The First Island

The winds and waves at sea were stronger than they had been during the day. Ling Chu got up to find the source of the sound.

Under the pale moonlight, a shadow as large as a giant battleship slowly glided beneath the raft. The waves it stirred made the raft shudder twice.

The invisible pressure made Ling Chu's legs go weak, and she nearly lost her balance.

The deep, low-frequency call sounded like it came from some kind of enormous whale.

But Ling Chu was certain it wasn't a whale. Humans couldn't hear the sound waves emitted by whales.

The four-square-meter raft sat atop that shadow like a fallen leaf floating in a pond, pitifully small and utterly defenseless.

Perhaps it thought the food wasn't worth a bite, or perhaps the rules of the Novice Protection Period held it back.

The enormous shadow lingered beneath the surface for a while, then leisurely swam away.

Ling Chu finally understood why so many people were looking to buy items that could produce light. In the dark, the fear of the unknown grew several times stronger.

Ling Chu slept through the night in her folding chair.

The next morning, the sun rose over the horizon, and its glaring light woke Ling Chu.

When she opened her eyes, she saw the morning sun hanging over the boundless sea. The water was calm and windless, glimmering in the light, as if the previous night's events had been nothing but a hallucination.

But Ling Chu was certain she hadn't imagined it. The seawater looked clear, yet it was a deep, almost black blue. That alone showed how deep these waters were.

Ling Chu took out a piece of Wheat Bread, spread some butter on it, and added a few Blueberries and the leftover sashimi from yesterday for breakfast.

To her surprise, the space inside the Ring of Bones was static. The food was as fresh as when she had put it in, while anything left in the raft's storage compartment would rot over time.

Fortunately, she had only left two leftover slices of fish in the raft's Storage Chest yesterday. She had kept all her other valuable supplies on her person.

Ling Chu took her fishing rod out of the ring and decided to fish a little while the weather was still good.

If she was lucky, she might catch a Pearl Clam that could be used to upgrade her raft. Her fishing rod had a never-come-back-empty buff, unlike the other players', whose chances of catching a fish were pitifully low. Even if she didn't get a Pearl Clam, she could trade any other fish she caught for supplies.

The gigantic shadow she'd seen last night made her all the more eager to upgrade her raft. Once the Novice Protection Period ended, if she ran into that thing again, her flimsy raft—with practically zero Durability Value—would be no better than jumping into the sea.

While she waited for a fish to bite, Ling Chu opened the Public Chat Channel and took a quick look.

She hadn't expected the Public Chat Channel to be buzzing with arguments again so early in the morning.

"Wanted across the entire server: player with the ID Sanfuye. He stole my sister's boat and killed her! I'll give anyone who can kill him enough food and freshwater for five days, plus some Iron Ore!"

"Are you kidding? Didn't the system say players couldn't attack each other during the Novice Protection Period? How could anyone be robbed?"

"Exactly! I just ran into another player. A Transparent Barrier protected them when I got close, so there was no way to board their raft."

"He's a Pirate, so the system rules and penalties don't apply to him. Damn it, how could there be such a disgusting profession as Pirate? A friendly reminder to everyone: if you run into a Pirate, don't hesitate. It's either you kill him or he kills you!"

Ling Chu's heart sank. Had another player unlocked the Pirate profession?

Then she reconsidered. She was a Ghost Pirate, so she was probably different from ordinary Pirates. She refused to believe that a legendary ring was something anyone could get.

"Being dragged into this survival game is bad enough. Why are there still Pirates who attack their own people? Killing someone just for a few supplies—is it really worth it?"

"Those Pirates were all thugs and lowlifes in real life, too. If they're willing to kill people so openly, they've probably been in jail before. They deserve to be killed!"

"Don't worry, bro. If I see him, I'll avenge your sister! Even if I can't beat him, I'll send you his coordinates!"

"Thanks, everyone..."

The Public Chat Channel gradually turned into a denunciation of the Pirates, full of curses and condemnation.

Ling Chu watched in silence. It seemed the Pirate profession had already become the target of public outrage. Before she grew stronger, she'd better not let anyone find out she was a Ghost Pirate.

Just then, the fishing rod dipped, drawing Ling Chu's attention back to it.

She stood and pulled the bait out of the water. It was another Fluorescent Starfish, but this one glowed green—not pink, like Stay Away From Gambling, Drugs, and Vice wanted.

Ling Chu stored the starfish in her ring, then noticed a small black speck in the distance, standing out against the shifting surface of the sea.

She took out her Monocular Telescope and examined it.

It was an island!

A flicker of delight crossed Ling Chu's eyes. This was the first time she'd ever seen one.

Her raft had no sail, and its direction depended entirely on the waves. She hadn't heard anyone in the Public Chat Channel mention setting foot on an island, either. Suppressing her excitement, Ling Chu put away her folding chair and sun umbrella to get a wider view.

She kept the island in sight through the telescope. It lay directly in the raft's path.

Ten minutes later, the raft had drifted to within twenty meters of the island. Ling Chu tied the rope hook she used to retrieve supplies around her waist, then secured the other end firmly to the raft's Storage Chest.

The wooden chest was nailed to the raft and held fast.

Ling Chu dove into the sea. She was a decent swimmer and knew a bit of both doggy paddle and freestyle. Dragging the raft behind her, she swam with all her might toward the island.

The four-square-meter raft weighed almost nothing with the seawater's buoyancy, so Ling Chu had little trouble swimming.

The raft had no anchor, and she worried the waves might carry it away. In the end, she dragged it straight onto the island's beach.

[You have discovered an Unclaimed Island. Explore the island and find its Island Core to claim it as your territory.]

[This island has a 48-hour landing limit. If you stay beyond the time limit, you will be kicked off the island.]

The second system notification dashed Ling Chu's hopes.

She had thought that if there weren't any dangers on the island, she could stay there for a while. It was surely safer than drifting at sea on a raft. But the landing limit made sense, since this was a Sea Survival Game. If everyone found an island and hid there, who would still venture out to sea?

But what exactly was an Island Core? The fact that she could claim the island as her territory by obtaining it was tempting.

Ling Chu untied the rope from her waist and secured it around a Coconut Tree on the beach to keep the rising tide from carrying the raft away. Then she headed inland, surveying her surroundings as she went.

The island wasn't very large, perhaps three or four square kilometers. Many Coconut Trees grew along the beach, heavy with fruit. Farther into the woods, she saw numerous shrubs, their branches covered in little orange-yellow fruits that looked like strings of lanterns.

They looked familiar to Ling Chu. She plucked one and held it beneath her nose, recognizing it as a Sea Buckthorn Fruit. She'd tried sea buckthorn juice while working at a milk-tea shop. It tasted sweet and sour, quenched thirst, and was good for digestion and the spleen.

She didn't rush to pick the fruit. Her first priority was to make sure the island was safe.

A faint rustling suddenly came from beside her. A shadow darted past her feet, and Ling Chu swiftly bent down, caught it, and lifted it up.