Chapter 1: Survival at Sea, The Paradise Sanctuary

A raft, a fishing rod, a single person – how long could one survive at sea?

If asked before, Lu Xingchen would have definitely responded – what a joke, I wouldn't even last a day!

But now, here she was, holding a fishing rod while sitting on a small raft surrounded by an endless expanse of seawater.

Only heaven knew how she ended up here!

A moment ago, she was clearly working overtime.

Lu Xingchen, 24 years old, was a dedicated grindaholic, always striving hard from her time as a student till her time now as a worker, faithfully believing in the principle of hard work paying off.

She had been working for two years now, and was recently put in charge of a major project. For the sake of this project, she had been working overtime without a break for the last three months, not only without any days off, but also only being able to sleep three to four hours every day.

Once the project was completed, she would receive a hefty sum of money and finally be able to take a well-earned rest.

But who would have thought that, after briefly dozing off at her desk, she would wake up in such a place.

Could it be because she had been overly exhausted recently, and was now having a nightmare?

'【Dear Players!】'

Suddenly, a voice sounded out, and a massive light screen appeared before her. Rows of text started appearing on the screen along with the voice:

'【Welcome to Survival At Sea, you are currently in Area 33. Please carefully read the following game rules:】'

'【First, this is a real world. Here, death means actual death – you only have one life!】'

【Second, the first group of adventurers ranges from 18 to 50 years old. The elderly and children remain in their original world where they are well taken care of!】

【Third, everyone lives on the sea, possessing the same initial supplies: one wooden raft and a fishing rod!】

【Fourth, various supplies and random treasure chests can be found in the sea, which can be fished out with the fishing rod.】

【Fifth, please avoid jumping into the water without specific equipment, as the sea is very dangerous!】

【Sixth, do not drink unfiltered seawater, as it can lead to dehydration!】

【Seventh, you are relatively safe within the first three days of your newbie protection period. Please collect resources, upgrade your raft, and get ready for the brutal challenges after three days!】

【For additional information, please refer to the newbie guide. Players, enjoy exploring this world and good luck to all of you!】

A minute later, the light screen retracting and transforming into a stream of light which wrapped itself around Lu Xingchen's wrist. In the span of an instant, a watch appeared on her wrist. The watch band was blue, and its face was silver showing the time and weather. There was a golden button at the bottom. Lu Xingchen rotated her wrist for a closer inspection before pressing the golden button. With a flash of light, the light screen reemerged, bearing the same game instructions as before.

It was slightly smaller this time - about 3 meters high and 5 meters wide. Lu Xingchen swiped her finger and found that the size of the light screen could be adjusted, with the smallest size shrunk to that of an iPad. In the top left corner of the screen, it displayed her name, the time, and the weather.

The names are: Lu Xingchen, Day 1 of the Sea Calendar at 9am, sunny.

In the lower right corner, there are several small sections including a guide for beginners and a regional chat, etc.

Lu Xingchen read the beginner's guide again, memorized it silently, and clicked on the regional chat with his hand.

District 33, Regional Chat

100000/100000

:

"Help! I'm at sea, the raft is so small, I can't see anyone!"

"I'm the same, I can see nothing but vast sea all around me. This is terrible, I have aquaphobia!"

"Can't you see the big screen for instructions? It's a survival at sea game!"

"Is this really a game? It looks so real!"

"Don't just treat it as a game. Haven't you seen it already? Death means real death! You can't resurrect!"

"I don't believe it. There's no such realistic game. There's no such technology now. It must be a conspiracy. I know how to swim. I'm going to dive into the sea to see... Ah... Help... Help... Glug... Glug..."

Just after a while, someone screamed, "Did someone just die? Look at the number of people in the regional chat, one person less!"

Lu Xingchen looked over as well.

District 33, Regional Chat

99999/100000

Did one person really disappear?

A sense of unease gripped Lu Xingchen’s heart.

District 33, it seems there are many gaming districts. Apparently, each district consists of 100,000 people, one should have really just died!

Some were frightened, the chat messages shown on the screen were filled with panic:

"I don't want to die. I don't want to play the game. I want to go home... *sobbing*"

"What a wimp! Haven't you ever played a survival game, or read a survival novel? Start collecting supplies now, crying does no good!"

"Help! I just fell in, there are sharks below. One bit my leg, it hurts so much!"

The screen was in complete chaos. After Lu Xingchen observed for a while, everyone was just in a state of panic.

Taking it easy, she turned off the screen.

Someone made a good point, it was urgent to start gathering supplies!

Even though Lu Xingchen was always diligent, during her university days she did still take time to read some online novels.

Thus, she managed to calm herself down pretty quickly.

She stood up and took a look around.

The wooden raft was both two meters in length and width, very cramped. She couldn’t even roll over in her sleep, otherwise, she might fall off and become shark food!

It was too small! Survival was tough!

Suddenly, she heard a 'beep':

"Beep, suitable host found, binding survival system..."

"Ding, survival game at sea detected, initiating survival system blending... "

"Ding, blending complete, binding accomplished. Host's survival environment is extremely hostile. Launching the seedling protection program - auxiliary items will be randomly drawn. Drawing in...10, 9, 8, 7..."

Before Lu Xingchen's eyes, a multi-colored spinning wheel appeared, spinning rapidly until it left a faded image.

Approximately ten seconds later, the spinning wheel began to slow down.

"Ding, congratulations, host. You have drawn a divine-grade item - 'Peach Blossom Holy Realm'! Please choose a suitable location to place it."

With a "plop" sound, something fell from the sky and Lu Xingchen, quick as lightning, caught it.

It was a piece of wooden token, white in color, about the size of a palm. On it was engraved a pink peach blossom, which was extremely delicate and in the center were a few characters in pink seal script - 'Peach Blossom Holy Realm'.

Where should this be placed? How should it be placed?

Lu Xingchen examined it from all sides. Uncertainly, she put the token down in front of her and a shadow appeared on the wooden raft...

"Do you wish to place the 'Peach Blossom Holy Realm' here?"

"Yes!"

In a flash, the token in her hand disappeared; a light blinked, and Lu Xingchen noticed the wooden raft in front of her changed color, bearing a faint tint of gold. Hesitating for a moment, she moved her foot and stepped on it.

In a blink of an eye, she found herself in a strange place.

It was a space of about ten square meters, surrounded by a dense white fog. The ground was moist and soft, and the air was filled with the scent of flowers. Pink peach blossoms floated from the white mist and gently fell to the ground.

From within the white mist, a few sprigs of peach blossoms were faintly visible.

Lu Xingchen tried to walk towards the point where the flowering branch emerged, reaching the edge of the white mist, but no matter what she did, she couldn't get past it. It was as if there was an invisible barrier.

She turned her head and saw a token in the middle of the space that was probably magnified by tenfold, with four big seal script characters on it: Peach Blossom Holy Land.

A trace of golden light was faintly twinkling.

Lu Xingchen walked over and touched it, and suddenly the specks of gold dissipated and fell onto her.

She felt a jolt of energy and momentarily found her senses heightened, and at the same time, she heard the system's voice.

"Congratulations to the host, you have received today's random luck enhancement - Double Happiness

Double resource gain

"