Deep Sea Survival

By Virginia Lamb

In the age of the endless deep sea, human beings around the world have fallen into the ocean, relying on the magical bubbles that surround their bodies to survive.
Evelin accidentally activated the travel jellyfish system, started with a small jellyfish, brought back various illustrations, and improved the global overall ranking.
With the launch of the server-wide event "Heart of the Sea", high-level illustrated book rewards have appeared.
The test of the erudite, the battle between black, gold and blue, the sacred competition of the ocean, the guardianship of the road to the audience, the Royal Atria Inn, the dinner in the heart of the sea...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Virginia Lamb
• Release date: May 6, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224824908

Book preview

Deep Sea Survival

Chapter 1

Everywhere you look , you can see the blue sea. The refraction effect makes the sunlight appear in the sea with an interweaving of colors and a bizarre beauty.

In the last second, Evelin was still concentrating on writing copy, but in the blink of an eye, she was in this dreamlike and illusory ocean.

There was a layer of transparent bubble-shaped light shield around her, emitting a soft white halo, like a crystal ball, isolating a safe space for Evelyn in the blue sea.

Before she could recover from the shock, suddenly, an inorganic voice rang beside her ears.

Dear Blue Star players, welcome to the Endless Ocean. Please strive to be the first player to see the sea surface!

As soon as the system sound fell, a bracelet made of flowing water waves suddenly appeared on Evelin's left wrist. She tried to touch it lightly with her right hand, and her fingers could actually pass through it.

Evelin was so surprised that she subconsciously retracted her finger. Almost at the same time, a holographic light screen projected by the bracelet appeared in front of her, and a game guide popped up on the light screen.

【Instructions for Endless Deep Sea Game】

[1. Death in this game means real death, please do not waste your only life.]

[Second, the Sea-fixing Cover will provide you with the only safe space in the endless deep sea.]

【3. Dinghaizhai has various modes and functions, please explore freely.】

[4. Poseidon Coin is the main currency in circulation in Endless Deep Sea Game.]

[5. Please work hard to unlock the marine life illustration, obtain Poseidon coins, increase the diving distance, and improve the global comprehensive ranking. 】

[6. Adventures may happen in the endless deep sea at any time. Please don’t panic and just come back alive. 】

[7. Please remain in awe of mermaids, killer whales, octopuses and * *. 】

[8. This game does not have any novice protection period, this game does not have any novice protection period, this game does not have any novice protection period! 】

[9. The final interpretation right of the above content belongs to this system. 】

[Dear players, the first glow of the red sun on the sea in the morning is waiting for you, I wish you good luck! 】

After reading this Endless Deep Sea Game Instructions, Evelin fell into deep thought. After a long time, she clicked to close it and then checked other contents on the holographic light screen.

The time and weather are displayed in the upper right corner of the light screen: 11:01, the first day of the Endless Deep Sea, Monday, sunny.

In the center of the screen are different content sections, including the Poseidon Forum, Poseidon Store, Inventory, Marine Life Encyclopedia, etc.

Evelyn first clicked on the Poseidon Forum. The background of the forum was in the deep sea. A plump pink octopus was swimming happily. Its eight short tentacles were connected together like flippers, and when they were opened, they looked like a small parachute.

Is this a pancake octopus? But California octopus is usually a bright orange-red color. When did it become such a highly saturated pink?

But before Evelin could take another closer look, the forum system prompted her to fill in her name.

【Please enter your forum nickname. 】

She directly typed the name Wonderful Journey, which was the nickname Evelyn often used when surfing the Internet. It not only contained the homonym of her name, but also had the sense of stability of the middle-aged generation. She was very satisfied with it.

After all, there is a saying that goes, when you go out, your personality is determined by yourself. It’s okay as long as your image to the outside world looks ordinary but not someone who is easy to mess with.

[This nickname has been used by someone else, please choose another nickname. ]

Well, her plan to live in seclusion in the city was not fulfilled because she died first.

Then she tried various methods of adding prefixes and suffixes, and entered nicknames such as Wonderful Journey 111, Wonderful Journey 233, Have you had a wonderful journey today? and the results were all that someone had already taken them.

Is this name so popular? Evelyn wondered.

After failing again and again, Evelin compromised. Now she just wanted to quickly name herself and enter the Poseidon Forum, so she casually typed the words Preparing for Poseidon. Unexpectedly, she passed the exam this time.

[Your forum nickname is Preparatory Poseidon and your forum number is 9999]

She successfully entered the Poseidon Forum, and the first section on the left, Regional Live Chat, caught her eye.

Area A1, regional live chat (10000/10000):

What the hell is going on! Help!

I still can't believe what I'm seeing!

Hey, are you all soaking in the sea? There is a bubble mask around you.

Everything in front of me is sea water. Will this sea cover be damaged? I can't swim!

Damn kidnapper, let me go home!

The person above, please accept the reality and read the game instructions carefully. We are in an endless deep sea game, and death in the game is real death!

How can you be sure that the game instructions are not a lie? Maybe you can only return to reality after you die in the game!

is this real?

Isn't this kind of plot common in novels?

What bullshit are you talking about! Stop encouraging others!

I want to scold that person too. If you don't want to live, just go and try it yourself instead of provoking others.

...

Just as everyone was condemning that person, a special line of text suddenly appeared at the top of the area's real-time chat box.

[The last words from I want to live another five hundred years: Be careful when using the Dinghai cover collection function! I was attacked by a shark! Parents, I really hope you were not involved. The unfilial son Li Jiangyue left first! 】

At this time, Evelin also noticed that the number of people displayed at the top of the regional real-time chat box instantly decreased! Her heart grew heavy.

Area A1, regional live chat (9999/10000):

It's over. That person is really dead! Could it be that he came up with a last word to fool us?

I'm so young and I really don't want to die!

What kind of crappy game is this Endless Deep Sea? People die at the beginning? Then who can survive!

I really want to cry, why did the world change when I woke up...

Everyone, don't waste time here. Act quickly to unlock the illustrated book and obtain Poseidon coins! Survival is the most important thing!

That person seemed to have died while the recording function was turned on!

...

Panic spread in the regional real-time chat, and to make matters worse, the system suddenly popped up a server-wide notification.

[Server-wide notification: The first dead player in Endless Deep Sea has appeared, and the final last words section has been opened for everyone. Players can edit your last words in advance, and the system will send you a message on time after death. 】

Evelin fell into silence. She really didn't expect that issues like last words and death, which she didn't think much about before, would actually be so close to her.

Calm down first! Evelin took several deep breaths, and without even glancing at the newly added last words section, she immediately began to look for how to use the Dinghai Cover.

To survive, this is Evelyn's only thought at the moment.

After returning from the Poseidon Forum, she noticed with her sharp eyes that there were instructions for using the Dinghai Cover right below the holographic light screen. Evelyn used the skills she had cultivated in school and workplace for many years to memorize the several pages of long content firmly in her mind.

This is something that concerns your life, you cannot make any mistakes while using it!

Looking at the spherical protective light shield with a diameter of about two meters around her, Evelyn decided to start unlocking the marine life atlas right now.

She adjusted the sea-fixing shield to the follow-swimming mode, and the shield instantly shrank from a spherical shape to the surface of Evelyn's body, like a super diving composite equipment, helping her swim in the sea.

After the light shield deformed, she subconsciously adjusted herself into a swimming posture, exerting light force on her legs. Although she was barefoot, she felt like she was wearing flippers. The light shield on the soles of her feet instantly provided powerful propulsion power, helping her advance a considerable distance.

The close-fitting clothes she was forced to wear were very similar to a real diving suit. The light shield automatically adjusted to a streamlined shape and covered the surface of her skin. While being wrapped tightly in the light shield, she did not feel the scarcity of oxygen. She breathed naturally as if she was on land.

It seems that this is the greatest benefit for people who can't swim or dive. Even landlubbers can quickly learn to swim in the sea. Evelyn murmured to herself.

In her attempts to swim both upward and downward, she found the same transparent barrier preventing her from moving forward.

Simply put, the vertical area in which she can move is about two meters up and down, which is exactly the same as the diameter of the light shield in its initial form.

Here I can still see the sunlight. According to common sense, it will not be more than 200 meters under the sea, but it is uncertain whether there will be changes because it is a game.

Unfortunately, although there was sunshine, there were no marine life around.

Evelyn kept in mind the fifth rule of the Endless Deep Sea game: Please work hard to unlock the marine life encyclopedia, obtain Poseidon coins, increase your diving distance, and improve your overall global ranking.

There was sea water all around her, so she decided to explore in one direction first.

A few minutes later, Evelyn keenly caught a very tiny moving red dot in front of her.

She held her breath, opened her eyes wide and looked carefully. Her eyes with a naked vision of 5.2 played a big role.

There's a little Turritopsis jellyfish here!

Thanks to her love of watching various marine documentaries in her spare time, Evelyn recognized the type of jellyfish in front of her at a glance.

Is the first illustrated book about to be unlocked? !

The instructions for using the Dinghai Cover that she had just memorized mentioned how to unlock the marine life encyclopedia. In short, first turn on the Dinghai Cover's collection function, and then touch to unlock it. The touch time required to unlock the encyclopedia varies depending on the star level of the marine life.

Evelin suppressed her excitement and immediately turned on the recording function of the Dinghai Cover.

[When the Dinghai Cover turns on the recording function, it will be unable to resist external attacks. Are you sure you want to turn on this function? ]

The player Li Jiangyue was injured without the protection of a light shield, but he was facing a shark, while what was in front of him was just a lighthouse jellyfish.

Evelyn clicked the confirmation button without hesitation. Starting from her hand, the light emitted by the Dinghai Cover gradually changed from soft white to dark blue, with trident-shaped light patterns emanating from it, just like a magic show.

In the blink of an eye, the Dinghai Cover completed the transformation.

She kept her eyes on the little jellyfish, afraid that she would lose its trace. Fortunately, the transformation of the light shield did not scare it away.

The little lighthouse jellyfish is still floating obediently in the same place.

According to Evelyn's recollection of the marine documentary, the Turritopsis dohrnii is venomous, like most jellyfish.

However, the toxicity of the Turritopsis immortali jellyfish is not too strong. Generally speaking, people will not suffer serious effects after touching it. Only a small number of sensitive people will experience a severe irritation reaction.

She looked at her hands, and she couldn't be sure if she was one of the few unlucky ones. Even though there was a risk, she couldn't miss the opportunity before her.

Evelyn stretched out her slender index finger and carefully approached the jellyfish, then lightly tapped the small jellyfish with her fingertip, and a prompt on the light screen immediately appeared.

[Congratulations to the player for successfully unlocking the Turritopsis Turritopsis illustration. The marine life illustration has been opened and can be viewed at any time. ]

After seeing that the unlocking was successful, she immediately turned off the recording function of the Dinghai Cover, and the light cover returned to its original appearance.

Just as Evelyn was about to look at the newly appeared marine life atlas, she was interrupted by another message.

【You picked up a small jellyfish. 】

[Would you like to tame me? ]

chapter 2

Evelin stared at the second prompt for a long time, and the word tame touched her.

She finally said her answer, I'm sure.

【You tame me, we will need each other. 】

A cute Q-version jellyfish icon suddenly appeared on the light screen, with the words Travel Jellyfish System underneath. It opened automatically before she could touch it.

[The travel jellyfish system has been loaded, please name your jellyfish]

The classic dialogue from The Little Prince actually appeared in the prompt! As a loyal reader of this children's literature, Evelin stared blankly at the little lighthouse jellyfish in front of her.

It seems to have a human nature, its tentacles drive the body to dance happily and regularly in the sea. Compared with the lighthouse in its scientific name, it is more like a little red lantern swaying in the wind at this moment.

The name Little Lantern suddenly popped into Evelin's mind, and she made a decisive decision.

【Welcome to Little Lantern’s home. 】

The small lantern in front of him disappeared instantly, and then appeared in the light screen in front of him.

It was a small underwater world. On the left was a place similar to a courtyard, with a specially fenced area surrounded by coral bushes where many different types of pearl oysters were raised. On the right was a dome-shaped house built with shells.

It is said to be a traveling jellyfish system, but it is more like a traveling jellyfish game. It is similar to an idle mobile game on Blue Star, with a fresh and warm style.

[Beginner’s Guide to the Travel Jellyfish System. 】

Comic-like speech bubbles suddenly appeared on the head of the little lantern, but Evelin couldn't read the words on them. The fonts looked like immature children's simple drawings.

The system informed Evelin that the bond value between her and Little Lantern was not enough, so she could not understand each other's text. There are many ways to increase the bond value, please explore slowly.

[Try to increase the bond value between you and the little lantern ~]

Then the system shined the spotlight on the pearl oysters in the middle of the coral fence. Evelin followed the instructions and moved her fingers across the light screen, harvesting all these different types of pearl oysters.

[You get eight shells, four pearl powders, two akoya pearls, one maple pearl, and one Australian white pearl. 】

There was an introduction to the pile of items she had just obtained in the inventory, and she began to look at them one by one.

[Shells: Basic currency, you can buy food and various props needed for traveling jellyfish in the store. 】

[Pearl powder: It can improve the level of coral clusters and randomly generate higher-level pearl oysters. 】

[Pearl: Amulet, it is a must-have item for traveling jellyfish, and it can also be used as a gift for friends. 】

In fact, before harvesting pearl oysters just now, Evelin focused on their types. If she read correctly, there are Malovian oysters, penguin oysters and white butterfly oysters. Sure enough, after harvesting them, corresponding pearls were produced.

But generally speaking, the former two are shallow-sea pearl oysters, and the latter are deep-sea pearl oysters. Can they appear in the same sea area at the same time? And judging from the introduction information of pearl powder, other types of pearl oysters will be produced in the fence that increases the level of the coral bush.

Evelin scratched her head, and finally thought that it was a game setting that coral bushes would refresh pearl oysters anyway, so there was no need for her to think so rigorously.

After successfully harvesting this batch of pearl oysters, the system continued to guide Evelin to prepare the necessary items in the travel backpack for the little lantern.

When she saw this, Evelin roughly guessed the operating mode of the Traveling Jellyfish system, which was very similar to a game called Traveling Frog on Blue Star.

Evelin has not only played this idle mobile game that was once a hit on the Internet, but also watched a lot of strategy videos from game bloggers. It can be said that she is very familiar with the gameplay of the entire game.

After figuring out the basic settings of the travel jellyfish system, she quickly started operating it. The food in the backpack was a portion of brine shrimp bought with two shells. The prop was placed first and could be purchased with the remaining six shells. The most advanced props to speed up the tips bag, and then put a random door in the novice gift.

It’s just that she had trouble choosing a pearl amulet. Looking at the three different white pearls with no grades marked in front of her, Evelin tried hard to recall the pearl-related information she had learned before.

Akoya pearls are produced from the Malovian oyster, which is mostly produced in Japan. Akoya is the Japanese pronunciation of the Malovian oyster. One of its biggest features is that it has rich color and iridescence, and the pearlescent light is translucent, but the bead diameter is small.

On the contrary, Australian white pearls are produced from white butterfly oysters. The color is mostly silver, the pearlescent light is fine and cold-toned, and the diameter of the beads is large.

The mother oyster of Mabei pearls is Penguin oyster, which is also mostly produced in Japan. It has rich iridescent pearlescent light and a large bead diameter. However, the biggest feature of Mabei pearls is that it is not round, but a semi-spherical ball with rich texture. type, the back is flat.

After some struggle, Evelin finally chose Australian white pearls as the little lantern’s amulet for this trip.

After all, they are deep-sea pearls, so they should be more precious than offshore pearls. Moreover, she also remembered that Australian white pearls were praised as the white queen among pearls.

[The little lantern is going on a trip! 】

[Little Lantern sent a photo: Taking a photo with the Caribbean coral reef. 】

The photo shows a colorful, beautiful and elegant coral reef with various marine life swimming in it. The small lantern is in the lower right corner of the photo. It is so mini that it is difficult to spot it without looking carefully.

The Caribbean Sea has tropical shallow waters, coral reefs rich in biodiversity and rich ecosystems.

How many marine life illustrations can be unlocked at once? Evelin almost cried when she looked at the photo sent back by Little Lantern, thinking how great it would be if she could also go there.

【The little lantern is back from its trip! 】

[The little lantern brought back a specialty: giant Caribbean anemone. 】

[The little lantern brought back a souvenir: the black fingerprint sea hare. 】

Before she could finish sighing at the photos sent by the little lantern, the three messages that followed made Evelin a little confused. Is it possible to travel so fast? It’s even more exaggerated than a special forces tour!

Is it because of the role of the novice gift item from Any Gate? How long does it take for a jellyfish to travel normally? While thinking about these questions, Evelin clicked on the introductions of Giant Caribbean Anemone and Black Fingerprint Aplysia.

[Giant Caribbean anemone: The venom on its tentacles can stun the prey and capture it. 】

[Black fingerprint Aplysia: Its eggs are valuable seafood and a good medicine for reducing inflammation and fever. 】

It looks interesting, but where should I use it? Evelin was puzzled.

At this time, she suddenly discovered something. The little lantern had actually grown a lot after returning from the trip. If it was only 1cm before, it is now at least 2cm.

It's a pity that she still can't understand the speech bubble on the head of the little lantern. It seems that the bond value can only be gained slowly.

Evelin casually clicked on the small lantern that moved rhythmically on the light screen, but unexpectedly an option popped up.

[Are you sure you want to send the little lantern to real space? 】

[Press the button on the lower right to put it into the travel jellyfish system again. 】

She looked at the prompt in front of her, and suddenly an idea hit Evelin's mind like a flash of inspiration!

Can other things in the Traveling Jellyfish system also be transferred to the real space? Then she can use this feature to unlock the marine life illustrations! Thinking of this, Evelin almost danced with excitement.

Wait, did she just double-click or long-press to trigger this prompt? Whatever, let's try them all.

Evelyn first pointed around in the space inside the courtyard. Unfortunately, the system reminded her that only small lanterns and items in the inventory could be teleported.

She had originally wanted to try teleporting the pearl oysters before the next harvest, but it seemed that was not going to work.

However, the giant Caribbean anemone and the black fingerprint sea hare that she had just seen can be teleported. She tried clicking three times in a row on the introduction column and it worked!

[Are you sure you want to teleport the giant Caribbean anemone into real space? ]

[Are you sure you want to teleport the Black Fingerprint Sea Hare to the real world? ]

After confirming the transfer, Evelyn quickly turned on the collection function to try to collect these two little cuties, and easily unlocked the corresponding illustrations!

[Congratulations to the player for successfully unlocking...]

I'm so lucky! For the first time, Evelin felt unreal, as if she had won the lottery. She wanted to hug the Traveling Jellyfish System and give it a kiss.

Evelyn was so happy that she almost jumped up on the spot. After calming down, she finally remembered to go and look at the marine life illustration that had been interrupted by the news from the Traveling Jellyfish System.

Opening the atlas, you will find that each page is based on ultra-high-definition photos of marine life, with the name, biological classification, star rating and a few brief sentences attached. It is more like a collection of photos of marine life than an atlas.

The Turritopsis immortalis is one star, the giant Caribbean anemone is two stars, and the black fingerprint sea hare is two stars. It is not yet known what criteria are used to assess the star rating.

But unlocking a one-star illustration can get you 10 Poseidon coins, a two-star illustration is 100 Poseidon coins, a three-star illustration is 1,000 Poseidon coins, and so on.

This means that Evelyn now has 210 Poseidon coins, and has finally escaped from the dilemma of being penniless. She can go to the Poseidon store to see what goods are available.

The interface of Poseidon's store is unexpectedly simple, and the products are put on the shelves on a refresh system, which is refreshed every 12 hours or immediately refreshed by spending 5 Poseidon coins. Currently, there are only two one-star products in Poseidon's store: a low-level energy supplement bar and a 500ml bottle of mineral water.

Moreover, the products are not cheap. Low-level energy bars with random flavors are priced at 10 Poseidon coins, while bottled mineral water is more expensive, priced at 30 Poseidon coins.

Evelin still had some money in her pocket, but she hadn’t decided whether to buy these two items. After all, she hadn’t done much exercise just now , so she wasn’t hungry or thirsty.

If it is not an urgent need, then considering stockpiling, she is not sure whether these two items are the most cost-effective. What if better alternatives are refreshed next time?

She had enough Poseidon coins to buy all of them with a lot left over, but Evelyn still decided to go to the Poseidon forum to learn from others' experiences before taking any action.

Surprisingly, this time the fat pink octopus in the background of the Poseidon Forum seemed to have noticed her outside the screen and swam straight towards her.

When Evelin got closer, she could clearly see that the pink octopus's ears had two rapidly flapping fins, which seemed to be used to maintain body balance. It looked a bit more cute up close.

A pink speech bubble appeared on the head of the pink octopus, with some words in the middle that Evelin couldn't understand, but for some keywords, she inexplicably understood what they meant.

...you...sea...breath...

Give... Poseidon coins...exchange...vouchers...randomly...

Chapter 3

After combining the key words, a bold idea gradually emerged in Evelin's mind: Could this pink octopus be something like an Easter egg in a game?

I really didn’t understand the first sentence, and Evelin speculated that it might be related to the traveling jellyfish system. After all, the first time she came to the Poseidon Forum, there was no dialogue triggered.

As for the second sentence, she was able to understand the general meaning of the sentence based on the known vocabulary. Can the Pink Octopus use Poseidon Coins to randomly exchange for some kind of coupons?

She decisively handed the pink octopus a Poseidon coin as a test stone. She thought that if she misunderstood, the loss would not be much. Unexpectedly, speech bubbles appeared on the pink octopus's head again.

... breath... discount...

The plump little pink octopus happily accepted the Poseidon Coin and immediately took out three exquisite blue and pink lottery tickets for her.

Evelin looked at it carefully, it was incredible!

[One-star rest ticket: After use, you can enter the sea god space for fifteen minutes, and you can choose from the following rooms: toilet, shower room, bath room. ]

In fact, when Evelin saw the light shield for the first time, she thought of a very embarrassing thing, how to deal with physiological problems? It turned out that it was waiting here.

It seems that I won’t have to worry about this problem in the future. This little pink octopus seems to be giving me discounts.

What a beautiful day!

In a good mood, she browsed the Poseidon Forum and took a look at the real-time chat in the area. Perhaps thanks to Comrade Li Jiangyue's last words, everyone was very careful and there were no more deaths for the time being.

A1 area, regional real-time chat (9999/10000):

Is anyone there? How many illustrations have you successfully unlocked? How come I only unlocked one small fish after swimming for so long?

I didn't even see a single fish. That's a bit strange. Is there anyone else as unlucky as me?

Me too, nothing has been unlocked so far.

+1

+2

Only one has been unlocked. It seems it's not my problem alone.

This should be a common situation for everyone. I speculate that it is the game mechanism, which is similar to the refresh system of Poseidon Shop. We are in a simulated deep sea, not a real sea.

A wild boss is infested upstairs!

I think this speculation is reasonable and can explain the current strange situation.

There are many loopholes in this. First of all, those who put it in areas rich in marine life will basically not come out to share it. And if it is a refresh system, how come there are people who have not seen a single fish until now? There are two products.

This question is not unreasonable.

really.

Well, I collected a lot of information shared by friends and came to some conclusions based on big data analysis. One of the confirmed rules can be used as evidence for my speculation. I will post it in the post area soon. Welcome everyone. Come and see.

It's better to just say it here.

Ah? Are there any other rules that I don't know about? Boss, please post them now.

The bench is waiting.

...

What big news will be in the post? She specifically clicked on the business card of the person with the nickname Calm Analysis, forum number 1111, and clicked on the follow button, looking forward to the conclusion he was going to say.

After that, Evelyn continued to look at the chat area for a long time, and she discovered something very important. No one had mentioned the Traveling Jellyfish system. She wondered if no one except herself had activated the Traveling Jellyfish system?

After another round of deliberate observation, she confirmed that no one