Ming Sūlín was set up for success. She closed in, breathing slow, calm… poised to strike.
But she paused.
The adolescent sardine twitched—then turned sharply, its fins angling back toward her hidden position.
Her hand hovered, ready to move.
When—
It swam right over her.
No warning. No reaction. Just gliding inches above, exposing its pale underbelly—soft, clear, perfect vitals lit by the soft blue shimmer of the coral glow.
Ming's eyes flicked up—
Then froze.
A massive shadow spread over the reef. Something big.
Even near the glowing coral, her visibility didn't drop.
But the sight?
It shocked her.
A much larger sardine had appeared above them both.
Silent panic slammed through her system.
Please don't tell me—
Ahhh holy shit, is that the mother?! she thought silently, the words echoing in her skull like alarm bells.
Her pupils dilated as she ducked further beneath the jagged reef shelf, tucking herself deeper into the shadows.
The mother was easily five times the size of the juvenile.
FIVE. TIMES.
No shot she was ready for that. Absolutely not.
"Yeahhh, nope," she thought again, backing away with slow, controlled movements, palms half-raised in retreat. "Not up for that task, Coach." 🙅
She angled her body to slink sideways through the reef tunnel, slow and steady.
Let's take our winnings… and sneak away before the effects of her gear wear off.
As she moved through the tunnel, she tried to sneak through the small back entrance.
She moved.
Quiet. Quick. Unseen.
Or at least, that's what she thought.
She felt the mother fish before she saw it—gaining speed behind her, charging straight at her body.
Her eyes widened.
She quickly turned around, kicking hard with her flipper shoes, forcing her legs to pump as fast as they could. Don't look back. Don't look back.
But of course—she looked back.
The mother sardine opened her jaws, and a massive suction force pulled her straight toward the waiting maw.
Fuck no. This is not about to happen!
She yanked out her harpoon spear and broken fishing pole, slid off the first and second pole-necks together, stuffed the harpoon tip into the third pole hole, spun mid-water, and swam toward the open mouth—aiming right for the top of its throat as she was swallowed.
Inside the mother sardine's mouth, Ming Sūlín hung—literally—dangling from the roof of its mouth, gripping the harpoon/fishing pole combo she'd improvised.
Damn, this thing was in there good.
She stood upside down, her feet braced against the throat, and yanked with all her strength. The weapon came loose, and she dropped down onto its tongue, where she started her onslaught, stabbing and impaling over and over again—digging her way out of the thing.
Until finally, a notification flashed across her module:
[Congratulations! You have killed x1 Level 2 Adult Sardine.]
[You received: 95 EXP | 5 Kill Points | New Skill: Digging Harpole]
[Loot: x10 Fish Skin, x40 Ironscales, a Swallowed Fertilized Living City Egg (Alive), x3 Communicator Snail, x1 Young Half-Merman Escaped Slave (Alive), x36 Wood, x32 Stones, x98 Silver and x345 Copper Coin]
[All items have been placed in inventory.]
Whoa… this fish really ate everything.
Wait… is that really a fertilized Living City Egg? Which god is watching over me?!
Forget it. She'd look through everything when she got back.
When the fish disappeared the egg was sent into the inventory but the passed-out young merman appeared in front of her.
The mermaid was quite young, looking probably about 10 maybe younger, and had scars covering his arms, his neck and back, and his legs which looked like they had scales once—now clean red raw, leaking with faint blood floating out of it. She collected him into her arms gently, making sure not to hurt him.
And the mother fish also swallowed a young merman?! A slave?! Are there more of them?
She would have to ask him later.
Swimming in the direction of her raft, following her map, she happened to come across the adolescent sardine from earlier—the same one that had called its mother.
Without hesitation, she killed it.
Not just for the EXP. But also to let out some grievances from earlier.
[You have killed x1 Adolescent Sardine.]
[You received: 3 Kill Points | 30 EXP]
[Loot: x4 Fish Skins, x7 Fish Bones, a Swallowed Chest (Blue Grade), x1 Freshwater Filtration System Blueprint, x122 Copper Coin]
It seems this game even has hidden items… and a water filtration system?
Perfect. That's exactly what she'd need for her shelter once she started building her base.
Soon she made it back to her little raft sitting there, floating—hanging on well, surprisingly.
"Ump." She pushed the boy onto the raft first, then pulled herself up. After taking off the breathing slug and putting it in her inventory, she took a couple deep breaths, then began to look around her raft to see if there was anything she could use as cover from the rain.
Nothing.
"Oh." She smacked herself in the forehead for her forgetfulness. She opened the game module and clicked on her inventory to see what was in there that could help her.
⸻
📜 PLAYER PROFILE: MING SŪLÍN
• Identity: Ruler / Refugee
• Level: 1
• EXP: 185 / 400
• Energy: 150 / 150
• Life Value: 100
• World Territory Level: 0 / 10
• Establishments: None
• Territory Defense: basic defense drones (active)
• Citizens: None
• CP (Citizen Points): None (need citizens to earn)
• Profession: None
• Race: Human
• Skills: Fillet Slicer, Digging Harpole
• Attributes:
• Intellect: 9
• Strength: 6
• Defense: 4
• Charm: 8
• Agility: 5
• Constitution: 3
• Wealth: 100 gold, 108 silver, 967 copper coins
⸻
Her eyes fell onto the boathouse blueprint. Clicking on it, she pulled it out to see if she had the required materials.
She needed 15 wood, 12 stones, 5 fish skin, 6 large fish bones, and her storm light.
She looked over her inventory and, seeing she had more than enough, she clicked the materials needed, and then the blueprint.
[Would you like to use materials to upgrade raft and build boat house?]
[Yes]
It wasn't long before a flash appeared around her. The raft under her feet expanded out, turning from Afro and wood to fine shiny wood. On a medium-sized deck a few feet away from her was a cute cottage-sized cabin with two windows and plants in them. She had a light on top of the cabin that moved back and forth like a lighthouse light.
She picked the boy up over her shoulder and headed toward the cabin.