“Captain? Captain, what’s wrong with you? Sules, wake up!”
After an unknown period of unconsciousness, Sules was awakened by an anxious voice.
She frowned, trying to open her eyes.
After a brief blur, she finally saw the person who woke her up.
It was a girl, with yellow skin, brown curly hair casually draped over her shoulders, and a blue headscarf on her head.
Her light blue eyes gave her a very gentle appearance.
She was kneeling in front of Sules, her previous worry not completely gone from her face, but clearly delighted by Sules’ awakening.
Who is this person?
Sules wondered.
At the same time, the unfamiliar face stimulated her, clearing away much of her drowsiness.
She looked again; she was no longer at home!
This was clearly a different environment!
The surroundings were dilapidated wooden walls, somewhat dim, with only unknown white lights illuminating from both sides.
Besides the white lights, there was also a mirror on the wall.
The room wasn’t large, and a wooden table in the middle made it feel a bit cramped for two people.
Where is this?
Did she transmigrate?
The girl didn’t notice Sules’ oddness and hugged her, “Thank the Sea God, Sules, you’re finally awake. What happened just now? Why did you suddenly faint? I almost called for land-based medical support.”
Sules hadn’t fully recovered, and the girl didn’t mind, patting her chest and saying thankfully, “Good thing you woke up yourself, otherwise, with the little savings we have on this ship, we couldn’t handle such a major blow as the captain falling ill!”
Land-based medical?
Captain?
What is all this?!
Sules’ eyes widened, her face full of doubt about her life.
These two terms were not unfamiliar to her.
Because they were common terms in the online game “Voyage Home” that Sules had played for a year.
“Voyage Home” was an online game about naval base-building and adventure.
Because the game design was interesting and had many clever touches, it attracted hoarders like her.
Sules had invested a lot of money and time, taking a full four hundred and forty-four days, to finally collect all the ship blueprints in this game.
She remembered!
At that time, seeing that she could get the last blueprint, “Return of the Sea God,” after completing the quest, she clicked submit without hesitation.
Then, her vision went dark, and she fainted.
When she woke up again, it was in the situation just now.
And the “land-based medical” the girl just mentioned was a doctor sent from the mainland to support ships in the game, while the term “captain” was the profession of all players who played “Voyage Home.”
It was also fortunate that Sules was still playing the game just before she fainted, otherwise, she wouldn’t have made the connection so quickly.
With this connection, she looked at the girl in front of her, whose color scheme was mysteriously familiar, and suddenly had an incredible guess in her mind.
“…Claire Lawrench?”
The girl in front of her responded naturally, “What’s wrong? Why are you calling me so strangely all of a sudden? You still haven’t answered my question, what exactly happened to you? Why did you suddenly faint?”
It really was Claire!
Sules gasped, not answering the other party’s question.
Instead, she took a step back and for the first time, carefully observed Claire from head to toe.
She was wearing a short brown leather jacket, with matching tight pants similar to jeans on her lower body.
This was indeed Claire’s attire in the game.
Even that gentle face was seventy percent similar to Claire’s model in the game!
Sules pursed her lips, slowing her breathing, trying her best not to panic.
This shouldn’t be a dream; after all, dreams wouldn’t be this real.
Besides… she reached behind her back and pinched her waist, her expression twitching for a moment.
It hurts so much, it must be real!
Claire was the initial partner for players in “Voyage Home,” essentially a newbie guide NPC.
Sules had a deep impression of her, as she quite liked this model, and Claire had accompanied her for a considerable amount of time.
Even in the later stages, Sules still kept her.
Is she… transmigrated into the game world?
Sules’ mouth was slightly open, looking stunned.
It was then that she suddenly realized that, indeed, from the moment she woke up, she had been subtly swaying.
Probably because they were drifting at sea.
Only then did Sules feel a sense of reality.
She had truly encountered a strange adventure, just like in novels, and transmigrated into a game world!
If she remembered correctly, because this was a game primarily set in Europe, her full name in the game was also a bit Westernized, called Sules Sulia.
However, according to Western customs, close people would still call her by her first name.
That’s why Clark had always called her by her given name, Sules.
“Hey! Are you stunned? Sules, are you really okay? If not, should we still call for a land-based doctor? You’re making me so scared. By the Sea God, you’re not going to faint again, are you?”
Claire waved a hand in front of Sules’ face, her face full of worry.
Sules snapped back to reality and quickly shook her head, refusing, “I’m fine now, I might have just fainted earlier because I was in the sun for too long and felt unwell.”
Claire had already mentioned that the ship’s funds were insufficient.
If she were to call for a land-based doctor again, it would probably be a hellish difficulty level right from the start.
She looked at Claire in front of her, recalling information about this initial companion.
As an initial companion, Claire’s main purpose in the game was to help players get familiar with the game and handle initial battles.
In other words, Claire was an all-rounder, also interpretable as a housekeeper.
She could cook, help players understand knowledge about Mercury, and fight, controlling ships.
She was very useful for players just starting the game.
Moreover, as an initial companion, Claire’s identity in the game was the player’s childhood friend, with extremely high loyalty, making betrayal impossible.
That’s right, “Voyage Home” also had a loyalty setting.
Once a crew member’s loyalty dropped too low, unexpected incidents like betrayal or rebellion could occur.
Sules thought for a moment, then tentatively asked, “By the way, where are we now?”
Although “Voyage Home” was a base-building and management game, it also had a slight main storyline.
While Sules didn’t understand the current situation, since Claire was here, the plot probably hadn’t changed.
As expected, Claire answered with a hint of excitement, “We’re almost at the mainland! I wonder what captain ability you’ll awaken, Sules. If you awaken a powerful one, maybe we could be directly absorbed by a large guild, and then we wouldn’t have to be so lonely like this!”
Hearing this, Sules was slightly surprised.
The plot hadn’t even started yet?
She hadn’t even awakened her talent!
Before she could say more, the space suddenly shook violently, and both Sules and Claire fell sideways in unison.
At the same time, the sound of huge waves crashed outside the cabin, as if the ship had hit a reef.
Sules was on the bed, so she wasn’t particularly affected.
But Claire was miserable; she directly hit the cabin wall.
Sules quickly crawled over, “Are you okay?”
Claire shook her head, rubbed her head, and her face looked a bit pale, “It’s probably a big wave hitting us. Let’s stay in the cabin for a while; the waves won’t just come once.”
As she said, big waves came one after another.
Sules and Claire swayed back and forth inside the cabin, making even stabilizing themselves a fantasy.
From the sound outside, the wind was raging, and Sules even had the illusion that there was an earthquake.
Finally, after about three waves, the small boat stopped shaking violently and gradually stabilized.
Claire then stood up and asked, “Sules, can you manage now? If so, come out with me to bail water. We need to be quick, don’t let the ship sink.”
What kind of environment am I in?!
However, since Claire had said so, she naturally couldn’t continue resting on the bed. Sules also wanted to see what it was like outside.
She nodded, “I’m fine now, let’s go, let’s get to work.”
On the ground lay a pair of black Martin boots, with a relatively smooth appearance.
Sules couldn’t quite discern the material, but it shouldn’t be an Earth style.
She tried them on, and they fit perfectly.
Passing by the mirror, Sules instinctively glanced at herself.
Her appearance hadn’t changed much; she still looked like her original self.
However, her hair color had changed from black to dazzling golden-yellow.
Near her ears, in her barely shoulder-length boyish short hair, a small braid was carefully woven, adding a touch of cuteness to her originally heroic appearance.
The color of her eyes also changed from the original dark brown of Asians to a rare emerald green.
The green was beautiful, like a fine piece of jade.
The clothes she was wearing had completely changed, somewhat resembling medieval European sailing attire.
A dark green trench coat with gold trim, a white lining, and a dark red short skirt underneath, cinched at the waist with a black leather belt.
It wasn’t very luxurious, but it was clean and heroic.
She was very familiar with the style of these clothes because she had designed them herself. Like most games on the market today, “Captain’s Return” also incorporated some dress-up mini-games.
The design of the captain’s uniform was a small perk they gave to players.
Sules’ eyes widened in surprise at her new appearance, but before she could look more closely, Claire urgently pulled her out.
As soon as they exited the cabin, Claire quickly and deftly closed the door.
Sules felt the muddy ground beneath her feet and looked down.
Woah, where’s the deck down here?
It’s clearly a shallow water beach!
The deck had actually been filled with a lot of seawater from the big waves just now!
The sea surface was calm, with no trace of the big waves that had just hit.
If it weren’t for the water covering the deck now, Sules might have thought the violent shaking earlier was just her imagination.
Thanks to the special Martin boots, if these were ordinary shoes, she was sure her socks would be soaked by now.
But these shoes completely blocked out the seawater, leaving her with a dry space.
It really wasn’t ordinary material; it was probably unique to the game world.
Seeing the deck covered in water, already resembling a small pond, Sules finally understood what Claire meant earlier.
Isn’t that right!
One big wave already brought this much water; if another came, this little broken boat would probably sink!
Claire was clearly already used to this kind of life.
She efficiently took out two large iron basins from a cabinet leaning against the wall outside the cabin and handed one to Sules, “Let’s go.”
Sules nodded, took the iron basin, and started bailing water, pouring it out as she scooped.
It was at this moment that she truly realized how small this boat was; its entire internal structure consisted of only a living cabin and a deck.
And it only took six or seven steps to get from the cabin to the edge of the deck.
This was truly a basic small wooden boat!
However, a small deck also had its advantages; at least they quickly cleared the accumulated water inside.
Hmm, Sules would absolutely not admit that she was finding joy in hardship and comforting herself.
It took about ten minutes to finish everything, and only then did Sules have time to observe this new world.
They were currently out at sea, surrounded by endless deep blue water.
The sky above was azure, and since it was morning, the sun wasn’t blinding.
A gentle sea breeze blew, bringing a salty scent.
It wasn’t unpleasant, however; it had the smell of the ocean.
If Sules were here for a vacation, she would probably be very happy with such a view.
But thinking that she might have to live here forever, she couldn’t smile at all.
After Claire finished tidying up, she saw Sules looking at the scenery by the deck.
She asked with some confusion, “What are you looking at over there? There shouldn’t be anything interesting around here, right?”
That’s right, for someone who lived at sea year-round, such scenery was commonplace and nothing new.
But for Sules, the sea view was still very interesting.
Hearing this, she turned her head and sighed, “I’m thinking about how to proceed. The sea gives me ideas.”
Claire scratched her head, “When did you pick up this habit? Anyway, it’s almost noon, I’ll go make food first. You keep an eye out, don’t get sunstroke again.”
Sules wished she would leave quickly to give herself some space to think.
She nodded repeatedly upon hearing this, watching her leave.
However, the moment Claire turned to go to the small kitchen at the back of the ship, a mechanical female voice suddenly sounded in Sules’ ear—
“Ding! Initial plot completed. System activated!”
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