Chapter Summaries

Li Xian told Ji Xie that a system agreement had made his next three Instances more dangerous, so he wanted to end their contract to protect Ji Xie. Ji Xie refused to separate and asked Li Xian to consider letting him pursue him after the next Instance, which began aboard a swaying ship.

• Li Xian tore up his Marriage Certificate and told Ji Xie he did not want to be with him.
• Li Xian explained that he had signed a Betting Agreement that would make his next three Instances harder and put Ji Xie at risk if they stayed bound.
• Ji Xie rejected Li Xian's attempt to dissolve their contract, and the two remained strained during their rest at the Player Center.
• Before Li Xian entered the next Instance, Ji Xie asked whether Li Xian would accept his pursuit if he set aside outside concerns.
• Li Xian entered the S-Rank puzzle-solving Instance Ghostly Mystery Ship, where eight players had to reach shore, and woke in a dark, swaying room as he heard waves.

Li Xian woke on a ship with no memory of Ji Xie and witnessed a giant fish laying eggs before it smashed into a cabin. Li Xian joined a stranger in trying to throw the fish into the sea, but their combined strength failed, leaving them in danger on the tilting deck.

• Li Xian awoke on a ship and fought off Ji Xie, failing to recognize him.
• Ji Xie suspected Li Xian had lost his memories, then stepped between him and the door when strange slapping sounds began.
• Li Xian saw a giant fish on the deck lay hundreds of eggs that rapidly hatched into smaller fish.
• The giant fish smashed through a cabin door, and a man with an iron hook tried to drag it back into the sea.
• Li Xian grabbed another hook and joined the man in hauling the fish, but they could not lift it clear of the ship's railing.

Li Xian learned that he had entered a dangerous game instance with his memories and body reverted to high school, while Ji Xie guided him through the situation and concealed details about his parents. After discovering that his abilities and items were inaccessible, Li Xian asked Ji Xie what their relationship was.

• Li Xian and Ji Xie returned the remaining hatched fish to the sea, and Ke Yi introduced himself before recognizing Li Xian from a livestream.
• Ji Xie protected Li Xian from Ke Yi, and Ke Yi revealed that a fish had eaten his roommate.
• Back in their room, Ji Xie explained the game instance and told Li Xian that his memories and body would return to normal when it ended.
• Li Xian opened his Light Screen, lied about his health points, and found that his items and skills were grayed out.
• Li Xian asked Ji Xie what their relationship was.

Li Xian learned that Ji Xie claimed to be his husband and saw a marriage certificate bearing both their names, though he remained uncertain about their relationship. He went to shower, unaware that a fishhook was descending toward the back of his neck.

• Li Xian asked Ji Xie about their relationship, and Ji Xie first claimed to be his boyfriend.
• Li Xian rejected the claim because Ji Xie seemed too old, so Ji Xie revealed a marriage certificate showing they were married.
• Ji Xie leaned close and called Li Xian “Baby,” but Li Xian pushed him away and told him to keep his distance.
• Li Xian found clean clothes, barricaded the bathroom door with a plastic rack, and started showering.
• A fishhook on a transparent line descended from the showerhead and stopped near Li Xian’s neck as he prepared to step back.

Li Xian narrowly escaped a supernatural fishhook when Ji Xie pulled him out of its path, and the two waited together until it vanished. Afterward, Li Xian thanked Ji Xie by drying his hair and wondered about their inexplicable closeness.

• Ji Xie opened the bathroom door and alerted Li Xian to a fishhook hanging from the showerhead.
• The fishhook lunged at Li Xian, and Ji Xie pulled him down to dodge it.
• The hook caught an iron nail in the wall and vanished after the fishing line reeled it in.
• Li Xian thanked Ji Xie for saving him and offered him a towel.
• Ji Xie asked Li Xian to dry his hair, and Li Xian did so while wondering whether they had a special relationship.

Li Xian and Ji Xie left their room to investigate the Instance after discovering that only seven players remained on the deck. Ke Yi offered to team up with Li Xian, but Li Xian refused, and Ke Yi walked away promising to prove himself.

• Ji Xie dried Li Xian's hair and claimed he had entered the bathroom by coincidence, then joked that he had intended to harass him.
• Li Xian went onto the deck and saw seven players, including himself and Ji Xie, confirming that Ke Yi's roommate had been eaten.
• Ke Yi asked Li Xian to team up, but a bearded man and Hoodie Woman interrupted to ask about their missing teammate.
• Ke Yi told them that a fish had eaten the blond-haired man, and Hoodie Woman suspiciously asked whether he had shared a room with Ke Yi.
• Ke Yi again asked Li Xian to be his teammate, but Li Xian declined, and Ke Yi left saying he would work hard to prove himself.

Li Xian searched the Driver's Cab and discovered that the ship was carrying unspecified cargo and should reach shore the next morning. Suspecting the voyage held more danger than the schedule suggested, he headed below deck to inspect the cargo.

• Li Xian led Ji Xie to the Driver's Cab, where he found a ship's log showing they would reach the opposite shore at seven thirty the next morning.
• Li Xian discovered a contract stating that the crew had to deliver cargo intact, though it did not identify the cargo.
• Zhang Yuyao and Wang Ping entered the Driver's Cab, introduced themselves, and searched the Captain's quarters without finding clues.
• Li Xian returned the contract to the log and decided to investigate the cargo, then found stairs leading below deck.

Li Xian investigated a fishy-smelling room beneath the deck, where the iron door began shaking violently, and hurried back upstairs. He found Ji Xie missing and heard unfamiliar men in a nearby lounge complaining about their work and food.

• Li Xian and Ji Xie descended beneath the deck and found Hoodie Woman and the bearded man trying to open an iron door.
• Li Xian approached the iron door, sensed cold air and an overwhelming stench coming from it, then fled when it began shaking violently.
• Li Xian warned Hoodie Woman and the bearded man to leave, but neither they nor Ji Xie came upstairs after him.
• Li Xian noticed mist around the ship and heard unfamiliar men talking in a nearby lounge.
• Li Xian eavesdropped as a young man complained that the crew's daily food was lousy.

Li Xian escaped a fishhook that nearly dragged him overboard, then fled from the sinister captain into a room that had changed from how he remembered it. The captain searched for an intruder, and the chapter ended as the room’s door opened beside Li Xian while he hid.

• A fishhook caught Li Xian’s collar and dragged him toward the sea, but he escaped by removing his shirt.
• The captain spotted Li Xian from the Driver's Cab window, so Li Xian ran into a room through the fog.
• Li Xian found the room filled with unfamiliar belongings and hid behind a cabinet as the captain questioned another man.
• The captain passed the room, then appeared at its window to peer inside as the fog thinned.
• The door beside Li Xian opened while he stayed hidden and searched for a weapon.

After the fog cleared, Li Xian found the room restored and reunited with Ji Xie, who claimed they were lovers when Ke Yi questioned their relationship. Zhang Yuyao then arrived in a panic, searching for Yang Ping.

• Li Xian ambushed the person entering his room, then discovered it was Ke Yi as the fog cleared and the room returned to normal.
• Ke Yi explained that he had been checking the ship after the fog appeared and had come because Li Xian's door was open.
• Ji Xie arrived and dressed Li Xian in his jacket while Ke Yi watched.
• When Ke Yi asked about their relationship, Ji Xie said that he and Li Xian were lovers and that they were keeping it secret.
• Zhang Yuyao hurried over and asked Li Xian whether he had seen Yang Ping.

After the fog separated the players and several teammates vanished, Li Xian and the others exchanged accounts and concluded that the ship’s short journey concealed a serious danger. As Ke Yi proposed searching the ship together, Ji Xie warned that waiting three hours would be too late.

• Zhang Yuyao told Li Xian that Yang Ping had disappeared when fog appeared, and the group searched the bow and below deck without finding him.
• Hoodie Woman and the bearded man emerged from below deck and explained that their teammates had vanished and later reappeared.
• Li Xian, Ke Yi, Zhang Yuyao, Hoodie Woman, and the bearded man shared their experiences in the fog, while Ji Xie said he had searched the ship after Li Xian disappeared.
• Ke Yi proposed that the players work together, noting that the S-Rank instance’s one-day duration was unusual, and Li Xian agreed that a hidden danger was approaching.
• Ke Yi suggested splitting up to search the ship and meeting again in three hours, but Ji Xie said that would be too late.

Li Xian and the others realized that time had passed rapidly while the fog was up, then checked the ship’s navigation console and split up to search it. As Li Xian and Ji Xie searched the kitchen, the cleaver embedded in a cutting board suddenly moved.

• Li Xian noticed the sun had shifted and found that the wall clock showed three thirty in the afternoon, revealing that time had passed rapidly during the fog.
• Li Xian led the group to the Driver's Cab, where Ji Xie operated the console and found an estimated sixteen hours of sailing time remaining.
• Li Xian divided the six players into three pairs to search the ship, with him and Ji Xie taking the stern.
• Li Xian and Ji Xie searched the kitchen and found no food, only bottled water, before the cleaver in the cutting board suddenly moved.

Li Xian and Ji Xie defeated a flying cleaver by discovering and cutting the transparent thread controlling it, then salvaged six bottles of water. The players regrouped without finding useful clues or food, and Li Xian suspected the missing food was intentional.

• The cleaver attacked Li Xian and Ji Xie, but Ji Xie caught it and broke its handle before it resumed slashing through the room.
• Li Xian noticed the blade’s movements pointed to transparent thread wound around the door handle, then told Ji Xie what he had discovered.
• Li Xian used a chopping board to trap the cleaver, and Ji Xie cut the thread with a fruit knife, stopping the blade.
• Li Xian salvaged six bottles of water, searched the ship’s rear rooms, and returned to the meeting point with a weak flashlight.
• The other players reported finding no useful clues, working communications equipment, or food, while Li Xian questioned why the ship had water but no food.

Li Xian and Ji Xie fished up several ordinary fish while a shadow followed the ship beneath the water. When Bearded Man fell overboard, Li Xian and the others tried to pull him to safety, but the shadow seized him and dragged him back into the sea.

• Zhang Yuyao spotted a shadow following the ship, and Li Xian asked Bearded Man to fetch a fishing rod.
• Ji Xie took the rod from Li Xian and caught several fish, while Hoodie Woman refused to eat them.
• Li Xian threw a quilt into the water near the shadow and heard a crunching sound.
• Bearded Man toppled overboard in a dazed state, then surfaced and shouted for help.
• Li Xian and the others hauled Bearded Man toward the deck, but the shadow seized him and pulled him back into the water.

Bearded Man was pulled underwater by a hidden force, but the group rescued him after he threw an item into the sea. While Li Xian helped carry him to his room, he discovered a festering wound on Bearded Man’s neck and Hoodie Woman found a matching patch of skin peeling from her own arm.

• Ke Yi secretly stopped pulling as a mysterious force dragged Bearded Man underwater, but Bearded Man threw an item beneath the surface and the rope suddenly went slack.
• Hoodie Woman and the others hauled Bearded Man onto the deck, where they found his calf torn open; he said human hands with fishhooks had grabbed him before losing consciousness.
• Li Xian helped Hoodie Woman carry Bearded Man to his room and noticed she and Bearded Man had hoarded cans of food.
• Li Xian found a festering wound on the back of Bearded Man’s neck, and Hoodie Woman discovered a jigsaw-shaped patch of skin peeling from her arm.

Li Xian tried to make sense of the sparse clues in the puzzle-solving instance and questioned Ji Xie about their relationship, becoming more convinced when Ji Xie revealed a private secret. As night fell, Li Xian found himself trapped in a room transformed into a grotesque fish’s interior, where a Fish-Headed Humanoid approached him.

• Hoodie Woman secretly gave Li Xian two cans of food, and he carried them back to his room without hiding them.
• Li Xian wondered why the instance had so few clues and asked Ji Xie for more proof that they were lovers.
• Ji Xie revealed that Li Xian was extremely ticklish, convincing Li Xian that their relationship was likely real.
• A fish’s eye appeared in the door, Ji Xie vanished, and the room transformed into a space lined with organs, fish eggs, and scales.
• Li Xian discovered a sharp knife beside his pillow as the Fish-Headed Humanoid began moving toward him.

Li Xian recognized Ji Xie beneath the fish-headed illusion, and the two found a way to communicate despite their altered senses. Ji Xie restored his own appearance, but the room remained horrific, and Li Xian asked whether he looked normal to Ji Xie too.

• Li Xian faced a fish-headed monster and recognized Ji Xie's familiar clothes before he attacked.
• Li Xian confirmed the monster was Ji Xie, who recognized him through touch despite their inability to understand each other's speech.
• Ji Xie told Li Xian to close his eyes and guided his hand over his face until the illusion faded and Ji Xie returned to normal.
• Li Xian saw that the room was still bloody and asked whether Ji Xie saw him as himself; Ji Xie nodded.

Li Xian and Ji Xie escaped the grotesque illusion by kissing, which restored their room to normal. Just as Li Xian struggled to recover from the kiss, a scream sounded from Hoodie Woman and Bearded Man’s room next door.

• Li Xian tried to turn the organ-covered walls back into ordinary walls by touching them with his eyes closed, but his disgust made the attempt fail.
• Ji Xie kissed Li Xian and covered his eyes, distracting him from the surroundings until the room returned to normal.
• Li Xian sat on his bed, flustered by the kiss, while Ji Xie quietly enjoyed his reaction.
• Li Xian and Ji Xie heard a scream from Hoodie Woman and Bearded Man’s room next door, followed by silence.

Hoodie Woman mistook her injured teammate for a fog-born monster and killed him, then tried to cope with what she had done. Meanwhile, Li Xian and Ji Xie discussed how they recognized each other during the transformation, before Li Xian gave up on the conversation and pretended to sleep.

• Hoodie Woman recalled how the fog transformed her room and made her teammate appear to be a Fish-Headed Humanoid.
• Hoodie Woman stabbed the approaching figure repeatedly, then realized the corpse was her teammate, Bearded Man.
• Hoodie Woman dragged Bearded Man's body into the bathroom and washed the blood from her hands, while a piece of skin fell into the sink.
• Li Xian heard the running water next door and thought about how the instance had tricked players into killing one another.
• Li Xian asked Ji Xie how he had recognized him, and Ji Xie said Li Xian had reacted like a startled cat.
• Li Xian said he had recognized Ji Xie by his sleazy aura, and Ji Xie proudly called them like-minded before Li Xian pretended to sleep.

After waking before dawn, Li Xian discovered that the ship was rocking more violently and found a bubbling shadow beneath the sea that appeared to be causing it. As the ship tipped toward sinking, the Anchor’s rope snapped and Li Xian glimpsed a human-like hand reaching from the water.

• Li Xian woke around four in the morning, noticed the ship rocking harder, and left his room with Ji Xie to investigate.
• Li Xian checked the Driver's Cab and found the ship's course normal before searching the deck for the cause.
• Ke Yi woke Zhang Yuyao and Hoodie Woman, then joined Li Xian and Ji Xie as the ship's rocking intensified.
• Li Xian spotted bubbles rising above a familiar shadow beneath the waves and recognized it as the likely cause of the rocking.
• Ke Yi threw an Anchor at the shadow, but its rope snapped after briefly going taut.
• Li Xian glimpsed a human-like hand in the water as the ship lurched violently and began to sink.