Assassination

Boom—

At the edge of the gloomy sea, purple lightning flickered amid the churning storm clouds, and the cold sea breeze reeked of ozone.

Xia Lun hurried along the gray-black rocks toward the ship grounded to the south. He moved so quickly he was almost running, seawater left on the rocks splashing beneath his boots.

As the Serko drew closer, Xia Lun's thoughts grew increasingly tangled. Confusion and speculation churned in his mind like murky water mixed with broken glass.

As it turned out, his theory about a man-eating "island organism" had been far too simplistic. The truth behind the Scenario was clearly far stranger and more absurd.

If he had not used the Stasis Hourglass, he could never have witnessed the Serko's return.

On my first day in the Scenario, a storm was also approaching. Could the truth behind this Scenario be a time loop?

Xia Lun took a deep breath and sorted through his jumbled thoughts.

The unexpected sight before him snagged his curiosity like a rusty hook. The elusive truth left him itching for answers.

Soon, Xia Lun reached the gray-black rocks on the island's southern shore. Jagged reefs extended into the sea, their angular points biting into the massive ship's hull like axes.

"Is anyone alive out there? Help us!" Horn's familiar words rang out from the ship again.

Xia Lun considered for a moment. Rather than rush up the gray-black rocks onto the ship, he set down his backpack, relaxed his muscles, and slipped forward without a sound.

From his first time aboard the Serko, he knew that although the ship looked ready to collapse, it still had some time before it broke apart completely. He was no longer sure whether the other survivors counted as living people, so he intended to observe their behavior