As midnight approached, An Ling twisted the prayer pendant around her neck and began the day’s prayer.
It was the pattern of the little golden figure.
**[Acquired Blessing Pendant Bonus: Broken Body, Firm Will. The body may be destroyed, but the will shall endure. Increases all physical attributes.]**
**[Time Remaining: 23 hours, 59 minutes, 50 seconds]**
The moment she saw this blessing, An Ling frowned. It seemed that tomorrow’s landing on the island would be equally grim.
Only this time, she felt that the bonus from this blessing had increased. It must be related to the attribute points she had previously raised.
‘It seems “Broken Body, Firm Will” is a percentage bonus,’ she thought. ‘The higher my own attributes are, the more I gain from this buff.’
The sea was silent and soundless. Aside from the dim, yellow light emitting from the small wooden cabin on this lonely little island, the surroundings were already pitch black.
An Ling leaned against the bed, her consciousness becoming somewhat blurred. Aimless waiting was the most boring and easiest way to become drowsy.
After an unknown amount of time, she suddenly jolted her head, her consciousness snapping awake. She looked out the window; it wasn’t dawn yet, which was a relief.
An Ling quickly checked the pendant to confirm the time. It was 5:30 AM.
Dawn would break soon.
This ocean world was very strange. It was so hot during the day that it should have been summer based on the temperature, yet both sunrise and sunset seemed to follow a fixed time. Otherwise, at five o’clock on a summer morning, the sky should have already welcomed the dawn.
An Ling got out of bed, not having even taken off her shoes all night. She washed up briefly, splashing her face with water to clear her head, and then tied back her hair, quietly waiting for the arrival of dawn.
At this moment, the messages sent by Survivors on the chat module had also become sparse. Most people were likely still in their dreams.
The morning sun slowly rose in the east. An Ling watched as the darkness on the sea was gradually dispelled, and her heart began to race involuntarily.
Time: 06:00.
A burst of dazzling white light appeared directly in An Ling’s field of vision, causing her to instinctively close her eyes. But it was useless; the white light remained.
In an instant, the white light enveloped her. Her expression became dazed as she felt a surge of scorching, steaming air all around her. When she opened her eyes again, she found herself standing in the middle of a desert.
Before she could observe her surroundings, the screen prompt popped up. This information was more important than observing the environment, so An Ling immediately focused her attention on it.
**[Island Name: Death Desert]**
**[Target: 25 Teams Remaining]**
**[Description: A desert island known by many as Death. The island contains many abandoned towns. As for where the people inside went, no one knows. Perhaps it is because of the terrifying sandstorms that kick up every once in a while…]**
**[Note: Every two people form a team. Two random Survivors will appear in the same location. Reach the target to leave the island.]**
**[All functions on the island except for (Crafting and Deconstruction) will be disabled. Countdown: 5, 4, 3…]**
The screen closed instantly as the countdown ended. An Ling was still shocked, processing the information.
“Ugh… so hot…” a weak female voice came. An Ling immediately looked back and discovered a young girl who looked to be about her age lying behind her.
The girl opened her eyes groggily and sat up. Simultaneously, her own screen began giving her prompts.
This was the teammate An Ling had been randomly matched with.
A moment later, the two made eye contact. The other girl was the first to show a smile and spoke proactively. “Hello, teammate. My name is Su Yue.”
“I am An Ling.” She observed the girl quietly. Su Yue’s eyes revealed a certain clarity. she wore a clean set of gray sportswear and appeared to be under 160 centimeters tall.
“Sister, your name is pretty, and you’re beautiful too.” Su Yue let out a chuckle as she saw An Ling staring at her. “Don’t worry, I’m not any worse than the boys.”
An Ling looked slightly confused but still nodded. This was her teammate; she had to find a way to survive together with her.
She looked around. Behind them was the vast, boundless sea—they were at the edge of the island. Directly ahead, as far as the eye could see, was nothing but desert.
Some places had high mountains and giant rocks, and she could even see some houses in the distance. This was not a purely desert island.
“Survival of twenty-five teams, with no set survival time. That means if we want to leave this island as soon as possible, we can only…” Su Yue looked innocent, but her reactions were quick.
“That’s right. The system is telling us to kill.” An Ling frowned. She hadn’t expected to encounter such a cruel survival island immediately after leaving the novice island.
“We don’t have to go kill people. We can just hide and let the other Survivors fight it out,” Su Yue suggested.
“I’m afraid that won’t work. Look over there.” An Ling pointed toward the seaside, where the distant horizon was slightly yellow. A terrifying storm was surging toward the island.
This corresponded exactly to the terrifying sandstorm mentioned in the system description earlier.
“Have you ever played a Battle Royale game? This sandstorm will probably keep refreshing, forcing all Survivors to gather toward the center of the island.” Just as An Ling finished speaking, her and Su Yue’s screens expanded simultaneously.
**[Survivor 3060 has killed Survivor 1020!]**
The two looked at each other and then looked at the remaining number of teams below. It was still 100 teams.
This meant that someone had killed their own teammate!
Indeed, resources were scarce on a deserted island. Not only did they have to fight, but they also had to survive. Where would resources come from?
Naturally, they were plundered from companions. If one person’s supplies could last five days, then those of two people would be doubled for one.
Once this message appeared, the atmosphere between the two instantly became subtle. However, neither of them showed it. What they were both worried about was the other person attacking them.
Although the rule was two people per team, it didn’t say that one person per team wasn’t allowed.
This meant that for twenty-five teams to survive, a maximum of 50 people and a minimum of only 25 people could successfully make it out alive.
The faster people were killed, the faster they could leave.
“Let’s go. We need to move toward the center of the island ahead of time. After all, we don’t know exactly how large this island is.” An Ling gave a greeting and took out the compass from her backpack to determine the direction first.
Su Yue’s tense nerves relaxed, and her hands loosened slightly.
“What if we run into people?”
An Ling understood what she meant. They did need to reach a consensus before setting off. “We don’t run.”
Those two simple words stated her position. Su Yue also revealed a smile.
“I was thinking the same thing.”
If their first goal was to run every time they met someone, then their resources would run out sooner or later. This time, the system had anticipated the actions of all Survivors.
Everyone had thought the survival goal was to survive for ten days and had prepared their resources accordingly, but the system had directly introduced an indefinite timeframe, sending everyone into a panic.