[ Kaka, check your surroundings—something feels off. ]
[ Yeah, if this is a fishing game… why is the ship so big? ]
[ That's a merchantman. And where's the fishing rod? Are we supposed to dive for fish? ]
[ Eh? ]
[ Don't say it—don't you dare— ]
[ If she does dive, does that mean… swimsuit stream? ]
[ Swimsuit? Hehehehe… ]
The chat veered off course in seconds.
As a "pure and sweet" type streamer, Xiao Kaka almost never even showed leg on camera—never mind swimsuit "perks." One glance at the barrage and the fragile mood she'd built up snapped.
"You bunch of troublemakers—do you want me to bonk you?"
She put on a mock glare; the chat only got more excited. Ignoring them, she turned to study her surroundings.
Following her POV, hundreds of thousands of viewers felt it too: something wasn't right.
[ Nope. Definitely not right. ]
[ Look—everyone on deck is busy. That's not a leisure cruise. ]
Kaka spotted two sailors sprinting along the rigging.
"Looks like it. I'll get closer."
She hurried over—but before she could ask anything, both sailors glanced back and shouted, urgent and breathless.
"Faster! Faster! The pirates are almost on us!"
"Pirates?"
Her planned question—Where's the rod? Where do I fish?—died in her throat. She followed their line of sight.
Out across the churning swells, a large ship bore down on them. It was about the size of their merchantman, but its billowing sail was painted with a skull, and a smaller black flag snapped beneath it.
Chat went slack-jawed.
[ Wait, so that faction select at the start—Pirates—wasn't just for show? ]
[ Wasn't this a fishing game? Why are there pirates now? ]
Kaka was just as stunned. She looked at the two sailors—the panic on their faces was too convincing.
"Um… aren't we going out to fish?"
Don't blame her. The publisher had briefed her: a fishing-and-sailing title, "realism first."
The sailors shot her a look—half baffled, half annoyed. Pirates on the open sea meant a merchant ship like theirs could lose their lives. And this woman was talking about fishing?
Still, her delicate, clear-eyed face softened one of them. He forced patience. "Even if we're going to fish, we need to outrun the pirates first."
"That's the Hild Pirates, ten million Beli on their heads. If they catch us, we're dead."
He turned away and threw himself back into trimming the sails.
Kaka blinked. "Uh… anyone from Sea Breeze watching? Is this really a fishing game?"
Because so far, nothing looked like the opening she'd imagined—no starter rod at hand, no net, nothing. Just a retro world with age-of-sail rigging… and pirates on their stern.
Li Jing watched Kaka's feed, then tabbed over to the other streamers. Their openings looked normal.
Did Gu Feng add a hidden prologue? A pirate-escape hook?
With that thought, she decided not to answer in chat and kept lurking.
No official account replied. Kaka had to keep going. She stood at the stern, watching the pirate ship draw nearer as the sky dimmed with a hint of weather. She sighed to the audience.
"Alright, brothers—realistic ocean escape experience, coming right up. No fish yet, but I can smell the air getting wetter by the second."
[ Hahaha—Kaka, they're closing fast. I can make out those snarling faces! ]
[ If they board, you think the captain's gonna set eyes on our beautiful Kaka? ]
[ Tsk. Don't tell me she's getting carried off as the captain's "lady." ]
[ Not lady of the castle—lady of the ship! ]
They still hadn't grasped how serious this was.
The gap shrank. The merchantman was wringing out every knot it could, but the pirates were simply faster. At this range, everyone could see the pack of rough men crowding the pirate bow, hungry as wolves.
That feral stare made Kaka's scalp prickle.
"It's just a game. Just a game…" she whispered, fighting the urge to bolt for the hold.
On deck, a middle-aged captain finally stepped out, jaw tight. He and his hands snatched up weapons—his a hunting rifle, theirs a mix of harpoons and cutlasses.
Okay… weapons helped. Kaka felt a tiny bit safer—but those wolves across the water still terrified her.
When the ships closed to about five hundred meters, thunder cracked overhead. Kaka blinked—then the chat detonated.
[ HOLY— ]
[ They have cannons?! ]
[ Down, Kaka—incoming! ]
Woooo—! A shell screamed through the air. Kaka dropped into a crouch.
A heartbeat later, the round hit the sea with a deafening boom. It missed—but only by dozens of meters—throwing up a wall of water that crashed back down over the merchantman.
Spray drenched her. She crouched there, soaking, mind blank.
What… just happened?
She stood, pupils contracting. The pirate ship was almost alongside them now. No matter how the merchantman angled, the gap only closed.
Before the hulls even kissed, grapnels flew. Hooks bit into the rail; pirates swarmed across the lines like spiders.
They landed hard—broad-shouldered, blades drawn, eyes vicious—and vaulted onto the merchant's deck.
"Aaaah—guys, I can't be getting GG'd right at the start, can I?!"
◇ I'll be dropping one bonus chapters for every 10 reviews. comment
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on P@treon if you're interested: patreon.com/HorizonStudios0