"Useful my ass!"
Locke was left out of breath but reluctantly picked up the piece of wood again and concentrated on it.
[Driftwood [white]]
[The most basic resource found at sea, it can be used to produce sorts of things.]
"Huh, I guess this is better than some old rag."
Locke then looked back at the murky waters and noticed a few more lit-up spots. All with the same message as earlier.
The inner hoarder within him started to awaken
"Collect.. collect it all!"
An hour passed, and the remaining light in the sky was dimming slowly; he figured night was coming. Having fished for some time, he had become more proficient in the art and could hook up loot in only 2-3 tries. He was getting the hang of this.
Locke was currently sprawled on top of his raft. His face and hair were damp from the rain, and hooking was still tiring. After much effort, he had collected an assortment of useful bits and bobs from the surrounding ocean with the help of his talent.
[You have obtained: 9 Driftwood, 4 Mouldy Ropes, 5 Dirty Cloths, 1 Water Bottle after a successful hooking session]
During this period of greed, Locke realised that he could put the items he collected back inside his inventory, though there might be a limit that he did not know about. This saved him the trouble of losing his hard-earned materials to the waves crashing against his raft.
Currently, his inventory contains;
[Inventory]
[6 Bread, 7 Water Bottles, 10 Driftwood, 4 Mouldy Ropes]
Looking at his now full inventory, Locke felt pride in the fact that his initially useless-looking talent shone like a diamond in the rough. The full harvest made him feel like a pirate at sea, hoarding loot and scavenging treasure.
He thought, 'The system was right, luck does play a big part in survival'.
He was casually scrolling through the different functions on the system, trying to ease his current boredom. All the 'treasures' around his raft had already been cleared out, and he had nothing left to do.
As he was having these thoughts, another light far off from where he was caught his attention through the stormy weather. It shone brighter than the others, catching his attention.
[Treasured Intuition: You feel that you would find something essential to you there]
Locke was instantly woken up, his initial drowsiness fading into excitement. Locke stood up, looking at the distant light.
'Treasure! It must be treasure, ' he thought, his eyes reflecting the golden light.
He judged that the distance between him and the bright spot was about 15 meters, more than the length of his raft and the length his hook could reach accurately. His immediate thought was to swim out and get it.
"No, that's crazy, I'm not swimming out there". Locke quickly calmed himself down.
He was told by the system that there was a nest of 'Froglings' hidden around here somewhere. But hey, a little distance didn't scare him, although he didn't know what was under the raging waters in front of him, as they all say, ignorance is bliss. As long as he could rush there and back, he would be completely safe!
The more he looked at the light spot, the greater the urge to get it became. He felt his greed getting the better of him. He tied the rope end of his hook to the edge of his raft and the other end around his hip so that he could return to his raft even if the waves carried him away. With a final deep breath, he dove into the deep waters.
The moment his skin met the waters, Locke felt his entire body shiver uncontrollably, but thankfully, nothing happened; his initial worries eased ever so slightly. Though there was still a lingering thought at the back of his mind, saying that this was a terrible idea.
After adjusting to the cold temperature, Locke paddled slowly towards the light spot. The murky waters made it difficult for him to see clearly what was ahead. The light spot acted as a beacon guiding him.
15 meters…. 10 meters… 5 meters.. 2 meters. 1 meter!
Finally, Locke reached the spot of the ocean, which was indicated by his talent. He plunged his hand deep into the water, and his fingertips touched the hard cover of something hidden under the water's surface. Without checking what it was, he sent it into his inventory once he grabbed hold of it.
A notification passed by his retina, but the storm blocked his view.
'I'll check it once I get back. ' He thought.
He looked back to see that his raft was still there and sighed a sigh of relief; everything had all gone to plan.
Locke whispered to himself, "Let's get back quickly now."
He began to swim back, holding on to the rope to find the correct direction, this time not as carefully as before.
The water rocked against his body, and he could feel it crashing against his skin. The cold pierced through to his head and stopped any other wild thoughts he might have had while in the water.
As he was halfway there, the hairs on his back suddenly stood up as a shiver passed down his spine.
His swimming became more erratic as the bad feeling in his heart continued to bother him.
Just as he was about to take hold of the raft, he felt something slimy wrap around his leg, and he was dragged under the water's surface.
His mind clouded at the loss of oxygen from his nostrils, and his body flailed underwater.
He felt his conscience slipping as the dim light from the water's surface slowly faded into darkness. Air bubbles slipped out of his open mouth as his vision was lost.
'Heh, so this is how I die,' He thought as his life seemed to slip away.
'It's only been an hour since I came here, and it's already over, so much for survival.'
At the end of one's life, it's said that one's life will flash before one's eyes once again.
'It seems that's true, ' Locke thought.
Just as he was about to finally put an end to it all, the rope on his waist suddenly caused his body to jolt back, and Locke felt his mind return to his body.
'Damn, at least let me die in peace, ' he thought as he struggled underwater.
Out of the corner of his eyes, he could spot four glowing yellow beads and rows of shimmering teeth about to snap on his leg from under him.
Without time to think, his hand raised as a piece of driftwood appeared in his hand from his inventory. Desperately, he struck the head of whatever was down there; the wood struck true, causing the creature to choke, loosening its grip on him.
[2 damage to Inferior Frogling]
Locke had no time to read the notification as he could feel the monster's grip slipping. With a final tug, he freed his leg and started to ascend from the waters using the rope. Luckily, he wasn't far from his raft when he surfaced, and he was able to roll aboard quickly.
Catching his breath, he looked at the waters from which he came. His body tensed when a dark shadow materialised on the surface.
Water splashed everywhere as the creature that he had just escaped jumped from the water and landed on the raft.
Locke finally saw what the monster looked like; it was 5 feet tall, short in stature compared to an adult male, its entire body was covered in gooey green scales, and it had the head of a frog from Earth, except that it had four beady eyes that were moving grotesquely on its face. Its sharp nails shone with a crimson blood-like tone.
Locke gulped, 'Why the hell would you bring me back to life if I was just gonna die again?'
"I'm really about to die now", he swore.
As Locke observed the monster, A screen popped up in front of him.
[Inferior Frogling]
[Health: 23/25]
[Danger Rating: A-]
[Hint: your only option in this situation is to run as fast as you can!]
Looking at the information shown by the system, Locke felt like cursing out loud.
'You just had to make it worse, where the hell do I run to?', He thought.
His hands moved on their own as he untied the hook wrapped around his waist and held it in a defensive position, ready to strike back at the frogling.
The Frogling was also observing him at this moment. They faced off as the wind whipped against his face. The pouring rain made it hard for him to see clearly.
The Frogling, having finished its observation of him or having felt his growing fear, let out a beastial roar that sounded more like a gurgle. Its eyes flashed a bloody red. It charged towards him rapidly.
"Shit, I'm dead!" he finally swore.