The sound of waves crashing against the shore filled Qin Tian’s ears, and his entire body ached painfully. He slowly opened his eyes to see an unfamiliar stretch of sandy beach.
He had no idea what was going on. Acting on instinct, Qin Tian tried to get up, but after only a few steps, his whole body collapsed back onto the sand.
Surviving a disaster was one thing, but the physical exhaustion was only secondary. During the shipwreck, Qin Tian’s nerves had been on edge the entire time. Now that he had relaxed, overwhelming fatigue suddenly swept over every inch of his body.
After a moment, Qin Tian finally sat up, his face blank with confusion. “Where is this…”
Before he could finish, he groaned and clutched his head as images of the shipwreck flashed through his mind.
It didn’t take long before his expression returned to normal. He gazed out to the horizon and murmured, “I made it out alive?”
The sea was calm, the scenery almost enchanting, as if the violent storm from before had never happened.
To confirm this reality, Qin Tian clenched his fist tightly, and a sharp pain shot through his palm.
This was no dream. Everything was real.
“I wonder how Lei is doing.” Thinking of Zhang Lei, Qin Tian felt a pang of worry.
Although he had left Zhang Lei behind in the swimming pool area, that had only been a temporary refuge. As long as Zhang Lei was still on the ship, he was still in danger.
But no matter how much he worried now, it was useless. Qin Tian could only pray silently — that was all he could do.
***
It was midday, and the sun hung directly overhead. As his senses gradually returned, Qin Tian immediately felt the scorching heat.
Looking around, all he could see was the endless stretch of sand and the forest behind him. Dragging his body, he made his way to the shade of the trees to rest.
Surviving the disaster didn’t bring Qin Tian any joy. Although he had lived, it was obvious that he had been stranded on a deserted island.
But Qin Tian was not a pessimistic person. There would surely be a rescue team coming after the shipwreck. As long as he waited here, someone would find him.
He had no idea how long he had been in the water, but his clothes were soaked through and clung uncomfortably to his skin.
He took off his clothes and hung them to dry. On his body, he noticed many white patches of powder — sea salt left behind after the seawater evaporated.
Brushing the salt off with his hand brought a small measure of relief, and he took the opportunity to check his body.
By some stroke of luck, apart from a few minor scrapes, Qin Tian had no other injuries.
***
“Ding—Survival System activated!”
“The system is updating…”
“Update complete. System is matching the host…”
“Host matched. Newbie Gift Pack obtained. Would you like to open it?”
Suddenly, a cold, mechanical voice sounded out, startling Qin Tian into jumping up. “Who’s there!”
He looked around but saw no one.
After a moment of dazed silence, Qin Tian bitterly smiled, realizing he must be so exhausted that he was hallucinating.
Yet just as that thought crossed his mind, an electronic screen appeared before him, displaying a large gift box with two options underneath: “Open” and “Save for Later.”
The cold, mechanical voice sounded again: “Host, would you like to open the Newbie Gift Pack?”
Qin Tian played online games from time to time. This interface, like claiming a gift pack in a game, was extremely familiar to him.
But given his current situation, he was a little baffled.
What kind of high-tech was this?
He didn’t think this was a hallucination — after all, he had just survived a shipwreck. What was impossible now?
Not knowing what the system truly was, Qin Tian decided to open the pack with a “why not” attitude.
The next moment, two books popped up on the screen: Common Plant Encyclopedia and Common Animal Encyclopedia.
Without thinking, Qin Tian reached out to grab them—but his hand passed right through. He tried several times with the same result.
“Are you kidding me?” Qin Tian twitched at the corner of his eye. If some newbie system in an online game worked like this, he would have quit immediately.
Come on, even the worst brotherhood-style garbage browser games gave you gear in the newbie pack. This system just handed out two books, and he couldn’t even hold them.
He was about to complain when a sharp pain exploded in his head, nearly blowing his mind.
“Shit!” Qin Tian cursed, collapsing to one knee from the intense pain.
Fortunately, the pain came and went quickly. His complexion gradually returned to normal.
“Ding—Host has successfully received the gift pack.” The system’s voice came at the perfect moment, explaining the sudden headache.
Sitting cross-legged on the ground, Qin Tian breathed heavily. First the shipwreck, now this — he felt his brain was about to short-circuit.
Remembering the system’s prompt, Qin Tian checked his pockets but found no sign of the books.
“System, where are those two books stored?” he asked.
No response.
After a long moment with nothing, Qin Tian was speechless. So even systems had started messing people around these days. They said the gift pack was received successfully, but there wasn’t even a single sheet of paper.
At this point, Qin Tian was utterly exhausted, mentally and physically, and had no energy to deal with such things. He just hoped nothing else bad would happen.
Lying back on the sand, Qin Tian stared blankly, his mind swirling with thoughts.
Reflecting on his twenty-plus years, aside from a childhood mistake when he foolishly thought chickens could fly and threw the old hen off the roof, he hadn’t really done anything wrong. So why did this crap have to happen to him?
After this accident, his parents must be worried sick. Thinking of that made Qin Tian regretful — he hadn’t been a filial son over the years. If only he had spent more time with them when he was home…
Lost in thought during his rest, Qin Tian pondered many things until his strength somewhat returned. Then he sat up.
Although resting in the shade, the heat was intense, and he was parched beyond words. He could feel his body desperately craving water.
People can survive seven days without food but only three days without water before their life is in danger. Qin Tian guessed he had gone at least a full day without any hydration.
On top of that, all the exertion had made him sweat heavily, losing even more water. If this continued, he might suffer from severe dehydration.
Deciding to act, Qin Tian got up and headed to the beach. He had noticed earlier that the sand was dotted with many Coconut Palms.
Fortune was with him. From a distance, he could already see many coconuts under the trees. But as he approached, information suddenly flooded his mind.
Coconut Palm: a plant of the palm family, genus Cocos; tall tree-like plant reaching 15–30 meters; thick trunk with ring-shaped leaf scars; base thickened, often with cluster roots; sturdy petioles; flowers axillary; fruits ovoid or nearly spherical, containing endosperm…
The knowledge came so naturally that Qin Tian was stunned. He knew his limits — he wasn’t a poor student, but this detailed information about Coconut Palms definitely wasn’t his own.
Then it dawned on him: the system’s two books had been converted into information and stored directly in his mind!
The way the Newbie Gift Pack delivered its rewards amazed Qin Tian. He had never heard of such a conversion before, and it made him curious about the system.
But the most urgent matter was still replenishing water. He set aside thoughts about the system.
Under the Coconut Palm, Qin Tian picked up a coconut. Its color had turned yellow, and when he shook it, he could hear water inside, though not much. This was expected — mature coconuts had far less juice than fresh ones.
Of course, there were fresh coconuts on the tree, but with his current strength, climbing up was impossible.
Leaving none behind, Qin Tian made several trips to gather all the coconuts beneath the tree and brought them back to the shade.
He then pulled a Survival Knife from his pocket.
Ordinary college students usually wouldn’t carry knives, but Qin Tian was a survival enthusiast. When he had been obsessed with Bear Grylls, he impulsively bought the same Survival Knife online.
He was secretly glad he had brought it along on his graduation trip. Without it, opening the coconuts would have been much harder.
Using the knife, Qin Tian carved a hole in a coconut and drank its contents in one gulp.
Old coconuts tasted bitter and unpleasant, but to Qin Tian, parched and desperate, it was like sweet nectar, quenching his thirst.
As mentioned earlier, old coconuts didn’t hold much water. One wasn’t nearly enough to satisfy him.
After finishing the first, Qin Tian grabbed another and repeated the process four or five times before finally stopping.
He still had seven or eight coconuts left, but on this deserted island, where fresh water was scarce, conserving resources was wise. One day, these coconuts might save his life.
Coconuts were valuable on a sea island. Besides their juice quenching thirst, the flesh provided important carbohydrates. Qin Tian gathered the previously emptied coconuts.
With only his Survival Knife and no food or drink, he wasn’t going to waste any resource.
The coconut shell was harder than Qin Tian had imagined. He planned to use the serrated back of the knife to split one in half, but after a long struggle, he only managed to widen the hole enough to fit three fingers.
Not wanting to waste more effort, Qin Tian simply used his fingers to scoop out the flesh. It looked a little unsightly, but on this deserted island, who was there to judge?
Just as he took a few bites, a shout suddenly rang out from the forest.
After everything he’d been through, Qin Tian was extremely sensitive to human voices now. He was certain this was no hallucination.
Could it be another passenger from the shipwreck stranded here like him?
Without hesitation, Qin Tian stood up and rushed toward the forest.