Sea Survival: My Luck is Off the Charts Novel – [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 100×100 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. […] … [Leo Sloan: Help! Somebody save me! I just fell into the sea and tried to catch a fish with my bare hands, but a big crab clamped onto my calf. It won’t stop bleeding. Am I going to bleed to death?] [David Hughes: Who the fuck is playing this joke on me? Get me out of here right now, or you’ll all be sorry!] [Hailey Miles: Everyone, hurry up and get your fishing rods from your backpacks. It’s six o’clock.
Leo Sloan, you should try to fish for a treasure chest. Maybe you can get something to stop the bleeding.] Although the chat channel was constantly scrolling, Faye Yardley’s gaze was fixed on one name: Hailey Miles. The screen scrolled by quickly, and Hailey Miles didn’t post again, so her name was soon pushed out of view by other messages. [Wade Warren: I just finished reading all the game prompts. We’re the first wave, all between 18 and 50 years old. Those under 18 and over 50 are the second and final wave. If you have family members in those age groups, we need to upgrade our rafts and strengthen ourselves now, following the game’s instructions. That’s the only way we’ll be ready for our families when they arrive.] [Kyle Lewis: Mommy, Mommy, where are you? I don’t want to play games anymore. Please take me home.] [Kyle Lewis: Mommy, Mommy, where are you? I don’t want to play games anymore. Please take me home.] [Miles Hughes: Kyle Lewis, will you give it a rest? You’re a grown man, stop crying for your mommy. Instead of wasting time on that, you should be getting your fishing rod out of your backpack.] [Kyle Lewis: Mommy, Mommy, where are you? I don’t want to play games anymore.
Please take me home.] [Wade Warren: It’s almost six o’clock, time for the treasure chests to respawn. Everyone, get ready. The sun is up, so the temperature is only going to rise. We should use this cool time to pull in a few chests and catch some fish.] […] People were constantly talking in the regional channel. Some offered helpful reminders, while others were crying, wailing, and cursing. ‘What a strange collection of freaks and weirdos.’ ‘Hailey Miles, huh?’ ‘The grudge from the book could be set aside for now.’ Faye Yardley had gotten over her initial fear and was gradually calming down. Just as it turned six o’clock, she saw a Wooden Treasure Chest bobbing on the waves, drifting toward her small raft. She picked up her fishing rod to cast it, only to find it felt like she had already hooked something. Her spirits surged. She pulled hard on the rod, and just as Faye Yardley felt her strength giving out, a large fish landed on the raft with a SLAP. ‘You really can catch fish with an empty hook!’ The moment Faye Yardley’s hand touched the fish, a system prompt appeared: [Mackerel discovered.
It can be dismantled. Dismantle?] ‘Of course I’ll dismantle it,’ she thought. ‘Otherwise I’d have to tear it apart with my bare hands.’ After she selected “Yes,” a white light flashed, and a new prompt appeared: [Obtained Clean, Uncontaminated Fish Meat ×3]. ‘Uncontaminated Fish Meat?’ ‘So if I had tried to butcher it myself, I might have ended up with contaminated meat? And if I ate contaminated fish, I’d probably become contaminated myself?’ ‘Why wasn’t there any explanation for this in the novel?’ ‘Could it be that some of the rules changed because I transmigrated into the book?’ ‘Or maybe it was mentioned, and I just don’t remember?’ There was no time to dwell on it; a treasure chest was waiting. Faye Yardley immediately cast her fishing line toward it. She reeled it in and excitedly hauled the Wooden Treasure Chest onto her raft. Faye Yardley rubbed her hands together, muttering a little chant, “Oh spirits of heaven and earth, may The Supreme Lord grant my wish!” The chest opened to reveal three orbs of light. Faye Yardley reached for one of the orbs, and a system prompt appeared: [Obtained wood × 10]. The other two orbs yielded [Obtained Mineral Water ×2, Delicious Little Bread ×5] and [Obtained wood ×5, iron block ×1]. ‘Great! Food, water, and materials. What a perfect start!’ “System, what do I need to upgrade the raft?” The void screen immediately displayed the requirements—Raft Upgrade – Level 1: Requires wood × 20 (15/20). Faye Yardley was instantly filled with motivation. ‘Just five more pieces of wood and I can upgrade the raft!’ ‘It seems upgrading the raft during the safe period is pretty easy after all.’ She stored all the items in her backpack.
As for the Wooden Treasure Chest, she kept it beside her. She could lean against it when she got tired, and it gave her a small sense of security. She took out a bottle of mineral water and drank about a third of it, calming the waves of anxiety and fear that kept surfacing. She cast her fishing rod out again. ‘Whatever I can catch is a resource,’ she thought. From then on, Faye Yardley focused solely on fishing and scanning the nearby water for floating treasure chests. She had no time to look at the regional channel at all. ‘Once the chests stop spawning, there’ll be plenty of time to chat and trade for supplies.’ ‘I know what the priority is right now.’ When she felt a tug on her line, Faye Yardley’s eyes lit up, and she began to pull with all her might. Whatever was on the line was even heavier than the large fish. ‘This is killing me!’ she thought, lying flat on the raft, terrified she’d be pulled into the sea. “Whoa! What kind of chest is this? Is it bronze or iron?” Whatever it was, Faye Yardley was so excited she couldn’t stop grinning from ear to ear. [You have obtained one Iron Treasure Box. Open it?] ‘No question. Of course I’ll open it!’ Before opening it, however, Faye Yardley recited her little spell: “Heaven protect me, Heaven protect me… Open!” She opened the Iron Treasure Box. It didn’t contain more items than the Wooden Treasure Chest; there were still only three orbs of light. She picked up an orb and received a notification: [Obtained Backpack Expansion × 10 Diagrams ×1]. ‘This is great, but it’s just a diagram.
I still have to gather the materials myself.’ The diagram showed that expanding the backpack required cloth ×2 and Space Stone ×1. ‘Great. I don’t have either of those things.’ ‘Now this diagram is just taking up a backpack slot.’ ‘Maybe I can put the smaller items into the chest and then store the chest in my backpack. That should save a lot of space.’ She quickly grabbed the other two orbs, obtaining [wood ×35] and [High Level Fish Spear Manufacturing Diagram ×1]. Huh? ‘I have enough wood! System, quick, upgrade the raft!’ [Upgrade to Level 1 Raft? wood 50/20] “Yes, yes, yes!” A white light flashed. The raft was now a 2×5 platform—ten square meters. It had gotten much longer, but its width was still worryingly narrow. The Iron Treasure Box was quite heavy, so Faye Yardley decided it would work well as a stool or a backrest on the raft. She put the diagrams, mineral water, and Delicious Little Breads into the wooden chest; that way, it would only take up a single slot when she stored it in her backpack. After that, she became a relentless robot, doing nothing but fishing for fish and chests, constantly casting and reeling in her line. Not every cast was successful; sometimes, she just reeled in ocean junk.
Sometimes, she’d hook two chests in a row and wouldn’t even have time to open them right away. It was a happy problem to have, one that filled her with so much motivation that she temporarily forgot her fear of the open sea. ‘Treasure chests, fish, shrimp, crabs—they’re all mine!’ … After working hard for twelve hours, from morning until night, Faye Yardley was utterly exhausted. Besides taking breaks to eat a Delicious Little Bread and drink mineral water to replenish her stamina, she had been completely focused on fishing. The sun was setting, and darkness would soon fall upon the sea. Lying on her back as a gentle breeze brushed her face, Faye whispered, “First, let’s take stock of today’s haul.” In total, she had fished up eight treasure chests, two of which were Iron Treasure Boxes. She had already opened five, leaving three unopened. Faye hadn’t wasted the empty chests, either. She dismantled all of them. A single Wooden Treasure Chest could be dismantled into 3 units of wood. That meant as long as she fished up about seven Wooden Treasure Chests, she could upgrade her raft to Level 2 even if the chests themselves didn’t contain a single piece of wood. Her Hunger Level was still at 80, so she was fine not eating for now. A tally of her opened chests revealed: [Mineral Water x6, Steamed Buns x2, Delicious Cola x1, Delicious Little Bread x1, Instant Noodles x5], [wood x62, iron blocks x15, cloth x4, Cotton x5], [Alfalfa Seeds x3, Vegetable Seeds x2], [Basic Iron Axe Blueprint x1]. It had to be said, the haul from just five chests was quite impressive.
She rolled over, quickly rinsed her hands in the ocean, and then Faye began to chant, “God, please bless me, your faithful follower. May all my wishes come true; may I get whatever I ask for.” [A Wooden Treasure Chest has been discovered. Open it?] “Open, open, open!” This time, there were only two orbs of light inside. Faye frowned slightly. ‘Did my luck get worse after washing my hands in the seawater?’ After she picked up the orbs of light, the system prompted: [You have obtained Ordinary Fishing Rod x1], [You have obtained Wooden Fence Blueprint x1]. A wooden fence?! Hahaha!!!! Faye really felt like kowtowing to all the gods. This was something she desperately needed; she had been so afraid of rolling off the two-meter-wide raft in her sleep. With a fence, her safety would be greatly increased.