Chapter 17
◎ Game Update ◎
【To Our Players:
The first stage of the survival game, “Adaptation,” has concluded. The survival game now officially enters its second stage. To optimize the gaming experience and increase the challenge, the system will undergo the following major updates—
I. New Features and Mechanics
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【Forum Opening】
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A new “Player Forum” section has been added, including sub-sections such as Strategy Zone, Team-Up Zone, and Bounty Zone.
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Players can post long threads, share survival tips, or initiate joint actions. Popular forum posts will receive system rewards.
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【Player Shop Mode】
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Players are now allowed to open personal shops, set their own prices for goods, and list them for sale (a 10% transaction tax is required).
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Shops can have functions like “Auction Mode” and “Limited-Time Promotions.” High-reputation shops will be featured.
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【System Mall Opening】
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The mall’s currency is unified as “Purification Crystals” (obtained by exchanging resource chest materials or Contamination Crystals in the mall).
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Mall items refresh daily, including rare items, special blueprints, limited-time gift packs, etc.
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【Ranking System】
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Personal Strength Ranking: Ranked based on personal level, skill strength, number of contaminants killed, and hull level. The top ten will receive rewards.
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Wealth Ranking: Calculated based on the total value of backpack resources, shop turnover, and crystal holdings. Special titles can be unlocked.
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II. Rule Adjustments
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【Contaminant Behavior Change】
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All contaminants will now actively attack players. Their aggression is directly proportional to the player’s strength.
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【Resource Acquisition Adjustment】
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The frequency of marine debris tides has been changed from once every 6 hours to once every 12 hours. The drop rate of resource chests has been increased by 30%.
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—We wish our players a pleasant gaming experience!】
A long string of information rushed towards her. For some reason, Yu Chi felt a sense of familiarity, like seeing a game update in the real world, and a strange excitement to explore.
She read the update content a few more times, committing it to memory, then sat down on a chair on the deck and began to study the new content.
—This was in case a contaminant attacked, so she could react immediately instead of being inside the cabin.
Everyone has a sense of vanity, and Yu Chi was no exception. After the system update, her first reaction was to check the rankings.
There were a total of 100 people on the Personal Strength Ranking. Yu Chi didn’t see her name in the top 10 (not surprisingly). She continued to scroll down and was surprised to see the three words “DazedFish” at number 36.
Congratulations were in order. Yu Chi touched her nose, thinking that this ranking had greatly exceeded her expectations. Perhaps her rare skill accounted for a large part of it, she speculated in her mind.
Of course, her own ranking was a small matter. Yu Chi also saw many familiar players on the leaderboard.
For example, [GrumpyBro] was ranked second, [SurfingTheSea] was seventh, [ColaFromAllDirections] was 32nd, and [ZhangSanAskedMeOut] was 66th. There were also many other names that had appeared in the chat channel, but Yu Chi had no interaction with them.
The number one player was an ID called [MortalRealmLittleFairyGrass]. You can’t judge a book by its cover, and you certainly can’t judge strength by an ID. Yu Chi felt a little emotional for a moment.
However, this ID was very unfamiliar, as if it had never appeared in the chat channel, nor had she seen him post anything in the player trade section.
It was also possible that her observation hadn’t been careful enough. But no matter how low-profile this player had been before, his every move would surely receive great attention in the future.
Yu Chi silently admired the top player for a while, then opened the wealth ranking. This time, however, she wasn’t even in the top 100.
That shouldn’t be right. Yu Chi was about to protest. How could a life-skill player like her not even make it into the top 100 of the wealth ranking?
Then she saw the small line of text below the wealth ranking and dismissed her concerns.
【Judged based on Contamination Crystals and equipment.】
What the hell? Yu Chi gritted her teeth in anger. She had fused her only Contamination Crystal into her small boat. As for equipment… well, she really didn’t have anything good on her at the moment.
The only good things she had were the talent item [All-Purpose Fishing Rod] and the rare item [Lucky Match-3]. The former probably wasn’t even counted in the wealth ranking, and while the latter was quite precious, the players in the top 100 of the ranking were naturally not weak.
Yu Chi shot up from her chair. She admitted that she was provoked.
A life-skill player must not be a poor ghost!
She was going to hunt contaminated creatures. You ask what gave a life-skill player the courage?
What a joke. Of course, it was her [Morph] skill, which could now last for 1 minute!
Her two common skills, [First Aid] and [Fine Forging], were only affected by her Spirit, but [Morph] would have its duration extended as her level increased.
When it was only 10 seconds, she had already dared to challenge a level 3 contaminant. Now that it was a full minute, even if she couldn’t win, protecting herself should be no problem.
Yu Chi’s confidence was overflowing.
Speak of the devil. Just as she stood up from her chair, her sharp eyes caught a group of unknown creatures swimming towards her.
Sharp teeth and mouths, ugly in appearance, they didn’t look like any normal creatures.
Wait, besides the normal creatures that can be caught with the All-Purpose Fishing Rod, are there any other uncontaminated creatures in this sea area? Yu Chi was very doubtful.
The moonlight was obscured by clouds, and the sea plunged into darkness. Yu Chi stood by the ship’s rail, her gaze sweeping over the churning black waves in front of her as dozens of twisted shadows broke through the water.
A system prompt popped up.
【Species: Corrupted Sea Serpent
Level: Two
Description: A social creature eroded by contamination, it likes to overwhelm its prey with numbers.
Traits: Venom Spit, Group Action】
Seeing the words “Group Action,” Yu Chi’s fingers, gripping the Shark Dagger, tightened slightly.
The figures of the sea serpents slowly approached. Yu Chi pursed her lips. Putting aside whether their strengths were comparable, the appearance of these sea serpents was truly disgusting.
(This is discrimination.)
Each one was as thick as an adult man’s arm, its scales a purplish-green. Its head was split into three lobes, revealing dense, barbed fangs. Like hyenas that had smelled blood, they converged on the small boat in an encircling formation.
“23… no, 34 of them.” Yu Chi took half a step back, her back against the cabin wall.
They really think highly of me.
Yu Chi remembered the note in the system update—aggression is directly proportional to the player’s strength.
I’m too alluring. Yu Chi covered her mouth and shed a tear.
Individually, these level two contaminants didn’t have high attack power, but one could imagine the consequences of being entangled by them.
The “Venom Spit” was dazzlingly unsettling. Yu Chi wasn’t sure of its power. She took a deep breath—
Time to fight!
【Morph Cinnabar Finch Form】
Crimson-gold wings spread, and the scorching airflow knocked over the two nearest sea serpents. Yu Chi flapped her wings and flew into the air, a bird’s cry unconsciously escaping her beak. She swooped down from above, and flames rolled into the serpent swarm along with the airflow.
It looked like a sea of fire.
The sea serpents, licked by the flames, let out sharp hisses, writhing in the fire and screaming in alarm… Unfortunately, this was on the sea, and the power of the flames was greatly reduced, so her group attack couldn’t be a one-hit kill.
“Ten seconds,” she counted silently in her mind. Her sharp talons grabbed the neck of a leaping sea serpent and tore it apart, then stabbed into the vital point of another serpent. Foul-smelling black blood splattered, and Yu Chi shook her head in annoyance.
System prompts popped up one after another:
【Killed a Corrupted Sea Serpent (Level Two), EXP +10】
【Killed a Corrupted Sea Serpent (Level Two), EXP +10】
The moment the Cinnabar Finch form ended, Yu Chi returned to her human form in mid-air. As she fell due to gravity, she swung her Shark Dagger. The blade sliced through the head of a sea serpent trying to launch a sneak attack. The electric shock effect made the serpent’s body convulse violently. She stepped on its tail to push off, flipping over and landing steadily back on the deck.
“23 left,” she flicked the slime off her dagger. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw three sea serpents climbing up the side of the boat. Their forked tongues were almost touching the edge of the water purifier.
【Morph Elf Form】
Her long golden hair moved without any wind. Yu Chi’s fingertips lightly tapped the small flowerpot. The quietly growing watermelon vine suddenly erupted, its tendrils twisting around the three nearest sea serpents.
The watermelons expanded and exploded at a visible rate. The splashing juice splattered onto the sea serpents. Yu Chi cursed her luck under her breath. Her hands didn’t stop, continuing to control the vines to sweep the deck, while she herself rushed towards the bow.
In her elf form, her perception was super strong. She could clearly sense the movement of every sea serpent—5 on the left were preparing to outflank her, 3 on the right were trying to bite through the sail ropes, and 7 were lurking underwater.
Yu Chi made a decisive move. The vines wrapped around the sea serpents on the right and flung them into the air. At the same time, she grabbed a handful of scented bombs from her backpack and threw them to the left.
The black balls exploded on contact with the water, and a light green smoke spread out. The sea serpent swarm immediately writhed and retreated as if electrocuted.
Taking advantage of the contaminants’ confusion, Yu Chi deactivated her elf form and leaped into the sea.
【Morph Mermaid Form】
The Cinnabar Finch form was suitable for group attacks, while the mermaid form was the strongest in single combat.
The moment her silver tail cut through the water, Yu Chi felt a kind of blood-related throb. The seawater was no longer an obstacle but an extension of her limbs.
She rushed towards the lurking serpent swarm underwater. Her fishtail swept horizontally, directly snapping a sea serpent in half. The defense of her scales rendered the sea serpents’ venom useless. She didn’t notice a sea serpent biting her arm—however, its fangs only scraped sparks off her scales, leaving not a single scratch.
“My turn,” Yu Chi said silently, the corners of her mouth turning up. She stabbed the Shark Dagger into a serpent’s mouth and sliced all the way to its tail. A Contamination Crystal floated out with the fragments of its internal organs, and she snatched it up.
The rhythm of the battle gradually became mechanical.
Yu Chi switched seamlessly between her three forms: the Cinnabar Finch incinerated the serpent swarms trying to climb the boat, the elf controlled plants to protect the facilities, and the mermaid cleaned up the underwater threats. Her EXP grew at a visible rate.
When the last sea serpent was crushed by the vines, Yu Chi sat on the boat to rest. The dizziness from the continuous use of her morph ability washed over her, giving her a splitting headache.
She took out a bandage and wrapped it around her left arm—there was a scrape there from being splashed by venom when she was in her human form. Her HP had instantly dropped by 20.
【Used a bandage, HP +10】
【Current HP: 148/160】
“Tsk.” She stared at the mess on her small boat. After resting for a while, she planned to tidy up.
The thirty-four sea serpents had dropped 22 Contamination Crystals, plus a pile of miscellaneous materials. However, the EXP was generous. Her level had jumped directly from 4 (102/1000) to 4 (442/1000). One more time and she could level up to 5 directly.
Just as she was about to get up and collect her spoils, a violent impact came from the bottom of the boat. Yu Chi stumbled and held onto the ship’s rail. Under the dark sea, a mountain-like shadow slowly rose—
【Species: Corrupted Giant Eel
Level: 3
Description: It comes with the breath of death. Wherever it passes, there are only corpses.
Traits: High-Voltage Electric Shock, Regenerating Tentacles】
“Again…” Yu Chi wiped the seawater from her face and slowly exhaled. The morph skill had no cooldown, but the number of times she could use it was affected by her Spirit.
Yu Chi checked her body. Her Spirit was as high as 22, three times that of her other attributes. Even though she had just killed 34 sea serpents, upon careful examination, she found that she still had strength left.
Thinking about it now, the reason her strength could climb to the top 30s in the rankings was not only because her morph ability was powerful enough, but her Spirit also played a huge part.
Yu Chi took out the Shark Armor from her backpack and put it on. She had woken up and forgotten about the Shark Armor, which was why she had been injured.
Perhaps her fighting spirit had been too high just now. Seeing the giant eel, not only did she not have the thought of retreating, but she was also eager to try.
Besides, she was also very greedy for the giant eel’s Contamination Crystal!
Contamination Crystals also had different levels. No matter how many sea serpents she killed, she would only get level 2 Contamination Crystals. But as long as she killed one giant eel, she could get an energy-rich level 3 Contamination Crystal.
The Purification Crystals in the system mall had no level distinction. A level 2 Contamination Crystal could be exchanged for 10 Purification Crystals, but a level 3 Contamination Crystal could be exchanged for 200 Purification Crystals, which was equivalent to 20 sea serpents!
She refused to believe that she couldn’t even make it into the top 100 of the wealth ranking. As a life-skill player, she had to defend her dignity when it came to wealth!
Yu Chi held the Shark Dagger between her teeth. The moment the giant eel broke through the water, she once again transformed into a Cinnabar Finch and flew into the sky.
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【Author’s Note】
Sailing Log 6:
The fish’s ranking is awesome!
The fish never told anyone that her ambition is to be number one.
She will secretly out-grind everyone who stands in her way [Sunglasses]