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Bonus chapter! Thank you to JustSomeOne for the donation! ^^
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Ruan Qing had already blended into the group of players and received an invitation too, but unlike the others, he didn't consider this a good opportunity. Instead, he sensed that this party must conceal some kind of danger.
His suspicion came from one particular line on the invitation: "With the support of the ship's staff."
Would the cruise ship's staff really support such a frivolous event organized by guests? Even provide assistance?
Anyone who had observed the staff's behavior closely would know this was utterly implausible. The crew could barely conceal their impatience when performing even the simplest duties like pouring a glass of water for guests.
How could they possibly support a guest-organized party?
"Who," Ruan Qing asked quietly, studying the guest delivering the invitations, "is the organizer of this ball?"
The question caught the messenger off guard. He hesitated, stammering for a long moment before finally admitting, "I... I'm not actually sure. I'm just helping deliver invitations. I think the organizers are guests from the third floor?"
After an awkward pause, the guest smiled politely. "See you at eight."
With that, he hurried off to deliver more invitations on his assigned floor.
The other players had immediately sensed something amiss when Ruan Qing asked his question. After the messenger left, the man in the suit turned to Ruan Qing cautiously. "What's wrong with the party, boss?"
Ruan Qing shared his suspicions in a low voice: "This party probably wasn't organized by actual guests."
Ordinary guests, no matter how sociable, wouldn't host such an event after several deaths had occurred aboard.
Not to mention they were currently sailing through a storm where danger could strike at any moment.
Most importantly, no guest on the third floor could possibly command the staff's cooperation.
The true organizer behind this ball - the one who could make the staff comply willingly - was obvious.
The players weren't fools. With Ruan Qing's hint, they quickly understood the implications, their expressions turning grave.
In an infinite horror scenario, such events typically marked major turning points, signaling impending danger.
Yet they still knew nothing about what truly lurked aboard this ship.
With 8 PM approaching fast, if they didn't prepare quickly, survival through the night was far from guaranteed.
The players didn’t waste any more time and immediately dispersed to search for clues across the cruise ship. Ruan Qing, along with the man in the suit, also set out to investigate.
On this cruise ship, it was impossible to open other guests’ rooms without an invitation. However, in the chaos, stealing someone else’s invitation wouldn’t have been difficult—yet none of the players chose to do so.
This time, nearly a hundred players had entered the instance, scattered between the third and sixth floors. Gathering intel on the guests’ rooms was easy for them.
One thing was certain: the guests themselves held almost no useful clues.
The players turned their attention to the ship’s second floor—and everything above the sixth.
While invitations could activate the elevator for floors three through six, the same didn’t apply to other levels. Even the staircases were inaccessible.
Every stairwell entrance was blocked by a door that required an access card to open.
Ruan Qing had already noticed this when he took the stairs earlier. It didn’t seem like a measure meant to deter unruly guests.
After all, these barriers existed from the second to the tenth floor, effectively isolating each level completely.
If the invitation’s access permissions were ever revoked, or if the electronic system failed, guests would be trapped indefinitely on their respective floors.
Ruan Qing had the access card Lin Zhiyan gave him, but he didn’t use it. There was no telling whether Lin Zhiyan would be notified if he did. Instead, he relied on a card he’d discreetly taken from a staff member earlier.
The staff member’s clearance level was surprisingly high—granting unrestricted access from the second to the tenth floor.
However, floors six and above housed VIPs, individuals whose identities were anything but ordinary. A single misstep could alert Lin Zhiyan.
So Ruan Qing and the man in the suit headed to the second floor.
Ruan Qing had already searched the second floor once before, but at the time, he’d been in a hurry to "die" and hadn’t thoroughly investigated.
Now, he led the man in the suit to the storage room where he’d previously found rope, hoping to uncover new clues.
The storage room was vast and cluttered, filled with haphazardly stacked items—a stark contrast to the ship’s otherwise opulent interiors.
Had they not stepped inside, no one would have believed such a place existed on the cruise.
The two quickly began rummaging through the mess. Eventually, Ruan Qing unearthed an old newspaper.
Yellowed with age, it looked like the kind of discarded paper used to line shelves or wrap fragile items.
But this one hadn’t been repurposed. Instead, it had been carefully tucked away in a corner cabinet.
Ruan Qing unfolded it, his gaze settling on a small report at the bottom right corner.
[A maritime fleet mysteriously disappeared near the xxx Ocean, only to be rediscovered a hundred years later—completely intact but with all crew members missing.]
Though a century had passed between the ship's disappearance and reappearance, reports stated it looked exactly as it had on the day it vanished. The hull showed no signs of weathering, and all objects onboard remained untouched—except for the missing crew.
The whole situation was deeply unsettling.
The man in the suit studied the news report, then ventured a quiet theory: "Could the vanished crew have turned into drowned ghosts? Maybe they're waiting to kill passengers on passing ships to find replacements?"
Ruan Qing pursed his lips, recalling the dripping sounds he'd heard in Lin Zhiyan's room—it really had sounded like something crawling out of water.
"Possibly."
With too few clues to go on, and finding nothing else in the storage room, the two left the second deck.
It wasn't that the second deck held no further clues—rather, the staff had begun bustling about, apparently preparing for the evening's party.
This only reinforced Ruan Qing's belief that the party's organizer couldn't possibly be a passenger.
After some thought, Ruan Qing and the man in the suit headed to the fifth deck.
Beyond entertainment and dining, the cruise ship offered spaces for study. The fifth floor housed an extensive library stocked with numerous books.
However, due to the ship's sudden stops and acceleration, many books had tumbled from the shelves, leaving the library in disarray.
Perhaps because so few passengers visited, the staff seemed to have forgotten to tidy up.
The library stood empty now—in fact, not a single person had come here since boarding day.
The man in the suit looked around the vacant library, puzzled. "Boss, why are we here?"
"To find materials related to this newspaper report," Ruan Qing explained. "Or anything about this cruise ship."
After a pause, he added, "Also keep an eye out for information about the xxx Ocean."
The man in the suit immediately nodded and began earnestly searching the shelves.
The library's vast size made a thorough search impossible for just two people, so the man in the suit recruited other players who happened to be investigating the fifth floor.
Eventually, they gathered all potentially relevant books and placed them before Ruan Qing.
As Ruan Qing methodically examined each one, his gaze suddenly fixed on a particular volume.
This is a book documenting folk tales and mythological legends about the sea, with all its stories revolving around an "evil god" that dwells in the ocean depths.
Legend has it that a great evil god resides in the deep sea, and summoning "Him" can fulfill any wish.
Most dismiss such legends as mere superstition, but a small number of people believe wholeheartedly, even forming a cult—
The Cult of the Evil God.
The cultists are fanatically devoted to the evil god, seeking to summon Him into the human world.
Countless followers have dedicated themselves to this goal, and over time, their numbers grew, forming a vast and mysterious organization.
The book not only records the existence of the cult but also details the nature of this great evil god.
According to legend, one can only enter the domain where this evil god slumbers during a storm.
And only within His domain can the summoning ritual succeed.
The book's appendix even includes detailed diagrams of the summoning array and the conditions required for the ritual.
However, almost no one believes this to be real. Most treat the book as nothing more than urban fantasy fiction, and naturally, no one has ever attempted the summoning ritual described in the appendix—some probably didn’t even notice it was there.
But the players didn’t dismiss this as mere fiction.
A storm, summoning an evil god, offering souls as sacrifice…
It all matched their current situation too well. They had already reached the storm phase, meaning there was a high chance that a cultist was aboard this very cruise ship—
One who was attempting to summon the evil god.
Summoning such a being was no easy feat, but even the attempt would require human sacrifices.
And those sacrifices could include them—or even every single person on this ship.
The so-called "lucky winners" selected for this cruise were nothing more than chosen offerings, sacrifices meant to facilitate the summoning.
They had to stop the ritual.
Because the players couldn’t afford to gamble—if the cultist succeeded, none of them would survive this dungeon.
Time passed quickly, and the party was about to begin.
Not all guests enjoyed lively gatherings, and not everyone was in the mood to attend. But half an hour before the event, the ship’s broadcast crackled to life.
"Good evening, distinguished guests. Mr. Lin will be attending tonight's party and has an announcement to make. Your presence at the dance is mandatory." The staff member's voice was polite yet carried an unmistakable tone of authority.
"Wishing all our guests an enjoyable evening."
The announcement repeated three times, ensuring it reached every corner of the cruise ship.
The players heard the broadcast too, and their eyes turned to Ruan Qing, who was still reading his book.
Without looking up, Ruan Qing said flatly, "I'm not going."
His unique constitution couldn't be completely concealed just by hiding his appearance. Attending such a crowded event would significantly increase the chances of encountering... problematic individuals.
If that happened, forget about finding clues - he might not even make it out in one piece.
