Lucy opened her eyes, feeling the water splashing against her face while the sand warmed against her cheek. She rose on both hands and vomited seawater from her throat. Nasty taste, but a good grog of rum could wash it off her tongue.

"Where am I?" She rubbed her head while sitting up on her knees.

She was trying to remember what happened before the water swiped her body up to the beach. After her vision returned to focus, she glanced around.

The beach has white sand, surrounding a forest of palm trees toward the center of the island. Lucy blinked her eyes, rubbing her head. “How did I get here?”

Her memory slowly came back to her. She remembered seeing a flash of orange light above the ocean surface while she was floating down into the ocean depths. It was the destruction of her town, destroyed by the bastard penguin, Captain Flipper, who murdered her father. Then he sent her entire town into the button of the sea, taking families and children with it. If there were survivors, they could be on a small island with Lucy. But she was the only one on the beach, probably the last one from Oyster Haven.

Lucy dropped to her knees into the warm sand, sobbing in her hands. “Father…..”

As an NPC, her father could never return to life as the players. It was unfair, but that was how the system worked. If he could respawn, they would find a new tavern to operate and continue their roles. But he was gone for good, taken by a player who doesn’t care about any life inside the game world.

Lucy rubbed the tears off her face and glared at the sea. “I’ll find you, Captain Flipper! I’ll find you and drown you with the fishes!”

Before she could do that, Lucy must get off the island. Of course, she couldn’t achieve her vengeance if she remained stranded without food and water. She will need a boat or a ship in order to escape. Perhaps the palm tree forest might contain useful materials to help her build a vessel.

Lucy strolled toward the palm trees. It felt good she was warming up beneath the bright sunlight from the chilling water. If the island has a hot spring, she could take a hot bath and remove the salt off her fur coat.

Beneath a tree, something landed on Lucy’s head.

WHACK!

Lucy fell to the grassy ground, feeling a bump grew on her arching head. She sat up on her knees and rubbed her skull. "What in the water god's name was that!?"

Lucy spotted a hairy brown coconut laying next to her, about the size of a cannonball. She picked it up and stared at the tree. Three more coconuts hung in the palm tree.

Lucy groaned, blaming herself for not watching where she walked. At least with plenty of coconuts on the island, she won’t dehydrate.

“Huh?”

Suddenly, a translucent screen appeared in front of her. It looked like her NPC stats, but the data was different.

Lucy Longsilver Level: 1 Race: Cocker Spaniel (Dog) Class: Unknown HP: 10 MP: 0 Experience Points: 0/200 Proficiency Points: 0 Strength: 1 Speed: 1 Intelligence: 1 Charisma: 1 Computer Player Skills: Crafting Equipment: White dress (DP+5)

Lucy’s mouth hung as she stared closer at her screen. Her NPC status never displayed her name and what attributes she contained. It read more like a player status than a non-player status.

Unknown class? Did that mean she was no longer a bartender?

That made sense after her father’s tavern sunk into the ocean. The class could state what job she was supposed to have for her role in the game. Now she was jobless without a specific class.

I hope that will not be a bad thing for me; she thought.

Lucy had never heard of a computer player before. Maybe they were NPCs who could role-play like the players; gaining levels and enhancing their attributes to growing stronger.

Markable….. If that was true, how could Lucy had never heard about them in her town. Were they real, or she was now the only one?

And how did she suddenly become a computer player? Maybe she was seeing her status wrong after the coconut landed on her head. She must have a glitch interfering with her vision. But there were ways to find out if she wasn’t hallucinating.

She glanced at the coconut and moved it toward her back. She felt it vanished off her palm as if the coconut turned into air. Even if players and NPCs had no pockets or bags, that was how they could transfer their items into their inventory list, called Equipment.

Lucy checked her new status again.

One coconut received!

The coconut name appeared under the equipment list.

Lucy moved her hand behind her back, thinking about receiving the coconut back. In a flash, the coconut’s weight appeared on her hand, and its word vanished from the equipment list.

Lucy stared at the tropical nut and smiled.

Her system was working perfectly fine, although it was different. Getting hit by the coconut must have somehow changed her status without corrupting her data. It could have erased her from existence if the glitch was extremely fatal. Fortunately, she was still alive and working like her usual self.

I can’t believe this! Maybe the water god has blessed me to avenge my town!

Whatever happened to her, Lucy should figure out how to grow strong before she could find Captain Flipper. He was stronger than her when he attacked her town. Facing him as a level one computer player would be suicide if she couldn’t lift a boulder with one finger.

Lucy giggled at that thought. She would need a lot of strength points to lift an entire ship with both hands like a goddess. Or maybe that wasn’t true since she never has seen a player do that before.

Based on the rumors, the players could only update their attributes with proficiency points. They receive one proficiency point after they reach their next level. Their level grows after they collected a total number of experience points from completing quests and slaying targets; monsters and NPCs. Experience points were like gold, used to purchase one proficiency point as the price rises after one purchase. She can update only one attribute at a time after the player received the point. But they can also save the points to update their attributes next time.

Lucy glanced at the attributes, remembering what they meant.

Strength represents the player's physical strength and how many physical attacks they can inflict on their enemies. It also determined how much items the player could carry and how much weight they could lift.

Lucy grimed at her strength status. One damage won't help her kill a target quickly. However, a weapon will update her strength as long as she holds it in combat.

MP stood for magic points, representing how much power the player has. The higher the number, the more spells the player can unleash. Lucy never learned spells and how to cast them. Why would a bartender use magic to craft beer when it was an effortless task?

Speed represented how fast the player could move. Anyone with a lot of speed points could run fast and dodge attacks without getting tired. That would be useful if Lucy doesn't want to feel pain from an attack.

Intelligence determined the player's cleverness and knowledge to solve problems. Some puzzles required a certain intelligent number for the player to solve. If they don’t have the required intelligent number, they cannot solve the puzzle. Intelligence also determined how much power the player's spells were, and it can act as a shield for the player to resist magical attacks.

Charisma was the player’s likeability and the skill to relate to others. It makes the player attractive while not restricted to beauty. The higher the charisma, the more popular the player will become among NPCs. They could also easily persuade NPCs to help them or perform a task for them. Even NPCs could fall in love with the player, regardless of their gender. But it can be a good attribute to get out of messy situations and build a good crew.

Lucy closed her screen and got up. It looked like she had a lot of work to do to strengthen herself. There should be something on the island for her to do. If not, she could be stranded for decades. Why couldn’t she appear in another town?

I can't stand around and do nothing. Lucy continued walking through the palm tree forest.

She stopped when something snapped close by. "Hello?"

She was sure it sounded like someone had stepped on a branch. Maybe it was a lizard or another survivor. Pirate? That could be worse.

Since Lucy has no weapon, she picked up a rock and tip-toe toward the tree. She held up the rock and charged. "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

She dashed to the other side, but she stopped when a blade touched her throat. Then her eyes widened at her attacker. “You!”

The wolf who kissed her stepped out from the palm tree, pointing his sword at her neck. His NPC status appeared as if Lucy had forgotten about him.

Charles Locksmith Level: 15 Race: Wolf HP: 150 Non-player Character

The pirate wolf traitor grinned at her. “Well well well. How charming to see you again, lass.”

Lucy gulped.

Apparently, she was in more trouble than being stranded on a boring island.