What does survival mean?
Survival, struggle, competition. Words like these inevitably come with a sense of intensity or despair. Maybe that’s because the weight of the word ‘survival’ is heavy. Survival, living through tough times, staying alive—that’s what it’s all about.
Desperate, fierce, and messy. Yet, the goal is to endure until the end. That, my friends, is survival.
I too did my best to stay alive in this survival game. Even if my viewers don’t seem to appreciate my efforts much. Well, life is lonely by nature. I believe that someday, whether now or later, at least one person will notice my struggles.
[But they’re attacking you!]
[You’re just flailing around and then… die. Ugh.]
[Wait, is this person a ranger? How did they know I was here?]
[Well, they did follow the footprints and suddenly started throwing axes.]
[Axe throwing skills, whoa! Barbarian Kayak.]
[Did they see that in the dark?]
[Their vision must be on par with Mongolian warriors!]
[Poor thing met Kayak and just died instantly.]
[This person is also a streamer, but from the continent.]
[Barbarian Kayak’s conquest of the continent, oh boy.]
[This server is just full of streamers anyway.]
[On top of that, their axe aim is spot on! LOL, haven’t they played this game before?]
[Why are they killing people instead of gathering, hunting, or building?]
[But they are, they’re hunting right now! LOL.]
[Yep, yep, you’re right, sis! Instead of hunting beasts, you’re hunting humans.]
[Heard human meat is delicious!]
[Whoa.]
[Can we eat the corpses for food?]
[If so, that’s a really unethical feature!]
[Kayak is a demon! donated 10,000 won!]
– Normal Person: I need to find a place to sleep and gather food before sunset.
Kayak: I’ll just kill others and take their food and homes!
“This, my friends, is survival. Does the idea of a survival game not resonate with you yet? The weak fall away, and only the strong survive—this is the law of nature. The ancestors of you, my viewers, also went through such a process to survive.”
I rummaged through the corpse of the dead man.
[Look at that, they’re farming efficiently! LOL.]
[That corpse is bursting with loot.]
[Whoa, this person has a lot—shoes, a coat!]
[Looks like they really stocked up before dying. So unfair!]
[Bon appétit!]
[Why farm? You can just kill and take stuff instead!]
[As expected, plundering is Kayak’s specialty.]
[Human farming, just wow!]
Despite the unremarkable appearance of the man, there was surprisingly a lot of good stuff on the corpse.
Leather shoes made from wild dog meat and armor that seems woven from tough vines and grass, and so on.
Although it couldn’t even resist me and ended up dead, it seemed surprisingly skilled at survival. If I hadn’t caught it, it might have made it to the final survival stage.
That was disappointing for it. Unlike other streamers, I had no intention of forming a party whatsoever.
A lone hunter exploring the island and hunting humans. That was the concept I came up with for this promotional broadcast. From past experiences, it seemed that the advertisers preferred this kind of focused gameplay.
“This is way more efficient, right? I level up and eat. Taking big bites is much better. My equipment improved immediately.”
Having succeeded in the hunt, I had a lot to say.
The dull viewers kept telling me not to mess around while searching for prey and to just settle in, saying I should prepare food for the night, but I proved otherwise.
High risk, high return. The cheetah doesn’t run; even if it starts a few seconds late, it can easily outpace those of a different breed.
So I just sit back and watch. Waiting for other prey to gather food and shelter for itself.
[What a crazy jerk mindset lol;]
[Seems like the rumors of being a bully in school are true… There’s no way someone can casually make cheetah remarks like that otherwise.]
[Life is like a kayak]
[This girl just knows how to game well]
[This is way more entertaining than farm grind;]
[Let’s just chop everyone’s heads off.]
“Anyway, I’ll rest here for today. I’ll get up and wander around again. If I find a person, I’ll either fight or do something.”
*
Dense jungles, deserts, glacial regions, sheer cliffs.
The island serving as the backdrop for the game “Island” was bizarre to the extreme. I explored the entire island, moving in a way that changed the surrounding environment with every step.
It felt like the entire island was divided into districts, each with a defined theme. Here’s the jungle, there’s the volcano, and over there’s the ice, just like that.
As the environment worsened, the stamina loss during travel was intense. I strongly felt that I had strayed off course when my stamina dropped and my fullness decreased so quickly. I shouldn’t have set foot here from the beginning, but that pesky curiosity got the better of me.
[I told you to settle down]
[You’ve been running around like that, geez]
[Why are you moving so much? We should just build a base in the center and wait.]
“Let’s just wait a moment.”
“Is this person ADHD? Why can’t they just stay still?”
“Hey, ease up with the advice; the host has their own thoughts.”
“Honestly, if those backseat gamers tried, they’d have flamed out from the start.”
“But we still made it to the top 50!”
“It’s just that they’re taking everyone down with pure physicality.”
“I saw them for the first time today, and it seems this person isn’t the brightest.”
“It’s just fun to explore the map, but why is everyone so mad? LOL.”
“It doesn’t matter if we can’t win~~ Host, do whatever you want!”
At this point, the food scavenged from corpses was running low. In the end, I would have to kill someone again just to keep living, but I didn’t think there would be anyone around in this environment.
“If we head this way, it’s the plain we were at earlier. We can go out there and look for people. Don’t worry.”
Unlike the concerns in the chat, it wasn’t just a complete loss. My exploration skills and experience points increased as we moved through jungles, deserts, and icy regions. The improved stats would help in future battles.
“I’m starting to feel hunger setting in.”
“Did we eat all the wild dog meat?”
“We need to catch something, whether it’s wild dogs or deer.”
“Animals don’t come out here unless it’s nighttime.”
“Huh? This is the place we were at before.”
“Is this person directionally challenged?”
“….”
The extinguished campfire, a makeshift hut, and the cold body of a man.
I arrived back at the spot where I got my first kill. It seems I inadvertently circled the entire island.
Since I had already been here once, my exploration skills didn’t increase, and there was nothing left to gain. Just as I was about to turn back, I heard footsteps approaching.
– Crunch, crunch.
Someone was walking this way.
I quickly moved and hid behind a nearby tree.
“…Hey, Haksung? He’s dead? Here… at this ….”
A man’s voice. The newly arrived guy seemed to be checking the body of the fallen man. From the sound of it, they were planning to team up.
“Hunting game has appeared. LOL.”
“Let’s kill that guy and snag some food quick!”
“Did Haksung’s friend come?”
“If there’s a body, we need to get out of here fast, ugh.”
“The culprit always returns to the crime scene….”
“Run! Run! Run! Run! Run!”
“Jihoon’s gonna bite the dust too, LOL.”
For me, who was looking for prey, this was quite the fortunate turn of events.
*
“What’s up, Haksung? He’s dead? You told him to come here, and he’s already gone.”
Jihoon, a streamer from the continent along with Haksung, clicked his tongue as he looked over the fallen body on the ground.
Jihoon clicked his tongue as he stared at the corpse sprawled on the ground.
It’s a survival game where alliances are possible. That’s why a trustworthy ally was more valuable than anything else, and Haksung surely knew that, sending a signal to Jihoon.
Both of them had already aligned their words after hearing that they would be doing an advertisement together and that alliances were possible.
Even if their starting points were far apart, the one who established a base first agreed to call the others there. While waiting for others to arrive, they’d solidify their position and move out together when the group got there.
It was a real shame that the plan had fallen apart. One was better than none, and two was better than one. Who the heck killed Haksung, and how did he end up getting murdered?
For reasons unknown, now that things had turned out this way, they had to form an alliance with the remaining survivors.
As Jihoon momentarily strategized for victory, the chat room suddenly sped up.
[Ten seconds before death, lol]
[Get out of there while you still can!]
[Did you make a lot of food?]
With an average of 50 viewers, the slow chat speed matched the relatively small scale of the broadcast.
For the chat to suddenly spike like this was, logically speaking, pretty abnormal. It meant that people were gathering from somewhere.
For example, Jihoon’s appearance was shown on a more popular broadcast.
“Ah.”
Instantly realizing something, Jihoon hurriedly stood up to leave this place.
Pwoook—
“Ahhh!”
It was already too late. His HP bar plummeted dramatically due to something, and his character collapsed right away.
He wasn’t dead yet, but the character falling meant death was imminent. Not even seconds later, Jihoon’s screen turned completely black.
Someone approached him, humming a tune.
“Hmm, hum hum hum~.”
The voice cheerfully hummed while getting closer to his corpse, busily dusting it off.
“I’ll be sure to enjoy the food.”
With that, they added one last comment.
Hearing that languid yet cheerful voice, Jihoon instinctively realized.
This person had killed not only him but also Haksung. She was the killer from the island who had been posting kill logs all along.
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