Chapter 28: End of the Novice Period, Peril in the Server Merge

Chapter 28: Chapter 28: End of the Novice Period, Peril in the Server Merge

"AHHH!!!"

"There’s a snake!"

Amid the chaotic screams, the Green Snake slithered into the room, its head held high.

Shi Zhile placed a bird’s egg on the ground for it. After it finished eating, she wrapped the snake around her wrist.

Wang Peng and Chuyi stood guard at the crack with torches. They had developed a fear of being bitten and were terrified that the snakes outside would get into the room.

The noise gradually died down, and a system announcement followed.

[Novice Period Notice: The novice protection period has officially ended!

Server 1 survivors: 69,821. Server 2 survivors: 99,697. Server 3 survivors: 86,587. As Server 3’s population is below 100,000, an emergency server merge will be initiated for Servers 1-3. All players, please prepare for the merge.]

The chat fell silent for a moment.

[Jiang Jing (Server 2, Rank 2): ??? Weren’t you guys from Server 1 in a dungeon? You had novice protection and an extra life, how could so many of you still die? What were you doing?]

[Blue Sky and White Clouds (Server 1): A few hundred more people just died. What do we need to prepare for a server merge? I’m begging you, please stop this. If this keeps up, we’ll all be wiped out soon.]

[Sun Ci (Server 3, Rank 1): Server 3 got hit by a blizzard, and the death toll skyrocketed. Hurry up and merge the servers!]

[Survival Notice: Server merge countdown: 3, 2, 1!]

The voice faded.

In an instant, Rainforest Island fell silent.

The chirping of insects and birds vanished. The whistling sound of the wind blowing through the window stopped.

Shi Zhile removed the stones by the window and peeked through the gap. The snakes were gone. The players were gone. The entire world had fallen into a suffocating, dead silence.

Shi Zhile said uneasily, "This feels like the calm before the storm. I have a feeling... the real danger of this dungeon is about to begin!"

Jiang Yuxing’s half-closed eyes snapped open. "Quick, get outside!"

He cleared the stones from the doorway, grabbed one person in each hand, and pulled them outside.

The ground beneath their feet began to tremble slightly. A flock of birds burst from the forest, and XiaoQing flicked its tongue nervously.

The sound of waves, mixed with a strange, deep rumble, carried over to them. It was a heavy, muted roar.

The island’s tremors intensified. Wang Peng struggled to keep his balance. "Holy shit, is it a landslide?"

"It’s not a landslide! The island is sinking!"

Jiang Yuxing remained calm. He led the others toward higher ground, trying to get as far away from the forest and the room as possible.

"Rainforest Island has already sunk in the game world. Server 2 has more people, so the system will likely prioritize merging with more populated areas.

Server 1’s players are in a dungeon. To complete the merge, the system will forcibly pull the players out. But the dungeon exists as a separate instance in the game. When these two forces clash, the island is bound to sink."

He looked out at the boundless ocean. Debris and fallen trees floated on the surface, but there wasn’t a single player in sight.

He saw a system announcement: Server 1 survivors: 0!

’The dungeon was trying to drag all the players down with it!’

Amid the tremors, the five of them reached the highest peak and looked out at the sea under the moonlight.

The dark sea was now shimmering with a faint light. Looking through binoculars, they could see the water receding at a visible rate, exposing a large stretch of sand under the moonlight.

The rumbling grew louder, seeming to emanate from the depths of the sea.

In the distance, the surface of the sea suddenly began to distort. An oppressive darkness spread rapidly toward them.

Shi Zhile took a deep breath, her eyes filled with determination.

’I have to survive!’

She quickly took out her diving gear and began putting it on, piece by piece, with calm speed. XiaoQing was wrapped around her wrist. She paused, then unwrapped it and stroked its head.

"You’re not afraid of water. Go, save yourself. You’re more likely to die if you stay with me."

Jiang Yuxing shouted at the others, "Don’t just stand there! Get your gear on! If you’re out of time, just put on the mask and oxygen tank!"

The dark shadow loomed closer. A deafening ROAR drowned out all other sounds, making their ears ring and causing a moment of temporary deafness.

After putting on her drysuit, she strapped on the oxygen tank, put on her mask, and gripped the breathing tube connected to it with both hands, making sure the oxygen was flowing properly.

Wang Peng yelled, "I have a rope! Should we tie ourselves together?"

Tied together, they would live together or die together.

Shi Zhile shook her head without hesitation.

They were reliable teammates, but after only a few days together, they hadn’t reached the point of sharing life and death.

In the blink of an eye, the seawater crashed down on them.

Trees and houses collapsed. The immense force sent Shi Zhile flying. A branch slammed into her chest, and the impact, combined with the water pressure, was so painful she almost lost consciousness.

Although the diving suit insulated her from the cold, the moment she was engulfed by the water, a biting chill still enveloped her entire body.

Before the tsunami hit, her heart had been racing with panic. But now, submerged in the water, watching the debris whirl around her, her mind inexplicably calmed.

The cold temporarily numbed the pain, but a new wave of force soon struck.

The murky water was filled with leaves and branches. Twigs and sharp rocks scraped against her diving suit, leaving shallow scratches.

She reached up, trying to grab a piece of wood to steady herself, but the current slammed the back of her head against a rock.

For an instant, everything went black.

A warm sensation trickled down her neck. She struggled weakly as the dizziness intensified, until finally, the after-currents dragged her deeper into the sea.

Tossed up and down in the water, she was hit by countless aftershocks before her body finally stabilized. By then, her oxygen was about to run out.

Shi Zhile struggled to open her eyes. She tried to swim upward, but she had lost too much blood and had no strength left.

Through the water, the fiery red of a partial sun reflected in her eyes.

’I’m so close to the surface!’

Her mind raced as the system panel appeared before her. She quickly scanned her inventory.

’I need buoyancy. The large white water barrel would be best.’

’Unfortunately, I didn’t bring the white barrel.’

’A raft?’

’No!’

’My gear is too heavy. The raft would sink.’

Her gaze settled on the plastic barrels from her seawater filter.

The three barrels were full of water. Using the panel, she emptied them all, then took out two of the empty barrels and hugged them to her chest, upside down.

With a gentle kick of her feet and the added buoyancy from the empty barrels, she quickly broke the surface.

Before her was an endless sea. Branches and weeds drifted on the surface. As far as the eye could see, there wasn’t a single living creature.

"Cough, cough... Did I get out of the dungeon?"

A system notification popped up.

[Player injury detected. Due to environmental factors and time, the untreated wound is at risk of worsening. Life Value: -10 per hour. Current Life Value: 68.]

[Note: If Life Value drops below 50, there is a risk of infection. If Life Value reaches zero, the player will die. Please treat your injuries promptly.]

The most important thing right now was to treat her wound.

Shi Zhile tried to take out the sailboat from her inventory, but no matter what she did, it wouldn’t appear.

She then tried to retrieve the materials on the sailboat, and this time there was no resistance. A piece of wood appeared out of thin air.

’Since I can still access the materials, does this mean I can build a new raft?’

She opened the Quest Hall and found the raft-building option.

[Build a 4-square-meter raft: Wood x10, Iron Nails x5]

......

[Build a 12-square-meter raft: Wood x30, Iron Nails x30. Reward: Instant Noodles x1 case (24 packs)]

She had a countless supply of wood in her infinite-slot inventory, and she wasn’t short on iron nails for the time being.

Considering how heavy her diving gear was, she chose the 12-square-meter raft to be safe.

"Build the 12-square-meter raft."