Before starting to craft, I drank some water and ate a nasty tasteless paste from a tube. The hunger that had gnawed at my stomach immediately subsided.

Fixing the pipe halved my resources, but I wasn't discouraged—judging by the speed at which I'm gathering them, soon I'll be counting them in hundreds. Well, at least in dozens. In various games, you barely scrape by at first, and then... well, then you still barely balance your debits and credits, only instead of units of resources, you have hundreds, yeah.

The process of repairing the spyglass looked mesmerizing. Rust flaked off the tripod, the copper rings on the wooden base shone, and the wood, aged from time and rain, became much lighter. I wouldn't say the pipe looked brand new, but now it moved from side to side without much effort, although it still creaked a bit, yes...

It's good that I didn't think of breaking the pipe or moving it side to side to try and get a glimpse of the nearest island. I think if it had crumbled in my hands, I would have had to spend much more, if it was even repairable after that.

I opened the workshop and saw a new message.

“Open a random blueprint? Cost — 20 capture points.”

I think I'll pass, even when I gather those two dozen points. A random blueprint, which could rank as wooden or some copper, is certainly tempting, but in games, processes like a wheel of fortune have never attracted me. I played a couple of times, won nothing good, and became convinced it was a lottery for fools or for the lucky ones. Not for me.

I studied both blueprints I had through the workshop. The hammer, judging by the detailed description in the workshop, destroys fragile wooden objects: chests, doors, fences, and crates without resource loss.

The knife, based on the same description—was a weak makeshift weapon against creatures you could even punch out. But I think it's better to have a weapon than not. At least it would give me something to wave in front of some gangster who decides to take over my island.

I checked the resources each tool required. I had enough for only the knife, and the hammer required a unit of steel, which I didn’t have.

Old knife:

- Wood 2/2

- Iron 2/2

Create?

Old knife successfully created!

A blade appeared in my hand.

The blade was about ten centimeters long, and another ten for the handle. My first weapon looked rather shabby. The handle was slightly loose, the blade was rusty, had some spots, and even looked dull: I'd have to saw through sausage with it. At home in my kitchen drawer, I have better knives, although there are some long-livers that are twenty years old.

I touched the blade and realized that I could only harm a monster if I managed to poke it in the eye with the tip.

“Why not create a new knife from an iron block?” I grumbled. “Why do I have to create an old one?”

I swung the "weapon" in front of me a few times, feeling more than pathetic. There was no sense of danger from holding it. The most dangerous thing I could do was stab a nightmare creature with the blade, and a couple of weeks later, it might die from peritonitis. I should have chosen the hammer...

I hope that if I come across monsters, they won't be more than an ordinary monkey.

However pathetic my weapon was, I started training: I stood up and began striking the air in front of me with jabs. I hit nearly a hundred times, putting strength into each strike, but I kept hitting more and more until my arm muscles started to ache. I pushed away thoughts of how ridiculous I must look from the outside and kept hitting.

Unfortunately, I am no special forces soldier and not even a student who has time-traveled. I desperately lack survival and combat skills.

I hope that if I train at least twice a day, my skills will improve.

There must be other people around—there were plenty of news about those who can’t wake up. That same Stas is probably somewhere here. I wonder how far people have advanced in exploring this world. What do they already know? Have they repaired their base islands?

When I establish a connection, I’ll definitely find out. To do this, I need to capture two more islands and get two capture points. Fortunately, I can relax a bit now that I have a knife!

I glanced at the mishmash with a wooden handle and burst out laughing. I laughed until I cried. Well, yes, I have a knife! Now I am invincible!

When the hysteria ended, I walked along the edge of my island and realized my base had become wider. I couldn't tell when, and it was only by about a meter or so, but the edges had definitely expanded. The ruins hadn’t changed, but I think they will be restored with time.

Then—I took a look through the repaired spyglass, which brought me much more joy now.

But the nearest island didn’t bring joy.

“It’s best to avoid this place—it's empty and has nothing except stone and a capture point.”

To be honest, I didn’t need anything else, but I decided to check the next islands immediately. I need to verify all options.

“On this island, you may find a bottle of water if you’re careful.”

“Here you’ll find a lair of flying snakes. They are hungry and will be glad to see you.”

“There’s nothing here except a couple of laurel bulbs and stone.”

“Here you’ll find a copper chest with supplies. The soil around the island is unstable—be careful.”

“Another phobia,” I muttered, recalling how carelessly I had wandered along the edge of my flying base at the beginning.

The message about the flying snakes didn’t cheer me up either. Once I establish a connection, I’ll ask how to improve defenses so that such monsters can’t fly over to my island if they take a liking to my piece of floating stone.

After each message, there was a note saying that it wouldn’t hurt to upgrade the spyglass's rank, so I stopped paying attention to it.

So, where to fly?

The best choice is the island with the copper chest. From the wooden chest, I got water and a couple of blueprints; what will be in the copper one? Copper water and copper blueprints?

Oh, that joke is a three out of ten. But at least I find the strength to joke.

Before heading to the island, I checked how much energy I had left. I had spent only two units, so after the island with the chest, I could visit a couple more. However, I won’t allow my energy to drop to zero. The island is unlikely to fall, but what if it does? I'm on a huge stone slab that somehow stays in the air. I won’t take the risk.

The only thing I didn’t like in the message about the island with the chest was the unstable ground around it. I could change my target and not take the risk, but I thought that sooner or later, I would definitely have to dock with any islands, including such ones, so it’s better not to miss the chance to gather valuable resources and start gaining necessary experience right now.

Docking was easy. This time, two out of five chains caught on a remainder of some decaying dock, making the connection even more secure.

I ran and jumped onto the other island, trying to land far from the edge.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

The stone platform seemed empty. There were no caves, no piles of stones or ruins, so I walked to the middle and froze, looking around. Nothing was visible; the platform was just a platform.

But there should be a chest here if the pipe isn't lying.

I looked at the stone chips and dust beneath my feet, stepped forward... and froze in place. I thought I heard something creak under my feet.

Carefully stepping back, I managed to recreate the sound. Then I crouched down and cleared the space under my feet of fine stone and dirt with my hands.

It turned out I was standing on a wooden door that had dried and cracked.

“Here a hammer would definitely come in handy,” I muttered, regretting once more that I had chosen the knife. Though, there’s no guarantee that the “old” hammer wouldn’t break after the first strike.

However, I managed without the hammer. Once I cleared the dust, I managed to wedge the blade between the frame and the door, then pried it open with my fingers.

Perhaps, there was once a structure above that was looted, and the cellar was overlooked; or maybe the island appeared in this world just like I did—moved from somewhere in this manner. Most likely, that’s how it was. I just can’t understand the point of scattering chests across islands. Everything happening here feels like some strange survival game.

The cellar was dark. I threw down a handful of garbage and then froze, listening, but didn’t catch any sounds besides the clicks of falling stones. If something had lived down there, it had long since died.

Unfortunately, I could only see a lit square directly beneath the hatch. Everything else seemed to drown in thickening shadows.

The cellar wasn't deep—about a meter and a half to the floor. I wouldn’t jump into a deep one—I see nothing amusing in dying among treasures without being able to jump to the edge of the pit.

First of all, I looked around and immediately noticed a skeleton in faded canvas trousers. After such a find, I barely looked at the chest standing next to the skeleton. My palm gripped the knife's handle tightly.

It felt like the skeleton was dropped here, but someone swung it around for a landing that wasn’t directly under the hatch. The stone beneath it was clean, and if a person had died here, I'd have suffocated from the stench, plus there would have been lots of unpleasant stuff on the floor. And the dead man's trousers wouldn’t have been so clean.

Isn’t that a nightmare? What if I approach, and it grabs me?

To leave or not to leave?

I cautiously leaned forward, found a small stone, keeping my gaze fixed on the skeleton. The bones didn’t move, but the real nightmare should strike when you least expect it.

The tossed stone hit the skeleton’s ribs, but it didn’t stir. Then I stepped closer and kicked the skeleton in the skull. The skull flew off to a corner, echoing against the stones.

Nothing happened, but I scattered the bones around the cellar just in case, then hooked the chest lid with the knife's blade.

Inside, I found a bottle of water, a food block, and an artifact.

“Whistle for summoning flying snakes.

Rank: Copper.

Be cautious; the snakes arrive in packs of 4-6 and attack everyone! They don’t care who summoned them!”

A useless piece of junk. Unless you have protection from such snakes or are sure you can escape in time.

Hmm... There might be some sense in this. Perhaps the man was mortally wounded by someone, summoned monsters, and hid in the cellar? The monsters devoured the attackers, and...

No, it’s a weak theory. It still leaves the question of where his flesh has gone. Moreover, my assumption doesn’t explain why the whistle ended up in the chest among supplies. I don't think the man, before dying, thought about neatly stacking up his supplies.

What if the chest appears at the place of the adventurer's death, containing all the items or knowledge they possessed?

An interesting variant, but I can’t imagine where the skeleton from the first island I captured went.

Before leaving, I knocked on the walls and floorboards. Being in the midst of a room scattered with bones was unsettling, but I managed. I didn’t find anything interesting, but I wasn’t upset; I should develop a habit of thoroughly exploring islands.

“Good night to you,” I muttered for some reason, looking into the empty eye sockets before leaving.

Yeah, great wish. First, I kicked the skull, scattered the bones around, took the treasure, and then wished it peace before leaving. And besides—the island harboring a skeleton after death will provide resources and help restore my island. And the skeleton itself will probably become just a note “Bones—1.”

I jumped back to my base without any problems. The captured island was also effortlessly ground up.

Island destroyed! Resources obtained:

- Stone: 52

- Wood: 7

- Bone: 1

- Capture points: 1

For the third (and the last one for today, since the local sun, which is still hanging at the zenith, is shining ever dimmer—I suspect this indicates evening in the world of Floating Islands) island, I picked an empty and safe one, which the pipe had previously criticized as useless. Enough adventures for today.

I didn’t even jump over there. I just docked, waited for the island to secure the chain, then backed off and received a message:

“Do you wish to destroy the island/tow it/leave it?

Warning! Upon capturing the island, all unfound resources will vanish!”

I pressed “destroy.” It buzzed again, the island crumbled into stones that disappeared beneath my base.

“Island destroyed! Resources obtained:**

- Stone: 70

- Wood: 2

- Iron: 1

- Capture points: 1

“Attention! Iron accumulated: 1, Copper accumulated: 3, Capture points accumulated: 2. This is enough for repairs! Do you wish to repair the island?”

Of course I do, but not right now. For now, the points will go toward communication.

I need to figure out how to repair the island myself instead of waiting until I gather the necessary resources.

After I established “communication,” nothing happened on the island, but a point in the menu became active. Clicking the line, I saw a message:

“Attention! Choose a nickname!”

I typed in “Nightmare.”

Wow, it’s not taken! Amazing.

As soon as I typed the nickname, I found myself at the very top of a user-friendly chat. The counter showed I had 96/100 interlocutors.

I began scrolling down to the current messages, browsing through hundreds and hundreds of emotionally charged but uninteresting posts:

— Help! I'm trapped on a flying island!

— How can you be trapped on a flying island? You’re free as a bird in flight.

— I’m hungry!

— Can anyone help me? My control lever is broken...

— And I accidentally broke the pipe! How can I know what’s on the nearest islands if I don’t have the pipe?! Help!

— Were we kidnapped by aliens?

— Do you have a strange spyglass too?

— How to use the bestiary?

— How to find out your coordinates? Or at least how to make fire. I have dry wood on my island, but I don't know how to light it so I can be seen.

Messages were coming one after another. People incessantly wrote to each other, trying to distract from reality. I was glad my connection wasn’t working: thanks to that, I didn’t drown in useless chatter, but harvested resources and obtained an artifact.

Finally, I scrolled to the very bottom, where the message window was, and started typing:

— Hello. I recently fixed the connection. Are there guides on what to do? Where are we?

I was immediately answered by someone named “Konstant”:

— There is a guide, but you scrolled past it... I'm tired of repeating this to you idiots. In an hour, night will fall, you’ll sleep here and wake up in your beds at home. The next night, you'll go for a second round.

I didn't take offense at the rude tone—if I get such useful messages, it doesn’t matter how rude they are.

— You're babbling! If that were happening, the authorities would already know! — someone else immediately responded.

— During the day, you won't even remember this world, rest assured. The mystery of the floating islands keeps itself.

While new messages flew in the chat, I found the guide. This post mostly summarized what I already knew. There was nothing mentioned about nightmares besides the fact that they vary, and it’s better to clear the islands where they're absent. However, there was a hint at an active trade in the “Auction.”

Moreover, someone advised stretching food and water—turns out there’s a terrible shortage of both in this world.

The chat was also flooded with posts from people who waited for supplies to be brought to them. Why don’t they dock at the nearest island and search there? Why are they sitting in the chat instead of helping themselves?

I asked another question about the flying snakes, and I was told that if I see those creatures, I should fly away and pray that my island is faster than those nimble little beings.

I also came across a mention that someone managed to meet other people, and the meeting didn’t end in combat. Furthermore, there were rumors of a huge island with a dock for five islands. When I hovered the pipe over this island, it displayed a single word: “Dungeon.”

The display beeped, pulling me from my thoughts. Karamelkin replied in the chat.

— So, you’ve captured two islands since you established communication?

— Yes.

— Promising. What’s your real name?

— I don’t think I should share personal information.

— It’s customary for us to use our real names, — the interlocutor boldly stated.

— And coordinates, — Mefisto added. — We know the city—everyone's from Krasnoyarsk, but we need the street, house, and apartment.

— Well, exchange your information if it’s customary.

I’m out.

I was right: chats kill. The usual, homely imageboards, where instead of getting off their butts and capturing resource islands, you can complain about how bad you have it, and gloat if someone else is doing worse. And do nothing to change your position.

The sky was rapidly darkening. It seemed Konstant was right: soon everyone would fall asleep and wake up at home.

But I don’t want to forget anything about this world! There I am just a graduate, an eighteen-year-old guy with a pitiful ten in my wallet, five thousand that will go toward an engine, and another five promised to me and Oleg by the crafty Semenyich. But here, I am flying on an island! My very own! Here I can become anyone I want! And then return to the gray life without remembering this... Damn, that’s unfair.

Moreover, without knowing what's going on here, I can't prepare and better gear up for the next run. And if I do know, I’ll dress better than just in my underwear.

I sat for another ten minutes, and the sky turned deep blue. The clouds below looked like dark hills.

I suddenly felt an overwhelming desire to sleep.

Before lying down on the stone and passing out, I reached for the spyglass and looked at the islands around me that I hadn’t noticed before—they were too far away. Two islands turned out to be empty, but the third one frightened me a bit.

“The island has many toxic plants and a copper chest. Moreover, the air there is also toxic. Prepare protective gear, or your death will be long and quite unpleasant.”

And now... sleep.