One second you’re living your normal life🌍 The next, you’re stranded on a raft in a survival game. 🌊🛶 No food. No fresh water. Adapt—or die. ☠️ Billions dropped into the ocean with nothing but a raft. And the only survivor was a 20-year-old girl?! 🌊

Chapter 1 Survival On The Seas

A single raft, one fishing rod, and just one person. How long could anybody actually survive drifting on an endless ocean like this?

If you'd asked Leeanne Dillion that question twenty-four hours ago, she would've rolled her eyes and laughed. "You're joking, right? I'd be done for before the day was out."

Yet here she was, white-knuckling a cheap fishing rod, perched on a flimsy little raft with nothing but shimmering blue water in every direction as far as she could see.

How on earth had this happened?

One minute she'd been at the office, head down and grinding through another late night. The next, she was here.

Leeanne was twenty-four, a full-on workaholic who genuinely believed hard work always paid off.

She'd been pushing herself since college, and the last two years on the job had been relentless.

The past three months had been the worst yet: no weekends, barely three or four hours of sleep a night, every ounce of energy poured into one massive project.

Finish it, cash the big bonus, and finally take a real break. That had been the plan.

Instead, she'd rested her head on her desk for a five-minute power nap and woken up in this nightmare.

She thought maybe she was so exhausted she'd slipped into the mother of all stress dreams.

[Hey there, adorable players!] a bright, almost cartoonishly cheerful voice sang out of nowhere.

A huge glowing panel materialized in front of her, words appearing across it in perfect rhythm with the announcer.

[Welcome to Survival on the Seas! You're in District 33. Please read the rules carefully.]

[First: This is a real world. Death here is permanent. One life, no do-overs.]

[Second: The first wave of players is everyone aged eighteen to fifty. Seniors and kids are safe back home and being looked after.]

[Third: Everyone starts the same: one raft, one fishing rod, and the open ocean.]

[Fourth: The sea is full of supplies. Random treasure chests will float by. Use your rod to hook them.]

[Fifth: Unless you have proper gear, stay out of the water. It's seriously dangerous down there.]

[Sixth: Never drink raw seawater. It'll dehydrate you even worse.]

[Seventh: You've got a three-day newbie protection period. Things are relatively calm for now. Use the time to gather resources, upgrade your raft, and prepare for what comes after day three.]

[For more details, check the newbie guide. Players, dive into this world and good luck!]

A minute later the giant panel collapsed into a ribbon of light that looped around Leeanne's wrist.

In an instant it became a sleek watch: blue strap, silver face showing the time and weather, with one glowing gold button at the bottom.

She twisted her wrist, studying it curiously, then pressed the button.

The panel flickered back into view, smaller now, roughly ten feet tall and sixteen feet wide, the same rules still glowing across its surface.

She swiped across it and discovered she could resize it freely, shrinking it down to roughly tablet size.

In the top left corner were her name, the in-game date and time, and current conditions.

It read: [Leeanne Dillion. Day 1 at sea, 9:00 a.m. Clear skies.]

tom right were neat little tabs: [Newbie Guide, Local Chat, and a few others.]

She skimmed the guide again to burn the essentials into memory, then tapped Local Chat.

District 33 Chat (100000/100000):

[Somebody help me! I'm out here alone on this tiny raft and I can't see another soul!]

[Same! Just endless ocean. I'm freaking out, I've always hated deep water!]

[You all saw that giant screen, right? It literally said Survival on the Seas.]

[Is this seriously a game? Because it feels way too real.]

[Don't play around. It said death is permanent. No respawns!]

[No way this is real. Tech isn't this advanced yet. Gotta be some kind of scam. I'm a good swimmer, I'm jumping in to see what's—]

A second later someone posted in all caps: [Did somebody just die? Check the player count!"

Leeanne's gaze snapped upward.

[District 33, Local Chat (99999/100000).]

One person gone. Just like that.

Her stomach lurched.

District 33 implied there were dozens, maybe hundreds of these zones, each stuffed with 100,000 players. That counter ticking down to 99999 wasn't a bug. Someone had just died.

The chat erupted.

[I don't wanna die! I just wanna go home, please, somebody get me outta here.]

[Jesus, chill out. You've seriously never played a survival game? Never cracked open one of those novels? Start hoarding supplies before you end up as chum. Losing it wouldn't keep you breathing.]

[Help me! I slipped off the raft and the sharks got me! One tore into my leg—it's killing me!]

It was pure pandemonium. Leeanne watched the meltdown for a solid minute before swiping the screen away.

That one guy had the right idea: losing it wouldn't keep her breathing.

She'd spent years grinding through college and jobs, always clawing for the top spot, but she'd still binged her share of survival web novels back in the day.

The whole setup felt eerily familiar, enough to keep her head clear.

She stood up carefully on the cramped raft, barely six and a half square feet, and looked around.

There was hardly room to stretch out without risking a dunk in the shark-filled ocean. One bad dream and she'd be gone.

'Way too small. This is gonna be rough,' Leeanne thought.

Suddenly, a soft chime rang inside her head.

[Beep. Suitable host detected. Survival System binding in progress…]

[Beep. Survival on the Seas game detected. System fusion in progress…]

[Beep. Fusion complete. Binding successful. Host environment extremely hostile. Activating Seedling Protection Protocol—drawing random support item. 10… 9… 8… 7…]

A huge, vibrant lottery wheel popped into existence right in front of her, spinning so fast it turned into a colorful blur.

Ten seconds later it eased to a stop.

[Beep. Congratulations, host! You've drawn a god-tier item: Mystical Cherry Grove. Please select placement location.]

Something dropped from thin air with a light thud. Leeanne snatched it mid-fall.

It was a smooth white wooden token the size of her palm, intricately carved with a delicate pink blossom and flowing script that read Mystical Cherry Grove.

'So I just… place it somewhere?' Leeanne thought, puzzled.

She scanned the tiny raft, then held the token out toward the front edge.

A faint shadow outlined a section of the planks. [Place Mystical Cherry Grove here?]

"Yes," Leeanne said.

The token vanished in a burst of light. The outlined patch of raft shimmered with a warm golden glow. Leeanne took a breath, then stepped onto it.

Everything shifted.

She found herself standing on soft, damp earth in a roughly a-hundred-square-feet space completely encircled by thick white mist.

A sweet floral scent hung in the air while pink cherry petals drifted lazily down from the fog, carpeting the ground.

Through the haze she could just make out the tips of flowering branches.

Curiosity pulled her toward them, but an invisible wall stopped her cold at the mist's edge.

She turned back and spotted the token floating in the center of the space, now blown up to massive size with the words "Mystical Cherry Grove" glowing in elegant golden script.

A soft light pulsed gently from it.

Leeanne walked over and touched it. The glow shattered into warm particles that washed over her skin, sharpening her senses and filling her with fresh energy.

The system voice rang clear in her mind. [Congratulations, host! You've received today's random luck boost: Double Bonus(All resources doubled.)]

Chapter 2 Double Resources

'Double resources?' Leeanne's heart raced with excitement. 'This buff is straight-up active on me right now!'

A daily random luck boost. That had to mean she could come back every single day for a fresh one, and each day's boost would be different.

Some might be absolute gold, others just solid.

She'd figure that out as time went on.

Either way, this Mystical Cherry Grove was already proving to be a complete game-changer.

Now she just had to see how crazy powerful Double Bonus actually was.

First things first though—how the heck did she get out of here?

"Exit," she muttered, giving it a shot. The world blurred again, and just like that she was back on the raft.

Her eyes immediately caught a wooden chest bobbing along in the waves, drifting closer with the current.

The system chimed in right on cue.

[Survival Tip: Chests contain valuable supplies. Never let one pass. Use your fishing rod to hook it.]

"On it!" Leeanne snatched up the rod lying nearby.

She noticed instantly that this wasn't any regular fishing rod. It was thick and sturdy, the hook massive and tough, and there wasn't a trace of bait anywhere.

'How am I supposed to catch fish without bait?' she wondered.

Then again, a chest wasn't a fish—it wasn't gonna bite the hook on its own.

'Screw it. Only one way to know,' Leeanne thought, brushing off her doubts.

She wasn't some pro angler, but she'd watched enough YouTube to fake the motion. She drew back and cast the line smooth and clean.

The hook shot out with a sharp snap and latched straight onto the chest. 'Are you kidding me? It actually worked,' she thought.

She reeled it in slow and steady until the chest bumped the raft's edge, then hauled it aboard.

It was lighter than she'd expected.

The chest was weathered brown wood with an old-fashioned latch but no lock at all. She flipped it open without any trouble.

Inside sat a single bottle of mineral water, a pack of cream-filled buns, and a can of oatmeal.

[Opening chest… Double Bonus active: Mineral Water x2, Custard Croissant x2, Oatmeal x2.]

In the blink of an eye, perfect duplicates materialized right next to the originals.

'It legit doubles everything. This buff is absolutely ridiculous—in the best possible way!' Leeanne thought.

If she rationed smart, this haul could easily last her a solid two days.

Grinning wide, Leeanne twisted open a bottle of water and chugged several long, grateful swallows.

The sun had been brutal, and she'd been running on fumes for hours.

When the thirst finally eased, she cracked open a can of oatmeal and dug in.

While she ate, she pulled up the local chat.

The holographic screen was alive with complaints, everyone unloading their misery in a nonstop stream.

[My throat's straight-up on fire, dudes. This raft's got zilch to eat or drink. How are you guys even holding out?]

[I'm legit dying here—thirsty as hell, roasting alive, stomach growling like crazy. What kind of garbage game skips the starter kit? Just slaps you with this crappy rod that catches nothing. Whatever, I'm done trying. Fate can take the wheel.]

[I finally snagged a chest. Pulled out a bottle of water. Sipping it real slow… man, it's hitting the spot.]

[Got one too, but mine only had a pack of soda crackers.]

[Mine coughed up some nasty tangled plastic. Completely useless. Yeeted it right into the drink.]

[Found an empty chest. Got so mad I hurled the whole thing overboard.]

The messages kept rolling in like that.

Leeanne scrolled through them for a solid stretch and quickly realized chests were rare for most folks. Even the ones who scored usually only got one or two measly items, nothing close to the jackpot she'd hit.

No one else seemed to have her luck boost or the Survival on the Seas system; they were all stuck starting from scratch with just a basic raft and rod.

At least, that was how it appeared in chat. For all she knew, someone else could be quietly stacking supplies and playing it cool, staying off everyone's radar.

'I'm seriously the lucky one here,' she thought to herself. A warm glow of satisfaction spread through her.

Luck had never exactly been on her side back in the real world, but this survival game had turned everything around, blessing her with ridiculous perks like the luck aura and the Mystical Cherry Grove.

She was thriving on it.

When the can was scraped empty, Leeanne carefully saved the plastic spoon, rinsed the container sparkling clean with seawater, and tucked it neatly back into the chest.

She never wasted anything if she could help it; you never knew what might come in handy later.

The idea of people casually tossing out perfectly good chests just baffled her.

Hers was a sturdy wooden gem, about thirty inches long, twenty wide, and deep enough to double as a comfy seat.

It handled storage and gave her somewhere to park herself on the tiny raft, making it an absolute lifesaver.

The only downside was how cramped things were getting. Her already limited space felt even more squeezed now that the chest was taking up a big chunk of it, turning every movement into a careful shuffle.

She absolutely had to expand soon.

Pulling the menu back up, she eyed the options in the bottom-right corner: Newbie Guide, Regional Chat, Expand.

The Expand button was visible but still grayed out and locked.

After a quick think, she grabbed the fishing rod again.

In games like this, that almost always meant she was short on the necessary materials.

No sense overcomplicating it,' she thought. 'I should just keep hunting chests.'

Leeanne settled in with patient focus, casting and waiting. She'd tried dropping the hook for actual fish multiple times, but every attempt flopped.

The oversized hook and total lack of bait made real fishing a joke for now.

About half an hour later, her persistence finally paid off when a second chest bobbed into range. She flicked the rod smoothly, hooked it, and reeled it aboard without breaking a sweat.

Just like the first, it opened easily with no lock. Inside sat five solid planks of wood, and the Expand button instantly lit up in her interface.

[Wooden chest opened. Today's Double Luck bonus active: Wood x10!]

[Decompose chest? Yields Wood x3, Nails x3.]

'Decompose? That wasn't an option earlier,' Leeanne thought, raising an eyebrow. 'It probably unlocks once I have wood in my inventory.'

That totally made sense.

She didn't dwell on it. "Decompose," she said firmly.

The chest fell apart in a satisfying clatter, leaving tidy stacks of materials on her raft.

[Decomposition complete. Double Luck bonus: Wood x6, Nails x6.]

[Survival task unlocked: Expand raft to 100 square feet. Reward: Basket of fresh strawberries, 2 bread rolls.]

Leeanne's eyes lit up with excitement. She'd already been set on expanding, and now a quest popped up with mouthwatering rewards attached. Talk about perfect timing.

'Strawberries… I can practically taste that sweet, juicy burst already,' she thought, feeling even more pumped.

Suddenly buzzing with energy, she tapped straight into the Build menu.

[Materials needed to build 10 square feet of raft: 10 pieces of wood, 10 nails.]

She had more than enough wood now, but the nails were still coming up short. One more chest should do it.

With nothing but endless blue stretching in every direction, she flipped local chat back open to scope out what everyone else was managing.

[Just hauled up an empty chest. Absolutely nothing inside. I'm fuming.]

[I've already nabbed five chests, guys. Two were total duds, one had a couple bread rolls, one had water, and one had some rope. So annoying; these huge boxes and barely a handful of stuff.]

[Bro, five chests? I haven't even laid eyes on one. You're basically the luck god.]

Five chests already. That player was no slouch.

Leeanne quietly filed away the details. Name: Jessica Atwood, ID XY000666.

Tapping the ID pulled up a bare-bones profile. Only the name, ID, and age showed; everything else stayed locked behind a deliberately fuzzy 3D avatar.

The game clearly took player privacy pretty seriously.

Chapter 3 Trading Goods And Expanding The Raft

Below Jessica's profile sat a clean row of buttons: [Trade], [Add Friend], [Send Message], and the rest of the usual options.

Leeanne opened her own panel. Her ID showed as XY90056, with a blurry 3D hologram of herself at the top. A small [Show] button sat next to it. She tapped it, and the image sharpened into perfect detail, every feature crisp and unmistakable.

One more tap on [Hide], and it blurred out again.

So everything except name, ID, and age stayed hidden by default. The really private details were locked down, visible only to her.

Her full stats read:

[ID: XY90056

[Name: Leeanne Dillion

[Age: 24

[Strength: 4

[Agility: 6

[Constitution: 4

[Occupation: None

[Skills: None

Other: 1. Mystical Cherry Grove; 2. Double Bonus (doubles resource gains)]

The same buttons lined the bottom: Trade, Friends, Messages, and so on.

She closed the panel and flipped back to local chat, which had turned into absolute chaos.

[I'm parched out here! Hauled up two chests and didn't get a single drop of water. If this keeps up, I'm done for.]

[I've got water, but I'm starving bad. Pulled an all-nighter gaming right before this craziness hit, skipped breakfast and lunch, and now I can barely swing my hook.]

[Hey y'all, it's Ronny! Any kind soul got a little something to drink? I'll sing and dance for you, swear I'm adorable.]

Pretty much everyone was scraping the bottom of the barrel.

Leeanne frowned as she read through the messages. 'Food and water can't be this tough to find. No way the game wants to knock out half the players this early, right?'

It had only been one morning, after all. A few lucky ones had already scored some supplies, even if it wasn't much. Things would likely pick up in the afternoon.

She still had two full packs of custard croissant, six soft little ones in each. Once she finished the raft expansion quest, she'd unlock strawberries and fresh rolls as rewards.

For the moment, she was solid on both food and water. So why not trade a couple croissants for empty chests while everyone else was scrambling?

Nobody had figured out yet that chests could be broken down for materials. It was the perfect chance to take advantage of that knowledge gap and stockpile a ton of wood.

Leeanne typed into chat: [Trading one custard croissant for 2 empty chests. Shoot me a PM if you're down."

The [Custard Croissant] were clickable, and tapping the name brought up a mouthwatering 3D model: golden, fist-sized pastries that looked ridiculously soft and fluffy, with a faint sweet cream scent that somehow carried right through the screen.

The chat lost its mind.

[Oh man, I'm straight-up drooling. Those custard croissants look unreal!"

[I legit smell them from here. I'm dying over here. Leeanne, any chance I can pay you back later?]

A few people pushed back hard. [You're asking two whole chests for that tiny little croissant? Seriously?]

[Yeah, that's highway robbery. Never seen bread roll go for that much. Plus it's so small, you'd inhale it in two bites.]

Leeanne shrugged off the complaints. 'So what if I'm a highway robbery? Food's scarce right now, and they haven't caught on that chests are actually useful.]

Someone else jumped in to defend her almost right away. [Why are you even hanging onto empty chests? You got unlimited space on your raft or something? That one little croissant could straight-up save somebody today.]

Jessica chimed in: [Leeanne, count me in! I freaking love those croissants. I've got chests piling up and taking space anyway.]

Regret flooded the chat instantly. [Noooo, I literally just yeeted an empty chest into the ocean! My poor croissant...]

One curious player poked: [Leeanne, what's the deal with hoarding chests? You're giving away food left and right. Not scared you'll starve later?]

Leeanne ignored the prying and checked her inbox, which was already lighting up.

The first message was from Jessica, the lucky player who'd pulled five chests that morning.

Jessica: [Hey Leeanne! Got 4 empty chests here. Can you spot me two custard croissants?]

Leeanne accepted the trade on the spot.

[Double Bonus activated: Received Chests x8]

'Wait... it doubles trades too?' She stared at the notification, totally floored. 'That's completely overpowered.'

Eight chests now wobbled in a dangerous stack on her small raft, looking ready to tip everything over. She hurried to dismantle them before she took an unplanned swim.

[Chest dismantled. Double bonus activated: you received 6 wood and 6 nails.]

[Chest dismantled. Double bonus activated: you received 6 wood and 6 nails.]

When she finished all eight, she had a solid 48 wood and 48 nails.

She immediately pulled up the expansion menu.

[Add another raft section (roughly 10 square feet)? Requires: 10 Wood, 10 Nails. Confirm?]

"Yes," Leeanne said firmly.

[Construction complete. Select placement location.]

She could only attach new sections to the existing edges, so she slotted the first one onto the left side.

Without missing a beat, she queued up five more sections and watched them snap into place. The raft now covered nearly 100 square feet, giving her enough room to stretch, turn around, and move freely without constantly knocking into her supplies or feeling trapped.

Just one more section and the quest reward would drop.

Leeanne hopped back into the trade channel, made a few quick deals, and snagged six empty chests. The double bonus was still running, so the system treated them as twelve when she smashed them open, handing her 36 fresh planks and 36 nails.

[Add another raft section (10 square feet)? Requires: 10 Wood, 10 Nails. Confirm?]

She built three more and locked them in seamlessly. The raft now measured roughly 7 feet wide and 20 feet long, a solid 130 square feet overall. It finally felt like a real platform instead of a tiny floating board.

[Raft Expansion Quest Complete. With today's double bonus active, rewards doubled: 2 baskets of strawberries, 4 large bread rolls.]

The goodies materialized on the deck in front of her. Two cute little wicker baskets sat brimming with plump, glossy strawberries, ten berries apiece, while four hefty bread rolls rested nearby.

Those rolls looked massive; Leeanne figured she could only handle half of one at a time.

Most of the day had slipped away, and her stomach was loudly protesting the delay. She grabbed a custard croissant from her stash, tore off a big bite, then plucked a strawberry, gave it a quick rinse in seawater, and popped it into her mouth.

A rush of sweet-tart flavor flooded her senses. 'Holy crap, these are incredible. Way juicier and tastier than anything from the store,' she thought.

Suddenly, inspiration struck. 'That Mystical Cherry Grove has soft, damp soil. I could totally plant something there if I get the chance.'

She polished off five more strawberries, then carefully scraped the tiny seeds from the skins with her fingernail and spread the skins out to dry on a flat chest lid.

She remembered reading about this trick online years ago; it was supposed to yield viable seeds.

Thank goodness the raft was spacious enough now. Earlier, she wouldn't have had anywhere to lay them out without everything sliding into the ocean.

She had started with two full baskets. After devouring six berries from one, that basket now held just four, while the other remained untouched.

Current inventory: 20 Wood, 10 Nails, one full basket of strawberries, 4 large bread rolls, most of a pack of custard croissants, 2 bottles of mineral water, 1 can of oatmeal.

She glanced up at the sun, now sliding lower in the western sky, probably around two or three in the afternoon. The heat still beat down relentlessly. Leeanne gingerly touched her flushed, stinging cheeks and decided she needed shade, stat.

She opened the panel again, scrolled to the bottom right, and tapped [Build].

Back when the raft was only about 40 square feet, the build menu hadn't even been an option.

The second she added her first expansion, though, a bunch of new crafting choices unlocked.

Chapter 4 Building A Wooden Gazebo

[Wooden Gazebo: Basic shelter. Provides shade and some warmth. Cost: 50 Wood, 20 Nails. Completion reward: 2 Iron Ingots, 1 Bottle of Water.]

[Workbench: Unlocks crafting recipes. Cost: 10 Wood, 5 Iron Ingots. Completion reward: 1 Bottle of Water, 2 Iron Ingots.]

She still needed iron ingots and more wood. Food and water were in short supply for pretty much everyone right now, which made her remaining custard croissants prime trading bait.

She checked her messages and found a flood of new pings. Taking a deep breath, she traded three croissants for six chests. The double bonus kicked in once more, counting the haul as twelve chests when she broke them down, delivering a massive 120 planks and 120 nails.

She dove straight back into the build menu.

[Wooden Gazebo: Basic shelter. Provides shade and some warmth. Cost: 50 Wood, 20 Nails. Confirm?]

"Hell yeah, let's do this," Leeanne said.

[Select placement location.]

She picked a spot just forward of center. A whirlwind of clattering planks and pinging nails rose from her piles, spinning and assembling themselves in midair. Ten seconds later, a charming little hut stood tall on the deck.

It covered roughly 7 feet by 7 feet, with four sturdy posts about 10 feet high supporting a gently sloped wooden roof.

The front and back were wide open, no doors or windows, just low railings along the sides with built-in benches running underneath.

This thing was adorable. It looked exactly like one of those cozy huts you saw in small towns.

Shade? Delivered in spades. Warmth? Leeanne wasn't totally sold yet.

'Maybe curling up under the bench counts when the nights get chilly,' she thought.

[Gazebo constructed successfully. Today's double luck bonus applied: 4 Iron Ingots, 2 Bottles of Water!]

Four iron ingots and two extra water bottles appeared in tidy stacks. Leeanne did a quick inventory sweep.

Current total: 90 Wood, 110 Nails, 4 Iron Ingots, one full basket of strawberries plus one partial, 4 large bread rolls, plenty of custard croissants left, 3 bottles of mineral water (after sipping from one earlier), 1 can of oatmeal.

She stashed the food and water inside a chest for safekeeping, left the building materials scattered across the deck, stood up, rolled her shoulders, and scanned the horizon.

Two more chests bobbed closer on the gentle waves.

'Hell yeah, free delivery,' she thought, a wide grin splitting her face.

She snatched up her fishing rod, snapped her wrist, and sent the hook flying. It latched onto the first chest with a satisfying tug.

A few steady pulls later, she hauled it aboard. Barely pausing to check the contents, she cast again and reeled in the second one just as smoothly.

When she finally dragged the second chest over the edge, she stopped short. This one was a rich honey-brown, practically brand new, and secured with a solid metal lock.

[System Notice: This is a locked chest. It can be opened with a standard chest key. Standard chest keys can be crafted at a workbench or obtained through other means from chests.]

'Looks like that one's staying sealed until I get a key,' she thought.

She flipped open the first chest instead. Inside lay a bottle of water and a roll of gauze.

[Double Bonus: Bottled Water x2, Gauze x2]

[Decompose chest?]

"No chance, keep it whole!" Leeanne said quickly.

She set the two empty chests side by side to double as storage bins. Food and water went into one, nails, rope, and miscellaneous supplies into the other.

The locked chest had to sit by itself for now.

Thank goodness her raft had grown large enough to accommodate everything; anything smaller and she'd be playing Tetris with chests.

By the time she finished sorting, the sun was sinking low, turning the whole sea into a shimmering sheet of gold.

Leeanne dropped onto one of the chests, legs swinging over the side, fishing rod resting across her lap while she drank in the sunset.

Just two more chests, come on, universe…' she prayed.

Fat chance. The system interface popped up uninvited, and that perky tutorial voice rang out again: [After 6:00 p.m., no new chests will appear. Shift's over, adventurers! You've put in a solid day—time to clock out and chill.]

Leeanne huffed out a disappointed breath. 'Double drops all day and they cut it off right when the sun is still glowing. Oh well, no use sulking.'

The global chat immediately filled with complaints.

[What the heck, it's not even fully dark yet!]

[Hey, six o'clock quitting time is basically generous around here.]

[Generous my ass. I didn't snag a single scrap of food all day. Clocking out to starve?]

[Nine-to-six schedule is honestly pretty decent… if they'd just toss us a little extra grub.]

Leeanne was probably the most gutted of anyone, but whining never fixed anything. She shrugged it off, pulled up the expansion menu, and got back to business.

Time to finally put together that workbench. She'd been itching for it since morning.

[Workbench: Unlocks crafting of various items once the blueprint is obtained. Required: Wood x10, Iron x5. Successful build rewards Bottled Water x1 and Iron x2.]

Only one iron chunk short now. One more piece and she'd be golden.

She flipped back to chat and spotted Jessica's message near the top.

Jessica: [Pro tip, everybody. If you've got any planks at all, you unlock the decompose and build options. One empty chest breaks down into 3 planks and 3 nails. Ten planks plus ten nails expands your raft by roughly 10 square feet!]

The channel went absolutely nuts.

[No way, for real? That's why everybody was hoarding empties this afternoon!]

[I'm actually crying. I opened four chests today and sold every empty. Two to Leeanne, two to some dude named Rodger Spangler.]

[Same here! Traded two empties for four custard croissants and thought I'd scored big.]

[I had one empty and swapped it for a single bottle of water.]

[Wait a minute, wasn't Leeanne the one who kicked off the empty-chest rush? Two chests for one little pastry? Total shark.]

[Yeah, sneakiest player on the server, hands down!]

Rodger: [Give me a break. If any of you had figured it out first, you'd have charged double. Willing buyer, willing seller—quit griping.]

Looked like the cat was out of the bag. Plenty of people had scraped together enough planks this afternoon to discover decomposition, and now the whole server knew.

She now thought trading for empty chests wasn't worth it anymore. Time to move on.

She skimmed the chat a little longer. After a full day out here, most folks had managed at least a half-decent meal—barely. Going hungry was still the norm.

Water seemed to be the real bottleneck.

Either way, her double-Lucky Streak was still active and she needed that last iron chunk. No sense letting the bonus go to waste.

Leeanne: [Trading bottled water for iron blocks. Slide into my DMs if you want in.]

The moment her message posted, chat blew up again.

[That opportunist is back. Sniffs out we're all dying of thirst and starts hawking water.]

[Leeanne, how do you even have spare water to sell? Some of us are dying—I pounded a whole bottle today and I'm already parched again!]

[Been bone-dry all day, even chugged a couple mouthfuls of seawater just to feel something. I'm dehydrated bad. Anyone got a bottle to spare? I'll split every single thing I loot from now on, swear.]

[Try Jessica. When I was short on wood, she straight-up handed me two planks, no strings.]

[Don't even try!]

Chapter 5 Obsessed With Looks

Someone in the group chimed in: [Don't even try! Some dude named Ronald Stallings just posted he was about to croak from thirst and begged Jessica for her last half-bottle. She gave it up without a second thought.]

[Ronald? You mean that pretty-boy idol who's all soft edges and eyeliner?]

Jessica: [Sorry y'all, I'm tapped out. Parched as heck over here now!]

Leeanne clicked her tongue. 'Jessica's got a heart bigger than her raft—dishing out wood, dishing out water. Doubt most of these people will ever pay her back.'

Not her problem. She flicked over to private messages and found them already stacked.

She already had a bunch of private messages waiting for her.

Ronald: [I'm legit dying out here, pretty lady. Hook me up with just a sip?]

Ronald: [I'll flash my abs for a drink.]

Ronald: [Miss, it's your boy Ronny. I sing, I dance, I'm real good at keeping beds warm. Gimme water and I'm yours, whatever you need.]

Leeanne: [What the hell?]

'Yeah, no. Creep alert,' she thought, rolling her eyes. She then blocked him.

She scrolled past the usual noise—people fishing for free wood, trying to charm her—until Jessica's message popped.

Jessica: [Leeanne, if you've got water, why not stash it? Out on the open ocean, water's the only thing keeping us alive. Run dry and you're not making it twenty-four hours.]

Leeanne: [Then why'd you just hand your last half-bottle to Ronald?]

Jessica: [He… he honestly looked ready to pass out, and, okay, I kinda love watching him dance.]

Leeanne couldn't help teasing. [Oh, big fan, huh? Did he give you a private show? Flash those abs you're clearly dying to see?]

Jessica typed back lightning fast. [No way! I'm not that kinda girl. I just think he's stupid hot. When a guy that gorgeous looks at you with actual tears in his eyes… my heart just folded.]

Leeanne was left speechless.

A fresh pile of junk messages had rolled in while she read. She blew past them and messaged Jessica again.

Leeanne: [You sitting on any iron blocks?]

Jessica: [Got three, but I'm holding them for the crafting bench. Can't let any go.]

Leeanne's pulse jumped.

Leeanne: [How about just one?]

Jessica: [Sorry, no dice. I only need two more iron to finish the bench.]

Leeanne: [Sun's dipping fast. Once it's dark, no more chests to haul in tonight. You really wanna ride out the whole night thirsty? Tomorrow's no sure thing either; you might come up empty again. That's another full day of hell.]

Jessica: [But I've got the blueprint for a seawater purifier. Soon as I build the crafting bench, I can crank out a water filter.]

Leeanne's heart raced. 'A purifier that makes ocean water drinkable? Total game-changer.

'Curious if my Double Bonus works on blueprints too.'

She went for it. [Here's an idea. Let me borrow the purifier blueprint and the iron blocks. I'll take one fast look, hand everything right back, and you walk away with half a bottle of water.]

She wouldn't try this stunt on most people, but Jessica struck her as the trusting type.

She sweetened it. [If you're worried I'll vanish, I'll post collateral. Water, fresh strawberries, oatmeal—whatever makes you feel good.]

Jessica stayed quiet for a solid minute.

Leeanne nudged: [Come on, Jessica, girl to girl, I'm not here to screw you over.]

At last, Jessica finally replied: [Okay… but add me as a friend first. I wanna see who I'm dealing with.]

Friend request pinged. Leeanne accepted. Immediately, a video call invite followed.

'Ah, so that's the play. Wants to make sure I'm not some sketchy guy,' Leeanne thought.

Leeanne tapped accept. Jessica's face filled the holo-screen.

Leeanne cranked it up to full ninety-inch display, sharp enough to catch every detail. She could count the light freckles dusting Jessica's nose.

It felt like they were sharing the same raft.

Jessica was cute in that wholesome, girl-next-door way: round face, big round eyes, neat bangs. Straight-up adorable.

All Leeanne could see was the basic info—no deep stats, just age twenty-four, matching her own.

Jessica's eyes went huge, practically sparkling. "Holy crap, Leeanne, you're insanely gorgeous! Like, drop-dead stunning with total badass energy!"

Leeanne knew she was easy on the eyes, but Jessica was full fangirl mode, starry-eyed and borderline drooling.

Jessica stared at Leeanne, absolutely floored.

Leeanne had the most striking vibe she'd ever seen.

Her high ponytail was sleek and tight, not a single strand out of place, eyes sharp and bright, forehead smooth and clean.

She rocked a simple short-sleeved tee and denim shorts that showed off her long legs and flawless skin. Everything about her screamed clean-cut, gorgeous, and straight-up cool.

People would think someone with such a fresh, pretty face and slender frame would be all soft and delicate, but Leeanne moved with this practical, no-nonsense confidence that completely flipped the script.

And those eyes—bright and steady, packed with quiet determination, yet every now and then they'd soften with a flicker of warmth.

She was full of contradictions, but somehow it all clicked together perfectly.

Jessica was head over heels.

She was an absolute sucker for beautiful people. Guys, girls, didn't matter. If someone was stunning, she was done for.

Pretty faces were her ultimate weakness.

Today had been a solid win: great haul, helped a few folks out, and every single one of them, Ronald included, had been ridiculously good-looking. All easy eights, no question.

But Leeanne? A straight-up ten. Just looking at her felt like striking gold.

Jessica couldn't tear her eyes away.

Leeanne was starting to feel seriously creeped out.

'What's this girl's deal? Is she all there?' she thought.

She reached to end the call.

Jessica clenched her fist, cleared her throat, and blurted out, [Leeanne, you've got that honest vibe. I trust you. No collateral needed. Here you go: Beginner Seawater Filter Blueprint, Iron x3.]

She sent the trade request without a second thought.

'Just like that?' Leeanne blinked, thrown off for a second, but she hit accept right away.

[Today's Double Bonus Activated: Received Beginner Seawater Filter Blueprint x2, Iron Ingot x6]

It doubled the blueprint too.

Leeanne's heart raced with pure excitement. She immediately traded one blueprint and three ingots back. "Hit me with another trade real quick."

They swapped again. No double blessing this time, but hey, this was still basically a glitch in her favor, and a damn good one.

Leeanne asked for an empty bottle and poured half her fresh water into it for Jessica.

She'd deliberately turned away earlier, so Jessica had zero clue about the extra loot.

Jessica tilted her head, curious. "Hey, what were you doing eyeballing my blueprint and ingots back there?"

Leeanne didn't even blink. "Oh, I've got the exact same ones. Just wanted to double-check they matched up."

"Did they?" Jessica asked.

"Yep, identical," Leeanne replied with a confident nod.

'As if,' she added silently.

Jessica swallowed it whole and plowed ahead. "Leeanne, check this out!"

She scooted back proudly, giving Leeanne a full view of her raft.

She'd expanded it to roughly sixty-five square feet, with a handful of chests and loose planks scattered across the deck.

Jessica beamed with pride. "See that? My raft's gotten pretty massive. I'm kinda killing it, right…"

Her words cut off as her eyes went wide. "Oh my God, Leeanne, what's that behind you?"

Chapter 6 Trading Supplies And Filtering Seawater

The second Jessica spotted Leeanne's raft, she completely freaked out. "Leeanne, what's that back there? Scoot left a little, lemme see!"

Still buzzing from snagging the extra filter blueprint, Leeanne was feeling generous and shifted over without a fuss.

"Whoa! You've got a legit house!" Jessica exclaimed. "That thing looks incredible. No more roasting in the sun, and you even have a bench? I'm straight-up jealous right now!

"Ugh, I was just hyping myself up about how great I was doing, but compared to you I'm basically floundering.

"Leeanne, how do you even snag so much stuff? Everyone keeps calling me the luckiest player out here, but you're the actual queen.

"Ah, of course the universe has a soft spot for pretty people.

"Leeanne, you're my idol now, no cap!"

Jessica was rambling nonstop, practically bouncing with hype like a total stan finally meeting their fave celeb.

Leeanne felt like five hundred ducks were quacking right in her ears.

She jumped in fast. "Hey, Jess, your raft's honestly pretty decent too…"

Jessica shook her head hard. "Nah, no way. I thought I was living large until I saw yours. Now I feel like I'm barely hanging on."

Jessica was still riding that high and clearly revving up for full chatterbox mode.

Leeanne had to shut it down quick. "Oh shoot, Jess, I totally spaced—I still haven't cracked open my chests. Gotta jet. Catch you later, bye!"

She hung up and let out a huge sigh of relief.

[Workbench: Unlocks crafting of various items. Required materials: 10 Wood, 5 Iron Ingots. Completion reward: 1 Bottled Water, 2 Iron Ingots. Build now?]

"Yes," Leeanne replied without hesitation.

[Construction complete. Please place the workbench.]

She had already set up the wooden gazebo and storage box near the bow to keep the raft balanced, so she placed the crafting bench closer to the stern.

On a raft this small, though, the whole setup was still only a couple of strides apart.

[Workbench placed. Double Luck bonus activated: Bottled Water x2, Iron Ingots x4.]

The bench stood waist-high, essentially a compact table with a glowing touchscreen top. When she tapped it, a clean list of new recipes appeared.

It read: [Fishing Rod: Lets you snag floating treasure chests. Cost: Wood x3, Iron Ingot x1]

[Wooden Oar: [Wooden Paddle: Manually steer the raft, though it gets pretty useless once your raft grows bigger. Cost: 10 Wood, 10 Nails.]

[Iron Anchor: Stops the raft from drifting. Cost: 6 Iron Ingots.]

[Basic Water Purifier: Filters seawater into roughly 37 ounces of fresh drinking water per day. Cost: Wood x20, Cloth Scrap x1, Charcoal x5]

A nice batch of new crafting options had opened up.

Some of them could wait, but the water purifier was her top priority.

Everyone on the server was running low on fresh water right now, which made it the perfect time to start producing and trading.

She already had plenty of wood and one cloth scrap, but she was still missing charcoal.

Since the official marketplace hadn't unlocked yet, players were still bartering through regional chat and private deals.

Leeanne pulled up the chat window, skimmed the messages to gauge current prices, and casually munched on three custard croissants while sipping half a bottle of water.

Once she had a solid feel for the market, she posted: [Trading bottled water for charcoal. Slide into my DMs if you've got some.]

Night had completely fallen. No one could fish for chests in the dark, so the entire server was hanging out in chat, making the channel way more lively than usual.

William Granger: [Been dying of thirst all day, even chugged some seawater like a total moron. Somebody please hook me up with a bottle and I'll split everything I snag from now on, I swear.]

Ronald Stallings: [Hi, it's Ronny. Any kind lady got a little water to spare for a thirsty boy?]

Someone finally had enough. [You two are unreal. You seriously haven't pulled a single chest all day? Just trade for it like the rest of us.]

William Granger: [Hook on my rod broke clean off. Can't grab a thing.]

Ronald Stallings: [I just keep missing them, okay?]

Leeanne ignored the begging and checked her private messages instead. Offers were already coming in fast.

Rodger Spangler: [How many bottles you got?]

Leeanne: [How much charcoal you offering?]

Rodger Spangler: [Five pieces. Five bottles for them.]

Leeanne: [Are you kidding me?]

'This guy's got some serious nerve,' Leeanne thought.

Water was worth its weight in gold right now. Hardly anyone else even had the purifier blueprint yet, so charcoal was basically useless to most players.

Leeanne shot back, annoyed: [One bottle. Take it or leave it.]

Rodger Spangler: [Nah, that's way too low. Plus I'm not even thirsty.]

'Sure you're not. Just hoarding for later,' Leeanne thought. She brushed him off and kept looking for people who actually sounded desperate.

In the end, she traded one and a half bottles to two different players and scored five charcoal total. Double Bonus triggered again, bumping it up to ten.

Rodger messaged her again: [Alright, five charcoal for three bottles now.]

She left him on read. 'Total shark,' she thought.

With charcoal in hand, she headed back to the crafting station.

[Basic Water Purifier: Produces roughly 37 ounces of drinkable water daily. Cost: Wood x20, Cloth Scrap x1, Charcoal x5. Build?]

"Yes," Leeanne confirmed.

[Basic Water Purifier crafted. Please place it.]

She positioned it along the edge of the raft.

[Basic Water Purifier placed. Daily yield: 37 ounces of fresh water. Note: Charcoal filter lasts 5 days before needing a replacement.]

[Double bonus: Bottled Water x2, Iron Ingots x4.]

The purifier was simple enough, basically a large funnel with a narrow spout at the bottom.

Leeanne tested it by pouring seawater from a couple of empty bottles into the top. Clear drops began falling almost right away.

She set an empty bottle underneath to collect them and figured she would fill two or three bottles over the course of a full day.

Finally, she could relax a bit.

The night was pitch-black now, the ocean stretching out endlessly around her with only the gentle sound of waves and a soft breeze.

In shorts and a short-sleeve tee she ought to be freezing, but she felt perfectly comfortable.

'Probably just a game thing,' she thought. 'But I'm not counting on it lasting forever.'

She still had six bottles of water left to trade. Time to cash in while demand was through the roof.

Leeanne posted another message in the chat: [Got bottled water, fresh strawberries, and bread rolls up for trade. Looking for materials, blueprints, ore, pretty much anything useful. First come, first served.]

William Granger: [Anybody, please, just one bottle and I'll give you half of everything I get from here on out.]

Ronald Stallings: [It's Ronny. Ladies, help a poor boy out with some water?]

Leeanne skipped the public pleas and went straight to her private messages.

Jessica: [Leeanne, you manage to snag any charcoal? Get that purifier built yet?]

Leeanne: [Yep, just wrapped it up.]

Jessica: [Sweet! I just took stock. I've got 3 wood, 3 iron ingots, 2 muffins, 5 bundles of weed, 5 charcoal, 6 nails, and one piece of cloth.]

Leeanne frowned slightly. [You were pulling chests left and right earlier. Shouldn't you have way more stuff piled up by now?]

Chapter 7 Making A Wooden Bed

Jessica replied: [Some people asked if they could borrow a few things.]

Leeanne stared at the screen in disbelief. [And you just gave it to them? Like that?]

Jessica: [They're all ridiculously hot!]

Leeanne fell silent for a beat. 'You're kidding me,' she thought.

After a second, she let out a small sigh. [Okay, just send over your whole inventory. I wanna see everything you've got.]

To her complete surprise, Jessica threw it all into the trade window without even hesitating.

Leeanne accepted. Everything except three iron ingots got doubled by today's lucky streak. It wasn't a huge windfall, but it was definitely better than nothing.

The standout item was a piece of soft pink fabric scattered with little clusters of roses. It was seriously pretty.

She sent almost everything back, slipping in a couple of extras as a thank-you. [Here, take these two iron ingots and the roll of gauze. Go craft that water filter. In return, just let me check out anything cool you find from now on, cool?]

'She basically just gifted me a bunch of resources. The least I can do is hook her up a little,' Leeanne thought.

The bigger picture was that Jessica was absurdly lucky. Like, next-level lucky. If Leeanne kept things friendly, she'd have a steady pipeline of good stuff.

And if another double-up day came around, that would be straight-up gold.

Jessica's eyes went comically wide. [You're actually giving me all this?]

Leeanne: [Yep.]

Jessica looked like she might actually start crying happy tears. [Leeanne, you're the absolute best! I knew it, someone as gorgeous as you has to be the sweetest person alive.

[No way, I can't let you take the loss. Here, I'm sending everything right back.]

She immediately tried to reverse the whole trade.

Leeanne laughed softly. [Hey, chill out, it's fine. Just hit me up first if you score anything awesome down the line.]

[Next Double Bonus, I can double whatever she brings. Everybody wins,' she added silently.

Jessica nodded like an excited puppy but still tucked the rose fabric into the trade. [I don't even need this. You take it. Tomorrow when I pull something better, I'll save the good stuff for you, promise.]

Less than a minute later, a new trade request popped up: [Basic Seawater Filter].

Jessica: [Leeanne! Look what I just made!]

Leeanne had been about to hit decline, but a sudden hunch made her pause. She accepted instead.

[Today's double bonus is in effect. You've received two basic water filters.]

Her eyes lit up. 'It works on crafted items too! Score!'

She sent one filter back to Jessica and set hers right beside the first one.

Each stood roughly three feet tall and took up less than half a raft section, so two together barely ate any space.

That bumped her up to four or five bottles of fresh water a day.

'This is huge!' Leeanne thought.

[Leeanne, I'm off to grab some food. Talk tomorrow!] Jessica called out cheerfully before logging off.

Once Jessica was gone, Leeanne settled cross-legged on her raft and scrolled through her private messages, ready to keep hustling.

'Gotta milk this double bonus for all it's worth,' she thought.

Since it was still only day one, most players were scraping by and didn't have much to offer.

Even so, after a bit of haggling, she traded five bottles of mineral water for a wooden bed blueprint, twenty planks, eight iron ingots, and a coil of rope.

Thanks to the double bonus, everything she got was doubled.

Her new inventory looked solid: two wooden bed blueprints, 106 wooden planks, 122 nails, 16 iron ingots, 14 iron blocks, one box of strawberries, eight bread rolls, one bottle of mineral water, one can of oatmeal, two coils of rope, and two pieces of rose fabric.

The crafting station updated with the new recipe: [Wooden Bed: Required: Planks 106/30, Nails 122/20, Fabric 2/1. Craft?]

"Yes," Leeanne said.

[Wooden Bed crafted successfully. Bonus reward: Pair of pillows!]

[Double bonus activated: you scored two pairs of pillows.]

Leeanne placed the bed inside her little wooden gazebo.

It was a cozy five-foot-wide frame topped with a soft mattress in that same pretty pink rose fabric.

She sank into it and let out a contented sigh. Four big matching pillows, plush and perfect for hugging.

This felt amazing.

After straightening everything up, she glanced at the time. Ten o'clock already.

[Double bonus ended. Time to rest up, player! Don't stay up too late.]

'Bedtime this early? I'm usually grinding till the sun comes up,' Leeanne thought.

She smiled to herself. 'New world, new routine, I guess.'

Leeanne sank into the soft bed, wrapped her arms around the pillow, and rolled over a couple of times with a contented sigh.

It felt so much like her own bed back home that, for a second, she could almost forget where she really was.

She stayed there for a while, just letting the quiet wash over her, and only then did the full weight of the day's exhaustion settle in.

Her arms ached, her legs throbbed, and even her feet were complaining. Man, what a full-on day it had been.

The ocean at night was an endless stretch of black, broken only by the soft glow coming from the entrance to Mystical Cherry Grove.

That snapped her out of it. She'd been going nonstop since morning and hadn't even peeked inside the grove once.

She'd sleep better if she just checked on it real quick.

Leeanne dragged herself up and stepped through the entrance.

The place had totally changed.

It had grown a ton. Before, it had been maybe a hundred square feet; now it easily covered a thousand.

She stood there blinking, trying to wrap her head around it. 'Why did it get so much bigger? Is it tied to the raft upgrades somehow?'

She'd figure that out later. No rush.

A thousand square feet still wasn't huge, and the familiar white mist still ringed everything, but over in the northeast corner, half a cherry tree had broken through the haze.

Its branches were loaded with blossoms, petals drifting down in a gentle pink flurry until the ground was completely carpeted.

The sweet scent hung in the air, and the whole scene was absolutely gorgeous.

She walked a slow half-circle around the visible part of the tree, confirming it was the same branch she'd noticed that morning. If the grove kept expanding like this, the full tree would show up before long.

'So what's this place actually meant for?' Leeanne wondered to herself.

Her mind jumped to all the survival stories she'd binged. Magical spaces like this were almost always for growing stuff.

She glanced down at the rich, damp soil under her feet and grinned. 'Worth a try,' she thought.

She had those strawberry seeds she'd dried out earlier. Perfect for an experiment.

She stepped back out, grabbed the dried berries, and rubbed the seeds loose. The sun had been brutal all day, so they came off super easily.

[You've obtained 10 strawberry seeds.]

That surprised her. 'Only ten?' She'd had way more berries than that.

Leeanne felt a quick twinge of disappointment, but then she shrugged. 'Hey, game rules are game rules.'

She took the seeds back inside, picked a nice soft patch of dirt, planted all ten, and gave them a careful splash from one of her bottled waters.

Her parents were total garden nerds. They rented a little plot on the edge of town and spent every weekend out there. She'd helped enough times to pick up the basics over the years.

Seeds in, soil patted down, water added, and a cheerful system chime rang out: [Strawberries planted successfully. First-time planting reward: Spring Onion Seeds x1 packet!]

[Survival Tip: Time in Mystical Cherry Grove flows twice as fast. Plant growth periods are halved.]

[Strawberry: Sweet-and-sour fruit, super tasty. Normal growth cycle: 12 days. With doubled time flow: 6 days]

Leeanne's grin went full wattage. 'Fresh strawberries in just six days? Heck yeah.'

Chapter 8 Lady Luck And Spring Onions

The packet of spring onion seeds was tiny, but she knew exactly how to handle them. Just scatter them across the surface and cover with a thin layer of damp soil. Easy.

She was seriously grateful for how perfect the dirt was here. Soft, moist, no need to dig. If it had been hard and compacted, she'd have been totally stuck without any tools.

Once she finished up, she stepped out of the grove.

She stared out at the dark ocean for a moment and let herself daydream about having a little bed inside. That would be pretty sweet.

But she shook the thought off. She had zero idea if sleeping in a place with doubled time flow would actually let her rest right.

It was probably pushing eleven at night by now. She was completely wiped. Leeanne crawled back onto her raft bed and crashed hard.

No dreams, just deep, solid sleep. When she woke up, the sun was already peeking over the horizon.

The water sparkled in the early light, and the sunrise was straight-up stunning.

After soaking in the view for a minute, she checked her water filter. Both bottles were full again. Only problem was, she didn't have any empty ones left.

It was time to make a trade.

She jumped into the chat channel and tossed out a quick shout: [Trading wood for empty water bottles!]

Then she slipped back into the grove and touched the token in the center. [Mystical Cherry Grove daily blessing: Lady Luck (Best possible luck today: higher chance of more and better supplies)]

Leeanne nodded to herself with a smirk. 'Nice. Looks like I'm running hot today.'

She stepped out and noticed a new message flashing.

Rodger: [You're collecting water, right? I've got a 2-quart plastic bucket. 30 wood or some food for it.]

'Thirty wood for one bucket?' Leeanne actually snorted. 'This dude has some serious guts. Total scam.'

A single chest only broke down into three wood. Most folks hadn't scraped together anywhere near thirty yesterday.

Leeanne: [One wood for your bucket!]

'If he is gonna go big, I can go bigger,' she thought.

Rodger froze.

Rodger: [Come on, girl, don't play around. We can talk numbers.]

She didn't even bother replying. Something way better had grabbed her attention: a supply chest bobbing toward the raft on the waves.

Maximum Luck was already showing up. It was the first chest of the morning.

She cast her line, reeled it in nice and steady, and hauled it aboard.

It landed with a wet thud and popped open.

[Maximum Luck blessing active: Obtained Plastic Bucket Blueprint (1 gallon) x1, Sandwiches x3, Bottled Water x1]

[Plastic Bucket Blueprint (1 gallon): Unlocks crafting of a clean, versatile bucket. Great for water, oil, dry goods: total household must-have. Required materials: Plastic 0/6]

Leeanne pumped her fist with a quiet "Yes!" Talk about perfect timing.

She didn't have any plastic scraps yet, but she'd heard tons of people pulling them yesterday and even chucking them overboard because they thought they were useless.

She'd also seen people in the public chat basically giving plastic away for peanuts.

A plastic bucket would be the perfect storage solution. While everyone still thought plastic was garbage and prices were rock-bottom, she had to scoop up as much as she could.

The best part? The blueprint had unlocked the recipe for good. After the first craft, she could churn out more buckets whenever she wanted without needing the paper again.

Leeanne didn't waste a second. She posted in the channel: [Buying plastic! Got bottled water or bread rolls to trade. Slide into my DMs if you're interested!]

Rodger's reply came in faster than anyone else's: [You already cracked plastic buckets?]

Leeanne smirked as she typed: [Yup! One-gallon buckets. Sixty wood or the food equivalent. You want in?]

Rodger froze.

The chat lit up like fireworks.

[Finally someone's buying plastic again! I've got two. Water works for me!]

[Dude, don't sell yourself short. Rodger's the only one who's ever bought plastic before. That stuff's gotta be worth holding onto.]

[Yeah, but besides Rodger, who else is buying? Might as well cash it in for food and water and keep yourself alive another day.]

[Heads up, everybody. This Leeanne's even stingier than Rodger.]

[I'm just trying to figure out how much stuff Leeanne's sitting on. She traded for a mountain of random junk yesterday and she's already back for round two today.]

[Some folks just roll lucky sevens. Nothing we can do except grind. Everybody hurry up and expand those rafts!]

Leeanne flipped over to private messages and swapped two bottles of water for twenty pieces of plastic, each piece roughly two ounces.

She didn't feel like she was fleecing anyone. Resources were tight for everybody right now.

[Plastic Bucket (1 gallon): Clean, hygienic 1-gallon bucket. Perfect for storing water, oil, flour, whatever you need. Essential household item. Materials: Plastic 20/6]

She crafted two on the spot.

They were about the size of big water jugs and surprisingly pristine. She set them right under the water purifier.

'One big win checked off,' Leeanne thought, feeling a wave of relief.

*****

The sun was climbing high, well past eight in the morning, and her stomach was growling loud enough to wake the sharks. Breakfast time.

She demolished a sandwich, chased it with a can of oatmeal, then did a full inventory of her supplies.

Current stock: 1 blueprint for a wooden bed, 70 wood, 90 nails, 16 iron, 1 box of strawberries, 4 bread rolls, 1 bottled water (after chugging one), 2 rolls of rope, 1 piece of cloth, 2 sandwiches, and 8 plastic.

She'd barely finished counting when another barrel drifted into range.

With a smooth flick of the hook and a steady reel, she hauled it aboard.

Inside was another blueprint.

[Small Fishing Net: Place on the edge of your raft to passively catch fish and shrimp. Materials needed: 8/20 plastic, 2/1 rope, 70/1 wood.]

'Today is seriously stacking up in my favor.' Leeanne's grin stretched ear to ear. Another blueprint, and a fishing net of all things.

Soon she'd be eating fresh fish instead of surviving on an endless loop of bread rolls and sandwiches.

She was still short on plastic, though, and down to her last bottle of water. 'No more water trades. Bread rolls or wood it is,' she decided.

She threw up another buy post.

Rodger was right there again. [You've already grabbed a ton of plastic. What's the plan? Starting a bucket museum?]

Leeanne: [Just vibing with the aesthetic, lol.]

Rodger froze.

Something nagged at her. [Hold up. How do you even know how much I've bought?]

Rodger: [Wild guess.]

Leeanne rolled her eyes and dropped it. Another barrel was already drifting her way.

That morning she reeled in several more. The haul added up to a tube of toothpaste, a toothbrush, a blanket, five pieces of plastic, twenty wood, twenty nails, one scrap metal, a bag of custard croissants, and one bottle of water.

It was exhausting, but insanely rewarding.

And actual toothpaste and a toothbrush. She could finally brush her teeth like a civilized person.

The paste was bright citrus flavor, the bristles soft and top-notch.

After brushing, she felt refreshed head to toe, her whole mouth buzzing with that clean, fresh tingle.

The blanket was a cozy pink, just the right weight. She folded it neatly and draped it over her bed, a warm little glow of happiness settling in her chest.

'Look at this. Life's actually starting to feel pretty good,' Leeanne thought, unable to stop herself from smiling.

While she caught her breath between barrels, she pulled up the public chat again.

Jessica was dishing out her usual newbie wisdom.

Jessica: [Everybody, get your raft expanded to around 100 square feet ASAP. Once you hit that milestone, you unlock the workbench, and then every blueprint you find can be turned into real, useful gear.]