Calvin opened the chat channel, hoping to spot some unlucky players still stuck on the Sky Island.
As expected, just as he had guessed…
[I went to the Sky Island today.Nothing but sand. What the hell kind of place is this? So annoying!]
[Don't even mention it. I landed on a normal oasis-type island, but I was a minute late and got separated from my teammate. Damn it!]
[Hey, are you saying you got stuck on the Sky Island?]
[Heard scary stuff happens if you stay there. I was planning to stay with my wife, but now I'm rethinking.]
[I don't know, I was just a minute late. The platform sped off too fast. Now I'm stuck here. Hope it's not dangerous…]
[Dude, if you're stuck, try jumping off the edge and ending it. I heard from someone who was trapped that staying longer guarantees a horrible death.]
While everyone was chatting away,
the player who was one minute late suddenly sent a chilling message.
[Help me! Something's chasing me! Am I going to die?!]
[What kind of thing? A savage?]
Calvin couldn't help asking curiously.
[No! It's a bunch of pitch-black shadow creatures. I'm done for! Help!]
[Image]
Even while being chased, the guy managed to take a photo.
Behind him were countless black monsters with long limbs and terrifying faces.
[What the hell is that?!]
[Oh my god… Staying behind really gets you haunted by these things?!]
[That's way too creepy. Good thing I made it back in time.]
[Yeah… you still alive, bro?]
Many people tagged him, but he never replied again.
With his life, he warned everyone what staying behind meant.
At that moment, Calvin and Charlotte looked at each other, fear written all over their faces.
"Calvin, no matter what happens, we must return to the platform on time from now on," Charlotte said in a trembling voice.
"I thought getting chased by savages was bad enough… but this guy had it worse," Calvin sighed.
"Yeah… if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I'd never believe something like this could happen. What even were those things?" Charlotte said, terrified.
"Whatever they were, they're definitely stronger than the savages. We follow the rules if we want to survive."
The sky had darkened. It was evening, and the sunset was just dipping below the horizon.
Their platform had completely left the Sky Island and floated into the open sky.
Clouds drifted in from the distance.
"Calvin! Look, clouds! We can fish now!" Charlotte said excitedly.
"On it."
Calvin grabbed his fishing rod.
They were in luck.Clouds kept floating by.
The two fished out useful wood and stone.
So far, wood and stone had the highest drop rates,
followed by food, refined iron, and rare materials.
Blueprints were the rarest.
Their platform had expanded into a 5x5 grid.
They now had five dirt blocks, five stone blocks, one refined iron block, twelve wooden planks, one emerald block, and one red iron block. A perfect 25-square-meter platform.
They decided to start sorting once they had more blocks.
One to two hundred square meters should be enough to start building a house.
Based on Calvin's guess, as long as the blocks were connected, they could float so building a house with blocks should be possible.
He imagined building a house above the platform with wooden planks,
using dirt blocks to farm, stone blocks for fencing,
and ideally, a locked iron door…
Eventually, it would become a true home.
That was Calvin's silent hope.
Just as the two were about to sleep,
a platform appeared in the distance, about a kilometer away.
It was around twenty square meters in size,
with two large, burly men standing on it.
The fatter one sat on a wooden plank,
in front of what looked like a driver's seat though made of blocks, with three pedals below and a steering wheel in the center.
He gripped the wheel like he was actually driving.
In this world, anything could be made of blocks.
Bonny and Barry.
"Bonny, there are people over there,"
the shorter man said, licking his lips excitedly after spotting Charlotte.
Bonny and Barry were brothers,
but somehow got matched together at the start
despite the rules requiring male-female pairing.
This was only possible because Barry had undergone gender reassignment surgery.
The system now registered her as a woman.
Even though Barry was technically female,
her preferences included both men and women. It was a bit complicated.
Bonny glanced at his "sister" with disgust.
His brother might be a woman now,
but still looked rough and, honestly, even more repulsive.
But what could he do?
They were blood siblings.
Bonny sighed.
He should've listened to his parents got married early.
Then he might've been matched with a real wife instead of his freakish sibling.
They had crossed into this world together.
Bonny had a B-rank talent: Block Driving.
At the start, he got a special driving block!
This cockpit-like structure could move blocks in all directions.
The wheel controlled direction,
left pedal for up/down, middle for braking, right for acceleration.
With this setup, they had already robbed three teams in three days.
They'd toss the men off the platform directly.
As for the women… well, anyone could guess what happened before they were tossed.
Supplies were, of course, kept.
"Bonny, let's rob them! I can't wait anymore! That little girl is so cute!"
Hearing that, Bonny nearly slapped Barry.
Girl, what else can you do besides drool all over people?
I'm the one doing all the work here!
"Cut the crap. My talent is perfect for robbery, and my attack power is 15. I don't need you to tell me what to do."
Bonny slammed the gas pedal and drove their platform toward Calvin and Charlotte.
Inside the driving block, a strange roar echoed as the distance between platforms closed.
Calvin had just laid down when he heard a low humming.
He stood up instantly, glancing back with suspicion.
Calvin was about to lie down and sleep when he heard the faint rumble of an engine from the cockpit. He immediately stood up and looked behind him with a puzzled expression.
To his surprise, a colorful cube-shaped platform was heading straight in his direction.
At the front, a man was sitting on a wooden block, steering with a black cube in front of him, holding a black steering wheel in his hands.
What the hell is going on!?
Calvin was completely stunned.
But he quickly realized that these two were most likely up to no good.
Especially the one in the back with lipstick on, a face covered in a scruffy beard, and features as grotesque as a mix between a goblin and a toad. Calvin couldn't even tell if it was a man or a woman. That person was staring at him and Charlotte with a creepy, lustful gaze.
Although he had killed savage before, he was still a college student.
When it came to hurting his own people, hesitation flashed across his face.
But in the next moment, his gaze turned resolute.
Those two players heading toward him without a word had to die.
There was over a 90% chance they were enemies. If he didn't kill them, then he and Charlotte would be the ones to die.
He absolutely couldn't let that happen.
"C-Calvin, someone's coming!" Charlotte said nervously from the side.
She had also noticed the two men on the platform staring at them.
Under normal circumstances, meeting fellow survivors should be a good thing.
But after seeing so many dark sides of human nature through the chat channel, Charlotte knew very well. At this point in time, anyone other than Calvin was the enemy.
She quickly moved to Calvin's side. A dagger suddenly appeared in her hand, which she gripped tightly and hid behind her back.
"I know, Charlotte. Be careful. Those two are very likely bad guys!"