"Marin, let's go."
Natsuki put away the key and turned to leave.
The second key successfully obtained.
Next, naturally they'd press on without stopping to find the third key.
"We're leaving." Kitagawa Marin waved goodbye. "Anyone who knocks without giving the password is definitely a fraud. Be careful."
You already said the ghost captain can ignore terrain and pass through walls freely—if it wants to enter, it definitely won't knock!
"W-wait a moment."
The petite girl mustered her courage and stepped forward half a step. Her right hand formed a fist pressed against her chest. She raised her small face:
"I want to act together with you."
"Eh?"
Kitagawa Marin raised her eyes to look at Natsuki, waiting for his decision.
"Are you sure?" Natsuki raised a brow at the petite girl. "Outside isn't necessarily safer than hiding in your room. In fact, it's more dangerous."
"I'm sure. I want to act together with you."
The petite girl nodded seriously, her tone firm.
What do people fear most?
The unknown and despair.
Hiding alone in a sinister, dark room, nervously fearing which moment a monster would break through the door—that feeling was like waiting for death's arrival. Every single minute and second was incredibly hard to endure, making one despair.
Just as people who've seen light can no longer endure darkness.
Now that she'd met Natsuki's group of three, she could no longer endure that lonely despair.
Natsuki nodded slightly: "Alright. Let's act together."
"Th-thank you!"
The petite girl breathed a sigh of relief and quickly bowed in thanks. She then handed over a black ball.
"I heard from others about the rules... This is my protection fee!"
"Eh, protection fee?" Kitagawa Marin froze, then quickly said: "There's no such rule."
"Acting together with you might cause everyone trouble." The girl shook her head and insisted on handing the item to Natsuki. "This is the only item I have on me."
Natsuki pondered briefly, then reached out to take it: "I'll accept it for now. We'll discuss the rest after the game ends."
[Item: Smoke Bomb]
[Type: Consumable]
[Usage: Throw]
[Description: As everyone knows, the 'smoke means no damage' law is an iron rule of anime. When you're within the smoke bomb's range, your dodge and damage reduction probability receives a significant boost]
"..."
"The corridor is safe." Hayasaka, dressed entirely in black, quietly melted into the darkness. Leaning against the wall, she spoke quietly: "You can come out."
The group left the cabin and continued forward, searching for the next player.
"Something's happening."
Natsuki suddenly stopped and made a halt gesture to the girls behind him.
The girls quickly held their breath and stopped.
"It's that first unlucky player who was found." Natsuki spoke quietly. "She came down from the deck."
The petite girl carefully peeked out. A player ghost with a ghostly blue body was patrolling the corridor, dutifully searching for other players.
If the first person discovered by the ghost captain had been me, would I have become like that too—forever trapped on this ghost ship?
Just imagining such a scene in her mind made the petite girl shudder.
Go for it!
Take the gamble—turn a bicycle into a motorcycle!
"Hanamori." Natsuki turned to look at the spy maid beside him and spoke quietly: "Throw a bone over there. Let's test something."
"Eh?"
Kitagawa Marin froze, her eyes confused.
Why throw a bone over there?
After becoming a ghost crewmate, do they start liking bones like dogs?
Hayasaka instantly understood. She spoke softly: "...Sound?"
"Exactly."
Natsuki nodded slightly.
Know yourself and know your enemy—win every battle.
Even the famous Detective Conan needed to go to crime scenes to collect and analyze evidence. The importance of intelligence was clear.
"I understand."
Hayasaka nodded lightly, took out a pale bone from her pocket, prepared for a few seconds, then used "advanced throwing technique" to deftly toss the bone.
Thud.
The bone hit the ground.
It made a dull impact sound.
The player ghost wandering uncertainly in the corridor suddenly turned its head and ran toward where the bone had landed.
"After being transformed into a ghost crewmate, they can still hear sounds."
"Speed is about the same as an ordinary person—hasn't gotten faster."
"..."
Having briefly collected usable intelligence, while the player ghost was looking down searching for the bone, the group continued forward.
"Open up—delivering warmth."
"I will forever love Asuka Saito."
"Miku is number one in the world."
"..."
Kitagawa Marin continued forward while continuing the password exchange.
Just as she'd walked to a door and was about to knock, the dull sound of tables and chairs toppling came from behind the door.
"Found them." Kitagawa Marin was delighted. "Our luck is super good—they're right in the room."
"No." Natsuki furrowed his brow. "It's the room below us."
The next moment.
Terrified pleading came from below their feet.
Impact sounds and pleading mixed together. As time passed, they quickly weakened until finally falling into deathly silence.
"..."
The group fell silent.
Clearly, plans couldn't keep up with changes.
The last hidden player had been found by the ghost captain one step ahead—becoming the second unlucky player eliminated from the hide and seek game.
After waiting quietly for a moment, Natsuki spoke quietly:
"Let's go down and take a look."
The four carefully arrived at the next level. In the sinister, dark corridor, the ghost of a male player was wandering.
Using the same method to lure the ghost away, Natsuki entered the room. Looking up, he saw a male student collapsed on the floor, his expression painful and despairing.
"Sorry. We were a step too late."
Natsuki reached out to close his eyes and sighed softly.
Empathy was one of humanity's natural traits. No one could remain unmoved.
"Let's search for the key."
"Everyone search together."
A moment later.
"Can't find it." Kitagawa Marin furrowed her brow. "We've searched the entire room—haven't seen the key anywhere."
"Um..." The small girl spoke quietly. "Could our deduction have been wrong? Maybe it's not in the room?"
Natsuki frowned:
"There's one other possibility."
Hayasaka looked up, her tone grave: "Someone took the key first."
"Eh?" Kitagawa Marin froze, then quickly reacted. "Taken by someone... could it be the ghost captain?"
"The possibility can't be ruled out."
This thing wasn't something only players could see and touch—it was originally an item from the ship. The ghost captain taking it was entirely possible.
But if that were the case, trying to retrieve the key fragment from the ghost captain's hands would directly elevate the difficulty to hell level.
"Don't panic. Panicking won't help." Natsuki's tone was calm. "The immediate priority is confirming whether the key is on the ghost captain or not."
"..."
The group began searching for the ghost captain instead. Before long, they discovered its trail.
"Found it." Hayasaka spoke quietly. "It just entered the sixth room ahead."
Natsuki turned his head:
"Who has the best eyesight among you?"
The ghost ship's lighting was dim. Too close was dangerous. Too far made it hard to see things clearly. To see clearly whether the ghost captain had the key on it required good eyesight and sufficiently keen observation.
"Not me." Kitagawa Marin shook her head. "The light is too dark—I can't see very clearly."
The petite girl looked apologetic: "Sorry, I'm a bit nearsighted."
"I'll do it."
Hayasaka stepped forward with a calm tone. As a spy, her eyesight and observation were naturally quite good.
Who dares stand with sword in hand?
Me, of course.
Lord Hayasaka.