025 An Unexpected Restart

“Casiu… cough, cough… please take my ring back, you should know where my family lives. If you make it out alive, give the ring to my family…”

Suddenly, Casiu felt the hand he was clutching twitch—Lei Ya pulled away, and at that moment, a wave crashed over them.

The screen erupted in a spray of water.

When the view cleared, Lei Ya was nowhere to be seen. Only a black speck, battered by the waves, drifted ever farther away. In Casiu’s hand, there remained a silver ring.

“If you’re going to kill Lei Ya, just do it outright. Don’t pull this nonsense, making me fail even though I clearly have the ability to save him! Fine, I’ll see just how far the edge of this map goes!” Xiu Nan sneered in front of his computer screen.

Twenty minutes later, in the game.

Casiu was still swimming toward the black speck on the water’s surface. Whether Lei Ya had drowned or not, Xiu Nan was determined: either bring him back alive or retrieve his body!

With the buffs of unlimited stamina and energy, even after twenty minutes of swimming, he felt no fatigue.

He looked back—the island had vanished behind him, leaving nothing but endless ocean in every direction.

Then, misfortune struck.

Casiu slammed headlong into an invisible wall. No matter how hard he swam, he couldn’t move forward. Xiu Nan tried to make Casiu dive deep beneath the surface, but still, there was no progress.

In the end, Casiu drowned at the bottom of the sea!

Originally, these fifteen days of disciplined living were meant to strengthen the character. Though there were some dangers on the island, there was no real threat to his life—unless the player sought death himself…

The result of such recklessness was a forced interruption of the “Disciplined Life,” granting the player just a few days’ trial experience.

But an interesting twist remained. When Xiu Nan completed the first chapter’s beginner quest, he’d gained a temporary system ability. One of the random rewards was the legendary Nine Lives Cat skill, which Xiu Nan had locked in place using meteorite energy!

The effect of Nine Lives Cat was this: upon the character’s death, the story would rewind to the very start of the chapter!

“Character Assassin Casiu has died…”

“Date: ****, **/**”

“Location: A tropical island”

“Cause of death: Drowning”

The camera pulled upward, rising from the deep blue seabed to the clouds above. Looking down, one could clearly see two bodies slowly floating, swept along by the tide, destination unknown.

“Fifteen-Day Disciplined Life Challenge failed…”

“Calculating skills…”

“Alert! Anomaly detected! Rule conflict!”

“Recalculating rule weights for both parties…”

“Calculation complete. The result is as follows:”

[Nine Lives Cat (8/9)]

The screen went black, then rapidly shifted.

A familiar scene appeared before Xiu Nan’s eyes.

A pale yellow beach. Casiu stood upon it, fully dressed, his shadow cast at an angle as waves lapped at his feet.

The sea shimmered, a few scattered coconut trees dotted the coast, lush jungle waited beyond, and crabs scuttled across the sand.

Wasn’t this exactly how things had begun?

With a splash, options appeared on the screen.

“This map is ‘Tropical Island’”

“The Tropical Island map will yield the following rewards:”

① Construction Skill: Intermediate, Basic

② Swimming Skill: Advanced, Intermediate, Basic

③ Flora and Fauna Recognition (Passive): Advanced, Intermediate, Basic

④ Trapping Skill: Intermediate, Basic

Note: These foundational abilities typically have no levels.

“With each new Disciplined Life, you may choose a coach to guide your introduction to these skills.”

“Your coach will remain for three days.”

“Please choose your coach:”

A: Starfall (Walrus Commando Captain)

B: Sabre (Expert in Wilderness Survival and Construction)

Below were images and stats.

Starfall: A voluptuous woman.

Abilities unlocked:

① Swimming Skill: Advanced, Intermediate, Basic

② Trapping Skill: Intermediate, Basic

Sabre: A middle-aged man with calloused hands.

Abilities unlocked:

① Construction Skill: Intermediate, Basic

② Flora and Fauna Recognition (Passive): Advanced, Intermediate, Basic

Restart! Everything began anew. Only this time, Lei Ya had vanished from the original three choices…

Casiu stood on the sand, waves endlessly sweeping the pale yellow shore, the sound of the tide roaring in his ears.

It was as if the previous three days had never happened…

“Is this really just a game?” Xiu Nan wondered aloud, though he already knew the answer, ever since that moment Lei Ya withdrew his hand and wished for death.

A blinking subtitle in the upper right corner snapped Xiu Nan back to attention.

“Time remaining: 12 days”

“Calculating skills…”

“All minor skills will be merged into major skills, and minor skill proficiency will determine the major skill level.”

“Calculation complete. Your rewards are as follows:”

[Survival Skill (Intermediate): 825/1000]

[Hunting Skill (Intermediate): 608/1000]

“Tip: In the days to come, you may continue to train these two skills and improve their proficiency.”

“Tip: You have obtained a special item.”

Xiu Nan opened the item description. On screen, Casiu spread his palm and took out a ring.

[Name: Lei Ya’s Wedding Ring]

[Type: Accessory]

[Grade: Special]

[Description: In his final moments, your mentor and friend Lei Ya gave you this ring, hoping you’d deliver it to his family if you’re ever rescued.]

[Note: Delivering the ring unlocks a special reward.]

Casiu equipped the ring on the index finger of his right hand. It might be a little disrespectful, but he’d rather not risk losing it by leaving it in his pocket.

With these matters settled, Xiu Nan began to select between the two coaches on screen. Admittedly, Starfall’s appearance was tempting—who wouldn’t prefer a beautiful, busty woman? But in the end, Xiu Nan chose Sabre.

Not for any deep reason—it was simply that he thought Starfall’s swimming skill was a bit useless. But really, it didn’t matter whom he picked; he’d end up trying all three anyway. This just proved you should never give players a chance to exploit bugs, or they’ll strip the game bare!

He clicked his choice.

After an afternoon of gaming, he was getting hungry.

Xiu Nan pulled out his phone to order takeout. Outside, the sky was tinged with a faint golden hue, as if a line of fire was burning along the underside of the clouds.

By the time he finished ordering, something unusual had appeared on the screen—a black spot was moving closer and closer.

Casiu shifted his view and walked toward the shoreline.

Before long, the shadow became clear. As it drew near, Xiu Nan could see it was a middle-aged man in blue casual clothes, clutching what looked like two oars and paddling hard, sitting atop two suitcases.

The man had his thighs clamped tightly around the suitcases, using them as a makeshift boat.

As he drew closer, he seemed to notice someone on the beach and called out from afar,

“Give me a hand, friend—I’m out of strength…”