(Friendly Reminder: This is a brain-check station. Please store your brain here before consuming this story. The author is not responsible for any brain-rot that may occur. (#^.^#))
[Welcome, first wave of players, to the Sea Survival Challenge.]
[Game Reminder 1: Cherish your life and take this game seriously. Each player has only one life.]
[Game Reminder 2: The beginner's protection period lasts for seven days. Please upgrade your raft as much as possible during this time.]
[Game Reminder 3: Random treasure chests will appear on the sea daily from 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM. Avoid entering the water at night—it's dangerous!]
[...]
Staring at the endless ocean all around her, with nothing but a flimsy two-by-two-meter raft beneath her feet, Faye Yardley knelt in the center, shivering uncontrollably.
'Didn't someone just push me off a thousand-foot cliff?'
'How did I end up in a sea survival game?'
SOB...
'This is terrifying.'
The incessant system prompts suddenly reminded her of the male-protagonist sea survival novel she had stayed up all night reading before her hiking trip.
The book featured a cannon-fodder sister and a villainous older brother who had the exact same names as her and her own brother, so she couldn't help but curse them out while reading.
She regretted it now as much as she had enjoyed cursing them out then.
'Falling off a cliff isn't a guaranteed survival, and it's the same in this survival game—one wrong move and you're dead!'
"Faye Yardley, get a grip! Now's not the time to be scared. Figuring out how to survive is what matters!"
"And you need to think carefully about who ambushed you, who wanted you dead."
Even though she was talking to herself out loud, it was no use. She couldn't stop her limbs from trembling.
'She desperately wished this was a dream, but she'd never had one this advanced before.'
The cold, emotionless electronic voice, the virtual screen, and the strings of reminders on it all seemed to be mocking her for overestimating herself.
'Calm down, calm down. Anyone who can transmigrate into a book and survive falling off a cliff must be one of the chosen ones. Faye Yardley, don't you dare bring shame upon the countless other transmigrators.'
SOB...
'Still, she couldn't suppress her fear. I don't want to be the chosen one! Does anyone want to take my spot?!'
'Ha, it's just a game. As if anyone can't play...'
SOB SOB SOB...
'I can't!'
Faye Yardley felt like she was about to develop a split personality.
With tears streaming down her face, she forced herself to open her game inventory with a thought. It had ten empty slots, with an item in only one of them.
"Retrieve."
Instantly, a fishing rod appeared in front of Faye Yardley.
'What time is it?'
The moment she thought it, a large time display appeared on the virtual screen before her.
Sea Survival Calendar, Year 1. June 1st, 5:50:27 AM.
It was the very beginning of the game from the book.
Faye Yardley clutched the fishing rod as if it were a lifeline.
"Calm down, calm down! Calm down, dammit!"
"The random treasure chests will appear in ten minutes! Faye Yardley, you can do this! You can definitely do this! You have to!"
After calming down a little, Faye said, "Open Status Panel."
SWISH. The screen's display changed.
Name: Faye Yardley
Gender: Female
Age: 19 (This doesn't seem to be your real age?)
Talent: None
Constitution: 5 (Are you sure you're an adult?)
Strength: 3 (What can you even lift?)
Agility: 7 (You're serious about escaping, aren't you?)
Spirit: 7 (Quite the spitfire, aren't you?)
Luck: 9 (My god, your luck surpasses 99.98% of all people!)
Charm: 8 (You're the one who shines in a crowd.)
Skills: None
Hunger Level: 88 (Max 100. If this hits 0, you starve!)
Seeing the age, Faye Yardley realized she must have transmigrated into a new body. It was completely absurd. But then again, since something as unscientific as transmigrating into a book had already happened, soul transmigration seemed almost normal by comparison.
Besides, on this world of Aquaria she had crossed into, the entire planet's population was being forced into this sea survival game. What was the point of talking about science?
This was a world of mysticism and fantasy, a game world.
Once the initial fear and panic subsided, Faye Yardley's reason returned.
'Anyway, as long as I don't do anything stupid during the protection period, I won't die. So I need to upgrade my raft as much as possible and expand my living space.'
'As for riding the coattails of the novel's male protagonist? You've got to be kidding me. My current brother is the main villain, and I'm just a small-fry character destined to be a stepping stone for one of the heroines.'
'Otherwise, why would a civilized person like her have been cursing up a storm?'
'Whatever. To stop my villainous brother from fighting the protagonist's group just to avenge me, I'll do my best to stay alive.'
'And as for the heroine who uses me as a stepping stone... sorry, but if you dare try to climb over me in this life, I'll break your damn legs and send you to your grave first!'
After all, watching the villainous brother's tragic quest for revenge had made her feel incredibly indignant on his behalf, especially since she also had a brother in real life who doted on her completely.
But there were so many people in the world, and the game was divided into regions: 'Sectors' of one million people each, which were then grouped into larger 'Regions' based on country.
Competition between countries existed from the very beginning, but it was mostly covert. After all, survival was the eternal theme here.
Faye Yardley pounded on her trembling legs, trying to push aside all the chaotic thoughts in her head. Thinking about them did, however, seem to make her less afraid.
'But the treasure chests were about to spawn. With my luck stat so high, I should have no problem fishing up a chest to sustain myself, right? If worse comes to worst, I could just catch some fish, crabs, or lobsters. I could even eat sashimi.'
'Oh, right. The regions were divided by large grid squares in the game. She wondered if she'd have to wait for a major server merge to meet her brother, Ethan Yardley.'
When the game first descended upon Aquaria, massive 100x100 grid-like pillars of light had appeared. Anyone caught within the same grid was guaranteed to be in the same starting region. Otherwise, even if two people were in the same house, they could be separated into different regions if they were caught by different grids.
These different grids were then merged to form a million-person sector, though nobody knew exactly how that process worked.
'After all, she didn't have time to absorb the original owner's memories, so she had no idea where Ethan Yardley was when the game began. Her memories of the book were also a jumble. She forgot most of it right after reading it. Recall it now? Recall what? Her mind was a complete blank.'
Taking yet another deep breath, Faye Yardley casually tossed the fishing line into the sea. Whether she caught anything was all up to fate.
'While waiting for the treasure chests, Faye Yardley finally remembered she could check the regional chat channel. Everyone used their real names, so even though she might run into people with the same name, there was still a chance she could find who she was looking for.'
As she thought of the regional channel, constantly scrolling text appeared on the virtual screen.
[...]