The three left the room and arrived in the corridor.
The ghost ship remained sinister, dark, and silent as death.
Both hunter and prey were following the "dark forest" law—whoever was exposed first would be unlucky.
"Amamiya-kun, where are we going?"
Kitagawa Marin asked cautiously.
"To the second level." Natsuki's tone was calm. "First, let's check the treasure room marked on the map. There's something I want to verify."
The three carefully arrived at the second level. The journey was completely safe—they didn't run into the ghost captain or any player ghosts.
"This is it."
Natsuki stopped, narrowed his eyes slightly, and looked at the tightly closed door before him.
This was a location near the stairs on the second level. The door looked completely ordinary—no different from a regular cabin. If not for the map notation, they wouldn't have given it a second glance when passing by.
"The door is locked—it won't open."
Natsuki tried pushing the door. As expected, it wouldn't open.
"Could there be something blocking it from behind?" Kitagawa Marin speculated quietly.
Hayasaka folded her right arm across her chest. Her gaze landed on three grooves in the middle of the door panel. She spoke thoughtfully:
"That groove shape looks somewhat familiar..."
Natsuki said:
"It should match the coral key we just found on the girl."
Taking out the coral key from his pocket, Natsuki gently placed it in the door's groove. The size and shape were indeed a perfect match.
"Eh, it really is." Kitagawa Marin's eyes lit up. She quickly reacted: "There are three grooves on the door total—so we still need to find the remaining two coral keys before we can enter the room, right?"
Hayasaka nodded lightly: "It appears so."
Kitagawa Marin said hesitantly:
"But the ghost ship is so big. Finding the remaining two keys would be like finding a needle in a haystack, right?"
"Much simpler than finding a needle in a haystack." Natsuki pressed the bridge of his nose. "I roughly know where the remaining two keys are."
"Eh eh eh?" Kitagawa Marin's eyes widened. "Where? How come I don't know?"
Hayasaka likewise looked up in surprise toward Natsuki.
Where could the remaining two keys be? She currently has no clue at all. Why would this guy know?
Reasoning backward:
From start to now, the three had acted together the entire time without separating.
If this man knew where the remaining two keys were, then she should also know...
Hayasaka felt as though a thin membrane had vaguely appeared in her mind. She only needed to poke through it with her finger to know the truth.
However, the next second, from the corner of her eye, Hayasaka suddenly glimpsed a tall ghostly blue figure silently appearing at the end of the corridor.
Crap!
It seems to be the ghost captain...
Hayasaka's heart involuntarily tightened. She wanted to avert her gaze, but it was already too late. Her eyes met those cold, evil ghostly blue pupils across the distance.
Their eyes met.
Hayasaka only felt a buzzing sound in her mind. An intense dizziness suddenly struck. Immediately after, she discovered her right foot involuntarily stepping forward, wanting to go to the ghost captain's side.
"Crap crap crap—my body's out of control!"
"It's the eyes!"
"That ghost captain really does have the ability to remotely control others!"
"..."
"A-Amamiya-kun."
Kitagawa Marin's panicked cry sounded in her ear.
Hayasaka struggled to look with the corner of her eye. She discovered the blonde gyaru Kitagawa was in the same state as herself—expression panicked, body stiff, likewise stepping forward.
"Kitagawa also saw the ghost captain's eyes?"
"This monster can control multiple people at once?"
"So... total party wipe?"
"..."
A total wipe wouldn't happen, of course.
In fact, Natsuki had been constantly observing his surroundings. He'd never relaxed his vigilance for even a second.
After discovering Hayasaka walking forward for no reason and hearing Kitagawa's panicked warning, Natsuki immediately understood what the two girls had encountered. He decisively controlled his gaze, keeping his vision fixed on the floor—avoiding being controlled by the ghost captain's eyes.
Abandon the two girls and escape alone?
That option never even appeared in Natsuki's mind.
The method to save them was right before his eyes—and he didn't need to abandon anyone.
Natsuki drew in a deep breath and decisively stepped forward. He quickly came to Hayasaka's side, cupped the spy maid's small bottom in one motion, and without a word, directly lifted her and threw her over his shoulder.
Immediately after, his other hand firmly secured Kitagawa's waist, lifting the girl up in his arms.
In ancient times, Su Dongpo held a yellow dog on his left and a gray hawk on his right. Today, I hold Kitagawa in my left hand and carry Hayasaka on my right shoulder—perfectly normal, right?
Incidentally, the final line "Looking northwest, shoot the Heavenly Wolf" doesn't mean Sirius is in the northwest direction. Rather, the protagonist stands in the northwest direction and will draw his carved bow like a full moon to shoot Sirius—so Sirius is actually in the southeast!
The "quantum mechanics" strengthening method from this period had shown initial results. Natsuki normally didn't feel his strength had increased by much, but now he discovered he could completely carry two girls.
Not only carry them—he could even run at full speed.
Can't lift a fifty-pound bag of rice, but two hundred-pound fragrant girls—I can carry them and sprint a hundred meters!
With Kitagawa in his left hand and Hayasaka on his right shoulder, Natsuki didn't waste words. He turned and ran—reaction swift as lightning without the slightest hesitation. Even the ghost captain was stunned for a moment.
As the scenario boss, the ghost captain already possessed three abilities: passing through walls at will, mind control, and transforming captured players into ghost crewmates. If it could also teleport, that would destroy game balance too much.
In fact, the ghost captain truly didn't have instant teleportation ability. It didn't even chase after Natsuki's group—from the game's start until now, only twenty minutes had passed. Ending too early would be boring. Cat and mouse was much more interesting, of course.
"We... we escaped..."
Kitagawa Marin's arms tightly wrapped around Natsuki's neck. She turned her head to look back: "The ghost captain doesn't seem to be chasing us."
Hearing this, Natsuki stopped, somewhat out of breath. Carrying two girls while sprinting truly consumed considerable stamina.
"It's the eyes—you can't look at the ghost captain's eyes." Kitagawa Marin quickly said. "I accidentally looked up and saw the ghost captain's eyes. In just an instant, my body lost control. My head felt so dizzy, and my body walked forward against my will."
Natsuki said:
"You're fine now?"
"I'm fine now."
"Then why aren't you getting down and walking yourself?"
"..."
Natsuki let out a quiet breath and put down the spy maid he'd been carrying on his shoulder.
Hayasaka bit down lightly on her teeth, moved both hands behind her back, and inconspicuously covered her bottom.
My butt hurts so much.
When this man lifted me up, why did he have to grab there?!
However, she really had no grounds to criticize. She had to sincerely thank him instead. In that situation just now, not abandoning her and Kitagawa to escape alone already showed considerable courage and responsibility.
But the next second, Hayasaka swallowed back the words that had reached her lips.
While rubbing his shoulder, Natsuki casually remarked:
"My shoulder seems to have gotten bruised."
"..."
Hayasaka's expression went blank.
I'm really so sorry that my bones bruised you!