Chapter 78 – Hopeless Sea (2) Business

The tremors on the deck finally subsided, and even the sea wind gentled.

The light grew brighter, yet the sky stayed a sickly yellow. Qi Si saw yellow heavens and motionless yellow clouds, like an oil painting.

Thin cloud-threads sketched the outline of a colossal eye in the sky, evoking the captain’s mention of ‘the Sea God’s Eye’, then vanished the instant Qi Si blinked.

Qi Si blinked again; only after two seconds did he realise he had somehow gone from standing to lying down.

He reached out and felt wet sand beneath him; grit clung to his arm, prickling with a dense itch.

Things were turning ugly, and Qi Si began to regret not buying a change of clothes in the Mall.

He sat up, pinched his arm—painful—then cracked his knuckles; the joints were solid, undeniably real.

Scattered across the beach were the other players, some grimacing, others panic-stricken.

Though the Eerie Game had arranged a painless transition, most looked a wreck, coated in pale-yellow grains as if they had rolled through a sandbox.

Apart from the absence of broken planks or a beached wreck, the scene screamed shipwreck.

So had they truly suffered a disaster at sea, rather than slipping into some nonsensical dream?

Qi Si stared at the preface’s reminder—‘What you see with your own eyes may not be real’—and fell into thought.

‘How did we suddenly get from the ship to here? The captain said we’d all die—what did he mean?’ a green-haired girl muttered, apparently to no one.

‘That earlier sequence was basically the opening CG, setting the background,’ answered the young man who had earlier challenged the captain. ‘We can safely assume this instance is set in the Age of Sail, and we’re colonists chasing gold and glory.’

A brown frock-coat and gold-rimmed spectacles lent the young man a scholarly air. ‘I believe we’ve only now officially entered the instance. Let’s not move rashly; wait for the main quest to refresh before deciding what to do.’

‘First let’s recap. The captain claimed the Sea God was angry and ordered us into the hold, yet the hold seemed full of Ghosts. Those Ghosts leapt overboard one after another, repeating the act in a loop. Is that right?’

‘Y-yes, I saw it all!’ A meticulously made-up girl with long hair gave a timid half-raise of her hand.

Encouraged by the young man’s nod, she continued, ‘I have night vision; I can see in the dark. I was shoved into the hold and saw it stacked with rotting corpses—some reduced to skeletons—yet they were still moving… Then they stood up and started to walk out; a few even grew fish tails after a few steps. I swear I saw it—only for a few seconds, but I saw it!’

A man turning into a fish is common enough in fairy tales, yet in the Eerie Game it is anything but delightful.

The young man mused aloud, ‘That should be a clue—something like the omens and prophecies common in Western myth, probably tied to the worldview of this instance. I was on deck and only saw the Ghosts lining up to jump into the sea; their movements seemed almost joyful. It reminds me of a tale…’

He pressed his lips and said no more.

The green-haired girl pressed, ‘What tale?’

The young man gave a wry smile. ‘Just a random association; I hope it won’t mislead us later.’

Dropping his voice to a sinister murmur, he recited, ‘Dartmoor: all the demons in the world gather there; they love to lure pretty girls to the cliff-top, stand behind them, and then—shove…’

Qi Si, listening nearby, clicked his tongue softly. ‘Sounds like a random association indeed.’

The young man merely smiled gently and shook his head.

Chang Xu had never been good at deduction, preferring brute force; now, unable to interject, he simply studied their surroundings.

He sensed Qi Si glance at him and shot back an inquiring look: ‘Si Qi, about the Carnivore instance…’

A system chime cut him off without warning.

【main quest updated】

【main quest: Escape the island】

Two lines appeared on the system interface.

The players’ discussion died mid-sentence. Qi Si smiled at Chang Xu while absently touching the silver bracelet on his right wrist.

This was already the second time Chang Xu had asked about the Carnivore instance in a short span—oddly persistent, far beyond what concern over impersonation would warrant.

He didn’t seem the type to care about reputation; in those dozens of pages flaming him on the Forum he could have defended himself, yet with his status and temperament he had nothing to fear from using his real name.

Could it be that among those who died in Carnivore someone had been close to him?

Qi Si hadn’t been exposed while impersonating him, proving the deceased didn’t know Chang Xu—at least not the name ‘Chang Xu’.

Most likely the two had been colleagues in a sprawling organisation whose departments rarely intersected.

Chang Xu claimed to be a police officer; Yang Yundong, a veteran who entered the Security Bureau after Carnivore, and soon after the instance ended the Kyushu authorities released relevant intel… Bit by bit, Qi Si extracted clues from the vast information web and linked them before his eyes.

Having just learnt there might be an official organisation devoted to dealing with Eerie phenomena, Qi Si couldn’t help but steer his speculations that way and prepare for the worst… Sensing Qi Si’s gaze, Chang Xu spoke again, low and deliberate: ‘Si Qi, about the Carnivore instance…’

‘What answer do you want to hear?’ Qi Si sighed. ‘I saw that post; it felt off—clearly someone was impersonating me—later it was exposed. I knew you’d ask, the timing was just too perfect.

‘Before public opinion flipped, I also suspected you’d tricked me in Rose Manor. At first I didn’t speak up for you on the Forum; now you doubt me—fair enough, perfectly reasonable.

He narrowed his eyes at Chang Xu and smiled. ‘Truth is, I still suspect you. I haven’t questioned you, not because I’m noble, but because it doesn’t concern me—and I can’t beat you.

‘You dare ask me outright only because, with your combat strength, even if you offend me you’ll likely survive till clearance—no worries on that front.’

Besides, even if it really was me—so what? People have to look out for themselves; everyone doing their utmost to stay alive is what matters. No one’s obliged to worry about anyone else’s life or death.

Don’t tell me you’d save everyone. Shen Ming is dead, Liu Qingye is dead—because they belonged to Sera, you watched them die. Am I supposed to believe you’ll stand by for even more ridiculous reasons in the future?

Figuring that was enough to keep the other man’s brain spinning for a while, Qi Si rose unhurriedly, left Chang Xu still doubting life, and walked away from the shore.

Azure waves lapped the beach, flinging up white foam that pattered down and seeped into the sand, turning the bright gold into a deeper, duskier brown.

Beyond the sand stretched a lush coconut grove, and at its edge stood a statue: a mermaid gripping a short blade.

Calling it a mermaid wasn’t quite right—‘fish-man’ might be more accurate.

Its head was a fish’s, profile turned toward the sea, yet below it sprouted human arms, legs, and torso. Ash-white skin was plated with scales that, in the dim light, looked as rough as dried wax.

Around the base lay scattered chunks of stone etched with crossing lines. Though worn to faint grooves, the outlines of feathers were still visible.

Those blocks had clearly once been a pair of huge wings attached to the statue; now they lay broken off, long unrepaired.

Qi Si stood on a smooth boulder before the statue and gazed into the distance.

Deep in the woods, a tall Clock Tower rose abruptly, its spire sharp and lofty—Renaissance in style.

Brilliant enamel on the walls scattered rainbow light; an open panel in the center framed white marble carved with a towering angel, eyes shut, wings falling like a feathered robe.

Clearly this place had a civilized native population; it was no deserted island, and survival in the wild wasn’t the players’ first concern.

【Your Identity: Merchant】

Identity Effect: pay less for the same services; any murderous intent toward a ‘Noble’ cannot be acted upon.】

In the upper right of his vision a golden-framed Identity Card quietly appeared.

The card depicted a black-robed, gold-eyed figure leading a brown stallion piled high with gold coins.

The new Merchant card hung beneath the humanoid evil spirit card, slightly smaller in length and width—what the Forum called a ‘minor card’.

By its position it didn’t belong to the humanoid evil spirit set; what its corresponding major card might be was anyone’s guess.

A narrator’s voice chimed in at the perfect moment:

You are a Merchant who circles the globe for profit—gold, rare creatures, people, guns; all are on your ledger. But a few damned Scholars keep denouncing you and even push to outlaw your trade.

Luckily those killjoys happen to be on the same ship—and now trapped on this island with you. A perfect chance to be rid of them, wouldn’t you say?

side quest updated.

side quest (optional): kill every Scholar.

Qi Si delivered an earnest critique: First, money and politics go hand in hand; a few Scholars are a mere nuisance to a competent Merchant. Second, killing people just for opposing you is troublesome and unprofitable. Third, if I really wanted them dead I’d have done it on the ship—dumping the bodies to the fish is far more convenient and eco-friendly.

…Still, since that’s the setup, so be it—whatever makes you happy.

Eerie Game: Much obliged, pal.

By now the other players on the beach had figured things out. In a dark mass they rose and converged on the statue.

Fifteen in all, including Qi Si. The clamor was gone; everyone stood in silence, studying one another with naked suspicion.

A short man pointed at the broken wings behind the statue and muttered, Wings fallen off—doesn’t that sound like bad religious omens? Angels falling to demons, evil spirits appearing…

A long-haired girl beside him whispered, Can you not? I’d stopped being scared, and now you’ve started me again.

What’s to fear? There’s so many of us, and it’s only day one—no one’s dying yet… The green-haired girl broke off, eyes bulging at the statue. What the hell?

Qi Si followed her gaze. The fish-man’s once blank white eyes now bore a clot of black, as though pupils had been dotted onto the lifeless stone.

Thick, fishy blood oozed from fist-sized eyes like twin tears, while the arm gripping the short blade swept forward, whipping up a gust of wind.

Chang Xu yanked the green-haired girl aside; the blade shaved past her neck, slicing only a lock of hair.

The fish-man froze in its out-thrust stance, but its black-and-white eyes fixed on the players, radiating palpable hostility.

The girl stammered, What’s happening? The statue—it…

It came alive, Qi Si said with a smile.

Not just the statue: the angel on the Clock Tower opened pupil-less eyes and looked down; the coconut palms rattled wildly with a hollow rush.

The whole island seemed to wake at once, greeting its uninvited guests.

Before the statue a stone tablet appeared, its warped letters cheerfully proclaiming:

Welcome to the Hopeless Sea, a pure land beyond time and age, where true night never falls.

The great Sea God protects these beautiful waters and sets the following rules for travelers:

1. Always carry usable money; most services and facilities here cost coin.

2. The Clock Tower bell rings every two hours. Sleep when it strikes ten; rise when it strikes four. Rest assured, sleeping in an inn room is safe.

3. All food on the island is edible; eat on schedule. Only by eating the island’s food can you become a follower of the Sea God.

4. The Sea God shelters all lost believers, but He dislikes the stingy. When praying, prepare sufficient offerings.

5. To leave the island, ask the Sea God about sailing. Remember: take nothing from the island!

6. The ocean is perilous—stay away from the shore and beware the sea!