sea urchins.

While digging up the next one, she sensed something was wrong. The sea urchin in her hand seemed heavier than an ordinary Pompom Sea Urchin, and it was faintly warm.

She reacted in a flash, tossing the sea urchin at her feet as she activated the Ghostly Steps skill.

With a loud BOOM, the reef beneath her feet was blown apart.

[You collected an Exploding Sea Urchin. Cleanliness +10]

[Exploding Sea Urchin: It looks similar to a Pompom Sea Urchin and is extremely difficult to distinguish. The moment it leaves the surface of the reef, it explodes, with a force comparable to a small explosive.]

Ling Chu breathed a sigh of relief. The sea urchin gave about a one-second tell before exploding. Fortunately, she had reacted quickly and had the Ghostly Steps skill, allowing her to dodge perfectly.

The other players weren't so lucky. Those unfortunate enough to collect an Exploding Sea Urchin were either injured by the blast or, in worse cases, knocked unconscious.

Explosions rang out one after another, and complaints flooded Nearby Channel.

"Fuck, I knew this challenge wouldn't be that simple!"

"Goddamn, that hurts! My Health Points just dropped by a third. Anyone have a Bandage to stop the bleeding? Help me out!"

"Damn it, even staying on the boat doesn't help. The system just warned me that I'm competing passively. If I don't get in the water within five minutes, I'll be kicked out of the challenge and randomly lose three supplies."

"I should've known better than to join this bullshit challenge. I was already low on supplies, and now I'm going to starve to death..."

Nearby Channel was full of wails.

To be safe, Ling Chu stopped digging up sea urchins and started collecting Long-spined Sea Stars instead.

Ghostly Steps had a cooldown of half an hour. She would go back to gathering sea urchins after that. After all, staying alive mattered more than the rewards.

Titch wasn't afraid of the sea urchins exploding. Physical attacks like that seemed to have no effect on him. Ling Chu watched as he dug up an Exploding Sea Urchin and got one arm blown off. Then, as if nothing had happened, he shook the little spines off himself, trotted over to retrieve his arm, and reattached it.

Besides watching out for exploding sea urchins in their hands, the players also had to be wary of being harassed by marine creatures.

The most common creatures in this area were triggerfish and jellyfish.

Triggerfish were one of the fish that snorkeling enthusiasts hated most. They had big front teeth and were highly aggressive. If they bit you, you'd be covered in bruises. Jellyfish stings were even worse, leaving your skin unbearably itchy.

Every so often, Ling Chu saw players being chased by triggerfish and bitten on the butt, or players covered in red, swollen welts from jellyfish stings.

Maybe it was because of Double Luck, but neither triggerfish nor jellyfish bothered her.

Quite a few schools of tropical fish swam around Ling Chu, apparently interested in the sea urchins in her hands.

She didn't need to return to the boat to store the sea urchins or come up for air, which saved her a lot of time. Titch, meanwhile, hadn't stopped gathering for even a moment.

She figured she could easily secure a good ranking, so she generously cracked open a sea urchin. Bright orange-yellow roe, each grain distinct, scattered through the water, and the fish swarmed in to peck at it.

They all loved eating sea urchin roe, but the shells were hard and spiny, leaving the fish helpless.

This kind human was actually cracking sea urchins open for them to eat!

Word that Ling Chu knew how to crack open sea urchins spread through the schools of fish in an instant. More and more tropical fish gathered around her.

Seeing how much they liked it, Ling Chu cracked open two more sea urchins for them.

After finishing the sea urchin roe, the fish suddenly swam off in another direction. Ling Chu had a feeling they wanted to take her somewhere, so she followed them for dozens of meters.

They stopped in front of a huge reef.

Ling Chu noticed that there were even more sea urchins here. And beneath the reef, a Treasure Chest was wedged in place.

She swam over quickly and stashed the wild Treasure Chest in her Ring Space.

[You obtained a Rusty Treasure Chest.]

[You cleaned up a piece of ocean debris. Cleanliness +20.]

Ling Chu's eyes lit up. Finding a Treasure Chest could increase her cleanliness by 20 points at a time!

Treasure Chests salvaged from the seafloor didn't contain as many items as System Blind Boxes, and they almost never yielded food, but they had a high chance of containing equipment.

Nearly all the equipment Ling Chu had came from these Treasure Chests. She couldn't pass one up if she found it.

Ling Chu hadn't expected that three sea urchins would be enough to lead the fish to a Treasure Chest. It was an incredible deal. Delighted, she cracked open two more sea urchins for the fish.

After finishing their sea urchin feast, the fish led Ling Chu to an Underwater Shipwreck Site. Another Treasure Chest was hidden beneath the rotting planks.

By feeding the fish, Ling Chu had collected three Treasure Chests in a row.

The Treasure Chests were far more worthwhile than digging up sea urchins. Besides, all she had to do was make sure she ranked near the top. She was about to keep building her friendship with the fish when Nearby Channel erupted into an argument.

[Nearby Channel]

Missing Teeth: "Feed sea urchins to the fish and they'll lead you to nearby Treasure Chests. Just figured this out."

"There's a trick like that? Thanks, brother, for sharing!"

"Thanks, kind soul!! I bow to you!"

"It really works! I tried it just now and found a Treasure Chest only a dozen meters away. It was completely covered in seagrass. I'd never have found it on my own! Thank you, kind soul! May you live a hundred years and make a fortune!"

The player called Missing Teeth was happily basking in everyone's gratitude and praise when a discordant voice cut in.

Squid Ball: "You think you're so clever, like you know everything. Fine if you want to quietly make a fortune by yourself, but why tell everyone? You might as well change your name to Missing Brains."

Missing Teeth: "?"

Missing Teeth: "I'm called Missing Teeth because I like eating Missing Teeth. Why are you making personal attacks? I'm happy to share what I know with everyone. Don't be so selfish."

Squid Ball: "I'm making personal attacks on a self-righteous idiot like you. You're so selfless, you should let the Leshan Giant Buddha come down so you can take his seat."

Missing Teeth: "Why are you talking so rudely? I shared the information I knew with everyone for free. What did I do wrong?"

Squid Ball: "You did nothing wrong. You're so noble, the light of justice itself. I was having a great time secretly looking for Treasure Chests, and you just had to give everything away for free. Do you enjoy being praised and thanked that much? Give me two Treasure Chests, and I'll sing your praises to the heavens!"

Missing Teeth: "You're being unreasonable. I won't stoop to arguing with a woman. Long hair, short wits."

Squid Ball: "At least I have long hair. You're short everywhere."

Missing Teeth: "??"