World Upgrade

Chapter 3

Chapter Three

A great flash of light. The roar of waves replaced the gentle rumble of the fridge before the light had faded and sight returned. The sharp scent of salt filled the air, banishing all remnants of garlic chicken from Claudias senses. Blinking, she skidded across an uneven platform lurching beneath her feet. Hands flailing out, her forearm knocked against a pole of the same thickness rising a few feet above her. Gripping it tight, Claudis steadied her balance as she orientated her bearings.

The last of the flash blobs constricting her vision faded away as she swept her head back and forth, keeping her eyes downcast against the sunset. Open ocean, all around. Not a high society game. A coldness around her toes brought her head down to the craft she stood on. A rough two meter by two meter raft of logs, lashed together with vines at water level, every wave washed over her feet. Claudia automatically stepped back scanning behind her. A chest stood another step away in the middle of the top half of the craft. It was a handsome old fashioned shaped pirate treasure chest. The weathered wood looked sturdy. Climbing onto the uncomfortably sloped lid, raft rocking with the sound of the waves l*****g the sides, Claudia pulled her feet up under her. Luckily her toes were only damp, they would dry quickly, but she couldn’t stay up there for long.

Claudia drew in a slow deep breath and forced herself to focus. As the contents of the letter came to the forefront of her mind, a charming chime sounded. Seeming to come from around her and inside her own head at the same time. Claudia startled and fell from the chest spinning to look for the source of the sound.

“Welcome, players of Privilege Sector.” a kindly bland sexless voice followed, sound still coming from around Claudia and inside her head at once, “To The Aquatic Trials.” At that last word, a light pulsed in the corner of Claudias vision, when she mused on what that could be it opened to a virtual screen in front of her face. Panicked at the sudden intrusion, she wanted it gone, and it zipped back to a light pulse in the corner of her vision before fading away. The position of the light in her vision did not change when she spun on her hands and knees trying to follow the trajectory.

Standing from her crawling scramble around the small raft, clothes splashed and soaked in places. Claudia narrowed her eyes in a glare, choosing any direction as the right direction to vent her frustration at the game system voice. Claudia waited for it to continue, the sentence had ended on an expectant note, like there was more to say, but nothing followed. The windy breeze skimming over the waves was more noticeable in wet clothes, the chill starting to cut through. Turning her back to the buffeting drafts, Claudia backed up to the chest and settled back onto it.

Once she relaxed into as much comfort as she could garner from the circumstances, Claudia thought of the pulsing light and screen zipping into existence. Once again, the thought of seeing it opened the system Screen, like a transparent glowing game overlay. The very top left corner was Profile, just the thought of wanting to see it was enough. Her profile screen filled more of her vision after a thought of a closer look, zooming in. The coder part of her was deeply impressed with the immersion as she read her details. Her name filled the top, with a tiny gold blue star in front.

*Claudia T Vanderhill

Strength 6/10

Agility 9/10

Constitution 7/10

Intelligence 9/10

Charisma 8/10

Magic 90 (1 Intelligence point = 10 Magic)

Health Points HP 70 (1 Constitution = 10 HP)

Empty categories for Class Skill, Special Abilities and Attributes, Special Items sat waiting underneath. Claudia scrutinized her stats. They looked accurate, but she couldn’t be certain they were not stats for the other Claudia. She wondered what would have happened to the other Claudia, the one originally meant to come here. Would the other Claudia have taken her place in a non-privileged sector, was it merely wealth that brought about such a sector, were there more out there the other Claudia could have gone to. Her musing brought about more questions than answers, going back to the main screen with a thought, the empty space, directly along from the profile button in the very top left corner, filled with a notification. Message from Marigold. Fading after three seconds, Claudia saw a line of options stretching across the screen under where the notification appeared, a row down from the profile button. Global Chat. Personal Chat. Were the first options, sat together at the left hand side. In the middle was Leader Boards. To the right, Sector Shop. Trading Market. With a thought Personal Chat opened up to one message waiting at the top.

From Marigold : Claudia! Why have you not contacted anyone yet, shall we send everyone with tier one tickets the coordinates of the big boat? It’s not really big at all Claude...

Claudia stood there in her sea soaked clothes, clutching the middle pole of the raft. Sighing, she rattled off a message then blocked Marigold from the inevitable questions she couldn’t answer, that would follow.

From Claudia: Marigold, I received a letter not an hour ago with a ticket inside, I am not your sister. I share her name and a similar address. Currently I do not know the location of your sister, if I ever find a way to contact her or bring her here I will contact yourself immediately, if there was anything I could do I would do it. I’m so sorry this happened, I hope you find her, I’m sorry I can’t help you.

Claudia felt bad for the family of the missing Claudia, but at the end of the day there was nothing she could do about it right now. The notification space filled as she exited the Personal Chat page, Message from Alexander. Opening the Global Chat with a curious thought, Claudia figured she would give some time to let the family members of the other Claudia all try their hand before she blocked them all. Easier to do it all at once later than as they trickled through right now. Claudia pulled her feet up under her on the sloped chest lid, settling down out the water once again.

The Global chat was bursting with messages flowing by, barely readable before they disappeared from screen. A text box at the bottom had a circular send button with 0/10 stamped under send. Claudia assumed that meant ten message limit. Most messages were game savvy players discussing the loot from the starter chests. As promised, there were no duds. Some players bragged of immediate Special Attributes upon opening their chest, these players seemed to have a share of the tier three craft starter chests. Early game strategies flew around to praise and concurrence, or laughter and insults at newb stupidity. Then the rest of the players found the global chat. It jumped at an alarming rate, slowed down for a minute then surged again. Random comments littered the pleas for help. The amount of general answers to the same questions asked thousands of different ways, was like two giant crowds having one silent conversation with thousands of voices. Reading everything explained in the simplest terms, with endless advice on moving forward Claudia caught the gist. The number at the top left of the Global Chat stamped 100,000.

Mrs Lace: We knew this was coming, I doubt anyone had this in mind.

Lux: Communication in this method is not efficient

Mr Sinclaire: They call this a 'Survival Simulation,' yet there is an absolute lack of a proper g*n rack on this craft. The priorities of this system are entirely backwards.

Smush: Well and truly up Schitts Creek without a paddle.

Alistair Cox: Time to find what you’re made of people.

A Sterling: Operator? Call Bea.

Crown: Just manually hauled three logs out by myself. Pure grindset. Once the automation blueprints unlock, I’ll have a hundred automated hooks doing this while I drink champagne.

Mrs Blake: Baby Natheniel doesn’t need the system safety tether, he has Bubble Breath Bracelet and nanny to bring him back!

Lord Charles Montgomery: The world has truly ended if I must read the words of a Cox. Do you live just as poorly as the commoner your Aunt ruined our family name for.

Snowflake: Okay so the system says you literally just drop the hook in the water and wait? Seems way too easy tbh! But oh my gosh, pulling it up is NO JOKE. My arms are actually shaking. Most of the time it just sits there, but then the reel starts screaming and it feels like a sea monster is on the other end! I am holding on for dear life over here, please wish me luck, I really don't want to fall in!

JustJake: If your arms are shaking that bad you can just hold onto me instead. Send me your coordinates and I will come wrestle that sea monster for you.

A Sterling: Operator?

Grimm: Look at Sir Lancelot over here trying to row across an entire ocean to fight a basic tutorial fish. Jake, the only thing you're wrestling is your own desperation. Leave the girl alone.

DiamondGlint: Boat life is not for me. Time Stopping starter chest item for anyone who can point me in the direction of the nearest penthouse. If anyone can could want this hell extended.

Tori Cox: We might be completely blind to each other’s coordinates Montgomery, but your staggering lack of class still highlights your exact position.

ClockWork: Unlocked Blacksmith Class Skill and rewarded with a chest for being the first to unlock Blacksmith, 50 Ocean Coins. Toothbrush, toothpaste, plate and bowl, I can deal with that.

Cecelia: Blessed by the Nature God with Briney Blood. Now I may truly drink like a fish.

Lord Charles Montgomery: Distance is a magnificent blessing, Victoria. Knowing there are several thousand miles of ocean between my vessel and your dreary disposition makes this survival ordeal quite pleasant.

Claudia stared at the blatant class difference in the speech used. Wondering how some of these spoiled one percenters would actually survive this world. She supposed a head start with a Tier Three Craft was a definite help. They may not be happy with the lack of luxury, but they were in far less actual danger than most others on the tier one Rafts. The baby post surprised her, everyone was here, the game spared no one, Claudia felt a stab of pity for the player calling for the old fashioned operator, hoping he had someone looking out for him, but whoever said the world was fair, why would this new one be. The other Claudia was sent to a normal sector with the rest of the world. The rest of the human population had no warning. Hers was short but she had it, and still found the transition hard to believe as she lived it. What would everyone think, that they had lost it and gone crazy, a dream, a coma... It must be truly terrifying.

ClockWorks message caught her eye, closing Global Chat with a thought, she opened Sector Shop on the opposite side of the system interface, the middle leaderboards were greyed out, unavailable to open yet.

Everything was laid out in categories, luxuries only, nothing strictly helpful for survival. Everything priced in Ocean Coins.

Bathroom Set. Bundle Cost 150 Ocean Coins

Toothbrush 10

Toothpaste 10

Hairbrush 10

Soap 10

Shampoo 20

Conditioner 20

Pajamas 50

Slippers 50

Sanitary Items 1

Buying the bundle saved 30 Ocean Coins were you to want everything, barring the sanitary items, which answered an important question before it had even occurred. Glancing at her balance, it sat at 0. Wondering how Ocean Coins may be obtained other than chests, Claudia exited the shop screen with a thought, scanning the rest of the system interface she saw craft at the bottom. It opened to her curiosity, listing out recipes for basic survival equipment the game deemed currently available.

One Small Storage Crate 15 Slots : 20 Wood 1 iron

One Water Barrel (20l): 20 Wood 10 Charcoal

Cooking Camp Fire: 40 Wood 10 Coal 3 Iron

One Wooden Soil Plot: 30 Wood 10 Cloth 10 Charcoal

Basic Crafting Bench: 50 Wood 10 Iron 10 Cloth

Guessing more recipes would open after creating the Basic Crafting Bench, happy with her base understanding of the game world so far, she hopped off the chest. Bouncing down to squat in front of the open lock, she gripped the lip of the lid and lifted. A charming chime rang out, the notification bar scrolling down from above, ‘Epic tier Start Chest unlocked. Obtained, Standard Fishing Rod, Standard Hook, 25 Ocean Coins, 1 Mood Ring Epic Tier, 10 Iron, 10 Glass, 1ltr bottled water, 1 small vegetable box, 1 aloe leaf.