Ocean Survival: Become the Deep Sea Ruler

Chapter 1 Underwater Survival Game

It marked day one of underwater survival.

Jasmine Austin opened her eyes to an unending expanse of blue. The sea lay flat and desolate. She was afloat, carried aimlessly by the surf.

Nothing existed around her. Not even rocks or plastic bottles drifted past. She leaned backward to save her strength.

A mechanical tone buzzed. "Welcome to Planet 450U. Jasmine Austin identified. ID: 777. Vital signs normal. Underwater survival game officially initiated. Please accept your beginner gift package.

"Items acquired: beginner protective shield (Durability: 100), mineral water X1, compressed biscuit X1, signal flare X1, escape pod X1, survival bracelet X1."

'Thank goodness. I have an escape capsule.' Jasmine's blurred vision gradually cleared.

She could not recall how she had landed in this survival game. Her memory was blank. She could not even remember her own identity.

The mechanical voice resumed. "Survivor Jasmine Austin, situated on Planet 450U. Survival game rule brief: This planet shares an ecosystem similar to Azul Star and features diverse wildlife. Death is irreversible. Survive at all costs.

"Beginner phase duration: five days. Upon expiration, you will be relocated to open global ocean waters. Random natural disasters will occur thereafter. Please get ready.

"All beginner survivors are granted standard food supplies, survival bracelets and escape pods, as well as crafting workstations. These workstations enable cooking, crafting basic survival equipment and manufacturing various supplies.

"Please use ocean resources to stay alive, and seek a full escape from the sea. Diving into deeper waters for exploration is highly encouraged by the system. The seabed holds rich resources and crucial clues."

The robotic voice ended. Jasmine's wrists began to tingle.

She glanced down to spot a translucent green bracelet wrapped around her skin, fitted with a black button.

She pressed it, and a hologram flickered to life before her eyes.

Menu tabs lined the holographic display: [Inventory, Personal Information, Points Shop, Item Trade, Regional Chat, Friend List, Beginner Guide, Claim Quest.]

Jasmine tapped open the Inventory out of curiosity.

The hologram refreshed, showing twenty empty grid slots.

The first four slots were already occupied: [mineral water X1, compressed biscuits X1, flare stick X1, escape pod X1.]

The other sixteen slots remained empty.

She figured the Inventory operated via compressed space. Items of any size were able to be kept inside. This was highly practical.

Jasmine decided to deploy the escape pod first.

Staying afloat by treading water sapped stamina at a fast rate and could not be kept up long. She had to find a secure spot to settle down and recuperate.

Words popped up on the holographic screen: [Deploy escape pod?]

She tapped [Confirm Deployment].

Faint outlines materialized out of thin air and gradually solidified into a tent-shaped escape pod.

Jasmine slid open the transparent hatch and stepped inside. A voice echoed. "Welcome back, master. Escape pod power remaining: 50/50."

The voice belonged to the pod's built-in system. She mused that it was surprisingly intelligent.

The compact cabin spanned 54 to 65 sq ft and was well-lit. It came fitted with resting steps, two storage cabinets and a crafting workstation. A diving suit was stashed inside one cabinet.

Clutching her diving suit, Jasmine sank into quiet thought on the steps.

She remembered nothing besides her name announced by the system moments earlier.

She had zero underwater experience, and the endless ocean filled her with genuine dread.

Jasmine pulled up her Personal Information.

[Player: Jasmine Austin, ID: 777, Region: C. Age: 22. Hit Points: 100. Oxygen: 30/30. Satiety: 100/100. Hydration: 100/100. Experience Per Second: 1. Level: 1.]

She wondered silently if this was a monster-killing, level-up style game.

Mid-thought, her Hydration and Satiety both ticked down from 100 to 99.

She paid it no mind and opened the Points Shop. It stocked various foods, props, ore and tools.

Her available points stood at just one. Even the cheapest ore cost two hundred points apiece.

Jasmine closed the shop and pulled up Regional Chat.

[Region: C, Players: 10,000/10,000.]

Then, she browsed the real-time chat messages. [Holy crap, is there anyone alive out here?]

[I can't swim. I nearly drowned. Why underwater survival instead of regular ocean survival?]

[Humans have only explored roughly 30,000 feet deep within the Guerrero Trench. How far down are we supposed to dive? This is terrifying.]

[Humans can't reach such depths without a submarine. Do we have to build one ourselves?]

[Come on. Quit overthinking long-term plans. What about people like me with thalassophobia? Going diving? It scares the shit out of me!]

[Damn this stupid underwater survival game! Are you kidding me? If death gets us out of here, I'll dive down and drown myself right now. Shit, I've got a leg cramp, someone help!]

[Hey, calm down up there! That's a surefire way to die!]

[Don't act rashly. Hold on a second!]

[Buddy, calm down. Reply to us. We're all freaking out here!]

[Holy hell, check the Region players count!]

Jasmine glanced upward. The number had fallen from 10,000 to 9,999.

[He's dead, isn't he? This is actually real. It's terrifying. I'm crying. What do we even do now?]

[Mom, are you in this Region too? I'm Aliyah Sosa. Does anyone here know me?]

[Speaking of which, does anyone remember how we got dragged here? My mind is totally blank.]

[Thank goodness I'm not the only one with memory loss. I can only recall my own name.]

[All of us suffer from amnesia. There are no reliable allies. We can only count on ourselves to survive.]

Countless real-time messages like that kept popping up.

Jasmine realized she was far from the only one suffering memory loss.

Panic rippled through every survivor, as people vented fear and traded information in chat.

Jasmine had accepted her harsh predicament: trapped in this deadly survival game. Her fierce will to survive kicked in, putting her fully on guard.

Ocean resources ran scarce. One survivor needed only a small amount of supplies, but things became drastically different when thousands competed to survive.

She had to stockpile supplies as much as possible and fight tooth and nail to survive.

Jasmine walked over to the crafting workstation inside the escape pod. After tinkering with its functions, she found it could craft basic gear: scanners, waterproof flashlights, utility knives and more.

Crafting demanded raw materials, including most commonly ore plus other unfamiliar substances she had never seen before.

She thought, 'All these resources must lie hidden underwater. I might as well head out and explore first.'

The moment she closed the crafting workstation interface, her throat burned dry, followed by a sharp twinge of Satiety.

She checked her survival bracelet and saw that her Hydration and Satiety had both dropped to 80 in that short window.

This rate was way too quick. She pulled out the mineral water and biscuits right away.

The sweet water coated her throat. The compressed biscuits tasted plain, yet once swallowed, Jasmine felt sated and regained her energy.

A few sips of water paired with bites of the biscuits restored her stamina.

'Not too bad.' Jasmine let out a long breath.

She knew she needed to gather supplies urgently. One bottle of water and one pack of biscuits could only sustain her for a short time.

Jasmine knew how to swim and had no thalassophobia.

She slipped on her diving suit and goggles, pushed open the pod hatch, and stared out at the gorgeous, boundless ocean stretching all the way to the horizon. No driftwood floated atop the waves, much less usable resources.

Jasmine held her breath and dove into the sea.

Chapter 2 Beginner Quest

The seawater was crystal clear with constant ripples. Sunlight streamed into the water, lighting up thick clusters of coral. Tiny brightly colored fish darted everywhere, appearing wonderfully strange and vibrant.

Jasmine figured she had to stock up on food and fish first if she wanted to survive.

She wandered amid various strange small fish.

Words popped up on the holographic screen: [Beginner quest unlocked. Complete it to unlock smart assistant Excellence.]

[Catch 3 orange fish and find 3 item capsules. Capsules are graded by quality in the following order: white, green, blue, purple, red, gold. Quality improves progressively along this color sequence.]

'A smart assistant called Excellence?' She accepted it and planned to sort out details later.

After Jasmine accepted the quest, a holographic screen popped up on her right to track her beginner quest progress.

[Total progress: 0/6, Orange fish: 0/3, Item capsule: 0/3]

'What was an orange fish?' She supposed it would be entirely orange, as its name suggested.

Several fish drifted past. She grabbed them randomly. She caught plenty of orange-colored fish, yet the task progress stayed unchanged.

Jasmine felt slightly discouraged as she wondered, 'None of these orange fish count? This is only a beginner quest. Why is it so hard?'

Suddenly, a transparent fish striped with thin orange lines swam by. Jasmine caught it in a flash.

Then, the holographic screen refreshed. [Orange fish: 1/3]

'This is the orange fish? Its body is mostly transparent and barely orange. The name is simply confusing.'

Jasmine kept searching. Half an hour later, she caught two more orange fish. Only the item capsule quest was left unfinished.

'What does an item capsule look like?'

Jasmine glanced downward. Sparkly coral, swimming fish, and floating bubbles filled her vision. Something half-round poked up through the sand.

She wondered, 'Is that a capsule?'

She swam down and pulled out the oval metal object. It was surely a blue capsule.

She had found a blue capsule on her first try and considered herself lucky.

The capsule was about six inches long and three inches wide. She figured it contained useful items. A seam ran down the middle for twisting it open.

She was ready to twist it open when her keen eyes caught sight of another capsule nearby. She swam over swiftly, dug it out from the sand, and found another blue one.

A delighted thought crossed her mind. 'Wow, I've found two blue capsules in shallow water right off the bat. What great luck!'

Beneath the blue capsule sat a white capsule half-buried in sediment.

White capsules held the lowest-grade supplies, yet something was far better than nothing.

She pulled out the white capsule and gathered all three capsules in her arms.

The holographic display updated its content. [Beginner quest completed. Congratulations, Survivor Jasmine. Intelligent assistant Excellence has been unlocked.]

A robotic voice spoke up. "Hello, master. I am your intelligent assistant Excellence."

Jasmine glanced all around but saw no visible figure. "Where exactly are you?"

"I am embedded as a smart chip within your survival bracelet," the voice answered.

Right after the reply, a holographic screen projected from the bracelet. It took the shape of a tiny round robot and waved toward Jasmine.

Jasmine brightened and waved back.

'Thank goodness. Now I have an AI to keep me company.'

She clutched the three capsules happily and prepared to resume exploring when waves of nausea and dizziness washed over her body.

Excellence warned, "Master, your Oxygen is running low. Please ascend to the surface to breathe immediately."

Jasmine thought, 'Damn, I forgot that I was underwater.'

She kicked her feet wildly and swam upward. She burst through the ocean surface moments before her sight faded into blackness.

Gasping harshly, she drew in deep, ragged breaths.

That had been a close call. She leaned against the escape pod, panting steadily until she calmed down.

She knew oxygen tanks and other diving gear would become essential for deeper dives later on. With no proper equipment available yet, she had to strictly limit how far down she dove.

After resting inside the escape pod for a moment, Jasmine could wait no longer to open her capsules.

Words appeared on the holographic screen: [Items acquired: copper ore X2, torn socks X2, unfiltered mineral water X1.]

Jasmine was left speechless.

The two blue capsules contained the ore and socks, while the white capsule held the unfiltered water.

She clicked each item to pull up detailed descriptions.

[Copper ore: A fundamental raw ore.]

[Torn socks: No practical function. Might serve only as trivial room decor.]

[Unfiltered mineral water: High impurity content renders it undrinkable; filtration required.]

Jasmine froze instantly. All her excitement from uncovering blue capsules faded away completely.

'How come none of this stuff is actually helpful? Can blue capsules really drop such pointless junk?'

Confused, Jasmine opened the Regional Chat channel.

[Has anyone ventured underwater? I'm working on my beginner quest.]

[Same here. What's your beginner quest?]

[Mine was collecting one lump of ore.]

[I had to retrieve an item capsule.]

[I dove down 150 feet to finish mine.]

[Sounds like everyone's beginner assignments are pretty easy.]

[Yep.]

Jasmine was utterly confused as she realized beginner quests varied from person to person.

Her own quest seemed vastly harder in contrast. She huffed, annoyed at how unlucky she was.

Chat messages kept rolling in. [I haven't dared get in the water. Are there hostile fish down there?]

[These are shallow waters. I've seen zero threatening fish so far. Item capsules litter the seabed too. I found two green ones with sandwiches and milk inside.]

[I got two white capsules with copper ore only. What even is the point of all this stuff? I wish I had food, too.]

[One blue capsule gave me swim fins. I move through water way faster now.]

[My blue capsule held fusilli and apple juice. I'm eating fusilli, sipping juice, enjoying this gorgeous sea view.]

[Whoa, blue capsules drop amazing stuff. I need to hunt more of those ASAP.]

[How do y'all muster up the courage? I'm way too scared to go diving. What happens once my water and biscuits run out? I'm terrified.]

[Your rations still hold out. Hang tight and try diving tomorrow.]

Jasmine stared hopelessly at the torn socks in her Inventory.

It was not that blue capsules had poor rewards. She was incredibly unlucky. The game felt unreasonably harsh toward her.

She refused to accept her bad luck, planning to hunt down more capsules later to check their contents.

Her recent underwater activity dragged her Satiety and Hydration down to roughly 40.

Drained of energy, Jasmine hastily sipped some mineral water and nibbled compressed biscuits.

The food tasted plain and overly dry, truth be told.

Her gaze drifted to the three orange fish laid out on the floor, and an idea crossed her mind as she asked, "Excellence, are these orange fish safe to eat?"

Excellence responded immediately, "Orange fish have juicy, springy flesh. They carry a subtle orange aroma, hence their name."

'Perfect. They were edible.'

She picked up the three orange fish and set them on the crafting workstation.

Chapter 3 Cooked Orange Fish

Jasmine tapped the [Cooking] tab on the crafting workstation. The option [Cooked Orange Fish] popped up.

The system only allowed her to cook the fish; no other recipes were available.

'Oh well. Getting food mattered most right now.'

Two minutes later, a flash of golden light flashed, and steaming cooked orange fish materialized on the crafting workstation. The sweet scent of oranges immediately filled the whole escape pod.

Jasmine's mouth watered.

New text flashed on screen: [Items acquired: cooked orange fish X1. Effects: recovers 30 Satiety, 10 Hydration. Valid for 30 minutes.]

Jasmine's smile faded at once.

'There's a validity timer? Only thirty minutes? Seriously?'

She had just eaten biscuits and drunk water, so her stats were fully replenished. If she left the fish untouched, it would spoil and go to waste after thirty minutes. Then she remembered the item trade function.

She quickly pulled up the item trade panel on her bracelet.

The Item Trade page listed various swap offers one after another.

[Titanium ore X5 for compressed biscuits X2; Quartz X5 for mineral water X1; Pizza X1 for mineral water X1, etc...]

Most trades involved raw materials swapped for food and drinks.

Jasmine saw zero listings for ready-to-eat meals. She figured most survivors hadn't caught fish yet.

Taking a chance, Jasmine posted [Cooked orange fish X1] up for trade, requesting mineral water in return.

Her trade immediately sparked chatter in the chat.

[Someone caught fish this fast? Impressive. What even is cooked orange fish? Is it edible?]

[No clue, but trading cooked fish for mineral water feels greedy. Anyone can catch fish, right?]

[Agreed. Super gutsy offer. Who listed this trade? Gonna look them up.]

[Never mind. No one would waste mineral water on this trade anyway.]

Jasmine paid no mind. If the trade fell through, she would only lose one fish, no big deal.

Surprisingly, her offer was accepted in under five minutes.

The trader was a girl named Lilliana Wright. Jasmine tapped her user avatar and saw an image of a gentle long-haired girl.

A deal was a deal. She shrugged it off, stored the traded mineral water, closed the trade page and got ready to dive again.

Capsules were mostly scattered in shallow waters. She figured that if she scouted locations in advance, she could hold her breath long enough to easily retrieve one or two.

Jasmine stayed extra cautious this time and avoided diving too deep.

Four hours later, she collected six capsules in total: three white, one green and two blue.

She hauled everything back to the escape pod and flopped down, worn out.

She opened the capsules one by one. The screen displayed new loot: [Items acquired: titanium ore X3, first-aid kit X1, mineral water X2.]

Jasmine was instantly frustrated.

"Ugh! After all that time gathering capsules, this is everything I get?"

Her long dive drained all her stamina, driving her Hydration and Satiety to rock bottom. She had to finish off her remaining mineral water and compressed biscuits.

Now she had no food left at all.

Excellence spoke up helplessly. "Master, your luck stat is noticeably far lower than other survivors."

Jasmine sighed, lying on the floor listlessly.

A system notification popped up. "Survivor luck detected as excessively low, disrupting game balance. Bad Luck Protection system activated."

"Luck Offset buff granted.

"Water Pressure Immunity buff granted."

Jasmine was dumbfounded. 'What?'

The previous capsule rewards vanished. A golden flash washed over the screen.

Updated loot showed: [Items acquired: titanium ore X20, first-aid kit X10, mineral water X20, caramel pudding X10, sliced bread X10, swim fins X1, air bag X1.]

Supplies spilled across the floor all around her in the blink of an eye.

Jasmine could barely process what happened. 'Is this real? Has luck finally smiled on me out of nowhere?'

She hesitantly picked up a box of caramel pudding, opened it and took a spoonful.

Text flashed across the hologram display: [Caramel pudding: rich, creamy dessert crafted with eggs and milk. Restore 10 Satiety, eases fatigue and boosts mental focus.]

Smooth, velvety pudding melted on her tongue with a gentle sweetness, refreshing her completely.

Joy hit her all at once. Her worries about food and drinks faded away.

Yet a thought struck her right away as she held the pudding again. Thankfully, these did not have a validity timer.

Fish made decent meals, but preservation was always an issue.

With no refrigerator yet, she needed to stockpile long-lasting food only.

Jasmine attempted to stow all items inside the pod's storage cabinet, only to find it held merely fifty slots. Her haul far exceeded that limit.

She prioritized packing food and drinks into storage and stacked leftover ore on the floor, cluttering the cramped cabin even more.

She opened the crafting station interface and chose to craft a storage cabinet. It cost three titanium ore, all of which she possessed.

She tapped [Crafting], and a rectangular wall-mounted cabinet materialized with thirty storage slots.

Combined with the pod's original cabinet, she fit all her newly obtained items neatly inside.

Knowing she would collect more items later, she crafted one extra empty cabinet for future use.

"Finally done. I'm worn out." Jasmine glanced outside. The horizon blazed bright orange with fading streaks of sunset. Time had slipped by rapidly.

A system alert chimed: "Attention, all survivors. Nighttime begins. Hostile sea life may come out to hunt. Without lighting gear, underwater exploration should be undertaken with extreme caution."

Jasmine opened the hatch and peered out. The sky had dimmed, and seawater turned pitch black.

Only glowing fish and luminous corals stood out in the darkness. The shadowy ocean loomed like a ravenous beast ready to swallow anything whole.

Jasmine quickly pulled her head back inside. She resolved to resume underwater exploration tomorrow morning and spend the night going through the Beginner Guide, as countless game mechanics still eluded her.

Her Satiety and Hydration ticked down further, so she cooked her last two orange fish and ate them. The tender, springy flesh carried an amazing flavor, as expected.

Bored, she opened the Regional Chat channel again.

[The ocean is terrifying, completely pitch-black. Has anyone dared dive at night?]

[Not me. I don't want to get mauled by predatory fish. I value my life too much.]

[Death might be avoidable with the beginner protective shield. Doesn't it block physical damage?]

[Even a hundred shields can't save someone set on dying, and that cover only has 100 durability points anyway.]

[How many supplies did you guys gather today?]

[Barely anything. One piece of pizza and two colas got me through the day's meals.]

[I've already eaten all my collected goods. Nothing left.]

[I skipped diving entirely today. I was too scared. I've been resting to cut resource use and I still have the initial water and biscuits given by the system. Ugh, I have no clue what to do tomorrow.]

[We have no choice. Everyone has to go underwater sooner or later.]

[Ugh, the cooked orange fish I traded went bad before I even realized. Total waste of two titanium ore. Such a rip-off.]

[Are traders this unscrupulous now? I'll steer clear and never buy orange fish again.]

[Right. The girl who traded orange fish for mineral water today was extremely unscrupulous. I'm surprised the other trader hasn't called her out publicly.]

Jasmine was dumbfounded. Caught on the undeserved backlash, she simply rolled her eyes. Both parties had entered the trade entirely of their own free will, after all.

Chapter 4 Caramel Pudding

Jasmine closed the Regional Chat and started going over the two buffs she had gained that day.

[Luck Offset buff: Triggers automatically when luck values plummet. The buff stays inactive with normal luck stats. While enabled, all acquired loot gets upgraded to high-grade or top-tier items. This buff is permanent.]

[Water Pressure Immunity buff: Grants the human body pressure resistance equivalent to a submarine. The player will no longer be constrained by crushing deep-sea pressure and can move freely at any underwater depth. This buff is permanent.]

Jasmine mused that obtaining both buffs was tantamount to hitting the jackpot.

With Luck Offset, opening capsules would always bring worthwhile rewards from now on. Still, she wondered about Water Pressure Immunity.

She asked, "Excellence, what is the maximum depth an average person can dive with no gear?"

Excellence replied, "Master, untrained humans can only reach roughly 30 feet barehanded. Anyone diving past 130 feet will suffer physical distress without professional training."

Jasmine understood how game-changing this buff was. She could safely dive far deeper than 130 feet with no trouble.

She added, "Excellence, how do other survivors dive deeper than 130 feet in this game?"

"They may use pressure-resistant pills or travel underwater inside vehicles."

Owning a submersible vehicle was far out of reach for her at the moment, yet pressure-resistant pills were purchasable in the Points Shop.

[Pressure-Resistance pill: 500 points each. Confers full pressure immunity for barrier-free diving. Lasts 1 hour, only usable once per day.]

[Permanent pressure-resistance pill: 10,000 points each. Confers lifelong immunity against water pressure for diving.]

Jasmine checked her point balance quietly. She only had 42 points earned from capsule hunting throughout the day.

She was nowhere close to 500 points, let alone 10,000.

She had finished reading the Beginner Guide moments earlier and learned points and experience could only be earned through underwater exploration.

Shallow dives yielded small amounts of XP and points, while deeper exploration rewarded far more.

She could not help thinking her Water Pressure Immunity buff was practically an overpowered cheat code for the game.

A brilliant plan suddenly popped into her head.

No other survivors dared dive deeper than 130 feet, leaving all the high-value deep-sea resources untouched.

She alone could reach those depths to gather rare resources, then trade them via the Item Trade for whatever supplies she required.

Excellence quickly saw through her plan and dampened her optimism. "Master, do you believe your Oxygen supply can last through the deep dive and the swim back to the surface?"

Oxygen was definitely a critical limitation.

Jasmine's thoughts turned to oxygen tanks. She scrambled to her feet and hurried over to the crafting workstation.

"Oxygen tanks, oxygen tanks," she muttered, finally locating the crafting recipes.

[Small oxygen tank: Provides three minutes of underwater breathing. Crafting cost: titanium ore X5.]

[Medium oxygen tank: Provides ten minutes of underwater breathing. Crafting cost: titanium ore X20.]

[Large oxygen tank: Provides thirty minutes of underwater breathing. Crafting cost: titanium ore X50.]

[Giant oxygen tank: Provides sixty minutes of underwater breathing. Crafting cost: titanium ore X200.]

It required massive amounts of titanium. Titanium was clearly a vital resource in this survival game.

Jasmine only had 14 pieces of titanium ore remaining. She needed 36 more to craft a large oxygen tank.

She figured trading a few personal items was the only feasible choice.

For food and drink, her Inventory held 21 bottles of mineral water, ten servings of sliced bread, and nine portions of caramel pudding.

The caramel pudding was delicious, but it did little to fill her stomach. She made up her mind to trade it away and listed all the pudding for exchange.

She activated her bracelet and posted the trade listing: [Caramel pudding X1 for titanium ore X10.]

At this stage, few players on the trade hub were willing to trade food for other supplies. Survivors with excess food were privileged players who wouldn't struggle for meals and water.

Her listing immediately triggered widespread buzz in Regional Chat.

[Check out the trade board. Someone's trading one caramel pudding for ten titanium ore?]

All tradable goods displayed vivid visuals on the panel.

The mouthwatering image of caramel pudding made nearly every survivor salivate.

[Damn, I crave this so badly. I've survived solely on compressed biscuits all day and haven't managed to catch a single fish. Ugh, but I don't have ten titanium ore to trade.]

[Whoa, she's asking for way too much titanium ore. She's generous enough to put it on the trading market, huh?]

[Ten titanium ore is way too pricey. What a rip-off!]

[Who put up this trade? Wait, isn't this the same opportunist who swapped cooked orange fish for mineral water this morning? How'd she get so lucky? Most of us barely have bread to eat, yet she's got caramel pudding to spare!]

[Not only did she score the pudding, but she also lists it to trade for basic supplies and rip everyone off. She must have looted tons of them.]

[A white capsule yields a maximum of two titanium ore. I collected quite a few today myself. But trading ten ore for one caramel pudding is such a terrible bargain.]

[Total profiteer through and through. Shady dealers never end well.]

[Come on, there's no call for such harsh insults. No one's being forced to trade. Pass it up if the price doesn't work for you.]

[Exactly. All trades are voluntary. No point staying this resentful.]

[Can't agree more. Why don't anyone complain about other traders hawking tattered shoes, holey socks and scraps for supplies on the trade?]

[So what? I simply bear a personal grudge against her.]

[I'm trading my Patek Philippe watch for food. Anyone want it?]

[Forget it. Cash and luxury items are worthless junk now that we're stuck in this game.]

Jasmine leaned before the holographic screen and whistled casually, completely unbothered by the hostile comments.

She noted the players defending her, pausing on the name Gabriel Duffy who had spoken up first. She silently thanked him in her mind.

"Huh, what's this?" she murmured.

A tiny golden bell icon popped up in the top right corner of the holographic screen, blinking nonstop. She tapped it and found a flood of incoming friend requests.

Multiple players sent friend requests solely to hurl abuse.

Ethen Winters: [Bitch, you're outrageously greedy. Charging ten ore for a single dessert. You've got no sense!]

Anthony Stanton: [Greedy profiteer. Get the fuck out of here. I'll curse you whenever your name pops up.]

Other messages begged her to lower the price, while some shamelessly begged for free food, hoping to leech off her stock.

Jasmine bulk-declined every friend request, refusing to add anyone.

Spotting a blacklist feature, she blocked all the players who had sent hostile messages.

She headed back to the trade panel. No one had purchased her caramel pudding listings. She canceled the original offer, edited the terms, and reposted: [Caramel pudding X1 for titanium ore X5.]

All her caramel puddings were fully traded within five minutes this time.

The real-time chat blew up once more. [Damn, she lowered the price for caramel pudding. Everyone, rush to grab some!]

[What's the new price?]

[Five titanium ore each. I successfully traded for one, and it tastes incredible!]

[Ugh, I was too late. How did you all move so fast? Have you been glued to the trade page this whole time?]

[Obviously. I dare not dive at night. I've been hanging around chatting and refreshing the page nonstop, hoping to snag some good bargains.]

Chapter 5 A Funny Contrast

Jasmine checked the usernames and sighed, 'Unbelievable. Quite a few people complaining about failing to get the pudding are exactly those who called me a greedy profiteer earlier. They scrambled to make trades in the blink of an eye.'

She had intentionally set the initial price at ten titanium ore on purpose.

There were no fixed market values in this game, and nobody could tell exactly how much titanium one caramel pudding ought to cost.

Even if she had listed the trade at five titanium ore right away, plenty of players still would have argued the price was too steep.

She strategically set a high asking price first and tweaked it downward after gauging public reaction.

This matched the door-in-the-face psychological trick. After rejecting excessive demands, people were far more inclined to agree to milder ones.

Once all puddings were traded away, Jasmine held fifty-nine titanium ore total. She crafted a large oxygen tank right away.

Nine titanium ore remained afterward. A strong sense of achievement washed over her, and she grew eager for her dive the next day.

*****

A new day dawned in the survival game. Jasmine stretched and climbed off her makeshift bench bright and early.

Sleeping on this hard surface left her restless all night. She badly needed a proper bed.

She pulled up the crafting workstation and combed through all available recipes but found no option labeled "Bed."

"Excellence, is crafting a bed impossible on this crafting workstation?"

"Master, bed construction requires a bed blueprint first, paired with the proper crafting materials."

It seemed the crafting workstation could not make every item from the start.

Jasmine pulled out two slices of bread and a bottle of water for breakfast, far more palatable than compressed biscuits at least.

She found herself craving caramel pudding all over again as she ate.

After finishing her simple meal, she equipped the large oxygen tank she had crafted the previous day.

[Refilling oxygen tank...]

[Oxygen refilled. Dive preparation complete.]

Before heading underwater, she opened the Regional Chat. Messages kept flooding nonstop. Several players had stayed up all night swapping survival tips with strangers.

[Oh my gosh, seven people vanished in one single day. Did you guys see that?]

[Some fool dove after dark. Nighttime waters truly are deadly. Thank goodness I chose not to do that.]

Jasmine checked Region C's player count: 9,992 out of the original 10,000.

Some players had been reckless enough to hunt for capsules after the night fell.

The live chat kept spamming nonstop. [Daylight's finally here. Everyone, hurry underwater to hunt capsules.]

[My food and water ran out today. I have to dive, but I cannot swim at all!]

[Work up your nerve and dive. Capsules might lie only several feet down. Grab some, and you won't starve.]

Time did not wait. Jasmine retrieved her swim fins and airbag, which she had gained from the Luck Offset buff the day before.

She read the introduction. [Swim Fins: Diving equipment providing strong thrust. Increase underwater movement speed by 15% after being equipped.]

[Airbag: Inflates instantly with manual activation. Created for emergency rapid ascent. Inflate it without delay whenever necessary.]

The airbag was incredibly practical. Once she dove too far chasing capsules, she could rush back to the surface and avoid drowning.

Jasmine put on both items and slipped into the seawater.

She spent three hours combing shallow waters and collected numerous white and green capsules, yet found zero blue ones.

System notification popped up: [Items acquired: copper ore X5, titanium ore X10, mineral water X3, sandwich X2, beef burger X1.]

Jasmine grew confused. "Excellence, is my luck running normally today?"

Excellence replied, "Exactly, master. Your luck stat is plain average, right in the regular range."

Jasmine let out a sigh. 'But I want my usual bad luck back.'

What a funny contrast. All the other survivors begged for great luck to grab valuable equipment. Jasmine, however, quietly hoped for rotten luck and useless junk instead.

Her Luck Offset buff worked that way, after all.

"Please let me have rotten luck. Give me terrible luck!" As Jasmine muttered, the green capsule popped open amid golden light.

A system prompt showed up: [Items acquired: lime juice X1, muffin X1.]

The buff did not activate at all, not even a tiny reaction. Jasmine was left speechless.

Her Inventory slots were full, so she headed back to the escape pod with all her gathered supplies.

She collected dozens of items daily, and the storage cabinets inside the pod could no longer hold everything.

Jasmine planned to craft more storage cabinets on the wall, only to notice the cabin space growing increasingly cramped.

She had read through the Beginner Guide the previous day and learned the escape pod was upgradable.

Jasmine inquired, "Excellence, what materials do I need to renovate this escape pod into a multi-functional room?"

Excellence replied, "Two hundred titanium ore and twenty iron ore, master."

There was a decent amount of supplies. She set her short-term goal: to gather enough resources to upgrade the pod into a proper base for long-term survival.

She pulled open the Points Shop and checked her balance: only 60 points. It was far too few to purchase any goods.

She finalized a critical plan: dive down to greater depths.

By noon, most survivors were resting and chatting about capsule loot. Jasmine quickly ate and drank to replenish her stats, sorted out her gear, and dove into the ocean once more.

Shallow-water capsules no longer held any appeal. She dove straight toward the dim, dark open water.

Before long, sunlight faded, marine life grew sparser, and the seawater took on a murky green tint.

As she glanced upward at the distant surface, her heart raced with a flicker of fear.

Excellence sent an automatic alert. "Master, your current depth is roughly 96 feet. Aggressive fish commonly inhabit these waters. Please keep vigilant."

Jasmine swallowed hard. She chose not to descend further and carefully drifted side to side to explore.

Coral-draped underwater cliffs stretched out around her; the corals lacked the vivid hues of shallow reefs. Schools of fish swarmed overhead, twinkling like scattered stars.

A sea turtle drifted past slowly, showing no hostility.

She sighed inwardly, 'Phew. The seabed at 96 feet is nowhere near as terrifying as I imagined.'

Jasmine's gaze swept her surroundings, and her eyes suddenly brightened. She spotted a purple capsule.

Tucked behind stacked stone walls, the object glowed faintly violet. There was no doubt it was a genuine purple capsule.

She swam forward, brimming with excitement. Her fingers reached for the capsule when a weird buzzing hum reached her ears, resembling the rumble of a boat engine.

The noise kept growing louder by the second. A sense of foreboding washed over Jasmine, and she pulled her hand back.

But it was too late. A hostile red fish darted out of a crevice in the rocky wall, charging straight at her at breakneck speed.

'Danger!' Jasmine panicked.

She remembered her airbag and prepared to trigger it, when a deafening bang erupted right beside her.

Jasmine flinched violently from the shock, her ears ringing faintly.

The fish was gone. Turbulent churning water and frothy white bubbles marked where it had vanished.

A protective shield wrapped around her body. Accompanied by a shrill hissing sound, several cracks spread all over its surface.

It turned out that the beginner protective shield had blocked the attack.

[Beginner protective shield: Durability 70/100]

Thirty durability points had been depleted.

It took her several seconds to process what had happened. Tiny fragments of red fish flesh floated in the surrounding water, making her wonder whether the fish had exploded.

"Excellence, what species of fish was that?"

"That was an explosive fish. Bright red dotted with spots, it dwells within rocky formations. Loud noises trigger extreme stress, making it detonate toward the source of the sound."

That explained why the fish had blown up right in front of her.

Heart still pounding with residual fright, Jasmine edged closer to the purple capsule.

She feared more explosive fish might lurk within the rocky walls, yet the rare purple capsule proved far too tempting.