Chapter 9: Number One in the Server

Chapter 9: Chapter 9: Number One in the Server

[Congratulations to player Rowan Rhodes for successfully surviving the novice period and becoming an Official Player.]

[Map function unlocked! The player’s raft has been located. Please check the panel.]

[The player’s current ocean is the Shallow Sea. Several small islands are distributed throughout the Shallow Sea. Players can land on the islands to collect resources, but the resources lack Regeneration. After exploring all small islands, players can enter the Coastal Waters. When 50% of the server’s players enter, all players will be forced into the Coastal Waters.]

[Resource distribution varies within the player’s sea area. The player is currently in a D-level area where resources are scarce. Please strive to reach higher-level sea areas.]

[Your game district is District 122. The current number of survivors is 99,499. If it drops below 10,000, it will be merged into other game districts.]

[The Sea Survival Game officially begins!]

[Hint 1: Ocean weather is unpredictable. Please pay attention to weather changes at all times.]

[Hint 2: The ocean holds countless marine creatures. No one knows when they will arrive.]

Aside from the system broadcasts, this information was generated and displayed directly on the notice board.

Rowan Rhodes immediately looked at her personal data panel.

[Name: Rowan Rhodes (Official Player)]

[Level: Level 4]

[Thirst Value: 73/100]

[Fullness Value: 74/100]

[Life Value: 93/100]

[Equipment: S-level Life Heart (Damaged) (Can restore stats to full value once a day)]

[Skill: C-level Collection, F-level Nature]

Aside from the official increase in her stats, she noticed something different from her past life. She had originally thought that the Skill she acquired would still be Collection, and that her rebirth had merely allowed this Skill to advance to C-level earlier than before. But now, she had gained an extra Skill.

After reading the Introduction, Rowan’s eyes lit up. She wondered if it was related to sensing the weather. Since she already knew what the first few natural disasters would be, she could use this Skill to verify it. If she could sense natural disasters, she would be able to rely on this ability to continue predicting the future, even without the "Prophet," allowing her to make more preparations for survival.

Rowan then shifted her attention to the world channel, where the discussions were in full swing.

"Forced to enter the next ocean? It’ll definitely be harder to survive than in the Shallow Sea. That’s too unfair."

"Merging into other game districts at 10,000 people—does that mean the elimination rate of this game is super high? Otherwise, they wouldn’t set the benchmark at one-tenth."

"Pay attention to weather changes at all times? What kind of stunt is this game going to pull next?"

"And marine creatures... what exactly are they? Will they be stronger than sharks? Aren’t sharks enough?!"

"..."

Clearly, most players were focused on the exact same things—the dangers they would encounter in the Sea Survival Game. The excitement of ending the novice period had completely morphed into anxiety and fear for the future. All the players had realized that this was now the true Sea Survival Game. They had lost hundreds of people just during the novice period. How many more would die in the official game? Panic inevitably spread among the players.

"Don’t be so pessimistic, everyone. At least we have Skills now. My Skill is critical hit; there’s a chance to trigger multiple times the harvest."

"My Skill is Luck. There’s a chance my wishes will come true."

"Yeah! Islands have appeared now, and there are definitely plenty of resources on them."

"But the announcement emphasized that resources lack Regeneration. If we’re late, I’m afraid there won’t be anything left."

"Harold Thompson: I think you guys misunderstood. It’s not that we can only harvest once. It’s that the small islands in the Shallow Sea of District 122 are shared by all of us players. First come, first served. We are competitors."

"Simon Quinn: It also told us to head to higher-level sea areas. Mine is an E-level area, so I definitely have to find a way to go."

As soon as those two spoke, the refresh rate of the world channel instantly slowed down for a few seconds. A subtle tension unfolded across the chat.

Watching this, the corners of Rowan’s mouth twitched. E-level was one tier lower than hers; no wonder he was so anxious.

It was a given that the Sea Survival Game wanted players to slaughter each other, but this sort of implication was incredibly subtle. Yet, there were always some self-proclaimed smart players who liked to put such things right on the table, dragging the dark side of the players out into the open. No, perhaps they weren’t trying to be smart; they were just purely malicious. They were already thinking about plundering others, and bringing it up was just a way to make themselves feel justified in their actions.

"Celia Lynch: The Sea Survival Game forcefully pulled us in. By implying this, it just wants us to kill each other. Don’t fall for its trick."

"Harold Thompson: Don’t fall for its trick, so we should help each other instead? Then just transfer me some resources directly, Celia!"

"Simon Quinn: Maybe Celia has hoarded a lot of resources herself, so she doesn’t want us to rob her."

"Right, right, she upgraded really fast."

"In a survival game, it’s either life or death. As long as we can survive, killing each other is perfectly normal."

"@Celia Lynch, if you don’t help us, don’t blame us for robbing you later."

"..."

Spurred on by Harold Thompson, the world channel instantly descended into chaos. By the time the last sentence popped up, absolute silence fell. No one dared to stick their neck out anymore. What if they were targeted just like Celia Lynch?

It was obvious that Celia had been singled out by Harold, Simon, and other players due to her outstanding performance earlier. After all, they had no idea if Rowan was in District 122 or not, but Celia definitely was, and she made for a much easier target.

Rowan watched all this and scoffed. Just as she had guessed. From the very beginning, this game had been hinting for people to abandon their humanity, but those who took the bait right away were nothing but scum themselves. As for Celia, she didn’t speak again. She had probably realized she was being targeted too.

Right then, the system’s mechanical voice chimed in once more.

[Novice period settlement is complete! The server-wide leaderboards are now open, including the Personal Level Leaderboard, Raft Level Leaderboard, Resource Leaderboard, and Island Exploration Leaderboard.]

[Server Announcement: Rowan Rhodes has taken first place on the Personal Level Leaderboard, first place on the Raft Level Leaderboard, and first place on the Resource Leaderboard. She is currently ranked first across the entire server. Rewarded with Wooden Chest x40.]

[Server Announcement: ...]

[Server Announcement: The leaderboards will be tallied at the end of each stage. Players, please continue to work hard and strive for a spot on the rankings.]

In an instant, this server-wide announcement yanked everyone’s attention back to Rowan. Forty wooden chests meant at least 240 units of resources, more than half of which would be food and water. This was absolute hard currency!

"That’s so many resources! I think I’m getting green with envy."

"Who isn’t jealous? I wonder what a Level 4 Raft even looks like."

"Celia Lynch really does have a Level 3 Raft! Even though she’s not at the very top, she’s still on the leaderboard!"

"Do you guys think this Rowan Rhodes could be in our District 122?"

"The whole empty wooden chest thing really was a bit of a coincidence."

"Empty wooden chests can only be unlocked after becoming an Official Player. During the novice period, everyone was an apprentice player. Some smart person probably just figured out the use of empty chests and traded for them early!"

"I don’t think Rowan is in our district. When everyone else had a Level 3 Raft, she already hit Level 4. A normal player would have shown their face to soak up some admiration!"

"What’s the use of admiration? It just makes you an easy target."

"..."

Rowan wasn’t surprised to see the topic loop back to her. Taking first place on three leaderboards, along with being the sole Level 4 player, guaranteed that countless players would paint a target on her back. If she continued to stay in the lead, it wouldn’t just be District 122. Eventually, anyone in the entire server who obtained an item like a Positioning Card and felt they were strong enough would come to try their luck.

In her previous life, countless top players on the leaderboards had been dragged down from their pedestals exactly like this. Even after failing, many of the fleeing players would compile information about the target’s raft and sell it in the trading hall, letting other players know the exact details. Rowan always felt that these leaderboards were more like a hit list, telling all the lower-ranked players to hurry up and come rob them.

As the current top player across the entire server, was Rowan afraid? Of course not!

She would only work harder to maintain her number-one spot, snatch up the rewards from every stage of the Sea Survival Game, and use those resources to properly upgrade her raft. She would kill them as they came, whether singly or in pairs. Every player who dared to covet what she had would be turned into nothing more than nourishment for her own growth.