Day 2 of Survival, 8:00 PM.

Nan Liujing appeared on the beach right on time. As the tide receded, several items of supplies were left behind on the shore, while many more drifted away with the waves.

“What’s that?” Visibility was poor at night, so Nan Liujing turned on his flashlight. A beam of light pierced the darkness, shining straight onto the water’s surface. The beam swept back and forth for a moment, catching only a fleeting glimpse of what looked like the tentacle of some enormous creature.

Nan Liujing gasped. Only half of the tentacle was visible above the water, yet it appeared to be nearly as tall as a person.

“Are there really marine creatures this big in the ocean? No, this must be a sea monster.” Nan Liujing had a strange premonition: when they woke up tomorrow morning, what awaited them players wouldn’t be a tutorial day.

Tonight’s fleeting glimpse was highly likely to become a real threat tomorrow.

And this game, titled *Island Survival*, was about to officially bare its fangs at them. 

“Forget it. Why am I even thinking about this? It’s not like I can control the game’s programming.” Shrugging, Nan Liujing forced his unease deep into his heart and

turned to look at the supplies on the beach, his eyes narrowing. “What the hell? Not a single chest tonight?”

After circling the coastline, Nan Liujing confirmed it: there really wasn’t a single chest tonight. All he had gathered were 8 wet planks, 5 canvas scraps, 7 palm leaves, and 4 plastic items.

Given the abundance of basic materials, Nan Liujing managed to get over the disappointment of not finding any treasure chests.

After spreading out all the materials that needed drying on the shore, Nan Liujing picked up a plastic bucket and, using a flashlight, dug for clams until high tide. Then, hoisting his fishing rod, he headed to the reef area to fish. He moved seamlessly from one task to the next, never resting from start to finish, until his stamina was down to single digits. Only then did he stagger up to the bed. Clinging to his last shred of consciousness, he grabbed the mechanical alarm clock to set the timer before finally collapsing, curling up on the coral fleece blanket and falling into a deep sleep.

As Nan Liujing lost consciousness, faint green specks of light began to emanate from the simple wooden single bed, like fireflies flickering in the night, slowly settling upon the sleeping young man and silently merging with him.

The young man’s strength began to slowly return.

【Wooden Single Bed】

【Category: Furniture】

【A simple little bed that restores 20 stamina points per hour when used. Sleeping for a full 8 hours grants the “Full of Energy” effect.】

【Full of Energy: Stamina cap increased by 50 points, lasts for 12 hours.】 

Day 3 of Survival.

With the mechanical alarm clock, Nan Liujing successfully woke up at 5 a.m.

By this time, his stamina was fully restored, but since he hadn’t slept for a full 8 hours, he didn’t get the “Full of Energy” effect.

However, this minor setback was exactly what Nan Liujing had anticipated. He was willing to sacrifice one use of the “Full of Energy” effect to wake up early in order to verify two game settings.

First, he took out his tablet and expertly tapped into the quest interface. The second main quest was still marked as incomplete and could not be submitted. Even the date in the top-left corner still showed yesterday’s date.

A look of understanding flashed across Nan Liujing’s eyes. Without saying much, he opened his backpack to check last night’s haul.

Thanks to the step-by-step tutorials posted by several seasoned beachcombers on the forum, Nan Liujing had officially mastered the basics of clam digging. While he wouldn’t claim a 100% success rate, he’d achieved about 70% success, and last night he’d successfully harvested 24 clams and 5 cat’s eye snails—enough for a single meal.

If he could, Nan Liujing would spend all his time foraging by the sea. He found that the more he did it, the more fun it became. Every time he spotted a small hole that looked like a breathing hole and dug down to actually find something, it gave him a little sense of accomplishment—it was particularly addictive.

Unfortunately, low tide doesn’t last forever. With the time left, Nan Liujing had no choice but to go fishing. As for his catch…

Nan Liujing looked silently at his backpack.

5 sardines, 4 empty soda cans, 1 message in a bottle, 3 fish bones, 5 tin cans.

What else could he say? He could only conclude that the indigenous people of this world still had a long way to go in terms of marine environmental awareness.

He took out the message in a bottle. Inside was just a small, rolled-up piece of paper, but because the seal wasn’t tight, half the bottle was filled with seawater, which had already soaked the paper until the writing was illegible.

So Nan Liujing concluded this wasn’t a clue for some hidden quest—it was simply marine debris. Sigh.

5:30 a.m. The sound of flapping wings and a shrill birdcall echoed overhead. Nan Liujing looked up to see the familiar newspaper delivery bird, clad in its little vest and carrying a sling bag

bag, folded its wings, and dove downward.

“Caw!!”

Nan Liujing burst into laughter, jumped out of bed, and stretched out his arms to wave vigorously: “Hi! Good morning!”

The newspaper delivery bird was also delighted to see him and circled overhead a couple of extra times before landing on the mailbox.

Perched on the lonely red mailbox standing on the deserted island was a seabird. The seabird deftly pried open the small door of the mailbox with its claws, stuck its long beak into the crossbody bag,picking up a newspaper and stuffing it into the mailbox. It didn’t rush to pull its head out, but instead rummaged around inside a couple of times. Only after discovering there was nothing else inside did it lift its head: “Caw?”

The newspaper delivery bird looked at Nan Liujing and tilted its head in confusion.

Nan Liujing dramatically slapped his forehead. “Oh, right! I do have a letter I need you to deliver!”

Of course, he could have simply dropped the postcard into the mailbox the day before, but then how would he bond with his bird companion? Nan Liujing certainly wouldn’t pass up an opportunity to get close.

He dug out the completed postcard, along with two colorful coupons. The coupons had been haphazardly stuffed into his hands yesterday by the newspaper delivery bird, who’d been moved by the gesture. Later, he sorted through them and, among all the discounts and buy-one-get-one-free offers, found a 【Free Tasting Coupon】 and a 【Free Planting Coupon】.

【Free Tasting Coupon】

【Category: Coupon】

【Issued by Mrs. Hannah’s Bakery. Present this coupon to receive two bags of sliced bread (flavor subject to availability)!】

【Free Planting Voucher】

【Category: Coupon】

【Issued by the Earth Breathing Agriculture Association. Present this voucher to receive a plot of poor-quality farmland.】

Since it’s free, what’s there to say? Who wouldn’t take advantage of a freebie like this? Nan Liujing decided to use it right away.

He stuffed the postcard and two coupons into the newspaper delivery bird’s crossbody bag. Nan Liujing, ever the smooth operator, pulled out two sardines and said, “Sorry about that. It’s all my fault for being so scatterbrained and wasting your time. Have you had breakfast yet? Try some of the fish I caught.”

After devouring the two little sardines, the newspaper delivery bird looked at Nan Liujing with even more affection. It even gently rubbed its fuzzy head against the young man’s hand and let out a soft chirp.

Unfortunately, it didn’t produce any more coupons before taking flight. Nan Liujing thought to himself how unfortunate that was, but he didn’t let it show. He continued to wave cheerfully as he said goodbye: “Bye! See you tomorrow!”

“Caw!!!”

After the newspaper delivery bird flew away, Nan Liujing retrieved the paper from the mailbox. Today’s paper was the *Impermanent Sea Daily*. Nan Liujing recalled that when he received the badge, the item description listed three types of free newspapers, and the *Impermanent Sea Daily* was one of them. It seemed this free newspaper service randomly delivered one of the three papers each day, rather than all of them.

But that wasn’t a big deal. Nan Liujing just needed to stay informed about the world; he wasn’t actually addicted to reading newspapers. It didn’t matter which paper it was—as long as he had something to read.

“The ‘Impermanent Sea Daily’—that’s an interesting name. Could this stretch of sea be called the Impermanent Sea?” It didn’t sound very auspicious.

Muttering to himself, Nan Liujing unfolded the paper with a rustle and found two noteworthy items amid the sea of text.

【Overpopulation of black-faced sheep on Wool Island is severely impacting the island’s ecosystem. The Shepherds’ Association has issued a limited-time culling permit for black-faced sheep and announced their weakness: “‘Be careful—these sheep with their cute little black faces aren’t some fragile little creatures. When they go berserk, they can knock down a huge tree! But they can’t stand shrill sounds. Remember to bring a whistle, and they’ll just stand there frozen, ready for you to slaughter them.’】

【Several potions witches have jointly issued a statement announcing that stocks of “Sun Grass,” the core magical plant used to brew stamina potions, are critically low, resulting in a 20% price increase for stamina potions. If more sun grass cannot be obtained in time, further price hikes for stamina potions cannot be ruled out.】

“Now I know that black-faced sheep can be caught on Wool Island, and that witches need sun grass.” Nan Liujing put down the newspaper, a look of regret on his face. “It’s a shame I can’t leave this island; otherwise, I’d really love to go to Wool Island and join in the fun.”

Thinking back to the last time he ate mutton—that was ages ago.

“As for sun grass, is it possible to buy and sell it through the mailbox?” Nan Liujing couldn’t help but start considering another possibility. “Anyway, I’m just sitting around with nothing to do on the island, and I’m about to get a plot of farmland. It doesn’t matter what I plant.”

At least he knew that once he grew sun grass, he’d definitely be able to sell it—which was far better than blindly planting other seeds.

Speaking of seeds, he didn’t have a single one yet—he’d have to figure something out.

“Could I get some from a treasure chest?” Nan Liujing decided to head to the trading area after today’s low tide to have a look. As he read the newspaper and pondered his options, the time reached exactly 5:00.

Nan Liujing first went to the simple water collector, transferring the 2 liters of fresh water he’d collected into an idle oak barrel. Then he opened his tablet and, as expected, saw the text in the top-left corner had changed.

【Day 3 of Survival: Safe Day】

“Just as I thought. We entered the game at 6:00 AM on the first day, so 6:00 AM is the point where the in-game date changes.” Video Games

Nan Liujing had gotten up early specifically to verify two things: first, the time the newspaper delivery bird delivers the paper; second, the time the game date changes. Now

that he had successfully gathered data on both times, his objective was accomplished.

It was well worth it.

Humming cheerfully, he submitted the main quest and received a scroll.

【Simple Shelter Construction Blueprint】

【A blueprint detailing how to build a Simple Shelter. Please tear it open to use.】

【Simple Shelter】

【Category: Architecture】

【A makeshift shelter constructed from wooden planks and leaves. Don’t expect it to keep out the wind and rain.】

【Crafting Materials: Wooden Planks x50, Leaves x40, Nails x30.】

“As expected, the required materials are quite a lot.” Nan Liujing wore a look that said, “I knew it,” and glanced at the newly spawned main quest.

【Survival!!!】

【Quest Objective: Survive until Day 32.】

【Reward: Survivor’s Chest.】

【Notes: 1. Days 3–32 of survival are designated as Safe Days, during which extreme weather will not occur. The probability of resource respawn returns to normal, and some marine creatures may land on your island; please take precautions.

2. A basic shelter can help you fend off attacks from other creatures. They cannot invade your shelter until its durability reaches zero. Please build a shelter as soon as possible and store your supplies inside.】

“Wow, the timeline just jumped that far ahead? It’s already 30 days.” Nan Liujing let out a sigh of surprise, then furrowed his brow at the keywords in the note. “Marine creatures coming ashore… So I wasn’t mistaken last night after all.”

The thought of such a massive tentacled monster actually crawling onto the island sent a chill down Nan Liujing’s spine. “Is it too late to start believing in Cthulhu now? Wait, don’t be so pessimistic—maybe it’s just passing by and won’t come ashore after all?”

That said, Nan Liujing remained on high alert and added “set up a makeshift shelter” and “find weapons” to his to-do list, assigning them the highest priority.

“First, let’s see if I have enough materials to build a makeshift shelter.”

After two days of gathering, he had amassed the following basic materials: 53 wooden planks, 53 pieces of canvas, 35 palm leaves, and 39 iron nails.

Good news—he had enough nails. While he was a bit short on wooden planks and palm leaves, the gap wasn’t too wide; with a bit of luck, he could gather the remaining materials within the day. Seeing this, Nan Liujing finally let out a sigh of relief.