Boom!
A loud explosion, like an earthquake, shook everything around.
"Quick, lower the sails, turn left, get out of the storm..." A lot of shouting and screaming echoed from above.
Leo was shocked, the small space around him, the lights flickering, filled with dark, rotten smell.
This seemed like a ship's cabin, and he was holding a thick oar.
Next to him, a bunch of workers were working hard, rowing the oar.
He looked around in confusion.
He remembered someone fell into the water, he jumped in to save them, his legs cramped up, and the person pulled him under. How did he suddenly end up on a boat?
"Huh?"
He frowned, let out a painful groan, and a bunch of strange memories flooded into his mind.
He had crossed over!
He stood there, shocked, and finally accepted this weird fact.
This was a strange magical world, with many different races and monsters everywhere.
Humans were still the rulers of the world, almost owning the whole continent, called The Remnant Continent.
This continent was huge, with hundreds of countries of all sizes.
And around the continent was a big sea, covered in fog and storms, called the Ocean of Death, no ship dared to go deep into it.
But three hundred years ago, an adventurer ship got lost in the sea, and three years later, a broken ship suddenly appeared, the crew acting crazy, crying and shouting.
That was the same adventure crew that had been lost three years before, only about ten people survived, and they brought a message that made all adventurers and nobles go crazy.
There was a mysterious island in the sea, and on that island there was a clear, fresh spring. If you drank from that spring, you could get immortality, so it was called The Fountain of Immortality.
The captain, Holl, drank from that spring and was now over 370 years old, and still strong.
That shocking news started a big sailing craze across The Remnant Continent.
Kings, nobles, and strong adventurers all rushed to the sea, building ships to go into the foggy deep.
Many adventurers died in that wild ocean, but no one ever found The Fountain of Immortality.
But humans did get something else, slaves.
On an isolated island, there were people who hadn't been touched by the God of Light, called barbarians, and also strong, bloodthirsty, big half-orcs.
Of course, what the nobles and kings fought over the most were the beautiful fish people and the cute elves.
The person Leo crossed into had the same name as him. His name was also Leo, and he was a worker on this ship.
Because of the pressure from the nobles on the shore, he didn't even have enough food, and he had no choice but to join the ship.
He was called a worker, but he wasn't much better than a slave. He was kept in the dark, wet, and smelly cabin, rowing a big oar. He worked fourteen hours a day, except when he had to go to the bathroom or sleep, he had to stay here all the time.
The only difference was that they got paid. Ten silver coins a month. If everything went smoothly, after working for two years, he could even marry a wife.
But now, Leo didn't dare to dream about that. They had clearly run into a storm.
Getting caught in a storm in this sea almost always meant death.
The huge waves hit the ship, shaking it violently, as if it would flip over.
Suddenly, a sharp whip crack echoed.
A burning pain hit his back. He felt his clothes tear apart, his skin open and bleeding.
A cold voice said, "Don't slack off. If you want to live, row like hell and get out of this storm."
It was the first mate. He had always been hard on them.
Leo didn't dare to fight back. He just pretended to row the oar.
The ship shook violently. They must have gotten caught in the center of the storm. There was no way to get out. He had to find a way to survive.
[Bip! The ship's keel is about to break. Survival chance: 0%]
What was that?
He rubbed his eyes. A message appeared in front of him.
Suddenly, a loud cracking sound came from under his feet. Water rushed in.
The ship was sinking!
He didn't have time to think about the message. He was in a closed cabin. If something happened, he would die for sure. He had to find a way out.
He looked around. The thirty workers in the cabin all looked terrified, rowing the oar as hard as they could.
At the exit of the cabin, the first mate and two sailors stood there, holding weapons. There was no way for him to get out alone.
He thought for a second, then shouted loudly, "The ship is sinking! We have to get out, we'll die if we stay here!"
"Idiot, you want to die!"The first mate shouted angrily and charged at him with a long whip.
Leo didn't hesitate. He ran into the back of the cabin and grabbed a chair, throwing it at the first mate.
"The ship is leaking! Get out now!"The workers finally realized what was happening. They knew they couldn't escape the storm by themselves. Staying in the cabin would kill them for sure.
With someone leading the way, the cabin exploded into chaos.
"Stop them from leaving! Anyone who resists will be killed!"The first mate was nervous and ran behind the two sailors.
But the workers, now in a panic, couldn't be stopped by just two sailors.
They killed five of them, then the angry workers pushed them down and stepped over them, running out of the cabin.
Leo ran out with them, escaping from the lowest part of the ship.
The second level was still dark and wet. There were metal cages lined up, holding barbarians captured from the islands. They were packed tightly in the small cabin, shaking with the ship, and filled with the terrible smell of vomit.
[Bip! The ship is about to sink. Survival chance: 0%]
[Rescue the slaves. Survival chance +10%]
The message appeared again.
Leo hesitated just a little, picked up a steel knife from the floor, and cut at the chain on the cell door.
The chain snapped, and the door opened. A group of barbarians stared in shock, pale and dry-lipped, not knowing what to do.
"Your free now. Run! Your life is your own,"Leo urged.
But the barbarians still didn't move.
Leo didn't care anymore. He turned and looked at another cell.
This one only held one person, curled up in the corner, hair messy, body small, with chains on her hands and feet. She looked like a woman.
[Lilia, Elf Guard Princess. Rescue her. Survival chance +30%]
The message appeared again.
This woman was an elf.
That explained why she was locked up alone, chained, and why saving her would boost his survival chance by 30%.
Leo kicked the door open. The woman was curled up, trembling.
He didn't have time to explain. He grabbed the key from a dead guard nearby and quickly unlocked her chains.
The chains broke, and the small woman suddenly burst into power. She knocked Leo to the ground and held a sharpened stick to his throat.
He swallowed hard and looked into her eyes-cold and deadly.
"Don't get it wrong. I'm not with them. I'm a worker here. The ship is about to sink. You need to run!"Leo pulled at his torn, messy clothes, showing the scars from the whip, and explained quickly.
Lilia, the elf girl, frowned slightly. Her killing intent dropped a little, and she turned and ran away.
Leo let out a big sigh. He was sure this girl had killed before, and not just once.
He quickly got up and ran toward the exit. The ship was in chaos.
He saw Lilia didn't run right away. Instead, she went to the group of confused and terrified barbarians. She spoke in a language he didn't understand and kept making gestures.
She could talk to them.
"howl! howl!"the barbarians roared, grabbed weapons and sticks from the floor, and rushed out of the cabin.
They ran into sailors trying to stop them, and a fight broke out immediately.
Shouts and screams filled the air.
The barbarians, led by Lilia, broke out of the cabin easily.
Leo followed them out and made it to the deck.
[Bip! Current survival chance: 40%]
The message appeared again.
40% wasn't enough.
Leo quickly looked around, searching for anything that could help him increase his chances-like a small boat.
[Bip! Climb up the mast. Survival chance +20%]
He looked at the three bare masts on the ship. The message appeared again.
60%-the highest chance he had so far.
Crack!
The ship shook violently. A loud cracking sound came from the cabin. People screamed in fear. It sounded like the ship's keel had broken, and water was rushing in.
Leo didn't have time to think. He jumped up and started climbing the mast, using his hands and feet.
"Lowly slave! You ruined our plan by letting those slaves out. You're going to die!"
A shout rang out. The first mate, holding a steel knife, ran toward Leo and swung it at him.