Fang Xunjiu found a diary.
A blue hard-covered book, the writing on it was crooked and messy, like it was written by a child.
The dates were blacked out, and the handwriting on the first dozen pages looked as if it had been blurred with heavy mosaic, making it impossible to tell what the words were. Only after flipping further back did recognizable writing appear.
"The first time taking a boat out to play, so happy, I hope I can always be with Dad and Mom. The uncles and aunties on the boat are all very nice. There are many ju-zi and bread on the boat, and they also ban-ed up many big wooden barrels, Dad said those were jiu, children can't drink it, I want to grow up quickly." This page of the diary seemed to be a very ordinary record, with quite a few words crossed out for being written wrong, some crossed out many times, then simply replaced with pinyin. On this first page it also said how happy he was playing on the deck with his father, and that he saw seabirds and such.
At the end of such a diary full of childish innocence and warmth, there was this sentence: "At night when Mom was telling stories, I saw a very tall big man standing at the door, he looked dark, I couldn't see anything clearly, but when Dad came back, I asked who that uncle just now was, and Dad told me not to talk nonsense."
After this day, the writing in the diary was still blurred and unreadable, Fang Xunjiu guessed maybe they unlocked one page for every day they survived, perhaps tomorrow it would become clear.
"Could it be… that black ghostly shadows randomly appear on the ship? And the tall, big kind?" Mu Anqi said, "And the ship has plenty of supplies!"
"We found the supplies," Wu Sansheng said. "In the galley."
Fruits like oranges and apples were relatively few, since fruit isn't easy to store. There was quite a bit of wheat wine, dry bread and biscuits, and also many potatoes, pickles, all kinds of dried meats, ham, as well as rice, flour, and a full range of seasonings. Food and fresh water were abundant. As for cooking utensils… pots, bowls, pans—everything was available.
Mu Anqi stored part of the food and water into her storage ring. After all, no one knew what might happen the next second; if the ship's ghosts cleared away the food, that would be troublesome.
"This survival task doesn't seem very difficult." Mu Anqi counted the supplies in her storage ring against those in the cargo hold. With food and water solved, only the ghostly shadows remained. Although this was the first day's challenge… to them, it hardly even counted as a 'challenge.'
"What did the people on this ship experience, and why did they all disappear?" Wu Sansheng looked at Mu Anqi. "Survival is passing, but to understand the background, to deduce everything that happened, that raises the clearance rating."
At first glance, it seemed like an accident where ordinary people set sail with their families but got entangled by ghosts and met with disaster. If only it were that simple…
Mu Anqi sighed, just about to say something, when her brooch flickered, and she saw a tall, long black shadow standing silently at the galley entrance. She made a snap decision and shouted: "May you prosper!" while defaulting to use ten random options from the new list.
That shadow instantly rushed forward, so fast no one could react! Mu Anqi raised her gun, finger on the trigger, Xia Yun's life-bound sword flashed out, Fang Yunjiu's chuuni-style chanting had only just begun, and Wu Sansheng was staring coldly—
However, however! That shadow… pressed up against Fang Xunjiu, its figure moving sinuously, almost tenderly, and hooked up Fang Xunjiu's chin. Lowering that pitch-black head with no visible features, it spoke in a deep, magnetic male ghost's voice: "Little Temptress, you've set me on fire."
Set me on fire…
On fire…
Fire…
…
Those short eight words echoed and replayed through the galley.
After all this, the shadowy ghost instantly vanished without a trace. It made no move to attack, not even when it had been so close to Fang Xunjiu just moments ago. Of course, maybe because the ghost in the diary hadn't attacked, this one didn't either. But… but judging from how quickly it disappeared, it looked very much like it had been disgusted.
Fleeing in panic.
Fang Xunjiu's body went stiff, his face turning green. He looked as if he'd been hit with a petrification spell, his head slowly twisting toward Mu Anqi: "I… shouldn't have offended you, right, Rich Lady?"
Mu Anqi guiltily shifted her gaze away: "Th-this random action, who could've guessed it?"
"What the hell! Look at that action list, it said random male player! In this game I'm the only male player!—" Fang Xunjiu's voice cracked with agitation. Two broad streams of tears rolled down his face, as for the first time he felt anger and unwillingness toward his own male body. Why, why! Why did the male player have to be pressed into a ghost's intimate dance! And even have his chin hooked while hearing such disgusting lines!
"Th-this… I didn't think of it at the time." Mu Anqi pulled out a smoke grenade and stuffed it into Fang Xunjiu's hands. "I have received your bug report, sorry for affecting your game experience. I'll start skill maintenance immediately—this is compensation for the glitch."
"..." This explanation and the petty compensation really did have that vibe.
"Cheer up. Honestly, that male ghost's voice was pretty nice to hear, you didn't really lose out." Xia Yun couldn't stand watching anymore. She still hadn't managed to hold back her smile, but seeing Fang Xunjiu's expression so full of grief and indignation, she resisted the urge to burst out laughing and instead patted his shoulder to comfort him.
"Yeah, bro, it was just a momentary thing, the ghost didn't even do anything. None of us even had time to react." Fang Yunjiu added, then lowered her voice to mutter, "If you keep harping on it, be careful Sister Mu might 'accidentally' use another blessing from the action list."
Fang Xunjiu: "..." That was a threat, right? His sister was definitely threatening him just now!
His face was full of despair as he looked around. Unexpectedly, only Ms. Wu Sansheng, who had never interacted with him before, remained expressionless and didn't laugh at him. Fang Xunjiu looked at Wu Sansheng pitifully—even though he knew it was just the absolute rationality of her ability, it was enough to comfort him.
"The diary is an important clue," Wu Sansheng analyzed. "The ghostly shadow may appear at any time, randomly, and on the first day it does not have the ability to attack."
The ghost disappeared. Aside from Fang Xunjiu, who had fallen into the shadow of despair and couldn't pull himself out for the moment, the other players accepted it well enough and decided to eat an orange to fill their stomach a bit.
While eating oranges, Mu Anqi and the others arrived at the captain's cabin. The furniture here was all intact, only slightly damp. Clothes hung on the cabin wall, and several nautical charts were spread out on the table, though Mu Anqi and the others couldn't understand them. Clearly, these charts weren't meant for the players, since they weren't maps of the Shattered Mirror Continent at all.
Maybe they were just cheaply printed play-pretend charts? Mu Anqi thought so, but still carefully looked through each one.
"Messina Strait?" Wu Sansheng looked at the chart. "Legends say sirens live nearby."
"Mermaids… sea demons?" The pairing of sailors and sea monsters was always a common theme; in many stories there were ships bewitched by the sirens' song. If they had died lured by sea demons, then it would make sense why the interior of the ship was still perfectly intact. Only, the captain's cabin was stocked with white candles and rope. If there really were sirens, they should have been prepared.
Everyone studied the map for a while, but came up with nothing. In the end, Mu Anqi had to store the charts in her storage ring. The captain's cabin also had a hammock tied up, looking very sturdy. Fang Xunjiu went forward and tugged at it; the hammock wasn't damaged or torn at all.
Leaving the captain's cabin, the nearby lounge was arranged much the same. The furniture was intact, and no clues were left behind. However, in the lounge they did find a few sets of tableware and a small leather ball, probably a child's toy. In the drawers of these cabins, Mu Anqi and the others discovered quite a few jewels and banknotes—not guansi. Most likely placed there deliberately to match the game's setting.
In the cargo hold, there were several crates of jewels and gold, but even more alcohol. The liquor stored in the hold was all high-proof spirits. Just as Mu Anqi picked up a gold ingot to put into her storage ring, a prompt popped up before her eyes:
[Game item, cannot be taken away!]
Heh, how "generous" of you! But Mu Anqi hadn't really intended to take it anyway. Honestly, couldn't the Shattered Mirror Continent's designers be a little more magnanimous? Doesn't a sudden prompt like this completely break immersion?
Mu Anqi helplessly put the ingot back down, only to see Fang Xunjiu pick up a piece of gold and unceremoniously bite into it, leaving his teeth marks on it. Then he froze for a moment, apparently having received the same prompt.
Fang Xunjiu wiped the teeth marks off the gold ingot and reluctantly put it back into the chest: "We're players! What use do players have for gold? I just wanted to keep a souvenir!"
Of course, he really did leave a "souvenir"—those bite marks were quite obvious.
Mu Anqi and the others left the cargo hold. They didn't find life jackets, swim rings, or lifeboats on the ship; clearly, the game wasn't going to let them leave it. Mu Anqi also didn't find anything like a fishing rod, so clearly, a plan to fish at sea was out of the question too.
Once they had more or less familiarized themselves with this ghost ship, Mu Anqi looked at Xia Yun and the others: "Do you guys… know how to cook?"
After all that running around, their stomachs were growling. It was time to eat something and get some sleep. The sky was pitch black, and they had no idea what time it was. There wasn't even a sign of the sun rising—could this place be just like the Eternal Night Forest?
"I can," Fang Yunjiu said softly.
"I can a little too, but my cooking isn't great," Xia Yun quickly added.
"I can't." Wu Sansheng's voice, as always, carried no hint of emotion.
"I'm not very good either, but I can help out! My little sister's cooking is amazing!" Fang Xunjiu was the most excited of them all, his pride practically fanning out like a peacock's tail—he looked even prouder than Fang Yunjiu herself. "Really, really! Let my sister show you her skills! She didn't get a chance to shine back in the Forest of Eternal Night, so this time you'll get a proper meal!—Ah, of course, it's not the same style as the food shop, since that's part of Nirvana Space."
"Brother!" Fang Yunjiu's face flushed red from his words. She felt this was absolute social death; her brother was definitely getting revenge for her laughing earlier. She could only turn to Mu Anqi and say, "Sister Mu, give him a blessing to shut him up!"
Fang Xunjiu: ?