Chapter 19: Raft Survival 6
The others didn’t fare any better. The closer they were to the center of the vortex, the stronger the centripetal force became. As they spun with the whirlpool, their brains were turned into a chaotic mush, and they clung to their foam pieces in a death grip. Had their body weight not been lighter than the wooden boat, and if they hadn’t been pulled up by a piece of foam, they would have been dragged straight to the seabed instantly, just like the boat.
Chu Yun’s side was in a much better situation because they had jumped ship early. Positioned in the outer ring of the vortex, their rotational speed wasn’t as fast, but rotation after rotation was still enough to make one want to vomit.
Chu Yun lay flat on the sea surface, facing the sky. She used the backstroke with her arms and legs, attempting to swim out along the tangent plane of the whirlpool. Although Xu Dongdong feared the deep sea, having Chu Yun by his side alleviated much of his dread. He hid his physical discomfort and followed closely by her side.
This whirlpool had just formed, and there was no telling how long it would take to dissipate. The two exerted every ounce of strength to swim for over an hour, yet they still hadn’t broken free from the vortex. Fortunately, since they had started in the outer ring, even though they had been reeled inward a short distance by the suction, they had managed to swim outward a bit on their own. Subtracting one from the other, they remained in the outer ring.
“Sister Chu Yun, I’m so tired and dizzy!”
Xu Dongdong’s stamina was gradually failing.
“Can you hold on? I think the whirlpool’s centripetal force seems to be slowly weakening,” Chu Yun said, carefully feeling the water current.
“I think I can,” Xu Dongdong said, gritting his teeth.
“Yeah. Let’s hold on a little longer. Swim along the tangent plane; we’ll be out soon.”
Chu Yun swam forward while keeping an eye on Xu Dongdong behind her. His stamina was nearly depleted, so she had to seize the right moment to get them out soon.
Another thirty minutes passed.
“Xu Dongdong, now’s the time! Swim out!” Chu Yun’s voice carried a hint of excitement.
Chu Yun’s voice echoed in Xu Dongdong’s ears, but he could only see her mouth opening and closing without hearing a word she said. He wanted to reply to her, but his throat felt as if it were being constricted by someone, rendering him completely unable to open his mouth. He wanted to swim toward her, but his arms and thighs lacked even a shred of strength. His brain wanted to command his limbs, but his body was completely powerless. Chu Yun was right ahead of him, but in his eyes, she was incredibly blurry, like one duplicate image of Chu Yun after another swaying before his vision. The seawater felt sticky; he felt as if he were trapped in a mass of mush, unable to swim or break free. Finally, Chu Yun’s silhouette swayed faster and faster, and his eyes could no longer hold out. He ultimately blacked out.
Failing to get a reply from Xu Dongdong, Chu Yun’s heart skipped a beat. She turned her head back to look, and sure enough, Xu Dongdong had fainted.
Without a second thought, Chu Yun swam back, grabbed Xu Dongdong, and continued swimming toward the outside of the whirlpool.
Carrying a person slowed Chu Yun down considerably, but this was a prime opportunity, and she couldn’t abandon her teammate at a time like this.
Chu Yun’s arms ached terribly, almost turning numb and losing all sensation. But not yet—they were just a bit short. She clenched her teeth tightly, expending the very last trace of her strength.
Finally, Chu Yun managed to pull Xu Dongdong out of the whirlpool. They slowly drifted forward along with the normal ocean current.
“Whew.” Chu Yun exhaled a long, deep breath. They were finally out. She retrieved a bottle of mineral water from her storage ring, downed more than half of it in huge gulps, while holding onto the collar of Xu Dongdong’s life jacket.
By now, they had drifted far away, and Chu Yun finally set her mind at ease. She used a rope to bind Xu Dongdong and herself together, then lay flat on her back on the sea surface like a piece of dried fish, drifting along with the current. Facing upward, she looked at the sky. The night had completely set in, revealing a scattering of brilliant, twinkling stars. They were so beautiful; she had never seen such gorgeous stars in either the apocalypse or the real world.
The stars blinked one by one, and her eyes blinked along with them. Gradually, her eyelids opened and closed slower and slower. Chu Yun truly couldn’t hold out any longer and fell asleep.
…
“Sister Chu Yun, wake up. Wake up.”
Chu Yun felt someone repeatedly calling her in her ear. How annoying, interrupting a good dream.
She swatted away the buzzing little bee by her ear with one hand, turning her body to the other side in an attempt to distance herself from the noise. The moment she flipped over, her body seemed to lose its balance, and she swallowed a few gulps of water. She jolted awake, realizing she was still in the sea.
Xu Dongdong had already woken up in the middle of the night. He was both hungry and thirsty, but the water and food were all inside Chu Yun’s storage ring. Chu Yun was likely too exhausted and was sleeping like a log. Knowing that Chu Yun had dragged him out of the final obstacle, he knew she must have spent a massive amount of strength. Unable to bear waking her, he endured his thirst and hunger to watch over her.
Right until early morning, he faintly spotted the silhouette of rising mountain peaks in the distance. Could that be land? He opened his eyes wide to confirm once more; it was unmistakable. Then, he excitedly shook Chu Yun awake.
Xu Dongdong: “Sister Chu Yun, look quick! Is that land ahead? Are we about to complete the mission?!”
Previously, the sea surface had been completely bare, but now a place resembling mountain peaks had appeared. That had to be land.
As expected, escaping the whirlpool meant they could break free.
The two hastily ate dry bread paired with water for breakfast, then accelerated their pace to swim forward.
As they drew closer, the two could see clearly. This was a very large island with a very long coastline that stretched out of sight. The spot where they were to land was a beach.
With joyful hearts, the two walked through the shallow water and stepped onto the sand.
The exact second their feet trod upon the sand, the long-lost system voice rang out right on cue.
[Congratulations on clearing Raft Survival ahead of schedule. Unlocking the next game instance now.]
[Welcome to the Island Survival game. You must strive to survive in this instance.]
Chu Yun scanned her surroundings. They were currently positioned on the beach at the edge of the island. The beach wasn’t very deep; after walking a few steps, low shrubbery began to appear. The further inward one went, the taller the bushes grew, eventually giving way to towering trees. The mountain peaks Chu Yun and the other had seen from the sea were deep inside the forest; right now, they were merely at the foot of the mountains.
For the first few days, Chu Yun planned to camp by the beach, observing the situation while waiting for their teammate to arrive. Chu Yun guessed that someone like her should belong to the rare category of players who cleared the stage ahead of schedule. Therefore, a large horde of players would be coming up over the next few days.
Xu Dongdong shared the exact same thought as Chu Yun. On one hand, it was to wait for Bro Hao, since having an extra teammate meant an extra source of strength; on the other hand, he was utterly spent and needed to rest and recuperate for a few days, hoping the game would grant them a few days of a buffer period.
At this moment, the island was a picture of isolation. Aside from the sound of waves crashing against the beach and an occasional bird chirp or two from deep within the forest, no other sounds could be heard. They were likely among the earliest batch to arrive; not a single silhouette was visible along the massive coastline.
Planning to stay by the edge of the beach for a few days, they needed food, water, and a simple shelter.
Being close to the sea, they didn’t need to worry about food replenishment. As for water, three 15-liter jugs of mineral water remained; it was perfectly sufficient for three people to use for twenty days. A shelter could be assembled temporarily. What was important was that their medical supplies were insufficient—they only had some medical bandages left. Bandages were useful for bleeding wounds, but useless for colds, fevers, inflammation, or removing toxins, and the neighborhood convenience store didn’t sell those types of medicines either. Chu Yun planned that if she was forced to enter the inner depths of the forest, she would need to gather some herbal medicines to prepare for a rainy day.
Chu Yun and Xu Dongdong walked into the bushes, locating a relatively flat patch of grass.
This was the spot. It was shielded by several clusters of tall bushes, offering decent concealment. As long as someone didn’t walk close, no one would notice it; it was very suitable for a temporary shelter.
No sooner said than done. The two split the duties: Xu Dongdong went to chop some long wooden branches, while Chu Yun was responsible for gathering dry grass and leaves and pitching the tent.
The bushes were littered with fallen dry branches and leaves, and Chu Yun specifically picked the dry ones to gather. The dry branches could serve as firewood, while the fallen leaves could be spread on the ground to act as a mattress. Back in the apocalypse, Chu Yun had frequently used the ground as her bed and the sky as her blanket, managing to get through a night just by building a bonfire.
Chu Yun placed the gathered dry branches and leaves into her storage ring. The storage ring’s space wasn’t large; once it was nearly full, she returned to the camp to pile them on the grass to one side. After repeating this back and forth several times, the dry branches and leaves in the vicinity were practically pillaged clean by Chu Yun. She planned to venture slightly deeper.
Holding the knife they used for cooking, Xu Dongdong was over there chopping wooden poles. He chopped down a tree that was neither too thick nor too thin, trimming off the adjacent branches to leave a bare pole. Chu Yun said they would use this pole as a tent support.
“Dongdong, I plan to check out the deeper areas a bit. Stay here and don’t wander off.”
Chu Yun gave Xu Dongdong a word of caution before heading deeper into the woods.
“Yeah, be careful and come back early!”
Chu Yun walked into the depths of the forest, pulling out her spiked mace to clear away the brambles at her feet. The brambles and bushes on the ground looked very fresh, showing no signs of anyone having walked through. Chu Yun guessed that this area likely contained only the two of them. This was for the best; places with many people brought many conflicts, requiring one to keep things tightly under wraps. While no one was around, she wanted to gather more supplies.
Among them, inside the low grass, she discovered quite a few Chinese herbal medicines. She collected all the ones she recognized, including wormwood, prunella, and sow thistle. Wormwood could repel insects; on this unknown island, if one ran into an unidentified venomous insect by accident, that would be the end of a life. Prunella could clear heat and detoxify, making it an excellent anti-toxin medicine.
At the same time, she also discovered a cluster of wild vegetables beneath a bush. She plucked them all, which happened to form a small handful. This was alfalfa, which would taste exceptionally fresh and delicious when used to make soup.
Having eaten nothing but meat and dry bread all this time, Chu Yun slightly missed the taste of green vegetables.
Chu Yun stored them into her space like treasures, continuing forward.
Suddenly, Chu Yun noticed a familiar tree ahead. Chu Yun took a closer look—yes, she wasn’t mistaken, it was a palm tree. She had only seen them inland before, and hadn’t expected them to grow on this island too.
She pulled out her pocket knife and began stripping the bark from the trunk. This kind of palm bark possessed strong resistance to wear and rot, and could be used to weave fishing nets, coir raincoats, mats, mattresses, and so on. The leaves could be processed into rope and could also be used to wrap zongzi; in short, every part of it was a treasure.
Chu Yun’s blade fell swiftly. Like a wild goose plucking feathers, she collected everything usable into her space, practicing the core principle of not wasting a single resource.
Having finished all this, Chu Yun prepared to head back to camp.
