[Welcome, players, to the dungeon: <Horror Cruise>.]
[The Malegobi cruise ship is the largest and most luxurious in the world—a vessel everyone dreams of boarding.]
[However, legend has it that its owner is a prince from a certain kingdom, a man who lacks neither wealth nor anything else. Every year, he opens the ship only in early summer, inviting "chosen guests" through a lottery system.]
[You are the lucky winners of a seven-day luxury cruise, boarding the Malegobi with excitement and anticipation.]
[But as time passes… you begin to realize something is off about this ship.]
[Dungeon Objective: Survive for seven days.]
***
When Ruan Qing entered the dungeon, he was already aboard the ship—and it had already set sail into the open sea.
Once again, his identity differed from the other players. While they had won their spots through the lottery, he had climbed aboard by clinging to a wealthy patron.
This time, he was playing the role of a green tea college student NPC.
The original character, Xia Qing, was an undergraduate at the prestigious S University.
Hailing from a remote mountain village, Xia Qing had always been academically gifted, with an exceptionally delicate and pretty face. He grew up showered with praise from neighbors and teachers, the golden child of his community.
Through sheer hard work and determination, he tested into S University—the only college student from his village, the pride of his entire hometown.
But everything changed after his admission.
S University was elite, attracting brilliant students from affluent families across the nation—young people who never had to worry about tuition or living expenses.
Xia Qing was different. His family was poor. The cost of attending S University alone was daunting; without student loans, he couldn’t have afforded it.
Worse, every student at S University was smart. His academic prowess, once his sole point of pride, no longer stood out.
And S University was located in a bustling metropolis with a high cost of living. His meager financial aid couldn’t cover even basic expenses, forcing him to take on part-time jobs between classes.
For convenience, he worked at a café next to campus—a high-end establishment catering to the wealthy. Most customers were students, some even his classmates.
Meanwhile, Xia Qing was just a waiter.
Xia Qing had always been proud, and the stark contrast between his life and others’ left him deeply unsettled. Gradually, his focus drifted away from his studies.
He began emulating the other servers, trying his luck at finding a sugar daddy.
It was harder than he expected—but the rewards were substantial. A casual red envelope from a patron outweighed a month’s wages as a waiter.
Slowly, Xia Qing forgot his original aspirations, forgot the person he used to be, and became just another clinging vine.
To catch the attention of wealthy sponsors, he started dressing flamboyantly and adopted a manipulative, honeyed tone with others. Over time, he became rather unlikable.
Not that it bothered him. He rarely interacted with classmates anyway, so their disdain had no impact on him.
Then came the cruise incident.
The seven-day luxury cruise should have had nothing to do with Xia Qing—except, by chance, all three of his roommates won tickets in the raffle.
Those three lived in a world entirely different from his. Their family backgrounds, their looks—they were exceptional even among the elite students at S University, standing at heights Xia Qing could never reach, no matter how hard he tried.
A quiet jealousy had festered in him for years. When they won the raffle and he didn’t, his resentment boiled over.
In a fit of anger, he dumped his old sugar daddy and seduced the staffer in charge of the lottery, sneaking onto the cruise illegally.
And then, Ruan Qing arrived.
After sorting through Xia Qing’s memories, Ruan Qing froze. As it turned out… Xia Qing’s former sugar daddy had also won a spot on the cruise.
Worse, Xia Qing hadn’t charmed the lottery officer on his own merits. The officer had only agreed after hearing the name of one of Xia Qing’s roommates—likely the person the officer actually had feelings for.
So now, crammed aboard this ship: Xia Qing’s old sugar daddy, his new sugar daddy, and the new sugar daddy’s crush.
Ruan Qing: “…”
Setting aside the messy relationships, Ruan Qing analyzed the situation based on the available clues.
This cruise was definitely suspicious. Between the ominous dungeon name - <Horror Cruise> and the system’s warning, it was clear danger lurked onboard. And not the Titanic-sinking kind.
Maybe a serial killer. Maybe monsters. Maybe even vengeful ghosts.
Whatever hid in the shadows would likely start picking off passengers, one by one.
The ones who "won the lottery" were never lucky—they were doomed targets from the start.
If Xia Qing had ignored this affair, he might have ended up with three dead roommates. But consumed by jealousy, he instead chose a path leading straight to his own demise.
Now, he would be the one to die.
At that moment, Ruan Qing was inside a cramped room at the edge of the cruise ship—his assigned quarters. Since the original owner of this body had stowed away, he wasn’t entitled to a guest cabin. The staff had dumped him in the crew’s area instead.
Sitting on the bed, Ruan Qing gnawed at his thumbnail, eyes lowered in thought.
Every person who’d "won" the so-called lottery had an invitation. On this ship, aside from the staff and the ship’s own crew, he was likely the only one without one.
And given how he’d been the first target in every instance of this "game" so far, a terrifying pattern emerged:
Those without invitations… were probably the first to die.
The invitation had to be something crucial.
Just as Ruan Qing was pondering how to get his hands on one, a knock came at his door.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
A polite male voice followed. "Mr. Xia, Mr. Lin is asking for you."
Mr. Lin?
Ruan Qing’s gaze froze. Lin—wasn’t that the surname of his new "benefactor"?
What could that man possibly want with him?
He’d expected the staffer to at least name a location, but after a pause, the knocking resumed.
"Mr. Xia… are you in there?"
Ruan Qing gave a vague reply. "Yeah."
Hearing this, the person outside seemed satisfied the message had been delivered—footsteps quickly retreated without another word.
Clearly, the staff had no love for the original owner.
Ruan Qing didn’t call after him. Only when the footsteps faded entirely did he cautiously crack open the door.
Before him stretched an opulent hallway, bustling with crew, and at its end—the gilded doors of a lavish lobby.
The cruise ship’s every level was extravagantly luxurious. Beyond the guest cabins, there were living and entertainment areas, creating an atmosphere of opulence and decadence.
The entire ship was like a massive, floating castle.
The luxury cruise had sixteen decks in total. The crew lived on the second floor, while most guests stayed between the third and sixth levels. The higher you went, the more lavish it became.
But with greater luxury came higher costs. Only floors three through six were free for guests who had won the lottery. Anything above required out-of-pocket payment—and unless someone was already wealthy, few chose to upgrade. After all, even the third to sixth floors were as luxurious as high-end villas.
The person in charge resided on the tenth floor, a place the original owner had no access to, so there was no way the man would be waiting for him there.
He was most likely on the fifth floor.
Because that was where the original owner’s roommate seemed to be staying.
Though Ruan Qing didn’t know why this Mr. Lin was looking for him, the man likely still had invitations—and he was the easiest target to approach.
The cruise ship had elevators, so Ruan Qing took one straight to the fifth floor and headed toward his roommate’s quarters.
Before he could even get close, he spotted the man sitting on a sofa not far away.
The man was handsome, with sharp, well-defined features. Around thirty, he wore a tailored suit, exuding an air of composed sophistication.
This was Mr. Lin. He held a newspaper but wasn’t reading it intently—instead, he kept glancing at his watch, his striking face betraying a hint of impatience.
He was clearly waiting for someone—and had been for a while.
Ruan Qing paused, then slowly approached, stopping at a respectful distance. His delicate face wore an expression of hesitation and uncertainty.
Had this been one of the original owner’s former patrons, he would have already sidled up to them, coaxing and sweet-talking.
But this new patron was different. Stoic and unapproachable, he disliked closeness—the original owner had been somewhat afraid of him.
Imitating the original’s demeanor, Ruan Qing kept his head slightly lowered, his voice small and uneasy.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Lin."
The man didn’t even look up. His response was nothing more than a dismissive hum.
He clearly had no interest in engaging—and the person he was waiting for wasn’t Ruan Qing.
Most likely, the one he expected was the original owner’s roommate: Xu Jinyan.
The original owner wasn’t a fool. The moment the man agreed upon hearing Xu Jinyan’s name, he guessed that the person the man liked was probably his roommate—which only fueled his jealousy further.
If the original owner had been in this situation, he wouldn’t have stayed silent.
After several seconds of silence, Ruan Qing sat down on the sofa near the man, neither too close nor too far. Then, with an innocent and guileless smile, he asked cautiously, "Mr. Lin, were you waiting for Brother Xu?"
Without waiting for an answer, Ruan Qing continued on his own, "Does Brother Xu usually take this long to get ready? Not like me—I just throw something on and head out."
"When I heard you were looking for me, I was in such a hurry I even forgot my phone." He finished with an embarrassed little laugh.
Just then, a man walking over from a distance burst into laughter. As he approached, he remarked, "Well, well—I could smell the tea from a mile away. Didn’t expect—"
His mocking words cut off abruptly.
Because the sound of his voice made the young man who had just spoken turn around.
