Golden Wheat Island
The midday sun hung high in the sky, its dazzling light reflecting off the azure sea with shimmering Wave Light.
The island was covered with vast fields of Golden Wheat, glowing with a color resembling gold under the sunlight.
Amid the Golden Wheat, a winding, gravel country path extended to the side of the wheat field.
There stood a simple stone house unique to the island, surrounded by a low wooden wall, within which a tall tree was growing.
Through the open wooden-and-straw window of the stone house, looking inside, a figure was crouching beside the bed near the window.
This young male figure was squatting beside the wooden bed in his room, bending down to look under it.
He had jet-black short hair; his facial features appeared somewhat youthful but already showed hints of handsomeness.
In the dimness, aided by the sunlight streaming into the room through the window, he saw a bulging cloth bag under the head of the bed, seemingly holding something.
Seeing this, a smile appeared on his face; this was what he had been searching for.
"The Treasure Hunter's Tool Bag."
He moved a few steps closer, reached into the darkness, grasped the edge of the cloth bag, and pulled it out forcefully.
With the tug, a tinkling sound came from the bag, indicating that there were some iron objects inside.
The resistance as he dragged it also suggested that the items inside were not light.
After pulling out the bag, its mouth was untied, and some of the items inside were already revealed:
An unlit torch, a short-handled shovel, an irregular, slightly bent iron bar, a rope, and an iron grappling hook.
He squatted down and emptied all the items from the bag.
In addition to the aforementioned items, there was also a sheathed short-handled machete and something resembling flint.
But what Alka cared about was not these items, but rather a palm-sized booklet on top.
The booklet's cover was made of some kind of animal leather, and the paper inside was also yellowed.
The booklet was well-preserved; it looked aged, but the corners of the pages were not curled.
On the booklet, in strange characters, it read "Captain Alka's Treasure Hunting Manual."
Alka was himself. He wasn't a captain; it was merely a childish self-proclamation.
Casually flipping through it, he saw that the text recorded inside consisted of legends about Treasures on the island.
Holding the booklet in his hand, Alka stood up again and sat down heavily on the side of the bed.
His expression involuntarily turned pensive.
These are "my" things.
Thinking of his strange encounter, Alka couldn't help but shake his head. He never expected that he would one day actually transmigrate—something straight out of fiction.
But for him, it truly was a miracle.
He recalled enduring the torment of illness on a hospital bed, awaiting his impending death.
He had closed his eyes in pain, finally able to have a restful sleep.
When he woke up again, he had already occupied this body.
Along with it, he inherited this body's memories.
These memories gradually returned over two days, from distant to recent.
It wasn't until this morning that he knew how the body's original owner had died.
Died from a "Curse."
This body was 16 years old, with the dream of becoming a Treasure Hunter on the sea.
Nine days ago, he had really found a Treasure.
The first Treasure he found in his life as a Treasure Hunter also became his last Treasure.
And the Treasure…
Alka groped under his pillow and took out a dull Silver Coin.
The Treasure was this Silver Coin.
The Silver Coin was somewhat dull and dark, indicating it had a history. On the front was engraved an S-shaped silver snake, and on the back was a three-petaled flower.
A scratch on the silver snake's head was very conspicuous.
Besides that, it was just an ordinary Silver Coin—a "Silver Snake," a type of circulating currency. Though valuable, it wasn't enough to buy his own life.
Alka turned his head, looked out the window at the blazing sun hanging in the sky, and muttered to himself, "Still 5 days… no, 4 and a half days left."
Who would have thought that this seemingly ordinary Silver Snake in my hand was Cursed.
If Alka had heard about a Cursed Silver Coin before, he would have just laughed it off as a joke.
But the sudden death of the original owner forced him to take it seriously.
Nine days ago, the previous owner of this body had dug up this Silver Snake. At the time, it was in a small iron box.
An inscription was also on the iron box.
"Return within seven days, gain Treasure. After seven days, die of a Curse."
It was a very simple and straightforward warning, but the original owner hadn't paid it any mind.
Who would believe such a thing?
His memories contained no evidence of supernatural powers; at most, the people of this world generally had better physical constitutions than those in his previous life.
Then, two days ago, he really did die in his sleep.
After he took over this body, the memories returned gradually, from distant to recent. It wasn't until this morning that he fully recovered all of the original owner's memories. He had been feigning illness before that, hiding in the room, waiting for his memories to fully return so he could properly assess the situation.
Similarly, the original owner's death also meant that this "Curse" was real, not just a joke.
He had transmigrated two and a half days ago. In another four and a half days, the seven-day limit would be reached. His own seven days.
Perhaps the original owner already endured the Curse. I'm simply resurrected in this body; I might not necessarily die after another seven days.
But for Alka, who had just transmigrated and resurrected into this body, he didn't dare gamble at all.
I don't want to die yet! The days of waiting for death in my previous life left me in despair. Now that I've finally been reborn, how can I just wait for death again? Even if it's just a possibility, I'm not willing to gamble. I must return this Silver Coin, regardless of whether the Curse is real or fake. That's the only thing I can do now.
Alka took a deep breath and began to analyze the current situation.
Firstly, according to his memories, this Silver Coin was part of Magician Jack's Treasure.
The original owner had also obtained this Silver Coin through this clue.
This was just a small clue leading to the final Treasure.
In other words, as long as I find Magician Jack's final Treasure and return this Silver Coin, I'll be able to lift the Curse. Truly survive.
Alka began extracting information related to Magician Jack's Treasure from his memories.
Magician Jack, originally named Jack Monk, was born over 200 years ago on Golden Wheat Island and ventured out to sea in his youth.
He only returned in his late fifties, by which time he had made a name for himself in the surrounding seas.
He was a famous Treasure Hunter, known by the nickname "Magician."
Despite being a famous Treasure Hunter, he returned to his hometown in old age and did not appear to be very wealthy.
The islanders believed he had hidden his wealth in his homeland.
It was said that he had once drunkenly revealed in a tavern that he hid his Treasure on Golden Wheat Island.
Yet no one has truly found his Treasure in over 200 years, so it naturally became a legend.
Most islanders believed he had squandered most of his wealth abroad, only returning to his hometown in his later years to await the Death God.
This behavior was quite typical of someone who had spent many years adrift at sea.
Alka looked at the Silver Snake in his hand. This Silver Coin, along with the Curse, all confirmed the Treasure's existence.
He stood up and walked to a painting on the left side of the room. It depicted an old man wearing a black top hat and formal black attire.
His right hand, resting on his left shoulder, wore several Rings.
This was the portrait of Jack Monk.
His mother's ancestor. This house was also where the Magician had died.
This was why Alka had obtained the clue.
After all, this was his own family. Thinking of this, Alka opened the Treasure Hunting Manual in his hand.
Despite its thinness, the booklet contained information about several Treasures, all of which the original owner had collected from various sources.
"Parker's Golden Staff," "Lucky Gold Coin," "Markto's Wreck"...
And now "Jack's Magic Treasure."
Some of these were Treasures native to this island, while others were legends from neighboring islands.
They were all popular tales, but no one truly believed they were real Treasures.
At least, that's how it seems now.
Except for Alka, who called himself a Treasure Hunter.
Even Alka himself believed most of the stories were false. He focused on Jack's Treasure because it involved his own family, and he had information unavailable to outsiders.
Several pages in the latter part of the booklet were filled with clues about Jack's Treasure.
The others were only briefly introduced.
The next two pages, joined together, depicted a simplified map of Golden Wheat Island drawn with very concise lines.
Two key locations were marked on it with ink dots.
This was the only clue left by the original owner.
Looking at this map.
「Map detected」
「Scanning for Treasure」
「Scan complete」
「Happy Treasure hunting!」