Chapter 37

“That’s it.” Su Han called out to her teammates, “Armor’s at 28%. It’s over, we won.”
The four archers, hands aching, finally breathed out and lowered their bows.
We… we actually won? An Rongyue’s heart leapt, and for a second, she was ready to scream for joy, image be damned.
“This is awesome!” Yang Shu was the giddiest of all. He instantly dumped the last two barrels of diesel straight onto the burning pirate ship in celebration.
The ship, half-collapsed already, groaned out a miserable “creeeaak” as the fuel soaked in.
Moments later, the entire hull was ablaze. There was nowhere left for the pirates to run. Fleeing the flames, they all leapt overboard, only to jump from one literal fire into another: their stamina spent, a few mouthfuls of toxic seawater later, they flickered into white light, vanishing one by one.
The players could only stare in shock, watching the aftermath unfold.
Two minutes later, the burning ship dissolved into white light as well. Right on cue, the system chimed in its mechanical monotone: “Infamous Pirate Crew eliminated. Congratulations, players, you have earned a special reward.”
"You may choose one of the following rewards."
"A. Points +50."
"B. Satiety, cleanliness, and stamina cap all +20."
After some thought, Su Han picked option B. Her satiety, cleanliness, and stamina limits went up to 360.
"Didn’t expect a special reward for wiping out the pirates!" Yang Shu was genuinely surprised, but that didn’t stop him from picking just as quickly.
"Unexpected bonus." An Rongyue grinned, clearly in high spirits.
"Pirates are done for. I’m heading back to my room." With that, Zhong Rui walked out without looking back.
The only reason all seven of them pulled this off in one go was because they’d prepped to hell and back, and catching the pirates off guard didn’t hurt either. But to lock down that upper hand, they’d all gone all-out from the start. Right now, all Zhong Rui wanted was to crash. He didn't have energy for chitchat, rest was all that was on his mind.
Basically, everyone felt the same. Zhong Rui just said it first. After exchanging a few quick goodnights, all seven went straight to their rooms for some much-needed rest.
The next morning, the system’s robotic voice rang out: "Day 13."
And that was it. Silence otherwise.
"If you chose the escape route, pirates would’ve chased until 4 AM. Since we wiped them out, day 13 is probably a rest day." Su Han gave her reasoning, calmly sipping her milk.
Zhang Yihe’s expression was complicated. He’d thought Zhong Rui and Su Han were some couple, Su Han was doing well only because she’d snagged a strong boyfriend. But after what happened on day 12? Forget it. At this point, who was even carrying whom?
The girl in front of him looked soft and gentle at first glance, but when push came to shove, she flipped like a switch. Bold and brilliant, sharp as a tack, a player you absolutely did not mess with.
Su Han caught Zhang Yihe staring and got curious, "Need some water?" She figured he wanted to trade.
Zhang Yihe lowered his gaze, replying quietly, "No, I’m good."
Sure enough, nothing happened that entire day. Players breezed through their easiest, most relaxing day since the instance began.
But then came day 14,
"Alert: The cruise ship has struck a reef. Hull breach at the bottom, seawater flooding the lower decks. The ship will sink in one hour. All players, evacuate immediately!" At 9 AM sharp, the system announced impending doom with its usual monotone.
Su Han dashed to room 428. "Where’s the inflatable boat?" she asked. One look around the room and she was speechless, the dinghy was still half-deflated, while Zhang Yixiao and the others were only just now pumping air into it.
Su Han was equal parts amused and exasperated. An hour till sinking and now they start inflating? Where was this urgency before?
Zhang Yixiao replied, dead serious, "It’s fine. We’ve got an hour, plenty of time."
No sooner were the words out than the ship tilted left, rocking a little from all the water coming in down below.
A flicker of awkwardness passed over Zhang Yixiao’s face. He quickly pivoted, "We’ll speed this up. Just wait a sec," then turned back to the air pump.
Su Han didn’t stress. Worst case, she still had her quilt-boat stashed in her portable storage, no chance she’d drown. Still, the inflatable boat was a lot comfier, with more room.
Gradually, the others all arrived.
Seeing the rescue raft still being inflated, Zhong Rui’s expression was unreadable for a moment.
"Almost done!!" Zhang Yihe assured them for the umpteenth time.
Su Han just ignored him at this point.
At 9:15, the three-person inflatable boat was ready.
By 9:27, the two-person raft was set up.
At 9:35, while Zhang Yixiao’s group was working on the third raft, the ship lurched hard. The sudden shift sent all seven of them swaying wildly, struggling to steady themselves for a good while.
Yang Shu stepped out for a look, then came back and announced, "Water’s already up to the second deck."
"Just a bit more," Zhang Yihe insisted, sounding like a man on the run from a ticking clock.
Su Han sighed and handed out orders with zero nonsense: "Zhang Yixiao, Zhang Yihe, Fatty, grab the three-person raft. An Rongyue and Yang Shu, take the two-person one. First, find something we can use as oars. Wait in the fourth-floor hall. Zhong Rui and I will finish inflating the last boat, then meet you there."
Since Su Han’s idea to torch the pirates had worked so well, everyone automatically deferred to her commands. Soon, only she and Zhong Rui were left in the room.
While pumping air into the raft, Zhong Rui glanced at her. "Why’d you get rid of them?"
Su Han coolly packed four oversized storage crates into her portable space, rearranging supplies as she went. "I’ve had my eye on these big crates for ages. Didn’t want to do it with an audience hovering."
Working together was great and all, but to Su Han, this was basically a temporary party, clear the instance, then everyone went their own way. The past few days, when she’d been taking supplies, she’d played it cool, only grabbing soap and body wash, pretending that’s all her portable space held.
Now, with only Zhong Rui around, she could finally go all in, pack, pack, pack! She left one slot for her quilt raft; the rest were crammed with storage boxes.
Zhong Rui dropped it, focusing on the raft instead.
At 9:40, Su Han had finished sorting her inventory, and the dinghy was fully inflated. They strolled out, totally unfazed, each carrying a two-person boat, as if nothing shady had just happened.
Reunited, the seven put their rafts in the water and set off, thus began two days of drifting at sea.
Yang Shu tried paddling, aiming to steer the boat. But it either spun in place or veered off course, refusing to cooperate in the slightest.
An Rongyue: "…"
This is the teammate I got stuck with? But Zhang Yixiao’s gang stuck together, Zhong Rui and Su Han were a borderline mind-meld, and everyone else had already paired up. Only Yang Shu was left as a partnerless floater.
An Rongyue could only sigh and accept reality.
"Let’s stay close, it’s safer together!" Yang Shu shouted at the others.
Fatty groaned, "But we can’t even steer these things…"
No matter how hard they tried to paddle, their rafts mostly just went wherever the currents took them.
Zhong Rui sighed, taking on the tone of someone who's seen it all before. “Don’t fight it. Just float and let fate decide where we end up.”
So the three little boats drifted aimlessly, bobbing around together. At least they didn’t get separated, each one was always within sight of the others.
Su Han was exasperated. “Why are all the recent instances like this? To clear the damn thing, we have to float around at sea for two days first.”
“At least we’re not the only ones stuck drifting now,” Zhong Rui offered in consolation.
Su Han didn’t feel comforted in the slightest; her mood was as gloomy as the endless ocean.
At exactly 10 o’clock, the cruise ship collapsed with a thunderous roar, vanishing beneath the waves. Seven of them huddled in their tiny boats, wind in their faces, silently counting the minutes till they could finally leave this accursed instance.
Day 14 passed without incident.
On the morning of Day 15, Su Han was curled up in the boat, looking listless and stifling a lazy yawn.
Suddenly, Zhong Rui grew tense, pointing sharply in a direction. “Look, over there.”
Su Han followed his gaze, and saw a blur of emerald surging through the water, racing toward them. She squinted. Fish, a whole school! But these weren’t any normal fish: slick grey-green bodies, dark green backs, jaws full of needle-sharp teeth and spiked, muscular jaws. These were the kind of fish you never wanted to meet.
The next second, the system alert chimed in: “Day 15 of gameplay. You have encountered a swarm of piranhas.”
Piranha swarm!!
Before anyone could react, the piranhas had already swarmed the boat with Zhang Yixiao and his group. Clever things, too; they went straight for the rubber hull, gnawing at it with their fangs.
In no time, the rubber boat had a gaping hole and was rapidly deflating.
The chubby guy turned pale as a ghost. If the boat sank, they'd be fish food! Cue panic. He wasted no time: immediately sent a quit request to the system, trying to exit the instance. At the same time, he shouted, “Safety first! Screw the clear, just bail!”
Zhang Yixiao was equally decisive, submitting his own quit request to the system.
Zhang Yihe tried to quit too, but he was a beat too late, already bitten by a piranha. The system notified him: “Player is in combat. Unable to leave the instance at this time.”
Meanwhile, the chubby guy and Zhang Yixiao got out just fine.
Zhang Yihe was left devastated and on the verge of tears. The piranha bite felt like pure agony; for a moment, he swore it must have taken a chunk of his flesh clean off.
Just then, the water exploded with a deafening blast, Zhong Rui had thrown a high-powered explosive into the school, timing it perfectly.
So, just as Zhang Yihe was about to fall in, the explosion went off, hard.
Zhang Yihe’s heart nearly exploded from panic. He screamed, hoarse and desperate, “Friendly here! Stop with the damn explosives!”
Zhong Rui, unbothered, shot back, “If we don’t blow up those piranhas, you’re done for!” And with that, he lobbed another pack into the water.
The blast sent waves of heat through the air, slamming into Zhang Yihe’s chest. He tasted blood and almost lost his mind from the pain.
Nearby, Su Han was unloading her Desert Eagle into the fish, one shot after another.
An Rongyue rummaged through her personal inventory and fished out a spear, pitching in with some precise stabs.
Yang Shu swung his paddle like a club, bashing at the piranhas left and right.
Soon enough, the battered swarm was wiped out completely.
Zhang Yihe was a shredded mess of wounds from head to toe, stamina down to 8%, floating in the water more dead than alive.
Zhong Rui dragged him into the boat and fixed him up with some first aid.
After a while, Zhang Yihe finally snapped back to reality. He sucked in air, his lips trembling. “Damn, that hurts!”
“Hold on, almost done with this instance,” Su Han soothed him.
Zhang Yihe just slumped in the bottom of the boat, choosing to wallow in silence.
Thankfully, after the fish attack, nothing else went wrong.
As midnight struck on Day 15, right as the clock hit twelve, the system’s metallic voice rang out, a heavenly sound: “Round three complete. Congratulations on clearing the extreme challenge.”
“You have received a bonus reward.”
“All surviving players in the instance will now be teleported out.”
A flash of white light, and everyone was out.