I woke up looking at a wooden ceiling. It looked newly made, fresh, and different from the usual tent I spent nearly 3 weeks looking at.
"Ah, yes, this is the new one..." Saying that, I get up from my now wooden single-person bed, remove the cover, and slowly put my leg on the small carpet on the wooden floor next to the bed.
Looking around at the cottage, it was a 3x3 m wooden cottage at the size of a simple room, the ceiling is not very high, about 2.5m.
Not much furniture in it either, only a desk, a carpet, and the bed I am sleeping on right now.
This cottage is something that took me two days to build. The reason for me to build it is that I was tired of sleeping on the floor in the tent after all of this time. So, to up my living standard and for the sake of my mental health and good sleep, this cottage existed.
All the materials (wood and nails) are sponsored by the Box, and I didn't need to do much woodwork either. Just put the sand from the place I want to build the cottage from inside the Box, order the specific pieces I want, and finally hammer them in place with iron nails.
It was like those furniture pieces you order online and assemble yourself, an easy thing, really. No need for sawing and fitting, what you order is exactly what you want, and when you put it inside, it fits. When something doesn't fit or I change my ideal into a better one, I throw all the unneeded pieces into the Box and order another.
Without much trouble, the cottage was ready in two days, and I ordered a wooden bed and two thin mattresses on top of each other.
And of course, they worked like magic. The moment I was lying on the bed, sleep took me, and here I am.
I stand up and stretch my body, then I walk out of the cottage.
The moment I was out, the sea breeze hit me, and I felt a bit of morning chill.
Deciding to not linger like this, I walk to the side of the cottage where two cabinets are built in the side of the cottage.
They are my kitchen and bathroom, or more like my cooker and wash basin.
Entering the washing cabin, there is a washing basin and a water tap inside. The water tap is connected to a container above it, so I can open the tap and get my water.
What about the plumbing? Well, I take the Box that is, of course, there and open it and put it under the basin.
Opening the tap and washing my face with the cold water and soap, then I brush my teeth, looking at the hanging mirror on the wall.
I look at my reflection and notice one thing.
My dead fish eyes looked way more dead than usual, and I know why.
It has been 25 days since I woke up on this island, which makes me feel very dead inside.
I have seen no ship pass by here, none at all, like this place is a ghost sea or something.
And the storm that happened a few days ago is not reassuring, at any given moment, the island could turn into an unsafe place.
So, me staying on the island for a prolonged time is unsafe in and of itself. I should have a plan to leave the island and get to a safe continent land. I heard that it takes around a month to ride from one side of the ocean to the other. Let's hope that I am in a small sea, not an ocean, and I will reach land in 3 days at most.
Leaving my overly optimistic thoughts aside, I should focus more on my plans for the day.
First, after wiping my face with a towel, I get out of the cabin to start my first task on the list, stretching.
I start doing the stretching exercises I usually do in the morning before the class, and while I would usually hate it, not having anything to do away from any form of entertainment is very boring, and there isn't anything like a book here for me to read, so I can only go with some physical activities.
Quickly finishing the whole set of exercises, no amount of sweat was accumulated.
"And it didn't feel like a workout."
Hearing that thought in my head made me want to smirk and cringe at myself.
Not even a workout? What am I? A generic shonen anime villain that is trying to look cool while taunting the shonen protagonist, will I now be crushed by the main character's edgy hidden power, and pay the price for underestimating him?
'Looks like this island is affecting me more than I thought. I am not a shonen charact-'
GUUUURRRRR!
A protesting roar came from my stomach, objecting to my thoughts and rejecting them back to my face, while telling me how empty it is.
'Both, my thoughts and my stomach...'
Thank goodness that there is no one around to hear my rambling, or I will die from embarrassment ―I think it comes with being alone on an island.
Entering my cottage, I take the Box and put it on the desk inside, then put my hand on it and wish for my lavish breakfast, and then open the other lid of the Box.
While I could cook them myself, I feel lazy to do it when I could order themonline, it is easier and still delicious.
Plates were arranged in a neat plate carrier when I opened the Box, and I put them on the desk one by one.
There is steamed rice, miso soup, grilled fish from the sea, tamagoyaki, pickled vegetables, Nori, and simmered vegetables.
It is too much for one person to eat all of them by himself, but I noticed I had a greater appetite after I started training Hamon, so this is considered okay by me.
Chopsticks ready, I sat down on the chair and held my hands together.
"Itadakimasu!"
Taking a piece of the grilled fish and putting it in my mouth, I couldn't help but complement the taste.
The Food That I Didn't Work For Is Delicious, As Expected!
***
As I floated in the midst of the ocean, the water around me was as clear as crystal, revealing the vibrant hues of the marine life beneath. The gentle caress of the sun on my skin was both soothing and invigorating, a comforting reminder of nature's beauty.
The absence of clouds painted a flawless blue canvas overhead, making it hard to believe that a storm had roiled these waters just days before.
The air was filled with the soft lapping of waves against the hull and the distant call of seabirds, their songs blending harmoniously with the rhythmic sound of the ocean.
The calmness was almost surreal, as if time had paused to let this perfect moment unfold.
If I weren't trapped on an island, I would think this is some tropical vacation spot. But unfortunately, I am.
Right now I am floating in an inflatable boat I Ordered from the Box this morning. It was actually a test to see if I could have the necessary Items for my survival in the sea for the longest time possible.
The boat was not big, at most three meters long, maybe less. I wasn't planning on using this one in my upcoming voyage, only as a test.
So what am I doing right now? I am fishing.
The boat is about 500 meters from the island, which is not that far. And on the boat, I am using four fishing rods, with each one having a line going into the water.
I am sitting on the back watching the sea and enjoying the atmosphere. It made me feel like I am an evil boss who works his employees to the bone while he does nothing himself and gets all the credit and money.
To be honest, I like this feeling, it's almost as good as being a house husband.
I am thinking that it would be great if it were a career choice. But who am I kidding, if something like that exists every everyone will be taking this route.
Leaving aside the social side of the thing, you will be slacking off and giving insane orders all the time, and get a bonus at the end of the month and a raise at the end of the year. Isn't that great!
And for those people who will say this evil and people like that should not exist, heh, they will be the first to butter up to that evil boss at the first smell of money. No, scratch that, they will do it whether there is a smell of money or not, just to get ahead of their peers or to be on the good list during the generous times.
Some will even do it just because everyone is doing it, the society is dumb and cruel like that, it either make you a thousand faced hypocrite so you can navigate your way through it, or you become a docile sheep who will do everything you are asked to do so you will not look bad.
That is why people like Yukinoshita will have a hard time in society, people like her either go full confrontational by being blunt and rude, which raises the social tension, or just go on with everything going around just to not lose what they have.
Like what happened during the sports festival, all the work was dumped on her, and she went through with it until she collapsed from exhaustion.
And if that was not enough, people continued with it like it were normal. If it wasn't for me playing the bad guy and getting the management staff to do their work, it would have been worse.
"Sigh… I miss her…"
But-
Roooooooo-
Cutting my musing, one of the rods was shaking, and the line was being pulled.
It is clear that a fish was hooked.
"Alright, time to reap the credit of my worker!"
Taking hold of the rod, I started spinning the reel to get the fish to the surface.
Of course, there was resistance. And usually, this would start a not-so-epic fight between me and the fish to see who wins. But I am now an evil boss, I use unfair and underhanded means to get all the benefits without doing any work.
So naturally, I take a deep breath according to the Hamon rhythm and extend the ripples from my hands to the rod and by extension the line all the way to the fish underwater.
Now that I did, I could vaguely sense the fish. And it felt like a big fish, not a smaller one.
The next move is obvious, I take control of the fishing rod and the line with the Hamon and pull them and the fish by extension toward the boat.
The reel started spinning like a car wheel, and a few seconds later, water started splashing, and the fish was in the air, twisting and turning.
It was the same type that I fished for the first time. Long and blue, that looked like a salmon.
From my experience with this fish, it is quite tenacious. Unless you stab it with a harpoon or something, it will stay alive for several hours.
Know that I should be killing it immediately instead of just letting the poor thing suffer; the harpoon should be used, but I have another plan.
With the fish still in the air due to the inertia, I pull it toward me while using the Hamon with my feet to steady myself on the boat.
I got the inspiration for this from the scene where Baron Zippeli used Hamon for the first time in the series, to cut a rock under a frog without hurting the frog.
Doing something like that requires a lot of training and precision from the user, or you will cause damage to the frog.
But if you actually want that damage, plus sending the Hamon at a very high frequency, long periods of training are not needed, and the damage will be substantial.
Like this, a powerful technique will be born!
The moment the fish got close, I swiftly and decisively stabbed at the fish with my pointer, glowing with Hamon.
Rrrrrrrr
My finger touched the fish, and the Hamon spread briefly through its head, then-
Pop!
A popping sound of what I guess was an internal shock appeared, and the fish fell into the boat, completely still.
This was the move I developed myself. By sending the power of my fist through the ripple with a very high frequency, I could achieve an armor-penetrating effect, causing lethal internal damage.
Not just that, I could also upscale the power of this technique by using more strength and adding higher frequency ripples. Moreover, I can use it with a gun too, but that will need some training.
Crushing Overdrive, yes, that's a fitting name.
Looking at the now down fish, then at my ridiculous Jojo Stance, my mind went still for a moment, then thinking what if Yukinoshita saw me like this, one thought filled my mind.
"...Oh God...I need to get off this island! And Fast!"
…
A/N: This will be the last Chapter on the island. He needs to get out of here before he loses his mind.
But for now, that's it!
Thank you all for reading!
Have a nice day!