Searching the beach in the dark had taken Nan Liujing over half an hour; it was now 8:43 p.m. For many modern people, this was still early—nightlife had only just begun. Some hadn’t even finished work yet.

Nan Liujing was still feeling fine, but he decided to open all the treasure chests as quickly as possible.

Clang, clang, clang, clang! All the treasure chests were opened.

In the darkness, three flashes of white light and one flash of green light flickered by.

Huh? A green light?

Nan Liujing’s eyes lit up, and he immediately rushed over to the wooden crate that had emitted the green light. Once the treasure chest was fully opened, the light that signified its quality vanished, leaving the inside pitch black. Nan Liujing had no choice but to open his tablet and use its screen light to illuminate the area.

The screen’s light was a bit dim, but Nan Liujing had no choice but to make do.

Although the player’s tablet looked like a regular tablet, it was actually a player’s handbook issued by the system, not a real tablet. It lacked the features one would expect from a standard tablet, such as a weather app or a flashlight.

It did have photo and video capabilities, and many people uploaded their photos and videos to forums. It also had a clock function, but no alarm.

Because of this, Nan Liujing decided to go to bed early tonight. Going to bed early meant he could wake up early, and he was worried he might sleep right through the morning low tide.

Plus, the main quest would be updated tomorrow morning, and he was curious about the quest rewards and details on subsequent missions—the sooner he knew, the better.

Back to the treasure chest: Nan Liujing spotted three items at the bottom, one of which was a very familiar parchment scroll.

“Oh, look, a blueprint.” Nan Liujing’s eyebrows shot up as he happily unfolded the parchment in his hands.

【Blueprint for a Simple Water Collector】

【A blueprint detailing how to craft a simple water collector. Please tear it open to use.】 

A water collector!

Without hesitation, Nan Liujing tore open the blueprint and selected it. When surviving on a deserted island, fresh water is absolutely crucial. Relying solely on treasure chests for purified water is far too unreliable. Today, Nan Liujing had only managed to drink a third of a bottle of purified water—and that was only because the whole-wheat bread was so dry he had to wash it down with water.

Finding a blueprint for an item that provides a steady supply of fresh water was a stroke of luck for him.

Suppressing the urge to immediately check the crafting requirements, Nan Liujing continued to look inside the chest.

Three wooden crates, each containing 1 coral fleece blanket, 4 canvas scraps, 1 solar flashlight, 1 cotton cushion, 5 bandages, 1 bottle of mouthwash, 10 nails, and 1 hammer.

Overall, daily necessities make up the bulk of the items, followed by materials.

Dismantle all three wooden crates to obtain 5 wooden planks and 5 nails.

The single oak barrel is filled to the brim with low-quality rum—a full 20 liters.

【Low-quality Rum】

【Category: Beverage】

【An essential provision for sea voyages, with an alcohol content of 55%. It’s inexpensive but has an average taste—be careful not to overindulge!】Audiobook

“Rum… 55% ABV.” Nan Liujing sniffed the distinctly sweet scent of alcohol and fell into deep thought. “That’s considered high-proof, isn’t it? I recall this type of liquor has virtually no expiration date; as long as you store it properly and keep it unopened, it’ll be fine for over five years.”

He’d already opened it, but it should still keep for a year or so. At the same time, he realized he’d made a mistake earlier that day. He shouldn’t have dismantled those two oak barrels!

Unlike wooden crates with obvious gaps, well-sealed oak barrels are natural storage containers for liquids and come with their own lids. To Nan Liujing now, a single 20-liter oak barrel was far more valuable than four wooden planks.

Unfortunately, it was too late for regrets now. Nan Liujing quickly sealed the oak barrel’s lid tightly to prevent the rum inside from being further contaminated by dust and the external environment.

Afterward, Nan Liujing picked up his tablet to check the construction features. Instructions for building a simple water collector had already appeared on the screen.

【Simple Water Collector】

【Category: Furniture】

【A makeshift water collector cobbled together from basic materials. It has low efficiency and automatically collects 2L of fresh water daily.】

【Crafting Materials: Wooden Planks x4, Plastic Items x10.】

“Plastic items? Will this broken plastic stool work?” Nan Liujing tried to stow the plastic stool in his backpack, and the very next second, he saw that on the construction page, the number next to “Plastic items” in the water collector’s required materials had changed to (1/10).

“It works!” Nan Liujing was instantly delighted. He’d originally thought finding that broken plastic stool was bad luck—it was unusable as a seat, and picking it up had cost him 1 stamina point—but he never expected it could actually be used as a crafting material.

How is this not a form of recycling? Eco-friendly—so eco-friendly.

Currently, Nan Liujing still has two plastic items in his possession: a plastic basin and a plastic bucket. But both were in perfect condition and had their uses, and Nan Liujing couldn’t bear to use them up.

But that’s okay—he can trade for them in the marketplace.

Intact plastic items might be a bit pricey, but surely damaged ones can still be traded?

Nan Liujing immediately listed a wooden plank, specifying an exchange for plastic items, regardless of their condition. He posted the same trade listing five times.

At that moment, he noticed he had enough resources to purchase that wooden single bed. He quickly opened his favorites list, clicked on the single listing, and sent a trade request.

Since the seller had specified that it was a paid custom order and didn’t have the item in stock, the system couldn’t automatically complete the transaction; he had to wait for the seller’s confirmation before the trade could proceed.

Nan Liujing waited five minutes without receiving a reply; it seemed the seller wasn’t currently monitoring the board.

With no time to worry about the follow-up, Nan Liujing pulled some raw oysters from his backpack, devoured five in one go, and restored his stamina to 50, instantly shaking off his exhaustion. Immediately, Nan Liujing felt his body grow lighter; the sky had cleared, the rain had stopped, and he was ready to go again.

Grabbing the solar flashlight, he turned and ran toward the reef area.

He had given up on prying open the oysters earlier because it had gotten dark, and visibility had dropped. Now that he had a light source, what was there to wait for? Time to grind!

A little over two hours later, Nan Liujing, his stamina having plummeted to 2, trudged back with heavy steps. By then, it was nearly evening.

It was 11 o’clock, and with rest just around the corner, there was no need to conserve energy—Nan Liujing decided to go all in.

He had 2 points left because his movements were starting to drain his stamina, and he was afraid of passing out on the way.

At this point, in addition to the usual oysters and purple mussels, his backpack now contained 4 trochidae shells and 2 mantis shrimp.

The number of purple mussels had reached 200, while the oysters stood at 51.

After an afternoon of practice, his skill at prying open shells had improved; practice makes perfect, and once he got the hang of it, he worked even faster than he had during the day. With the oyster knife, he’d find the right spot, stab, scrape, and pry—and a shell would peel away from the reef.

On the other hand, finding reefs with a good harvest took more time.

However, since he needed to eat oysters frequently to replenish his energy, his actual harvest wasn’t very large. Even so, it was still a decent haul.

After a hard day’s work, Master Nan returned to his makeshift resting spot with a sense of satisfaction. He spread a few palm leaves and scraps of canvas on the ground to serve as a makeshift bed, folded another piece of canvas into a pillow, and laid a coral fleece blanket on top to create a simple sleeping area.

“I’ll make do with this for tonight.”

He slowly crawled in, wrapped himself up, and felt his tension melt away. He fell into a deep sleep almost instantly.

The next morning, Nan Liujing was awakened by the sunlight.

Sitting up, the exhaustion from the night before—the kind that left him too weak to lift his arms—had vanished, and Nan Liujing felt refreshed and alert. “Looks like sleeping restores stamina!” Having another way to recover stamina was definitely good news. He took out his tablet; when the main screen lit up, the time appeared in the top-left corner.

【6:00 a.m.】

【Day 2 of Survival: Training Day】

“Today is another tutorial day—yet another piece of good news.”

He let out a quiet sigh of relief and immediately tapped open the stats interface to check his stamina recovery.

【Stamina: 72/100】

He’d gone to sleep a few minutes before 11 p.m. last night—let’s say 11 p.m.—and slept until 6 a.m., totaling 7 hours of sleep, which restored 70 stamina points.

“Without any bonuses, does sleeping for one hour restore 10 stamina points? That’s not bad.” Nan Liujing calculated in his mind, “But it’s nowhere near as good as the wooden single bed. It can restore stamina from 0 to 100 in just 5 hours, and sleeping for a full 8 hours grants an additional 50-point stamina cap that lasts for 12 hours. That’s way too good to pass up.”

“Compared to the bonuses the wooden single bed offers, that cost is nothing. I have to buy this bed—even if the seller raises the price, I’ll still buy it!”

After all, a night had passed, and with the forum as a communication channel, the advantages of the wooden single bed were impossible to hide. Under these circumstances, Nan Liujing felt it was only natural for the seller to raise the price.

With some trepidation, Nan Liujing opened the forum’s trading section and was pleasantly surprised to find that the single bed seller had processed his trade request at 11:21 PM last night. The system deducted the 20 wooden planks, 12 iron nails, and 8 canvas scraps he had set aside for the request, and the trade was complete.

Nan Liujing tapped the item lightly, and a small, natural-wood single bed instantly appeared in his backpack.

“Yay, I scored!”

He pumped his fist in delight and continued browsing the trade listings. Nan Liujing noticed that the trade he’d posted—exchanging wooden planks for plastic items—had also been completed twice, yielding 5 damaged plastic items.

“Once the first low tide of the morning passes, I should be able to complete this remaining trade as well. Making a simple water collector is just around the corner.”

Satisfied, Nan Liujing closed the forum. “Oh, and the main quest should be complete too.” He tapped into the quest interface, and sure enough, the main quest was ready to be submitted.

After decisively submitting it, a pop-up appeared on the screen.

【Do you wish to awaken your talent?】

【Yes】 【I’ll think about it】

“So what’s there to think about, really?” Shaking his head, Nan Liujing simply clicked “Yes.”

The pop-up vanished, and a spinning loading icon appeared in the center of the screen. Thirty seconds later, a new pop-up flashed into view.

【You have awakened the talent: Hoarding Disorder.】

【Hoarding Disorder】

【Your obsession with supplies is astonishing; hoarding has become an obsession for you.】

【Talent Effect 1: Stamina consumption reduced by 50% during physical labor.】

【Talent Effect 2: Supply storage duration is extended by 30%.】

【Talent Effect 3: Increased chance of discovering supplies while exploring; higher-tier supplies are more easily found.】

“This talent… could it be determined by my own experiences and will?” Not having received a particularly powerful talent, Nan Liujing actually took it in stride; he was merely curious about the principle behind the awakening of this talent.

Besides, he was actually quite satisfied with his talent. After all, he already had a tendency to hoard supplies, the unlocked talent shared that name, and its effects were all designed to better serve his hoarding habits.

Especially the effect that halves stamina consumption—it was incredibly useful. He had long suffered from a lack of stamina!

After closing the pop-up, a new main quest appeared.

【Survival!!】

【Quest Objective: Survive until Day 2.】

【Mission Reward: Simple Shelter Construction Blueprint.】

【Notes: 1. Day 2 of survival is designated as a tutorial day. During the tutorial, the weather is fixed as “Sunny and Breezy,” survival pressure is reduced by 30%, the probability of restocking supplies is increased by 30%, and players will not be attacked.

2. New feature added effective immediately: Expiration. Among the supplies players obtain, food, beverages, and certain processed items will gradually spoil over time. Consuming slightly spoiled food may result in a negative status effect, while completely spoiled supplies cannot be consumed.】

“The main quest is still so… plain.” Compared to yesterday’s version, the only differences are an exclamation mark added after the name and the quest objective shifting from Day 1 to Day 2.

Additionally, a new note has been added, introducing the concept of a shelf life.

Logically speaking, it’s perfectly normal for food to have a shelf life, but the system has taken it a step further by quantifying it, allowing players to see it more intuitively.

Nan Liujing wasn’t particularly alarmed by this. Thanks to his talent, his supplies would always have a 30% longer shelf life than other players’—meaning they could be stored for much longer, which perfectly appealed to his hoarding instincts.

For players who love to hoard supplies, nothing is more agonizing than watching their stockpiled goods spoil right before their eyes. His concern over expiration dates even overshadowed his interest in the Simple Shelter reward from the mission.

After exiting the mission page, Nan Liujing casually clicked into the forum. Sure enough, the new game mechanics had sparked lively player discussions. Combined with the refreshed post count, the forum’s front page was flooded with threads about shelf life and talent levels. Nan Liujing was also curious to see what talents others had awakened, so he immediately checked them out.

Someone had awakened the “Bull-like Strength” talent, which allowed them to spend 20 stamina points to double their Strength attribute for 10 minutes.

Others had awakened “Light on Their Feet,” which increased movement speed by 30%.

The diving coach he saw yesterday posted a video demonstrating his talent right in the original thread.

Guanghai Island – Zhao He: The talent I’ve awakened is called “Deep Sea Wanderer.” I won’t reveal the specifics, but you can check out my video.

In the video, a slender man wearing only swim trunks swims effortlessly through the azure waters. His movements underwater are fluid and agile, and he moves much faster than in yesterday’s video. The video runs for 10 minutes, and Zhao He remains in the water the entire time without any diving equipment, even managing to smile and wink at the camera.

“Breathing underwater?” Nan Liujing keenly noticed Zhao He’s nostrils flaring slightly, as if he were breathing.

“It’s perfect for a diving instructor to awaken such a talent,” Nan Liujing mused. After all, since the players lived on an island, awakening a practical underwater talent would allow Zhao He to explore much further.

However, expanding his exploration range would also bring greater risks. It was still unknown what changes the ocean environment would undergo once the Tutorial Day buff wore off. Even on Earth, exploring the ocean alone was extremely dangerous; in a survival game like this, it was even more unpredictable.

But in any case, for Zhao He, the benefits of awakening this talent far outweighed the drawbacks.

In comparison, many other players’ awakened talents were rather mediocre; some were even beyond description.

In the most popular talent discussion thread on the homepage, 【It’s Day 2—let’s share the talents we’ve gotten!】, countless players are passionately commenting.

39L: What kind of talent is “Hunger King”? It only has one effect: a 10% reduction in food consumption?! I’m so pissed—it’s pure garbage!

48L: I must be a non-RNG-friendly player… The talent I got is called “God of Sleep,” and its effect is that stamina recovery speed increases 1%… 1%… Haha.

70L: Man, this has me laughing out of sheer frustration. The “Thinker” talent looks awesome, right? Turns out the effect is 1 point of stamina per hour. What a piece of junk!

……

9302L: The idea that the game awakens talents based on a player’s class, experience, hobbies, willpower, and other such metrics is absolutely wrong! Let me speak from personal experience. I’m a diving instructor with 20 years in the field—a colleague of that guy on the forum who streams coral forest ecology. In terms of professional experience, I’ve got several more years under my belt than him. Yet he got the “Deep Sea Wanderer” talent, and what did I get? Haha, don’t laugh at me, but I’ll post it here for everyone to see.

【Internet Addict】

【Talent Effect: Regains 1 Stamina per hour while browsing forums.】

【You must be a serious internet addict, huh?】

Coral Island – Xu Jia replies to 9302L Lonely Island – Feng Jianguo: You didn’t go in the water yesterday, did you?

Lonely Island – Feng Jianguo replies to Coral Island – Xu Jia: I didn’t go in the water with any device—I spent the whole day browsing the forum. So what?

Coral Island – Xu Jia replies to Lonely Island – Feng Jianguo: Then, isn’t it perfectly normal for you to have awakened this talent? The system doesn’t actually awaken talents based on a player’s past experiences; its criteria are based on the player’s performance on the first day.

As soon as this reply appeared, the thread instantly went off the rails. Countless players swarmed in, tagging Xu Jia with questions. Those who had awakened weaker talents were particularly outraged and began demanding proof from Xu Jia.

Coral Island – Xu Jia: Too many people are asking, and it’s a bit of a hassle to explain to everyone individually, so I’ll start a separate thread. Please hold on a moment. 

Nan Liujing also sat up straight. He had originally been among those who speculated that talent awakening was related to a player’s class and background, but the fact that so many players have awakened strange talents that have absolutely nothing to do with their backgrounds, so the only explanation is bad luck.

Now that a new theory had emerged, he couldn’t help but feel curious.

Since there was still some time before eight o’clock, Nan Liujing waited patiently for a while, refreshing the homepage every few minutes. Twenty minutes later, Xu Jia’s post appeared, and he clicked on it the moment he saw it.

【A Brief Discussion on the Underlying Logic of Talent Awakening.】