While Everyone Panicked, I Upgraded My Raft

Chapter 58: Chapter 58: Skill Classification

In fact, when inviting permanent players, Rowan Rhodes had always been paying attention to the players’ Skills.

In her previous life, someone had summarized the types of Skills available to players. They were categorized into Combat, Control, Defense, Movement, Support, and Special Skills.

Combat Skills: These had strong burst capabilities and could deal Life Value damage to marine creatures and other players.

Control Skills: These could directly restrict opponents through slowing, immobilizing, stunning, and so on.

Defense Skills: These could defend against attacks, offering Effects like Shields, crowd control immunity, and damage reduction.

Movement Skills: These allowed for displacement within a certain range, such as teleportation, position swapping, and pulling.

Support Skills: These provided certain auxiliary Effects, emphasizing craftsmanship. Examples included Weaving, Manufacturing, Healing, Carpentry, Tailoring, Collection, Farming, and more.

Special Skills: These were more unique and didn’t fall into the other categories. They possessed distinctive properties like crowd control removal, summoning, and precognition.

Currently, these Skills didn’t stand out much in the World Channel because many people were consciously hiding them. Furthermore, most people’s Skills were still F-level at the moment; even if they had an Effect, it was quite limited. Possessing a Skill merely awakened a player’s innate talent. How to fully develop it depended entirely on their own hard work.

No matter what kind of Skill it was, as long as a player developed it to its absolute limits, they would definitely become a top-tier powerhouse. Take Zelda Parrish, for instance. She had developed her weapon Manufacturing Skill to the extreme, eventually becoming a renowned maritime arms dealer who even formed her own Manufacturing team.

For these past two rounds of invitations, the permanent players Rowan selected mostly possessed Support Skills, with only a small fraction having other types. In her past life, many people looked down on players with Support Skills, feeling that their combat Strength was simply too weak. However, in her eyes, Support Skills were the foundation of all Skills. Their existence was what truly built the bedrock of any Sea Base.

While she disliked others intruding into her Territory, she could still use the Sea Survival Shop as a platform to grasp this Strength. Because of this, Rowan made sure to invite players with similar Support Skills.

When it came to making shrimp traps, players with the Weaving Skill were the most suitable. Once Rowan made her selections, she sent out the invitations one by one. Among those chosen were Zelda Parrish and Owen Caldwell from District 122.

For Support Skills, those with similar functions often shared interchangeable techniques. Requesting these shrimp traps also served as a subtle reminder to them. Thus, players specializing in Weaving and Manufacturing across several districts once again received trade requests from the Sea Survival Shop.

District 122.

[Trade: Shrimp Trap]

A shrimp trap? What was this?

When Zelda Parrish looked at those words, confusion sprouted in her mind. But after just a moment of thought, she seemed to find the answer. The ocean was full of shrimp, wasn’t it? Did that mean the marine creatures that would soon attack their rafts would be shrimp?

Could this be considered a warning from the Sea Survival Shop?

Speaking of which, Zelda had previously suspected that this Sea Survival Shop was Rowan’s doing, but now that suspicion was completely dispelled. The functions of the Sea Survival Shop were simply too powerful. She figured that the Sea Survival Game wouldn’t give a single player such a massive golden finger. It was practically a cheat that would too easily disrupt the balance of power.

Deep down, she actually hoped the Sea Survival Shop belonged to Rowan. That would represent the true, formidable Strength of a player. But reality told her the chances of that were far too slim.

The next moment, Zelda began picking through her Storage Box, looking for resources suitable for making a shrimp trap. She needed to test out which type of trap would work best.

Just as she was preparing to announce this news, Owen Caldwell beat her to it, uploading the information to the World Channel.

”Owen Caldwell: I just received a trade task from the Sea Survival Shop asking me to make shrimp traps. Maybe the next marine creature will be some kind of shrimp. Everyone, make your preparations.”

”God! This is crucial information.”

”Shrimp? What kind of damage can a shrimp do to a raft?”

”Think about the Abyssal Poison Conch and Abyssal Wurm from the last natural disaster, and you won’t underestimate shrimp anymore.”

”If it’s a lobster, its size could be absolutely massive. Those claws might smash a raft to pieces.”

”Isn’t this Sea Survival Shop a bit too omnipotent? Is it giving us advanced notice?”

”That doesn’t really line up with the Sea Survival Game’s usual attitude toward players.”

”Regardless, let’s just get prepared first!”

”Celia Lynch: Actually, doesn’t the mention of a shrimp trap tell us that these shrimp-like marine creatures are also a resource? Catching them would be a good idea.”

”Wow, that’s a pivotal point. I think so too.”

”Then let’s all work hard!”

”@Owen Caldwell, Master, hurry up and make them! Sell more of them to us when the time comes. We’re from the same district, after all!”

”Right, right! If a lot of us survive this natural disaster, we’ll get plenty of rewards!”

”...”

Seeing that everyone was already paying close attention to the impending shrimp creatures, Zelda didn’t add anything else. She continued with the work at hand while occasionally glancing at the casual chatter on the World Channel.

She felt that the current District 122 was truly much better than when they first arrived. Back then, the atmosphere had been completely toxic.

District 2873.

As a player whose Skill was Weaving, Brooke Wendell was overjoyed when she first received an invitation from the Sea Survival Shop, followed shortly by a trade request.

The reason she possessed such a Skill was that her family made a living crafting bamboo woven products. After graduation, finding a job had proven too difficult, so she returned home to start a career in independent media. Accidentally going viral online, she ended up reviving her family’s bamboo weaving business. From then on, she wholeheartedly dedicated herself to studying various new weaving techniques.

Upon entering the game and seeing that she was stuck with this Skill while others had much more impressive ones, she had felt quite frustrated. After all, there was no bamboo in the game for her to weave. However, she refused to admit defeat. Although there was no bamboo, there were other substitutes.

For example, Palm Leaves, Wooden Boards, broken cloth, and so on. All she needed to do was convert them into strips, and they could perfectly replace bamboo.

As a result, she actually managed to weave a sun hat, which allowed her to easily survive the extreme heat disaster. Now, upon discovering that the current disaster was extreme cold, she continued using her weaving methods to knit a sweater. As for the yarn, it came from the goats they had captured on Thesora.

Just as she was entirely focused on her weaving, she received the trade request from the Sea Survival Game.

[Trade: Shrimp Trap]

Brooke wasn’t stupid; she quickly deduced the meaning behind this trade. She was already preparing to study how to make a shrimp trap.

However, she pondered one question: should she post this news on the World Channel? Doing so would require exposing her identity. Thinking of the countless players who had been ambushed and robbed of their resources, and looking at the continuously dropping player count on the World Channel, Brooke chose to say nothing.

Perhaps all she could do was list the shrimp traps in the Trading Hall once she successfully figured out how to make them. She had already done everything she was morally obligated to do.

District 6281.

”Grant Holland: The Sea Survival Shop just initiated a trade with me. They want shrimp traps.”

”@Grant Holland, boss, that’s awesome! Carry me!”

”Once you make the shrimp traps, sell some to me!”

”@Grant Holland, boss, let me cling to your coattails.”

”Shrimp traps? Could the creatures coming later be shrimp-type marine life?”

”Shrimp? What’s there to be afraid of? I was just getting a craving for some anyway!”

”Shrimp traps are for catching shrimp! It definitely won’t be attacking marine creatures, but rather resources delivering themselves right to our doorstep.”

”Haha, we’re in for a real treat this time.”

”The ice surface is continuously freezing right now. I feel like no marine creatures will come to attack us.”

”That’s what I’m thinking too.”

”Grant Holland: If you want to buy shrimp traps, that’s fine, but the price has to be higher than the Sea Survival Shop’s. Otherwise, I’m not selling.”

”@Grant Holland, boss, make it a little cheaper, please.”

”It’s freezing cold out here, and our physical stamina drops so fast. Resources are scarce, too. I really can’t squeeze out any more.”

”Grant Holland: If you can’t squeeze it out, there are plenty of others who can. The fact that I’m even willing to sell them within our district means I’ve already done my moral duty.”

”...”

After sending that message, Grant Holland’s expression was filled with smug satisfaction.

Who asked him to be the only permanent player in their district? This was his advantage, and he naturally intended to maximize it.

This Sea Survival Game wasn’t all that hard after all!

...

Situations similar to those in District 2873 and District 6281 were unfolding across several districts that housed players with Weaving and Manufacturing Skills.

Some shared the information, some kept it hidden, and others used the news to turn a profit. It was a true reflection of the countless facets of human nature.

And these different choices would ultimately lead to entirely different futures.