Sea Survival: My Luck is Off the Charts

Faye Yardley ate it so quickly she didn’t even get to taste it. The clementine vanished in her mouth, transforming into a warm current that flowed down her esophagus and into her body. It then circulated once along the pathways of the Health Care Scripture, though it seemed to lose momentum toward the end.

Her body instinctively activated the Health Care Scripture to give the energy a final push, completing a full cycle.

Afterward, Faye Yardley felt something new inside her body.

"Do I have magic now? How do I use it?"

As far as she was concerned, anything that *might* be triggered *would* be triggered.

So, this new thing inside her body had to be the so-called magic.

A new strength resided in her body—for magic was a kind of strength—yet how to release it was another question entirely.

’I could wait until morning and ask Zephyr Sterling and Yvonne Lynch. After all, they both have Healing System abilities. Even if magic and superpowers are different, I can probably get some pointers on how to use them.’

’I should get to sleep now.’

She lay back down. The Good-Sleep Pillow really lived up to its name. Even though her mind was racing, it only took a few minutes for it to lull her into a deep sleep.

She woke up promptly at 4 AM. After quickly washing up, Faye Yardley went out to the small balcony to check on the Green Egg and the vine she’d planted.

"It’s only been a few days, but it looks like you’ve all grown a bit. Green Egg, you seem to have some new hairline cracks. Are you about to hatch?"

As she spoke, she picked up the Green Egg and held it up to the light for a closer look. Sure enough, she wasn’t mistaken. It really was trying to hatch.

Obediently, the vine shed its two largest leaves. Faye Yardley glanced at the vine, which was now taller than she was, and poured the rest of the morning dew onto its roots.

"I don’t even know where I’m supposed to find special energy for you all now."

’I still have some Light Energy and Light Energy Fragments, but I haven’t figured out what they’re for yet. I can’t just feed them all to the Azure Egg and Bella; I have to save some for myself.’

’It was a shame. A lucky break like Bramble running into that black seawater wasn’t something you could count on happening again.’

"But you don’t need to worry about that. If we can’t find any energy, you’ll just have to grow slowly. There’s no rush. Your lifespans are definitely longer than mine, after all."

Faye Yardley was well aware of this fact.

’I might be young, but compared to an egg that might be an Azure Phoenix and a plant grown from a Magic Seed, my life is definitely shorter.’

’I got those two recipes yesterday... Should I just learn them myself?’

Faye Yardley was a bit conflicted. She didn’t enjoy cooking, but these two recipes were clearly special.

Her conflict was short-lived. A moment later, Faye Yardley had already taken out the recipes and was learning them.

Upon confirming she wanted to use the recipes, a flood of related knowledge instantly filled her mind.

’What a way to learn.’

She leaped down from the small balcony and stretched her limbs on the open ground.

Eamon ran over excitedly. "Faye, the two saplings you brought back this time are very special! I planted them in two separate plots of their own."

’Planting special plants helps Eamon grow quickly, too.’

That was something Faye hadn’t considered before.

"Will the Clementine and red apricot be any different?"

’They’re not going to grow Magic Oranges and bear ’Temporary Good Luck’ red apricots, are they?’

Eamon shook his head. "I don’t know yet, but they’re definitely not ordinary plants. We’ll probably find out what special effects they have once they bear fruit."

"How long will it take for them to bear fruit?"

"Uhm... that could take a while. At the absolute fastest, it would still probably take two months."

Faye Yardley nodded in understanding. "I’ll leave them in your care, then. Thanks for your hard work."

"Of course! If you get any other special plants, Faye, please let me take care of them."

’Aside from the Magic Seed, I can let Eamon handle planting everything else. After all, if I tried to plant them myself, their survival would be entirely up to the plants themselves.’

After getting her affirmative reply, Eamon happily ran off to the planting room.

Faye Yardley went to the stables, but surprisingly, Bella wasn’t there.

"Faye, Bella went out to sea with Cole Kensington to salvage fish."

"Oh, they’re diligent. It’s not even 4:30 yet, is it?"

"Yeah. Ever since Cole Kensington salvaged a Wooden Treasure Chest between 2 and 3 AM while you were at the event, he’s adjusted his whole schedule."

Considering Cole Kensington was usually a treasure-chest-repellent, she could totally understand him changing his entire schedule just because he finally managed to salvage one.

After breakfast, Faye Yardley tried calling Zephyr Sterling, but no one answered. Even Master Veridian wasn’t around.

It was only after she opened the nationwide channel that she belatedly realized the event wasn’t even over yet.

The people popping up to chat on the channel now were all ones who had finished their tasks early and chosen to come back.

’So Zephyr Sterling and Master Veridian haven’t finished their tasks yet?’

’Counting the days, this is the sixth day of the event. Who knows how many people have lost their lives in the chaos of the Fairy Tale World.’

But that wasn’t her problem to consider. This event had been one of the longest so far, but even so, Faye believed it wouldn’t last more than seven days.

’So, even if they don’t complete their tasks, as long as they survive in the Fairy Tale World for seven days, they should be able to return to their rafts safely when the event ends.’

Of course, she wouldn’t voice that speculation out loud.

She watched the nationwide channel for a while and confirmed that everyone who had finished their tasks and returned early had received rewards.

Her private group chat was silent. Apparently, besides her, no one else had finished their task early and returned.

’Were the tasks that difficult?’

She switched to the mega-group chat. Two avatars had already turned gray, but there were a few people here who had returned early.

She called her brother. It rang for a moment before he picked up. "Faye? How’d you know I just got back?"

"I didn’t. I was just trying my luck. Good to see you made it back in one piece."

"What’s that supposed to mean? Anyway, I got a blessing from The River Snail Maiden, but that was it for rewards."

"You entered a folk tale world?"

"Yeah. I almost ran into The White Serpent because I saw Sean Sutton. You didn’t go to the same one?"

Faye Yardley shook her head. "No, I met Little Red Riding Hood and Cinderella. By the way, what does The River Snail Maiden’s blessing do?"

"Hang on, let me take a closer look."

Faye watched her brother sit there with a blank look on his face, then suddenly break into a smile. "The River Snail Maiden’s Blessing: Increases the harvest yield of crops planted in your territory. Looks like this will either affect the planting room on my raft or the base. That’s great, really practical. All my hard work helping The River Snail Maiden escape that monster’s clutches wasn’t for nothing."

"Okay, then. You should get some rest. I’m fine, nothing going on here. As you can see, I’m perfectly okay too."

"As long as you’re okay, I can relax. I really do need to get some rest. Let’s talk more this afternoon."