"Welcome to the Universal Seafaring Survival Game..."
"From now on, you will spend the rest of your lives at sea..."
"Don't worry about any diseases or disabilities you may have; the system will cure them all, giving you a relatively fair starting point..."
"You can sail freely on the sea and do whatever you want..."
"Whether you become a nobody or a world-renowned figure depends entirely on you..."
"The sea offers you infinite possibilities, but there's only one thing you need to be cautious about."
"Keep moving forward, and don't let the Black Mist catch up to you."
"The speed of the Black Mist is currently ten knots!"
......................
A peculiar voice echoed in his mind.
Yang Yi woke up to find himself lying on an old bed.
He tried to get up, but the dust he stirred up made him cough.
Looking around, he found himself in a narrow, dim, and dilapidated room.
Not far away, there was a table with a dried-up skeleton lying on it, clutching a rusted flintlock pistol in its left hand. Most of its skull was missing, suggesting suicide.
"This is...?"
Yang Yi showed no fear; instead, he looked at his own thin hands.
He actually stood up; it was nothing short of a miracle!
Just minutes ago, Yang Yi was a bedridden patient, and now he had miraculously recovered his health!
At twelve, he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, and by twenty, he was completely paralyzed.
But he never gave up on life, playing games and streaming using his mouth, supporting himself until he was twenty-five.
He often played horror games and wasn't much affected by motionless skeletons.
"What that voice said... it's true!"
Yang Yi muttered, looking out the window.
There was an endless sea, with waves occasionally rising.
At the same time, the peculiar voice sounded again, indistinguishable between male and female.
"Everyone should know where they are now!"
"That's right! You're all at sea, each separated by more than five hundred nautical miles, so you won't meet each other for a while."
"Nearby, there should be a booklet called the Voyage Log."
"It contains many useful features that will allow you to communicate without barriers. Try it and see."
"As for other content, it will be announced later, so stay tuned..."
The voice disappeared.
Yang Yi looked down and saw the booklet on the bed, with the words 'Voyage Log' on the black cover, about the size of a palm.
It emitted a faint glow, as if calling for Yang Yi to open it.
Yang Yi picked it up and opened it. The first page contained rules.
[1. Without permission, others cannot board your ship.]
[2. Items on your ship cannot be stolen by other players unless you are dead.]
[3. Each ship is equipped with a grappling claw, with unlimited durability. Boldly grab onto floating items!]
[4. You need to upgrade and strengthen your ship to make it look safe enough.]
[5. Be cautious at night and beware of the mist. Once engulfed by the Black Mist behind you, you will die.]
[6. This manual is soulbound and can be reviewed in your mind.]
[7. At sea, you will never feel lonely.]
The booklet felt like skin, and Yang Yi flipped through it.
The second page was the weather for the day, which he skipped for now.
The third page was the status information.
Yang Yi
Status: Healthy [A large human figure pattern, all in green]
(The average value for adult attributes is 5, which can be increased to 10 through training.)
(Attribute 10 is the limit for mortals.)
Strength: 3 (0/50)
Spirit: 7+1 (0/8000) (The higher the spirit, the higher the sanity resistance, and the faster the sanity recovery.)
Agility: 4 (0/100)
Constitution: 3 (0/50)
Perception: 5 (0/200)
Sanity: 100/100 (Sanity below 50 will lead to madness, below 30 will lead to suicidal thoughts, below 10...)
Stamina: 100/100 (Stamina below 50 will cause fatigue, below 30 may lead to fainting.)
Health: 100/100
Talent:
Iron Will: You never give up, spirit limit +1, your sanity will always retain at least 1 point, and you won't commit suicide. When sanity drops significantly (below 50), you will enter a berserk state.
Yang Yi felt slightly relieved after reviewing the attribute interface.
Low attribute experience requirements were minimal, so catching up on attributes wouldn't be too difficult.
He continued flipping through and found the chat channel.
It was divided into World Chat, Regional Chat, and Private Chat.
Currently, the World Channel was the most lively, with people speaking one after another.
"Is anyone there?"
"What on earth is going on?"
"I was just taking a dump, hadn't even wiped yet, and suddenly I'm on a ship!"
"I'm all alone here, does anyone have a phone? Help me call the police!"
"Who kidnapped me? Do you know who my dad is?"
"Maybe your dad came along too!"
"Son, is that you?"
"Don't claim me randomly!"
"My broken hand is actually healed..."
"I can feel pain... this isn't a dream!"
.......
The number of online users reached tens of billions, suggesting everyone had been pulled in.
Yang Yi didn't rush to speak but instead watched the chat for potential intelligence.
Each person could only send 10 messages in the World Channel per day; any more would require Conch Coins, at a rate of one hundred Conch Coins per message.
Yang Yi wasn't sure what these Conch Coins were, and he didn't have any on hand.
After about ten minutes, the chaotic messages gradually decreased, and the chat became more meaningful.
"Do your manuals also have 7 rules?"
"Looking for a group, anyone want to team up?"
"The distance is too far, and without coordinates, we can't team up right now!"
"We should share information and help each other!"
"Have you checked your ship? I found a piece of equipment."
Below was the equipment information.
[Name: Bloodstained Harpoon]
[Type: Relic]
[Quality: Fine] (Item levels: Common, Fine, Excellent, Rare, Epic, Heroic, Masterwork...)
[Description: Very sharp, can inflict minor damage on Aberrations and provoke them.]
Note: Using relics carries the risk of reducing sanity.
The World Channel exploded.
"What are Aberrations? Are there monsters in this world?"
"I found nothing but some fresh water, bread, and vegetables in my cabin."
"You have vegetables? All I have is sausage."
At sea, vegetables were much rarer than meat.
"What about your ship, is it big? Mine is over a hundred meters, it's huge..."
"What! My ship is only ten meters!"
That person quickly sent the ship's information.
[Iron Ambition, Level 1, Durability 5000/5000, Capacity 8000 units, Speed 5 knots]
[Ship Skill: Full Barrage: Cannon firing rate increased to 200%, lasts 15 minutes.
Triple Whale Harpoon Shot: Can penetrate and latch onto a target.]
[Description: Its speed may not be fast, but you'd better be!]
"Damn! This game is totally unfair; his ship has cannons at Level 1!"
"Special ships have skills. My ship is completely bare."
"I want to reroll my start. Is there a pay-to-win shop? I have plenty of money!"
"Are you all idiots?
His ship speed is only 5 knots, slower than the Black Mist!"
"Oh right, the Black Mist is 10 knots! He's doomed, hahaha!"
At this moment, an announcement popped up.
[Voyage Announcement:
Everyone's starting conditions are different, but absolutely fair. Ships and starting positions are predetermined, no objections allowed!]
"Who believes that? There must be some shady dealings! Some people start with weapons, and I only have food!"
"While others stockpile food, I stockpile guns. Others are just my food supply!"
"Is it possible that those with cannons have monsters spawning nearby, while you don't?"
Yang Yi closed the logbook and began searching the room.
He discovered that the flintlock pistol in the skeleton's hand was a piece of equipment.
[Name: Waterlogged Rusted Flintlock]
[Type: Relic]
[Quality: Excellent]
[Description: This was once a masterwork, but it's been waterlogged for too long and is severely rusted. It has a fifty percent chance of firing and can inflict moderate damage on Aberrations.
This gun doesn't require bullets; it automatically reloads in one minute, with a capacity of 1.]
"Excellent equipment?"
Yang Yi's expression turned serious.
As the announcement stated, starting conditions are fair.
So obtaining this gun must mean a hellish start?
He pushed aside the skeleton on the table and found a piece of paper underneath, already decayed, with only some words barely discernible.
"...No supplies left on the ship, I have to try fishing."
"...Today I got lucky, caught a tiger grouper, enough for two days."
"...Hehe, I caught an antique pistol while fishing. Though the gunshot is odd, it looks valuable!"
There was a large bloodstain at the end, with only the last line visible.
"How can there be such things in the sea?"
Yang Yi frowned slightly after reading it, then got up and walked out of the captain's cabin.
Outside was the deck corridor, and he looked up to carefully examine his ship.