Natsuki pushed open the door, carefully confirmed the corridor environment, then turned his head and spoke quietly:
"You can come out now."
The two girls followed behind Natsuki, tiptoeing out of the captain's cabin.
"The corridor is so dark."
Kitagawa Marin muttered quietly.
Like the captain's cabin, the entire corridor had no light whatsoever—only dimness and cold. The only light source was the pale moonlight slanting through.
"According to the parchment drawing, this ship has three levels total. Our current position should be the bottom level..."
Natsuki surveyed his surroundings and quickly confirmed the environment.
The bottommost level was clearly not a good environment. Once a monster attacked, they'd be caught like fish in a barrel with nowhere to hide.
So the immediate priority was to leave the bottom level first. If conditions allowed, it would be best to explore the entire ship, then find the most hidden hiding spot to complete the hide and seek game.
"Let's go up."
Natsuki pointed at the top of the stairs.
The three held their breath, lightened their footsteps, and carefully ascended.
Arriving at the second level of the ship's hold, Natsuki carefully peeked down the corridor—and suddenly stopped dead.
"Natsuki..."
Kitagawa Marin instinctively wanted to ask, but the moment she opened her mouth, Natsuki's quick reflexes had his hand clamped over it.
"Don't talk. Our luck is 'very good'—we've already run into it."
"Got it."
Kitagawa Marin quickly blinked her eyes to show she understood.
"Let me see what kind of monster it is."
Kitagawa Marin raised both hands, firmly covering her own mouth, then quietly poked half her pretty face out from around Natsuki's waist and looked out into the corridor.
Under the pale moonlight stood a tall humanoid figure with a ghostly blue body. Its build was burly. It wore a pirate hat on its head. Its left hand was a pitch-black iron hook. Its face was covered in marine parasites like conches and scallops. Just standing there, it emanated a sinister, evil aura.
"Eh, it's the ghost captain."
Kitagawa Marin couldn't help but widen her eyes.
Hayasaka was likewise quite shocked.
Though knowledge about the horror game had appeared in her mind, seeing a ghost with her own eyes was a first in her life.
The scientific materialism cultivated over sixteen years came crashing down in this moment.
This world truly had major problems!
By comparison, Natsuki saw much more.
[After careful observation, you obtain the following intelligence]
[Pirate Captain: Davy Jones]
[Alignment: Chaotic Evil]
[Every pirate captain is a chaotic evil villain, and Davy Jones is outstanding among them. Warning: Do not make physical contact with Davy Jones—you will instantly lose control of your body]
[Weakness analysis in progress... Analysis failed. Even Sherlock Holmes couldn't identify the culprit at a glance. Please continue gathering more intelligence]
[Note: My name is Davy, but my surname isn't Jones. My ship is the Flying Henan Man, not the Flying Dutchman]
At this moment, the ghost captain stood before a cabin door, extending his right hand. The door wasn't pushed open—instead, his arm passed straight through it, followed by his entire body...
Before long, the ghost captain had passed through like air itself, silently entering the room.
"He really can pass through walls." Kitagawa Marin patted her chest and quickly breathed a sigh of relief. "Good thing we came out."
If they'd thought hiding in a room would let them rest easy, when the ghost captain directly passed through the door, they'd truly be caught like fish in a barrel with no escape.
"Let's go the other way."
Natsuki withdrew his gaze and led the two girls to choose the other end of the corridor.
The three proceeded carefully. Fortunately, they didn't encounter any other monsters along the way.
A moment later, Natsuki and the two girls carefully arrived on deck.
"It really is a ghost pirate ship."
A silver moon hung in the sky, casting down pale moonlight.
Natsuki walked to the edge of the ship's rail and looked down. The seawater was pitch black as ink—no ripples visible at all. Looking around, the surrounding waters held only endless fog. No trace of land could be seen—as though the entire world contained only the ship beneath their feet.
Clearly, the two sides of the "hide and seek" game were the players and the ghost captain, with the venue limited to the ghost ship.
The ship's size looked about the same as the "Heaven-and-Earth-Traversing Cold Crow." Upon careful observation, one could see the hull was tattered and worn. Many shattered traces from cannon bombardment marked the deck. Pirate bones were scattered in the corners. The entire ship's body was wrapped in various marine parasites—coral, oysters, shells, barnacles, and more.
Natsuki looked up. The double-masted sailing ship's sails were already unfurled. One could vaguely make out the skull pirate flag.
"Um... if we jump into the sea and swim away, could we avoid the ghost captain?"
Hayasaka spoke quietly. "Hide and seek just requires lasting two hours without being caught. The current temperature isn't very low. If we grab a wooden plank and jump into the water, we should be able to hold on for two hours."
Kitagawa Marin's eyes lit up: "That sounds pretty good."
Natsuki said:
"That assumes there are no other dangers in the sea."
Unfortunately, the prompt made it crystal clear—there was no cheating or skipping allowed.
[You choose to throw down a teammate to scout the way. Unfortunately, your teammate gets eaten]
Natsuki glanced at Hayasaka and walked over to a pirate corpse lying at the deck's edge.
This pirate had been dead for who knows how long—only bleached white bones remained, barely maintaining a human shape.
Natsuki bent down, picked up a scattered arm bone, and threw it toward the waveless sea surface.
The next moment.
Splash!
Water splashed up.
A ghost shark with its body half-rotted leaped from the water, bit down on the bone, then dove back into the sea. The pitch-black sea surface rippled once, then quickly returned to calm.
"Clearly." Natsuki dusted off his hands and looked at the spy maid. "This route is blocked."
Hayasaka: "..."
Unscientific!
Its body was already half-rotted, yet it could still jump out to eat things. Could it be a shark from Sharknado that wandered onto the wrong set?!
"Looks like jumping into the sea to escape won't work." Kitagawa Marin wrapped both arms around herself and shivered lightly. She suddenly thought of a possibility. "Eh, the ship is so quiet. For this hide and seek game, could it be there are only three of us players?"
The moment she finished speaking, Natsuki heard a terrified scream coming from the ship's hold.
No need to guess—it was definitely some unlucky player who'd been caught.
Natsuki raised a brow and spoke quietly:
"I'll go check the situation."
The earlier prompt made it very clear—the ghost captain had a weakness. Continuing to observe was very necessary.
"Let's go together." Kitagawa Marin stepped forward to follow. "In horror movies, people who act alone are all idiots. Going alone is too dangerous."
Hayasaka said nothing—she simply silently followed behind the two.
As a newbie, before having any strength, relying on others was the wisest choice.
I, Ai Hayasaka, am absolutely rational.
The three arrived at the deck entrance, preparing to enter the ship's hold.
"Amamiya-kun, wait a moment." Kitagawa Marin slapped her forehead and looked at Natsuki. "The Hamster Cloak we drew yesterday—can it come in handy?"
Natsuki pondered:
"We can try it out first."
Kitagawa Marin nodded and pulled the Hamster Cloak from her game inventory.
"Eh?"
Hayasaka's eyes widened slightly.
Magic tricks?
No—it should be telekinesis or a portable space.
Multiple operational methods instantly formed in Hayasaka's mind. With this kind of ability, her infiltration and investigation capabilities could increase several levels.
She could also use it to store various weapons, greatly reducing game difficulty.
Even with the ghost captain just now, if you fired an anti-tank rocket launcher at it, wouldn't it be finished?
Seeing Hayasaka's eyes sparkling as she looked over, Natsuki explained:
"This is an inventory function provided by the game. It can only store game items—it can't be used to store or carry things from reality."
"...I see."
Hayasaka's interest immediately plummeted.
The dream of becoming an arms dealer shattered before it even began.
Natsuki put on the Hamster Cloak and was surprised to discover the thing could automatically change size based on the user's physique.
The cloak that had looked quite small before now fit perfectly when draped over him.
Immediately after, the three tested the cloak's concealment effect and discovered it worked best when standing still—walking around reduced the effectiveness considerably.
"Understandable."
Natsuki was fairly satisfied with the effect.
If you couldn't be detected even while walking around, that wouldn't be concealment—it would be invisibility.
"The effect is kind of like the hood in Assassin's Creed. Why is it called the Hamster Cloak though?"
Hayasaka, as a newbie, asked when she didn't understand.
"Probably because it's hamster-colored?" Kitagawa Marin tilted her head and thought for a moment. "Whatever—as long as it's useful, it's a good thing."
"Let's go. We're heading down."
Natsuki put on the hood, took the lead descending from the deck, and the two girls followed close behind. The sinister ghost deck quickly grew quiet.
After entering the ship's hold, the screams had already become intermittent and barely audible. Clearly, the unlucky player who'd failed at "hide and seek" was about to give out.
"It's on the first level."
Natsuki listened carefully and quickly determined the source of the sound.
The three quietly arrived at the stairway corner and looked out into the corridor.
"Eh, why isn't there anyone?"
Kitagawa Marin was extremely surprised.
"It's not that there's no one." Hayasaka raised a brow lightly. Having already guessed the truth, she bit down on her pink lip and spoke quietly: "It should be that someone hiding in a room was caught."
"..."
Kitagawa Marin fell silent.
Unluckily selected by the game, arriving alone on a sinister ghost ship, being able to hide in a room shivering in fear, hoping to hold out until the game ended, only to still be found by the ghost captain with nowhere to escape... just how desperate must that player be right now?
Kitagawa Marin didn't want to think about it anymore. Her teeth bit down on her lips as she silently gripped Natsuki's right hand.
Natsuki glanced back at the blonde gyaru, his attention continuing to focus on the corridor.
The screams quickly disappeared completely.
Before long, the ghost captain passed through the door and emerged from the room.
"The sixth room... hm?"
Natsuki suddenly narrowed his eyes.
Following behind the ghost captain, another short-haired girl walked out.
To be precise, it should be the short-haired girl's ghost—just like the ghost captain, her body passed straight through the door.
"Eh, what's going on?"
Kitagawa Marin's eyes widened in surprise.
Hayasaka furrowed her brow slightly.
The semi-transparent girl's ghost displayed the same ghostly blue color as the ghost captain—giving off a very unsettling feeling.
At the same time.
A prompt appeared before Natsuki's eyes.
[Despairing Ghost Crewmate]
[A ghost transformed by the ghost captain, absolutely obedient to the ghost captain]
[The ancients had those who aided tigers in their cruelty. As a ghost captain, is there a problem with me, Davy Jones, recruiting a few more crewmates?]
Seeing the words "aided tigers in their cruelty," Natsuki instantly understood the sinister nature of the hide and seek game.
You thought it was a group of players versus one ghost captain in hide and seek?
Of course not.
The truth was actually a biohazard infection mode!
Every unlucky player who got caught would be transformed into a ghost crewmate, helping the ghost captain search for other hidden players.
The main quest required lasting 120 minutes. If they did nothing, the end would very likely be one ghost captain plus a horde of ghost crewmates—difficulty reaching hell level.
Natsuki missed the pink-haired airhead even more now.
If he wasn't mistaken, to maintain balance, the only monster on the ship should be the ghost captain. If Chika Fujiwara were by his side, the evil-sweeping duo combo could be used. Natsuki would charge up right now and rub the ghost captain into the ground, making it call him daddy!
Unfortunately, she wasn't here.
Game difficulty instantly multiplied.
At the same time.
The ghost captain pointed down the corridor. The player ghost that had become a ghost crewmate bowed respectfully.
Hey now—you've already become a ghost, yet you still don't forget to bow?! Has the habit of etiquette penetrated all the way to your soul?!
"She's coming this way."
Kitagawa Marin quickly tugged at the corner of Natsuki's clothes.
The ghost captain turned and walked deeper inside. The player ghost walked toward Natsuki and the two girls.
"I see." Natsuki's expression grew serious. He made a snap decision: "She's already become the ghost captain's puppet. We can't let her discover us... Hurry and hide in here."
"Hide where?" Kitagawa Marin asked tensely. "Should we go back to the deck?"
"The deck is completely empty with nothing there. If the ghost crewmate goes up to the deck, we'll definitely be discovered."
Natsuki answered as his gaze landed on a crate in the corner of the stairwell.
Quickly removing the miscellaneous items placed on top of the crate, Natsuki opened the wooden box. Inside was just enough space to hide one person.
"Get in."
Natsuki looked at Kitagawa Marin.
"Okay."
Kitagawa bit her lower lip. Without wasting words, she obediently hid inside the wooden crate.
She might not be able to help much, but she absolutely wouldn't be the idiot who wasted precious time at a critical moment.
Natsuki closed the wooden crate and placed the miscellaneous items back on top. Immediately after, he opened another wooden crate—his gaze hardened slightly.
Hayasaka's brow likewise furrowed lightly.
The second wooden crate was filled with miscellaneous items. Clearly, it couldn't be used for hiding.
At the ghost crewmate's walking speed, there was no time left to open other crates.
Natsuki looked at Hayasaka, drew in a quiet breath, and spoke in a low voice:
"Sorry..."
"..."
Hayasaka's expression remained blank.
Abandoning herself was the wise choice.
If the positions were reversed, she wouldn't choose to sacrifice herself for a stranger either.
The spy maid's thoughts raced. She was about to run to the deck—sitting and waiting for death was never Ai Hayasaka's choice.
The next moment.
Natsuki suddenly lifted the Hamster Cloak, grabbed Hayasaka's wrist in one motion, pulled the spy maid into his arms, then spread the cloak wide and completely wrapped the girl.
"Sorry. Please bear with it."