CH 39

Chapter 39 Ten Square Metres Island(end)

After completing the repairs to her houseboat, for safety reasons, Qian Yue did not hastily leave. Instead, she chose a small island with a higher elevation within the archipelago and stationed herself there.

Fortunately, there was a depression on the cliff just big enough to accommodate one or two adults. Qian Yue packed her belongings and squeezed herself into the hollow.

As fate would have it, a storm caught up with her that same evening.

Day eight of the game, the world was filled with thunder and lightning, and the waves were turbulent. Qian Yue stayed hidden in the cramped mountain cave, leisurely avoiding the calamity with the items she had collected beforehand.

Day nine of the game, the storm had finally subsided, replaced by a drizzling rain. Qian Yue poked her head out of the cave and noticed that the surrounding islands had undergone significant changes, with the seawater rising close to the cave entrance.

For some unknown reason, there was a sudden increase in marine creatures in the water. Just by peering out, Qian Yue saw several types of sea giants. If she stayed any longer, the entire cave would be submerged in less than an hour, and by noon, the entire archipelago would likely disappear.

Qian Yue couldn’t help but complain, “It must have taken flipping the entire planet upside down to make the seawater rise like this…”

However, this was a game, and any kind of setting was possible.

Who knows, if she changed to another island, she might encounter polar bears and penguins strolling side by side.

*

Half an hour later, the rain gradually stopped, revealing a rainbow in the sky. By this time, the seawater had almost filled the cave, reaching up to Qian Yue’s ankles.

When Qian Yue judged that the timing was right, she took out her completely transformed houseboat. Since there were many large creatures underwater, she didn’t dare to row the boat directly.

Instead, she lay down and enjoyed the sunlight, letting the bamboo raft drift.

At one point, her attention was drawn to a huge water column sprayed by a blue whale, almost getting sucked into a whirlpool. Thankfully, Qian Yue reacted in time, and the whirlpool wasn’t too large, allowing her to escape successfully.

Day ten of the game, the sea was calm. Early in the morning, Qian Yue encountered one or two players on peculiar “boats” from a distance, but there was no desire for communication between them.

So, Qian Yue continued drifting peacefully.

When she got hungry, she ate some secret food, and when she felt tired, she lay on the bamboo raft, enjoying the breeze and the sun.

During her leisure time, she searched the sea for wonders:

She watched a young humpback whale practicing its water-spouting, making awkward movements as if playing with a water gun, occasionally making “puff, puff” sounds.

Sea birds glided through the flowing clouds, and groups of flying fish suddenly leaped out of the water, their wing-like pectoral fins reflecting dazzling silver light under the sun…

Soon, the instance ended, and Qian Yue returned to that pure white space again.

【Congratulations to player Qian Yue for completing the third round of instance challenges.】

【Your level has increased.】

【Your talent skill has undergone slight changes, and your attack rate has slightly improved.】

【You have gained 30 attribute points, which can be allocated now or temporarily stored.】

Qian Yue thought for a moment and decided to evenly distribute all 30 points.

【Allocation completed.】

【Character overview.】

Player Account: 3873

Name: Qian Yue

Profession: Beggar

Level: 4

Health: 140/140

Stamina: 125/125

Mental Points: 105/105

【Remaining items in backpack: Hard bread x2, Vitamin C x3, Mental suppressant x2…】

In the last few days, there were no external sources of supply, so Qian Yue’s inventory of items had been consumed quite a bit.

However, she couldn’t help but notice the sudden appearance of a player account at the top of the character interface. But given the previous instance where she missed important information, Qian Yue suppressed her curiosity and continued listening to the system’s announcements.

【Congratulations on your successful advancement.】

【After this instance, we will seek feedback from closed beta players and continue to improve in subsequent instances. We ask players to cooperate actively.】

【Due to the sharp decline in the number of players, a new friend system and team mode have been added. Players can use their account numbers to add friends in the newly launched ‘Ten-Day Plan’ mobile app (APP download link available on the official website).】

【Friendly Reminder 1: The friend system does not include a chat function. This game does not have remote chat or similar features.】

【Friendly Reminder 2: The team mode has a limit of five players.】

【After activating the team mode, players can only be transported to random locations within a one-kilometer radius of their teammates, not appearing together. Upon entering the instance, players need to find their friends on their own as the system will not provide any help.】

After reading for a while, Qian Yue finally understood that, in essence, these two features were similar to having no features at all compared to other traditional online games.

On the surface, playing with friends seemed to reduce the game’s difficulty, but in reality, it was uncertain whether it actually decreased or increased the difficulty. The only purpose of these two systems was to transport friends to adjacent locations and then let them gather on their own. However, before they gathered, players still had to survive on their own, and since there was no way to communicate remotely in real-time, the possibility of missing each other was quite high.

Qian Yue, “…”

It’s confirmed, the game planning team is truly “dog” (slang for poor planning).

“The next round of the instance will start in seven days. Please pay attention to the email notification and participate on time.”

*

Afraid of missing any messages, Qian Yue deliberately waited a little longer during the final step. As a result, when the game pod opened, she was met with a close-up of someone’s face.

Without hesitation, Qian Yue slapped the person, but they agilely avoided it.

Qian Chi yelled, “Sis! Why do you always resort to violence?”

Qian Yue sat up from the nutrition pod, glanced at him coldly, and said, “I was about to ask you the same thing. Are you itching for another beating?”

Why did he have to get so close!

Qian Chi stammered, “I just wanted to see what it looks like when you’re engrossed in the game.”

Qian Yue looked at him expressionlessly, “I’m also curious if you look the same when lying in a coffin as in a nutrient pod.”

Qian Chi instantly surrendered, “I’m sorry, sis.”

Qian Yue ignored him and picked up her personal computer to sit on the nearby sofa. After half a second of hesitation, Qian Chi saw that Qian Yue wasn’t going to pursue the issue further, so he playfully approached again.

He directly sat on the carpet beside the sofa, leaning against it, and said, “Sis, did you hear the last announcement?”

Qian Yue didn’t even raise an eyebrow, “No comment.”

Qian Chi choked, looking aggrieved, “I haven’t said anything yet.”

“Stop it.” As soon as Qian Chi approached, Qian Yue couldn’t resist the urge and pushed his face away with one hand.

She didn’t know what was wrong with Qian Chi, acting all proper outside, but like an eight-year-old kid in front of her.

Qian Yue glared at him, “Do you think I don’t know what you’re thinking?”

It was nothing more than wanting her to add him as a friend and then team up in the next instance. Occasionally teaching him something was fine, but she didn’t want to be Qian Chi’s cheat code forever.

After all, she couldn’t carry him forever, and the game wouldn’t allow it.

Qian Chi probably expected Qian Yue’s refusal and didn’t get discouraged, “If not as a team, can we at least be friends?”

He paused for a moment, “Actually, I’m doing pretty well. I’ve been partnering with others in business…”

Just then, Qian Yue’s personal computer made a “ding” sound, indicating that the app download was complete. Qian Chi immediately stopped talking and leaned over to take a look.

Helpless, Qian Yue logged into her account and reluctantly added him as a friend.

After achieving his goal, Qian Chi voluntarily left the room. Qian Yue sat alone on the sofa, playing with the freshly downloaded app.

The app was mainly divided into four sections: Official News, Forums, Online Store, and Personal Center.

As the name suggested, Official News contained information officially released by the game developers.

The Online Store didn’t have much at the moment, only some small models or canvas bags, keychains, and other items. Most of the merchandise were mini versions of in-game items or scenes and animals that had appeared in the previous three instances. As for the highly sought-after NPC merchandise that players yearned for, there was not even a trace.

The Personal Center allowed players to view their character data and their possessions after the previous instance, but only after iris verification.

The Forum had undergone no significant changes, just a different entry method.

Upon entering the forum, Qian Yue habitually checked her personal bookmarks, wanting to continue reading. Unexpectedly, she noticed a little red dot with the number “99+” appearing at the top right corner of the “My Posts” section.

Qian Yue, “…Wait, did I post something before?”

[T/N: Done with this arc : )!!! Quite a long one, excited to start on a new adventure, hope everyone has enjoyed reading so far!~]