“Wouldn’t it be great if I had a fishing rod that could automatically reel in wooden boxes?”
An Ling sat on a Locked Wooden Box, propping her head up with one hand out of boredom, while casually swinging the fishing rod with the other.
She had long since lost interest in fishing for the drifting wood and thatch; instead, she stared blankly at the sea surface, waiting for wooden boxes that could appear at any moment.
She had just finished building an Iron Furnace and earned 2 points. Then, she expanded her island by one square meter. The space around her wooden cabin was now barely enough for her to walk around.
But the risk of falling into the sea was still too great, so An Ling didn’t dare take any chances.
Speaking of which, she had upgraded the wooden cabin just yesterday evening, and it wasn’t until now that she fully realized the consequences.
Although the wooden cabin had improved her living conditions, it also limited her ability to develop further!
Wooden boxes appeared randomly around the island every hour. How could they possibly know where the front door of her wooden cabin was?
“So it turns out that today’s Lucky Streak Blessing has been working all along. That’s why these wooden boxes only appear right in front of me.”
If she hadn’t boredly pondered this just now while zoning out, she might not have realized this fact yet.
“There are so many fish in this sea… I wonder if anyone’s been able to catch a few.”
Snap!
An Ling flicked the rod sharply, scaring away the fish that had surfaced to scavenge.
Waving the rod all day long was truly tedious. She wasn’t a master angler, but for survival, she couldn’t afford to stop even for a moment.
The sunset’s afterglow dyed the entire sea a golden hue as evening approached.
Apart from the debris floating all over the ocean, the sunset view was truly beautiful.
An Ling stood up and dusted off her clothes, then returned the wooden box to its original spot, preparing to call it a day.
Although there was still nearly an hour before dark, the supplies inside the cabin were overflowing, and she had to deal with them.
Throughout the afternoon, she had gathered six boxes in total. Each one appeared every hour, and under the blessing of Lucky Streak Blessing, none of them had been a miss—she had collected them all.
It was now just past six o’clock. Complete darkness wouldn’t fall until around seven.
The moment the sun touched the horizon, no more supplies would appear on the sea. And that was only about half an hour before nightfall.
It seemed like the system had designed this as preparation time for survivors.
All six wooden boxes this time were unlocked, the most ordinary kind.
An Ling opened them up and started checking the contents.
【Scrap Iron *5, Charcoal *10, Ordinary Wooden Box Key *2, Plastic *8, Rope *4, European Bread *2, Sausages *3, Whole Wheat Bread *2, Instant Coffee *3.】
This was the entire haul from the six boxes—average, neither much nor little.
Besides the six wooden boxes, An Ling had also specifically fished out 20 pieces of wood and 8 bundles of thatch. Now that she had an Iron Furnace, she needed plenty of fuel on hand.
After organizing these supplies, she dismantled all six wooden boxes. Only then could she consider this a complete success.
“Having two extra wooden box keys is fantastic.”
An Ling’s Lucky Streak Blessing would last until midnight, so she could still use the keys. At this moment, she was eager to try them out.
She had opened the lightest wooden box at noon, so now she planned to open the heaviest one.
【Self-Heating Rice *3, Lao Gan Ma Spicy Sauce *1, 1kg Beef Jerky *1, Instant Vegetable Soup *3.】
“This… if I eat this, won’t those survivors stuck with compressed biscuits be jealous?”
She hadn’t expected that the heaviest locked wooden box would be full of food, all of which were long-lasting sealed supplies. This was incredible!
Who here would ever complain about having too much food?
“Alright, one more. This time, it’s decided—you’re next!”
This time, An Ling didn’t hesitate and immediately opened one of the last two locked wooden boxes.
【Simple Triangular Fishing Net (Building Card) *1, Ordinary Fish Bait 1kg *1.】
This box was straightforward, containing only two items. Looks like she could finally start fishing properly.
“This will perfectly solve the blind spot behind the wooden cabin.”
An Ling picked up the building card and immediately chose to construct it, consuming 25 pieces of plastic, 5 ropes, and 2 pieces of wood. She earned 2 points.
Taking advantage of the fading light, she sidled along the edge of the wooden cabin to the back and set up the fishing net there.
The net covered a large area, placed at a 135-degree angle between two corners of the island, forming a trapezoidal shape in the sea.
However, An Ling didn’t scatter any fish bait. Instead, she returned inside the cabin and started lighting the Iron Furnace.
The Iron Furnace had a capacity of 24 units. Each thatch provided 5 minutes of burn time, wood 15 minutes, and charcoal half an hour.
An Ling threw in 20 pieces of charcoal at once. Remaining burn time: 10 hours, 19 minutes, and 40 seconds.
Immediately, the pitch-black cabin filled with warm firelight. The orange-red glow illuminated her fair, delicate face.
At this moment, An Ling chose not to eat but instead washed the small white socks she had taken off yesterday. She used a piece of wood to prop them up, hanging them beside the furnace to dry.
Fortunately, her hands and feet didn’t sweat easily, so the socks remained clean and bright white.
After finishing these tasks, night had fully fallen, accompanied by a system notification.
【Dear Survivors, the three-day newbie protection period has ended. Prepare yourselves for new challenges!】
【Friendly Reminder: Tomorrow at sunrise, you will set foot on your first island. Each island is different but all are beginner-level islands with very low danger.】
【Below are important notes for your first island landing; no further reminders will be given.】
【1. Each island has missions, divided into fixed and hidden types. Island missions differ. Completing any mission allows early departure from the island.】
【2. Island danger levels will gradually increase with days passed, capping at ten days.】
【3. If missions are not completed within ten days, survivors will sink with the island into the deep sea forever.】
【4. Islands contain everything you need. Each island hosts between 100 and 300 survivors, and island sizes vary.】
【5. Survivors may bring any supplies with them onto the island.】
【Wishing all survivors the best of luck!】
This light screen was identical to the one that appeared on day one. It popped up automatically and was read aloud.
The light screen disappeared, but An Ling remained in place, dazed.
For some reason, she felt that this island landing wouldn’t be as simple as just going to restock supplies.