Chapter Three: Unlocking the Dungeon — The Ghost Ship

Bai Wan only stopped his routine domestic bickering when Liu Tong called his name. He gave a small cough and introduced himself, "Ahem, I’m Bai Wan, currently unemployed. My ability is that as long as I crawl into a sewer, I can reach Mario’s Coin Room."

Liu Tong: "...Huh?"
The group: "???"

The air turned instantly silent.
What on earth did he mean by Mario? Had he played too many video games?
The character abilities awakened by the Weird Game were always deeply tied to reality. It was impossible for anyone to fathom what kind of normal human being would awaken something like this.

"Uh... that’s quite an interesting ability. Maybe this young man was a miner in his past life... perhaps?"
Even the experienced Liu Tong was stunned for several seconds before he scrambled to find a way to smooth things over. Though even he couldn't imagine how a legitimate miner would reach a coin room through a sewer...

The atmosphere remained awkward.
But the awkwardness didn't last long. Suddenly, everyone’s expression changed. Bai Wan was no different. His heart gave a violent jolt, and the surrounding temperature plummeted. Gray text materialized before his eyes.

[The Weird Game has officially begun...]
[Game Instance: Ghost Cruise]
[As a college student, you have entered your pleasant summer vacation. You and your friends are planning to vacation on Four Seasons Island. The island is isolated from the world and accessible only by ship. You have boarded the 'Eagle Night,' beginning a week-long cruise...]
[Main Mission: Survive for one week, until landing.]
[Number of Players: 5]

Bai Wan felt a wave of dizziness as the scene around him shifted once more. He subconsciously scanned his surroundings. Wooden chairs and flooring, with rows of rooms lining the ends of the corridor. The chandelier above vibrated slightly, and in the distance, the faint sound of running water could be heard. Although the five of them were still sitting at a table, the environment had completely changed.

They were now on the ship.

At this moment, everyone wore a grave expression, Liu Tong included.
"It's actually the 'Eagle Night.' We're in trouble this time," Liu Tong frowned deeply.
"Hisss... is that the legendary 'Eagle Night'?" Physical Education teacher Zhang Wen couldn't help but gasp.

"What is the 'Eagle Night'?" asked Lin Xi, a female streamer, looking confused.

"It was a private British passenger ship from 1999. It’s said that the tourists on board ran into a thick fog, and every single person on the ship mysteriously vanished. To put it simply, this is a..."
"Ghost ship!" Liu Tong explained.

"A-a ghost ship...?" Lin Xi turned pale.

PE teacher Zhang Wen wiped cold sweat from his forehead and added, "You've never heard of the 'Eagle Night'? I remember it being huge on the internet a few years ago because it was just so sinister. They say when the ship finally drifted to port, the tea on board was still hot, and the food was fresh, yet the entire ship was empty. It was terrifying—it was as if everyone had been in the middle of a dinner party one second, and the next, they had all vanished into thin air."

Liu Tong took a deep breath, staring out at the endless, mysterious ocean beyond the window. "This instance might be difficult. Instances formed from actual historical events are the most terrifying and grotesque... We are now playing the roles of those very passengers from 1999, and we will experience exactly what they went through..."

BOOM!

Suddenly, lightning struck from the sky, illuminating the dark night and the invisible, vast ocean. When the darkness was dispelled, it revealed an even more infinite darkness beyond. On the creaking ship, a chill crept into everyone's hearts.

"Time is tight. Let's gather information about the 'Eagle Night.' In the instance world, we can't contact the outside, but we can search for information related to the event online. This has been verified in previous games," said Liu Tong, who had already survived two rounds and was quite experienced.

"Brother Liu is right. We must understand the cause and process of the incident in detail; only then will we have a chance to survive," Zhang Wen agreed.

At this point, Chen Weiyu spoke up.
"A diary. If I remember correctly, the police found a survivor's diary on the ship."

"Right, I remember reading that too. I recall the content was absurd; I barely slept that night after reading it," Zhang Wen immediately started searching on his phone. It didn't take long to find it.

"I’ve got it. Take a look."

The others crowded around. Bai Wan also looked curiously at Zhang Wen's phone. The page showed a battered notebook. The handwriting started out neat, but became increasingly chaotic toward the end, until it was barely legible. It seemed as though the owner was no longer writing in a human language; the strokes carried a hint of evil, as if they had originated from a mysterious, unknowable world.

...
June 10, 1999
[A rare vacation. I'm so happy to be traveling with Annie. It's my first time on a boat, so I don't know if I'll get seasick, but I'm really looking forward to Four Seasons Island. They say the climate there is like spring all year round. I've always wanted to visit, and now I finally have the chance. Even though I brought my holiday homework, I don't think I'll be doing it, and Annie feels the same. Hee hee...]

The owner of the diary seemed to be a girl, starting her vacation with her best friend, Annie. The early entries were all about travel fun, nothing worth noting. But from the third day on, the entries became strange.

June 12, 1999
[Annie was a bit out of it today. I asked her what was wrong, and she said someone had been walking outside all night, keeping her from sleeping. I thought it was just other tourists wandering around, so I didn't think much of it. But the next day, Annie heard footsteps again. She’s prone to insomnia anyway, and this made it impossible for her to sleep. Annie is my best friend, so I wanted to help. I asked the other tourists to be quiet at night, but strangely, they all said they hadn't been walking around. I wonder what’s going on? Maybe Annie was just sleepy and confused.]

...
June 14, 1999
[I'm so sad, so worried. Annie has suddenly disappeared from the ship. We were saying goodnight before bed last night, so how could she be gone by morning? The helpful tourists and I searched the whole ship, but there's no trace of her. A perfectly healthy person just vanished into thin air. I suddenly thought about the footsteps Annie mentioned before she disappeared... Could there be a bad person on this ship? Everyone has lost their desire to travel; panic is spreading.]

...
June 15, 1999
[Impossible, this is impossible! Who is messing with us on this ship!? I woke up in the middle of the night and heard footsteps outside my door, but when I opened it, there was no one there. Who... who is it, who is it!?]

...

After this, the girl's mental state seemed to shatter. The handwriting grew increasingly messy, the twisted characters looking like a child's graffiti. Behind every word, terror and struggle seemed to lurk.

June 16, 1999
[Gone, someone else is gone!! Everyone is disappearing, everyone is gone!! It’ll be my turn soon! My turn!! Don't make a sound, don't make a sound! Pretend to be asleep! Pretend to be asleep!! Save me, someone save me!! Anyone... anyone at all... No, it’s come inside!! There's no escape!!!! No escape! Nobody can leave!]

...

The latter half of the diary contained completely incomprehensible text; it seemed as if those words did not belong to the human world. Only the last two lines were legible. Looking at the timestamp, it was an hour before they were meant to arrive at the port. It was the girl's final message.

After reading it, Liu Tong and the others couldn't help but tremble, a cold chill sinking into their hearts as a sense of inexplicable dread took hold. With every page turned, their heartbeats quickened, and the horror grew heavier. In the darkness, something seemed to be slowly closing in. The temperature on the ship turned even colder, and the chandelier above began to flicker on and off.

[It’s real, it’s real! We saw it... we saw it... we saw it... we saw it saw it saw it...]

Dense, packed layers of "we saw it" filled the diary, twisted and distorted, as if they were trying to crawl out from the screen. The paper was wrinkled and stained with a dark red hue, as if soaked in some kind of liquid. The girl's madness seemed to seep through the text and fill the room. Written under extreme psychological pressure, every stroke of the pen was filled with distortion and insanity.

At the very end of the many "we saw it" phrases, a single sentence was written:

[We saw it... we saw it... we saw it... we saw it........................................................................................................................ we saw... GOD!!]