Chapter 18: Those Unable to Adapt to the Game Will Be Eliminated

Chapter 18: Chapter 18: Those Unable to Adapt to the Game Will Be Eliminated

"This game isn’t that hard! As long as you have the skills, you can live quite comfortably. The Coconut water has a cooling Effect; it’s not hot at all!" Harold Thompson gloated, even deliberately sending this message to the World Channel.

He then happily watched as countless players showered him with compliments. Of course, there were also those begging to buy Coconuts. How could Harold Thompson possibly sell them? There was no telling how long this scorching weather would last. He was keeping the Coconuts to save his own life.

Just as Harold Thompson continued to enjoy himself, he suddenly heard a SPLASH nearby. When he looked over, he saw that the section of the raft holding his Freshwater Collector had shattered. The Freshwater Collector dropped straight into the water and sank to the bottom.

Harold Thompson leaped up and lunged toward it, but it was too late to salvage it. Once he recovered from the shock, he quickly inspected the raft.

To his dismay, he discovered that the raft’s Durability had plummeted to 40.

[Your raft is being destroyed. Please repair it.]

[Required Wooden Boards: 60 units]

Harold Thompson repaired it immediately. If he didn’t, the raft would be destroyed, and all the Equipment he had built on it would be ruined. Only after finishing the repairs did he have the presence of mind to check exactly what had damaged his raft. Upon closer inspection, he spotted the Abyssal Poison Conches hiding underneath.

"Conches?" Harold Thompson muttered. The next moment, he took out his long spear to pry them off. As he pried with all his might, a spurt of Slime suddenly shot toward his face. He instinctively raised his hand to block it.

A searing, stinging pain immediately spread across his hand. In the blink of an eye, his head began to spin. THUD. Harold Thompson collapsed onto the raft.

***

Meanwhile, Simon Quinn was on his raft, sorting through his haul. The resources in his sea sector were simply too scarce. Even though he had landed on the island early this time and gained quite a bit, his overall resource count remained pitifully low.

Looking at it all, Simon Quinn couldn’t help but feel a little anxious. Whenever this happened, uncontrollable jealousy would well up in his heart—especially when he saw Harold Thompson showing off about drinking Coconut water. He had harvested Coconuts as well, but he hadn’t opened them at all. He planned to take advantage of the high temperatures and trade his Coconuts for more resources.

He had also noticed the temperature steadily rising. Since it was getting hotter, the price of Coconuts with their cooling Effect would naturally go up. Simon Quinn waited, watching the resources drift past his sector of the sea. As many of the materials floated by, he didn’t even have the desire to salvage them.

Garbage. Trash. It was all junk!

CLINK. CLINK. CLINK.

As Simon Quinn was cursing, he suddenly heard the sound of something attaching itself to the raft. Looking toward the ocean, he saw clusters of pitch-black objects steadily approaching his raft. Whenever they vanished beneath the surface, a soft clinking sound would follow.

Had new marine creatures appeared? Startled, Simon Quinn hurriedly grabbed his weapon, ready to defend himself.

[Your raft is being destroyed. Please repair it.]

A warning notification popped up on his control panel. Simon Quinn stared at it, then glanced at his remaining Wooden Board units, instantly horrified. To catch up on his progress, he had just spent 50 Wooden Boards to upgrade his Level 2 Raft to a Level 3 Raft.

Who could have expected that there would be such marine creatures—attacking the raft from underneath, and so small that they were hard to hit? Simon Quinn had already acutely realized how troublesome the Abyssal Poison Conches were.

The next moment, he gritted his teeth, grabbed his Coconut, and listed it in the Trading Hall.

[Coconut x1, has a cooling Effect. Trade for: Wooden Board x50]

Simon Quinn firmly believed that if he held out a little longer, he could definitely trade it for more Wooden Boards. But he was in desperate need right now! After all, if the raft was destroyed, he was doomed. Time waited for no one!

***

Celia Lynch was still on Pyralia.

Players had been arriving one after another, turning the entirety of Pyralia upside down. Knowing that it would no longer be easy to find resources on the island, she simply dug for sand in silence.

She had emptied her inventory before coming onto the island, so she absolutely had to fill every slot. Only then would her hard work not be in vain. Since sand could be found inside Wooden Treasure Chests, it was definitely useful. If she stockpiled more of it, it would surely come in handy at some point.

However, as she was silently digging for sand, the island suddenly burst into a commotion.

"New marine creatures have appeared!"

"Holy crap, what a huge conch!"

"I saw them swimming under the rafts. What on earth are they trying to do?"

"My raft’s Durability went down!"

"Mine too!"

"Damn it, so they’re coming after us!"

"Hurry up and get rid of them!"

"Watch out, the Slime these conches spray is toxic. Be careful!"

Listening to the shouts, Celia Lynch finished digging up the remaining sand. After packing her inventory to the brim, she quickly joined the crowd.

"These conches are so tough to deal with. A player passed out as soon as they were sprayed."

"Thank goodness they weren’t on their raft. If I had to go into the sea to deal with this conch, I’d end up dying out there. Just thinking about it is terrifying."

"No wonder over a dozen people suddenly died just now. Their raft levels probably weren’t high enough, and they fell straight into the water when the raft broke."

"If you pass out in the ocean, do you really think you can survive?"

"Everyone, hurry up and clear out the poison conches together!"

The players mobilized, sprinting straight toward their respective rafts. Celia Lynch was no exception. Reaching her raft, she saw the shift in its Durability and immediately used Wooden Boards to repair it. The next moment, she started using her iron shovel to scrape off the Abyssal Poison Conches.

[Obtained: Nerve Toxin x1]

When Celia Lynch saw that she had gained something, her eyes lit up slightly. "Once you kill these poison conches, resources will drop!" she shouted. "Don’t waste the opportunity!"

The fact that she was killing Abyssal Poison Conches would definitely be noticed. Rather than letting others guess, she might as well do the players present a favor. Just moments ago, so many players had stood by her side to denounce Harold Thompson and Simon Quinn. It had truly shown her the brilliance of human nature.

There was nothing wrong with helping others. Helping the wrong people was the only mistake. After scraping off the Abyssal Poison Conches one by one, Celia Lynch immediately climbed onto her raft and began inspecting and repairing it.

***

Elsewhere, Zelda Parrish was happily crafting F-level Sun Hats. Originally, she had been a bit unsure about this "business," but as the temperature kept rising, she felt reassured. Her guess was correct; it was indeed scorching weather. Moreover, the temperature was still climbing!

Just as Zelda Parrish was waiting to finish her weaving and make a massive profit, she suddenly felt as though something had latched onto the bottom of her raft. Checking the panel, she saw her Durability dropping. The newly arrived marine creatures had a direct, damaging effect on rafts.

Zelda Parrish hurriedly set aside the work in her hands, preparing to deal with the Abyssal Poison Conches. Right now, the sun hats were no longer the priority. Dealing with the Abyssal Poison Conches was.

Zelda Parrish did not rush in blindly to handle the deep-sea conches. Instead, she started reading related information on the World Channel. After browsing through countless messages, her eyes lit up. These Abyssal Poison Conches were actually venomous! They could knock a person out, making them extremely dangerous.

However, this also presented an opportunity. The sun hat business could wait until later, but if she could craft tools specifically for dealing with Abyssal Poison Conches, she would definitely make a fortune. The very next moment, Zelda Parrish began eagerly researching the idea.

***

More and more players were discovering the Abyssal Poison Conches. Those with the capability were working hard to fend off the Abyssal Poison Conches and save their rafts. Yet, there was still a small fraction of players who—despite warnings from others—lacked sufficient resources. With their rafts suffering severe damage, they faced the risk of becoming nothing more than cold statistics on the World Channel.

Those who could not adapt to the game would only be eliminated.