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Bonus chapter! Thank you to JustSomeOne for the donation! ^^
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The massive cruise ship cut through the raging sea, wind and rain whipping across its surface, washing away filth and sin alike.
The downpour was relentless—heavy enough to sting, heavy enough to blind.
Ruan Qing’s robe was soaked through, but the gales tearing across the deck sent it billowing behind him in sweeping arcs, the fabric fluttering like wings. His slender frame seemed moments from being torn away, cast into the abyss below.
His hood had long since been ripped off by the storm. Wet strands of hair clung to his cheeks, framing the tear mole at the corner of his eye—ethereal, haunting, like some vengeful water spirit from an old ghost tale.
The wind lashed at his clothes, adding a wild, disheveled beauty to his presence—a beauty so arresting it was impossible to look away.
A beauty cold and distant as the storm itself.
However, his slender and fragile figure only intensified the chilling aura around him, making others yearn to defile that icy indifference even more.
Several minutes later—
Boom—!!!
A deafening explosion rocked the ship, sending violent tremors through its structure. Then, the entire vessel began to tilt.
This wasn’t like the slight swaying from before. This time, the tilt was caused by a massive breach in the hull, seawater flooding in through the gaping hole.
The entire ship was destabilizing.
But it wasn’t just the ship that was unsteady—the battle on the third floor had escalated beyond control. If this continued, even the entire dungeon itself might collapse.
And that was exactly what Ruan Qing wanted.
Gripping the railing tightly, he stared fixedly at the sky, waiting for that one fleeting opportunity.
Bang—!!!
The moment the sound erupted, a pure white book materialized before Ruan Qing. In the next second, its pages began flipping rapidly—so fast they blurred into a streak of motion.
As the pages turned, a soft white glow emanated from the book. The light seemed gentle, yet it pierced through the darkness, illuminating the surrounding sea.
This was the same book from the <Pen Spirit> dungeon.
Ruan Qing didn’t fully understand what had happened back then, but he had sensed something foreign embedding itself within him.
That "something" was this very book.
After surviving so many dungeons, Ruan Qing had pieced together many truths. For instance, most items in the Infinite Horror Game's system shop were unusable for him—even basic stamina-boosting potions for ordinary players had nearly zero effect on him.
Many of the game’s tools were exorbitantly priced, as if the system itself was rejecting him.
Even power operated differently for him.
After killing the monster earlier, he had confirmed this suspicion—and hatched this audacious plan.
There wasn’t just one way to clear a survival dungeon. Aside from enduring until the end, players could also eliminate key NPCs—or destroy the dungeon entirely.
Killing the Evil God was impossible.
But shattering this dungeon?
That was within reach.
From the very beginning, Ruan Qing had never intended to drag things out until the seventh day. His body wouldn’t last that long anyway.
What he wanted was simple: let those men fight until the dungeon destabilized—then push it over the edge.
And now…
The moment had come.
The frenzied flipping of the book slowed…
Then stopped on a single page.
The page recorded the Great Purification, a technique capable of cleansing all resentment and corruption. It was the same method Ruan Qing had once tried to use to purify the Pen Spirit’s bones and soul.
Ruan Qing closed his eyes and poured all of his remaining power into the book in front of him.
In the next moment, his body lifted into the air.
The scene was eerily reminiscent of the Pen Spirit incident.
As light enveloped him, his clothes transformed into an elegant white robe, his hair growing long and flowing behind him. All traces of dirt and blood vanished, leaving only a face so beautiful it seemed to dim the world around him.
He was like light piercing through darkness—warmth and hope in a world drowning in despair.
In this dungeon, being infected by the eyes and being corrupted by the black mist were different. Those consumed by the mist became part of the Evil God, but those infected by the eyes still retained their human souls, even if they lost their memories and sanity.
The Purification could cleanse the infected. Ruan Qing had confirmed this when he killed the monsters. But purification did not bring them back to life—it only allowed them to die as humans.
If all the eye-infected monsters disappeared, and if his foreign power clashed violently with the dungeon’s own energy, the entire realm would collapse.
As Ruan Qing’s power surged into the book, a blinding white light erupted, cutting through the storm’s darkness. The rain seemed to recoil as an overwhelming force pressed outward, resisting the abyss.
For a moment, the sky brightened as if dawn had broken—but there was no sun, only a radiance even brighter.
The light from the ship’s upper deck was so intense that everyone on board noticed it.
The Evil God had not yet fully descended. Xu Jinyan, Lin Zhiyan, and the others had been struggling to suppress it, but now they froze. Xu Jinyan turned toward the light, his eyes widening.
Then, in an instant, he appeared on the top deck. The others followed, abandoning their task and rushing upward.
When they arrived, they could only stare in shock at the figure floating in the air.
The boy stood at the heart of the light, radiant as the sun and moon.
As the four watched in mesmerized awe, a trickle of blood seeped from the boy's lips. His face turned deathly pale, nearly translucent, his exquisite features contorted with pain—as though he might dissolve into the wind at any moment.
Panicked, the four surged forward to reach him.
But then they froze.
A gentle glow had begun weaving into the boy's body, soothing his agony like a balm.
Only then did they notice the sea's transformation.
Light poured from the book in the boy's hands, spreading across the water. Wherever it touched, the monstrous creatures beneath the waves melted away, dissolving into the ocean—replaced by translucent human figures.
These phantoms wore expressions of confusion at first, then dawning realization. Their gazes lifted to the boy in the sky, eyes brimming with gratitude before settling into serene peace. One by one, they faded into the air.
Countless specks of white light emerged from the vanishing figures, swirling toward Ruan Qing. The luminous currents enveloped him like a celestial mantle before merging into his very being.
The scene was breathtaking beyond words—a moment of divine splendor, as if the gods themselves had descended to walk among mortals.
The storm had quieted without notice. Time itself seemed to suspend, all sound vanishing from the world. Even the stubborn storm clouds that had plagued them for days dissipated at last, leaving behind a sky streaked with vibrant rainbows.
The sun had returned.
Its golden rays crowned the boy in light, anointing him in glory. At this moment, the entire world existed only as his backdrop.
Just as the observers clutched their chests against pounding hearts, an oppressive presence erupted behind them. Before they could turn, a shadowy figure shot past them toward the luminous boy—
—only for the boy to vanish the instant those grasping fingers would have touched him.
[Congratulations to Player Ruan Qing for clearing the instance: <Horror Cruise>.]
The Infinite Horror Game's system announcement rang out with its customary icy detachment. Yet this time, beneath the mechanical monotone, something new simmered: a wrath so profound it strained against the voice's emotionless facade.
Oh my gods! So many emotions. Thank you for those many chapters!!!
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