Jiang Lai’s little boat was suddenly surrounded by a burst of white light.
She even heard a series of clanging sounds. If the light hadn’t blocked her view, she’d have been curious to see exactly how the boat was being upgraded.
It only took a few dozen seconds for the light to fade, and her boat was completely transformed.
No, calling it a “boat” now didn’t seem right.
It looked more like a raft with railings on three sides, and a small wooden cabin in the center.
Jiang Lai opened the cabin door and walked inside.
The cabin was empty, exactly the same size as the one she’d just dismantled from the other ship.
She took the bed and table and chair out of her backpack and set them up in her new room.
“Now this finally feels like something,” Jiang Lai said, clapping her hands, satisfied with her new home.
It was still simple—bare walls and little else—but it was much better than sleeping under the open sky, using the sea as a bed.
You have to know how to be content.
Jiang Lai gathered up all the scattered items on her boat and put them back in her backpack, then set the water purifier on the table.
She opened the two drawers in the table that she hadn’t checked before.
The first drawer was empty.
The second…
“What’s this?”
Jiang Lai took out a small iron box, about the size of two palms, with a keyhole—clearly it needed a key to open.
There was also a token with three characters on it: “Island Landing Permit.”
She put both items in her backpack and checked their info.
【Mysterious Iron Box: A special item of unknown origin, not produced by the system. Requires a mysterious key to open and claim the treasure inside.】
【Island Landing Permit: Allows the holder’s boat to dock near an island for 24 hours. Usable once your residence reaches level three.】
The first item—she had no idea what was inside, or when she’d find the matching key, so she set it aside for now.
The permit could only be used after reaching level three, so it was also useless for now.
Still, Jiang Lai knew these were both valuable.
She wondered how that dead level-two player had gotten such good stuff.
But to get them and then die at level two… she didn’t know whether to call that luck or misfortune.
“Not produced by the system.”
“Not an Earth player.”
“Island.”
Jiang Lai muttered these words to herself.
Who knew what other surprises this game would bring?
She sat at the table and finished off her open bottle of water and the rest of her biscuits.
She filled the empty bottle with seawater and poured it into the purifier.
The most basic purifier could only produce 600ml of fresh water per day—just enough for her to drink.
No wonder Chang Fa’s water business was so limited; every drop was hard-earned.
Jiang Lai sighed.
Life was tough for everyone. She’d better see what she could get from her next treasure chest.
She still had one fishing attempt left, so she sat cross-legged on the side of the raft without a railing and started fishing.
“It feels even colder today,” she thought as she fished, glancing at the sky.
The sun was still shining, but the temperature kept dropping.
If it was bearable now, tonight would be much harder.
Jiang Lai opened the public chat.
A few lucky players were still sharing their bronze chests, which sometimes contained food, blueprints for upgrading fishing rods, water purifiers, tools, and even weapons.
She scrolled through, realizing there were plenty of people with higher luck stats than her.
There were already four or five known players with water purifiers, so Chang Fa’s monopoly was over.
Jiang Lai quietly gave up on the idea of selling water.
But as she read through the messages, she didn’t see anyone else who had upgraded their residence to level two.
It was only the second day of the game, and her upgrade speed was way ahead of the pack.
Of course, without the sea creature’s mother’s gift, even she wouldn’t have upgraded so quickly.
Jiang Lai knew that survival was about patience, so she didn’t brag about her upgrade.
Still, she posted a message:
“Has anyone else noticed how unnaturally fast the temperature is dropping?”
“You just noticed? I started the game in a tank top and shorts. I froze all night and now I have a runny nose.”
“The temperature difference between today and yesterday is at least ten degrees. Tonight’s going to be rough.”
“This damn game, is it trying to freeze us to death?”
“Feels like you’ve hit the nail on the head.”
People had already complained about the cold, and as the temperature dropped again, everyone was feeling anxious.
With nothing but a little open boat, no one knew how long they could survive.
“Don’t be too pessimistic, everyone. The system said we have a three-day newbie protection period.
That means we’re safe until midnight tomorrow.
Let’s gather as many supplies as we can and try to upgrade to a level-two shelter before the protection ends. We’ll make it.”
Jiang Lai glanced at the speaker’s name: Qi Jingxing.
He seemed like a smart guy.
Indeed, from her own level-two upgrade, she knew the cabin provided some protection from the cold.
It might not be warm, but it would at least keep you from freezing to death.
“Easier said than done. It’s not that easy to collect 100 wood and 50 nails in three days. Not everyone is as lucky as you.”
“Yeah, I’ve only fished up two chests so far. Even with tomorrow’s three, it’s not enough.”
“I don’t think we need to worry too much. Even after the newbie period, the game won’t just kill us all off at the start. There’s got to be a way out.”
Jiang Lai closed the chat.
Maybe everyone was still being too optimistic about this game.
That sunken ship at the bottom of the sea was a constant reminder that who knows how many civilizations had already perished here.
【System Announcement: Extreme cold weather will arrive on the seventh day. Players must upgrade their residence to level two within seven days, or be left in the eternal night.】
The system’s voice suddenly rang in Jiang Lai’s ear.
“Seven days?”
That was actually better than most players had expected.
With a bit of luck and some effort, maybe most people could survive.
“Extreme cold weather?”
Jiang Lai looked at her little cabin, feeling like something was still missing.
Translator thought: Thank you so much for visiting the site and reading the story. If you would like to support my translation you can buy me a cup-ontea. You can also help by shopping in our store or watch the youtube video to get more traction to the website. If you can’t wait to read the next chapter why not subscribe to our monthly plan, you will get 15 chapter every month for $35.
