Rowan Rhodes's eyes snapped open. Above her stretched a clear blue sky, the sunlight just a touch too blinding. The familiar, briny scent of seawater filled her nose. She sat up abruptly, her gaze sweeping over an endless expanse of ocean. Various resources and wooden crates drifted with the waves. Beneath her was nothing but a crude little raft, while a shark swam leisurely in circles around it. For a moment, Rowan couldn't tell if this was reality or a dream.

She wondered if she had survived.

"System?" Rowan called out instinctively.

At her voice, a virtual screen materialized in front of her. A string of data sat in the upper left corner of the interface.

[Sea Survival Game Calendar: January 1, 9:00 AM, Weather: Sunny. Novice Protection Period (Countdown: 1 Day 14 Hours 52 Minutes 33 Seconds)]

On the left side of the main screen lay her personal attributes.

[Name: Rowan Rhodes (Official Player???)]

[Level: Level 0]

[Thirst Value: 85/100]

[Fullness Value: 88/100]

[Life Value: 86/100]

[Equipment: S-level Life Heart (Damaged) (Restores all statuses to full once daily)]

[Skill: C-level Collection]

On the right side of the main screen was a model rendering of the raft.

[Territory: Initial Raft]

[Level: Level 1] [Upgrade]

[Introduction: Composed of crude Wooden Boards]

[Specifications: 1x1 meters] [Expansion]

[Durability: 99/100]

[defensive power: 100/100]

[Current Equipment: F-level Hook Claw]

[Unlockable Equipment: None]

At the bottom were five additional tabs: World Channel, Leaderboard, Backpack, Trading Hall, and Announcements. Rowan tapped the World Channel.

[District 122: (99,998/100,000)]

"SOB! Someone please save me! I'm a complete landlubber!"

"This is terrifying! There's a shark right next to me!"

"It's the first day, and we're still in the novice protection period, so the sharks won't attack you. Hurry up and use the provided Hook Claw to grab treasure boxes and save yourself!"

"The treasure boxes are too hard to hook! Aiming is impossible."

"What's the deal with being an apprentice player?"

"Isn't it obvious? You have to survive the novice period to become an Official Player."

"People have actually died. Two people are dead already in such a short amount of time? What happened?"

"I checked the logs. It's probably people trying to jump into the water to salvage treasure boxes! If you drown in the sea, you're dead for good."

"Where are these treasure boxes you guys are talking about? I don't see any."

"..."

In the World Channel, players from District 122—Rowan's region—were frantically spamming the chat with comments. Seeing this familiar scene, Rowan snapped back to reality. She had actually been reborn. She had returned to the very first day the Sea Survival Game descended.

In her previous life, the Sea Survival Game had appeared out of nowhere, dragging everyone between the ages of eighteen and fifty-five into it. Death in the game meant dying in real life. No one knew what clearing the game would ultimately bring; they could only follow its rhythm and struggle endlessly to survive.

At the beginning of the game back then, she had been just as lost and helpless, missing the optimal window for development. Even when she rallied later on, she remained stuck at the absolute bottom. Later, while exploring a small island, she had stumbled upon the Heart of Life. This led to her being hunted by other players until, driven into a corner, she threw herself into the sea.

And now, the Heart of Life sat squarely in her Equipment slot. She wondered if rebirth was a miracle brought about by this very item.

Standing up, she surveyed her surroundings. Looking out over the familiar stretch of ocean, Rowan let out a long, heavy breath. No matter what, since she had come back, she would use the advantage of being a Prophet to bolster her own strength. She refused to ever again experience the nightmare of finding something precious, only to be relentlessly hunted by everyone because she couldn't protect it.

Rowan immediately opened her Backpack and took out the Hook Claw that the game provided to every player.

[F-level Hook Claw: Can salvage ocean resources. Durability: 100/100 (1 point deducted per use)]

Gripping the Hook Claw, Rowan fixed her gaze on the various resources constantly drifting through the surrounding water. Given the raft's current distance traveled in nautical miles, the only things appearing nearby were Wooden Boards, iron nails, random trash, and wooden crates. Wooden crates, however, could be opened to yield substantial resources, including food and water.

Rowan began to scan the area, tossing her hook to pull in the floating supplies. Wooden crates spawned randomly; until one showed up, her priority was to not let a single visible resource slip away. For the next stretch of time, she threw her hook at every single item on the water's surface. At first, her aim was a little off, but after two or three tosses, the muscle memory of a veteran player returned.

Finally, after twenty consecutive casts, a wooden crate drifted into Rowan's line of sight. With swift precision, she hooked the crate and reeled it in.

[Obtained: bread*2, mineral water*2, iron nails*2. Items placed in Backpack.]

She was used to this. Her starting location had always been an area with a notoriously low spawn rate for wooden crates. Just as she reached out to cast again, a notification box popped up on the screen.

[Warning: Player is in a state of thirst and hunger. Once these values reach zero, Life Value will drop.]

There was a daily limit to how many times a player could use the Hook Claw, tied directly to their Thirst Value and Fullness Value. Both of these naturally depleted over time and required regular replenishment. The physical exertion of using the Hook Claw only accelerated this drop. Right now, even though her stats were hovering near the warning line, it wasn't a problem as long as it didn't endanger her life.

Rowan shifted her focus to her Equipment tab. The Heart of Life that had brought her back in time offered one daily chance to restore her condition to full. This meant her effective salvaging time was double that of anyone else.

Rowan opened her Backpack to inventory her haul: Wooden Boards*13, bread*2, mineral water*2, iron nails*2, clay*3, trash*5, empty wooden crate*1.

Currently, her Backpack only had ten slots, with a stacking limit of ninety-nine per slot. Every unique resource took up one slot. Once the Backpack was full, she would have to expand its capacity to hold anything else. Expanding slots required Space Stones, which were incredibly rare. However, she knew of an island that held an abundance of Space Stones. But that was a matter for the future.

Her main priority right now was to level up her raft as much as possible during the novice protection period. The novice protection period lasted exactly two days, but even these two days were far from peaceful. On the second day, the circling sharks would begin to attack the rafts. If a player's raft was too small, having it damaged by shark bites without timely repairs would turn into a waking nightmare.

Once the novice period ended, it wouldn't just be marine life attacking the rafts; different natural disasters would also spawn at random. She remembered that the first disaster following the novice period was Extreme Heat. During the Extreme Heat phase, the temperature would climb relentlessly. To survive, players would need massive amounts of water, as well as shade and cooling equipment. Only by upgrading the raft could she unlock more equipment.

Currently, upgrading the raft required only two basic resources: Wooden Boards and iron nails. Aside from fishing them out of the ocean, she could also dismantle the wooden crates directly. Dismantling crates, however, was an ability reserved for Official Players who had acquired a Skill after surviving the novice protection period.

But Rowan was different. She had brought back her C-level Collection Skill from her previous life; she was already an Official Player. This was her advantage.

Wasting no time, she continued tossing her Hook Claw, pulling in more supplies.

[Warning: Player's Thirst Value and Fullness Value have reached zero. Life Value is beginning to drop.]

[Life Value: 80... 75... 71...]

The numbers continued to plummet. Anyone else would have panicked by now, but Rowan gritted her teeth and endured. She was determined to squeeze every last drop of value out of her current stamina.

It wasn't until her Life Value dropped to 30 that Rowan finally activated the Heart of Life. The moment her Life Value instantly restored to full, her mind snapped back to sharp clarity. Being yanked back from the brink of death made her heart pound wildly. It was such an adrenaline rush! But it was also deeply satisfying.

Taking a deep breath, she stood up straight. The Hook Claw flew out once again. She needed to stockpile more supplies to trade with others for empty wooden crates in the Trading Hall, all to upgrade her raft as quickly as possible.

...

After throwing her hook over twenty more times, acquiring various resources and two wooden boxes, Rowan Rhodes finally stopped her salvage efforts only when her Thirst Value and Fullness Value dipped dangerously close to the warning line. Sitting down to rest, Rowan couldn't wait to open the Trading Hall. The Trading Hall was also divided into regions; it only displayed items offered by the players of District 122.

[iron nails x2, Trade: bread x1 or mineral water x1]

[Trash x2, Trade: bread x1 or mineral water x1]

[...]

Obviously, most of the items currently flooding the Trading Hall were various raw materials, while the hard currency consisted of bread and mineral water. After a brief browse, Rowan directly posted her own trade listings.

[bread x1, Trade: Empty wooden box x1]

[mineral water x1, Trade: Empty wooden box x1]

Rowan only kept two portions each of bread and mineral water for her meals, intending to trade the rest away. She knew very well that many players needed massive amounts of food and water to recover their stats. A bottle of water could restore 20 units of Thirst Value. A loaf of bread could restore 20 units of Fullness Value. To sustain prolonged use of the Hook Claw, by Nature, they needed constant replenishment.

This approach was correct. The novice period was the prime time for harvesting resources, which players needed to build their raft. However, a single misstep during this process could put them in a dangerous situation, greatly testing a player's individual abilities. As for Rowan, not only did she have past experience, but she also possessed the Heart of Life's once-a-day status buff, effectively giving her twice as much active time. Therefore, she could use her survival supplies to exchange for other resources, allocating them to build her raft and giving herself a head start at the starting line.

Yes, a competitive relationship existed among the players. They were competing for the resources in the ocean and on the islands. Especially the islands. Although island resources were abundant, players had to physically go ashore for Collection, and the island resources could not undergo Regeneration. Why bother with Collection yourself when robbing others was so much faster! Later on, people wouldn't just rob supplies; they would even hijack the raft. Once a raft was successfully hijacked, its owner would either have to choose death or become a subordinate. Harsh survival environments would, by Nature, breed sin. Wasn't she killed by such "sin" in her previous life?

The only way forward was to upgrade her raft as quickly as possible, equipping her raft with defensive abilities to protect herself against marine creatures, natural disasters, and... other players.

While she was calculating all this, the trade listings she had posted were swiftly cleared out. After all, hers were reverse trade listings; there was a horde of people scrambling to take the deal. Subconsciously, Rowan opened the World Channel. This was another habit she had cultivated in her previous life. Since massive numbers of players gathered on the World Channel, it served as an information hub. Sometimes, she could glean useful information from it. Upon opening it, Rowan saw many players discussing the Trading Hall.

"What are empty wooden boxes used for? Why would anyone trade bread and mineral water for them?"

"Right, I'm wondering the same thing. I hope this player can step forward. We're all in the same boat, so don't hide things from us."

"If this person can afford to trade bread and mineral water, they must have tons of supplies. Can they step forward and save some lives?"

"Yeah! I'm dying of thirst here."

"I can't even aim properly at the supplies around me."

"All I've hooked are Wooden Boards. Can a kind soul please save me? It's a human life, after all."

"The person above should just use empty wooden boxes to trade!"

"I feel like empty boxes might actually be useful for something."

"If you think they're useful, then don't trade them. Hug your empty wooden boxes while you starve to death, waiting for them to be useful. Good for you!"

"Hahahaha."

"..."

Watching some of the players "begging for help," Rowan's expression remained calm. As a veteran player, she had long since discarded any scraps of "pity." She could guarantee that she wouldn't actively harm anyone. In this game where the weak were prey to the strong, being able to do just that already made her an absolute "saint." In this life, she only wanted to live well. Not just surviving, but... thriving. She had suffered more than enough in her previous life.

As for revealing the function of empty wooden boxes, that was completely out of the question. She didn't even plan to speak in the World Channel. The Trading Hall was anonymous, but the World Channel was not. Once the novice period passed and everyone learned that empty wooden boxes could be dismantled, they would definitely suspect how she knew in advance. She didn't want to bring unnecessary trouble upon herself.

Closing the World Channel, Rowan prepared to dismantle the wooden boxes. Six portions of bread and seven bottles of mineral water had netted her thirteen empty wooden boxes. Adding the three she already had, she possessed a total of sixteen. Taking them out, Rowan dismantled them one by one.

[Wooden box dismantled successfully. Gained: Wooden Board x5, iron nails x2.]

[...]

After dismantling all sixteen empty wooden boxes, she obtained Wooden Boards x80 and iron nails x32. Seeing that she had enough materials, Rowan chose Expansion without hesitation.

[Building one square meter of raft requires: Wood x10, iron nails x10. Current maximum Expansion area is 3 square meters. Expand all?]

When this prompt appeared, a virtual raft was displayed on the raft schematic on the right side of the screen, allowing players to freely select placement locations. As soon as all the pieces were placed, the Expansion of the raft in reality would be completed. Rowan placed them down one by one. Finally, the raft formed a 2x2 meter square. The moment this new structure was formed, the raft's stats also changed.

[Territory: Initial Raft]

[Level: Level 2][Upgrade]

[Introduction: Composed of crude Wooden Boards, possessing a bit of surface area.]

[specification: 2m x 2m][Expansion]

[Durability: 200/200]

[defensive power: 200/200]

[Current Equipment: Hook Claw]

[Unlockable Equipment: raft (Thatch wall, thatch door), Production (fishing net), Survival (campfire), Weapon (long spear)]

It wasn't just the stats; the raft in reality had also become a four-square-meter large raft. The space had suddenly expanded significantly. Now that the area had grown larger, some modifications to the raft also needed to be put on the agenda. As the raft's Level progressed from Level 1 to Level 2, the Unlockable Equipment increased. These pieces of Equipment could all be considered necessities, directly tied to the raft's future upgrades. In the early stages, many players felt it was a waste of resources. It wasn't until the later stages that they realized the raft's upgrades, production Equipment, and ocean survival items all needed to be upgraded from this foundation.

For example, the thatch wall required 10 units of Wooden Boards to build. Its description upon completion was a "fragile barrier." However, in the later stages, it could be directly upgraded to a Wood Wall for a small number of Wooden Boards. If a player skipped this phase, building a Wood Wall from scratch would require a massive amount of Wooden Boards, iron nails, rope, and other supplies. For instance, the campfire was a prerequisite Equipment for the cooking platform. Among them, the most critical was the long spear, a sharp weapon for defending against sharks.

...

In short, the earlier she built them, the better! Rowan began to calculate the resources required for each facility.

...

[Thatch Wall: 10 Wooden Boards]

[Thatch Door: 10 Wooden Boards]

[Fishing Net: 2 Wooden Boards + 3 ropes]

[Campfire: 4 Wooden Boards + 5 pieces of trash]

[Long Spear: 4 Wooden Boards + 4 pieces of scrap iron + 2 ropes]

After sorting through the requirements, Rowan Rhodes found that she was short on scrap iron and ropes. These two materials had only started appearing after her raft was upgraded to Level 2.

She turned her gaze toward the surrounding sea. At this moment, since she wasn't exerting herself using the Hook Claw, her Thirst Value and Fullness Value were at 31 and 32 respectively. However, due to the scorching sun beating down on her, the stats were still dropping, albeit at a slower Speed.

Rowan took out some bread and water to eat. As soon as she finished, her Thirst Value and Fullness Value instantly shot up to 52 and 51. It was time to start salvaging again.

Grabbing her Hook Claw, Rowan surveyed the trash continuously floating past her. Wooden Boards were still the most abundant and conspicuous, but she temporarily ignored them. Since the number of times she could cast the hook was limited, it was better to salvage the specific items she needed.

After making six precise catches, her stats hit a critical low once more.

[Obtained: scrap iron x4, rope x2]

She was still short by three ropes. Well then, she would just have to keep going!

Ignoring the system warnings, Rowan continued to cast her hook. Her Thirst Value and Fullness Value once again triggered zero-level warnings, and her Life Value began to drop. She didn't stop until her Life Value hit the absolute danger zone. At this very moment, all her stats were practically in a near-death state. But she had gone through this exact experience countless times in her previous life.

Her vision was starting to blur. Rowan licked her chapped lips before taking out her remaining portion of bread and mineral water to consume. Her condition rapidly recovered.

Finding a spot on the edge of the raft to sit down, she pulled up her interface. All the icons for unlockable Equipment were now lit up; she even had a few extra pieces of scrap iron and ropes to spare. Rowan confirmed their construction one by one.

[Construct thatch wall x5, thatch door x1, fishing net x1, campfire x1, long spear x1?]

"Yes."

[Assemble thatched house?]

"Yes."

[All construction complete. Please place the items or put them in your inventory.]

The models for each piece of Equipment appeared on the virtual screen. Rowan directly placed the thatched house on the raft. It took up about two-thirds of the space, leaving only a tiny margin where she was currently sitting. The moment it was placed, a physical thatched house materialized.

She then attached the fishing net to the edge of the raft. The fishing net was considered a simple, early-game piece of Equipment. Once attached to the raft, it could automatically catch nearby resources. The higher its Level, the better the quality and quantity of the salvaged materials. Occasionally, it would even catch some small fish or shrimp, which served as a nice supplement to her meals.

As for the campfire, it essentially acted as an ignition source. It wouldn't burn unless Wooden Boards were added as fuel. Rowan placed it in a corner of the raft. But the item that gave her the greatest sense of security was the long spear, which she safely stored in her inventory.

With everything prepared, Rowan crawled into her newly built thatched house to rest. Resting could naturally restore her Life Value, so there was no need to waste resources. Furthermore, her mind had been in a state of tense excitement ever since the morning. Having just fought two tough battles that pushed her to her absolute limits, she desperately needed a mental break. After all, there was still another battle waiting for her tonight!

Laying inside the thatched house and listening to the rhythmic splashing of the seawater, Rowan unknowingly drifted off to sleep.

By the time she woke up again, the sky had turned pitch black. Surrounded by boundless darkness, the only sounds were the crashing waves and her own breathing, creating an indescribably eerie atmosphere.

Rowan stepped out of the thatched house and immediately took out her campfire. She tossed in a single Wooden Board for fuel, which would burn for two hours. With this flicker of light, the pitch-black sea surrounding her no longer seemed quite so terrifying.

She went over to check the fishing net. Inside were one small fish, two Wooden Boards, and one rope. Seeing the harvest from these past few hours, Rowan felt delighted. She decided right then and there that once conditions allowed, she would craft a few more pieces of Equipment capable of "producing" resources like this.

After stuffing the Wooden Boards and rope into her inventory, she cleaned the small fish and began roasting it over the campfire's low flames. No matter how small, meat was still meat, and it could increase her Fullness Value. Most importantly, it was a change of flavor. As long as she had the means, she wasn't willing to treat herself poorly.

While roasting the fish, she opened the World Channel to pass the time.

"I'm so tired. This game actually has a life warning limit. Watching wooden crates float right past me without being able to salvage them breaks my heart!"

"I'm starving and thirsty! Can any kind soul sponsor me a bit?"

"Stop dreaming! Anyone who can even look out for themselves right now is already doing great."

"Waiting to recover my stats is so boring. I'm literally just watching the shark swim in circles."

"Do you guys feel like the shark is getting closer and closer?"

"Has anyone done a raft Expansion? The current size feels so dangerous."

"I want to upgrade so badly! But I don't have enough wood."

"Well, I completed a 1-square-meter Expansion on my raft. At least I can lie down now."

"What do you guys think happens when the Thirst Value drops below 30?"

"You die. It already warned me. If I don't drink water and it hits zero, my life will be in danger."

"Aren't you going to at least try to survive, upstairs? If you have Wooden Boards or other materials, you can definitely trade for mineral water! If one isn't enough, offer two! If two isn't enough, offer five or ten! Just focus on surviving first!"

"Just listed it in the Trading Hall: 2 Wooden Boards and 2 iron nails for 1 bottle of mineral water."

"Got the trade. I survived for now, but my Fullness Value seems to be in trouble again. Guess I'll keep trading!"

"Damn this game."

"Two more people died in our sector."

"Huh? Isn't this supposed to be the novice period?"

"There are always those who are clumsy or just plain stupid."

"This isn't a game; it's a real world where you actually die. Everyone, you're on your own!"

"..."

An unspeakable sorrow lingered over the World Channel. After all, just the day before, everyone had been living their own normal lives. Now, they had been dragged into a game with an uncertain future, hovering between life and death. How could there not be a sense of whiplash?

But Rowan knew that the novice protection period was already the easiest phase of the game. If they couldn't even survive the novice protection period, they wouldn't last long once the game officially started. Moreover, there were still smart players out there. Even though they hadn't upgraded their rafts, they had performed an Expansion and noticed that the shark was drawing nearer.

That was the nature of the Sea Survival Game. To many players, its crises seemed to appear out of thin air, but if one looked closely, they would find that the warning signs had been there all along.

SPLASH.

The shark brushed past very close to Rowan, sending up a tiny spray of water. By this time, the roasted fish was fully cooked, and a mouth-watering aroma wafted through the air.

Rowan brought it to her mouth and began to eat. The ocean fish had a natural saltiness to it, making it taste quite good.

After finishing her meal, Rowan couldn't be bothered to pay attention to the ongoing chatter in the World Channel. Seeing that her Life Value had recovered more than half its bar after adequate rest, her urge to push her limits began to stir once again. She felt she could keep going because even if her condition worsened, she could just use the Heart of Life to restore her stats to maximum once the clock struck midnight, bringing in the next day!

Using the light from the campfire, Rowan continued to hook the items floating past on both sides of the raft. Time unknowingly ticked closer to midnight.

Almost exactly at midnight, the shark, which had previously kept its distance, finally launched an attack on the raft.