Grand Voyage : Surviving on a Ghost Ship

Chapter 1 - Grand Voyage

A peculiar voice echoed in Yang Yi's mind.

"Welcome to the National Maritime Survival Game, where you will spend the rest of your life at sea…

To give everyone a relatively fair starting point, the system will rid you of any physical illness or disability.

Whether you become a nameless lowlife or a renowned hero…

Whether you sail freely or cower in fear under someone else’s boot…

It’s all up to you…

The sea offers you unlimited possibilities!

Be cautious about only one thing…

Never let yourself be engulfed by the haunting black fog…

It currently has a speed of 10 knots.

Keep moving onwards!”

Yang Yi woke up and found himself lying on an old, dusty bed. He tried to sit up, but coughed violently due to the dust.

Looking around, he realised he was in a narrow, dimly lit, dilapidated house.

Not far away, there was a table with a dried-up skeleton lying on it. Its left hand still gripped a rusty flintlock gun, and since most of the skull was missing, he had probably died by suicide.

"What…is this?"

Instead of showing fear, Yang Yi looked at his thin hands.

He actually stood up; this was nothing short of a miracle!

Just a few minutes ago, he was still a terminally ill patient, but now he had somehow recovered his health!

Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at the age of twelve, his condition deteriorated over the years, and by his twenties, he was completely bedridden. This didn’t make him give up on his life. He played games using only his mouth and supported himself through streaming until the age of twenty-five. As he often played horror games, he wasn’t fazed by the sight of a motionless skeleton.

"What the voice said is true!" Yang Yi said to himself, looking out the window.

There lay an endless ocean, with waves occasionally lapping against the shore.

At that moment, the peculiar voice sounded again.

“Everyone should know where they’ve ended up!

You are all at sea, each separated by over 500 nautical miles, and will not meet for a long time.

There's no land!

Near you, there should be a small booklet named the Sailing Log.

It has many good functions and allows you all to communicate.

It’s up to you to find out what else it can do.

Further announcements will be made to everyone. Please stay tuned..."

The voice disappeared.

Yang Yi looked down and noticed the palm sized booklet the voice had just mentioned. It constantly emitted a faint glow, seemingly breathing.

Yang Yi picked it up and opened it. The first page listed the rules:

?1. No one is allowed to board your ship without permission.?

?2. Your belongings will never be stolen unless you are dead.?

?3. Every ship is equipped with grappling hooks, which can last indefinitely. Use them to catch floating items!?

?4. You need to continuously upgrade your ship and make it safe enough to sail.?

?5. Beware of the black fog at night; once you fall into it, you’re dead.?

?6. The booklet is bound to your soul and can be read in your mind.?

?7. At sea, you will never feel lonely.?

The booklet was quite similar to a game system, and Yang Yi quickly flipped through it.

The second page showed the weather forecast for the next three days, which he temporarily skipped.

The third page contained information about him:

Name: Yang Yi

Status: Healthy (A human body diagram is shown, all green)

(The average adult attribute value is 5, which can be improved to 10 through training.)

(Attribute 10 is the limit for ordinary humans.)

Strength: 3 (0/50)

Spirit: 7+1 (0/8000) (The higher the spirit, the higher the resistance to madness, and the faster sanity recovers.)

Agility: 4 (0/100)

Constitution: 3 (0/50)

Perception: 5 (0/200)

Sanity: 100/100 (Sanity below 50 leads to madness, below 30 leads to suicidal thoughts, below 10…)

Energy: 100/100 (Energy below 50 leads to fatigue, below 30 may cause fainting.)

Vitality: 100/100

Talent:

Steel Will: You never give up. Spirit cap +1, sanity will never drop below 1 point, and you will not commit suicide. When sanity drops significantly (below 50), you enter a frenzied state.

Yang Yi looked at the attribute interface, feeling somewhat relieved. With such attributes, it would not be too difficult for him to improve them.

…

He continued to read the Sailing Log, reaching the chat channels. They were divided into world chat, regional chat, and private chat. The world channel was the liveliest, with people speaking nonstop.

“Is anyone there?”

“What exactly is going on?”

“I was just taking a dump, didn’t even wipe yet, and suddenly I’m on a ship!”

“I’m on my own here, does anyone have a phone? Help me call the police!”

“To whoever kidnapped me, do you know who my dad is?!”

“Maybe your dad came along too!”

“Son, is that you?”

“Don’t blindly claim relatives!”

“My broken hand is actually healed!!”

“I can feel pain…this isn’t a dream!”

The number of people online was astronomical, it was likely everyone had been pulled in.

Yang Yi didn’t rush to speak, instead, he observed and gathered information from the messages. Each person could only send 10 messages in the world chat a day. After that, they’d have to fork out a hundred shell coins per message. Yang Yi didn’t know what this currency was, only that he certainly didn’t have any.

Ten minutes passed, and the chaotic messages gradually decreased. The conversation became more purposeful.

“Do your manuals have 7 rules as well?”

“Looking for a group; anyone wants to team up?”

“The distance is too far; grouping up is impossible without exact coordinates!”

“We should share information and help each other!

“Have you checked your ships yet? I found a piece of equipment.”

Below was the equipment information.

?Name: Blood-stained Harpoon?

?Type: Relic?

?Quality: Good? (Item levels: Common, Good, Excellent, Rare, Epic, Heroic, Master.....)

?Description: Very sharp, can cause slight damage to abyssal monsters and enrage them.?

Note: Using relics carries the risk of reducing sanity.

The world channel exploded.

“What are abyssal monsters? Are there monsters in this world?”

“I found nothing but some freshwater, bread, and vegetables in the cabin.

“Vegetables? I only have sausages.”

Vegetables were much more precious than meat at sea.

“How about your ships. Are they big? Mine is over a hundred metres. Too big…”

“What?! My ship is barely ten!”

That person quickly sent their ship information.

?Iron Heart: Level 1, Durability 5000/5000, Capacity 8000 units, Speed 5 knots?

?Ship Skills: Full Fire: Cannon fire rate increases to 200% for 15 minutes.

?Triple Whale Spear: Can penetrate and latch onto an object.?

?Description: Its speed may not be fast, but yours better be!?

“Damn! This game is totally unfair, his ship has cannons at level 1!”

“Special ships have skills; my ship is a useless piece of crap.”

“I want to reroll, is there a cash shop? I have plenty of money!”

“Are you all fools? His ship’s speed is only 5 knots, slower than the black mist!”

“Right, the black mist is 10 knots! He’s done for, hahaha!”

At this moment, an announcement popped up.

?Maritime Announcement: Your starting conditions are all different but absolutely fair. The ships and starting positions are pre-set, no objections!?

“Who believes that? That can’t be right! Someone starts with weapons; I only have food!”

“While others hoard food, I hoard guns. Others are just my food supply!”

“So monsters spawn near those with cannons, but not near you?”

Yang Yi closed the log and started searching the room. He found a flintlock in the skeleton’s hand.

?Name: Water-Soaked Rusty Flintlock?

?Type: Relic?

?Quality: Excellent?

?Description: This was once a masterpiece, but after soaking in water for too long, it has rusted severely. It has a 10% chance of firing, dealing moderate damage to abyssal monsters. This gun doesn’t require bullets and has an auto-reload time of one minute, with a capacity of one round.?

“Excellent equipment?” Yang Yi’s expression became frosty.

As the announcement said, the starting conditions were fair. So, getting this gun, wouldn’t it mean a hellish start? He pushed aside the skeleton on the table, finding a rotten piece of paper with a couple legible words.

“...no supplies left on the ship, I can only try fishing…

…luckily, caught a tiger grouper today, enough for two days...

...hehe, caught an antique handgun. The sound is strange, but looks valuable!”

There was a large bloodstain at the end, only the last line remained visible.

“How could there be such a thing in the sea?”

Yang Yi frowned slightly, then stood up and walked out of the captain’s cabin. He carefully looked at his ship.