【Island Name: Beginner’s Isle】
【Objective: Survive for ten days】
【Description: The island is rich in mineral resources and various types of food. It was once ruled by a slave owner. The huge manor at the island’s center holds the spoils of his past conquests, but it is said to be locked and abandoned. Whether that is true or not remains unknown…】
【Except for the [Crafting and Dismantling] function, all other functions will be disabled on the island. Countdown: 5, 4, 3…】
The light barrier hovered steadily in front of An Ling. When the countdown ended, it automatically shut down, and no matter how she fiddled with the ring in her hand, it gave no response.
Just as the system said, it was completely shut off. Here, the only one she could rely on was herself.
“It seems this introduction does have some useful information,” she thought for a moment. “But since every island supposedly has two types of tasks, could the hidden one be related to that manor?”
The main task was clear: survive for ten days. Since this was the Beginner’s Isle, it shouldn’t be much of a problem for most survivors.
An Ling surveyed her surroundings. The sky was already brightening with dawn, allowing her to easily determine direction using the sun.
“Wake up in the morning, face the sun. Front is east, back is west, left is north, right is south.”
It was a mnemonic she learned in elementary school. As someone notoriously directionally challenged, she had relied on this little rhyme her whole life to find her bearings.
Slung her backpack over her shoulder, she prepared to set off. She rotated the pendant in her hand, hoping for today’s blessing.
She wished for “Great Fortune,” so that she wouldn’t have to worry about anything.
【Received Blessing Pendant Bonus: Iron Will. The body may perish, but the will shall endure. All physical attributes increased.】【Remaining Time: 19h 03m 21s】
An Ling pulled down her hoodie collar and glanced at the pendant. It bore the image of a golden little figure, proudly raising its hands to show off its muscles.
Of course, aside from that, she also caught sight of things she wasn’t supposed to see…
Her face flushed slightly. Ahem, stay calm. It’s just my own body.
“19 hours left… so it must be around five o’clock now.”
Though the system was offline, she could still tell the time by checking the remaining blessing duration on her pendant.
Knowing the time gave her an inexplicable sense of comfort.
With her backpack on, An Ling headed east toward the sunrise. She felt light as a swallow, walking without any effort.
This blessing really was amazing.
Her first priority was to pinpoint her exact location so she could head straight for the island’s center.
“Just hope it’s not the sea ahead.”
She chose not to enter the nearby eerie forest. Instead, she kept walking east across the grassy plain beneath her feet.
An hour later, the sky was fully bright, and the view ahead stretched endlessly.
With the blessing’s aid, An Ling felt she wasn’t walking slowly, which meant the island was even larger than she had imagined.
But there was another possibility: she was currently heading toward the island’s center.
“Where are all the resources they talked about?”
An Ling muttered, baffled. Here, all she saw were trees and grass — not a single resource in sight.
Still, she quickened her pace. Once it reached noon, she would find it much harder to keep her bearings.
Suddenly, from the forest up ahead, a flock of birds scattered with a loud rustle. An Ling froze in place. Something was there.
What was it — a person or a beast?
If it was a wild animal, her situation could become dangerous, and any rash move might alert it to her presence.
After all, wild beasts typically had hearing tens of times sharper than a human’s.
Ten minutes passed without a sound from the woods, and An Ling’s heartbeat slowly steadied.
“Damn it, I almost forgot I have a gun!”
Gripping her pink Glock tightly, she felt reassured. Summoning her courage, she stepped toward the forest.
Since this was a low-risk Beginner’s Isle, she refused to believe there were bears or tigers lurking around. Besides those, what could possibly stand up to a handgun?
Inside the forest, fallen leaves and dry twigs covered the ground, making silence nearly impossible.
Following the direction the birds had fled, she soon spotted bloodstains on the ground, leading her closer to her target.
It was a dead sika deer.
Its body lay beside a tree, the antlers on its head half-broken—probably from colliding with the trunk.
Approaching the front, a gruesome wound came into view.
The deer’s belly had been torn open, as if shredded by a fierce predator. Its intestines hung limply outside the cavity, the sight horrifying.
Fresh blood still oozed steadily. The deer must have dragged its wounded body here before finally succumbing.
An Ling immediately became alert, scanning the surroundings. Though daylight was clear and visibility excellent, the area was unnervingly quiet—not at all like a place with danger lurking.
Remembering the system’s prompt, she examined the deer’s corpse closely. Sure enough, a “Dismantle” button appeared.
In an instant, the entire deer’s body was dismantled into chunks of blood-red meat.
【Obtained: Deer Meat x10, Deer Tendon x1, Deer Hide x1, Deer Antlers x2.】
An Ling only took the three functional items. As for the deer meat—setting aside her backpack’s lack of preservation ability, she was hesitant simply because the animal had been killed by an unknown creature.
There were no tools here to cook the meat, and who knew if it was infected with some virus?
Having gathered the materials, An Ling quickly left the scene and returned to the open grassland, continuing eastward.
This time, her right hand remained tucked inside her hoodie pocket, ready to react if danger suddenly appeared.
She didn’t know how long she’d been walking east when the sun neared its zenith.
The blessing’s effect kept fatigue at bay, but a slight tiredness was beginning to creep in.
A cool breeze brushed her face, bringing a salty, fishy scent.
She stopped in her tracks.
She knew she hadn’t been blessed with good fortune this time.
An Ling had taken a wrong turn. Passing through the trees before her, she soon realized the sea was just ahead.
Walking deeper into the forest and continuing east, the trees grew sparser and the earth gradually shifted into sandy soil.
At this border, a patch of bamboo had surprisingly taken root. Beyond the bamboo, near the shoreline, a few coconut trees swayed in the breeze.