"Fine. I'll only take one thing."
Natsuki ultimately compromised. He turned and walked to the treasure chest, his expression troubled.
"I choose..."
Under Paul the Octopus's watchful gaze, Natsuki felt through each item that could be taken out of the game one by one, inconspicuously placing them together, then... reached out and picked up the pale heart Hayasaka had discovered.
"I'll choose this one."
Natsuki raised the heart in his hand.
This was a pale, bloodless heart—fully fist-sized, beating at an extremely slow pace. It looked sinister and strange, filled with an evil aura.
"Eh?"
Kitagawa Marin froze, her eyes confused, but she didn't say anything more.
Though she didn't know why Natsuki would choose a strange heart, at a time like this, she just needed to firmly believe in him.
Hayasaka's expression was thoughtful.
Could it be that heart...
[You have discovered Davy Jones's heart]
[You have discovered Davy Jones's true weakness]
[You try to crush this heart. Unfortunately, you fail—after all, the heart is humanity's strongest muscle, bar none]
[Warning: When you're holding the heart, as long as Davy Jones sees it, he will sense his heart's aura]
[Human, my conscience never hurts!]
Paul the Octopus's tentacles paused slightly: "Human, are you certain you choose that heart?"
Natsuki's tone was firm:
"I'm very certain."
"In that case, you may leave." Paul the Octopus put the stretchy workout pants over its head, covering its eyes, then moved its tentacles aside to clear the doorway. It reminded them: "The moment you walk out of the treasure room, he will know."
As long as I can't see, no one will have stolen treasures from under my nose.
Natsuki raised a brow lightly, indicating he understood, then waved goodbye:
"Mr. Octopus, farewell."
The four left the room together.
Click.
A tentacle coiled. The treasure room door slammed shut with a boom.
"Phew..." Kitagawa Marin let out a long breath. "I was holding my breath the whole time."
The blonde girl turned to look at Natsuki, her large eyes full of curiosity: "Amamiya-kun, what are you doing with this heart?"
"Um..." The petite girl speculated quietly: "Could it be the ghost captain's heart?"
"Eh?"
The small girl spoke quietly: "In the movies, the Flying Dutchman's captain—his heart was his weakness."
"Makes sense." Kitagawa Marin planted her left hand on her hip, her right hand supporting her chin. "But this ship is called the Flying Henan Man, right?"
"Close enough similarity works." Natsuki raised the heart in his hand. "This is indeed the ghost captain's heart. However, it's protected by dark magic. Just with our few people's power, we can't destroy it."
"Then what do we do?"
"Of course, we pass judgment on the ghost captain."
"Judgment or something..." Hayasaka's eyes suddenly widened. Lightning flashed through her mind. She blurted out: "Anubis... scales... figurehead!"
"..."
A moment later.
The group arrived at the deck exit.
Natsuki quietly looked outside. The ghost captain and the two player ghosts were all blocking the deck exit—clearly choosing the most foolish but most effective door-blocking tactic.
"No good—can't get up."
"Unless you can turn invisible, no one can get to the deck."
The three girls all looked toward Natsuki.
Natsuki sighed again: "I miss Fujiwara."
If the pink-haired airhead were here, there'd be no need to be so stifled. A mere ghost captain—they could just walk up and slap it, let it know what it means for society to be harsh!
"In that case... we can only use the same tactic again." Natsuki pressed the bridge of his nose. "Let's go. Time to prepare."
The three girls followed behind Natsuki, quietly taking action. Before long, they'd arrived at the door of an exceptionally familiar room.
"Eh?" Kitagawa Marin froze. "Isn't this the room of that female player who was found first?"
"That's her."
Natsuki pushed the door open and entered the room, turning to look at Hayasaka: "Time to undress."
Hayasaka: "..."
Natsuki continued:
"From now on, we're entrusting our lives to you."
Hayasaka: "..."
So basically, undressing has absolutely nothing to do with entrusting your lives!
Natsuki immediately pulled out paper and pen. Items from the real world couldn't be stored in the game inventory, but things from blind boxes were fine. The game inventory had plenty of things like paper and pens—all blind box garbage that now happened to be useful.
"Well then, draw another heart."
"..."
A moment later.
Preparations complete.
Natsuki picked up the pale heart and walked out openly.
"Stare—"
The ghost captain's gaze focused. His vision instantly landed on the heart in Natsuki's hand.
"...My heart!!"
To actually obtain my heart—I have to admit, I underestimated this human.
So...
The ghost captain instantly made a decision. Kill him!
No more enjoying the cat-and-mouse fun. The hide and seek game ended here. The remaining four humans had to be caught now.
Seeing the ghost captain chase after him, Natsuki didn't waste words. He turned and ran.
"Eh eh—he's chasing!"
The sound of rolling echoed in the corridor, mixed with a girl's pained cry—it seemed someone had accidentally fallen.
The ghost captain chased around the corner and saw Natsuki bending down to carry a black-clothed girl on his back, continuing to flee together with the other two girls.
"Foolish humans, still bringing along dead weight at a time like this."
"One, two, three, four... all four mice are here."
The ghost captain's face showed a savage smile. He decisively commanded the two ghost crewmates to flank from another direction, preparing to surround the four.
Thus the hide and seek game directly turned into a chase.
A moment later.
Natsuki's group of four arrived at the ghost ship's bottommost level.
The ghost captain came from ahead. The two player ghosts who'd already become crewmates blocked from behind. Wolf in front, tiger behind—there was no escape route.
"Huff... huff... can't run anymore..."
Kitagawa Marin supported both hands on her knees, breathing lightly.
"Your stamina is terrible." Natsuki complained. "After we get back, you should exercise your body."
"What do you mean?" Kitagawa Marin puffed out her pink cheeks. "You have more sweat on your forehead than I do."
"I was carrying someone on my back—of course it's different."
"..."
Watching the three people chatting and complaining, the ghost captain suddenly felt a subtle sensation.
These three bugs... why aren't they despairing?
An ominous premonition welled up.
The ghost captain didn't waste words and strode forward: "Humans, the game is over."
"The game should indeed end."
Natsuki nodded and put down the girl on his back.
After releasing his hands, the girl directly leaned against the wall and slumped down softly.
The ghost captain's footsteps halted. He looked over in disbelief.
"That face...!"
Natsuki raised the "cursed heart" in his hand and suddenly clenched down: "Captain, the game is over."
The "cursed heart" was directly crushed.
The next moment.
The game notification sound rang out in all surviving players' ears:
[Ghost Captain has died]
[Game Over]