While Everyone Panicked, I Upgraded My Raft

Chapter 76: Chapter 76: Exploring Glimmerstone Isle

Glimmerstone Isle was, in essence, an island of Stone. The entire landmass was dominated by a variety of rocky mountains. Although the island held resources, navigating its steep terrain made the search quite difficult.

Rowan Rhodes stood on the sand, looking up at a rocky peak that towered at least five or six meters high. She pulled out her prepared Rock Climbing Rope and gave it a few hard swings. The Hook Claw at the end securely caught onto an anchor point on the cliff face. After testing it to ensure it could hold her weight, she began her ascent.

It didn’t take long for Rowan to scale the first small mountain. Once at the top, her gaze fell upon the trees and vegetation growing out of the rock. They were Iron Birch Trees. Felling them was much harder than chopping normal trees, but the yield was twice as much. More importantly, wherever Iron Birch Trees grew, there was iron ore. A smirk tugged at the corners of Rowan’s lips.

In truth, beneath the surface of Glimmerstone Isle lay a massive reserve of various metal ores. In her past life, many assumed it was just a barren rocky island. The first players to arrive simply chopped down some trees, finished their Collection of wild fruits, and then left. Later, as more people engaged in Stone Collection and persistently carried out their Collection until they dug up iron ore, coal, and other resources, they finally realized this was a veritable treasure trove. This oversight ended up benefiting the latecomers.

Rowan had been one of those late beneficiaries, which was how she knew about this secret. But now? She was definitely going to mine it all ahead of time. She would harvest as much as she possibly could. After all, this island was impossible to fully deplete. Even if she mined everything above the surface, there was still more on the ocean floor. All of this would serve as crucial accumulation for the future. Opportunities to gather this much ore wouldn’t come around so easily later on.

Based on her deductions over the past few days, Rowan actually felt that the Sea Survival Game deliberately hid good items right at the beginning of the game. It was just like the Operating Qualification Certificate on the previous island, and the ore on this one. This was especially true for the underwater sections. To go mining down there required an oxygen bottle, and right now, she was the only one who had an oxygen bottle.

While felling the Iron Birch Trees, Rowan calculated how to use this oxygen bottle to turn a massive profit. She soon finished chopping down the timber. Once done, she pulled a burning bottle out of her backpack. Rather than mining everything bit by bit from top to bottom, she preferred a more brutally straightforward approach. She carefully planted the burning bottle on the small rocky peak. Once it was set, she grabbed her Rock Climbing Rope and scaled a neighboring peak.

Next, she drew her Flaming Fire Bow and Arrow and aimed directly at the burning bottle. The moment the arrow struck its target, the small rocky peak was instantly detonated. A deafening roar shattered the sky.

When the dust from the exploding boulders finally settled, the dark red iron ore beneath the peak was fully exposed. Looking at the bare iron ore, Rowan wasn’t in a rush to start harvesting. Instead, she turned her attention to bombing the next rocky mountain. Over the following moments, explosions rang out one after another. The Stone that originally covered the ore gradually vanished, revealing the true face of the mine. As if guided by Nature, these Stones blasted apart by the burning bottles automatically entered Rowan’s backpack.

As for the ore itself, specialized tools were required for Collection; it couldn’t simply be bombed free. Now, only the final and largest rocky mountain—the one Rowan was currently standing on—remained. At the summit of this peak, the most eye-catching feature was the wreckage of an airplane.

Seeing the dilapidated aircraft, Rowan let out a long breath. In her previous life, when this airplane first appeared in the players’ line of sight, speculations about the Sea Survival Game had run rampant. Originally, everyone thought it was just a standard survival game. However, the appearance of the airplane hinted that this Sea Survival Game actually had its own underlying storyline.

By the time of her death, many story-driven islands had appeared. However, because the various plot points were so scattered, no one had been able to piece them together. Or rather, they were simply impossible to connect. In her past life, she had been too busy just trying to survive to pay any attention to the lore, only catching fragments of rumors in the world chat.

But now? Now that she had the means, she could afford to do some Collection of the story clues.

”SQUAWK!”

Just as Rowan was lost in thought, she suddenly heard the cries of the Seagulls. She hurried over immediately.

Vaulting over the rocky ridge, she noticed that on the other side of the slope, the Seagulls were each clutching a hen in their talons. Nearby, a wild boar was scurrying around in a panic. The boar had clearly been spooked by the birds. Now, noticing Rowan’s sudden appearance, it charged straight at her.

Rowan was rendered momentarily speechless. Seeing this, the Seagulls prepared to drop their hens and fly down to help. Rowan immediately stopped them.

”I’ve got this!” she shouted. Gripping her long spear, she faced off against the charging boar.

Fighting a wild boar was purely a contest of Speed. As her raft level increased, Rowan’s personal Level had also risen, bringing simultaneous boosts to her Strength, constitution, and Speed. What she needed to do now was continuously adapt to this newfound Strength.

And adaptation relied on practice. From sharks to the Abyssal Wurm, Frost Phosphorus Shrimp, Snowstrider Bear, and now this wild boar—she believed that with each practical encounter, her combat experience would only grow stronger.

She considered that perhaps she should add a daily workout routine to her schedule. Her stamina no longer seemed to drop into the danger zone as easily as it used to.

With that thought, Rowan swiftly dodged just as the boar rammed toward her, simultaneously thrusting her long spear into its side. The boar’s health bar instantly materialized above its head. Seeing the damage from a single strike, Rowan felt confident in her victory.

She followed up with several relentless strikes, completely wiping out the beast’s health bar and ending the battle. The moment it was over, she instinctively pulled up her control panel.

First, she checked the loot from the kill.

[Obtained: Raw Meat * 50, leather * 20, Wild Boar Head * 1]

Then she checked her own status. Her Fullness Value, Thirst Value, and Life Value hadn’t decreased much at all.

Glancing at the time, Rowan looked up at the Seagulls. ”Take those back first.”

”SQUAWK!”

Answering obediently, the Seagulls flew off in the direction of the raft. As for Rowan, she gripped her Iron Pickaxe and began her Collection of ore. She still hadn’t used today’s Heart of Life! She needed to hurry up and finish her Collection so it wouldn’t go to waste.

For the next stretch of time, Rowan made her way to the first small rocky peak she had blown open—the mountain of iron ore.

As for the excavated iron ore, it was second Nature for Rowan to list them one by one on the Sea Survival Shop at market price. With the bedding items earlier, she had already exposed her identity as a permanent merchant. So now, continuing her reign as the number one player across the entire server made perfect sense.

And as the iron ore appeared in the line of sight of countless players, it immediately attracted a massive amount of attention.