> [System Notification: Trial Update]
[You have been randomly assigned the Fisherman Class.]
[However, to fully obtain your class, you must prove your worth.]
[New Objective: Survive for 4 Days.]
[Failure Condition: Death.]
Rei's breathing was ragged, his soaked clothes sticking to his skin as he read the glowing text.
"Four days?" He clenched his fists. "How the hell am I supposed to survive here?"
He scanned his surroundings—just an empty ocean as far as the eye could see. No land. No food. No shelter. Nothing but this small wooden boat floating in an endless abyss.
Then, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted something.
A fishing rod.
It lay at the bottom of the boat, next to a small wooden chest.
Rei blinked at it.
"...Wait, do I actually have to fish to survive?"
The idea seemed so ridiculous, yet the System had called him a Fisherman. Maybe this was his only way to make it through this insane trial.
But just as he reached out to grab the rod—
The ocean moved.
A deep, guttural rumbling echoed from below, like the sound of a thousand voices whispering beneath the waves. The water around the boat started to ripple, slow at first… then violently.
Rei's breath caught in his throat.
Something's down there.
He leaned over the edge of the boat.
That's when he saw it.
A massive shadow circled beneath him, its size easily ten times bigger than the boat. Its body was serpentine, its scales dark and jagged like broken obsidian. A long, coiling tail trailed behind it, vanishing into the depths. But the worst part…
Were the eyes.
Glowing, slitted golden eyes, staring straight at him.
Rei's body froze. His chest tightened, and a deep, primal fear clawed at his mind.
His hands trembled. His breathing grew shallow. He couldn't move. He couldn't think.
"What the fuck is happening right now?!"
The giant sea creature circled the boat slowly, as if observing its prey. Then, without warning—
It lunged.
Its massive jaws—lined with rows of serrated teeth—ripped through the water, heading straight for the boat.
Rei's mind screamed at him to move, but his body refused.
He was paralyzed.
His whole life flashed before his eyes—his failures, his regrets, the one person he had left in the world.
"If I die now… who's going to take care of my sister?"
The image of her lying in that hospital bed, weak and fragile, burned into his mind.
No. Not like this.
"MOVE!"
With every ounce of willpower, Rei threw himself forward, rolling out of the boat just as the creature's jaws snapped shut.
CRUNCH!
The boat was gone.
Completely destroyed in a single bite.
Rei crashed into the freezing ocean, his body sinking for a moment before he clawed his way back to the surface. He gasped for air—
Then realized.
The creature was still here.
And now…
It was circling him.
Alone. In the middle of the sea. With a monster hunting him.
Rei's heart pounded violently.
"I'm dead."