Gu Jiu and the others knocked on the doors of all the players in the villa.
Most of the players believed them. After all, with the deafening thunder outside and the roaring waves, just the sound of it was enough to unsettle their hearts. Holding onto the mindset of “better safe than sorry,” they rushed to the rooftop one after another.
However, three players refused to leave no matter what.
These three happened to be the ones who had eaten the sashimi: two burly “couple” players and “Brother Wang,” who had lost his partner the night before.
Their attitude was resolute.
One of the burly men said, “What’s there to fear? If the seawater floods in, the Sea God will surely protect us. Right, my dear?”
The other burly man replied sweetly, “Yes, we must trust the Sea God. The Sea God is omnipotent.”
Ruan Yuan and Lu Haidi, who had come to knock on their door, couldn’t help but roll their eyes. They once again suspected that the sashimi made from that mysterious fish had some sort of brainwashing effect. Not only did it turn players into hopeless romantics, but it also made them devout believers in the Sea God, stripping away all rational judgment.
As for Brother Wang, he was still grieving.
“Wuwuwu, Sister Shu is gone. What’s the point of me living anymore? If the seawater is going to flood the villa, let it. At worst, I’ll drown in the sea and go accompany Sister Shu.”
Ruan Yuan tried to persuade him. “…Maybe Sister Shu would want you to live?”
“Sister Shu must be so lonely down there all by herself. I might as well die.”
“…”
Ruan Yuan grabbed her boyfriend and turned away. She didn’t even bother trying to convince him anymore.
Someone so bent on dying was beyond saving, and she wasn’t going to waste her energy.
Just as they reached the rooftop, large raindrops started pouring down.
The players opened umbrellas, put on raincoats, or sought shelter, but no matter where they hid, the rain was carried to them by the howling wind.
The sea breeze tonight was as fierce as ever. Standing on the rooftop felt like being an unanchored floating weed—one misstep, and you might be blown off the building.
To stabilize themselves, the players leaned against the walls and sought anything they could use to brace themselves.
The darkness concealed the truth of the world. As the sound of the waves grew more intense, an ominous premonition rose in everyone’s hearts.
Unable to see the situation on the sea clearly, one player pulled out a high-powered flashlight from their inventory. This was a practical item purchased from the Boundless City and was highly useful in game worlds.
When the beam of light pierced through the darkness outside the villa and landed on the sea, it illuminated a massive wave just as it rose.
With a thunderous crash, the wave smashed down from a height estimated to be nearly a thousand meters.
The surging seawater roared toward them, slapping against their faces and bodies with a loud splatter.
The players on the rooftop turned pale, not just from fright but also from the cold.
The icy rain lashed against their raincoats, but the flimsy material was no match for the cold, soaking them through and freezing them to the bone. The group of players shivered like quails in a storm.
This game world was proving to be incredibly unforgiving to its players.
“The seawater has reached the rooftop!” someone shouted.
At some point, the rooftop was already covered in a thin layer of seawater, and it was rising.
In the darkness, players had nowhere to hide. The entire Love Island seemed on the brink of being swallowed by the boundless sea.
Gu Jiu felt the seawater creeping up to her ankles.
The water was flooding in from outside. The light hanging under the eaves illuminated the scene: seawater had risen outside the villa, and the sea level was now as high as the rooftop. The island’s coast was completely submerged, and the villa itself was about to be consumed.
Amid the howling wind and rain, someone shouted, “Does anyone have a boat or any escape tools?”
“I have a small bamboo raft. Will it work?”
“Doesn’t matter—take it out and use it!”
A small bamboo raft appeared. The player who took it out climbed on immediately. But as soon as they did, a fierce gust of wind swept the raft away with the waves. It slammed into the rooftop railing and instantly broke apart.
Everyone: “…”
The player, stunned and dripping wet, fell into the water. They quickly swam back and clung to the wall tightly to avoid being blown out into the sea. No one dared to take the risk of being carried away by the wind and waves. Who knew what horrors awaited in the depths?
Someone yelled, “This bamboo raft is useless! Why isn’t it a proper item?”
The player who brought it out looked devastated. “Of course, it’s not an item. It’s just something from my house. I grabbed it from my pond back home when I was net fishing and stuffed it into my inventory.”
By “home,” they meant their real-life home.
Despite their anxiety, everyone couldn’t help but feel a tinge of absurd humor. They’d actually believed this bamboo raft was some kind of in-game tool and had pinned their hopes on it.
No one had anticipated that even a C-level game world could contain such a brutal natural disaster. Although this disaster was technically “man-made,” none of the players had prepared boats or water escape tools. A sense of despair began to set in.
Were they really going to drown tonight?
Probably not. After all, the “Sea God” still needed players to help collect its body parts.
“I don’t think we’ll die, but it’s definitely going to be an ordeal,” Gu Guang speculated. “That fish-faced monster doesn’t want to kill us—it just wants to teach us a lesson.”
Lu Haidi looked incredulous. “What lesson? We didn’t do anything wrong. Who gave it the right to ‘teach us a lesson’?”
Gu Guang gave him a look that said, You know what you did, and hinted, “Think about what we did in the dream.”
He didn’t know what the other players had done, but in their group, everyone had relentlessly attacked the fish-faced monster in their dreams. There was no way it would just let that slide.
Lu Haidi was momentarily speechless.
Ruan Yuan spoke up firmly in defense of her boyfriend. “It deserved it! It deceived our feelings—how is that justified?”
The fish-faced creature had disguised itself as players’ “lovers” and manipulated them into treating it as such. This emotional deception was absolutely intolerable.
Lu Haidi quickly added, “Ruan Yuan is right! It’s totally in the wrong. We didn’t do anything wrong!”
Nearby, Brother Nian, who was carrying his partner, overheard their conversation and couldn’t help but comment, “Wait, are you saying every time in the dream, you all attacked the fish-faced monster?”
The six players present looked at him and nodded matter-of-factly.
Brother Nian: “…You guys are… not only merciless, but kind of impressive.”
He recalled how, in the dream, he had cautiously tried to converse with the fish-faced person, speaking gently and avoiding any aggression. Who would have thought that some players had been so violent, attacking the fish-faced person every time? No wonder the “Sea God” had been targeting them for two consecutive nights—it was clearly the fish-faced person seeking revenge.
As the seawater rose to their calves, Gu Jiu frowned. She didn’t like the feeling of being soaked in seawater.
At that moment, Lu Ji’s voice broke through the noise. “Ah Jiu, the paper boat.”
Gu Jiu paused for a second, her eyes lighting up. “Ah Ji, can your paper boat work?”
Back in the “Lingyuan Hotel” instance, Lu Ji had folded many paper objects, including a paper boat. He had given her that paper boat, though she hadn’t had a chance to use it yet. It had remained safely tucked in her inventory.
“It’ll work. Try it,” Lu Ji said softly.
Gu Jiu had never doubted her Ah Ji’s abilities. She immediately retrieved the pink paper boat from her inventory and tossed it onto the water.
As soon as it hit the water, the paper boat began to expand, spreading out in front of the players.
A gust of wind blew through, causing the paper boat to sway gently on the water. However, it remained steady and didn’t get swept away, staying firmly in place.
The players were overjoyed at the sight of the sudden paper boat. Someone asked, “This is a tool, right?”
They were desperate to ensure it wasn’t like the bamboo raft from earlier—a regular object that fell apart at the slightest impact.
“Of course, it’s a tool,” Ruan Yuan quickly replied, her voice light and full of delight. “If it weren’t a tool, how could it suddenly grow and shrink?”
The questioning player had only asked casually and wasn’t offended by her retort. Instead, they were thrilled.
If it was a tool, it wouldn’t collapse in the stormy waves. At last, they wouldn’t have to remain soaking in the seawater.
Gu Jiu was the first to jump onto the paper boat, followed by Lu Ji and then Qi Yuheng and the others.
Although the paper boat didn’t look large, its interior was surprisingly spacious. It accommodated over ten people without feeling cramped. The material felt just like paper—thin and delicate—but it was incredibly sturdy. Even the rain couldn’t seep through.
The other players eagerly climbed aboard.
By the time everyone was on the boat, the seawater had completely submerged the villa, leaving only the very top of the rooftop visible.
Gu Guang pulled out a rope he had used earlier to bind a mermaid doll. The rope, resembling nylon, was thrown out to secure the boat to the rooftop, with the other end held tightly in his hand. He told the group, “Let’s anchor ourselves for now to prevent the seawater from sweeping us away.”
This precaution was essential. The seawater had already swallowed Love Island, and waves were crashing over them one after another. Although the paper boat was stable, it could still drift with the current, and who knew where the waves might carry them? No one wanted to experience a real-life Life of Pi in the game world.
Sitting in the paper boat, the players curiously touched its walls. The pink paper felt incredibly thin, and through the translucent material, they could see the waves crashing outside. It was a marvel.
Someone asked, “What kind of tool is this?”
“Paper creations,” Ruan Yuan replied with a mischievous grin. She glanced at Gu Jiu and Lu Ji. Seeing they had no intention of elaborating, she smiled knowingly. “Our Ah Ji folded it herself.”
The players were visibly surprised and began studying Lu Ji discreetly. They hadn’t expected the paper boat to be a player-made tool.
In the game world, the number of in-game tools was limited. Even if players wanted to buy them, they were often unavailable. Player-made tools, however, were more accessible. And this paper boat—able to carry so many people, shield them from the wind and rain, and withstand the waves—was incredibly useful.
Immediately, someone asked, “Miss, would you sell this paper boat?”
Lu Ji replied, “I only folded one paper boat.” After a pause, she added, “Paper creations are single-use. Once they’re used or destroyed, they’re gone for good.”
His paper creations only included three types—small paper figures, paper frogs, and origami cranes—that were reusable as long as they weren’t destroyed. The rest were single-use, primarily because he didn’t bother to imbue them with additional effects. Since they were meant for selling, there was no need to invest extra effort.
For Lu Ji, selling paper creations wasn’t particularly important. However, selling them did bring him closer to his goal of buying a house in District 98.
Everything he did was for that house.
As a result, he wasn’t very enthusiastic about selling paper creations. He only sold them to people he found agreeable or in situations where they were truly needed.
“Even if they’re single-use, we’re still interested. How much are you charging?” a player asked.
“Two hundred points per paper creation.”
“…”
Upon hearing the price, most of the players hesitated.
While C-level players weren’t as broke as D-level players, they weren’t exactly wealthy either. Many were reluctant to spend 200 points on a single-use item. After all, not everyone was as rich as Qi Yuheng.
In the end, only three players decided to purchase paper creations, one of whom was Brother Nian.
Brother Nian, whose real name was Chen Younian, was a seasoned C-level player rumored to have the strength to enter the B-level games. However, he stayed behind in the C-level arena to support his partner, Skinny Monkey, hoping to train together and eventually move up to B-level as a team.
“Skinny Monkey has always been impulsive. I didn’t expect him to let his guard down this time and take a bite of that sashimi out of curiosity,” Chen Younian said helplessly, glancing at his unconscious partner. His expression was a mix of frustration and disappointment. “Now look at him.”
The others didn’t know how to console him and decided to change the subject.
“What about the three players who stayed in their rooms? Will they be okay?”