Slacking off in the Game of Survival

Chapter 35 Ten Square Metres Island(12)

Suddenly, without any warning, a storm descended. It was as if one second the sky was clear, and the next, dark clouds covered the sky.

Thunder roared overhead, followed immediately by torrential raindrops falling like knives.

In the vast sea, an ant was struggling desperately, but upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a makeshift raft.

Three players squeezed into the small wooden boat. The people at the front and back were rowing with all their might, while the person in the middle was busy using tools like coconut shells to bail water out of the boat.

The raft had no cover, and they quickly became drenched by the rain, their oars almost creating phantom images as they moved through the air.

“Faster! Row faster!”

“There seems to be an island over there that hasn’t been flooded. Let’s hurry over!”

“Hurry! We’re almost there!”

The person in the middle, scooping water, kept urging them on, fueling the growing frustration of the people in the front and back.

One of them shouted directly, “Shut up! If you keep pushing, I’ll throw you overboard!”

They all wanted to hurry, but rowing a boat was not as simple as turning a steering wheel. The muscles in their arms, gripping the oars, were strained to the point of exhaustion.

However, upon hearing those words, the person in the middle became displeased. At such a critical moment, the two of them started arguing back and forth, escalating the quarrel!

“What do you mean, ‘shut up’? Don’t you feel anxious?”

“Hurry, hurry, hurry for our lives! If you have the skills, come and row! People who sit back and enjoy the ride have no right to dictate to others!”

“I’m sitting back and enjoying the ride? If it weren’t for me bailing out the water, this boat would have sunk a long time ago! You’re rowing for nothing!”

“I said from the beginning that we should make a bigger boat, but none of you were willing—”

As the argument escalated, with a tendency to drag themselves down into the water, the last person remaining suddenly became overwhelmed. “Both of you, just stop talking for a moment.”

“Let’s first understand the situation. It’s storming heavily with strong winds and heavy rain, brothers and sisters! Don’t get angry.
Hold on a little longer. Let’s deal with any issues after we reach the island—”

However, just as they finished speaking, a massive wave suddenly surged up, turning the entire boat several rotations!

The three of them immediately forgot about their argument and quickly placed the oars horizontally, hunching over and holding onto each other tightly.

“Hold on!”

The player in the front shouted these three words with force. In the next second, the waves surged violently, and the freezing seawater churned. Their raft flew out from within the curtain of water.

“Ahhhh!”

The three players felt as if they were riding a roller coaster, overwhelmed by a strong sense of weightlessness. After a few seconds, a loud “bang” rang in their ears, and immediately after, their raft plunged into the water!

Thud!

Gurgle…

As the raft lost balance and sank, countless bubbles passed by their cheeks. The sudden change in pressure made their eardrums feel like they were about to burst. The three of them did not even dare to open their eyes, and even if they did, all they could see was a murky blur.

Gurgle… Gurgle…

Just as they felt they were about to sink to the ocean floor and were preparing to abandon the boat and escape, another huge wave came crashing in. With a splashing sound, the raft was directly lifted out of the water, and the three immediately gasped for breath—

“Cough, cough, cough, cough!”

It was all water!

“Adjust your breathing! Don’t choke!”

As the person spoke, they opened their eyes and immediately shouted in excitement, “The waves pushed us even closer to the island!

Everyone, seize the opportunity and start moving!”

The remaining two players were instantly energized by the words, not daring to slack off. They hastily wiped their faces and grabbed the oars, paddling desperately toward the island.

“Quick! Hurry!”

However, the characteristics of the raft itself meant that it was at a disadvantage against strong winds and waves.

The lightweight and narrow structure of the boat made it difficult to control the direction when encountering big waves. The turbulence they experienced earlier was already a stroke of luck amid their misfortune.

If they were to encounter any reefs or similar obstacles, the boat’s body could easily snap in half!

With the refuge island in sight, the three people on the raft exerted all their remaining strength. The person in the middle even started using their hands to paddle desperately after scooping out the water!

One hundred meters!

Fifty meters!

“Give it all you’ve got! We’re almost there!”

In reality, the so-called island was not a great place of refuge; it was merely a slightly larger rock. But in the eyes of the three people at that moment, it was hope. As long as they could reach land, anything would be safer than being in the sea!

—However, fate sometimes enjoys playing tricks on people. The more you fear something, the more likely it is to happen.

Just as the three were about to reach the island, a gust of wind came from nowhere, and suddenly, a several-meter-high wave surged behind them at an incredible speed!

“Whoosh—”

With the raging wind, the enormous wave smashed the raft mercilessly against the cliff of the island!

The last player to react quickly instinctively let go, and almost in the next instant, the wooden boat crashed onto the cliff with a loud “bang,” breaking into two pieces!

As for the two players who were still on it, at the same moment, they turned into specks of light, scattered without even leaving a trace of blood.

*

But not everyone was so unlucky.

Storms and strong winds usually have their own paths of movement.

However, some players had either bad luck or couldn’t recognize the weather and unfortunately entered the storm area.

Several dozen nautical miles away from the eye of the storm, there was actually an island where a peaceful scene still prevailed. When Qian Yue arrived here, she even almost thought it was an illusion.

Not only was there no sign of an impending storm, but most of the islands were still standing above the water. However, this was probably due to differences in sea level rather than the islands themselves being special.

Qian Yue, “This is too high…”

The islands here were different from the low-lying small islands in the archipelago they had encountered before. Cliffs and precipices were everywhere, and even the shortest one was estimated to be two to three meters high.

But in contrast, their usable space was extremely scattered. Even though the islands were of the same size— say ten square meters— the arrangement of usable space varied greatly.

It was like comparing a rectangular box to the previously seen islands, which were laid flat. In this place, the ten square meters were erected upright.

The higher the island, the narrower it became, and the more limited the available flat space was.

Some people lived in cave-like places, and it was unclear whether they were natural or carved out by themselves. Others had made resting spots using materials on tree branches—if Qian Yue wasn’t mistaken, those branches should be the crops of this round.

Similarly, the arrangement of islands was vastly different from before, with islands positioned close to each other. Instead of calling it an “archipelago,” it might be better to refer to it as a “canyon.”

“…” Well, it’s quite magical.

As Qian Yue continued to move along the water flow, she remained seated at the bow, surveying her surroundings.

Due to the unique living conditions, she occasionally overheard conversations like,

-“Is your thing ripe? How much are you selling it for?”

-“Same price as before. I’m too lazy to go ashore. Should I throw it to you?”

-“You’ve been out for over two hours. Aren’t you afraid someone will steal your stuff?”

-“Steal? Are you kidding? Even I can’t guarantee I’ll receive it every time. If you have the ability, go pick it yourself.”

Subconsciously, Qian Yue looked up when she heard that. The person’s crops were growing on the cliff, and if she wanted to approach and collect them, she would have to climb up using the rocks. It certainly wasn’t an easy task.

Qian Yue, “…” Quite enlightening.

She contemplated in her mind, “This place seems relatively safe. If there are no other disasters like sea creature uprisings, maybe I can stay around here until the end of the instance.”

Little did she know that as soon as she had this idea, someone suddenly called out to her.

“Did you also escape from the outside?”

Qian Yue turned her head and saw that the person also had a bamboo raft under their feet. However, the materials used for binding were not great, and the craftsmanship was also somewhat poor. It looked much simpler than her bamboo raft and seemed like it would fall apart at any moment.

Qian Yue frowned, “Also?”

The player nodded, “I heard that an island in a certain area sank, and many players have passed through our area recently. That’s why I noticed you as soon as you entered the canyon.”

He glanced at Qian Yue’s bamboo raft, a hint of envy flickering in his eyes, and lowered his voice, “If you keep going forward, you’ll reach an uninhabited island in this direction. I advise you to quickly turn around and find another route.”

[T/N: Thank you all for waiting patiently for the late update, tomorrow’s update will be as usual! Happy July!]