The rocking of the ship's deck gradually subsided, and even the sea breeze grew gentler.
The light slowly brightened, but everything remained dim and yellow. Qi Si saw a yellow sky and yellow clouds, motionless as an oil painting.
He blinked. Two seconds later, he realized he had somehow gone from standing to lying down. Reaching out, he felt wet sand beneath him.
Things were getting bad. Qi Si began to regret not buying a few changes of clothes from the shop.
He sat up. Players were sprawled across the beach in disarray. Apart from the absence of broken planks and a wrecked ship run aground, the scene was unmistakably reminiscent of a shipwreck.
Qi Si sincerely thanked the Eerie Game for making the transition painless, instead of indulging in the cruelty of leaving them to drift through the storm for a while. Otherwise, he would have been in an even sorrier state.
"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 murmured to herself, not seeming to address anyone in particular.
"The scene before was like the game's opening cinematic, mainly there to show us the background." The young man who had questioned the captain earlier answered her.
He wore a long brown trench coat, and beneath his gold-rimmed glasses, his features were gentle and refined. He looked quite scholarly. "I think this is where the instance officially begins. We shouldn't act rashly. There's no harm in waiting for the main quest to appear before deciding what to do."
"For now, let's review what happened together. The captain claimed the Sea God was angry and told us to go below deck, but there seemed to be ghosts down there. Is that right?"
"Yes, I... I